The Claimed (23 page)

“More likely it was to plan the attack that happened last night,” Christopher said, and with a surge of power, he shorted out the cell phone he held in his hand. Tossing the fried remnants on his desktop, he said, “My father must have decided to pursue Bruno once again.”

“Which is good news in a way. It means that he has not discovered the incredible power source we have been seeking for months,” Ryan posited, and walked to the far side of the room, where one of the maids had set up a coffee service.

Christopher considered what his friend had said as Ryan made them mugs of coffee. His father always took the easy way out which would explain why he had decided to go after Bruno once again. But it suddenly occurred to
him that there was one other possibility that they hadn’t contemplated.

“What if Bruno is that power source?” he said as Ryan walked over and handed him the coffee. The aroma was earthy and welcome, although he hated that his first taste took away the flavor of Victoria’s kiss.

“You’re glowing again,” Ryan warned before continuing. “We know nothing about Bruno, but his power didn’t seem that strong based on what we saw at the auction.”

Christopher shook his head and took a sip. He leaned against the edge of his desk as he tried to recollect the energy signature he had sensed coming off the heir to the Desert clan. Not strong, but then again, very powerful Quinchus and Añarus could make themselves seem human to other Hunters, much as he and Victoria did. Although not very successfully, he reminded himself. Sharing the same affinity had complicated things.

“Bruno could be hiding his power, but there’s something else to consider,” he offered.

“What’s that?” Ryan asked, and sat in one of the wing chairs before Christopher’s desk. He took a sip of his coffee and then cradled the mug in his hands as he waited for Christopher.

“Bruno was raised by a human who knew nothing about Bruno’s real power or his Equinox. Bruno is certainly the right age for it.”

“Which explains why Bruno bonded with a human,” Ryan added.

Christopher nodded. “Not just a human. A Hybrid, along with some of the other members of her family. The energy was there and unmasked when I observed them. They are unaware of their powers.”

“So let me guess where you’re going. We’ve been coming down here for years and never sensed that amazing font of power.”

“Because Bruno only recently embraced his real potential.”

Ryan tilted his head to the side and gave the possibility serious thought. He took another sip from his mug, mulling it over carefully before he said with awe, “To come into such power without knowledge of it, much less to bond with someone.”

“It could be deadly without control, but it would explain how Bruno and the power we seek are one and the same,” Christopher concluded.

Ryan wagged his head over and over until he finally answered, “If that’s true and your father gets his hands on Bruno—”

“It could be deadly for both Victoria’s people and ours.”

While Christopher knew that Ryan could care less about whether a Light Hunter lost his life, his friend would never tolerate any actions that would place his fellow Shadow Hunters at risk. But Ryan hesitated for long moments, clearly weighing all the possibilities before finally speaking.

“There is only one way to confirm your theory.”

“You’re right, Ry. There is only way, but that involves trusting Victoria and her people.”

“And having her people trust us. Do you truly believe that can ever happen after last night?” his friend challenged.

“If I didn’t believe it was possible, I wouldn’t have met with her,” he said, but from the look on Ryan’s face, it was
clear his friend did not believe that such coexistence was conceivable, much less promising.

Despite that, Ryan rose and laid his hand on Christopher’s shoulder. “No matter what, I will be at your side, my brother.”

Christopher smiled, reached up, and clasped Ryan’s hand. “I know that. But believe this: I would never risk your life or those of the rest of our clan if I did not think this path was the right one.”

As Ryan’s gaze met Christopher’s, the shadow of doubt prevailed there. But Ryan only nodded and said, “I am your man. Just tell me what to do.”

I
t had taken Victoria over an hour to balance her energies after the night she had spent in Christopher’s arms. Even though they had not bonded, her aura still bore the touch of his power. Without control over her emotions, another Hunter might be able to detect that foreign energy signature. It was only when she had sealed away all doubts and hopes and marshaled the forces in her aura that she had allowed herself to go down to the shop.

“Late night?” Sammie asked as she waited by the counter, apparently with another box load of T-shirts.

“Margie let you in?” she asked, and glanced around the shop, looking for her assistant manager, but she wasn’t there yet.

With a chagrined smile and a wave of her fingers resembling a magician’s reveal, Sammie said, “I let myself in.”

“You are too much,” Victoria said with a laugh. Sammie never ceased to surprise her.

Squinting, her friend looked at her oddly as Victoria poured them both coffee and handed Sammie a mug.

Sammie thanked her, but then wagged her head, clearly bemused. “There’s something different about you.”

Victoria looked away and pretended to be busy at straightening items on the display counter while her friend continued her determined perusal.

“Damn, you slept with him! You’re positively glowing,” Sammie said with a raucous shout and a slap of the counter that rattled the glass.

Warmth flooded Victoria’s cheeks, and with trepidation, she shot a glance at her arms and noted the slight glimmer of her aura. With a forceful tug, she dominated it and faced her friend head on.

“I slept with him. It was wonderful, but it’s complicated.” With it said and out in the open, relief brought lightness to her spirit.

“Your family,” Sammie said with a roll of her eyes and exasperation.

Victoria’s gut reaction would have been to defend them, but today was a different day. As much as she wanted her family’s support for what she planned to do for their people, she was willing to go ahead without their approval.

She was ready to lead on her own for the good of those who depended on her.

There was only one obstacle that remained.

“Actually, it’s not about my mom and dad. It’s about me,” she freely confessed. “While he was amazing, I want love, too.”

Sammie, usually a free spirit, surprised her by suddenly becoming the voice of reason. “Love in just a few days? What do you really know about him?”

Victoria gripped her mug tightly as she considered all that had happened since that brief moment five nights ago when she had first seen Christopher at the roller derby match. She had been attracted to him even then, and in the days that had followed, she had come to know a lot about him.

“He’s loyal—”

“Dogs are loyal, too, but that doesn’t mean I’d marry one,” Sammie teased.

“He’s good-looking—”

“And obviously great in bed, but what happens when those six-pack abs are replaced by a six-pack of beer and enough wrinkles to make him look like a shar-pei?”

Her friend’s humor was contagious, making it hard for Victoria to get angry, especially when she knew Sammie was only looking out for her.

Placing her mug on the counter, she reached over and laid her hands on Sammie’s as they rested against the edge of the counter. “I appreciate what you’re saying. And while it makes sense—”

“The heart wants what the heart wants?”

Sammie posed the question, but Victoria didn’t have the answer.

“I’m not sure I know what my heart wants just yet.” And she was afraid of what would happen if she was wrong.

Sammie grabbed hold of Victoria’s hands, and with her gentle squeeze, a flood of comfort filled Victoria, offering up yet more proof of what she had suspected more than once.

Smiling, she said, “You’re very special.”

With a cocky grin, Sammie said, “Of course I am. I’ve got friends like you.”

Friends
, she thought, and a pang of guilt followed at the thought of the trusted friend she had lost last night. Because Sammie had known him as well, she said, “Mike passed away yesterday. A heart attack, we think.”

Shock rippled across Sammie’s face, before sadness settled in. “He was too young to die.”

“Definitely. He was a good guy,” Victoria replied, her throat tightening with emotion, making it almost difficult to breathe.

Sammie took hold of her hands and soothing waves once again flooded her until her friend said, “Did you know about this when you did it?”

“When I slept with Christopher, you mean?”

Sammie nodded. “Yeah. Do you think that maybe you weren’t thinking straight? That knowing Mike died so young you were maybe—”

“Vulnerable?” Victoria finished for her. In truth, her emotions had been raw when she had called Christopher. A tumult of hurt and anger, and yes, maybe even longing, had been driving her from the moment of Mike’s passing. But after…

“It was about more than just wanting to feel alive after that loss,” she admitted.

With a nod, Sammie pushed up on the stool, reached over the counter, and the two friends embraced.

Afterward they went to work, and by the time Sammie had helped her put away the new T-shirts she had brought, Victoria’s assistant manager had arrived to take over.

With her signature wave, Sammie headed off, and Victoria excused herself to go upstairs. Her parents would be up and she could no longer delay what she and Christopher had discussed. Calling her parents, she braced herself for
their censure. It came quickly in wave after wave, but she held her ground, giving them no choice but to summon the other clan leaders to hear her present her plan.

Her parents sat before her stone-faced along with their cadre members, Rafael, and her cadre. All were clearly not receptive to what she was proposing: a parlay with Christopher.

Realizing that she was getting nowhere, she glanced in the direction of Selina and Kellen, Adam’s parents and the Desert clan Quinchus. They glanced at each other uneasily, likewise unconvinced.

She understood their reluctance, especially that of the Desert clan leaders. Their people had suffered much greater losses due to attacks from the Dark Ones, leaving their numbers greatly diminished. It was a large part of the reason why the Desert clan had chosen to remain down the Shore—they hoped to increase their numbers with an infusion of new energies from her people.

Which meant there was one final place where she could seek support, but as she glanced in the direction of Adam Bruno and his wife, it seemed as if she would receive no support from them either.

“Adam, please consider this for the future of the clan. For the future of your child,” she said, playing her trump card because she sensed it was all she had left.

Adam peered at Bobbie and then laid his hand over the barely perceptible bump of his wife’s abdomen. Then he looked back in Victoria’s direction, his gaze assessing as it swept over her.

“There is something unusual about you today, Victoria,” he said, surprising her. He had only recently come
into his powers and she had not expected him to be able to detect the different energies swirling within her. Especially since she had taken diligent steps to cloak her power for the meeting.

She somehow restrained herself from checking if her aura was visible, but then her mother added, “I think Adam is right. You are remarkably different this morning, Victoria. Are you well?”

She hated using Mike’s death as an excuse but wanted to shift the discussion back to what she had proposed. “I am upset about the loss of a cadre member and a friend. I would do anything to avoid another loss like that.”

“Including joining forces with the Dark Ones? The Shadows who murdered Mike and so many of our people?” Kellen shot back, but his son quickly jumped to her defense.

“Victoria assures us this man’s clan was not involved in the attack,” Adam reminded, repeating what she had said earlier.

“And we’re to believe that after centuries of civil war and contagion, one man has the answer to bring an end to all this strife,” Adam’s mother, Selina, pressed, carefully assessing Victoria.

“By Christopher’s edict, his people have been adhering to the ancient methods of hunting from nature alone. It has not been easy for them,” she advised, pleading his case since he could not be here to do so himself. Hoping she was not wrong to trust him.

Her father smacked his hands on the arms of his chair and bolted upward. “I’ve heard enough of this nonsense. The Dark Ones are killers and that’s all they’ll ever be.”

Without waiting for any reply from her, he stormed
out of the room and her mother rose, dipped her head in apology, but followed him. Adding their support, Selina and Kellen came to their feet as one. Selina took her husband’s hand and said, “The last thing I want is to lose yet another life to the Shadows.”