* * *
LANDON
* * *
My heart stopped.
The moment that naga jumped over Tessa, throwing her to the sand, my heart stopped.
I had just buried my sword on the naga I had been fighting, when I turned and saw that horrifying image.
One moment, I was frozen in place, too shocked, too scared to move.
The next second, I had my sword out and was running toward her. The naga was too focused on controlling Tessa, on getting her under its spell to notice me. I didn’t stop running until my sword had gone through the naga’s back.
The naga let out a loud growl, but I had gone straight for the heart. He slumped into my hold. I pulled the sword out, and he fell over Tessa. She screamed, desperately trying to get out from under the naga’s heavy body.
With a groan, I was able to roll the naga’s body to the side, and Tessa scurried back, trying to get as much distance from him as she could. Her shirt and hands were covered with the naga’s dark green blood.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I said, reaching for her.
Her eyes were wide and wild. “He … he had me. The moment he jumped over me, and I had nowhere to look. He had me.” She paused. “I was under his spell.”
I cursed under my breath. I shouldn’t have brought her here. She would have been safer at the manor, tied to her bed, with Amber and Sophia watching over her. Otherwise, I knew she would find a way to cut herself free.
“Tessa, I—”
Her big eyes widened some more. “Watch out!”
I turned in time to see a naga coming at us, claws up, teeth bared. He swung a thick arm at me, and I ducked. I threw my free arm out, in a middle block, stopping his other arm from reaching me. The impact jarred my arm and shoulder, but I held firm. Impatient, the naga brought his two scaly claws up, leaving his midsession open. To avoid his claws as they came down, I knelt and buried my sword in his stomach, then rolled to the side.
The naga howled in pain. He reached for the sword, but I was already on it. I pulled one of the daggers strapped to my waist and finished the job, piercing his heart.
The naga’s red eyes turned glassy, and he fell into the sand.
Disgusted by all the dark blood on the naga, I stepped on his torso and pulled out both my weapons.
Then, the beach went quiet.
I looked around.
The hunters all stood above the bodies of fallen nagas. At least the light from the lampposts didn’t illuminate the beach that well, making it hard to see the gore spread around us. Dozens of bodies and dark blood stained the sand. I knew some hunters were probably hurt too, but hopefully nothing more.
Once more, we had won. I wondered when this lucky streak would end.
I wiped my dagger and sword on my pants. Shit, my pants were worse than my weapons. So was my shirt.
And Tessa.
I turned to her and found her on her feet, her arms extended in front of her, her nose scrunched in disgust. If I didn’t know she was freaking out, I would have found it funny.
She wiped her hands on her back, but then the sand was sticking on her palms and the scrunch on her nose increased.
I glanced to the hunters. Usually, we stayed here all night, to make sure no naga came back. Once the sun was back up, their window closed again, and we could leave. But I had already had one scare tonight, and from the look on Tessa’s face, I wasn’t sure how long she would last.
Douglas walked up to me. His eyes were on Tessa a few feet to my side. “You should take her home,” he said, his voice still harsh.
“I was thinking about that,” I confessed. “Will you guys be okay?”
He shrugged. “They probably won’t come back. And if they do, we can handle it.” His brows furrowed. “Just … get her out of here.”
I nodded in agreement, and he walked away without another word.
Letting out a long sigh, I went to Tessa.
“This is sickening,” she muttered, lifting her eyes to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Not counting all this sticky blood and sand all over me, yeah, I’m fine.”
I took one step closer, halting a foot from her. She raised her chin to look into my eyes. “Are you okay?” I repeated.
She gulped. “I think so.” Her voice was quieter than usual. “I thought … At the beginning of the fight, I thought I could resist them.”
“It’s hard to resist them.”
She punched my shoulder. “Then why did you bring me here?”
I gaped at her. “We already went over this. If I had told you about the nagas’ powers, you would tell me you could resist it, and when I left you at the manor, you would have followed. Am I not right?”
She averted her eyes. “No,” she lied.
I showed her a small smile. “You can’t trick me.”
“I can try.”
My smile widened. “Yes, you can, but I prefer you don’t.” My smile faded. “It was a mistake. Bringing you here. I should have known better.” I shook my head, thinking of all Isaac had gone through to keep her safe and away from this world, and here I was, bringing her right into the thick of it. Shit, this was so wrong. “It won’t happen again.”
She clicked her tongue. “I’m fine, don’t obsess over it.”
I stared at her, at the determination and defiance and energy stamped into her blue eyes. I offered her my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
* * *
TESSA
* * *
My stomach revolted as Landon took another bite of his huge cheeseburger. “How can you eat after that?”
After we had left the beach, Landon decided he was hungry. Me, on the other hand, couldn’t even think about food without feeling sick. So, despite my arguments, Landon drove us to the Dark Horse Diner downtown to grab some food. He wanted to stay and eat there, but with all the nagas blood and the sand on me? Nope, all I wanted was a long, warm shower. So, while he went inside to get his food, I stayed in his car outside.
Then he drove us to the manor and sat around the island in the kitchen—Landon devouring his burger and me drinking water.
Landon wiped his lips with a napkin. “I’ve been doing this for years. You get used to it.”
He had been doing this for a long time.
He had mentioned they had to defend the beach from nagas every Summer Solstice. But … “Why? Why do the nagas come? What do they want?”
Landon swallowed hard. “Because … when a male naga has sex with a human female during Summer Solstice, they sire sirens.”
“You mean sirens like those mermaids who lure pirate ships to the rocks?”
“They aren’t exactly mermaids, and they lure men, any men, to drown.”
“Oh, wow.” The list of supernaturals was growing. It was amazing—and terrifying. “About the fight, how are you sure you didn’t let any naga pass?”
He took a sip of his soda. “We don’t. We do our best to catch them all, and we certainly hope we do. But it happened a couple of times before, when we couldn’t stop them all, and they succeeded.”
“And when did the hunters started defending the beach from these attacks?”
“I’m not sure. Probably right after the Sanctum was formed and moved to Willow Harbor over a hundred years ago. As far as I know, it was your great-great-grandfather Ezra who started it all.”
I tilted my head. “Tell me more.”
He lifted his hazel eyes at me. “About?”
“My father. And you.”
He paused. “What do you want to know?”
I shrugged. “I know nothing about him.”
“Okay.” He took another bite of his burger. After chewing and swallowing, he asked, “Do you know how he found me?”
“Only that you and your family were the victims of a demon attack. You survived, and my father took you in.”
He nodded. “That’s the succinct version.”
“And what’s the long version?�
��
He didn’t answer right away, and I thought he wouldn’t. Then, he started, “I was ten when my father got mixed up with demons. He was oblivious to the supernatural world, and didn’t know the men he worked with were more than simple investors. Not long after, the demons invaded our house and attacked my family. Isaac and Douglas, who had been tracking the demons, arrived right when one of the demons possessed my father and advanced on my mother, my older brother, and me. My mother was killed before anyone was able to move. My brother sustained heavy wounds and didn’t survive. The demon broke my arm and stabbed me in the stomach before Isaac was able to pull him off me. But then the demon stabbed his own chest—my father’s chest. Isaac was able to banish the demon before he fled my father’s body.” He let go of the last piece of his burger and wiped his hands on a napkin.
I crossed my arms over the island and leaned forward. “Then?”
“Then Isaac pressed his folded jacket against my wound and said, ‘You’ll be okay.’ At first, I didn’t believe him. I had just lost my father, my mother, and my brother. Even if I survived, how would I be okay? But Isaac took me in and shoved me into the hunting business. For the first few years, he trained me—fighting skills, how to handle guns and rifles, the art of stealth, how to detect demons or ghosts or witches, how to kill each of them. He took me on smaller cases first. I still remember the first time I killed a lesser demon and banished a ghost. I was thirteen when he finally let me go with him and Douglas on a bigger hunt. I messed up real bad and got Douglas hurt. But in the end, Isaac cleaned it up. He trained me hard—harder—for the next two years before we tried again. I’ve been hunting with him since.”
I reached over the island and took his hand in mine. “I’m sorry.”
He stared at our joined hands for a moment before looking into my eyes. “For?”
“For your family.”
He shrugged. “It’s fine. It was thirteen years ago.”
I squeezed his hand. “It doesn’t matter. They were your family.”
He pulled his hand away and down the island. “So was Isaac.”
Right. My father had been his new father. I could never forget that. “I’m sorry about that too.”
“You already said that after the funeral.”
I frowned. Why was he being so harsh all of a sudden? “Right.”
He stood, bunching up the wrapper of his burger and piling the trash inside its brown bag. “I’m tired, and I desperately need a shower.”
“Right.” I shot to my feet too. “Yeah, me too.” While we talked, I had forgotten how filthy I was, but now that he had mentioned it, I itched to get all of this off my skin and clothes.
Landon threw his trash away. “Good night,” he said. Without looking back, he marched away.
Fifteen
LANDON
* * *
Homework.
Early Sunday morning, I found Tessa alone in the dining room with a big cup of coffee, doing her homework while everyone else was asleep or out hunting.
“At least my professors were kind enough to send me the lessons and homework by email,” she said, her eyes focused on her iPad. “Some professors would have said no and let me screw the entire semester.”
“So that’s your plan? To do homework all day today?”
“Not all day.” She looked up at me. “Just for another hour or two, if that’s okay.” A knot appeared between her brows. “Why? Have you found another clue? Another victim?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. But we do have lots of clues. I would like to hit the library and see if we can find a book on demons.”
She picked up a pen and a notepad. “The library? What kind of library would have that kind of book?”
A corner of my lips curled up, and I almost grinned at her. “A magical one.”
She gasped. “Really?”
“This is Willow Harbor, after all.”
“That sounds so cool.” She tapped the tip of her pen on her chin. “Just give me an hour. I want to go with you.”
One hour. One hour where we could be exploring the shelves at the library and finding something useful. Instead, I was stuck in the manor, watching Tessa do homework.
“Okay.” She pushed her iPad and notepad away. “I can’t focus when I know there’s a magical library waiting for me.” She stood. “Wait. Isn’t it Sunday? The library is closed.”
I offered her a small grin. “Not with the connections we have.”
She returned my smile. “Then let’s go.”
Less than ten minutes later, I parked my car in front of the library. It looked like a mini Roman temple with beige stone walls, thick, round pillars, and a dome ceiling high above the solid structure.
“What is that?”
I followed Tessa’s line of sight. At the other side of the street, dozens of people milled around the square, erecting what looked like tents and building a small, wooden stage.
“The festival.”
She glanced at me. “Festival?”
“Yeah. Every Sunday around noon, the Sunday on the Square starts, and it goes until nine at night. There’s food, games, and music. It brings out most of the townspeople.”
She smiled. “It sounds fun.”
“Right, fun.” I shook my head and entered the library.
“Whoa,” Tessa whispered from behind me. “That’s a lot of wood.” I narrowed my eyes, once more putting myself in her shoes. It was true. The place was all wood. A huge wooden desk sat right in the front. Wood floors, wood panels, and wood arches. And lots of books.
Mr. G. usually manned the front desk, but as it was Sunday, the place was almost deserted.
Mattie appeared from a side shelf and smiled at us. “Good morning.”
“Hey.” I turned to Tessa. “Tessa, this is Mattie, the librarian.” Then, I gestured to Tessa. “Mattie, this is Tessa, Isaac’s daughter.”
Her smile faded. “I’m sorry about your father.”
Tessa’s brow dipped down. “Thank you.”
I looked around the shelves, looking for Pierce. I had no doubt he was here somewhere, watching over his woman.
“So, is there anything I can help you with?” Mattie asked.
I returned my attention to her. “Not really. I need to go underground.”
“Oh, okay.” She pulled out keys from the pocket of her pants and handed it to me.
I closed my hand around the cool metal. “Thanks.”
“I’ll leave you to it then.” Mattie stepped aside, allowing us to proceed to the back of the library.
As Tessa and I walked down a narrow aisle, she narrowed her eyes at me. “Two questions. One, why didn’t you use your master key to enter, and two, what do you mean by going underground?”
I glanced at her sideways. “I knew if I called Mattie would open the library for me, so no need to use my master key and break in. However, my master key doesn’t open this door.” Using the key Mattie had lent to me, I unlocked a heavy wooden door and pushed it open, revealing dark stairs leading down. “And … this is underground.”
She gulped, staring at the stairs.
I suppressed a chuckle and nudged her forward. I guided her down until we reached a long corridor with a few weak lamps on the walls, imitating sconces and lit torches. Every ten feet or so, a door appeared.
“Here.” I stepped through one of the doors, and instantly, the lights on the ceiling turned on. Tessa gasped. I held back a chuckle. “It’s a motion sensor.”
“Oh.” Her lips turned down into a pout. “Where’s the magic?”
“Because crossing into a room that isn’t supposed to exist isn’t magic?”
“No, unless I see the magic. Like pretty pink sparkles or a wave of a wand and someone saying an incantation.”
I frowned at her. “You’ve been reading too many fantasy novels.”
She shrugged. “At least I have fun with them.” She glanced around at the large room with stone walls and one large mahogany desk i
n the center, two high chairs, and one long shelf filled with books. Several paintings of demons adorned the otherwise plain walls. Tessa made a face at one of them and shuddered. Then, she looked back at me. “Fun, you know? Like the festival across the street.”
I shook my head once. “Okay, drop it.”
“So, this is the magical room, Mr. Grumpy Hunter?”
I did my best not to roll my eyes at her. “Did I mention it’s a magical room? For instance, this room is different for each person who enters here.” I walked to the bookshelf. “And all these books are about demons.” I picked out four heavy, leather-bound books and brought them to the table.
She put a hand on her hips. “And you want to read them all?”
I sat down on one of the chairs. “Not necessarily read, but we should skim through them and make a pile of books that might be useful.”
“Yay,” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “So much fun.”
I patted the chair beside mine. “Just come and help me. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll find something.”
With a groan, Tessa dragged her feet and plopped down on the chair. I bit back a chuckle.
* * *
TESSA
* * *
The library had been amazing. Well, not the part where we spent hours reading hundreds of old books just to find a big nothing. At least, nothing useful for our case. Even so, I made a mental note to come back here another time, before I left town and went back to my normal life. I wanted to check out what else was hidden there. Books about witches? Vampires? Dragons? I suddenly wanted to know it all.
“Oh, the festival,” I exclaimed as we left the library. “It started.”
In the two hours we had been inside the library, the town square had come to life. There were colorful stands spread out with food, sweets, drinks, arts and crafts, and games. There were even a few stands selling clothes and shoes and purses and jewelry.
Hunter’s Revenge: Willow Harbor - book 3 Page 11
