Beloved (Heart Hunter Series Book 1)

Chapter 4

Even on a Monday night, the pub had a bumping crowd of drunks, teenagers making out and the odd cloaked Demon sulking in the corners. She stepped up to the bar after diverting her attention away from the underage partying and caught the grumpy bartender’s attention. He pushed off the shelf of booze and came over to her. “What do you want, Kara?” It seemed like everyone knew her and right then, she was reminded of being the only Hunter in that town, aside her absentee mother and unascended brother.

“I’m looking for Kyle. Is he still here?”

The bartender adjusted his eyes to James just behind her.

“Got yourselfa new boyfriend already?”

Kara glanced at James out of the corner of her eye as he stayed a close two feet back. “Where’s Kyle, Barney? He said he was here.”

“Last I saw, he was over by the back door.” His eyes left James and returned to her. “By the way, Tom was here the other day.”

Kara swallowed. “So what?”

“He asked about you.”

“He can go to hell,” Kara snapped.

“I’ll tell him that, he’ll enjoy it,” Barney chuckled, turning to grab a dishcloth to wipe down the bar.

She turned away and searched the doors, finding Kyle standing under the illumination of a red exit sign.

“Who’s Tom? ” James asked before she started to walk forward.

Kara didn’t take her eyes off the Demon as she answered him. “No one.”

Megan appeared in front of her, popping gum and now not only smelling like cigarettes but spearmint as well. “You find your lead or what?”

“Yeah, he’s over there.” She brushed past Megan and moved across the dance floor in a snaking path.

Kyle stepped off the wall as she approached him. “Long time no see.”

Kara cut straight to the chase. “My brother was taken tonight. What do you know about it?”

Kyle scanned the new formation of intimidation in front of him. James on her left, Megan on her right. “I don’t know anything. What makes you think I do?”

Kara snorted. “Let’s face it, you seem to know a lot of gossip in this town.”

The lights flickered with the bass of the music, pounding fear into herheart. It left her praying he’d spew out information that would help.

“I don’t know a thing about your brother, Hunter.”

“Don’t believe you!” Megan stepped in close to him with the prying eyes of a snake about to kill a mouse. “Just tell me something, before I smash your head into the wall, Demon.”

He sneered. “My name is Kyle, thanks.”

“Kyle?” Megan echoed, giving Kara a quick look. “You said you didn’t know a Kyle.”

Kara shrugged a shoulder. “Guess I do.”

Megan cocked an eyebrow and swung back to the Demon. “I already know you know a lot more than you’re pretending not to, so talk!”

Kyle sneered and looked to James. “Take your Hunters and go.”

“Hey!” Megan barked, throwing herself forward onto Kyle and pinning

him against the orange wall. “I don’t belong to anyone and don’t forget it! Now, you’ve really pissed me off.” She grabbed his man-bun hair and slammed his head against the drywall, breaking a hole the size of his head there.

The Demon coughed. “Whoa! Take an easy!”

“I will tie you outside and watch you burn as the sun rises, if you don’t tell me what you know right now.” Megan growled in his face like a crazy person.

Kara glanced at James, he seemed unbothered by Megan’s intense hate-on, though, and then she intervened. “Kay, ease up on him.”

The Demon looked between them all in desperation, while Megan readjusted her hold, pinning him tighter against the wall to cement her threats.

“Telling us what you know would be in your best interest,” James added and it was enough to make Kyle crack.

“I heard.” He stammered as his electric blue blood, characteristic to any average Demon, trickled his forehead. “They’re collecting Hunters.”

Kara held back the panic she felt churning inside. “Who?”

Kyle shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Megan shook him from her impatience. “Tell me where they are!”

“Okay, okay…” Kyle coughed. “I overheard something about… over on the northside trails, in the hills… some dirty cave—I don’t know for sure though!”

Megan stepped back, pointing her finger at him like a gun. He gulped. “I don’t know anymore, I swear to god.” Then palmed his forehead tenderly where it met the wall moments before.

“Whatever. I can kill these Demons.” Megan kicked the exit door next to Kyle open while making eye contact with him one last time. “Better watch your back, Demon scum.”

Kyle winced as the metal door swung shut. “Who the fuck is that, Kara?”

She winced. “Who knows.”

“Let’s go.” James nudged her toward the door.

She left and James trailed close behind her. “I hate this damn town and everything in it.” It filled her with an anger that would never go away. One she would haunt her and remind her of why being a Hunter was the worst damnation a soul could have.

“So we going out there to look for them?” Megan secured her helmet on her head while another cigarette in her mouth dropped ashes into the wind. She fought to do up the slip knot around her chin, it seemed a bit extra for a Hunter to care about in Kara’s opinion. “We should check it out.” Kara pulled her coat around her chest to fight

back a sudden gust of wind.

“You know where you’re going? Or do we need to get the rich boy to google map it?” Megan chuckled.

James turned his attention off their surroundings and onto Megan.

“I assume that comment is about me.”

“I saw your cell phone earlier. It’s gotta be worth more than my soul.”

Her cackle sent a splitting headache across Kara’s forehead.

“Can we just get out of here?” Kara spun and started walking toward the black car. On top of all that was going on, there was a high chance her friends were at the Waker that night and she didn’t need dramathat could have brought on.

James beeped the car open as they walked in step toward it.

“That Demon called you by your name. Why?”

“I have my connections.” She grabbed the passenger door to pull it open.

“Hey Kara!” Her eyes lifted over to the doors of the pub where her friend, Jessica stood in the doorway with a hand in the air. Kara sighed, getting into the vehicle to evade the interaction.

“Take the highway out of town up here on the right. It’ll take us where we need to go.”

James drove and Kara caught his glances in the rearview mirror that were more repetitive and anal retentive than normal.

“Does she freak you out?”

James glanced to Kara. “The psycho Hunter? Not at all.”

“I saw her checking you out.”

“Yes, apparently when I took out my phone to screen a call.” He adjusted his hands on the steering wheel.

“No, I meant… your ass.”

“ Mm.” James shifted in the seat. “Lucky for me, she’s not my type.”

“Yeah.” Kara breathed. Who is then?

James sighed, shifting the conversation. “You look tired.”

“Not that it matters much but I couldn’t sleep even if my body gave out.

We need to find Josh.”

“We will.”

Kara looked out the window of the car and shut her eyes from despair. I just hope it’s not too late by then. Il l uminated above by the large silver moon, the mountains no matter how stunning in the freezing night air were no less daunting. She had to find her brother somewhere in the millions of miles of birch, oak and other native trees. Alongside the vast slopes and rocky hillsides, the task could turn impossible fast.

“Let’s get cracking!” Megan chucked her helmet onto the bike’s leather seating. “I say we split up on these trails over here. There’s three of us, three trails.”

James zipped up his coat to fight the chill. “Splitting up, when there’s Demons with an agenda out there? I don’t think so.”

“Well, aren’t you a thinker.” Megan winked at him, casting an awkwardness amongst them all.

“James is right. If we find something…” Kara said, “we will need to back each other up.”

Megan’s eyes grew greedy with lust. “If I find something, I’m killing the lot. They don’t know what they’ve got coming.”

“Unless they do.” James gave her a testy stare that showed how much he hated Megan’s impulsive need to make rash choices. That was a great trait of Hunters and of all the instincts, it was one Kara didn’t seem to lack. “I’d rather not leave anything to chance.” His shoulders squared with his opinion.

“You like to be in charge, don’t you?” Megan patronized him enough to irk Kara as well. “You’ve convinced me, handsome. Let’s do it together,

what path shall we choose?”

Kara rolled her eyes and headed toward the middle one.

“Hope her spidey sense is tingling.” She heard Megan comment as she trudged toward the dark dirt path. The trail Kara had chosen happen to be a rough mountain bike trail but what didn’t look right was torn off and broken branches in areas. However, their trail adventure never swayed to a hint at Demon life.

The thick canopy had long since blocked out the moon and they were walking blind into a sea of black. Minutes turned to hours and Kara’s drugged-out body suddenly refused to take another step.

“This is stupid!” She exclaimed into the night from frustration. “Where is he?”

“It’s alright,” James assured her but it would fall on deaf ears.

“That’s the thing about Demons,” Megan brushed past them. “Generally, they’re just a pain in the ass!”

Kara stopped dead in her tracks before she got tangled in old barbed wire laying across the path. Her eyes went to the knotted tree that held the wire wrapped in its trunk and branches.

“What is that.” The clearing just ahead of them took her voice away, shimmering like diamonds in the night sky and reminding her of Demon skin. They’d found something and that meant, Kyle hadn’t lied.

“I’ll check it out!” Megan ran towards the supernatural light . James mumbled, “yes, let’s run towards the strange thing we don’t understand.”

“We better follow.” Kara began to trudge forward and the closer they got, the more it seemed to ripple against the landscape, proving just how astral it was.

When she stepped from the transition of dirt path to dewy grass, James grabbed her arm. “Wait.”

Megan inspected the curious phenomenon alone. She reached her hand out toward the glimmering mirage of what now appeared to be rock-like. Meanwhile, it started to make Kara sick to her stomach.

“Something’s coming.” She wrapped her arms around her abdomen. Megan giggled as she stuck her arm through the rippling illusion. “This is awesome!”

“Megan, get back!” Kara darted out of James’ grip toward Megan as a Demon attacked the Hunter, throwing her down and the two tumbled the slope toward the shadows.

She watched as they rolled, gaining speed with each catapult, until Megan—with the upper hand by being on top, gripped the Demon by the neck to pull upward in a brave attack.

“Kara!”

Kara turned to look back to the shrouded rock formation and the Demon standing seven feet or more tall in front of her. It had appeared out of nowhere, ugly and covered in scales. It was anything but an average Demon. Her heart pounded from fear, but not for herself—for Josh.

She was tackled to the ground, following the same fate Megan had just endured down the meadow slope and into the forest of shadows. As she rolled down the hill, the image of the Demon, teeth like daggers, skin like diamonds burned into her mind. As much as her mind like to play tricks on her, this wasn’t one of those moments. The way it’s razor nails dug against her throat as the grass and rock enclosed around her became all too real.

Her head hit the rock first, her body following suit with a crack and a snap against the boulder. The Demon landed on top, gaining a massive advantage and strangling her. She gasped through the lack of air as she pulled

in vain at the Demon’s bony hands. Within that desperate moment, Kara realized it remained unaffected by her strength, if she couldn’t win against it, neither had Josh.

It’s grip tore off her neck and air rushed inside her lungs, bringing her back to the moment. She turned her head to look at where it had gone and she witnessed it running off.

“What was that.” She began to cough from the way her throat hurt. James lifted her to her feet and she looked up at him as he brought her into his arms.

“Get back here!” Megan screamed, running like a hell bent monkey toward the fleeing Demon. It ran head first into the mirage of rock and then the whole thing disappeared right before their eyes. “Why’d you let it go!” Megan roared, spinning toward Kara and James. “It ran away—”

Megan rolled her eyes at him. “No shit, Sherlock!” Her stare went blank when she looked just beyond them to where she’d been fighting the Demon that had tackled her. “I killed that one. Where’d it go!”

Kara turned in James’ arms and looked behind them. There was no Demon body or evidence of its death even. “You must have not killed it.”

“It was dead!” Megan roared on an anger high only a Hunter could understand. “Ahh!” She kicked at the grass in a great display of dramatics.

“Perhaps you should calm down.” James told her which only resulted in a glaring from the raging Megan.

Kara’s eyes went up the meadow hill to where the portal had disappeared. This couldn’t be the end of the line but she feared it was.

“What’s this all mean?”

James gripped her closer and she didn’t push away. “It means none of this is black and white. We need more information before we can fight them. If they even have Josh—”

“Oh, they have him! I guarantee it!” Megan cursed under her breath.“Cowards! I didn’t even get to take it’s pendant it was wearing.”

“The one that attacked me had a pendant too.” Kara remember the ruby stone glowing around the Demon’s neck as she’d rolled down the incline at break-neck speed.

“Probably has something to do with their vanishing act!” Megan shouted into the night air.

James’ arms slipped from around Kara and he walked toward Megan with a fast step. “Do you mind shutting up?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll lower my voice in the middle of nowhere!” Megan’s eyes lit on fire as she stepped into him with raging anger that only appeared to annoy James more. She poked her index finger against his chest as she snaked her stance a bit too close to him. “Tell me, you pulled that Demon off her. Why didn’t you kill it? Huh?”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t a Hunter.”

“Yeah, well, if you’re so human, how’d you chuck that thing so far?”

“Adrenaline,” James suggested.

Megan started to laugh, breaking into another show of fireworks. “Don’t buy it!”

“I had an advantage, given it was focused on killing Kara.” James paused. “Let’s stop arguing over logistics.”

Megan mimicked him and started up into a fast back and forth pace that looked more like she was going insane.

“We need to find Josh, that’s all that matters.” Kara joined them, shaking from the adrenaline as it left her system hard. She moved her fingers at her sides to make sure they still worked.

“Did I not kill that damn Demon?” Megan started off again in a mutter. “It was totally dead.”

James rolled his eyes out of view of Megan and looked to Kara. “Can

your grandparents help?”

Anything was worth a shot and Kara had to admit, it wasn’t a bad idea when they had no clue on what they were even dealing with anymore.

“At the very least, you should tell them about Josh.”

She had to agree with James on that but the way her mind had fogged from the drugs and fighting, she couldn’t seem to form a plan of action past that.

“Wait.” Megan trudged toward them. “Your grandparents are still alive?”

Kara nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“That’s sick! They must have been badass Hunters in their day. I agree with Sherlock Holmes, let’s go hit them up for info.” The Hunter headed toward the trail at the top of the meadow. “We’re not going to find them anyway before the sun rises, that’s apparent.” Megan walked out of earshot.

Kara took hold of James for support, stopping him from moving forward. “How am I going to explain all this to them?”

His eyes burned warmth into her frozen core and when he stepped into her, he took her cheek to make her sure on his words, “We’ll do it together.”