Free Tempest by Jenna-Lynne Duncan Page B

to be calm, before he does something
he’ll regret.” My father was still trying to comfort Ana.
Finally, she took a deep breath and then nodded.
    “My dear, you’re
bleeding!” I smelled the blood as soon as my mother stated that.
She and I examined Ana’s hand for the wound. I swear, if the
Vasquez had hurt her…
    “No, I’m fine. It’s
not my blood.”
    “Whose blood is it,
then?” Luke, of course, picked that precise moment to step in.
    Ana looked between us
like the answer was obvious. “Well, whoever it was that tried to
break in, of course.”
    “So you’re telling
me that you punched the man who tried to come in here and
attack you?” Luke, once again, was finding the situation amusing.
    “What do you mean
attack me? How do you know he was trying to attack me—he was
probably just a robber?”
    By assuming it wasn’t
a robber we assured her that we knew who it was.
    “Let’s leave
Adriana and Hayden to discuss this alone,” my father took the hint,
leaving me with the honors of telling Ana all of our secrets. Was I
afraid? I could no longer think of myself and the consequences it
would have on me if she left. Briefly, the thought of her leaving me,
of growing up, of marrying someone else came to my mind. I’d have
no choice but to follow her. To remain close by, but never be able to
have her. If she wasn’t my mate, she would remain mortal. She would die . I tried to think if I even knew of any Hunters whose
mates had not wanted them, who had died. I did. Oh no…
    I heard the door to the
guest room close and I went over to sit by Ana on the bed. Her head
whipped toward me and I caught the smell of her hair distracting me.
How do I begin? “How much do you know about New Orleans’
folklore?”
    “What does that have
to do with anything?” Her eyes narrowed at me. She had just wanted
me to jump right in and tell her straight out. I searched her eyes,
trying to will her to put the pieces together again. She saw my
expression and her forehead creased, “What, are you a witch or
something?”
    Smart girl. So close.
“No.”
    “A vampire?”
    “No.”
    “A ghost?”
    “No.”
    “Ok. I give up.”
She threw her delicate hands up into the air.
    “They do exist
though—ghosts, vampires, witches—and then there are… others.” Great, I just called myself an “other.” Could I make what we
are sound anymore ominous? “They’re what you would call the
'rule of law' in the Underworld.” That sounded better, more
humanized. “Do you really want to know what I am?” I let the
disgust on my face show; I would give her one last chance to back, to
not be introduced to this dark part of the world.
    “Yes,” her face was
beaming. She was anxious, excited, intrigued.
    “Even if knowing will
change your world forever?” That isn’t what I really wanted to
know. “Even if knowing what I am may change how you feel about me?”
I just needed confirmation, assurance that she wouldn’t run away
from me again.
    She gaped at me, her
head bobbing up and down in slow deliberation.
    That was all I needed.
“We are Hunters. The man at your window was member of the Vasquez
family, a very old and very dangerous clan of humans who are
Hunters.”
    “Hunters.” The way
she said the word excited me. I clenched my fists as the desire
built.
    She was still
fascinated by the information, even about the Vasquez. How could I
tell her it had a dark side? That it only had a dark side.
“It’s nothing to glamorize. We carry out justice and provide
order for the paranormal world, but what the Vasquezes do—“
    “There are rules ?”
    “Yes, Ana, very
serious rules. You have to understand this. They don’t like our
worlds mixing. That is what the Vasquezes do—they help paranormals
hunt humans.”
    “Why would they want
to do that?”
    “Well, they claim it
is to protect the human race, but let’s just say it has its perks.
They get money and power. The Vasquezes are in it for that.”
    “And so