Also by Sara Humphreys
THE AMOVEO LEGEND
Unleashed
Untouched
Untamed
Undone
Unclaimed
Unbound (novella)
DEAD IN THE CITY
Tall, Dark, and Vampire
Vampire Trouble
Vampires Never Cry Wolf
The Good, the Bad, and the Vampire
THE MCGUIRE BROTHERS
Brave the Heat
Trouble Walks In
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Copyright © 2017 by Sara Humphreys
Cover and internal design © 2017 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover art by Aleta Rafton
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
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Contents
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
A Sneak Peek at Unleashed
About the Author
Back Cover
For my husband, Will…
“Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.”
—Author unknown
Chapter 1
Mine. The deep, gravelly voice of the beast reverberated through the air and ripped into Rena’s mind with terrifying force. Mine. Mine. Mine.
The ferocious, ear-splitting roars of the winged monsters rumbled through the forest, and the earth trembled as the vicious battle raged on. The nightmare had persisted for months, and even though she was all too familiar with how it would play out, it continued to horrify her.
Frightened and exhausted, Rena McHale crouched behind the trunk of the towering pine tree and prayed they wouldn’t see her this time. Her heart thundered in her chest, and she pressed her hands against her ears, attempting to drown out the stomach-churning bellows of the monsters. Sweat trickled down her back, and she kept her eyes squeezed shut, trying to slow her breathing. She had been here countless times before, and though the nightmare was always the same, Rena prayed this time would be different.
It wouldn’t be. They would find her, and they would kill her. She would wake up, terrified and drowning in pain, seconds after being swallowed by a sea of agonizing flames.
Wicked heat flashed behind her and seared her shoulder. She bit her lip and swallowed the scream, but she didn’t move from her hiding spot. The snarls and sharp sounds of gnashing teeth had gotten closer. Dirt, leaves, and bits of rock rained over her as an enormous clawed foot skidded past as one beast slammed into the other. Shrieks of fury filled the forest, and the sound was more than she could bear, because Rena knew what would come next. There would be nothing except excruciating pain while she burned alive.
“Not again,” she whimpered. “Shit, not again.”
The monster scrambled to its feet, and Rena opened her eyes in time to see its long, spiked tail whip past. She yelped as the weapon-like appendage slammed into the tree above her head, and bits of bark showered down, stinging her skin.
“No more! Stop it!” The words ripped from her lungs in scream after scream, and she shut her eyes, not wanting to see the fire this time. “Go away and leave me alone! I want to wake up. Help! Someone, please help me! I can’t take it anymore.”
Rena didn’t know how long she sat there, screaming the words over and over again. She fully expected the fire to claim her as it had every time before. But this time, the flames didn’t come.
Exquisite silence filled the air, and other than the sound of her own breathing, Rena heard nothing. The earth no longer trembled, there was no more snarling or growling, and instead of fire, a cool mist drifted over her bare arms like a soothing blanket. Though her heart still beat wildly against her rib cage, Rena finally found the courage to open her eyes. The woods were now bathed in golden rays of sunlight, and a white fog rolled low along the ground, covering any evidence of the destructive battle that had been raging only moments ago.
With trembling hands, Rena pushed her stiff body off the ground and stood on shaky legs. She brushed leaves and dirt off the back of her pajama pants and her tank top, the outfit she had gone to sleep in that night. She gripped the tree trunk, the bark rough beneath her palms, and looked around warily, half expecting the beasts to spring out at her from between the trees, but she was alone.
“That’s it?” Her voice shook and sounded odd as it broke the silence. “All I had to do was have a crybaby fit to make those two assholes vanish?”
The words were barely out of her mouth when the earth shook with the familiar thunderous footsteps of the monsters.
“Oh great,” Rena whispered. She pressed her back against the tree before peering around the trunk in search of the threat. Another tremor rattled the ground, and the tree branches wavered above as her heartbeat picked up. “Wake up, girl. Come on. Wake the hell up.”
Run. The man’s voice, a deep, gritty baritone, whispered around Rena out of nowhere, making her go completely still. This was new. Right now. You can’t let him find you. Not like this. He won’t understand.
Her eyes flicked open, and she scanned the misty woods for the source of the voice. “Who won’t understand what?”
As far as she could see, there was no one there but her. Rena gasped as another tremor rocked the earth so hard she almost lost her footing. It was getting closer.
Now! His voice, filled with urgency and a hint of impatience, seemed to come from nowhere, and yet, he was everywhere. Run, woman. Move!
Another tremor. Stronger now. Dangerously close.
“Where the hell am I supposed to run?” Rena asked in a shaky whisper. “This is a nightmare, and there’s no place to run to, unless I wake up. Which I would love to do, by the way.”
A brilliant crimson light flashed past the trees to her left, l
ike a mirror glinting in the sun, and that’s when she felt it.
The spirit stream.
The warm, soothing strand pulsed and wiggled through the air before sliding beneath her skin like ribbons of silk. Rena sighed at the pleasurable sensation as it seeped into her chest.
Moments later, she detected the source. It was coming from the red light flashing in the distance, calling her to safety like a siren.
Spirit streams, a term she had come up with years ago to describe the unusual phenomenon, were like an invisible trail of bread crumbs only Rena could see and feel. She had no idea why or how she was able to sense them, but she had never been more grateful for the gift than right that second.
Ever since Rena could remember, she had been able to detect the invisible trail left behind by all living creatures. She could find any person on the planet by simply connecting with their spirit streams. She had never found one in a dream before because she had to touch an object the other person had held in order to connect.
But then again, this was no regular dream. More like a recurring nightmare.
Move your ass! The man’s voice was louder this time and rife with impatience. Unless you enjoy getting fried like a chicken?
“Bossy and sarcastic?” Rena glanced over her shoulder as another tremor hit. “What a charming combination.”
Rena ran as fast as she could toward the otherworldly red light, her arms pumping with the effort. She ducked beneath a low-hanging branch but stumbled when the ground shuddered again beneath her feet. She regained her footing when an earsplitting roar filled the air, but Rena didn’t look back. Fear gripped her by the throat, and her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest, but she kept running toward the light.
If she followed the spirit stream, it would lead her to safety. She didn’t know how she knew that; she simply did. Deep in her gut, she was confident whoever was talking to her was inherently good. Spirit streams didn’t lie, because they possessed the essence of the person they belonged to.
Good or evil, the truth was revealed every time.
A wave of heat flashed over her back as the deafening sound of the beast’s footsteps grew nearer still. Leaves crunched and branches cracked loudly as the monster tore through the woods, giving chase. With one final push, Rena broke through the tangle of branches and found what looked like a dead end. A rocky wall blocked her path, but the spirit stream drifted to the right, and Rena followed it, even though it seemed to be going nowhere.
When she rounded the side of the mountain, she discovered a small opening in the rocks, and the crimson light flashed from within. With the beast bearing down, there was no time to ask questions. She dropped to her knees and crawled into the narrow space, inching along on her belly. Rocks and dirt scraped at her, but she kept moving toward the light, which glowed brighter and larger.
With sweat dripping into her eyes and panic creeping in, Rena finally came to the other end of the narrow tunnel, and what she found left her speechless. It emptied into an enormous cave with a glittering pool of bright-blue water lit from beneath. She climbed down the sloped, rocky wall carefully, and when she finally reached the bottom, she looked around in awe. The sheer size of the underground chamber and the serenity of the space was enough to leave her humbled, but it was what was buried inside the wall that left her speechless.
Curled up in a fetal position, behind layers of translucent quartz and stone, was one of the beasts that had been haunting her nightmares. Rena let out a shuddering breath and moved closer to the crystalline surface. The creature was as beautiful as it was terrifying. A prism of crimson and gold glinted behind the frosted wall in a breathtaking kaleidoscope pattern.
“Whoa. That is so cool. I’ve never seen one when it wasn’t trying to kill me. What is it? It looks kind of like a—”
She reached out to touch it.
Don’t! The man’s voice echoed through the cavernous space. Not in the dreamrealm.
Rena dropped her arm to her side and spun around, scanning the mammoth cave for any sign of her new friend.
You must go to him and find the others like yourself. The Amoveo can help you…and him. He must be awakened in the earthly plane by his mate. It’s the only way to break the curse, and we are almost out of time. If you don’t reach him by All Hallows’ Eve, he will be trapped here forever.
“Okay, first of all, what curse, and who are the Amoveo?” Rena said slowly. “Second, there are no others like me. Trust me. I’m a total freak. Just ask any of the foster families I lived with, and they’ll confirm it.”
Silence.
“Hello?” Rena settled her hands on her hips and looked around. “Yo! Mister? You still here? And what’s this business about a mate?”
You don’t know about the Amoveo? His voice was thick with surprise and a fair amount of confusion. How is that possible?
“Please.” Rena scoffed and swept her arms in a big circle. “This fits right in with the rest of my weird-ass life. Listen, I appreciate you saving my ass back there and everything, even though this is only a dream. Albeit a really weird dream, but what’s with the monster in the rocks? Why have those two assholes been killing me night after night, and who must I go to?” She settled her hands on her hips again and arched one eyebrow. “And while we’re at it, who the hell are you?”
Silence, heavy and thick, filled the cave once again, and Rena practically choked on it.
I’ve never encountered one like you before.
His voice and spirit stream bounced off the nooks and crannies of the rocks, effectively masking his location. Another first.
“Yeah? Well, I’ve never been interrogated in my own dream before. I call us even.”
What’s your name?
She answered the ludicrous question. “Rena McHale.” This dream was her subconscious. Why would she ask herself her own name? “Why? What’s yours?”
Pick up the stone.
“That’s a weird name,” she deadpanned.
Pick it up! We don’t have time to waste. Not anymore.
His voice boomed louder, from behind her this time. Rena spun around and spotted a jagged piece of red quartz perched precariously on a rocky outcropping along the wall. About the size of a large egg, it glowed from within, like the water in the pool. Rena let out a slow breath and ran both hands through her short brown hair before lacing her fingers behind her head.
“Does this have to do with that curse you mentioned?” she shouted to the empty cave. “I’m not buying what you’re selling, dude. I have enough problems without getting involved with some weird curse.”
Pick it up. Now! It’s the only way.
“It’s a good thing you’re a disembodied voice and not a real live guy.” Rena dropped her hands to her side and cautiously approached the stone. “I’d have to deck you for being so damn bossy.”
Please. He dragged out the word as though it was painful for him to ask her nicely. Pick up the stone.
“Jeez.” Rena rolled her eyes before scooping it up. “Fine.”
The instant the quartz touched her fingers, the cave erupted in an explosion of light. Another spirit stream that was almost identical to the other but far weaker in strength whispered beneath her flesh. Rena sucked in a shuddering breath and wanted to open her eyes but couldn’t. They were heavy with sleep.
As darkness closed in, the man whispered, You are his only hope.
* * *
Zander Lorens rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he reached around blindly for the cell phone that was somewhere next to his sleeping bag. Early morning sunlight streamed in through the vents of his tent, and he squinted against it while swearing under his breath. The dream was still fresh and the woman’s face securely imprinted on his mind, to say nothing of her energy signature.
For the first time in five centuries, Zander had hope that the curse could be broken.
Over the years, in spite of the history between their families, she had become a trusted acquaintance. Hell, she was a powerful old broad, and if she wanted to hurt Zander, she could have done it a hundred times over. Complicated past aside, Isadora was his only surviving connection to the supernatural world.
Zander had no other options.
The early morning chill of the surrounding mountains crept in, but Zander barely felt it. Excitement and a healthy dose of nerves had his blood humming. He pressed the phone to his ear and unzipped his tent. Sucking in a deep breath of crisp morning air, he stepped out, uncaring of his nakedness. There was nobody there to see it other than the forest creatures, and since he wasn’t exactly Snow White, they wouldn’t be paying him any mind.
After six or seven rings, Isadora finally picked up.
“You better have a damned good reason for calling an old woman at this hour,” she croaked. “The sun is barely up.”
“I found her.” Zander tried to keep his voice even and his eagerness at bay, but it was no use. “Last night. In the dreamrealm. Arianna was gone, and a woman I have never seen before had taken her place. She was—”
“Hold on a damn minute,” she rasped. “Slow down.”
“Zed spoke, Isadora. He actually spoke.” He let out a short laugh of disbelief and pushed his shaggy, dark hair off his face while staring at the rising sun. “The voice was more beast than man, but he uttered the same word over and over again as soon as he saw her: mine. Don’t you see? The woman in the dreamrealm, whoever she is, has to be Zed’s mate.”
When the old witch didn’t respond, Zander thought the connection had been lost. He pulled the phone away and checked, but he had plenty of bars. He growled with frustration and put it back to his ear, but two seconds later, a crackling sound erupted behind him.
Undiscovered Page 1
