Authors: The Hunter
Time to hunt.
56
Suzie fluttered her eyes open and stared at the strange ceiling—a painted fresco of flowers that, while quite pretty, she’d never seen before.
Where the hell am I?
But right on the tail end of that thought came the memories.
Oh God, my baby boy is gone
. Suzie felt like wailing again, but held it in, afraid that woman would come back and put her to sleep again. She needed to find out what was going on, so she swallowed back the tears and sat up, looking around.
Where’s Jessica?
She remembered her little body pressed against hers when she’d awoken last time before that woman made her pass out.
Where is she now?
Had she been taken too? No, that wouldn’t have happened because Huntershe remembered seeing Hunter. He’d make sure Jessica stayed safe. Where did this certainty come from? Deep down in her gut, she just knew. If anyone could protect them it was Hunter. If only he’d arrived before Damian had.
Suzie swung her legs off the bed only to suddenly remember her injuries. But to her amazement, nothing hurt. She touched her face gingerly. No pain. Had they given her pain killers? She sure as hell didn’t remember any. She got off of the bed and wandered to an antique, silver framed mirror on the wall. Suzie stared at her reflection and blinked to make sure it wasn’t a mirage or her imagination. Her face stared back at her, unblemished. Not a bruise, scratch, lump—nothing. She tilted her chin up. Her neck appeared unmarked, as well. Had she dreamed the whole thing, or had she been unconscious long enough for her wounds to heal?
And what the hell am I wearing?
Suzie frowned down at what she wore.
Someone had obviously undressed her and put her in a white chemise that hit about mid-thigh. Almost like a slip she’d wear under a dress.
Looking around, she wondered again just where she’d been taken. This not knowing anything had passed the point of annoying. She prowled the huge, absolutely gorgeous room—definitely expensive.
This place didn’t look cheap. She only hoped nobody would be expecting her to pay for her stay because she knew she couldn’t afford these digs. The walls of the room seemed to be grey stone covered in embroidered tapestries. It reminded her of a medieval castle. Plush pink carpets covered the stone floors and matched the pink of the coverlet on the bed, a huge, four poster monstrosity that belonged in the middle ages. There were two doors in the room. The first, when she opened it, led into an antiquated bathroom with a claw foot tub and what she assumed—hoped—was a toilet, but definitely not of the porcelain variety she’d come to know judging by the box with the dangling chain above the wooden seat.
She finished her perusal of the bathroom and returned to the bedroom in time to see the second door open. The petite woman she’d seen before came bustling in, holding a dress over one arm.
She’d
better not be coming back to put me to sleep
, thought Suzie fiercely. No way, not without a fight anyway. Suzie wanted some answers.
The woman first looked at the bed, and not seeing Suzie, turned till she saw her framed in the bathroom doorway.
“There you are, dear,” she said with a soft smile. “I was just coming to check on you. How are you feeling?”
“Who the hell are you? Where am I? And where the hell are my children?” asked Suzie rudely, her questions running into each other.
The woman seemed unfazed by her outburst. “I’m Hunter’s mother, Beverly. You’re in our home.
Jessica is downstairs playing ‘I Spy’ with Molly, the maid.”
Hunter’s house and mother? What the hell had happened while she slept? And just how rich were Hunter’s folks to afford a maid? Just goes to show how little she actually knew about the man she was thinking of dating. Not that they’d be going out now with Jared missing. Or had he—
please
—been found already?
57
“What about Jared?” She crossed her fingers behind her back, praying the answer would be good.
Hunter’s mother’s eyes, so similar to Hunter’s in their blueness, looked sad. “I’m afraid the Dragon still has him.” Suzie felt her heart plummet. “But don’t worry. Hunter is prepping to leave as we speak.
If anyone can find your son, it’s him. He’s the best we’ve got.”
Suzie felt confused. Had she stepped through a mirror or something? ‘Cause either she had completely lost her marbles, or something really strange was going on.
Like who the hell is this Dragon they
keep referring to, and why do they think he has Jared?
Beverly came toward Suzie and handed her the gown draped over her arm. And what a gown! Suzie went back in the bathroom to pull it over her head and then shook her head in bemusement. Welcome to the eighteenth century. The gown glistened, a pale blue with a snug bodice that laced up the front and a long, loose skirt that went down to her ankles. Kind of like the dress Hunter’s mother wore, actually.
But Suzie had never seen women wearing these types of gowns outside of movies. Another oddity that made no sense.
Suzie, feeling better armed now that she at least had clothes on, wandered back out into the room and sat down in an overstuffed pink chair, resisting an urge to rub her head. She had a sneaky suspicion she’d want to be sitting for the discussion ahead.
Beverly still stood in the room, hands clasped demurely in front of her, her face placid, a small, sad smile on her lips.
Suzie felt like screaming at her, but resisted, and said, “I don’t understand any of this. Damian took Jared, not a dragon. And I know Hunter’s a private eye and all, but shouldn’t we be calling the cops and reporting Jared as kidnapped? You know, get an Amber Alert setup or something? And even better, what the hell happened to my injuries? How long have I been here?”
“Oh dear. You really don’t know about any of this, do you? Goodness, where to start?”
“How about with the truth?” said Suzie with a sarcastic edge.
Beverly laughed. “Dear, I think this is one instance where the truth will seem stranger than fiction.
Let me ask you something, do you believe in magic?”
Suzie frowned.
Is this lady nuts?
“No, of course I don’t believe in magic. I’m a grownup. I know fact from fantasy. Magic is something for stories and fairy tales. And what does that have to with anything?”
“Yes, well given your upbringing, I could see why you’d think that. You see”—Beverly paused as if gathering her thoughts—“magic is real. Not in your world, of course, but here in the Realm, it is very much a part of everyone’s life.”
“Okay, you lost me already. What do you mean, my world? Are you trying to tell me we’re not on Earth anymore? And again, what does this have to with my son?” Suzie felt her frustration rising. She’d asked for answers, and instead, seemed to be receiving the run around.
“Oh no, we’re still on Earth, and this has everything to do with your son and why his father took him. I’m not explaining this right. See, a very long time ago, magic used to be everywhere, as well as all beings magical like fairies, pixies, wizards, ogres, and even dragons.”
Suzie arched a brow—
Hunter’s mom is coo-coo
.
Beverly saw her look and pulled her little frame up indignantly. “I am not crazy. Listen, I know this will be hard to believe, but I promise it’s the truth, and you need to hear this so you can understand what’s happened to your son. So, where was I? Oh yes. A long time ago the world was full of magic, some good and some evil. Now, creatures can’t help themselves. After all, is it evil to kill to eat and protect one’s home? No, but there were some who pursued evil for personal gain. Men and women who lacked empathy, but craved power. They used their magic for nefarious purposes. They killed, maimed, destroyed. The world was turning into a very horrid, violent place due to their greed. Finally, there came a time when the world said, enough. Humans have always been a populous species, and while some had magical abilities, the majority didn’t, and they got tired of seeing their hard work destroyed by those who 58
abused their magical gifts. So, a spell was created. Thirteen of the world’s most powerful wizards gave their lives to this spell.”
“And what, they destroyed all the magic in the world?” Funny how the Grimm brothers had never told this tale, this supposedly true tale. Poor Hunter. Must have been hard growing up with a crazy mother. And again, what did this have to do with Damian kidnapping Jared? Suzie wondered if she could make it past Hunter’s mother out the door. She needed to find someone sane to talk to. Preferably Hunter. He’d tell her the truth. Of course, he might not be too happy with her if she was mean to his mother. Crap. Guess she’d listen a little more and hope his mother got to the point.
“The thirteen didn’t destroy the magic. They contained it. They created a boundary around one continent and some other areas of magical importance. On the one side of the boundary, the side where you lived, all magic was drained. On our side of the boundary, known as the Realm, the magic remained, including all the beasts and creatures of legend that you thought only myth.”
“Oh please,” said Suzie, rolling her eyes. “Are you kidding me? So what, next you’re going to tell me I’m now on the magical side of this so-called boundary?”
Beverly blinked. “Well, of course. How else do you think we healed you and your daughter? You were both injured quite severely when Hunter brought you.”
“Ha, that’s good. Magic for healing. Please. I know you believe magic healed me, but come on. I’m an adult. My guess is the hospital put me in some kind of a coma so I could heal? How long was I out?
A week? Two weeks?”
“How about a few hours?”
Suzie felt like saying impossible, but really, it didn’t feel like she’d been out long enough for her injuries to heal. And shouldn’t some of her injuries, especially the kick in the face, have left scars? But the alternative was impossible.
Right?
“No.” Suzie shook her head. “You tell a neat story, but I’m sorry. I’m not that gullible.”
“Oh, then how do you explain this?”
Suzie looked at Beverly and stifled a gasp. Beverly’s body hovered in the air. Suzie looked at the floor and saw a definite space between Beverly’s feet and the floor. Suzie looked up, but already knew she wouldn’t see any wires.
“That still doesn’t make your story true,” said Suzie stubbornly. “It could still be a trick. I don’t know. Maybe there are mirrors or something. I know there’s a guy on television who can do the same trick.”
Hunter’s mother sighed as she floated back to the floor. “Dear, you know I’m telling the truth.
Magic is real, at least in the Realm it is.”
“Okay, let’s say for a minute that magic is real. What the hell does that have to do with me and the twins? Or Damian kidnapping Jared?”
Ha, explain that
.
“Damian is from the Realm. He’s a shape-shifter.”
Suzie burst out laughing. This just kept getting better and better. “So what, he’s a werewolf who changes on the full moon?”
Oh yeah, and I’m a mermaid when I hit the water. Like, hello, where is Hunter?
Someone needs to lock his mother back up in the loony bin.
“Werewolf? Goodness, no. He’s a weredragon. An extremely rare type of shape-shifter. Rumor has it that his mother was a sorceress, his father a dragon. From what we’ve learned, it was only because of the sorceress’s magic that both she and the baby survived the pregnancy. The man you know as Damian was the result.”
“What? Do you mean you’re trying to tell me that Damian’s a dragon? Um, don’t you think I would have noticed?” Suzie had once known every inch of his body. She’d have remembered scales and a tail.
“There was nothing to see when he was on your side of the boundary. Keep in mind that, once he entered the magicless side of the boundary, his powers disappeared, making him just as human as you are.”
59
“Let’s say for a minute I believe you, that Damian’s a dragon thing. Then why on earth would he come into my world and be a professor? Why get me pregnant and steal my son? Why not just stay here where he has his magic?”
“Because his very essence made it impossible for him to sire a child here. I have it on good authority that he’s been trying for a long time to create a son. Unfortunately, they all ended in tragedy, both for the unborn child and their mothers. The babies, while developing, shifted in the womb and tore their mothers apart, killing both themselves and their mothers.”
Suzie swallowed hard. Were her babies shape-shifters too? Would she have died if she had been in the Realm while pregnant? Not that she believed any of this. Jessica and Jared were normal, active, very
human
children.
“Your very lack of magic made it possible for him to sire a son and a daughter. I don’t know about your son, but I do know when I healed your daughter that I felt something. I’m not entirely familiar with shape-shifters, they tend to keep to themselves, but I’d say the chances are good that both your children are part dragon like their father.”
“No, my kids are normal. Not lizard things. I think I would have noticed. I’m their mother. And mothers always know.”
“Not in your world, you wouldn’t have. Now that we are in the Realm, do not be surprised if you see them displaying gifts you’ve never seen before. My own son and daughter, while not full shape-shifters, have some of the blood. It’s what makes them such good hunters and trackers. Their eyesight is much keener. They can both see in the dark, as well as smell things that normal human noses can’t. They both have special extra senses that make them more than human. Special, like your children.”
Oh, come on
, thought Suzie,
just how much crap am I expected to believe
? “So what, Hunter is part dog?”
“No, according to the family tree, we believe his abilities stem from his great-grandfather who was a werepanther.” A panther. Yes, if she’d had to choose an animal, that would be it. Feline grace, sleek power—Suzie shook her head.
Wake up
, she scolded herself,
do not get drawn into the delusion
.
“This is nuts! You’re telling me Damian purposely impregnated me so he could have a kid that he could steal and do what with?”