Heart of the Hunter

by Alex Foster

  She thought about Callie again, wondering if she got away in time.

  After a little while of floating in and out of consciousness Dakota stirred and then snuggled closer; her hands curling under her chin like a child making little fists. Reina couldn’t help but smile and draped a friendly arm over her companion. A Circle hunter, Dakota Clark probably didn’t let many people see her this way. The grin wilted a little when she remembered her first impression of Dakota was of a lonely woman.

  "You need to wake up." Reina shook her slightly. "Open your eyes."

  "Mmm?"

  "That’s it. You hurt your head and need to stay awake."

  Dakota tried to sit up but Reina held her in place. "Take it slow. We’re safe; I got us into a boat. I wasn’t sure if Nicholas was—"

  Sparks jumped from her fingers again and Reina smelled scorched blanket. One way to keep us warm, she thought. Even through two layers of thermal she could feel the power crackling under Dakota skin. Unable to help herself, Reina wondered if touching her flesh would send a current through her body. No wonder Callie liked it.

  Another groan and Dakota untangled an arm from Reina’s gift wrapping job and pressed a hand against her temple. "I’m okay," she mumbled.

  Reina wasn’t sure if that was a statement or question but answered anyway. "You have a nasty goose egg forming, but otherwise yeah. Mr. Wood and Callie got away … I think. You saved me."

  Dakota craned her neck enough to take in the sight of the cuddy lit by the red-white glow of her ability. "A little rescue job of your own, huh?" She glanced down at their blanket wrapped forms. "And something extra for the road?"

  A flush spread through Reina. "No … um, we were both soaking wet. From the water. And cold so I did—"

  "It’s fine." She settled back down and let the red-white glow die. "Not bad, Doe Eyes. Are you sure you don’t have magic?"

  "Just being awesome." Reina laughed nervously and then mentally kicked herself. Stupid. What is wrong with me?

  "Yeah, you and me both, " she said tiredly. "When this is over I’m going to need some healer blood or a couple hundred Advils to cure this headache.

  "What happened to the car?"

  "It went hydro."

  "Oh. Sorry about that."

  "It’s okay." Reina didn’t know what else to say so she just listened to the lap of waves. "I’m sure they got away," she suddenly blurted. "I mean, I saw them driving away when it happened."

  Dakota stopped rubbing her temples long enough to peer back at her. "Callie's fine. She’s with Dixon and, trust me, I know what it is like to be between him and her. Not a fun place to stand. Consulars don't just keep secrets, they know how to defend them."

  "Oh." Reina scooted back, more than a little relieved at Dakota’s sureness. "He threatened me, too, once."

  "Not a fan of the sapphic intent toward Callie, huh?"

  "What? Oh no, not that — it’s a long story. He thought I was just after her fame at first. The woman that revealed the mystical to the world."

  The mattress squeaked a little as Dakota shifted and tugged the blankets tighter around her body. "Well, we’re not going anywhere until morning so you can tell me all about it." To prove her point a rumble of thunder sounded. "I don’t like storms," she said again.

  "I don’t like that … he might still be out there somewhere. Was that Nicholas?"

  "The mage is gone," Dakota said. "And that wasn’t him, at least not physically. He was using some poor crazy his ability wormed its way into. You don’t have to worry about meeting Kane; his power doesn’t let him stay away from his actual self for long periods of time and he wouldn’t chance bringing his body here. He knew if he did that, I’d kill him. He's fond of reminding me what I'm capable of. That’s why he was using a proxy to follow us." She fell into silence and for a long while there was no sound except the rain hitting the tarp outside.

  Reina thought about the woman next to her, replaying the attack on the dock over and over in her mind. She didn’t have Wood’s training or Callie’s experience but knew that Dakota hated water and still helped get her out of the car. Reina had barely been conscious after the airbag went off. She couldn’t remember most of what happened immediately after, just Dakota’s hands tugging at her as water poured into the car.

  Callie had called her a murderer but still helped her, loved her even, and Mr. Wood treated her as though she was unstable and dangerous. Like she was missing something inside. She didn’t know Dakota well enough to say for sure, maybe they were right and she just acted how she believed normal people behaved. Sociopaths did that. Or maybe there was something buried deep that saved her because that is what Callie would have wanted her to do. If that was the case, well, maybe that was okay in its own way too.

  Reina stared into the darkness and sighed. She was thinking too much. Fatigue was taking its toll and she was just mental babbling. She wished Callie was next to her.

  "Did I drown?" Dakota suddenly asked, jarring Reina from her musing. "When I was out did I drown? Was I dead again?"

  It took Reina a second to process that last question. "No. You just hit your head. I woke up soon after and had you the whole time. Nothing bad was going to happen to you."

  Dakota made a noncommittal noise and shuddered with either cold, relief, or something else Reina couldn’t imagine having to feel. She slipped an arm around her again and rubbed warmth into a bare shoulder. "You're wrong, you know. You are more than a hunter —I see that even if you don't.

  "Tracking down the mage targeting agents, warning Mr. Wood, and pulling me out of the car all sound pretty heroic to me."

  Damp hair fell across Reina’s chin as Dakota rolled into the embrace; it smelled like salt and a day at the beach. Separated by only a couple of blankets, she felt Dakota’s tiny frame pressed against her. A leg hooked around hers and a hand came to a comfortable rest on her hip.

  Reina felt a subtle shift in the mage and thought, Jesus this could get out of hand.

  Dakota held on to her for several minutes and even through the blankets Reina could feel the pounding of the other woman’s heart. I should say something here. How could she get her to understand something like this without crushing her? There were levels of complexity that had to go through Callie before anything else.

  She had the feeling Dakota wasn’t used to people being close or nice to her like this and had gotten the wrong idea. Well, the idea was there but the timing was off by days, weeks, or months. She had to right this quickly before it got out of hand.

  Dakota moved first. She lifted herself until the blanket over her shoulders fell back; goosebumps spread anew over bare skin. She gave a predatory smile.

  Reina gripped Dakota’s waist and held her firmly back. "Dakota…"

  "Callie’s lucky, you know. There are a lot of normals out there scared of mages, but you aren’t like that, are you?."

  "No, but—"

  Fingers moved along the blanket wrapped around Reina’s body. "She won’t have to know what it’s like to have someone pull away because they don’t want her touching them." A strange gleam came to Dakota’s eyes, like she was seeing something that wasn’t there. "Been such a long time."

  Reina shifted and tried to sit up, not letting her hands move from Dakota’s waist. It felt like she was leaning forward with most of her weight now. Her blanket slipped down as she moved.

  A charge filled the air and made Reina's small hairs stand on end. Power crackled around the hunter while outside the thunder grumbled and tried to catch up.

  Reina thought about how to handle this, her heart hurt for the mage. Things were happening very fast and she had to be careful how she dealt with this, for both Dakota and Callie’s sakes.

  Dakota bent and left a trail of kisses down Reina’s exposed neck. She gasped in spite of herself — a very light current flowed along that wet line. It was like a battery was licking her. She could feel a pulse in each kiss that lingered after Dakota had moved on, an echo of the power she
was channeling.

  That did open up several interesting possibilities…

  "It’s okay," Dakota murmured into her skin. "We’re alone and no one ever has to find out."

  Never find out. That was enough to steel her resolve. "Dakota," she said again, forcefully this time, and grasped a handful of hair and pulled her head gently back. "I don’t do that. I don’t keep secrets, not ones that big anyway. Callie trusts me just like I trust her."

  Unhinged anger flashed in Dakota’s eyes and Reina was very much aware the charge filling the cuddy had increased dramatically. The hunter above her had deadly abilities and she was well trained in their use. She had means with that power to take whatever she wanted.

  But Reina knew she wouldn’t do that. This wasn’t the mad Circle agent Dixon was wary of — this was the woman Callie had helped. The one that pulled her from the sinking car and missed Callie terribly even if she didn’t know how to articulate it.

  The anger vanished and in its place was sick realization. Dakota swore heatedly and scrambled back. She blinked as though waking up from a nightmare. The charge in the air died and cold hit Reina like a physical force. All she could see was a dim shape in the shadows fumbling around the cabin.

  Reina reached for and turned on the penlight.

  Dakota stalked through the cuddy, nearly naked, mumbling to herself and chewing on her thumbnail. She grabbed a shoe and slipped it on before changing her mind and kicking it across the floor. "I am the biggest fuck up in the world. He was right. Some fucking second chance."

  Reina slid to her feet and stepped in front of her. "No you’re not." She grabbed her shoulders and caught her gaze, held it. "No you are not."

  Dakota’s face contorted and for a moment she looked like she was going to cry before switching back to anger. "I am trying so goddamn hard but I don’t know what to do. She must have brought me back wrong or something. I don’t know why I feel this way now — I shouldn’t feel anything. He says I can’t and I know he’s right. I think I’m supposed to do one thing but can’t and then I want something else and shouldn’t have it."

  Reina kissed her. Dakota tensed, her entire body going rigid, before finally her hands came up and tangled in Reina’s damp hair.

  Reina pulled back and gently took her wrists.

  Dakota didn’t open her eyes for several moments and when she finally did the mania had calmed in them.

  "Now listen," Reina said. "I’m not going to cheat on Callie. And neither are you. Nothing happens without her being aware of it, okay? Everyone is either on the same page or the book doesn’t get read. That's how we do this."

  Dakota blinked and flashed a lopsided grin that didn't reach her eyes. "Listen, Chestnut, I don’t know what you’re thinking but she just brought me back to life — nothing else. In our community bringing someone back to life is the same as a ride to the airport for you people. It doesn’t mean anything."

  Reina gave her a knowing look.

  "It doesn’t." Dakota grabbed one of the blankets off the floor, wrapped it around her shoulders, and sat on the berth. "Fucking cold."

  Reina sat beside her.

  "I’m dizzy," Dakota said after several long minutes.

  "I’m kinda hungry," Reina said back.

  Tentatively the older woman nudged her companion and smiled slightly when she got an elbow in return. They were still sitting in easy silence hours later when the sun started coming up outside.

  Chapter Eight

  It took almost an hour to lose the van following them.

  Callie fidgeted in the passenger seat while Dixon navigated dark and narrow back roads, at times more than thirty miles an hour over the speed limit. He stayed away from the Parkway or any major road, driving in wide expanding circles that only increased his familiarity with the area and forced the much more cumbersome van chasing them to burn fuel.

  The bright headlights of the van behind them had filled the car for most of the chase, casting shadows over the road ahead of them. Mindful of the mage’s range, Dixon kept moving so the wind control magic couldn’t gain enough of a purchase on the air around them to overturn the car. Large raindrops splattered against the windows but he didn’t slow.

  Scared for Reina more than herself, Callie could only stare into the passing darkness and think up horrible situations she and Dakota might be in right now. Was Kane targeting them too? By scattering were they giving him exactly what he wanted?

  She played with her seatbelt and tried to reassure herself that Dakota was with Reina and she was a trained hunter, a fact she’d pointed out just the night before, fully capable of keeping someone safe.

  They were halfway to Trenton when their sedan finally outlasted the van. Callie watched in the mirror as the headlights behind them pulled off the road and faded into the distance. Her resolve vanished almost as fast. "We have to go back to the dock," she said. "Turn around."

  "Absolutely not."

  "But—"

  The glow from the dashboard reflected in his glasses. "No. She’s with Dakota and fine. They are long gone from the area by now. Dakota knows standard protocols."

  "There are protocols for ambushes like this?"

  He glanced at her. "Yes, there are. Dakota’s a trained mage and knows what to do — Reina will be fine. We’ll meet up in the morning and Dakota and I can figure out where to stash you two until this is over."

  Callie sighed and leaned back. She wished she shared his conviction.

  Dakota had said Kane was targeting former Circle agents and she had a list of people he’d already killed. That meant not only could he overpower other mages but that Dakota was in danger too.

  Callie adjusted her seatbelt again and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She didn't care. It would heal the cut.

  Dixon guided the car away from the dark county roads and back toward the Parkway. He put the gas down to the floor and quickly accelerated. She felt his gaze on her again. "Dakota will be okay, too."

  "Yeah, I know. I didn't say I was worried about her."

  "Okay," he said slowly, disbelievingly. "Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about last night? Anything she might have said or—"

  "There’s nothing. I hadn't spoken to her in a year and she just showed up at our door out of the blue, trying to protect us I guess. She didn't even bother contacting me after the article was published."

  Another single nod — she hated that look like he knew something she didn't. "Dakota said she was working with an archmage. Ezekiel Homes no doubt. He'll have his spirit channeler close by.

  "That’s how we’ll find Nicholas."

  Callie thought for a minute. "She said the mages she ended up with are helping people. It would make sense, I suppose. He was the only archmage that didn't disavow me after."

  "Well, I might not always agree with his combative methods but Ezekiel’s loyalty has been consistent … But then again so has Dakota’s."

  There was a small town in the distance; Callie stared at its glow reflecting against low hanging storm clouds. She thought about both Dakota and Reina somewhere out in the rain and wanted to be wherever they were. "The world is different now," she mumbled, repeating herself. "She's different now. She has another chance to do things right. I owed her that."

  "You didn’t owe her anything — not to mention you can't use your power like that without the protection of The Circle. People find out, Kane found out, and it endangers you.

  "The only reason I'm alive is because of her. It was the 'protection' of The Circle that she had to save me from."

  Dixon didn’t have anything to say to that. They traveled without speaking for a long while, the orange glow of the town moving closer, and the swish of wipers clearing away rain the only sound.

  "Dad, be nice to her when we meet up. For me." Callie paused, choosing her words carefully. "I don’t think she has much right now, and I don’t see the point in reminding her of that or of taking away what she does have."

  He nodded and they f
ell into silence again.

  “I need you to call Ezekiel,” Dixon said finally. “I can’t from this phone.”

  “I don’t have his number.”

  Dixon did a quick check of the car’s mirrors, making sure they weren't being followed again. “He would have been a fool not to tag you. It is faint and woven so tight I can't see it but archmages are not fools."

  "I think I would know."

  "Humor me." He gave her that dad look again. "Please."

  Callie sighed, closed her eyes, and for the first time in a long time turned her attention inward. It was hard with the worries weighing on her mind. She was a spirit channeler without any additional gifts so anything coloring her aura was enough to shut down everything but her instinctual abilities.

  She didn't feel one but she imagined a thin strand of silver magic wrapped around her wrist connecting her to the distant archmage. Grasping the strand with a gentle touch, she pulled on it. Sending a vibration up the line.

  Then she waited.

  Nothing.

  "Dad, I don't think—" Her phone ringing cut her off and he still had that told you so look on his face when she opened her eyes.

  Damn.

  ✽✽✽

  Dakota and Reina left the marina a little after dawn.

  Keeping away from early morning joggers, they started walking back into town. Their clothes had dried during the night but Reina still felt a squish in her shoes with each step. With the newly risen sun behind them, they slowly moved along the paved shoulder.

  Their clothes were rumpled, hair limp, and Reina thought they either looked like they had just lived through one of the worst nights of their lives or one of the best. Fortunately no one stopped to ask them which as they made their way back to town.

  Walking into the hotel's parking lot, Reina glanced hopefully at each occupied space on the chance Mr. Wood was waiting for them.

  "They are long gone," Dakota supplied. "Just like we should be. Grab your gear from the room and then let’s light out for the territories."