“My dear, you’re bleeding!” I smelled the blood as soon as my mother stated that. She and I examined Ana’s hand for the wound. I swear, if the Vasquez had hurt her…
“No, I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”
“Whose blood is it, then?” Luke, of course, picked that precise moment to step in.
Ana looked between us like the answer was obvious. “Well, whoever it was that tried to break in, of course.”
“So you’re telling me that you punched the man who tried to come in here and attack you?” Luke, once again, was finding the situation amusing.
“What do you mean attack me? How do you know he was trying to attack me—he was probably just a robber?”
By assuming it wasn’t a robber we assured her that we knew who it was.
“Let’s leave Adriana and Hayden to discuss this alone,” my father took the hint, leaving me with the honors of telling Ana all of our secrets. Was I afraid? I could no longer think of myself and the consequences it would have on me if she left. Briefly, the thought of her leaving me, of growing up, of marrying someone else came to my mind. I’d have no choice but to follow her. To remain close by, but never be able to have her. If she wasn’t my mate, she would remain mortal. She would die. I tried to think if I even knew of any Hunters whose mates had not wanted them, who had died. I did. Oh no…
I heard the door to the guest room close and I went over to sit by Ana on the bed. Her head whipped toward me and I caught the smell of her hair distracting me. How do I begin? “How much do you know about New Orleans’ folklore?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Her eyes narrowed at me. She had just wanted me to jump right in and tell her straight out. I searched her eyes, trying to will her to put the pieces together again. She saw my expression and her forehead creased, “What, are you a witch or something?”
Smart girl. So close. “No.”
“A vampire?”
“No.”
“A ghost?”
“No.”
“Ok. I give up.” She threw her delicate hands up into the air.
“They do exist though—ghosts, vampires, witches—and then there are… others.” Great, I just called myself an “other.” Could I make what we are sound anymore ominous? “They’re what you would call the 'rule of law' in the Underworld.” That sounded better, more humanized. “Do you really want to know what I am?” I let the disgust on my face show; I would give her one last chance to back, to not be introduced to this dark part of the world.
“Yes,” her face was beaming. She was anxious, excited, intrigued.
“Even if knowing will change your world forever?” That isn’t what I really wanted to know. “Even if knowing what I am may change how you feel about me?” I just needed confirmation, assurance that she wouldn’t run away from me again.
She gaped at me, her head bobbing up and down in slow deliberation.
That was all I needed. “We are Hunters. The man at your window was member of the Vasquez family, a very old and very dangerous clan of humans who are Hunters.”
“Hunters.” The way she said the word excited me. I clenched my fists as the desire built.
She was still fascinated by the information, even about the Vasquez. How could I tell her it had a dark side? That it only had a dark side. “It’s nothing to glamorize. We carry out justice and provide order for the paranormal world, but what the Vasquezes do—“
“There are rules?”
“Yes, Ana, very serious rules. You have to understand this. They don’t like our worlds mixing. That is what the Vasquezes do—they help paranormals hunt humans.”
“Why would they want to do that?”
“Well, they claim it is to protect the human race, but let’s just say it has its perks. They get money and power. The Vasquezes are in it for that.”
“And so you’re a Hunter, too?”
Her voice was small, hesitant to ask. It was the second time I'd heard her say the word, and it was liberating knowing she didn’t scream it as she was running away. But I didn’t want her to think of us on the same level as the Vasquezes. “Yes and no. The Vasquezes do it willingly, mainly for the economic gain. We—Luke and I—have to do it.” My family didn’t get our money and status from Underworld. Well, not all of it at least. Simply living for centuries and making good investments put us where we are today. It wasn’t blood money. Boudreaux Properties had been in business for over a hundred years. My father and I created it as a front to our immortality but it had opened up many opportunities for us. Technically, my father was now the grandson of the original owner. I smirked at this notion. No one ever questioned the insanely rich. We never had to change our appearances. Everything was done electronically these days and no one ever suspected why the owners never made any public appearances.
Luke’s father had his own front, which he left to Luke. Of course, Luke didn’t have to actually do any work; fortunately for the company, it was so large it ran itself.
“Luke’s a Hunter?” A flash of worry passed across her face. Ana was looking at me expectantly and I realized then that I was supposed to continue.
“When I said that my family and Luke’s family go back a long time I wasn’t exaggerating. My father and Luke’s father lived in New Orleans together. My father was a lawyer when he met Luke’s father, Claude. Claude was a young dockhand accused of murder. As unpopular as the case was, my father represented him. Claude spent months in jail as the trial went on, and spent that time talking to my father. After a while, my father became convinced Claude was not capable of the grotesque murder that he was accused of. My father led an investigation that eventually proved Claude innocent, but it was too late. Claude was sentenced to be hanged.” I shook my head at the memory of the story my father used to tell me over and over. It was a lesson really. “Law was different then. Someone had to pay for what happened, but it killed my father inside that he couldn’t save Claude. He did everything in his power, but it just wasn’t enough. Finally, out of desperation, my father went to a voodoun priestess named Marie Laveau. At first she refused to help, but after seeing the devotion he had to his friend, she agreed. My father promised to reward her handsomely. Miss Laveau, however, didn’t want money. She wanted favors. My father didn’t think any favor was greater than a human life so he agreed. Laveau gave my father two liquid vials, one for Claude and one for himself. She said that, to save Claude, all they had to do was drink the vials before the hanging and Claude wouldn’t die. They didn’t bother asking questions, not knowing the contract they were getting into— a contract that was binding for eternity and would pass on to their heirs.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. Marie Laveau? The Marie Laveau? The voodoo queen?” Ana’s brow creased and I could see the connections she was beginning to make in her head.
I nodded at her. Why tell her when she was going to figure it out on her own?
“Wasn’t she alive antebellum?”
I nodded again.
“That was around 1830. That’s impossible. That would make your dad one-hundred-and-seventy years old.” She cocked her head to the side. Man, she looked so beautiful.
“He was twenty-nine in 1828, actually, so two hundred and six to be precise.”
“Is this a joke?”
Maybe I should have done better at hiding my amusement when I corrected her. “Not at all. The conditions of the contract are that you don’t age, you can’t die, and you can’t break it. Your work just gets passed on to your heir. That is why we call it a curse.” I clenched my teeth at the name. A curse that we have been living with for centuries.
“So that means,” she turned away in thought, “you’ve taken over.”
“Precisely.” I gauged her reaction.
She turned back toward me. “Well what about Luke? What happened to his parents? And how old is Elizabeth?”
“My father and Luke’s were about the same age when they first met. They were both unmarried. My father wanted to get
married but feared that it would be unfair to his bride because of the way we live. My father was lucky; it took him only fifty years to find Elizabeth, and when he did he couldn’t stay away from her. Eventually Luke’s father found the woman he loved, and eighteen years later, here he is.”
“So he’s not really old then?”
“No. Why, does he look like it?” A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
“No. I just thought...“Her words trailed off and a laugh escaped her. What a sweet sound it was. I made a note that I would have to make her laugh more often.
“You could say Luke is ‘new’ to this.”
“So, y’all are only eighteen. Good to know.”
Uh, oh. “I only said Luke was eighteen.” I couldn’t meet her eyes when I said this.
“Well, how old are you, then?"
“One-hundred-and-twenty-seven.” Wow, I was actually nervous. I wouldn’t have given answering her a second thought if she were familiar with my world. These types of matches happened often in the Underworld. When you live forever, time and age are meaningless. I thought about how long it took Luke’s father to find his mother. How long it took me to find her. “For over one-hundred years, I have been looking for someone like you but have never found her.” I hesitated telling her exactly what it meant, that she was my One. I searched her expression, waiting for any kind of reaction from her. Her eyelids were heavy and she swallowed.
“And now?” Her voice was almost breathless.
“And now I have found her.”
I could feel the magnetism pulling us together. The expression on her face I now identified as desire. Her lips parted with a sharp intake of breath when my gaze lowered from warm blue eyes to her mouth. A pink tongue came out to lick her lips and she leaned slightly toward me. She wanted to kiss me. Could she feel the same pull that we as Hunters felt? Even though she was human, was that possible?
Realization came over her and the spell was broken. “Well, where does that leave me? Why do the Vasquezes want to kill me?”
I was so focused on what she would think of me, that I had forgotten to tell her role in all of this. “Have you ever heard of Delphine LaLaurie?”
Her mouth fell open and she blanched. So she has heard of her. Maybe through some ghost story or researching New Orleans’ history, but her familiarity seemed more than that.
“Tell me Hayden. She’s a ghost now and she wants me dead, right? That’s what this is all about?”
“Yes. For some reason she wants you. She wants you dead and she’s gone to the Vasquezes to do it.”
Her jaw fell open, her forehead creased with worry.
“Ana, you’re safe with me. I would never let them hurt you.”
“But what about you?”
“Me?” I rose my eyebrows at her.
“If this is your job, aren’t you supposed to help them?” I knew what she was asking. Why aren’t we trying to kill her too, if it’s our job? There was no hurt in her voice, only calculated reason. Could I feel any worse?
“We aren’t like the Vasquezes. It isn’t in our contract to harm people. We are obligated to serve but will not hurt a human.”
“What do you do, then, if you don’t kill?”
“We do kill, Ana.” I had to look away when I corrected her. “I have killed many times before. If it’s necessary, we will destroy. Everything about us has been tailored to our job. If someone breaks a rule, then we do whatever is necessary to keep things in line.”
“And what if you don’t? Why can’t you just do nothing?” She lifted her chin like it would be that easy.
“If we fail then we are destroyed, and everyone and everything we have ever loved will be punished to eternal damnation and banishment from this world. We have never dared to think of the consequences, knowing what we could lose. Now that I have you, I know that more than ever.”
Her face lightened at this last bit of information.
“You never cease to amaze me. So, you’re not at all worried about having a ghost wanting your blood and sending a dangerous gang of Hunters to do it?”
A laugh escaped her and it was a glorious sound.
“You’d still want to be with me, after knowing what I am?”
“How could you say that?” She grabbed my hand and her touch was completely distracting.
“I’ve been so selfish when it comes to you. I won’t let you go, despite the implications.”
I felt her finger softly stroke the inside of my palm. Now she was comforting me? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? “You’ve protected me. I see that now. Everything you did at the LaLaurie house that one night, and the kidnapping. I get it now.”
“This isn’t a normal life. It was really hard on my mother. She had to leave everything behind.”
“Hayden, I don’t have anything.” A small 'v' formed on her forehead, probably at the memories of the hurricane and the conversation with her father.
“The other world is not like this one. You will never have a normal life, like being able to go out with friends while not worrying about ghosts, voodouns, or someone trying to kill you.”
She laughed without humor. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to push me away.”
“Never. But I could never forgive myself if I knew you didn’t know what you were getting into. If, down the line, you started having regrets, if you started to resent me, you don’t know what it would do to me.”
“The way you make me feel isn’t something I am used to. It’s overwhelming, really. I didn’t know somebody could feel this way about someone else. I didn’t know love would feel this way. I know I am inexperienced,” she looked away and flushed, “but I think it is something worth risking everything for, despite your thinking you are keeping me here against my will.” She smiled coyly now, the blush gone. “I am here because I want to be with you. Besides, I have never been normal, especially now.”
“Why do you say that?”
She hesitated. “Well, it’s just that … I can see the future. In my dreams I mean. And sometimes the future isn’t pleasant. That’s why I have nightmares.”
“Ana, you don’t see the future. Your dreams are haunted. I’m sorry.”
“Haunted? How? Why?”
“The paranormal can get into your dreams as a way of haunting you. LaLaurie is after you, so it’s only logical that this is happening to you. Why did you think you were seeing the future?”
Her eyes darted side to side, “My dreams come true. Like meeting you—I saw you and Luke coming. And the hurricane, and Mr. White’s wife dying in a car accident…”
She really predicted all of those things? What was she? Maybe I was right, I knew she was different. Special. “You dreamt about us before we met?”
“The night before the first day of school, I had a dream that there were two new students.”
“I’m not sure what it all means. I assume it’s still LaLaurie haunting you. She could have made you think that you could see the future by manipulating your dreams and then carrying out their actions the next day, like Mr. White’s wife. But that wouldn’t explain you dreaming Luke and I were coming to Ecole Classique. I’ll have to tell my parents to see if they have an explanation. Is that okay?”
She nodded with complete trust.
I stood up, offering her my hand. “Come on. I’m sure they’re all really anxious to see how you took it. It’s not what I expected, that’s for certain.”
“Oh, really? And what did you expect?” her tone was playful.
“Oh, I don’t know. Running, crying, fainting, the usual,” I teased.
“Hey! That’s not fair! You’re not the easiest kidnapper!” Her smile was contagious and all I could think about was tasting her lips again. Impulsively, I grabbed her and pressed a kiss to her mouth before opening the door.
I chuckled when I set her down and she stumbled out the door. I was pleased that I could have that effect on her.
My family was waiting in the
kitchen. They knew we were coming but only turned when we had entered the room. My mother, I never saw her more unsure. Even my father looked nervous. I turned to Ana who gave them a disarming smile and my parents immediately melted.
My father extended his hand, smiling a little too brightly. “Adriana, the circumstances earlier prevented me from introducing myself. I’m Christopher, Hayden’s father. I believe you have met my wife, Elizabeth.”
“Yes, she took very good care of me.” Ana was polite and charming. “Your son as well,” she looked at me, her words laced with meaning.
“Welcome to our family. Please consider this your home, and of course you are welcome to stay as long as you wish.”
I had told my father about her situation and he knew about the aftermath of the hurricane.
Ana bit her lip, looking embarrassed. I came up behind her, engulfing her in my arms. She fit perfectly. “We’ll go home as soon as we can,” I whispered in her ear. She turned to look up at me. Nothing gave me more pleasure than how she gazed at me right then. “Would you like a tour?”
“Oh, yes.” I seemed to have taken her out of a reverie.
I took her hand to lead her out to the balcony. It was still night, but I knew she would appreciate the sea and salt breeze. I couldn’t wait to show her everything in the daylight. We passed Luke on our way out; again I had almost forgotten he was even there. He was being so quiet, which was unusual, especially for him. I ignored him. I wasn’t going to let it ruin the unbelievable good mood I was having.
Chapter Thirteen
The next few weeks with Ana went by perfectly and I wondered how much longer we would be able to live like this until something, or someone, sabotaged it. I knew Ana was missing home, but I had never seen her more carefree than she was when she was barefoot on the beach. We never left the compound and I hoped she wasn’t beginning to resent me for such protections. My family’s home was large, and we owned most of the beach around it. I had tried to keep her occupied each day by taking her out to do different things. Most importantly, I had to keep her protected. Which meant I couldn’t leave her. Luke was gone constantly, taking over the obligation to Hunt. Ana, on the other hand, continued predicting the future in her dreams. I didn’t know what it meant that she could see things in her dreams, and each time a prediction occurred it just confirmed that it was not the work of LaLaurie haunting to her. Never was that more true than with the incident on Halloween night when she snuck out and followed Luke out on a hunt to a night club in Ybor City. It was then I knew that the little slice of normal I tried to create for us, wasn’t going to last. Since she saved Luke’s life that night, he has been going out of his way to stay out of the house and avoid her.
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