Page 52 of The Hunter’s Affection

Chapter 14

It had been one hell of a week.

The call that had yanked him away from Charlotte’s embrace on Monday night had been about Alessandra. Cheld could sense it when other vampires and Cheld—even cloaked Cheld—were nearby. Alessandra didn’t have much experience with other Cheld, given that she and her younger brother were the only two she knew, but she’d sensed the presence of someone who felt like Garrett on Monday night. A problem given that he was currently nowhere near Stone Haven.

A Cheld had come to town, a cloaked Cheld, sensed only by Alessandra, which had sent them all into a collective panic.

There was only one reason a cloaked Cheld would come to town: to eliminate Stone Haven’s resident vampires. They suspected the Sect, but even though Stone Haven was impossibly small, their efforts to find the hidden Cheld had turned up nothing and no one. Torr had led their efforts. Even Kenton acquiesced to “the Hunter,” as he’d been called for centuries. When Alessandra no longer felt the Cheld’s presence, it didn’t stop Torr from leaving Stone Haven for a few days, knowing his tracking efforts were likely futile if the Cheld was cloaked but not willing simply to wait for him, or her, to return.

Alessandra no longer sensed the Cheld, but that didn’t erase the feeling they were sitting ducks.

Part of Torr wanted to leave town and sweep his brother and sister off with him, but another part reminded him of Charlotte Harris’s silky skin and the pleasure he took in making a lady obsessed with order enjoy chaos.

He’d thought of her all week long. Dreamed about her. Texted her. All of which was quite unlike him. And finally, he’d convinced her to let him take her out tonight.

For a date.

First, though, he had to report for the group’s nightly meeting.

Torr left his brother’s house and made his way to the as-of-yet unnamed bar that was looking less and less like a bank every day. The others were working late, and as he opened the door, the smell of pizza and sound of laughter drifted to him.

He froze, staring at his brother as if seeing him for the first time since he’d come back to town. How had he not noticed before?

Lawrence was ridiculously happy.

He hadn’t seen his brother this way in years. Always so serious with an edge that came from drifting from town to town, city to city. The lifestyle of a hunter, something he hated but had refused to abandon. Only after meeting Toni had he agreed to pass the hunt along to Torr and Laria. They would manage the Cheld now. Chase the Sect. Save the innocent among them.

“Come in,” Laria said. “Grab some pizza with us.”

Laria didn’t know about his date. In fact, he hadn’t told anyone. But by the way Toni and Alessandra looked at him, they probably knew from Charlotte. He didn’t mind.

The others sat around the circular bar in the center of a room, which now sported exposed wooden beams and a new floor. He knew Lawrence and Toni were going for a cross between a rustic ski lodge and an elegant study, complete with leather chairs and deep earth tones.

It looked pretty damn good, and he didn’t just think so because he’d helped.

“No, thanks,” he said, walking toward the group.

Avoiding Kenton’s gaze, he sat between his sister and Toni. As usual, Lawrence stood behind the bar. Torr held up three fingers, and his brother wordlessly made and handed him a triple of whiskey.

“I still think we should travel in pairs,” Kenton said.

“But whoever it was is gone.” Alessandra shook out her hair and tied it back into a high ponytail.

“Doesn’t matter.” Lawrence put the whiskey bottle back.

Torr agreed. “This is only the second Cheld you’ve ever sensed,” he added, taking a sip of the soft, rich drink in his hands. “Can you trust your own senses? Are you certain the Cheld is gone?”

Everyone looked at him. Because he’d spoken cordially to Alessandra? He’d never disliked her, per se. And Torr did know how to behave himself.

When it was necessary.

“I . . . I’m not sure, to be honest.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll all travel in pairs,” Lawrence said. “You should always be with one of us,” he said to Toni, his eyes full of entreaty. “Promise me.” As the only human in the room, she would be the least protected.

“What about Charlotte?”

A candle burning at the end of the bar, one with a wood wick that made a crackling noise as it burned, was the only sound in the room. Perhaps he should have circled around to what he knew to be a delicate topic, but her safety was more important than his brother’s wrath.