Stealing Summer, Hunter

by Lexi Blake

  She hadn’t meant to come here. That was pretty clear, and she was female which meant she would be fair game to Turi’s troops. They would do unspeakable things to her. All the things Turi planned to do to me.

  “Hey, hey!” I couldn’t leave her there. I changed course slightly, running toward her. “Hello. I don’t know where you’re from, but my name is Summer and you need to come with me.” Her eyes had gone wide and she was staring at me like seeing another person here was a huge shock. “Unless you’re evil. Then I would like to know up front.”

  She stared at me for a precious moment before she seemed to decide I wasn’t a threat. “I’m Kelsey. Totally not evil.”

  There was something weird about the way she looked at me. Like she couldn’t believe I was standing there. There was a bit of wonder in her eyes, but I didn’t have time right then to figure out what was going on. I reached out and took her hand. “Good, then we should run because there’s an army behind me and they’re planning on killing everyone.”

  Everyone except me. Me they would take back to their leader where I would face a fate worse than death. But they would definitely kill this lady, and I had enough blood on my hands. So much blood on my hands. Sometimes I’m glad I can’t find my parents because they would be so ashamed of me.

  Or they wouldn’t acknowledge me at all because I wasn’t truly their child. I shook off the thought and started to run, praying this Kelsey woman could keep up.

  That turned out to not be a problem at all. She easily ran beside me.

  “Have you seen a couple of men standing around out here?” If the pace bothered her, it wasn’t in her tone. She wasn’t even breathing hard as we reached the hill. She simply followed me up and then down toward the forest.

  “Yes. A whole bunch of them,” I replied. “They’re the ones trying to kill me. We have to hide.”

  “Oh, not those,” she said. “I’m talking about a tall dude all in white and a shorter but equally attractive one in a suit. Do you know what a suit is? I’ve never been off plane before so I don’t know what’s normal here.”

  We hit the tree line as the first arrow struck the ground beside me, a warning shot. A shadow fell over us as we left the vibrant light of the field we’d been in. It seemed quieter in the forest, but then I heard the sound I’d been praying to avoid—the sound of an arrow burying itself in flesh.

  I glanced over and Kelsey dropped to her knees, the arrow sticking out of her shoulder. Bright red blood had already appeared on the jacket she wore, and I knew I was about to get another person killed.

  How long would I keep going? How many innocent people would have to die so I could be free? My stomach turned as I realized I had a choice. I could exchange myself for this stranger or I could keep running.

  Erna would watch over the young magician I’d been protecting recently. She would take Dean back to the Vampire plane where his mother lived, and he would be all right. He would find a way to fulfill his destiny. He only thought he needed me.

  “Fuck, that hurts.” Kelsey was on all fours. She would likely collapse and be utterly helpless in seconds. Humans could be fragile.

  “It’s okay. You’re going to be all right. I’m the one they’re after.” I had no idea why she was here or where she’d come from, but I suddenly knew I couldn’t let her die. “You need to hide in the forest. There’s a lake about ten minutes from here. Find it. There’s a trail that will lead you to a village. It looks deserted but it isn’t. There’s a woman there named Erna. She’ll take care of you. Tell her not to come looking for me. She’ll only get herself killed. Tell her to go to the Vampire plane. If I can get away, I’ll seek them out there.”

  I stepped in front of her as Turi’s men reached the tree line. He’d sent one of his generals, a man named Kor who had a black hole where his soul should have been. He ran Turi’s elite unit, the ones who came in quick and got the job done. He had more blood on his hands than I did, and that was saying something. He stood a good foot taller than me, a testament to the other side of his nature. He was mostly sidhe, but I believed the rumors that his father had been a demon who’d raped his mother during battle. His eyes always had the slightest tinge of red to them.

  He was one of the most brutal males I’d ever met, and he would likely hurt the hell out of me before he handed me over to his commander. I would have to be careful and sly. I would have to wait for my chance. We would have days before he could get me back to his home plane. That would leave me many chances to slip away, and if I managed to slit his throat on the way out, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

  “Hello, Abomination. I bring you greetings from your one true master, King Turi, rightful heir to the Summerlands and keyholder to all the planes,” Kor said, his sword at his side. He had brought five men with him. Six massive warriors for one petite female who couldn’t even access her magic. Talk about overkill.

  “I’ll go with you if you let the woman be,” I offered. “If you hurt her, I swear I’ll fight, and you know I’ll take a couple of you with me. I’ll force you to kill me and then what will you give to your precious master?”

  In this case they really needed me alive. Not whole, but alive enough that he could perform his dark rituals and push his agenda forward. I personally thought he was insane, but I wasn’t going to argue at the time.

  “I don’t care about the female,” Kor proclaimed. “Although my men haven’t been fed recently. She looks a bit on the bony side for them though.”

  I heard a low growl from behind me.

  “That fucking hurt,” Kelsey said and her eyes had shifted, going darker than they’d been before. She pulled the arrow out in one violent tug, not even wincing at what had to be unimaginable pain. “The queen was right about that. Arrows suck. Now who are you and which one of you assholes wants to die first?”

  Chapter Three

  Zoey

  “What the hell do you mean you can’t find Kelsey?” I asked the question even as the revelation that we were beyond bad settled in my soul. It was hours later and we hadn’t had any news on Devinshea. He was still gone and we had no idea where or why.

  I stood in Daniel’s office, where Kelsey Owens had last been seen. Where Dev should have gone. We had a bit of video that gave us every reason to believe Dev walked into this office, but he hadn’t walked back out. As Daniel’s office had never eaten people before, we were kind of at a loss.

  “I watched her walk in here myself.” Zack prowled around the room, stopping every few seconds to try to catch a scent.

  “She didn’t come back to our place.” Trent Wilcox stood by the big window that overlooked Dallas. “She hasn’t been answering her cell phone either. I have no idea what to tell our son. He doesn’t even know we didn’t leave on the honeymoon today. If he sees either of us, he’ll want to know where his mother is.”

  Gray Sloane was dressed in slacks and a collared shirt. He sat on the couch and looked up at his partner. “We’ll handle Fen. Come sit down.”

  Trent looked back and it was a testament to how far those two had come that Trent did what Gray had asked, moving across the room to sit beside him. “I don’t understand how you’re so calm.”

  “I would feel it if she was dead,” Gray said quietly. “She’s not. If our wife isn’t dead then she’ll find her way back to us. I have the utmost faith in her.”

  Zack stood in the middle of the room and shook his head. “I can barely catch her scent. It’s faint. She was recently here. Her scent should be strong. If I wasn’t certain she’d been here, I would say she hasn’t been in this room for days.”

  Daniel was pacing as well, though he wasn’t sniffing around. He’s got great senses, but nothing like Zack’s. “Can you still smell Dev? I ask because I can’t and I could earlier.”

  Zack’s jaw tightened. “Barely. His scent is even fainter than Kelsey’s. I don’t understand what’s going on here. Has Sarah found anything at all?”

  I shook my head. We’d come up empty. �
��She tried a locator spell and it didn’t work. She couldn’t find anything. It’s like they’ve disappeared off the face of the earth.”

  “Or the plane,” Gray said and for the first time since he’d walked in, I really looked at him. He was calmer than I would have imagined him to be.

  He was also the freaking dark prophet and often knew things the rest of us didn’t. I moved to stand in front of him, my hands on my hips and giving him my sternest glare. “What do you know that we don’t?”

  He stared up at me and the saddest expression came over his face. “I would tell you if I could. I can repeat myself, but you could also go and read it. It’s in the Council documents.”

  Fuck. He meant that he’d already prophesized what was coming.

  Trent had gone a bit pale. “You know where she is?”

  Daniel moved in, his strong arms folding over his chest. “He doesn’t. He only knows that something is about to come to pass and it’s important.”

  “I have faith in my wife,” Gray reiterated before looking to Trent. “And you and I will have to find our patience.”

  “But she’s alive.” Trent reached out and put a hand on Gray’s arm.

  Gray nodded, but even I could see what it cost him. His head was probably screaming and there was a shit ton of ibuprofen in his future. This was how prophecy went. Gray could see the way the world would go, but he couldn’t simply explain it to us. There was something mystical that happened when a prophet was made. Gray was normal most of the time, but every now and then his eyes would change, becoming orbs of endless night, and he would speak words that seemed to come from somewhere else. If asked to explain what his twisty-turny word puzzle meant, Gray would be physically unable to say anything except to repeat the prophecy. I don’t think even he knew exactly what each word meant. Every phrase that came out of a prophet’s mouth can be taken any number of ways. It’s almost like the universe needed to be a smarty-pants. The prophet comes along, makes cryptic statements that sound super important but are also pretty wide open, history happens, and then the prophet can say “look, I called it” because the prophecy can mean any number of things.

  What I’d learned was prophecies weren’t meant to be changed. Not ever. What would come to pass would come to pass, and we were somewhat helpless against it. All we could do was try to prepare for the coming storm.

  Daniel looked over to Zack. “I think we should have the academics look into all of Gray’s prophecies. Hell, look into everything we have that might concern the Nex Apparatus, Devinshea, or Marcus.”

  Zack nodded and strode off, seemingly happy to have something to do.

  “You let her go?” Trent was on his feet. “You knew something would happen and you let her walk away this morning?”

  Gray looked up at his partner. “You know that’s not how it works. I’m scared, too, Trent, but I know that she’ll find her way back from wherever she is and that she’s there for a reason. Don’t look at me like that. I can’t change things. I can’t fix them. I can only assure you that if we’re careful, we’ll survive.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Daniel said.

  Gray turned to the king, his eyes seeming to laser focus in. “When the time comes, choose her, Your Highness.”

  Daniel’s eyes strayed to me. “I always choose her. What is that supposed to mean?”

  Gray simply sighed and shrugged. “Choose her. It’s all I can say.”

  “What are we supposed to tell our son?” Trent asked.

  Gray stood and put a hand on Trent’s broad shoulder. “That his mother has a job to do. We didn’t marry her because she was safe.”

  Trent took a long breath. “No, we married her because she’s the baddest, most gorgeous bitch in town, and she won’t ever let us down.”

  “And that is what we tell our son,” Gray concluded. “Your Highness, I need to go speak to your butler, if I might.”

  He’d directed the question my way. “You need to talk to Albert?”

  “I do,” Gray replied in a way that made me think this was serious for him.

  Albert was watching Fen. It was probably a good thing if he kept doing it while Gray and Trent worked out how they would talk to him about the problem. “Of course. Trent can take you up. He’s got all the codes.”

  The door opened and I saw Daniel stand up straighter.

  “Good evening, Your Highness.” Myrddin stepped into the room. He’d changed at some point and wore all black, including a rich, velvety cape around his shoulders. He nodded my way. “Your Highness. Mr. Wilcox.” He bowed slightly. “Dark prophet. It is an honor to be in your presence. The Hell plane hasn’t had a prophet in thousands of years.”

  Gray’s shoulders went rigid as though he’d detected a threat. “Merlin Satanspawn.”

  Myrddin had many names.

  Myrddin’s face remained pleasant, but his eyes had gone cold. “I don’t go by that name here, Mr. Sloane.”

  “No, but that is what my father’s people call you,” Gray said, his voice deep. “I understand you spent much of your time since awakening on the Hell plane.”

  “He recently descended in order to find a replacement ambassador,” Daniel explained.

  We’d needed that ambassador because the former one had been Gray’s dad, and Kelsey had made sure that asshole had gotten fired. It’s never good when Hell fires you, by the way. They tend to have severe penalties.

  “I’m not talking about his recent foray,” Gray corrected, never taking his eyes off Myrddin. “According to my sources, you spent quite a bit of time on the Hell plane before you came back to the Council headquarters.”

  That was news to me. “He went to Hell? I thought he spent the last decade learning the Earth plane.”

  “I spent the last ten years learning how the worlds have changed while I slept,” Myrddin explained.

  “Even Hell changes, as Mr. Sloane should know.” Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, strode in the door and she was dressed much as Myrddin. There was a cool confidence about the woman that seemed new. When I’d spent time with Nim, she’d been funny and girly about everything but her magic. It seemed as though that Nim was gone and all that was left was the Lady of the Lake. “After all, didn’t his father recently get demoted? No one thought a legacy contract like his could be voided, and yet the dark prophet no longer fears his descent.”

  “Because he won’t descend at all,” Trent said, standing next to his partner.

  A wisp of a smile came over Myrddin’s face. “Never say never, Mr. Wilcox.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Trent’s canines suddenly seemed longer than they’d been before, and I could feel the testosterone level in the room pumping up by the second.

  Gray stepped in front of him. “It means he knows how to get to you, Trent. Don’t let him.”

  “I apologize,” Myrddin said, putting a hand over his heart as though it hurt him to be so accused. “I only meant that everyone I spoke with on the Hell plane is impressed with their dark prophet. If I’m not wrong, you have to spend a bit of time down there to recharge yourself. That was all I meant. Did I not understand how it works?”

  Myrddin tended to know how everything works.

  “What does he mean?” Trent asked, turning his gaze to Gray.

  “Nothing we have to worry about now,” Gray insisted.

  “Oh, you hadn’t told him about that?” Myrddin sighed. “Again, apologies. I assumed you would have told your partner everything about your new status. I’m far too used to the way Daniel and Devinshea work. They share everything. Perhaps your…partnership doesn’t work in the same manner.”

  This was definitely how Myrddin worked. He sowed dissent. He somehow always found the weak spot and shoved the knife in, then managed to make the person he’d stabbed believe they’d walked into the blade. It was his true supertalent.

  Gray’s hand went to the back of Trent’s neck and he looked him right in the eyes. “Hey, don’t let him do this to us. You kno
w what he is. My power has to be recharged from time to time, and when I say that I’m not talking about going to Hell once a week. We’re talking once every twenty-five years, and I won’t be going as my father’s son. I’ll be going as someone no demon will fuck with. I haven’t told you because it’s not a problem, and honestly, I’m going to see if there’s a way around it.”

  “There isn’t,” Myrddin supplied helpfully.

  “Then we will go together,” Gray said. “You and me and our wife.”

  “You promise?” Trent asked.

  “I do. I won’t allow us to be apart. I know I insisted on it in the beginning, but I’m a different man now. Going to the Hell plane won’t be like descending,” Gray insisted. “I will do anything I have to in order to keep our family strong and together.”

  “We have to get her back first.” Trent was calm again and it was clear Gray knew how to handle Myrddin’s ratfink poking better than Daniel.

  Did Gray see Myrddin for who he truly was?

  “I hope to be able to help with that.” Myrddin held a hand out and Nimue stepped forward to take it. “Along with my lady.”

  Nim bowed her head slightly, as though acknowledging his claim.

  What the hell had happened between those two? The last time I’d seen them, Nimue had been missing her lover, Arawn, the Welsh god of the dead. I’d kind of expected her to forgive him at some point. I certainly hadn’t expected her to become her old nemesis’s lover. After all, she’d been the one to trap Myrddin in his crystal prison for centuries.

  “I am going to use some ancient magics in order to track Devinshea in particular. Your butler was kind enough to get me some of his hair,” Nim explained. “I need to do it at an in-between time. Midnight is best, though I will spend the rest of the evening preparing myself.”

  So we had hours to wait until we might be able to find my husband.

  “I’m taking Nimue to the temple for her preparations,” Myrddin said. “King Daniel, if we could have your blessing to use it.”

  Daniel nodded. “Please use it with my blessings, teacher. I hope the space is to your satisfaction. I appreciate everything you’re doing to help locate my partner.”