Hunter: Volume 1 (The Lillian Rayne Series) (2 page)

I
tried to sleep, but it seemed impossible. It was only two in the morning which
was still early. I normally slept during the day and hunted at night. I quickly
dressed and walked downstairs to my uncle’s office. I hesitated in the hall
when I heard voices.

“Damon
will be impossible to deal with,” my uncle growled.

“I
know, Damon doesn’t listen to anyone,” Luca agreed.

“He
is young, maybe we are misjudging him. Perhaps the position will make him grow
up a little,” Kai said softly.

“He
will wreak havoc,” my uncle countered.

“You
should try to be positive. Damon is strong and smart for the most part,” Luca
said trying to pacify my uncle. I really couldn’t believe Luca was saying nice
things about Damon. Normally he made me think he hated Damon.

“You
are all those things too. Except you are level headed, and you think before you
act. Damon is a hot head and a show boat,” my uncle said sounding annoyed.

“I
know you want me to win and I will try, but I am not sure I can outmatch Damon,”
Luca said softly.

“What
about the girl?” Kai asked quietly.

My
uncle scoffed. “Lillian is more of a hot head then Damon.”

“Lily
doesn’t fight in challenges. She thinks they are a waste of time,” Luca said
sounding amused.

As
soon as the conversation turned to me I became tired of listening to them. I
turned around and walked toward the kitchen. I was going to get something to
eat instead of dealing with them. My uncle was right. Luca was the perfect
choice, Damon wasn’t. I wasn’t sure what I could do, but I had to do something.

I
stood in the kitchen picking at a bunch of grapes. Kai walked in, and hesitated
when he saw me. I stiffened, my guard immediately went up. He acted like a
hunter, but I could see the vampire in him. He didn’t have fangs, but his eyes
gave him away.

“I’m
sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here,” he said sounding apologetic.

I
was caught off guard because that wasn’t at all the tone I was expecting from a
vampire. They sounded more entitled and arrogant. “Why are you even in a
kitchen?” I asked more curious than anything.

He
smiled. “I eat food. I am not full vampire. I have a heartbeat just like you.”

I
hadn’t thought about him having a human side. I just thought he was like a
vampire whenever I was told he was a hybrid. “Oh, well I am finished so you
don’t have to leave,” I said as I put the bowl of grapes away. I was careful
not to turn my back on him. Heartbeat or not he was still part vampire.

“I
understand that you don’t trust me, and you don’t like the idea of a truce, but
I would like to at least attempt to be cordial to one another,” he said quietly
as he watched me.

I
nodded as I moved sideways toward the exit. “Ya sure, sounds like a plan. Have
a good night,” I said then ducked out the door. I felt much better when the
door was closed. I could be cordial, but that was about it.

I
walked into the garden. It was a nice evening. I was contemplating what I was
going to do tomorrow night. I didn’t want Damon to win. Damon annoyed me
sometimes, but I still cared about him. I just didn’t think he would be a good
master hunter. The position was a lot of responsibility for him. I hesitated
when I heard a girl giggle. I recognized the voice. Her name was Penny. She
walked around claiming to be the top female hunter, but that was only because I
didn’t participate in the challenges. I heard the male’s voice that she was
with and I felt the rage hit me hard. It was Damon.

“When
I win tomorrow, we are going to celebrate,” he said amused.

“You
are going to dump Rayne for good then?” Penny pouted.

“Her
and I have been over for a while,” he said and then she giggled.

I
was frozen. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to confront them, and
another part of me wanted to cry. I didn’t like the part that wanted to cry. I
turned back toward the way I had come. When I walked back into the kitchen I
was relieved to see Kai was gone. I hurried toward the stairs. I made it to the
landing and looked down the hall. Luca’s light was on and I instinctively went
toward his room. I always went to him when I was hurt or angry. I knocked and
he opened the door. He was shirtless like he was undressing and getting ready
for bed. He looked at me confused. I couldn’t hold back anymore. Everything
that had happened was too much. I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck.
I sobbed into his shoulder.

He
held me as he gently pulled me further into the room and shut the door. “What’s
wrong, Lily, tell me?” he said sounding worried as he looked at me.

I
shook my head and clung to him. I just wanted to be held. I didn’t want to talk
about Damon. I hated Damon. “Come on,” he said softly and led me to his bed. He
pulled me down onto the bed with him. He kissed my head and I closed my eyes
and took a deep shaky breath. I was safe now.

“Are
you ok?” Luca asked after almost an hour. I was laying on his chest looking at
the wall. I was almost in a trance.

I
shifted and looked up at him then sat up. “I’m fine,” I said softly as I wiped
a stray tear away.

He
sat up behind me and touched my shoulder. “Are you sure? You can stay with me
for a while if you need to.”

I
was considering leaving, but I really didn’t want to leave the safety of his
embrace. “Ok,” I said softly. He moved back and I slid back into his arms.
“Damon is cheating on me with Penny,” I said softly.

I
felt him stiffen as I said it. I was surprised that I felt a little better.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. I was expecting an ‘I told you so’, or something
else, but he remained quiet.

“I
feel like such an idiot,” I said trying to keep from crying anymore.

“You
aren’t you cared about him, and it blinded you to what he was doing.” As he
spoke he ran his hand over my arm. His touch was comforting, and everything
didn’t seem as bad now. Luca deserved to be the master hunter. He was
everything a master hunter should be, and I was going to make sure he won.

“Thank
you for letting me cry on your shoulder,” I said dryly.

He
laughed and kissed my head. “You know I love it when you come to me. I like to
see your human side. Sometimes your scary robot hunter side makes me nervous.”

I
laughed and snuggled into his arms. Luca was the only one who really understood
me.

I
woke up in Luca’s bed. Luca was already gone. I knew he was more than likely
training. Everyone would be. It was almost time for the challenge and I intended
to fight. If I took Damon out before he reached Luca, Luca would win.

I
showered and dressed quickly. I walked to the main hall. It was where the
challenge was being held. It was set up like an arena. The challengers were
already lining up. I could see my uncle and Kai sitting at the head table with
the other council members. I entered the arena and the chatter in the room
quieted. No one expected me to show up that was for sure.

I
could feel Damon’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. I took my position
next to Luca. He was after all the one I was trying to protect.

“What
are you doing?” Luca asked sounding slightly amused.

“Entering
the challenge,” I said smiling.

“Why?”
he said looking slightly confused. He wasn’t going to quit questioning me and I
knew it. I had to tell him something.

“I
am going to kick Damon’s ass,” I said glancing at him.

He
smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

My
uncle cleared his throat and the room quieted. “It seems we have a last minute
challenger. Rayne I am glad to see you participate,” my uncle said sounding
unsure.

I
smiled at my uncle reassuringly. He probably thought I was going crazy. I was
so adamantly against challenges that he never thought I would take part in one.
He continued speaking and describing the challenge. It was simple really. We
all got a red marker. We were all wearing white shirts and in order to defeat
our opponent we had to mark our enemy over the heart with the marker. It wasn’t
as simple as it sounded. Getting that close to a hunter took effort.

My
uncle blew the whistle and we all broke apart. I went straight for Damon. He
was heading toward Luca. It made sense that he would go after his most
challenging opponent while he was strong. I launched myself at Damon. I hit him
and knocked him to the ground. He looked at me startled. He obviously thought I
was going to help him in some way.

“Rayne,
what the hell are you doing?” he growled as he recovered and got to his feet.

“I
am taking part in the challenge,” I said as I swung at him. He ducked and stumbled
backwards.

His
eyes were wide and confused like he didn’t understand what was going on. “Lily
what the hell.”

“It’s
Rayne to you, and don’t worry, I am sure Penny will still want you even if you
are a loser,” I snapped.

His
expression darkened and he suddenly struck. He kicked me knocking me backwards
into the barrier. I scowled and lunged at him. I caught him across the face
with a punch and he fell to the floor. I kicked him knocking him onto his back.
He was stunned holding his nose as blood gushed from his nose. I signed my
initials on his chest, then walked away.

Luca
defeated his last opponent and we were the last two standing. I turned to face
Luca and he smiled. This was going to be interesting. I kicked at him and he
easily blocked me. He tackled me and we went to the floor. I wrapped my legs
around his waist. He went to use the marker on me and I wrapped my hands around
his wrists, holding him at bay. I could have easily gotten out of the position,
but I was going to let him win. I could see by the amused look in his eyes that
he was waiting for me to win. I relaxed my legs and he fell forward. The marker
hit my shirt above my heart. Luca looked at me startled and I smiled.

“Looks
like you won,” I said playfully. I gave him a brisk kiss on the lips then
shoved him off me. The crowd was cheering as I stood. Luca was on his knees
looking at me. He looked completely dumbfounded and it was kind of cute.

“It
looks like Luca is our winner!” my uncle said excitedly as everyone cheered.
Luca was the right choice for the job and everyone knew it.

I
walked toward the exit as Damon walked toward me. “You bitch! You let him win!”
he yelled.

“What’s
wrong Damon, is your pride a little hurt?” I asked amused.

He
shoved me and I just laughed. He was pissed and I was enjoying it. I was glad
he was angry. I hoped he felt as miserable as I did. “You are a spiteful bitch.
Did you ever think maybe that’s why I went to Penny?”

I
could tell he was trying to hurt me, and it was working. “Well now you two can
be together. Oh wait, you are the loser. You know Penny hates losers, right?”

“Fuck
you!” he snarled and stalked off. Penny hurried after him. She glared at me as
she did. I really wished she would come over and start something. I would have
beat her too, and I would have enjoyed every second of it.

I
felt pretty good as I made my way out of the room. The other hunters were
cheering for Luca and congratulating him. I was glad I decided to participate.
At that moment I would have rather staked myself then see Damon win.

“You
did the right thing,” a male voice said from behind me. I turned and I was
looking at Kai.

“I
didn’t do anything,” I lied then went to turn back toward the stairs.

“Everyone
knows you could have easily beat him,” he said quickly. He was being persistent
and it was a little annoying.

I
turned back toward him and looked at him trying to decide what to say. “I
slipped and he saw an opening it happens.”

“If
you say so,” he said amused like he didn’t believe anything I was saying.

I
rolled my eyes and turned to go back up the stairs. “Luca would make the best
master hunter; everyone knows that.” As I spoke I hurried up the stairs. He
didn’t say anything else. Luca knew I let him win, maybe everyone did. I really
didn’t care either way.

I
went to the training rooms on the second floor. Most of the times there was
very few people because everyone was downstairs in the main room. I was
punching the bag when Luca came in about an hour after the challenge.

“Hey
Luca, having fun?” I asked amused as I continued to bounce and punch the bag. I
was sure he was barely able to escape the mayhem downstairs.

“You
let me win,” he said scowling at me.

“Did
not,” I countered.

“Did
too. You shifted your damn legs and I basically fell on you,” he growled.

I
smiled. “I screwed up and you found an in.”

He
scoffed. “Please, you don’t screw up. I screw up, Damon screws up. You don’t.”
He moved closer to me and held the bag as I punched it.

“Well
I did this time,” I countered. I went to swing and he caught my wrist and
pulled me against his chest. I gasped caught off guard by his sudden closeness.
I looked up at him unsure.

“You’re
a liar. Why did you let me win?” he asked as he kept his grip on me. His voice
was low and husky. I felt my body react to the sound of his voice, and the look
in his eyes. I never felt like this around Luca and it unnerved me.

“You
were the best for the job, and I kind of hate Damon right now,” I said trying
to keep my tone even.

He
watched me for a second, but he didn’t speak. I felt the tension between us. It
was thick and uncomfortable. It felt a little like we were crossing the line we
had always kept between us. The line that made our relationship platonic
instead of sexual. The doors opened and he stepped away from me quickly as my
uncle walked in.  I went back to punching the bag and Luca plastered a smile on
his face for my uncle.

“Martha
is looking for you Luca,” my uncle said as he glanced from Luca to me.

“I
was just trying to catch a break,” Luca said sounding apologetic.

Martha,
my aunt, was a nice woman. She was Tanner’s mom and she had a big heart. She
had a thing about cooking and knitting. I was pretty sure she probably knitted
him something because he won. “Better hide. She’ll have you looking like a
fucked up French poodle if she made you a sweater,” I said amused.

My
uncle grinned. “It isn’t that bad. Go find her. I need to talk with my niece.”

Luca
nodded, then glanced at me one more time and hurried out. “I know you aren’t
going to take credit for what you have done. I just wanted you to know it was
the best thing for our people.”

I
smiled. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

He
laughed. “I didn’t think you did, but I was saying it just in case. Are you going
to come down anytime soon?”

I
shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

He
cleared his throat like he wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure if he
should or not.

“What?”
I asked as I watched him.

“I
heard about you and Damon. I am sorry. You know you deserve better,” he said
softly.

I
shrugged like it was no big deal even though the mention of Damon made my chest
ache. “I’m over it,” I muttered then went back to punching the bag.

He
nodded, but I could tell he didn’t believe me. He didn’t push the issue which
was a relief. “Well come down if you are feeling up to it.”

I
nodded and he walked out leaving me alone. I liked being alone. I was beginning
to think it was better that way. I didn’t know what I was thinking taking a
chance with Damon. Luca was right about him all along.