by E. J. King
“It’s been really great getting to know your family history, but do you mind telling me what in the hell I’m doing here?”
The waitress returned with my coffee and Rafe’s meal, which he started devouring instantly. Ethan ordered a coffee and waited for the waitress to leave before saying, “Rafe didn’t tell you?”
“Rafe hasn’t done anything but flirt with the waitress and inhale half of his burger,” I snapped.
Ethan chuckled. “You’re right, Rafe. She’s sassy.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll just leave.” I put my hands on the table and started to slide out of the booth, but Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Don’t. Please stay. I promise we’ll explain.”
“I don’t even know you. Why would I trust you?” I said.
Rafe pushed away his empty plate and said, “Because we’re Hunters.”
CHAPTER TWO
My chest tightened painfully and I sank back into my seat. How had they found me? I had left that life behind.
“Hunters?” I asked, just for something to say that would fill the painful silence.
“Soul Hunters,” Ethan confirmed, his eyes darkening just a hint. “Like you.”
My head shook. “No. No, I’m not a Hunter. Not anymore.”
“It’s not exactly something you can quit,” Ethan said, sounding sympathetic. “You are born into this world.”
“And you die in it,” I finished, my eyes flashing with pain and anger.
Rafe sighed again. “We don’t need to hear about how your family was killed. I was there, remember?”
But I didn’t remember. Not exactly. I remembered that someone had saved me that night and Rafe claimed to be that person. But he could be lying. Hunters were really good at lying.
“You need to leave me alone,” I hissed. “I don’t want any part in that life now. I’ve moved on.”
“Have you?” Rafe set me with a challenging stare. It was hard to stare back when all I could see was my own reflection.
“Yes.” I pushed my chin out stubbornly.
Ethan held up a cautioning hand. “Okay, let’s take a step back and start over.”
“Or you could just leave,” I suggested.
“We can’t do that.” Ethan gave me a hard look. “They’re coming for you, Kaylie. They are going to finish what they started two years ago unless we stop them.”
My breath caught and my pulse raced. I had covered my tracks so well. I’d moved far away. I lived off the grid as much as possible. I had even changed my last name and my appearance.
“Why? Why are they coming after me?”
It was a rhetorical question, but Rafe answered anyway. “Because you’re a Hart.”
“No, I’m not. Not anymore. I’m Kaylie Jones.” I wasn’t just trying to convince them; I was also trying to convince myself. But we all knew that just because I had changed my last name, I hadn’t stopped being Kaylie Hart. Being a Hart wasn’t something you could quit.
“You are John and Holly Hart’s daughter. That’s not something you can change, even with a fake ID and a new hair color.” Ethan cupped his hands around his coffee mug and I found myself staring at them, wondering if they were soft and warm, or hard and cold. “The Dark Souls know where you are, Kaylie.”
“You already said that,” I whispered. “How many?”
Rafe shrugged. “At least the sect responsible for your family’s slaughter. Maybe more.”
“I can handle them.”
My parents had raised me in the Soul Hunter world. It was an exclusive world filled with horror and danger. From their estimations, only a few dozen Soul Hunters were still alive. Our primary mission in life was to hunt the Dark Souls and destroy them before they could kill innocent people.
It sounded crazy- I knew that. But there was no denying that evil existed in the world. A lot of myths and legends had been written since the dawn of time to explain this evil, from Dracula to present vampire lore. People found it entertaining to imagine these creatures as exotic, and even erotic. It was laughable when you knew the truth.
Dark Souls were vultures, attacking unsuspecting prey- humans- and draining them of their blood. A few special humans knew the truth- the Soul Hunters- and we dedicated our lives to the cause of eradicating the Dark Souls. My parents had died for that cause.
“I’m not sure you can handle them alone,” Ethan objected, very hesitantly. It was never a good idea to speculate on another Hunter’s capabilities. “We’re talking at least a dozen Souls.”
“They won’t come all at once.”
It was a well-known fact among Hunters that Souls never traveled in groups of more than two or three. They needed to feed, and a larger group feeding at the same time would draw too much attention. The last thing they wanted was even more people hunting them.
“Still.” Ethan paused while the waitress refilled our coffee.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, looking only at the brothers.
“We’re good,” Ethan said with a polite smile.
Rafe added, “Maybe later.”
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but it’s unnecessary. I can take care of myself.” I ignored Rafe’s smirk. Tossing some money on the table, I stood. “Go help some defenseless damsels in distress. Go hit on the waitress. Just leave me alone.”
I was almost to my car before I realized that I had left my bag, with my keys, in the diner. I turned to go back inside, but two large figures blocked my path. For just a second, I thought it was Ethan and Rafe. But when they stepped under the street light, I saw their gold eyes.
“That was quick,” I muttered, cursing myself for not having a weapon. That was going to make this more challenging.
“Kaylie Hart?” One of them asked gruffly.
“Let’s get this over with.” I sighed, hoping I could take them out without getting any scrapes or bruises. Those could really drain my tip-earning potential.
Perhaps I was distracted by that thought, or perhaps it was because I hadn’t hunted in two years, but whatever the reason, I didn’t hear the third one sneak up behind me.
His arm went around my throat, instantly cutting off my air supply and my ability to scream. Instincts kicked in, and I threw an elbow back. I collided with muscle as solid as a stone wall. I stomped down hard on his foot and he grunted, but his grip remained tight.
“No use fighting, little girl.” Then he spoke to his friends. “She’s a pretty one. Maybe we should enjoy ourselves before we drain her blood.”
The Souls wanted blood, first and foremost. But they also still had normal human cravings- food, alcohol, and sex. Death was bad enough, but the prospect of a gang bang by this crew made me shiver.
With my head jerked back, I could no longer see the other Souls, but I heard one of them cry out.
“Let her go or we kill your other friend.” Rafe’s voice was smooth and unconcerned.
“They aren’t my friends.” The grip around my neck tightened, nearly strangling me.
“Come on, man. You don’t want to do this.” Ethan sounded slightly more anxious than his brother.
I had one move left- a play that I only resorted to when all else failed. I inched my feet forward just a bit, then swung one foot behind me, hard. It connected solidly, and I was free. My attacker was doubled over in pain, grabbing his crotch and swearing.
Rafe moved next to me. “That was a low blow.”
He brandished a knife and quickly stabbed it into the Soul’s chest. Ethan had already taken care of the remaining Soul and now we stood in the middle of three rapidly disintegrating bodies. In a couple of minutes, they would be nothing but piles of clothes. Rafe bent down and wiped his blade clean on the clothes.
“I thought you were done being a Hunter,” he said, handing me the knife. A closer look revealed that it was my knife.
“You forgot your bag,” Ethan said, holding it up.
I snatched it away. “I’m so glad you felt comfortable enough to go rifling through m
y bag without permission.”
“You’re welcome,” Rafe snapped.
“What?”
“For saving your life. Again.” He pointed to the piles of clothes. “You’re welcome.”
“Whatever.” I dug in my bag for my keys.
Ethan called after me as I opened my car door. “This is just the beginning, Kaylie. There will be more. Next time you might not be so lucky.”
I hesitated for just a second and Rafe added, “You’re out of practice. These Souls were careless and uninventive and they still managed to take you.” His face softened very subtly. “It’s been two years since you’ve hunted. You aren’t ready.”
I stared blankly at them. Even if I managed to convince myself that I had given up the Hunter’s life, the Souls didn’t care. They would still find me. Rafe was right- I wasn’t ready.
“What are you proposing we do?” If the Souls really were coming, I needed a plan.
“We start training right away,” Ethan said. “Once we get you back into shape, the three of us should be able to handle them.”
I nodded. “Okay. We’ll start tomorrow. Where should I find you?”
“We’ll come to your place in the morning. We can start with the morning run,” Rafe said, and I remembered that he already knew my daily schedule. No doubt that meant he already knew where I lived, too.
“Fine.”
It was well into the morning hours when I got home. This was typically when I would crawl into bed and doze for a couple of hours before the nightmares became too intense. Tonight was no exception. After being asleep for what felt like ten minutes, I woke with a start, my skin damp with sweat.
After my usual coffee-binge, I pulled on my workout gear. In my morning daze, I forgot that I would have company for my run. I was only reminded when I pulled open the front door and found Ethan just about to knock.
“Good morning,” he said, sounding and looking way too chipper for someone that had been up since before the sun.
“It’s morning alright,” I replied, glancing over his shoulder. “Where’s Mr. Shades?”
Ethan’s smile faded. “Hung over.”
“Hung over? Did he actually go out after the diner?” I wasn’t even sure we had a bar in town that was open past 2 AM.
“Something like that.” Ethan coughed uncomfortably. “The last time I saw him, he was working his charms on the waitress.”
“Of course,” I said, feeling irritated. Even though I didn’t really know Rafe, I was pretty certain I knew his type. It was probably for the best that he had bailed since he would likely have just annoyed me.
“Well, let’s get this over with.”
Ethan and I fell into a comfortable pace, just slightly faster than jogging. In my peak fitness, I had been able to run ten miles without breaking a sweat. But now, by the five-mile-mark I was starting to agree that I was out of shape.
“Anyway, that’s how I ended up meeting the Prince,” Ethan finished, wrapping up one of his many stories. “Have you traveled much?”
“When I was younger.” It pretty much went without saying that Hunters spent their lives moving around. I had attended thirty different schools before I hit my teen years. Eventually, my parents gave up enrolling me and I was home schooled. “I’ve only been out of the country a couple of times though.”
“My mom was big on traveling and taking us with her.” Ethan had no problem talking to me like I was an old friend. It was strange for someone like me that had never really had a longtime friend. “Rafe liked visiting the exotic countries, but I was into the historical places in Europe.”
“What’s the story with you two? You’re pretty close in age, so how did you end up with different dads?” It was a pretty personal question, but Ethan didn’t seem to mind.
He filled me in on his family’s story. His mom had met another Hunter when she was about my age, falling in love quickly. They had a baby exactly nine months after they were married. That very same day, her husband was killed during a hunt.
“So Rafe’s father was killed on the day he was born?” That might have something to do with his surly attitude.
“Yep.” Ethan had picked up our pace and while he was unfazed, I was starting to struggle. “She met my dad right after that. They had me a couple of years later. Really, my dad has been Rafe’s dad for all these years. So it never really felt like we were only half-brothers, except for having different last names.”
“Do you have any other siblings?”
Ethan took a right turn, away from the street that would take us back home. I groaned internally.
“Nope. Just me and Rafe.” He added without thinking, “What about you?”
My jaw clenched and I kept myself focused only on putting one foot in front of the other. I wouldn’t let myself think of them.
“I’m sorry, Kaylie. I just forgot for a second…”
“It’s okay.” I almost stopped there. I hadn’t talked about them with anyone in two years and it would’ve been easy to keep the status quo. But something about Ethan made me want to open up. “I had two brothers. One older and one younger. Lincoln and Jack.”
I could see little Jack’s face in my mind, eyes empty and lifeless. He was the hardest one to remember because he had been so young when he was taken from me.
“Can we head back?” We had passed the five-mile-mark, and I was already tired; it was going to be a challenge to make it back.
“Yeah.” Ethan turned the corner and we headed back in comfortable silence.
I opened my door and crossed the threshold without inviting him in. “I assume I’ll be seeing at least one of you later?”
“You know where The Fitness Club is?”
“Yeah, but that place is closed.” I passed the abandoned building on my way to work.
Ethan smirked. “Closed is a relative term.”
“Whatever.” I knew that Hunters didn’t always play by the rules. “I’m in class until four.”
“We’ll see you at 4:30.”
When I entered the gym at 4:25, Ethan and Rafe were already training. Ethan was on the pull-up bar and Rafe was attacking a punching bag. I watched from the doorway for a minute, hit by flashbacks of training with Lincoln; he had been close to their ages.
Ethan was more muscular than Rafe, and a couple of inches shorter. From my morning training, I knew he also had good endurance. But if I had to pick one of them to have my back in a fight, I would pick Rafe. The way he drilled every punch into the bag, his face determined and completely focused on the task at hand, wasn’t something you could teach. He was a born fighter.
“Kaylie.” Ethan caught my eye in the wall of mirrors and he dropped to the ground. “Rafe didn’t think you would show.”
“And you?” I glanced at Rafe, but he was still punching away.
Ethan grinned. “I knew you couldn’t resist. Once a Hunter, always a Hunter.”
I certainly hoped that wasn’t true. As soon as this minor crisis was averted, I planned to go back to my normal, boring life.
“Where should we start?”
“Stretch out and we’ll start with the weights.”
I took my time getting limber, enjoying the feeling of stretching each muscle. It had been a long time since I had used most of them and I had no doubt I was going to be sore after our workout.
Ethan started me out easy enough with some free weight reps. He followed it with push-ups and sit-ups, which I had gotten embarrassingly bad at performing. I used to be able to do hundreds of them, but now I had to stop at fifty.
“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Ethan said during a water break.
“It’s already pretty bad.” I rubbed my sore shoulder muscles. “Is Rafe in a bad mood or something? He hasn’t said a word to me.”
Ethan looked over his shoulder to the bench press. “Nah, he’s just very focused during training sessions.”
Almost as if he knew we were talking about him, Rafe sat up on the bench. “You
ready for some real training, Red?”
“What’s he talking about?” I asked Ethan.
“We’re sharing training duties. I’m off the clock.” Ethan reached for a towel and wiped sweat from his chest. “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”
“Are you leaving?” I asked, feeling slightly panicked.
“Red! Let’s go!”
Somehow I didn’t think Rafe was going to be as sympathetic as his brother. “Don’t yell at me!”
“You better go,” Ethan said. “Rafe doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Why did I sign up for this again?” I muttered. The door closed behind Ethan and I approached Rafe slowly.
He looked me over carefully, eyes raking me from head to toe. I forced myself not to blush or wilt under his gaze.
“You have a weak body,” he said frankly.
“Excuse you?” I glared at him. “I don’t usually get any complaints in that area.”
“I’m sure.” He smirked. “It’s a good body for a normal girl, but you aren’t normal Kaylie.”
I was getting sick of being reminded that I wasn’t normal. “Look, I’m willing to let you train me, but not if it also meets letting you insult me.”
“Stop whining and tape up your wrists. It’s time to let you hit things.” Rafe threw a roll of tape at me.
Hand-to-hand had always been my favorite part of training. I was never as big and strong as Lincoln, but I was quick and nimble. Our battles had been evenly matched. That was a long time ago, though, and I started off slow.
Rafe circled me slowly, his face unreadable. Occasionally, he would bark out an order.
“Follow through. Stand tall. Tighten your core. Move your feet.”
Each time he yelled, I would hit the bag harder. Over and over again.
“Stop.” Rafe grabbed the bag just as I was about to hit it. “Your stance is terrible.”
“It’s hard to concentrate when you’re pacing around, barking at me.” I flicked away a strand of hair that fell over my eyes.
I was sure that Rafe was rolling his eyes behind his shades. “Stop making excuses.”
Frustrated, I slammed my fist into the bag. “This isn’t working!”
