Forbidded

by Adrienne Woods

  My sister had everything. She had no idea how lucky she was to be the best at everything without even trying.

  If the Association did have Eva’s cloak, without a doubt they’d hand it to her sometime in the future. Probably with a freaking ceremony.

  Before the visions, I rarely felt like a member of my own family. I wasn’t good with a gun the way Theo and Will were. I wasn’t strong like Dad and Liz. I wasn’t as fast as Uncle Fernus. Always lagging, out of place. The only normal one among supernatural beings.

  Then the visions started and I found my role in the hunt. Foreseeing events. Contributing something that mattered.

  Over time, it became easier and easier to manage them during a hunt. But keeping my condition a secret while simultaneously helping my family unnoticed… That was much harder.

  Two

  I saw the stranger before he came into our lives. A vision, not of a hunt, one that played out at home. We were all sitting on the porch on the farm. Dad and Uncle Fernus were fixing the truck, fiddling with the engine, and kept telling Will to turn the ignition.

  I was reading a book while Liz chattered on the phone with Megan, a member of a different hunting team.

  Megan was around Liz’s age and was obviously enamored with Theo.

  We’d met her team only a few weeks prior. They hunted vampires. Dad had invited them back to the farm after the joint hunt went successfully.

  It was fun hosting other hunters, swapping our best action tales, sharing expertise on what was—and wasn’t—effective against the different creatures we specialized in. Less fun but still special were the moments spent toasting fallen hunters.

  To kill vampires for good, they had to be burned. Rumors persisted that some vampires had special abilities, and, Megan’s team shared conspiratorially, one in particular could wield fire.

  Several of my war visions were filled with, surrounded with, overwhelmed by that element. Fire.

  An unfamiliar, brand-new truck turned into the driveway and rumbled toward us, trailed by a steady cloud of gray gravel dust.

  Dad and Uncle Fernus wiped their hands on a dirty cloth and my cousin climbed out of the truck. I slid my bookmark into the pages of my novel. Liz cut her call with Megan short.

  Theo was in the house, shotgun in hand, ready for anything.

  It sure would be a dire mistake to think we’d be easy targets.

  “Ru, Liz, get in the house.”

  “Dad,” Liz whined, even as I was already on my way into the house.

  “Do as I say,” he warned.

  She galumphed morosely behind me.

  Theo leaned against the kitchen window, watching through the sheer white curtain panel. Liz took up a position right beside him, eyeing the vehicle as it pulled to a stop.

  “What do you think—”

  “Shh,” Theo said.

  Liz sighed but shut her mouth.

  The door of the expensive-looking truck opened and a hot guy around Theo’s age got out.

  “Hubba hubba,” Liz quipped.

  “Shh.” Theo looked angry.

  “What?” she snapped. “He can’t hear me.”

  My brother shook his head without taking his eyes off the stranger.

  The passenger door opened and another big guy got out of the truck.

  They approached my father and uncle, hands extended.

  Surprisingly, my father and uncle shook their hands. Unease trickled over me. This was a vision, and whenever I had visions about my family, it meant death loomed.

  I regarded the newcomers with hawkeyed scrutiny, like my brother, and wished I could hear what the dark-blond-haired guy with the gorgeous smile was saying to Dad.

  “He is smoking,” Liz whispered.

  I gave her a stern look. She’d never spoken about any guy like that.

  “What do you think they want?”

  “I don’t know. Be quiet,” Theo growled.

  She shut up as we watched the interaction between the four men.

  They looked like hunters.

  The handsome guy did most of the talking, often flashing a dazzling smile. After some time, they all shook hands again, and the strangers returned to their truck and drove away.

  Watching them leave, Dad pulled out his phone and put it to his ear.

  Theo and Liz flew through the kitchen, out the front door, and down the porch steps, clamoring for an explanation. I followed. But before we were told who the visitors were and what they wanted, I woke up.

  I blinked, willing the remnants of the headache pounding against my skull to recede.

  My father would have a conniption if he knew I was seeing this stuff and not telling everyone. But I didn’t care. We all had a vital role to play, and I was grateful to have found mine at last.

  The strangers didn’t portend something terrible. They were friendly. What bothered me was having no idea who they were, who my father called so urgently, or when it all would happen.

  Would my sister finally meet the Adonis of her dreams? But no, that didn’t seem important enough for a vision. I wished I could ask my father about them. That was the hardest part about my secret. I couldn’t talk about anything I saw, because it hadn’t happened yet.

  I had to be patient and wait for the black truck.

  A few weeks passed but the strangers didn’t arrive. More visions came, but none featured the strangers.

  Some were about the war, fire engulfing everything, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to the mythical vampire Megan’s team had spoken about. Was she real? If she could pluck fire out of thin air and manipulate it, how on earth would anyone be able to kill her? Would sunlight work?

  Finally, the day arrived. I didn’t pay attention to detail that day, and I wasn’t sitting on the porch when my sister stomped through the door mumbling under her breath that she was practically an adult.

  My brother stood at the kitchen window with a shotgun in his hands.

  “What do you think—”

  “Shh,” Theo said, exactly like the vision.

  I approached the window and peeked out.

  The expensive black truck slowed to a stop. The hottie and the giant got out and greeted my father and uncle. Will stood against our truck with his arms folded.

  I’d waited for this day. At last, I could ask what the hell they wanted.

  “Hubba hubba,” my sister said.

  “Shh.”

  Déjà vu. It was becoming a good friend, warning me when danger was near. Warning me when change was about to come. In which category did these men fall—danger or change?

  “What? He can’t hear me.”

  My brother shook his head without taking his eyes off the strangers. The stark familiarity was surreal.

  It always was.

  I skipped giving my sister a stern glare.

  When they said their goodbyes and left, I was the first to hurry out.

  “Seriously?” Liz yelled as I rushed through the door and off the porch.

  My siblings followed me.

  Dad was on his phone. Who had he called?

  We had to wait for Dad—we knew better than to interrupt a call that might be hunt-related. Impatient, I watched gray dust coat the tall grass of the front field as the truck drove off our property.

  “Who was that?” Theo asked our uncle.

  Fernus didn’t seem to hear, his full attention on Dad.

  “Will?” Theo prompted, to similar effect.

  At last, Dad ended his call. He nodded at Fernus.

  “Are they from the SHA?”

  “Seems like it. Roger confirmed that about a month ago, a hunting team of the Dejaun bloodline arrived from Georgia. Papers are legit, bearing the crest and seal.”

  “Dejaun?” Liz voiced my surprise.

  “Yeah.” Dad shrugged. “Roger said the boys offered to go through all those tests to prove they weren’t supernatural.”

  “Wow,” Uncle Fernus said.

  “There’s something about th
e one I don’t like,” Will muttered.

  “They’re hunters, son. You won’t find one who doesn’t have a dark past or hasn’t seen something horrible that made them snap. We need all the hunters we can get.”

  Which one was Will referring to? The blond guy seemed amicable enough.

  “What do they want?” I had to know.

  All my family members looked at me in surprise. I hadn’t spoken since my first vision. I was too timid to ask about something that hadn’t happened yet. And too obsessed to participate in unrelated chitchat. Instead, I had chosen silence.

  My sister’s arm twirled around my neck. Of course my going quiet, only speaking to my siblings in my visions, never in real life, had been hard on her. On them all.

  Dad grinned. “I’ll be sure to thank our new friends for making you talk again.”

  “Dad, please.” I rolled my eyes. “What do they want?”

  “They want to hunt in this vicinity and need our help.”

  “Help with killing?”

  “Something about hunting an Alpha.” My father’s expression and body language were rigid; he didn’t like this and didn’t trust them. He wasn’t stupid. He’d do what he always did to look out for our family.

  After a brief silence, Theo asked, “Which Alpha?” He sounded as puzzled as I felt. Every pack had an Alpha. Who were they after?

  “He didn’t say.” Dad’s eyes got even tighter. “I told them I’d confirm some details before we contact them with an answer.” He was always careful about revealing too much. A good habit.

  “And you got your confirmation?” Liz asked. She sounded giddy—she wanted to see the hot guy with dark blond hair again, of course.

  Without a doubt, he would be smitten with her.

  “Yes,” he said. “I will contact them, and Fernus and I will dig up everything we can about this Alpha they’re looking for. You girls must not mention this to anyone. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal,” Liz said, way too fast.

  “Ru?”

  I nodded.

  “Good.” He smiled. “Again, Will. Start her up.”

  And with that, they returned to their Saturday ritual of working on the truck.

  A few days later, Dad and Uncle Fernus met the mystery guys. The four of us stayed behind.

  No new visions had arrived in the meantime. I was annoyed. Liz couldn’t stop blathering about the hottie to Megan on the phone.

  I’d probably start dreaming about him too—not visions, just subconscious stirrings instigated by Lizzy’s incessant rambling. Sure, he was gorgeous. From-another-planet gorgeous. Nonetheless, I planned to stay far away. When my sister wanted something… well, I’d learned the hard way not to stand in her path.

  She would always win, no matter the stakes.

  If I was honest with myself, she wasn’t the pain in the ass I often tried to make her out to be. She was a sweetheart. Not only was she good at everything, she never did anything wrong. She was skilled and damn fast. And she always helped out around the house. She could cook, clean, and kick ass. Hell, she didn’t even have a temper. Zero flaws.

  She always pushed herself to do her best. Lizzy said we were all unique in our skills and that our only worthy competitors were ourselves and our own pasts. Moving forward was sort of her thing, that and becoming the best version of herself.

  I wished I were so together. True, I was unique. Sometimes, I wanted to confide in her. Tell her Grandma Marie hadn’t been crazy. Share the reason for my silence. Recount the times I had repeatedly fended off death for all of us.

  My foresight was driving a wedge between me and my family, and I was back to feeling like I wasn’t a real Chaperon.

  What was it that let me see into the future? Whatever it was, it comprised part of who I was. The only way to stay out of a mental hospital was to guard my secret and use it to my advantage. And keep my family safe.

  A honk announced my father and uncle’s return.

  My siblings and cousin leaped to their feet. With less enthusiasm, I followed suit.

  We all settled on our favorite chairs on the porch. My father took the swing with me and wrapped his arm around me, squeezed me, and planted a kiss on my temple.

  “So, what is the job?” My voice was hoarse form disuse.

  “It’s dangerous and strange, but after Collin explained it to me—”

  “Collin?” Liz interrupted.

  “Yes, Collin and Jared. Their hunting team is about twice the size of ours.”

  “What?” we all said in unison. It wasn’t unheard of, but a team that large was rare.

  He smiled.

  I marveled, “Everyone in his family is still alive?”

  “It seems that way, peanut,” he said. “I’m glad you’re talking again. You had me worried there.”

  “So, this Collin,” Theo insisted.

  “They’re rounding up werewolf hunting teams to help them track down the Alpha.”

  “Of which pack?” Theo sounded as annoyed as I felt.

  “Of the werewolves.”

  We all gaped at him.

  “Wait, what?” Liz asked as his insinuation clicked.

  “They’re not unlike the SHA, Lizzy if you think about our structure.” Admiration crept into his voice. “Collin and his family know more about werewolves than I think even the Association does.”

  “The werewolves have an Alpha? An Alpha over the entire werewolf population?” she asked.

  “Yeah, the first of them all. Still alive, still wreaking havoc on humans. Collin wants to find him and end him.”

  “How can we do that?” Liz scoffed.

  “That’s the strange part. He wants our help to capture, not kill.”

  Three

  My eighteenth birthday was nothing special; Dad cooked dinner, Liz baked a cake, and we held a quiet celebration, as always. Dad gave me a stunning crimson vest to wear when hunting. Wolves would see me from a mile away. And then I understood: he wanted to keep an eye on me.

  Discomfited, I smiled and thanked him. Our first meeting with the other hunters came a day after my birthday. I felt uncomfortable all day. I hadn’t received a vision of this night. Unsure of what the outcome would be, I went silent.

  My father didn’t like it. He had no idea what kind of worry I carried.

  Their safety was everything to me. I wasn’t as fast as Liz or a great shot like Theo, but I had a role to play. One that refused to work now, when we needed it. It made me feel… defective.

  Collin sent Dad the coordinates of a compound. We headed out as the sun began flirting with the horizon, buttery rays deepening to gold.

  When we received the invitation, I had assumed it would be an informal get-together, but now that seemed unlikely. Collin had told us to bring ammo and every scrap of silver we could get our hands on. Besides, the moon was nowhere near full in its cycle. Since werewolves only turned during full moons, I found this to be strange. Why now?

  I was with Will. Something about this hunting group didn’t click.

  Liz’s mind was already clouded by the mere image of Collin.

  My stomach turned. My body was coiled, ready for the worst. My instinct yelled ambush and my body agreed.

  My mind countered with rationality. Why would hunters kill hunters? We were all working to eliminate danger and protect humankind.

  I watched, hoped for a warning sign for a vision. No twinge of a headache, no dizziness, no reprieve from the question marks that faced us. Nothing.

  Dad took an off road into a heavily forested area. We were accustomed to the woods; it should have felt banal. But as the sunset crept toward twilight, my trepidation increased.

  After a few winding miles, the outline of another truck appeared. My eyes widened—not one truck, dozens of them. They were all parked in groups in a meadow deep in the forest.

  Liz whistled under her breath. “Holy crap.”

  “These are all werewolf hunters?” Theo asked in disbelief.

  “
Looks like it.”

  Dad signaled to Uncle Fernus and Will in the truck behind us, then parked under the tree closest to the path we were on. Always the strategist. My uncle parked opposite us, his tires quiet on the asphalt.

  We got out and walked over to where the other hunters, probably fifty or so, were gathered.

  Some faces were familiar; Dad and Uncle Fernus greeted people with warm exclamations about how they hadn’t seen each other in ages. As they shook hands and embraced people, Liz and I stood quietly a few feet removed.

  “Oh, my word.” The woman who exclaimed this was tall and lean with sculpted arms and dark hair in a messy bun. “Is this little Theo?”

  “In the flesh,” my father boasted. “Liz, come here.”

  I sighed, trying to hide my envy. She was always the first to be introduced while I lurked in the shadows.

  Awkwardly, I approached as Liz basked in the attention. Spotting me, Dad put his hand on my back. “And this is my baby. Well, she’s not a baby anymore. Ru.”

  “Goodness, Ru… The last time I saw you, you were in diapers.” On closer inspection, her hair was peppered with gray. She was beautiful, decked out in kickass leathers and boots with a tank top.

  “Ru, this is Emily Watson. She’s one hell of a werewolf hunter.”

  “Your father is such a flatterer. I’m no different from the rest of you. Just doing my job.”

  I smiled at her.

  She looked at my father, an unsure smile stretching across her face.

  “She’s not much of a talker, but that’s our Ru.”

  Liz careened full speed into conversation, bombarding Emily with questions about techniques and worst-case scenarios. My sister, forever on the lookout for information with the aim of self-improvement.

  Emily’s eyes sparkled; she was clearly enjoying Liz’s enthusiasm.

  A guy next to Emily spoke, and I yanked my attention away from her for the first time. “What do you think of this proposal to capture, not kill?”

  I inched closer to my father, abandoning Lizzy’s bubbly conversation for the more somber exchange between the two men.

  “I must admit,” Dad said, “I can’t see how it could be possible.”