The Claimed (24 page)

“Then give Christopher a chance. Let him prove—”

“That he is pure? For how long, Victoria? Until he tires of the old ways and hunts down a more potent source of energy?” Selina challenged.

“Imagine what could happen if our people could once again gather? If our clans unite and our people intermarry that may be possible for future generations,” Victoria urged, hands outstretched as she pled her case.

“Getting ahead of yourself, aren’t you?” Kellen said, and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

She faced him directly. “Are you afraid to dream, Kellen? Has your life so wounded you that you can no longer believe in possibilities?”

Turning to Adam, she met a gaze much like Kellen’s, except that it was more welcoming. “How about you, Adam? Are you afraid to have hope?” she said, sensing a weakening based on his earlier defense.

Adam looked toward his wife, who covered his hand with hers and took up the argument. “Imagine, Adam. Imagine what it would be like for our child to be free of worry.”

“Adam,” his parents said in unison, as if sensing he was close to capitulation.

“I will meet with this Shadow, but just me. Not my parents or Bobbie,” he said and Victoria understood. He was willing to risk himself, but not his family or the future of his clan.

“You will not regret this, Adam.”

Maya had sensed the change in Christopher immediately. A smart woman usually knew when her man had strayed, and this was no different. Victoria’s energy swirled all around him, Maya considered as she stood beside the members of his cadre.

She had heard him return in the early morning hours. The sun had barely been above the horizon when she had first perceived the push of his power. Since then Christopher had been secreted with Ryan for hours. When they had finally emerged, they had commanded that she and all of the cadre members who were not on guard attend them in Christopher’s office.

So not good
, she thought as Ryan closed the door and set himself in front of it, as if to bar them within.

Uneasily Maya sneaked a look out of the corner of her eye at the members of Ryan’s cadre, but not one of them budged or even batted an eye as Christopher approached. He stood before them, hands clasped behind his body, pacing along the line of his men and women like a drill sergeant inspecting his troops.

“Something happened last night. Something that cost Jason his life. Something that cannot happen again.”

With those words he stopped directly before her while he continued. “Shadows attacked the Quinchus of the Light Hunter clan. Shadows killed our cadre member Jason.”

Finally there was a reaction from the men and women standing beside her. Shocked murmurs arose as they glanced at one another before every head swiveled to look in her direction, but she refused to acknowledge their condemnation. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, tilted her head to the side, and peered at Christopher.

“Do you believe I was involved?”

Christopher took a step forward until he was towering over her. That close there was no denying the presence of the other woman’s energy. It wafted all around him like the lingering stench of a whore’s perfume. He loomed over her, as if expecting her to back away, but she didn’t because doing so would be seen as an admission of her guilt.

“I
know
you were involved,” he hissed angrily.

The whispers of those beside her increased in volume and frequency, warning that her precarious position among Christopher’s people was growing ever weaker. Only a bold move could save the moment, so she took it.

She pretended to sniff the air and then released her breath with a disdainful huff. “Do you know this because you have been sleeping with the enemy? Was the Light Hunter female delicious?”

Christopher’s mouth thinned into a severe line, but her gambit paid off as his cadre members turned their attention to their leader.

“I won’t deny that I’ve met with one of them,” he said, and shifted away from her and back to his cadre.

Maya held in the sigh of relief she wanted to breathe, not wanting to draw attention back in her direction.

Christopher could not miss their sudden concern and pressed forward, trying to calm the apparent unease of those in the room. “The Ocean clan lost one of their Hunters as well. He died protecting their Quinchu from an attack that I believe was orchestrated by my father.”

One of his cadre members, Sarah, raised her hand almost timidly, prompting Christopher to wonder if they feared him the way they feared his father.

He recognized Sarah with the slow tilt of his head.

“What is it that you need from us, Añaru?” Her question prompted a chorus of sympathetic chatter from the remaining members of his guard and relieved some of his worries, but one glaring fear remained.

He looked toward Maya once more. “You will be accompanied at all times. If I find out that you have betrayed us, you will be banished.”

A united gasp rose from a few members of his cadre before they contained themselves and came to attention before him. Even Maya finally showed some hint of apprehension. Color melted from her face, leaving her as pale as a moonbeam.

For good measure, Christopher leaned toward her once again and stressed, “Banishment. Do you understand the consequences of that?”

“I understand, Añaru,” she replied meekly, not that she thought he believed her.

“Ryan. Please choose one of our cadre members to be Maya’s constant companion. That person will answer directly to you.”

Ryan saluted him and then jerked his head in Sarah’s direction. “Sarah, I know you are more than capable of guarding our little friend. Please take Maya to her room. I will meet you there shortly.”

Sarah immediately acknowledged Ryan’s instructions and went to Maya’s side.

Christopher expected something more from his ex-fiancée, some show of petulance or challenge at being removed from the cadre’s meeting, but the threat of banishment must have sunk in since she docilely let Sarah lead her from the room.

Once she was gone, Christopher resumed his planning.

“I need two volunteers for a special mission. I also need the rest of you to be on the lookout for signs of any of my father’s people. Except for Ryan, myself, and the two volunteers, no one is to communicate with anyone outside the compound. For those of you with family members who are living nearby, I would ask that you bring them here for safety’s sake.”

“I volunteer,” his youngest cadre member replied immediately, and as one, the members of his cadre stepped forward, likewise offering their services.

Relief washed over Christopher at their trust in him. Selecting two of them for the mission, he continued with laying the groundwork for defending their people, all the time hoping that they could avoid outright war with his father.

But if war was what it would take, Christopher was prepared to fight.

C
hristopher had brought his two cadre members to the meeting, but as a show of trust, he left them standing guard at the door to the now vacant oceanfront compound instead of bringing them inside. After the attack last night, the Desert clan had cleared out from the home until it was safe to return. The large area in the modern home’s great space, however, made for the perfect location for him to try to demonstrate the truth of his ways to Adam Bruno.

He entered with Victoria at his side and noted the four Light Hunter guards positioned at each corner of the room. They stood at attention, hands outstretched and response-ready.

His gut tightened with apprehension, but he reined himself in. This was not the time to allow fear to upset his plans. To provide an additional show of faith, he raised his hands as if in surrender, displaying his power-empty palms.

“That’s not necessary,” Victoria advised as she met him at the door and they walked to the center of the room to meet the other Light Hunter Quinchu who stood there.

Adam was well-built and just an inch or two shorter than Christopher. Sun-streaked sandy-colored hair was gelled into stylish spikes and emphasized his handsome face and inquisitive emerald gaze.

“Adam,” he said, and held out his hand, but the other man hesitated for the space of a heartbeat before shaking Christopher’s hand.

It was impossible to miss the unique signature of the power, confirming what had been one of his worst fears.

“You’re the source my father seeks,” he said, almost in a reverent tone, so floored was he by the purity and strength of Adam’s life force.

A flare of color rushed to Adam’s face and he yanked his hand away, resentment evident in the tight lines of his body and the hard glitter that entered his gaze. “Were those your father’s men on the beach last night?”

“I cannot say for certain if he was behind last night’s attack, although I suspect it. But I know his men were trailing the origins of a great surge of power we experienced months back,” he admitted, and with that, Adam nodded.

“I created that surge by accident before I was aware of the nature of my powers.”

“Was it also an accident when you crystallized two of my father’s men by the lighthouse?” Christopher pressed, needing to know. Only immense power could have vaporized his father’s cadre members and turned them and the sand around them into massive glass fulgurites.

“They shot at us. My parents and my wife. They hit
my human father, Salvatore, nearly killing him. As it is, I suspect his sudden death was due to the injuries he sustained that night,” Adam replied, only a slight bit of sadness allowing any break in his wall of anger.

Christopher bowed his head and shot a quick glance at Victoria before continuing. “My condolences on your loss, Adam.” As for Salvatore Bruno’s part in that fateful night and Salvatore’s alliance with Alexander, that was a secret Christopher would keep to himself. There was no need to sully Adam’s memory of the man he had considered to be his father for most of his life.

Adam’s emerald gaze narrowed to almost a squint. “You expect me to believe that you aren’t interested in my power?”

“I’d be lying if I said, ‘no’—”

“Christopher,” Victoria finally jumped in, clearly surprised by his words.

To reassure her, he reached out and took hold of her hand, and with that motion, one of the guards in a far corner surged forward to protect her. Victoria raised her hand, commanding him to resume his position with that simple gesture. The man’s jaw clenched so tightly Christopher could almost hear his teeth grinding, but the warrior did as instructed.

Christopher pressed forward. “I am interested in your life force, but not to take it. I want to understand its purity—”

“And not its strength?” Adam challenged.

“If I may?” he said, and stretched out his arms. Immediately a glow began in his open palms, but instead of gathering the force into orbs for attack, he allowed the tendrils to weave around his wrists and up his arms. Then
he opened his life force, displaying the brilliant sapphire of his aura. The release of control created a sympathetic vibration in Victoria, who stepped away from him as her life forces reacted in response.

Christopher reined in his power until she had stepped outside the range of his aura, and then he focused on the stray bits of energy circulating in the space. He identified the pathways he could take and prepared his energy so he could flash across the ions in the room.

Victoria had been hanging back, allowing the two men to size each other up, while they displayed their abilities.

At that moment Christopher’s power expanded, the color bright and swimming with glittering tendrils of silver and blue. Then without warning, Christopher disappeared as four streaks of light took off for each of the corners of the room.

A millisecond later, there was a Christopher standing before each of their cadre guards. “Strength comes in many ways,” he said in unison before the guards could act. Then four blurs of light returned and merged until only one Christopher stood in front of Adam.

Adam nodded. “Impressive. But if you have such energy—”

“What do I need from the Light Hunters?” Christopher immediately countered and looked back toward her. Asked her with his gaze to join him.

Victoria walked to his side and at another visual cue from Christopher, she said, “He needs our help to prove the pox has been controlled in his people. That with the change in their energies our people can peacefully coexist.”

“Coexist?” Adam glanced at the two of them and then wagged his head as he considered her statement.

“I know that you’re not familiar with Hunter ways,” she began, but Adam immediately cut her off.

“You’re right that I don’t know much, having been raised as a human. But I’ve learned one thing very quickly: Light Hunters and Shadows don’t mix.”

“Not yet, Adam. But what if they could? The Shadows all can gather energy, something most of our people can’t do,” Victoria began, and looked around to the four corners, gauging the reaction of the guards as well. “Imagine it. Imagine a future generation of Hunters who can hunt as our ancestors did. Who do not need to fear early deaths—”

“From the Dark Ones,” Rafael interrupted loudly, and left his position in a corner. He jerked his arm up and pointed to Christopher. “Shadows like this one.”