Inheritance: (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (Heart Lines Series Book 2)

by Heather Hildenbrand

  Aunt Kiwi’s house was right on the beach at the southern end of the island, and I’d already spent time in the ocean every single day, snorkeling and watching the different tropical fish. It helped shut my mind off, at least for a little while.

  Before long, the calling inside me was too strong to ignore. It was growing louder by the day, too—a fact that I hadn’t yet mentioned to my trusty sidekick. It would only worry him. Hell, it worried me.

  I called it the Knowing but truthfully, I had no clue what it was. A voice, though it wasn’t quite as clear as all that. An innate sense. Mirabelle, my boss back home and the town oracle, would call it intuition but it felt more “other” than that. Like it was someone else trying to get me to see or hear something important.

  The wolves.

  It was the clearest message I had. Nothing specific about them just “the wolves.” And it whispered to me now until my palms itched. Nothing new there. In fact, I’d felt the itching and tingling so often now, that I knew without a doubt what would happen if I closed my palm.

  Instead of giving into the urge and scaring the shit out of RJ when I came away with a fistful of fur, I dropped my hand into the water and concentrated on the surge of energy inside me that came with the tingling. It always seemed to pour outward from my chest, like adrenaline when your heart rate spikes.

  My breath caught and I felt every vibration from the thudding of my own pulse inside me. Then, an overwhelm like dizziness washed over me and something quick and sharp and translucent shot from my fingertips. I jumped and then watched with wide eyes as it stabbed into the brightly colored coral near the bottom of the water.

  Instantly, the coral that had been hit turned from its orangey-pink to black. It jarred me and I sucked in a sharp breath, remembering the same black lines coating the veins of my friend, Bernard, a werewolf who had become infected and then turned feral. I still had nightmares about burying his body with—

  Nope. Wasn’t thinking of him.

  I frowned down at the coral, watching and waiting, not even sure what else I expected. But something. It couldn’t just turn black and then …die. That wasn’t my power. Or my destiny. To hurt things. But nothing else happened and the surge inside my veins receded until there was only the steady rise and fall of my own normal breaths.

  Underneath the water, the coral looked dead.

  Damn.

  I had several memories of using magic, but those instances had all been intuition. I’d just sort of touched whatever it was that needed help, and the magic did the rest. So far, I’d healed a wounded bird, my aunt Kiwi, and Alex Channing. Looking back, I’d never consciously meant to and I’d never really understood how it had worked. Unfortunately, even with my memory returned, none of it came with the instructions about how to repeat the process. And no matter how hard I tried to figure it out on my own, it always backfired.

  Hell, I’d just killed part of the coral reef in the Marianas Trench. That was not progress. And I had no idea how to explain this to Tara in my weekly reports to her. The feedback was a requirement of being on the payroll at CHAS but so far, my information was pretty scant. All I had was a feeling that I was supposed to help the sick werewolves. And no idea what step to take next to accomplish it.

  Kiwi had suggested I meditate but every time I’d tried since arriving, I fell asleep thanks to jet lag. Maybe I could try it again once I recovered.

  The wolves.

  Yeah, yeah. The wolves. I sighed.

  My mouth was dry from the hike and the swim but we’d left our clothes and gear back on the beach. Not quite ready to leave yet, I rolled onto my back and stared instead at the sky instead.

  Clear blue with small white clouds dotting the distance. A perfect day.

  RJ sighed and I shifted my gaze. His shoulders were taut and I could tell he wasn’t enjoying the moment like I was. Probably thinking about work again.

  So far, he’d handled all of the logistics of our travel and the phone calls to CHAS for me. All I had to do was write an email outlining any progress. He spoke to Tara, I assumed, but I hadn’t asked. I had agreed to come on board with their organization as a means for resources while I figured some things out. But I wasn’t quite ready to forget the fact that my former best friend and her boyfriend had been the ones to screw with my head—and my life—for going on three years now. Forgiveness was one thing. Moving on was another. Tara and I were still… strained.

  RJ seemed to understand this without needing to be told. For that, I was grateful.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” I said. When he turned to look at me, his dark eyes were stormy and I tensed automatically. “What is it?”

  He hesitated, dropping his gaze to the sand, his brows furrowing as he dragged a finger around in a circular design. “Do you think he’s okay?”

  I sucked in a breath.

  So much for not talking about it.

  “I mean… if something happened… we’d have heard so…” RJ licked his lip and his shoulders fell as he looked back over at me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up. I know you don’t want to talk about him.”

  “It’s fine.” I sat up, brushing my hair from my eyes. It was matted and stringy from the salt water but I didn’t care. The sun felt so good against my skin. I hadn’t felt comfortable in a bathing suit before, too afraid to draw attention to myself when I felt so strange. It was nice to have that comfortability back. It was getting easier to be inside my own skin these days. “I just… there’s nothing to say. He left.”

  RJ nodded but he didn’t respond and I cocked my head.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “Nothing,” he said, eyes widening.

  “RJ,” I pressed. “Just say it.”

  His gaze skittered back to the beach and then the drawings he’d made in the sand. “I just think you should know… Alex doesn’t seem like the type to stay. I mean, I doubt he would have stuck even if you had healed him.”

  Something in my chest twisted. Or maybe it was the knife in my back reminded me it was there. “Not helping,” I said.

  “Sorry.” He winced. “I suck at this heart to heart thing. What I meant is that even if he wanted to stay, I don’t think he could. Alex is a drifter. I’ve read his file and after living with him and getting to know him for even a short time… He’s just never stayed in one place, with one person, for too long. Did you know he doesn’t have an address?”

  I looked up at him sharply and narrowed my eyes, but I wasn’t mad. Just trying to remember. Had he ever said anything about home? “No, I didn’t know,” I admitted. “He said he was from North Carolina. They moved around a lot before his parents died but… I didn’t know,” I repeated.

  Guilt stung.

  I felt like I should’ve made more of an effort to know something like that.

  Anyway, it didn’t matter now.

  Alex had lied to me about everything and then he’d left.

  “I’m not saying he’s not a jackass,” RJ said, almost exactly echoing my thoughts. My mouth curved upward. “I’m just saying he was bound to run eventually.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said.

  “Do you think he’s okay? I mean, the venom…”

  I sighed. I knew what he was asking. Did I think Alex was dead. “I think we would have heard,” I say haltingly, because honestly, I’m not completely sure of that. I don’t know that Tara would tell me things. Not after erasing my memory and lying about it.

  But they’d tell RJ. I think.

  Again, my chest ached.

  But the sun was out and Guam was waiting. And I refused to let this new sense of freedom and fearlessness be ruined by a guy who wasn’t even here. Even if that guy was Alex Channing. And even if I suspected the key to my healing magic was the only thing that would save him from the venom trying to end his life.

  “Right. Well, speaking of running,” I said, climbing to my feet and dusting the sand from my palms. “How about double or nothing back to the beach?”

 
RJ’s brow rose. He didn’t even bother to jump up. “Two nights’ worth of dish duty, huh? You know your aunt is having another party for us tomorrow night. That’s a lot of dishes.”

  I shrugged. “I think I saw a shark earlier. Maybe you’ll get eaten on the way back and I’ll win by default.”

  “What makes you think he’d want me and not you?”

  “Are you kidding?” I said. “You said it yourself. I’m practically a local. And everyone knows Guam sharks like mainlanders best.”

  I heard him laugh but the curse that followed was muted as I dove in and started swimming manically toward shore. Maybe that had always been my problem: taking on impossible odds. Hopefully, this was one time I’d find a miracle and come out on top. Hopefully, this time, I’d win.

  Chapter Two

  Alex

  The bearded clerk at the post office stared at me, his one singly bushy unibrow wrinkled and lip curled back in disgust. “Sir, you have a certain…odor…” he said and then trailed off, his nose wrinkling. I couldn’t blame him for leaving that hanging. Because how did one finish off a sentence like that? Still. Asshole. It wasn’t my fault I’d been on a route with barely any gas stations and absolutely no motels available for three days now. His was the first human face I’d seen in twenty-four hours and this was my greeting. Figured.

  I glared at him. I knew I looked like garbage but this guy wasn’t even trying to be polite. I snatched the padded envelope from his hand and scowled at him.

  “You’re no prize horse either, you know,” I muttered.

  And then I spun on my heel—almost losing my balance in the process—and stalked out. My spine was stiff as I left the post office that also doubled as a trading post and a diner. Mostly to show my irritation to the clerk but also because I couldn’t rid myself of the soreness that came with driving all day every day for eight days straight.

  I shoved the front door open and waded back out into the sunshine that was dangerously deceiving. Cheerful? Yes. Warm? Hell, no. Alaska was fucking freezing.

  In fact, my route up had been riddled with detours since several of the roads had been closed or snowed in. But I wasn’t about to admit that driving to Alaska in December was a bad idea. After my first assignment in Wyoming had ended sooner than I’d thought—a civilian thing Edie had helped me get—I needed another reason to stay away. Hell, if I was being honest, I needed to keep moving. To prove to myself that I could.

  CHAS wasn’t going to reinstate me, not what with the whole “dying” thing still happening, but Edie had offered to run me on a side mission backed by a third party investigation company. A private firm contracted by CHAS but not subject to their policies. Also, these guys didn’t know I was dying. So, Alaska it was.

  My phone rang just as I made it back to the truck. I climbed inside and cranked the engine for heat before I answered. When I saw the name on the screen, I opted for speakerphone so I could open the package I’d picked up while I talked.

  “Hey, Edie,” I said, setting the phone on the dashboard and rubbing my hands together in front of the heating vents.

  “Where are you?” she asked. No preamble or pleasantries. I appreciated that about her.

  “I don’t know. Somewhere outside Whitehorse. Had to stop to pick up a refill of those herbs Mirabelle’s been mixing for me,” I said, tearing open the envelope I’d had shipped here.

  “How is it working out? Still helping?” she asked.

  “Define ‘helping’,” I said and she made a clicking sound with her tongue. “I’m still alive,” I added as if that clarified. And, I guess it did.

  I opened the dropper with the homemade remedy Mirabelle had sent me and swallowed a double dose. It went down with a slight burn thanks to the grain alcohol she cut everything with.

  “That’s always good news,” she said drily. There was a pause that felt ominous and I realized she had a reason for calling me other than checking for a pulse.

  “What is it?” I asked, tossing the medicine aside and sitting up straighter. I grabbed for the phone and held it up closer to my ear. As if that would somehow make her spit it out.

  “Look, I don’t know all of your reasons for leaving Half Moon Bay, son, and I respect that it’s none of my business. But CHAS has uncovered some things that I thought might interest you.”

  “Like what?” I asked, unease stabbing at me like a six-pack of butcher knives. Of course she didn’t know all my reasons. No one on Earth did. And it was better left that way.

  Edie hesitated. “After all those feral wolves turning up in Half Moon, especially lately—”

  “What do you mean? How many have there been lately?” I asked sharply. If Edie was offended that I’d spoken so harshly, she didn’t call me on it. I think we both knew I was only pissed at myself.

  She sighed. “Thirteen since you left.”

  “Thirteen—? Are you kidding me?” I almost threw the phone against the windshield but reined it in at the last second, breathing hard through my nose.

  “She’s fine,” Edie said, hitting the nail on the head about why I was losing my shit right now. I exhaled, still pissed—mostly at myself—but relieved. Edie continued. “Your theory is correct. They are attracted to her like some kind of supernatural magnet. We’ve been trying to understand why. Using the remains of the infected that RJ and his team have put down—”

  “Team?” I echoed, not liking that one bit.

  “There’s been an attack almost every other day, Alex,” Edie said, scoldingly. “We had to put more than just RJ on it.”

  “Who?” I asked, hating that I felt like a jealous child.

  “Tara. And Wes and Derek when they have time. The rest aren’t getting close to her. Just keeping an eye from a distance.”

  That made me feel mildly less violent. Wesley St. John excluded. But—

  “Why are you keeping them at a distance? Edie, if something happens to her—”

  “Relax. I’m handling it personally to see that nothing does,” she said sharply and I knew I’d reached the limit of veiled threats Edie Godfrey was willing to take from me. “Listen, I’m trying to tell you what we’ve discovered. Now, can you listen or do I need to call back?”

  “Listening,” I said through closed teeth.

  “Good. Now, we’ve reached out to other research facilities across the globe and as we previously thought, this problem with the werewolves becoming sick or infected is international, but you were right. It’s much more concentrated in Half Moon. But it’s not just the higher concentration of infected, it’s the fact that they’re being drawn there. That’s not happening anywhere else.”

  “But we don’t know why,” I said, leaning my head back against the back windshield until it thudded on the glass.

  “We’ve been working with some of the experts from the werewolf records and historical sites, and the theory is that they aren’t getting infected, not exactly. You know the legend about the werewolves’ second souls?”

  “Yes.”

  “Their humanity is derived from being part human. You take that away and…”

  “They’re wild,” I said, raising my head up again as it all came together. “Not sick. Just … completely animal.”

  “And a little desperate to reverse it,” she said.

  “It makes sense,” I said. “And the attraction to Half Moon?” I said, my voice tightening on the last words. We both knew it wasn’t Half Moon attracting them. But I couldn’t bring myself to say her name aloud.

  “If her ability to heal is as big as she says, maybe they can sense it. Maybe they’re drawn to the magic,” Edie said. But she sounded uncertain. And we both knew it was only a hunch at this point, considering Sam hadn’t actually healed anyone. Not since Wes had given her memories back, anyway.

  “How are you going to stop them from pouring into town?” I asked.

  “No idea,” Edie admitted. “For now, we’ve sent her on vacation.”

  “Vacation?” I sat up, ready to go off again
but Edie stopped me.

  “Well, okay, vacation and recon. And don’t start with me. We’re handling it, trust me. And don’t bother asking where she is. I’m not going to tell you.”

  “Now, you’re just being mean.”

  “No, I’m being a grown-up. You should try it sometime.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning if you want to know where she is, ask her yourself.”

  “Are you going to tell her about the second soul theory?”

  “When she gets home, she’ll be briefed. I’m not asking for your opinion, Alex. I’m telling you as a courtesy.”

  I pressed my lips together, biting back any comment. She was right. I didn’t deserve even this. But recon? That could only mean one thing: CHAS was hoping Sam really was the key to their cure. And if that happened, if they started pushing her to do more magic in volume like that… I didn’t want to think about the consequences. Mirabelle had called it a price, but dammit, it was so much more complicated than that.

  “You should call Koby,” I said.

  “The empath?” Edie asked in surprise.

  “Yeah. His talent reminds me of hers. Maybe he can help her figure out how to use it,” I said. Koby was a hunter I’d met a couple of years back when he helped with pain management of a girl I’d seen willingly turn from hunter to hybrid. He’d been able to take some of her pain for himself, leaving her to overcome less and survive the transition. And he was still sane. But I didn’t mention that perk to Edie.

  “He transferred out a while back but I’ll see what I can do,” Edie said. “In the meantime, keep taking your medicine. Check in with me regularly. This mission is all about intel, so don’t go killing anything, got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “And Alex? Do not die in Alaska, do you understand me?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said, my lips curving at her demands.

  We ended our call and I headed for the main highway, the medicine finally lifting the worst of the burning inside me. The venom had sure upped its game in the last couple of weeks. But Edie didn’t know that. And even if she did, in the end, she wouldn’t have changed her orders. And I planned to do everything I could to follow them.