Hunter, Hunted: a New Adult Fantasy Novel (The Spire Chronicles Book 1)

by Ashley Meira

  I sat up with a big yawn. Now that I thought about it, was Ipos going to the funeral? I can’t believe I never asked him. After all the time we’d spent together this week, I’d gotten so used to his presence that it felt weird being in my room alone.

  Fortunately, I wasn’t alone for long. There was a soft tap at the door before it opened to reveal Alex. He was wearing a sleek black suit that had been clearly tailored for him, fitting against his body in a way that was tasteful and attractive.

  “Knock, knock.”

  “Hey, you.” I gave him a warm smile as I pulled the blankets higher. “I’d get up, but I’m naked. So…yeah. How’d you get in here?”

  “Rowan let me in. Said she was on her way out. Also, I’ve seen you naked before.” He gave me that smile I hadn’t realized I missed so much. “Can I come in?”

  I patted the empty space next to me. It was so good to see him. So good that I considered punching my fist through the wall just so I could stop feeling like I was turning into this giant ball of fluff.

  Alex took my outstretched hand in his as he sat down. “How are you feeling?”

  Sore. Sexed out. Confused. Hungry. “Fine. Did you find out anything about Fake-Corrigan?”

  “Vampire. Sorcerer. Mystery.”

  I blinked at him a few times. “So, no.”

  Shapeshifting was not among the talents a magic user possessed. Shifters could do it (obviously) werewolves could do it (because they were technically shifters, too, but dear God, do not ever say that in front of either species unless you want to die) and certain vampire mages could do it. Since vampires were the only creatures on that list that Ipos mentioned were in the warehouse that night, we put our money on Fake-Corrigan being a vampire. An evil, douchebag vampire.

  Alex gave me an apologetic smile. “That’s all we got. He dropped a talisman. Did the Council tell you if they found out anything about it?”

  I shook my head and sighed, but didn’t say anything about the talisman. That was what the vampire had dropped when he escaped. Ipos had managed to salvage it from the charred remains of the factory. I couldn’t pull anything from it, though, and if anyone else had ever seen it, they were keeping it a secret, because there were absolutely no leads. It was magical and demonic. That’s all we knew. The Council had it now. Hopefully, they would find something.

  He squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry. I know you were hoping to find out something about your mother from him.”

  “I haven’t given hope on that,” I said. “I have a feeling our paths will cross again, and when they do, I’ll get my answers. By any means necessary. How about you?” I asked, trying to focus on something else. “How have you been?”

  “Thomas Campbell is a very accomplished, very overbearing man.”

  “Got reamed, huh?”

  “I could say the same for you.” He gave me a tight, rather uncomfortable smile as he surveyed the bed. “There’s a lot of demonic energy around.”

  “You know me, I hate being alone.”

  “I don’t know you, actually. Not as well as I’d like to.” His eyes were back on me, and I had to force myself not to look away.

  Tucking some hair behind my ear, I said, “Well, there’s still time before the funeral.”

  Alex laughed. The sound was warm, and surprisingly lighthearted. Youthful, even. “That isn’t what I meant.”

  “Aw, did you want to be fwiends?” I asked with an exaggerated pout.

  “Maybe a bit more.”

  I looked at him, into his beautiful, sincere blue eyes. Part of me could see it. The image of us walking hand in hand through the park, or staring at each other lovingly across a candle lit dinner table. Maybe one day even walking down the aisle in a long white dress, and later, hearing the pitter patter of tiny baby feet. This time, there weren’t even any pain meds I could blame for this little segue.

  “Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn’t become a hunter?” I asked, viewing those images again with a wistful sigh. “If you were just normal?”

  He leaned against the headboard. “Assuming everyone I grew up with hadn’t been killed?” Awkward. I nodded. “I don’t know. My dad was a farmer. I was supposed to take after him.”

  “A farmer?” I tried to imagine Alex in overalls. I failed. “Like, growing turnips and stuff?

  “A city girl, eh?” He grinned. “Yeah, like turnips and stuff. Not that there was much for a four year old to do.”

  “I bet you were a cute kid.” I pinched his cheek with my free hand.

  “I bet you were cute, too. And a little terror,” he added cheekily.

  “Ass. I was a perfect angel.”

  “I could just ask your father. He arrived at the same time we did.”

  And there goes my mood. I nodded, frowning at the news. It was bad enough I had to go to the funeral of the mother I’d always wanted, but I also had to see a reminder of the father I never had. At least I didn’t have to speak to him, and I knew he wasn’t going to make any effort to speak to me. As usual. Unless he needed something from me. Of course, the last thing he “needed” me to do was pack up my stuff so Lady Cassandra could take me to Haven.

  “Morgan?”

  “Hm?” I pulled the sheets off me, no longer caring. He had seen me naked before. A few times, actually.

  The dress I was planning to wear was draped across the nearby chair. I eyeballed it as I grabbed my underwear. It was a simple black dress with lace trimmings. Once I’d gotten it on, I started applying my makeup, trying not to glance over at the man on my bed every few seconds.

  “You and your father don’t get along.”

  After a brief silence, I said, “Are you asking or telling me?”

  “Asking. If you want to talk about it.”

  “What’s there to talk about?” I said, trying to avoid stabbing myself in the eye with my mascara wand. “I haven’t spoken to the man in over eighteen years.”

  “That’s funny, I haven’t spoken to my parents in over eighteen years, either.”

  Did you wanna talk about it? “That isn’t funny. Also, if you want to get to know me better, this is the absolute perfect way not to do it. My father and I don’t get along. End of story.”

  In hindsight, I should have waited until I calmed down to start brushing my hair, the thick clumps of hair nestled in my brush attesting to that. Maybe I should just wear it up in a bun. Forget it, I’ll bring along a hair tie and decide later.

  “Lily wants me to go to the cemetery with her early to help with the last minute preparations,” I said, making my way to the door. “I’m sure she’d be happy to see you.”

  Alex slid off the bed and stepped in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I looked up at him. Stupid tall person with chiseled good looks and super kissable lips. It’s hard to stay mad at someone when they’re gorgeous and I’m shallow. That still didn’t mean he could just pry into my personal issues, though. What was mine, was mine. I shared it on my terms, not just because someone asked.

  “How is Lily? Is she staying with you?”

  “Yeah.” I looked around, not sure how to react to him right now.

  He stroked my cheek. “You look beautiful.”

  “Hard not to with makeup on.”

  “Even without the makeup. There’s just something about you.” He paused a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  My shoulders relaxed at his apology, and with a heavy sigh, I leaned against him. Seriously, when did I get so soft? I blame his eyes. I’ve always been a sucker for big blue eyes. “I’d kiss you, but I don’t want to mess up my lipstick.”

  There was that sexy chuckle again as his hands slid down to my waist. “I’ll take a rain check on that, too. There’ll be plenty of time.”

  “Does that mean Haven is going to be full of bigwigs for a while?” I made a face at the thought of having to play nice at a “family reunion.”

  “Probably. I don’t think anyone wants to leave until someone
’s sitting in Lady Maxwell’s seat. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.”

  “Did they ask you to take over?” I teased.

  “No.” His thumbs rubbed circles against my hips, the action so distracting that I almost missed what he was saying. “Sir Campbell wants me to stick around for a while after the funeral.”

  “I’m sure you won’t be the only agent the other families are going to keep around here. This all sounds like the beginning of a bad sitcom.”

  He laughed softly. “You, me, and Rowan – Two and a Half Hunters.”

  “Now on cable.” I grinned and pulled away from him. “So, are you coming with me or not?”

  “Lily?” he asked as we made our way downstairs.

  I slipped on a pair of heels and grabbed my coat. “She’s already there.”

  “Let’s go then.”

  The wind whipped around me as I opened the door. It felt like it was the herald of change – a complete upheaval of my life as I knew it. Maybe it was just because of how wild things had been lately, but I had a feeling this was all just the beginning. Even if things weren’t going to one-eighty my entire world, the vampire running around with my mother’s face was going to change a lot of things.

  I knew I’d see him again. There were just too many unanswered questions, starting with his aforementioned face. I was going to find him and make him talk, but before I did that, I knew I had to get stronger, better, than I’d ever been. Not just to face him, but to take on any other challenges I may face along the way.

  It was a new day, and with the wind in my hair – and Alex’s warm hand in mine – I stepped out to face the world once more.

  Author’s Note

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  Turn the page to read the first chapter of the Ties that Bind, the second book in the Spire Chronicles (coming out near the end of March, 2016)

  1

  There was nothing but the sound of my breath and the rustling of leaves as I raced after my target. The sky was a pale purple and a light, gauzy mist hung in the air, twisting through the dark branches of the trees surrounding us. My legs were throbbing and my lungs burned as we ran. Alex was to my right, further away. The thick foliage above us made it too dark for the rising moon to provide any help, so there were small orbs of light flying alongside the both of us: ghost lights – one of the first spells I ever learned.

  The trio of demons were ahead of us, their human forms still in place as they sprinted through the woods. Normally, their pace would be too much for a human, but hunters like us were imbued with enhanced physical abilities that allowed us to keep up with them. With this kind of movement, it was hard for me to aim at any of them, and it was even harder to focus on, well, anything when there were a thousand treacherous little branches and rocks for me to avoid tripping on.

  Not that falling on my face wasn’t a great way to spend a Saturday night.

  Unlike me, Alex didn’t seem winded at all. His short black hair stuck to his alabaster skin by a thin sheen of sweat, but he was otherwise unbothered. There was a blade on his back and a pistol strapped to his thigh. He whipped the pistol out, and once he’d gotten closer to the group, fired off a round into the back of the black haired demon’s head.

  A normal bullet wouldn’t have done anything, but the special rounds hunters used packed a hell of a punch. The demon went down. He wasn’t dead, but he’d be crippled long enough for Alex to take his head off. And he would have, if a hellhound hadn’t lunged at him from out of nowhere.

  Hellhounds looked like giant, roided up versions of Dobermans that had binged on way too many hot dogs. Their stomachs were distended and their muscles bulged underneath mottled grey skin. They were big, ugly, and dangerous as hell. Pun intended.

  “Why is it always hellhounds?” I cried. “Aren’t there any cat people among demons?”

  One of the demons, a short girl with spiky red hair, turned back with a toothy grin. “The cats are worse!”

  “Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes and fired off an ice spear in her direction.

  “Aw, baby, that’s cold!” she called back, giggling as she ducked.

  The spear whizzed over her head before I destroyed it, watching it splinter into a burst of white frost. I wasn’t trying to hit her so much as slow her down, but I wouldn’t have minded impaling her, which was a comment I would need to file away in my “things I shouldn’t say out loud” folder.

  I swerved around, and actually aiming this time, shot an ice spike at Alex’s hellhound. The beast let out a whine as it was knocked back. I followed up by charging forward and launching a ball of pure force magic at it.

  Force spells weren’t really something I was great at – I’d always been more partial to the flashy magic that came with elemental arts. Still, force spells were the school of magic that contained the greatest amount of raw power, which would make them my favorite if they didn’t come with one fatal caveat: they were invisible. They were pure waves of highly pressurized energy. Basically, it was hard to hit a mark with a weapon you couldn’t see, and even with a scope, I wasn’t that precise with my attacks.

  From this distance, though, it was an easy shot – even for a half-blind klutz like me. As a bonus, being only two feet away meant I got to hear the cracking of every bone as my attack devastated the hellhound… It may be time to invest in some therapy.

  Nah, setting things – and people – on fire was all the therapy I needed.

  I ran over and knelt by Alex, running a quick healing spell over him.

  “You’re going to drain your magic again,” he said, standing up and pulling his machete out. He stepped over to where the hellhound was twitching, its muscular legs dancing around like a puppet on a string as it waited for its shattered bones to regenerate. Alex didn’t give it the chance as he stabbed the creature through the brain before cutting its head off in one clean swipe.

  Killing a demon, or anything supernatural, in a way that didn’t involve completely destroying the body always made me uneasy – like leaving a job half-finished – but it wasn’t a good idea to set something on fire in the middle of a forest. So, I restrained myself from turning the body to dust, no matter how much more it would have reassured me.

  “I thought you might be hurt,” I said with a cheeky grin. A hit like that wouldn’t have fazed him much, but it was fun to tease him.

  He returned my grin with one of his own, and my stomach fluttered at the sight of his warm blue eyes. Dude really was too pretty to be a hunter. Wait, no, bad Morgan, focus on the hunt. I shook my head to clear the incredibly detailed image of Alex laying naked in bed from my mind – his face definitely wasn’t the only good looking thing he had.

  “They’re getting away,” said Alex, and we both resumed the hunt.

  Running was one thing I really didn’t miss about being on active duty. Seriously, it was always running. Always. It was the single most boring form of exercise I had ever encountered. Ever since I had my ass handed to me three months ago by a veritable army – okay, twelve, plus eight vampires – of demons while looking for my missing mother, I’d been stuck on “administrative leave” in Haven, one of the Order of Hunters’ capital cities and the place where I grew up.

  By now, I should have been back on duty in my designated sector: Manhattan. Then, about a month ago, a demon caravan got slaughtered and Alex came to accuse m
e of doing it. He was a hunter, too, and heir apparent to the Campbell family that had been tasked with investigating the murders. My sort-of cousin, Lily, called it a “meet cute.”

  Less cute was what followed: the murder of the only mother figure I’d ever really had, which led to the discovery of a plot to break one of the locks on the Frozen Spire – a prison in Hell that contained the worst creatures that ever existed. Oh, and there was also a freaky vampiric sorcerer dude who worshipped demons, looked like my birth mother, and went by her name. I’ve named him Fake-Corrigan. He’s a prick.

  When Lady Cassandra died, she left the spot as head of the Maxwell family – one of the four Order families in America – empty. Since she’d chosen me as her successor, I had to stay in town until the Council – the Order’s governing body – made their decision on whether or not I was ready to take over. Y’know, because I’m still young and cute and wasn’t supposed to become the head of the family for another, like, decade or two.

  “It was nice of them to wait for us,” I gasped out, my lungs full of fire, as the demons came back into sight.

  The guy Alex had shot was hunched over and out of breath. Yeah, I know the feeling, dude. Breathing heavily myself, I decided that I really wanted the job as head of the family. There was no actual hunting – and more importantly, running – involved, though I was sure that political games were a lot more dangerous than all the forces of Hell put together. Along with werewolves, vampires, and every other supernatural being that wanted to kill me.