Free Tempest by Jenna-Lynne Duncan Page A

it off.”
    “Kidnapping?” My
mother gasped. “You had to kidnap her?” Her tone was instantly
scolding.
    “Mother, it’s ok.
If we hadn’t, she would have stayed behind, suffered the storm and
been left vulnerable to the Vasquez.”
    My mother’s head
bobbed up and down in a nod. “Ok, well, what’s Luke still doing
in the car?”
    “He… The car is
small and she is lying on his lap. He didn’t want to disturb her by
getting out.”
    My mother and father
each held the same dumbfounded expression.
    “ Luke ?” my
father even thought he didn’t hear me right.
    “Well, ok then. I
will have to get the guest room set up for her, then he can bring her
in. I suppose.” She looked at me to judge my reaction. My father
must have filled her in on the conversation we'd had. The one about
finding your mate.
    That conversation would
have to be left for a different day. “I’ll meet you inside with
her things.”
    * * *
    I prolonged getting Ana
settled in. I knew that my parents would want more of an explanation
for everything when I was finished. My mother jumped right into her
role as nurse and a smile tugged at my cheeks because of this. She
had always wanted more children, especially a daughter, but Hunters
only had one son. Their heir.
    I stood in the kitchen,
thinking.
    “She was awake the
last time I went in, Hayden,” my mother told me as she stirred the
broth boiling on the stove.
    I immediately started
toward the guest room. “No, don’t. She is still resting. Besides,
she didn’t seem too thrilled about being here.”
    “We had an
argument...” I let my words drift off.
    “About what?”
    I shook my head, “She’s
human. I couldn’t tell her everything from the beginning. She would
have never believed me and then I would have lost her forever.”
    “You were worried
that she would look at you differently if you told her what you
were?”
    “Perhaps.” I
rounded the kitchen island to sit on the bar stool.
    “So you told her and
she reacted how you thought. Her mind couldn’t handle it, which is
understandable.”
    “I haven’t even
told her everything yet. I was trying to explain things but she put
the pieces together, about us living in New Orleans, about why we
were there, why we were at her school. She probably thought we were
serial killers.” I winced, remembering the real reason why we had
came to New Orleans; because someone offered us our freedom in
exchange for killing her. “So yes, she reacted badly. And Luke was
not a big help,” I scoffed.
    “Luke. Hm.”
    “What?” I asked
her.
    “Nothing. So you are going to tell her everything, right?”
    “I messed things up
the first time by not. As soon as she’s awake she deserves—and
will probably demand—an explanation.”
    Just as I said those
words, I heard the sound of Ana’s scream. I immediately busted into
Ana’s room. I wrapped my arms around her as breathing racked her
lungs.
    “Ana, it’s ok,” I
turned to my family, “she was probably having a nightmare.” I had
already explained to them about the ghost that was after Ana.
    “No, no,” Ana said
in between breaths. “It wasn’t a nightmare. I saw someone!
Someone was outside the window.”
    My teeth were bared in
anger, ready to go after them. I could barely contain the rage that
was threatening me, knowing that they had come onto our territory,
that they had come so close to Ana.
    “No, Hayden. Now is
not the right time,” my father commanded. Despite everything, I
knew I had to listen. He was right. I could not lose control now when
Ana needed me.
    “Adriana, I know you
have been through a lot.” My father used one of his many charms to
try to calm Ana down.
    “Why isn’t anyone
moving? You need to call the police! Someone was just trying to break
in.”
    I could smell Ana’s
fear. And it only incited me further. I wanted nothing more than to
track down the person who made her feel this way.
    “I need you to be
calm right now. Hayden needs you