Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
About the Author
Seth
A Dark Assassins World Novella
Book 2.5
Valerie Ullmer
Seth (A Dark Assassins World Novella Book 2.5)
Copyright © 2017 Valerie Ullmer
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in either print or electronic form without written permission from the author. Quotes used in reviews are the one exception. No alteration of content is allowed.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places and locales, or events, is purely coincidental. All characters and events portrayed in this book are completely fictitious and dreamed up by the author.
Copy Edit by Faith Williams from The Atwater Group
Chapter One
Seth
Seth kept his head down as the pen in his hand absently wandered over what used to be a blank piece of paper, trying to ignore the group of girls near the front of the classroom who had been trying to get his attention for the past fifteen minutes. He could hear his name randomly thrown into the conversation, but chose not to engage them; he knew where that would lead. Each time he’d turned down their offers of getting coffee or an invite to a campus party, they seemed more determined to find something he wouldn’t refuse. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want to find a girlfriend. But when he had tried dating a few times throughout the years he’d been in college, he been unable to find any woman who attracted him for very long.
He’d made the mistake of asking Emily for a date, the one who had been trying the most to get his attention several rows away since he’d walked into the classroom, and it had been a disaster from the moment he’d picked her up for dinner. She had taken a picture of them together at her front door and then proceeded to text her friends through the entire date, clicking pictures of her hugged to his side, until he’d called off the date and drove her home. After that one time, he had no desire to do it again, but he couldn’t seem to escape her and her friends’ presence.
Although he’d been excited when he’d first started college two years ago, he was glad to be graduating after this last semester so he could start working full-time with Liv in the lab. Along with Hunter, Liv and he hadn’t gotten any closer to figuring out what made an immortal unique. An immortal’s blood—whether shifter or vampire—could fend off diseases and had the ability to regenerate, but there was no clue in the cells as to why. It intrigued Seth, although he hadn’t wanted to or planned to become immortal. But if they could find out the specifics, then he could protect those closest to him, those he considered family.
And although he chose to concentrate on his career instead of trying to meet the right woman, he couldn’t help but feeling lonely from time to time. He knew that the possibility of finding someone for him at school was slim. With his future his top priority, he could push those thoughts aside and concentrate on graduating. And after watching Kai with Liv and Reaper with Ara, he knew that he couldn’t settle for anything less than what they had.
But in order to move on, he needed a couple of classes that he’d put off until the last semester of his senior year. He had no interest in economics, but he needed it as a requirement to graduate. Determined to keep his head down and concentrate on studying, he blew out a breath as he leaned back on his chair and hoped that this semester would pass quickly.
Picking up the sound of the back door closing, Seth glanced to his right. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the woman who started down the stairs of the auditorium classroom and took a seat a couple of rows down from him. A hoodie covered her hair and her face but something about her movements, quick and efficient, drew his eyes over her. She must’ve sensed his scrutiny because once she was seated, she glanced up and met his gaze.
Beautiful. It was the one word that came to mind when he gazed into her silver eyes. He had suspected when she had walked into the classroom, but her eyes confirmed his suspicions. He watched as she scanned her surroundings before she settled her gaze back on him. He couldn’t help the tilt of his mouth, a smile that was for her alone. He widened his smile when he could hear the audible intake of breath from the short distance away.
He found himself disappointed when the professor walked in and started class, grabbing her attention away from him. Over the next hour, he couldn’t have recited one word of the lecture and right before class ended, he slipped out the door she had come through. He leaned against the opposite wall and waited for her exit.
Time seemed to stall for several moments before the noise of shuffling feet reached him. Most of the class exited through the main doorway near the front of the classroom; for a moment, he thought she had gone with the crowd. He breathed easier the moment the door in front of him swung open. He watched as she raised her hand to readjust the hoodie over her hair but froze when she spotted him leaning casually against the wall. She dropped her hands to her side, and he was able to see her without obstruction for the first time.
It took him awhile to drag his gaze from silver eyes that were similar, yet completely different. His gaze traced over her long lashes that brushed against her skin as she blinked in surprise. There was a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks but what drew his gaze was her mouth. Her lips were full and two-toned, peach and pink. They opened as he continued his silence while assessing her. Her reddish-brown hair framed her face, and something deep inside Seth’s chest kicked, hard.
When he thought that she might not be interested, her gaze dropped to his lips before continuing down. Her eyes scanned him until he felt as though she was already intimate with his body. He was grateful for the assassins and their training regimen over the past couple of years because he had managed to fill out a bit and added muscle to his mostly tall, gangly frame.
“Hey gorgeous, I’m Seth.”
He wanted to reach out and have some tangible proof that she was real and standing in front of him in that moment in time, but he knew that she would run from him before he learned anything about her. And it was crucial that he got know her.
Instead of reacting to his endearment or his introduction, she leaned closer as her eyes roamed over his face. Before she pulled back, she took a deep breath. “Why do you smell like vampire and several species of animal?”
He didn’t answer her question right away, unable to speak for a moment. His eyes closed as her voice washed over him, smoky and sexy as hell. He opened his eyes and took a step closer to her, but froze soon after. Although her question had seemed innocuous, he took in her tense stance as she maneuvered closer to the exit. Her eyes darted around them. She sensed danger, and he knew that he would have to explain before she bolted.
“My family are immortals. Both shifter and vampire.” He told her the truth, but the minimal amount of information she would need to stop her movements. He counted on her curiosity from his statement that she wouldn’t run from him. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”
Although she didn’t relax her stance, her eyes stopped darting toward the outer door and she stilled.
“Aubrey. But…you’re human.” Her confusion was evident
in her words.
“Family isn’t always formed because you share the same blood. Sometimes you find your family along the way, and I found mine right next door and they happen to be immortals.” He kept his voice low. No one knew and he liked to keep it that way.
As he watched her eyes brighten at his words, he took a step forward and stretched out a hand. He had no idea whether he was going to caress her face or reach for her hand, but they were interrupted before he made contact.
“Seth, honey, are you ignoring me?”
Shit!
Without moving his gaze from Aubrey, he flinched at the sound of Emily’s voice so close to him. He tried to sidestep her, but she gripped his arm and pulled him in close to her chest. He sent a look of apology to Aubrey and cursed silently as he spotted the hurt flash across her expressive eyes. Wanting to explain Emily’s actions to Aubrey and ask her to get to know him, he spent a few seconds trying to subtly release Emily’s grip before he used some of his strength to pry her off him. Emily still didn’t release his arm; instead, she clutched him tighter, until he turned and sent her a look that had her immediately dropping his arm. A breath of relief escaped as he took a step away from her.
Movement from his periphery had him turning back to Aubrey and this time he cursed aloud. She had moved to the door that led to the parking lot, but before she stepped through, he caught a sad smile as she met his gaze. She slipped out without a word.
More curses erupted from his mouth as he took off after her, pushing through the doors into the damp darkness. He listened for any sounds of footsteps or a car starting, but he knew she had already disappeared. While keeping an eye out for Aubrey, he took his time as he walked to his SUV. Disappointment coursed through him. But as he started the engine, he knew that he had a week. A week to figure out a way to get to know her without scaring her off for good.
Chapter Two
Seth
Seth put the SUV in park and shut off the ignition, not making any attempt to open the door. His mind drifted back to Aubrey as he drove away from his last class of the day, his movements on autopilot until he reached the one place where he knew he’d be welcomed. He’d never felt as bereft as he did when she walked away from him, and he didn’t fully understand the feeling. Instinct told him that she would be important to him, that he needed her in an elemental way, but he had no idea how to reach her or to get her to trust him.
He looked toward the darkened pine trees to the west that surrounded Kai and Liv’s house, before his gaze traveled farther up. The full moon illuminated the mountainside. His feelings were a jumble as they settled in the pit of his stomach, but a part of him relaxed at the familiar surroundings of home.
An image of Aubrey flashed again through his thoughts. The beautiful dark auburn hair as it curved around her delicate chin, her pale skin with a concentration of freckles around her nose and cheeks, and her dual-colored lips that were natural, untouched. When she tilted the corner of her mouth in the barest hint of a smile, he wanted to slay dragons for her as long as she continued to smile at him like that.
Throughout the years of being immersed in the world of immortals, he’d never once considered the possibility that his future would include him being a mate to one of them. But now it was all he could think about. That wasn’t to say that his attraction to her had anything to do with her being a vampire. He felt as though something righted itself in his world, and she was the missing piece that made him feel whole. Aubrey happened to be a vampire and him human, but Aubrey was who his heart had chosen.
Becoming friends with Kai, then Liv and the rest of the assassins, had been natural to him. And it was ironic that a vampire had taught him the importance of having a connection with others. His parents treated him as a nuisance and made no attempt to hide what they thought until he was old enough to take care of himself. Then they ignored him completely. He’d been self-sufficient at an early age, taking care of himself as far back as he could remember. His parents focused on their business and little else, not even their own marriage. And because of that, he had been an afterthought in their lives.
But when he met Kai, his world changed. It never bothered him that there was something different about Kai. He was the cool next-door neighbor who never aged, never came out during the day, and yet seemed to know everything that happened around the neighborhood even though he never interacted with anyone.
One night, curiosity got the better of him, and he searched for a way into Kai’s house. Seth had been stubborn and impulsive back then and he’d been determined to find what secrets he hid in the gigantic house. But when Seth heard a loud snarl behind him as he fiddled with the downstairs doorknob, his nerves fled and he thought that he would soon be dead. Instead, when he turned around, Kai had a smile on his face and Seth, his body sagging as relief washed over him, impulsively shot out his fist and punched the vampire in the chest.
“Not funny,” Seth said.
“Kid, you should’ve seen your face.”
“It’s Seth, not kid.”
“And I’m Kai. Come on, I’ll show you around. I don’t want you to try to break in and hurt yourself.”
And with that, their friendship had formed. It was tentative at first, but the vampire always answered his questions with honesty and Seth had never once felt anything but safe with Kai. When Kai had fallen for Liv, she had managed to change the dynamic between Seth and Kai. Kai had often said he thought of Seth as a son and would tell him how proud he was. It meant the world to the nineteen-year-old; it still did. And because Seth had come around to spend time with Liv, he had gotten to know the other shifters and vampires and soon they had developed into a close-knit family. He knew that with his immortal family, they cared for him and loved him as he loved them. Hell, they’d bought him an SUV as his high school graduation gift and loaded it with enough gadgets and a bullet-proof body that the president of the United States would feel protected.
Kai and the others had introduced him to what a family truly was, and for that, he would always be grateful.
The cab of the SUV grew colder the longer he sat there, but he couldn’t muster the energy to leave until he thought of a way to get Aubrey to speak to him, to get to know him. He didn’t hear the door open or feel the cold air that rushed inside. But when Kai laid his hand on Seth’s shoulder and squeezed in a familiar way, he shook out of his thoughts and glanced to the left. Kai’s eyes scanned Seth to make sure that he wasn’t hurt, but when his brows drew down in concern, Seth found his voice.
“I met someone.”
Kai’s hand tightened a fraction, but he didn’t interrupt Seth’s explanation.
“Aubrey. She was in class tonight and for the first time in my life, I was drawn to a woman. I was aware of every movement she made. She is different than anyone I’ve ever met, but I fucked up my chance to get to know her.”
“Why do you sound odd? Did she hurt you?”
“No. She’s a vampire. I noticed her the moment she walked in the classroom. It’s like I sensed her. I’ve never felt anything like this before. But before I could talk to her, to get to know her, Emily clung onto me and Aubrey took off before I could explain.”
Seth relaxed as Kai looped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him out of the cab and into a hug. Seth wrapped his arms around Kai and sighed, his jumbled thoughts and emotions calming as Kai’s arms tightened around him.
Before Seth graduated from high school, Kai had kept a physical distance from Seth, never touching him unless it was absolutely necessary. But over the years, due to Liv’s influence more than anything, Kai had become more overt with his emotions. When Kai sensed he needed a hug or to talk, he made time for Seth. His and Kai’s relationship was exactly what he wanted with his own father. After so many years of disappointment, he’d given up the hope that he would have a salvageable relationship with the man that shared his DNA, but had no interest in him. Instead, Kai was his father, not by blood but by circumstance, and he’d never felt more want
ed or loved.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Liv had sidled up to them and put her hand on Seth’s back.
Seth buried his face against Kai’s chest and felt more than heard Kai’s words. “Seth met his mate. She’s a vampire.”
Of course, Liv didn’t react as he expected. Her loud, boisterous laugh echoed around them and Seth found the side of his mouth lifting as he pulled back from Kai’s hug. In the next moment, Liv pressed against him, her light scent surrounding him, and he could feel the happiness radiating from her. He had no idea why this information made her happy, but the tightness in his chest loosened and he hugged her back.
“Yeah, it would be nice to confirm it, but Aubrey disappeared before I could talk to her.”
There was silent communication between Kai and Liv, and Seth waited for Kai to explain through their mind link what happened after class. Although he didn’t really blame Emily—he could’ve told her more emphatically that he never wanted to date her—he could only hope that he didn’t ruin the chance to get to know Aubrey.
“When you talk to Aubrey, you should invite her over.”
“I hope I’ll have a chance. She might not be in next week’s class. If I’ve scared her off, I might need Xander’s help to break into school records and get her information. If that doesn’t work, I’ll get Ax to break into the administrative office for me.”
While Liv laughed, Kai groaned. “Not Ax. Shit, anyone but Ax.”
Liv wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him toward the front door. “Don’t worry so much, sweetheart—it’ll all work out. Now come inside. Reaper and Ara are over, and Jade cooked her famous lasagna with cheesy garlic bread.”
“I love you guys.”
“We love you, too, kid.”
Chapter Three
Aubrey
Seth (Dark Assassins #2.5) Page 1
