The Lost (Sin Hunters)

by Piñeiro, Caridad

  A tired shrug barely lifted the fabric of the ill-fitting suit over his father’s shoulders and was chased by a heavy, heartfelt sigh. “We lost another one.”

  Another death, Adam thought. As someone who lived with the specter of death every day…

  “I’m sorry. Death is never easy, is it?” He gently grasped Salvatore’s shoulder and squeezed it in condolence. As before, the hum of power beneath his hand as he touched his father tainted the heartfelt gesture.

  “No, it isn’t. I’ve got to run,” Salvatore replied, growing uneasy. After another hesitant embrace, his father hurried from the SolTerra offices, leaving Adam in the gleaming granite and steel lobby of the building.

  Alone except for the trio of security guards at the semicircular reception desk.

  Alone being a state with which Adam was well familiar.

  As he strolled to the elevators to return to his penthouse office, he wondered about his father’s latest mission and why he was so emotionally involved with it. Maybe over a birthday dinner later in the week he could pry more information from his dad and discover what was affecting him so profoundly.

  Adam headed to the elevator bank and up to his office. When he passed by the assorted cubicles filled with people at work, pride filled him, but couldn’t eliminate the emptiness within him. Much as he had confessed to Salvatore, he felt different. There was a hole in his center that seemed to expand each day, much as the summons of the energy surrounding him grew harder to ignore.

  At the door to his office, he forced a smile for his assistant. “Good morning, Sandy. I’m not to be disturbed,” he advised and entered his office. Striding to his desk, he plopped into the state-of-the-art ergonomic chair and waved his hand over a button built into a panel underneath the stainless steel surface. Without physically touching the button, he sent a gentle surge of power to trip the switch, lowering the shades built into the exterior windows together with those along the interior glass wall of his office, closing him off from the world.

  A world in which he really didn’t belong.

  With the natural daylight dimmed by the shades, the lights in his office automatically adjusted. Once again he sent a scintilla of his energy along the wires to power down the lights.

  Steepling his hands on the arms of the chair, he brought them up to his mouth while he sat in the darkness, considering the exchange with his father. Salvatore had meant well, he knew. No father liked to see his child alone and Salvatore wasn’t much different, even if Adam wasn’t his flesh-and-blood son. But Adam couldn’t envision getting involved with anyone, much less having a family. Not with the way he was. Not even with a beautiful, smart, trustworthy CIA agent his father felt might be right for him.

  Within him the power grew heavy again in response to the emotion troubling him. If he didn’t get the energy under control, its weight would continue to grow, creating that vicious static in his head. The first buzz of that noise was already setting up shop in his brain, and there was only one way to tire the beast so that he could contain it.

  Raising his hands, he outstretched them and focused. Between them a pinpoint of light blossomed, and as Adam centered himself on that dot, it grew in size. Tendrils of energy slipped from his hands and danced around his wrists before they swam through the air toward that solitary point of light.

  Solitary as he was, but not for long, Adam thought. Under his direction, the wisps of energy tangled and weaved together, nurturing that pinpoint until it formed a silver-blue orb about the size of a golf ball. Its light gleamed brightly and reflected off the polished surface of his desk, creating a halo of light.

  Inside him the burden of the power lessened, providing a calming release. He pushed yet more power from inside him into the orb, experiencing a growing lightness of being as he discharged the energy he had gathered earlier.

  The orb slowly blossomed in size from golf ball to softball. Adam imagined tossing it up and down and the ball bounced in the air accordingly.

  Although he was capable of absorbing energy and creating these balls, it was little more than an amusement. He had no clue what he was supposed to do with such abilities. Until he understood that, what he could do was no better than a cheap parlor trick.

  Frustrated, he ripped his hands away and the ball stretched flat as the energy clung to him, feeling almost tacky and elastic before something snapped. With a firework shower of light that dissipated some of the energy, the remaining power surged back into him.

  The weight of it filled him, less than before, since he had expended some energy with his sideshow display, but still demanding. It was almost as if the power needed something from him. Something more than he could provide on his own.

  If he had been a woman, he might have said it was some biological clock ticking, warning him that time was fleeting. But at twenty-five, almost twenty-six, his life had barely begun. Maybe, as his father had hinted, it was time for him to do more than just work, he thought. Maybe that was what was pulling at him so. Not the energy within and around him, but something easily explicable and certainly more human: loneliness.

  With another zap, he flipped the switch and the shades along the exterior windows rose, allowing the bright spring sun to enter. Spring always contained the promise of so many new beginnings.

  Hell, even the squirrels knew that spring was the time to mate and procreate. Adam smiled and thought, Maybe it’s time.

  CHAPTER

  2

  Salvatore sat in his car, staring at his cell phone. The heat increased within the small interior with each second that he delayed making the call.

  He knew that once he did so, his son’s life might not ever be the same. But then again, his son’s life had never been just like everyone else’s. From the moment Salvatore had found him in the desert, Adam’s life had changed. When Salvatore had realized that the young boy possessed special powers, Adam’s destiny had been determined and Salvatore’s dream had been born.

  Genesis, he thought. If he made this call he could finally get the wheels rolling on his project. To do so, however, meant betraying Adam, but that act had been set in stone long ago. It had never been a question of if Salvatore would be disloyal, just of when.

  As he took a long last look at the SolTerra building, he noted that the shades on his son’s fifth-floor office suite were closed tightly. He imagined what Adam might be doing inside. Was he playing with those weird balls of energy or just reading a report from one of his engineers? Probably the energy, he thought, recalling the state Adam had been in when Salvatore had arrived—all charged up with power.

  Power that could be deadly to someone, which was why Salvatore must act now, before anyone got hurt.

  Using the speed dial, he phoned the man who had come to him barely a month ago, claiming to know about his son and the unique abilities he possessed. Salvatore had been dubious at first, until the man had given him a little demonstration, a private light show disturbingly similar to Adam’s, from the orbs of energy to the intense aura and glowing eyes. Then the man had teleported from one side of the room to the other. If Adam possessed that power, Salvatore had not yet witnessed it.

  He had gone to meet the man—Alexander Sombrosa—in his New York office, or rather, office building, located on Sixth Avenue in the heart of the high-rent business area close to Central Park. Either the Sombrosa money was capable of buying a great deal of information or one of Sombrosa’s people had used his powers to break into the CIA building and obtain copies of a number of Salvatore’s CIA files, including a dummy file for Genesis. The real one was in Salvatore’s home and contained the details of how he had planned to use Adam to create another race of individuals with Adam’s incredible capabilities.

  “Well?” was all that Alexander said as he answered the phone.

  “I mentioned the possibility of meeting one of my agents to Adam.”

  “And how was that received?” Alexander asked, the cultured tone of his voice droll.

  Annoyed by Alexand
er’s seemingly cavalier attitude, Salvatore replied, “Neutral would be the best description.”

  Silence followed and Salvatore could picture the fine Mr. Sombrosa in his office, pacing high above the crowds in a suit that likely cost more than Salvatore made in a month. Sombrosa’s plans were not so far removed from Salvatore’s. Bring Adam back into the fold of his people and have him mate with one of their more powerful females to secure the continuation of their race.

  Salvatore suspected Alexander was pondering his next move, as if he and Adam were nothing more than pawns on a chessboard. Salvatore wasn’t a man who liked getting played. Deciding to take command, he said, “I’d rather not push right now. Adam can be stubborn.”

  “Just remember that time, while not critical, is of importance. The growth of Adam’s power is logarithmic now as the Equinox approaches. He will need our help to master it and keep him from harming others,” Alexander replied, sounding as pedantic as a professor bored with his own lecture.

  If I believe you, Salvatore thought, still uneasy about the alliance he had formed with virtual strangers. He had not done it lightly, but joining with them could open up a world of possibilities for Adam’s future and for his as well.

  “I understand the urgency, Alexander, but I know my son—”

  “Not your son, Salvatore. He belongs to us,” Alexander retorted sharply, finally displaying some emotion.

  Anger rose quickly. He might have taken Adam, but his reasons had not been selfish. At least, not at first.

  “When my son is ready, he will return home.”

  Determined to have the last word, he hung up.

  Rich and powerful men like Alexander Sombrosa always wanted to call the shots, but this time he would play by Salvatore’s rules. That meant waiting until Salvatore thought Adam was good and ready to meet the woman who would help Salvatore launch Genesis. Until then, Alexander and his crew would have to wait.

  Alexander stared at the phone, rage building inside him until the emotion overwhelmed his control. A blast of power fried the cell phone in his hand and sent a shower of sparks flying into the air.

  “I gather it didn’t go well,” Maya said with a smirk as she sashayed toward him and then leaned her delicious derriere on the edge of his desk.

  His son’s fiancée was dressed all in black, from the skin-tight leather pants to the diaphanous see-through shirt thrown over a lace camisole that showed off her marvelous endowments. The outfit screamed “Touch me” and he wasn’t about to disappoint.

  He tossed his melted cell phone onto his desk and swung around to stand in the Vee formed by her open-legged stance.

  She glanced up at him, her eyes as black as her outfit and the long silky strands of her hair. A murky red-black aura surrounded her, powerfully large. From the moment he had slipped into the space of her aura, her life force had embraced him. Now as he butted his hips against her core, the energy grew ever more demanding as it awaited another kind of joining.

  He cradled her gorgeous heart-shaped face in his hands and whispered, “The human could not convince his son to see you.”

  “Maybe because I should be the one doing the convincing,” she said and smiled again, a confident sexy smile that communicated awareness of her power over men in general and, of course, over him. Maya’s unique ability was manipulating sexual energy and she used it quite capably to bend most men to her will.

  She released a little bit of that power now, wanting to control him by creating need in him—the clan’s Añaru. If she had been a Hunter man and shown such arrogance, he might have killed her for it. But he wasn’t about to miss this opportunity, since it was clear she had just fed and his own life force needed recharging.

  “Really? You think you’re that irresistible?” he teased, playing with her the way a cat toyed with a mouse.

  “Your son thinks so,” she said as she lowered her hand and cupped him through the fabric of his suit. He sucked in a breath as her skilled hands aroused him and she sent a wave of energy skittering through his body, nearly buckling his knees.

  “Do not play with me, Maya,” he warned, only willing to let her push him so far.

  Her gaze slipped for a second to where she was busy giving him a hand job, then back to meet his, that knowing smile in place again. “Forgive me, Añaru. I did not mean to displease. Maybe a little punishment is demanded?”

  As if to prove her point, she slipped off the desk, turned and tilted up her backside, ready for a spanking.

  Alexander nearly came right then and there. He was past the first two triads of his life and his control was no longer what it should be, especially with his life force needing a charge. But he wasn’t going to pass up a moment like this, even if she was his son’s fiancée and the bait for the stupid human’s Light Hunter son.

  “I am your Añaru and you will obey me. Take off your pants,” he said and slapped her backside playfully.

  Maya grinned again and with an enticing shimmy and wriggle, skimmed down her leather pants, but not before giving him a peek at the tiny thong beneath before it, too, came off. Leaning on the desk, she spread her legs, providing a view of her cleanly shaven sex, glistening with moisture. As she glanced over her shoulder at him, she dared another inviting little wiggle of her hips.

  “My Añaru. I live to obey,” she almost purred.

  He groaned and his erection jerked. He grabbed it to contain himself as he quickly freed himself from his pants and, with no further preliminaries, drove into her. As their bodies merged, the energy flowed around them and between them, insinuating itself into their lovemaking.

  She gasped as he filled her, and the moan that followed was one of pure feminine pleasure. He pumped into her, her soft little cries driving him onward as he rode her. Pounding himself into her, he reached up and grabbed her breasts, squeezing painfully, but she urged him on.

  “Añaru, more. Please more,” she said and he sought out the tight nubs of her nipples and pinched them hard.

  “Añaru,” Maya cried out as a climax ripped through her and milked him to his own stunning release.

  He dropped onto her, pinning her to the hard surface of the desk, his breathing heavy, as he said, “You are a bitch, Maya.”

  She laughed, unfazed by his comment, probably because it was true. With a gentle push of energy, she lifted him from her body and skipped away to rearrange her clothes.

  Alexander glanced at her and grew aroused once again, but tamped down his desire. She had fucked the Añaru and not him, Alexander, but the Añaru would not be satisfied with a simple ride.

  “Come here, Maya,” he said and her eyes widened in surprise at the harsh command in his voice.

  “Have I displeased?” she said with a little-girl pout on her magnificent face.

  “I am hungry,” he said, and nothing further was needed.

  As a Shadow Hunter before their Añaru, she knew exactly what that meant. With a defiant tilt, she said, “I just fed—”

  “I know.” She had clearly drained some human of life energy, judging by the strength of the power that sang through her, as tempting as her body. He laid his hand on the bare skin just above the swell of her breast and focused. Little tendrils of light sprang from his hand, forming a web over the smooth, creamy surface of her skin and then digging deep into her flesh. Like the spider for which the Añaru had been named, the web ensnared her life force, sucking it from her body along the fine strands of light, feeding him with its power.

  She moaned then, but with pain, as he transferred her vitality to himself, restoring his energy and driving away the patches of pox-marked skin hidden beneath the fine wool of his very expensive suit.

  As he watched, a pox mark erupted at a spot close to his life-sucking tendrils. Even though she had recently recharged, it was not enough to sustain him and keep her own illness at bay. The smallpox virus that had incorporated itself into the Shadow Hunters’ DNA when the conquistadores had landed in the New World needed constant feeding to be kept under
control. The only way to keep the illness away for any length of time was to feed from a Quinchu, one of the Light Hunters’ high priests and priestesses.

  Maya realized the pox was emerging, too, as she glanced down and saw the first ugly red pustule form. Her eyes widened with dismay and she laid her hand on his chest and pleaded, “I beg you, Añaru.”

  If it had been anyone else, the plea would have gone unheard. But it was Maya, and she was key for his plans for Salvatore’s stolen son. He pulled back the web of power, interrupting his feeding. He would find someone else later that night to fulfill what remained of his unsatisfied need. Maybe one of the unsuspecting humans down below on the city streets.

  “Thank you, Añaru,” she said as she stepped away as if to make sure he would not resume his snacking.

  “Alexander. My name is Alexander,” he said, almost weary of his role as the head of the local Shadow Hunter clan. Unlike his father before him, Alexander cared little for the job of governing. He only enjoyed the benefits that flowed from it. Over the centuries his Shadows had accumulated wealth with their assorted powers, providing him with a lavish lifestyle and sensual pleasures like his little tryst with Maya.

  She narrowed her eyes and considered him, stepped close and cradled his jaw. Passing her thumb across his lips, she said, “Until later, Alexander.” She brushed a quick kiss on his lips and left in a hurry, clearly not wanting to risk that he would change his mind and start feeding from her once more.

  Alexander watched her go and then sat back down at his desk. The smell of fried electrical bits reminded him of the earlier phone call and he considered his options.

  He could kidnap Salvatore’s Light Hunter son. If the rumors were true, he was the son of a powerful Quinchu couple, which meant that he likely possessed their great strength.

  But Alexander wanted Adam to be cooperative. Getting him together with Maya at the right time was key to what both he and Salvatore wanted—a new generation of Hunters filled with amazing abilities. With Adam’s Equinox upon him as he neared the end of his first triad, Alexander hoped that a union with Maya would produce a child that could be used to eliminate the human pox that had contaminated his race millennia earlier and stolen so much from them.