In Fear's Embrace (The Hunters' Legacy - Book 2)

Chapter 1

July 2005

           The line between infatuation and madness is extremely thin. Too fluent to locate it and be able to watch yourself before crossing it. Jay has always belonged to rational people, guided by reason and logic. She liked order. Especially in feelings. She was guided by her heart only when her feelings for her family were at stake. She loved her brothers above all. Isabela had a special place in her heart, just as Sean and Maria. She loved her friend, Melanie. Jay had also weakness for Mel’s sisters and brother, but they were somehow in the background. .

            She had her own system of values that suited her needs. She could cut it according to current priorities, like a piece of clay. She appreciated this flexibility, though the shape she had created for the past few years had not changed much. She put her family first. Immediately afterwards she focused on trainings. She was improving her abilities as soon as she learned that their mother was the hunter of supernatural beings. She had to admit to herself that she was disappointed when Isabela did not see in them the spark that the legendary warriors were born with. Isabo had it. But they were ordinary people, who had to learn everything.

            However, their ancestral magic remained. Their grandmother gave them knowledge with a kind of devotion, hoping that they all, and especially Jay, would follow her. But what came naturally to them and without much effort did not arouse her enthusiasm. Of course, she was proud of her roots and treated magic as an integral part of herself, but she also felt a strange bond with the hunter, which was dormant in her at birth. She quietly hoped that someday the power that lies in her would be awakened. She was convinced that she was born to fight, that she was to continue centuries of tradition. She strongly believed that her destiny was to fight evil. To fight against the dark side of the world in which she lived.

            And she was not wrong. On the night of her and Jason’s seventeenth birthday, the hidden power was released. Although they have been preparing for their destiny since their mother’s death, yet the awakening was sudden and unexpected. They had to spend much more time and energy to master abilities that suddenly appeared. But they were strong and determined enough to achieve the set goals. They did not save themselves physically or mentally to be able to control their skills.

They enslaved their own energy, but what was the most important, they still had full power over their beasts. Every human being has a beast inside, but until they are bitten, their animal instincts remain dormant. The problem was that Jay and her brothers were descendants of born shape-shifters – the Crimson Pack and Black Onyx Herd. That meant the beasts could took control o them at any moment. Fortunately, their hunter instinct was far too strong and did not let that happen. For now.

            Nevertheless, Jay was proud of the fact that being at the age of seventeen she already had clearly defined goals in her life. And although some paths leading to them were not made yet, she trusted her own abilities and was not afraid of any obstacles that may appear on those paths. She knew no fear of the dark. Without a trace of fear, she threw herself into battle. She was able to face adversities and nightmares from the past. But she never thought that there would be something in her life that would make her doubt rightness of her decisions, and that would force her to consider if all her choices and actions were good.

            Because on contrary to general belief, love is not a mild feeling bringing you happiness and relief. It is like a hurricane that appears unattractively and destroys everything in its path. It catches you, lifts you into the unknown. Of course some feel light and blissful then, like in the state of total weightlessness. To others it brings sudden faster heartbeat and violent sensations. It burns down with the heat of lust and insatiable passion. It brings pain and torment, which seem to be sweet nectar, food for the soul.

            And suddenly it is over. The force of the hurricane hurls you into the wilderness, to the sun-scorched desert, where there is no hope for a drop of life-giving love. To protect the remnants of your heart torn apart, you wrap yourself in a cocoon of indifference and icy cold. You do everything to forger, to soothe the pain. You separate yourself so as no one can ever hurt you again. You are afraid to feel again. You do not want to be flooded with a whole range of feelings and emotions again. You are overwhelmed by fear at the thought that you could live again.

            So was Jay. She tried very hard to hide. To escape. To forget and stop feeling. To put on a mask of indifference. To become numb. But the further she ran, the greater the pain was.

            He comes back to her in dreams. He appears suddenly, unexpectedly. He fills her heart with tenderness and sorrow. His look makes her feel flame again and irresistible desire. All feelings revive, they become real again. His scent and touch are expressive. Almost true. Real. But the pain is also real. And despair when the light he brought into her life goes out. He turns his back on her again. And he walks away.

            And only darkness remains.

***

            Her fastened breath seemed to echo deafly from the walls of the hotel room. She could feel metallic aftertaste in her mouth, sweat glistened on her skin. She was shivering in the gusts of cold July night coming through the open window. A violent storm and downpour brought the longed-for cooling, but Jay’s body was consumed by fever ignited by her dreams. She could still see the glowing amber eyes in front of her.

            It was like that every night since she left her hometown of Purple Creek at the end of June. She ran away like a coward, but she did it for him. For his sake. For his safety. She knew that her family would do everything to support her. But Jay did not want to risk meeting Bryan. Although her dreams were full of tenderness and fire, when awake she could still see his eyes filled up with pain. Full of horror and disgust.

            She lived a lie for a year. It almost became an art in her performance. She hid her relationship with Bryan from her brothers, deceiving herself that she wanted to enjoy it without them. But what she really wanted was to leave herself escape route so that she could retreat at any moment. To run away. But she stayed in the game far too long to be able to just leave. And then it was too late. She fell in love and it came to her that Bry was not just momentary entertainment, a steppingstone. He was everything for her, everything she was running away from. Everything she was defending herself from. And at the same time he was all she wanted most.

            She was cheating on him. Or actually she was fooling herself claiming that the lack of knowledge would be better solution for him. Safer. But she really wanted to protect herself. She was afraid that when Bryan found out the whole truth about her, he would hate her. She preferred to spare him that. She wanted to protect herself from pain, even if she had to hurt him.

            Meanwhile she broke not only his heart but also his soul.

            He saw her as a monster. Murderess. A freak deprived of feelings. Bloodthirsty creature. And she was not surprised. She could only blame herself for it. Through the eyes of her imagination she could see the same picture as Bryan did. She was looking at herself, angry, controlled by madness, repeatedly striking her victim. She took revenge for her mother’s death and paid the highest price for it. She lost him.

            Why then was he haunting her dreams all the time? Why in dreamy visions was he still looking at her with such tenderness? Why was he lighting the fire in her heart again, as he extinguished it with one disgusted look? How is it possible that in her dreams he caressed her again, and his every touch caused heat that could not be quenched?

            Even now, standing in the pouring rain on the hotel balcony, she could feel his burning breath on her skin. Warmth of his lips marking mysterious, tempting trails on her body. She trembled at the memory of her dream. She felt a slight brush of his energy again. She sensed the beats crawling just under the skin. The pain mixed with pleasure pierced her again, as when he sank his teeth in her body when he made love to her.

            Why did this particular memory come back?

            Despite the steel-black clouds, she knew there was a full moon today. She was painfully aware of the fact that her beast had merged with the wolf slumbering in Bryan’s body. This bond is strong enough that, despite the distance between them now, Jay could sense his presence as if he was standing right next to her. And even more. She had the impression that he was in her.

            She inhaled deeply in the electrified, cool air. She returned into the room and went straight to the shower. She knew that there was no sense in going back to bed. She would not fall asleep anyway, and hot water helped her ease twitching nerves. She finished the morning toilet, put on some comfortable clothes, packed her stuff and went to the reception desk to check out.

            She was almost there. She had only a few hundred miles to go. She should arrive at about ten o’clock. Maybe eleven, if she takes a break for breakfast.

            Having done all the formalities, she went to the parking lot. It was early, but the sky in the east was starting to brighten slowly. Dark, leaden clouds lazily moved to the west. It was going to be another hot day. The air was steamy now, but the rapidly rising temperature made the moisture in the blink of an eye. This was undoubtedly one of the charms of California. Jay got into her blue Jeep Grand Cherokee and turn on the air conditioning.

            While she was in Reno she decided to change the car. She did not want anyone to come after her too quickly. She promised Danny that she would call when she will reach her destination point. But it was still far away to the end of her journey. Monterey was only a stop on the road. But she made herself one small treat. Selling her old good Range Rover, Jay dismantled the music equipment that she got from her brothers, and which now installed in her new car, roared like furious waves crushing on the rocky shore. Loud music helped her to drown out a dull heartache that had been with her since a month.

            She got on the road one hundred fifty-six and pressed the accelerator. Recently she caught herself on breaking speed limits excessively. It happened before that she broke the rules, but then it was usually all about rush. About urgent need to reach someone, getting to a particular place as soon as possible. This time all she cared about was speed that raised the adrenaline level. The thrill of danger. Risk of dying.

            And about the terrifying emptiness that overwhelmed her. Indifference to the thought of death.

            The sun slowly climbed up, blinding with its glare. Jay turned off the air conditioning, put on her sunglasses to protect her eyes from harsh light. She opened all the windows wide and let the gusty wind, caused by the dizzying speed, to tear at her loose hair and whip her face with blows sharp like knife’s blade. It brought her strange relief and satisfaction.