Destiny: A Hunter's Novel, Book 3 Page 3

  “I needed a place no one would think to look for me.” I said, as a single tear rolled down my cheek. That was the sum of emotion I allowed myself, swiping it away quickly.

  “Tell me all of it, Love. I need to know.”

  “Is it safe?” I asked, looking at the walls of the old tavern. There were no symbols etched in the walls that I could see. My Granddad waved his hand, and like a drop of water ripples a lake, the walls of the tavern pub came to life with symbols, some familiar and others I’d never seen. But they weren’t Hunter’s symbols, they were Wiccan marks.

  “Okay, you’re going to have to teach me that. That was awesome.” And for the first time since I had placed the protection spell on my inner circle and lost Az in the process, my face split with a smile of excitement, pleasure, and anticipation.

  “First things first. Spill.”

  I studied his face. Looking for a hint of deceit, a lie, a hidden Black Shadow, and found none. It didn’t mean it wasn’t hiding – I couldn’t be too careful. My life had been one long learning experience and I’d be damned if I was going to learn some lessons twice.

  But since I had no one else I could trust, I dove in head first, starting from the beginning, when my father had been taken over by the Shadow, and moving forward. Telling him everything about how I grew up and my life. The Black Shadow, Az, Anie, Cade, Fitz, Nolito, Alewar – every detail I could recall I gave him willingly. We had only paused to get our beer and food, but I continued to talk after Donovan had left us again.

  When it was all said and done it was three hours, eight beers (each), two pies and two bowls of pretzels later. I was exhausted, full and a little buzzed.

  Eight beers was nothing for a Hunter to drink. Our systems worked faster than normal humans. The only reason I had a buzz at all was because I had chugged four of the beers over the last twenty minutes of our conversation.

  I took a deep breath when I was finished and watched my Granddad’s face. He kept it carefully blank. I guessed hiding feelings ran on my mom’s side of the family. After what felt like an eternity, he turned to me.

  “I’m sorry. The last time I saw you I felt darkness around you, but I couldn’t place where or what it was. I told your Da but he cast it aside.”

  “Wasn’t me he was shadowing – it was Dad.”

  “Perhaps.”

  My Granddad was right. I didn’t know what the Black Shadow’s purpose had been in my life all those years. Was it to control the Hunters? Control me? Both? Neither?

  He ran his hands over his face then clasped them in front of his mouth. I could see he was struggling with what I’d told him.

  “Look how well you turned out. I’m surprised. And verra proud.” My Grandfather beamed at me.

  “Some kids grow up because of their parents, and some kids grow up in spite of them.”

  “Truer words were never spoken.” Donovan said from behind the bar. I jumped, grabbing my chest where my heart should have been, but since he was so damn quiet, my heart was now in my throat.

  “Jesus you giant! I need to put a bell on you,” I said.

  “Might work on him, the bell. But I doubt it.” My Granddad said, “He’s a shifter.” I turned and looked at Donovan again.

  “A Were?” I asked, dreading the prospect of having another wolf in my life.

  “No.” Donovan said. Now I was thoroughly confused. I only knew of Werewolves and Drovers being able to shift. There were myths about other shifters but none had ever been confirmed.

  “A Drover?”

  “No.”

  “A bat?”

  “No.” I figured I may as well roll with the twenty questions.

  “A bird of some sort?”

  “Nah.”

  “A snake?”

  “No.”

  “Warm blooded or cold blooded?”

  “Hot.” I could tell by the suggestion in his eyes, there was a double meaning in his answer.

  “A flying squirrel?” He just smirked at that. “A kangaroo?”

  “Nope.”

  “A kitty?”

  At that, my Granddad laughed. I then watched, wide eyed, as Donovan shifted into the biggest lion I had ever seen. I had seen Fitz shift into a wolf, it was seamless and easy, but with Donovan’s animal being a giant lion he seemed to need a few more seconds to shift.

  Of course, he was the first lion I had seen that wasn’t in a cage, but that was beside the point. He leaned his paws up against the bar, standing on his hind legs, and roared in my face.

  I stretched up, so I could reach his chin, and scratched under his chin. His fur was thick but soft. I didn’t think I could keep him, though the thought had crossed my mind. The cost of food would’ve been outrageous.

  “Awe, such a good kitty.” I said as he purred under my touch.

  My Granddad chuckled, snapping Donovan out of his happy state. He snapped his teeth at my hand and I smacked his nose. Donovan shifted back, pulling on a pair of basketball shorts he had stored behind the bar.

  “Do you bite all your patrons?” I asked in mock outrage. Donovan snarled at me. I laughed.

  “Only the really tasty looking ones.” He smiled with a cocked eyebrow.

  “You’re cute and all, but I don’t swing that way.” I said, Donovan looking confused.

  “What shifters?” He said, offended.

  “No, pussies.” I laughed at the outraged look on his face. It was priceless.

  My Granddad threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his side.

  “Ah, you’re definitely mine.” His Irish brogue thickened. “Let’s head to my house.” He turned to Donovan seriously. “Michael, you never saw her. If anyone asks you tell me immediately.”

  “Of course, Fergus.” Donovan came out from behind the bar. He pulled me from my Granddad’s arms and swung me around in a big bear hug, kitty hug? He whispered in my ear. “If you ever need anything, you don’t have just your Granddad.” The unspoken fact that I had him knocked me over.

  I knew I was blushing. It wasn’t the fact that I was in lust or anything, it was the fact that I was embarrassed that my need of help was written clearly enough across my face that even this man, who didn’t know me, could see it.

  “Alright, child, let’s go.” My Granddad pulled my hand into his. “Close your eyes.” I did as he asked.

  It felt like I was being teleported. It was the exact same feeling. And now that I thought about it, my Grandfather’s hand was very warm. Az’s hand was warmer, but he was still warmer than me. I opened my eyes and found myself in my Granddad’s home. There had been some updates, but the structure was still the same. The picture of my Grandfather, Grandmother and Mom still hung on the wall behind the front door.

  I let go of his hand and walked around, running my hand on some of the knick-knacks and walls around me. There was a little black stone sitting on his coffee table that looked vaguely familiar. But how could a stone be familiar? I leaned over to get closer to the stone and felt a wave, much like a heat wave, come off of it. Then the smell of Hellfire hit my nose.

  My Grandfather stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at me. I realized I had crouched onto the floor and had my nose almost to the black stone. He brought a hand to my shoulder and gently pulled me back.

  “I think we need to talk, Laney. About a lot of things.”

  “You think?”

  ~IV~

  “Some get dealt simple hands, Some walk the common paths, all nice and worn, But all folks are damaged goods, It ain’t talk of “if”, just one of “when” and “how”…”

  -Radical Face, The Crooked Kind

  He sat down at his kitchen table, bringing the stone with him. I had kept my bag slung around my body to make sure I didn’t lose the book, and sat down across from him.

  “From what you’ve told me, I’m verra worried about what Mastema is planning for you.”

  “You and me both.”

  I could tell by the look on his face that he was expectin
g the worst. I suspected Mastema wanted to kill me. He had tried to eat me.

  “What am I supposed to do?”

  “What has your Da told you about me? About your Ma? Your Grandma?”

  “He was possessed by a Black Shadow for most of my life and in the few months that he hasn’t been, you haven’t come up much. The Devil, a Prophecy about me, my house being blown up by an Angel that wanted to be the Devil…those things have all come up. You? Not so much.”

  “So you know of the Prophecy then?”

  My Grandfather was talking about the thing that had turned my world on its side as though it was just a little interesting fact. No big deal.

  “Of course I’ve talked about it. Exhaustively. Tell me about something I haven’t talked about.”

  He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes.

  “I am half Demon or Angel, depending on who you ask, quarter Were and quarter Witch. Your Grandmother was Fairy, Vampire and Drover. Which means your Mother was all of those things, and then became a Hunter. Your mother actually stole this,” he took the stone I’d been staring at and held it up, “from Mastema and charmed it. Keeps this place hidden from the rest of the world.”

  Ask and ye shall receive. I thought my world was phantasmagoric before and oh, it was, but even more so after those little tid bits. C’est la vie.

  “So my whole family, with the exception of my Father, is a mix of supernaturals. We’re a giant family cocktail of them. Okay. Alright.” I was about to kick into freak out mode. “And where is this place exactly, that needs to be hid from the world?”

  “We call it Landet Av Ukjent.”

  “Land of The Unknown.” I said. It was Norwegian.

  “Because that is what we are: Unknown Supernaturals. Those of us that’re mixed and not accepted anywhere else. We used to be transient, but after your Mother found a way to keep us hidden, we settled here.”

  “Donovan?”

  “Almost everyone in the village. Some were exiled from their groups and some walked away for various different reasons.”

  “Why did Mom leave?”

  “She wanted a life outside this one. Can’t blame her. She made a few more stones, kept them hidden in different places.”

  Now I knew how the stone was so familiar. The table I had kept that was hers, with all the colorful stones. There were five black stones that had always drawn my eyes, but I had always thought it was because of the color. My Mother had protected her and me with that table. So when I had been separated from the table when Az and I had been split for those months, the supernaturals had found me.

  So now the “how” of the Prophecy made sense. I was legitimately a mix of every supernatural creature. I thought my Father had been the one to make me into this monster, but turned out that was not the case. I was born this way. I was hoping, in the end, that one of the supe powers would end up being more powerful than the others, but who knew now. Maybe I was evenly mixed that it would have to come down to a conscious choice.

  “The Prophecy has spoken of you, Delaney. We never thought that your Mother would fall in love with a Hunter. But she did and you were born.”

  “What’s going to happen?”

  I felt so helpless in that moment. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I knew the book held more than how to kill the Devil. I wondered what other secrets it held.

  As I thought about the book I felt the need to touch it, just to check and make sure it was okay. When my hand reached it, I almost pulled it out and opened it. The only thing that stopped me was my Granddad’s voice.

  “I dunnah. But whatever comes I will be there for you.”

  “Maybe I can get Kai to put another mark on you.”

  “Kai?”

  My Granddad looked stunned. I thought I’d told him about who’d put the mark on all of my people, but I guess I’d forgotten that part.

  “Yes. He’s the one that placed the protection spell on my people.”

  “Kai.”

  “Yes. Why is that such a surprise?”

  “I haven’t heard from or seen him in years. Not since he took over leading the Fairies.”

  “Leading the Fey? You mean like one of the leaders?”

  “No. The leader.”

  “Shut up,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “Kai is such an asshole.”

  “You didn’t know.”

  “Did the look on my face give that away?!” I screeched.

  Now I understood all of Kai’s idiosyncrasies. He didn’t want the protection mark I’d offered him because he was the leader of the Fey. Not just one of the leaders, the leader.

  There was one leader for every supernatural group. It was like the president of the United States. They are voted into their position, then for each territory they send a representative there to rule on their behalf. I had only ever dealt with the territory leaders but knew what some of the presidents looked like.

  I guess I should’ve tried to keep in touch with my Granddad over the years. I would have had many more answers than questions if I had. Or maybe I should be mad at my Grandfather for not keeping in touch with me. I had been a child when I’d met him. It had been quiet for a long time while I’d pondered my thoughts, so I asked the one question that’d bothered me since I’d decided to hide out in Ireland.

  “Why did you never contact me?”

  “I did. I even showed up to your Da’s house one day and he wouldn’t let me near you. I thought it was because of the pain of having me around. The reminder of your Mother but I realize now, the Shadow was afraid I’d see him. He was protecting his little Prophecy.”

  I could see from his words and the look on his face, he was beating himself up over the fact that he hadn’t realized the Black Shadow was ruling over my Father, but no one had – not even me. Not one person had said a word about my Father being possessed, or the possibility he might be possessed.

  “Some things we may never get an answer to, I guess. At least I know how everyone came to know I was the Prophecy. Mom had a table with rocks just like those on it.” I said, pointing at the rock on the kitchen table. “I was without the table for six months. Towards the end of the six months I found out that I was being followed by every supernatural around. I thought it was due to my age, but I think they…felt me.”

  “I think you were identified as the Prophecy long before that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your Da was possessed by a Black Shadow, your Mother kept protection stones in a table that was, probably, always close to you. The fact that you reek of one of our own: Serafine who is one of ours, originally.”

  “It’s all connected?”

  I had known I was the common thread, but my Mother knew what I was going to be before I’d been born. She put things in place for me before she died. And there were others that knew. Why else would the Black Shadow have taken over my Father and stayed there for so long?

  “Aye.”

  “I think I need a drink.”

  My Grandfather got up from the table, reached under his kitchen sink and pulled out a bottle of Whiskey. He poured two fingers in a lowball glass and set it down in front of me.

  “That’ll put some hair on your chest.”

  Without a word, I tilted it back and felt the burn from my throat to my stomach. I tried to clear the burn with a couple gulps of air. I would’ve coughed had I not been around my Grandfather and worried he might think less of me if I did.

  “Damn, how hairy is your chest?”

  He laughed and got another glass out of his cupboard for himself.

  “So how many reside in the village here?” I asked, desperate to talk about something other than my heavy past and my burdensome future.

  “Everyone you saw coming down the mountain. Some live close, and others on the outskirts. Some go out and try their hand. Some fail, and some are still going strong. But this is home base for all of us.”

  “So where do you fit in?”

  “I am the villag
e’s protector. Before your Mother left, she taught me how to maintain the spell on the stone so we would remain safe. If there are any conflicts, I am normally the one to help ease them.”

  I found it odd that she had spelled one stone to protect an entire village, but to protect me she had spelled at least five.

  “You’re their leader, then.”

  “If one was to be named, I suppose I would be. But we try to govern ourselves as a body, not be ruled by a dictator.”

  That was fair. I could see how these mixed supes wouldn’t want to be ruled over. They were viewed as abominations in ever supernatural community there was. It was taboo and frowned upon to mix outside of your race. The fact I’d Mated with Az made a little more sense now, I had Demon/Angel blood running through my veins.

  “So, Michael Donovan’s a Kittyshifter, but what else is he?”

  “Lionshifter, and everyone’s lineage is different and their story to tell. Rule of thumb here: they will tell you if they want to.”

  I bet he had a little Demon in him, he seemed naturally flirtatious and I’d bet a bit of a troublemaker.

  “Duly noted.”

  I got up with my drink and went to the living room, searching for a more comfortable place to sit. The whiskey had wrapped me in a warm liquor blanket.

  I sat carefully down on the brown couch in his living room that looked like it was about fifty years older than me. No matter it’s age, it was comfortable. My Grandfather sat in the recliner across from me, drinking his amber liquid and, seemingly, memorizing my face.

  “So what do I do Granddad? I have a book that I’m supposed to translate, Mastema’s chasing me, and I’m supposed to figure out where I fit in to the supernatural world.”

  I shook my head, banishing my worries with a tip of my glass and a burn to my stomach. I saw how some alcoholics might’ve started their journeys.

  “You are safest here. Bring your people here and make it home base for now, continue working on the book. I believe the book holds more answers than questions and I also think Mastema will take some time to cool off.”