Hunter

by Jacquelyn Frank

  “Have you ever ... ?”

  “Felt so connected to another person?” she finished for him curiously. She reached for his face, taking it between both hands. “Never. Not even Dimitre. And I am sure I never will.”

  “How?” he asked hoarsely. “How are you so sure?”

  “Are you saying that you aren’t?” she countered, a sliver of apprehension entering the moment for the first time since the door had slammed shut.

  “Oh no,” he swore with low vehemence. “But I’m used to sensing things like acts of fate. I’m so aware of all that had to happen to put you here, in my sphere and in my arms, and I know I have some damn serious tributes to make to the Lady Goddess and our ancient Blessing Tree.”

  Tatyana didn’t have a chance to question or reply to that. Hunter’s head snapped up so suddenly that she could swear she heard a ligament pop. She watched with morbid fascination and dread as his fine blue eyes narrowed and his thoughts and attention turned obviously inward. He was sensing something and, by the accompanying frown, it wasn’t something pleasant or welcome.

  “What is it?” she asked, her hands gripping his shoulders nervously.

  He looked at her, almost as if he had forgotten she was there with him, a fact that normally would have filled her with consternation, but she was too alarmed to be bothered with her ego when she saw that look come over him.

  “Asher has come home.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tatyana was a little baffled as to why the arrival of a member of Hunter’s coven would distress him so. He had hold of her hand as he drew her through the house and she smoothed self-conscious fingers through her hair and over her clothes, trying not to look as though she’d been engaging in illicit behaviors. He, she thought with consternation, looked as though he’d been doing nothing more important than reading a boring book.

  She pushed her shallower concerns aside, however, as her apprehension at Hunter’s mood and reactions began to take over. She could feel the tension radiating off him in powerful waves. She could almost feel the harsh cadence of dread in his pulse, even though his expression never reflected it. As Hunter pulled her into the main front hall, she was riddled with curiosity over what could cause that kind of a reaction in this kind of a powerful man.

  As if a silent call had gone out, all the members of the coven began to enter the room from different points at the same time. Annali from the hall near the conservatory; Lennox from the rear hall; Hunter, Tatyana, and Ryce from the area of the library; and even Gracelynne from the stairs to the east. As Hunter drew her to a halt in the center of the hall, positioning her between himself and Ryce, Tatyana got her first good look at the coven member who had been MIA.

  The Spiritus witch known as Asher wasn’t as tall as the other males of the coven, but he was still a unique looking man and very attractive in his own way. Asher had an intensity about him, aquiline features set beneath a slightly wild cap of strawberry blond hair and only slightly darker brows. His eyes were a soft, doe-like brown, but the gentle color was belied by the dark expression brewing deep within them as he watched each member of his coven approach. His gaze settled at last on Hunter. A frown to match Hunter’s tugged at an otherwise fine mouth, erasing the dimples that’d ghosted near his lips only a moment before as he’d watched the approach of the entire coven with bemusement. The witch gave his keys an absent jingle as he allowed a certain grimness to overtake his expression.

  “My, my,” he mused in a rich baritone, “what an interesting greeting this is. And so very ... complete.” He glanced at Hunter, appraising him for a long moment. “Welcome home, Sentinel,” he greeted him, not sounding very welcoming. It was the first time Tatyana had witnessed anyone be anything other than warm and hospitable to Hunter, or anyone else within the coven for that matter. Yet, she wasn’t all that surprised. On some level she had sensed this would happen. She had become aware that the coven wasn’t entirely pleased with Asher, and that Asher wasn’t going to be pleased to see Hunter.

  “You don’t look surprised,” Hunter countered with directness.

  “Don’t I?” One of Asher’s dark, red-gold brows cocked up an inch as a sarcastic curl rippled over his mouth. “Forgive me. Was I supposed to dance?”

  “Hardly,” Hunter said flatly.

  Asher let his shadowy, assessing eyes fall on Tatyana and the fact that Hunter’s fingers were laced tightly within hers. “Well now, isn’t this cozy. You’ve come complete with your own entertainment and everything. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little”—he paused quite purposely to make sure his derision sank in—“friend?”

  Hunter took an aggressive step forward, but his progress toward Asher was interrupted when Ryce and Lennox stepped between the two increasingly hostile men. Though he was physically stopped, Tatyana could feel the violent energy Hunter flung toward the other man. It was clear Hunter wanted to do serious damage to Asher for his barely veiled insult.

  Tatyana was shocked. She didn’t know what to make of what she was witnessing. There must be some connection between this awful meeting and the reason why Hunter had left all those years ago. It was the only thing she could figure.

  “Asher”—Ryce spoke up sharply—“I wouldn’t be testing anyone’s patience right now if I were you. This woman is a guest of honor in this house and she will be treated as such, or you will answer to me. Provided I get to you before Hunter does,” he added darkly.

  “Hmm,” the newly arrived witch said with lazy speculation. “I’m feeling a little hostility in the ranks.”

  “Where the hell have you been for the past five days, Ash?” It was Gracelynne who demanded the answer as she continued to limp down the remainder of the steps and struggled to get up in Asher’s face. “Leaving the coven with no forewarning and no notice of where you would be? For five days? When you knew full well we were investigating a powerful dark coven? When you knew we were already short Dimitre and Kaia?”

  For the first time something other than malice and sarcasm filtered across Asher’s features. He looked over Gracelynne with slow, considering eyes for a moment, going very still as he took in all of her injuries and bruises.

  “Gracie... what happened to you?”

  “What happened? What happened?” she railed, her voice rising sharply. “I called and called for you, Asher McBride, that’s what bloody happened!” The accusation struck like a whip, all the harder because the tough little woman’s expression shattered with her emotions. “I screamed. I cried. I prayed for you to come! How dare you barrel in here spewing anger and righteousness at Hunter when you’ve done no better yourself, and you don’t have the errors of youth and inexperience to blame it on!”

  Tatyana watched as the brightest, tiniest little sparks began to snap through the tight curls of Gracelynne’s ginger-colored hair. Hunter suddenly let go of her hand, reaching to gently take Gracelynne’s shoulder under his comforting fingers.

  “Gracie,” he soothed, “don’t upset yourself like this.”

  “I’m not upset, I’m bloody furious! He has no right. No right at all! You bastard. You selfish son of a bitch!” Gracie was leaning against Hunter’s hold as she flung the abuse at Asher with all the fury a woman in pain could muster. The small sparks expanded to miniature snaps of lightning that jumped through her curls, forcing Hunter to lean out of the perimeter of the halo of electricity around her head.

  “Gracie, you’ll make yourself sick like this,” he said more firmly, giving her a gentle little shake before braving her anger and conductive static to lay an arm of comfort around the small creature’s shoulders. He embraced her snugly to his chest and immediately Gracie grasped at him and broke into a sound of complete pain and sadness too strongly weighted with misery to be called a simple sob.

  Hunter was casting a look at Tatyana that begged for her understanding as he held the tiny witch in his embrace. But she wasn’t truly paying attention to him. Instead, she was distracted by the brief, sardonic smile that twitched
over Asher’s lips. There was something strangely blase about his expression and reaction. It wasn’t what she would have expected from anyone in this coven. No more than she would expect it of one of her brothers.

  Asher turned to look her dead in the eye for a long second, the contact giving her a momentary chill. Then he turned back to Hunter.

  “So,” he said coldly, “you waltz in here after a decade of abandonment, after leaving here in disgrace, and suddenly they’re all ready to forgive and forget? Is that the deal, Ryce? I’ve been here for the past ten years, but he hasn’t. Now he’s just going to step right back into the shoes of Sentinel, and death and dishonor are to be swept under the rug?” He shook his head and laughed as if they were all out of their minds, and he was disgusted with the lot of them. “Look. It’s simple. Either I start packing, or he stops unpacking. I’ll give you a day or two to decide. Meanwhile, I need a drink. I’ll be in my room.”

  With that and a neat dodge around any explanations of his whereabouts, Tatyana noticed, Asher pushed past the gathering and stormed up the steps leading to the east wing of the house. As soon as he had disappeared, Annali and Ryce both surrounded Gracelynne with gentle touches and sounds of soft comfort. Gracie remained most receptive to Hunter, however, and Tatyana thought she was beginning to understand why. When she’d been under attack, Gracie would have screamed, cried, and prayed, just as she had said, for every member of her coven. Not just Asher. Something had kept them all from hearing her, from rescuing her from the brutalization she had suffered. In her battered psyche, they had all failed her.

  All except Hunter, whom she wouldn’t have thought to call for because he had been gone for so long. He, by a chance of timing and fate, was the only one whom she felt had not let her down in her most dire moment of need. It was a convoluted logic at best, and a sure sign of the damage she’d suffered. Tatyana felt a pang of sharp sympathy for the other young woman. Especially since she had spent some time with her earlier and had begun to get a feel for her personality. She’d been subdued, but it was obvious that she normally had a sassy streak a mile wide along with a heavy dose of grit and courage. Gracie had flashed strong glimpses of these traits at Tatyana when she’d realized there was someone ‘weaker’ than herself in the household now. It had bolstered her flagging spirits to feel useful and protective of Tatyana in her neophyte state.

  So now, the new witch made herself extremely small and faded back away as if she weren’t even there. If she were to comfort Gracie, it would undermine the other woman’s growing sense of strength. Tatyana wished to preserve that feeling between them, believing that it might be an avenue of healing for Gracelynne in the future. She was no psychologist, but she’d learned a lot growing up with twelve brothers and sisters, especially the art of navigating a fragile ego.

  Soon Ryce fell away from comforting Gracie as well, leaving her to Hunter and Annie. They each wrapped themselves around a side of her petite body, and as a trio they slowly climbed the stairs back toward her suite in the east wing. They talked softly, their low tones echoing off the high ceilings as they went, and the remaining members of the coven watched until they disappeared.

  Then Tatyana rounded on Nox and Ryce, her mouth pressed into a determined line and her hands fitted onto her hips. “Would anyone care to explain what the hell all that was about? Because I have to tell you, I’m mighty confused.”

  “Unfortunately,” Ryce said carefully, “it’s not our place to tell you about this. Hunter will have to tell you himself if he wishes to. You’re our guest and a welcome apprentice, but there are some histories among the coven that ... that...” He shrugged a shoulder a little helplessly.

  “Are none of my damned business?” she supplied helpfully.

  “Something like that,” the Brit agreed.

  “No. It’s okay. I get it,” Tatyana said with a shrug. “I’ll just wait and see what Hunter says. Meanwhile,” she sighed, looking up the stairs after her absent information resource, “I’m going to go relax somewhere alone.”

  “Just don’t—”

  “Go outside. Yes, I know,” she said with an impatient wave at Ryce that matched her tone as she climbed the stairs.

  Tatyana walked slowly around the balcony, alternately throwing pensive stares down at the empty room below and stopping to study the excellent artistry of the ‘Wonderland’ mural. It was extremely quiet, except for the sound of her bare feet on the floorboards. She tried to imagine what it would sound like, a room full of children created by these magical people.

  What terrible thing had occurred to drive so enormous a wedge through this close-knit household? Until Asher’s wrench in the cogs, Hunter had seemed to be settling in. Everyone had seemed to welcome him home. What had gone so wrong so suddenly?

  She needed to know. Not because of curiosity, but because it had so dramatically affected the life of the man who had just become her lover. Why had he left ten years ago, and what did that have to do with Asher? What wouldn’t a man let go of after a whole decade?

  Tatyana left behind the sadly silent nursery and began to walk the dark hallway. She’d had her share of feuds with her siblings, most especially with Calina, whom she had never understood completely, but never anything of so powerful a nature that it would drive them, and subsequently their family, apart.

  “You know, it just figures you’d be a redhead,” Asher remarked from the shadows of a doorway several steps away. Tatyana drew to a halt, his attempt at a lazy drawl putting her on edge. There was something rigid and dangerous beneath all that obvious casualness as he stepped away from the door to lean one of his arms against the near wall. She could feel his eyes roaming very slowly over her, picking her apart and appraising her with blatant rudeness.

  “Excuse me,” she said, moving to push past him. His hand snapped out quick as a whip and grabbed her upper arm, stopping her cold. Then she saw the white flash of teeth as he smiled.

  “My, oh my. You are much better built than I first thought. Tall and pretty. Great tits. I can see why Hunter likes you.”

  The way he said ‘likes you’ would have made a lesser girl feel dirty. Luckily, she was not that girl.

  “Yeah, well, I’m told I have a mighty fine ass as well,” she retorted tartly. “Both of which are two assets more than you can ever lay claim to.”

  Asher chuckled at that, a genuinely amused sound as he moved close enough for his body heat to radiate into her.

  “Let me tell you a little secret, Red,” he said softly, straightening up so he could reach out and stroke her cheek with two slow, gentle fingers. “Hunter isn’t the saint he appears to be. He never was. Oh, I know you see how the others adore him and they probably visibly relish his return, but trust me, there’s a reason why he was shunned by this coven for ten years.” He reached out and flicked back her hair with his hand, but she refused to flinch away from the deceptive warmth in his deep brown eyes. “And boy is it a winner.”

  He made another sweep at her hair, and once he’d exposed her neck he leaned in and sniffed gently, his lips curling in a mocking smile. “You smell like him, you know. It’s all over you. But I suppose it’s nothing a shower couldn’t cure, eh?”

  Tatyana jerked back on her arm with all of her weight as suddenly as she could, but his grip tightened to a bruising degree, and with an awesome display of physical strength, Asher dragged her forward and shoved her through a nearby door, following after her and slamming and locking the portal as she stumbled for balance.

  Feeling genuine panic now, she began to back away from him, a scream of terror building in her throat.

  “Oh, don’t do that,” he chided, wagging a finger at her. “I just wanted to have a little uninterrupted discussion with you. No running away, no screaming or whatever feminine histrionics you can think of. After all, I’m a white witch. What do you think I’m going to do to you?”

  Tatyana wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe an entire coven couldn’t be fooled for all those years. This was
just ... some kind of repressed anger toward Hunter, and Asher was taking it out on her. He hadn’t hurt her really, just intimidated her.

  “I have nothing to do with any of this,” she reminded him, backing up into the far wall of the room. It was someone’s bedroom, she realized. Or potential bedroom. A nanny perhaps, considering the proximity to the nursery. The furniture was covered in sheets, showing it to be as yet unused as the nursery itself. “If you have an argument with Hunter, I know he would prefer you be straightforward with him about it.”

  “Oh, so you know him in ways other than the biblical sense?” Asher asked as he let his eyes roam the room briefly. Maybe she was crazy, but he seemed to look at the bed too long for her comfort. “And here I thought he was just fucking you.”

  “Hey!” she snapped. “Watch your mouth, you pig!”

  It was a big mistake to yell at him. Tatyana’s temper had popped off out of nowhere, and Asher clearly didn’t care for it. He stormed across the room in three broad steps and she thought he was going to grab for her.

  He did. Around her throat. Asher sealed one large hand around her windpipe and major neck arteries, his nails burrowing into her skin, and he yanked her off her feet as he slammed her back into the wall. Tatyana tried to breathe, but it was impossible. Her head struck the wall and she saw stars.

  “Oh, wait,” he said in her reddening face as his body crowded against her, “you can’t scream this way. I think I’d like to hear you scream.”

  She watched in terror as he murmured a quick spell, sending a flash of cobalt blue color around the room.

  “There. Not only soundproof, but no pesky sensing of your emotions by the others or any other such nonsense. Now, let’s work on that scream, eh?”

  Asher released her and she fell to the floor, sucking in breath on a long, gagging gasp. She coughed until she thought she was going to throw up. Apparently, Asher had no patience for this.