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  Hayden Boudreaux couldn't decide which was worse— that he was falling in love with a mortal or that the only way to break his family's centuries-old curse would be to kill her. Of all that he was certain was the more time he spent with her, the more he knew he would do anything to protect Adriana Alexander, including sacrificing his eternity. What he wouldn't expect was that Luke - his brother that hated Ana, who wanted to kill her - would decide he would want her as his own.

  Tempest

  Jenna-Lynne Duncan

  Copyright © 2012 Jenna-Lynne Duncan

  Edited by Rebecca Wahl

  Cover Art by Elena Lee

  All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Aftermath

  Dedication

  To my readers. Without your love of the Boudreaux brothers, this book would have never been written.

  Chapter One

  "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep"

  -Tempest by William Shakespeare.

  What had I become? I hadn’t even bothered paying for the car I was driving. Worse, it was as if I didn’t even give the stealing a second thought, like it was second nature to just take and not think of the consequences to others. Wasn’t that exactly what the Supernatural thought they were? Super, as in superior to the normal, tedious doings of the human world? So what if the entire human world depended on the balance that we as Hunters gave it? What I do is nothing to be proud of. I would never be arrogant about it like some of the others…

  My hand clenched the leather of the steering wheel at the thought. It took me a while to get off the main road. Soon, the entrance appeared through the vegetation. This was Louisiana and in swamp territory, what’s not there one minute can appear the next. Unfortunately, the same theory applied to the opposite. I turned into the unpaved entrance. The thin, one-lane road was the only thing cutting through the swamp. As I drove, the trees were becoming thicker, almost more sinister, like they knew what the end of this road held. I was almost there, I could smell it. It was the scent of incense, of candlewood, of death.

  I pulled in front of the run-down house, barely putting the car in park before running to the front door. I was already doing everything else in supernatural mode, why not go all in? The humor almost led to a smile.

  Sansha was at the door before I could give it another thought. She wasn’t surprised in the least to see me. Of course not. Giving me her pearl-and-gold smile, she held out the door for me to enter.

  I kicked away empty bottles as I walked into her clutter. I would never pretend to understand the supernatural. Although, Sansha did chose to live in this modest house and that was something I could understand.

  I realized that I hadn’t said a word of greeting, which may have triggered the intense silence between us. Before I could offer a hello, she spoke.

  “I hear you were out of your territory.”

  “You hear or see?”

  She laughed without humor.

  “I needed to get away. I think even you could understand that,” I offered as an explanation.

  She nodded. “Your brother is doing well.” I scoffed, because I didn’t remember asking about him. “You on the other hand,” she continued, while giving me a once-over, “you’ve really let yourself go, haven’t you? What a waste, having a human form!” She laughed with a little more humor this time.

  “I was human. This is my form.” I bit out. I wondered what she saw in me and I looked down at my bare torso. It was no wonder, I wasn’t even properly dressed.

  “Mmm,” was all she replied as she left me to sit on a chair.

  “So, why am I here?” I remembered my human courtesies and sat down across from her.

  She regarded me for a while and I was silent, letting her play her games.

  Her mouth parted for a while before the words came out, “I think it’s time to go back to New Orleans.”

  “I was just in New Orleans taking care of that vampire situation.”

  “I meant for good.” She leaned back in her chair, her braids thrown over her shoulders. “Are you still planning on destroying yourselves just to break the curse?”

  I clenched my jaw and gave her a curt nod. Did everyone know what we were planning? That we would rather not exist at all then have to continue to serve the Underworld?

  “What if there was another way? Would you do it? How far would you go to be released from the hold of the Underworld?”

  “Anything,” I said with slightly more emotion. She already knew the answer.

  “Kill?”

  I scoffed. Wasn’t that what I was created to do?

  “A human?”

  Chapter Two

  Why would they want a human murdered so badly that they would send supernatural hunters to do it? Especially since the payment was so high—our freedom.

  Yes, I was most definitely intrigued…

  On my way to Tampa, I backtracked to drop off a stack of cash from where I took the car. A courtesy of my conscious, if you could call it that.

  I cut the drive in half by not bothering to follow most human roadway laws. It still left me plenty of time to think, and to think was what I needed. From the beginning, I decided not to bring Luke into this. How could I trust him not to do anything impulsive when I myself was unsure of what to do?

  I would have to tell my mother and father because without their advice, how could I clearly know if this was the offer of a lifetime, even several lifetimes? Plus, the slip of control I was feeling lately could only be remedied by my father, always the one to pride himself on morals and finding the good in our monstrosities. Yes, they were exactly what I needed to figure this out.

  I rolled down the windows instinctively as I felt the approach toward the ocean shore. Within minutes the scent of the ocean, humid and slightly salty, crept in. I could sense my parents were there but didn’t know if Luke would be home yet.

  It was in my best interest if he wasn’t.

  I instinctively pressed down the gas pedal and was pulling into our beachfront home within seconds. I thrust the car in park and left for the front door, leaving the car keys inside. That would be the last time I could drive that car anyway.

  My father met me at the door; a smile was on his face until he took in my appearance. At least I had the chance to clean up a little for them.

  “Where’s mom?” I ignored the questions on his face.

  “In the kitchen. She felt you coming.” We walked silently into the other room. I saw her behind the steel doors of the refrigerator.

  She let the door slam closed as she came out with container of mushrooms and something that smelled like parsley. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  I wanted to laugh. Hunters never ‘got’ hungry. “I don’t feel like going through the motions tonight, mom.”

  I felt a twinge of guilt at the pain my words caused her. She was always trying to be normal, always trying to do what’s best. “I like what you’ve done with the place,” I added as amends after seeing she redecorated again.

  She managed to smile at this. “I’m glad at least someo
ne took notice.” She wiped her hands on an apron and shot a playful glance at my father. She looked back at me as if to take in my demeanor. Then she frowned. She met me on the other side of the kitchen’s island and sat down on one of the steel bar stools. “What’s happened?” She touched the chair, too worried to say sit down with words.

  I placed my hands on the counter and hung my head. “I don’t know yet. It could be nothing.”

  My father crossed his arms but didn’t say anything, even though his face threatened me to continue.

  I shook my head and decided it better to just come out with it. “They want me to kill a human girl.”

  My parents loosened their arms, looking relieved. “Well you know more than anyone that it is not in our contract.” My father’s words were laced with confusion as if he were waiting for me to state my dilemma.

  “The reward?” Mothers always knew their children best.

  I smirked. “Our freedom.”

  My mother’s gasp was drowned out by the sound of Luke in the kitchen. I cursed under my breath. I was so involved with telling my parents I had failed to sense that Luke was home.

  He looked at me from the doorway with a knowing smirk on his face. “You were trying to keep this little nugget of information from me, weren’t you?”

  “It is not even something worth considering.” I glared at him.

  “The hell it isn’t! Even your father didn’t jump right into the whole morality speech.”

  “Wait just a minute now, boys..., “my father quickly realized his mistake and tried to step forward.

  “Maybe the reason I was trying to keep it from you is because you’re young and irrational.”

  “Maybe you’re just too stupid to see what’s in front of you!”

  I pushed the stool back with a growl. I walked right up to him, so we were nose-to-nose. He was really becoming a liability. “I’m the stupid one? You are willing to kill an innocent human girl without wondering why?”

  “Why, what?” He sneered back at me.

  “Why they would put her as the price of our freedom? Why the underworld cares about, as you said, a human girl who is of no consequence?”

  “He has a point, Luke. You cannot just do this and not look at the reason. It already seems too good to be true that after all these years they would offer our families release from the curse. So we need to know why they want her and why they would send immortal Hunters to do it,” my father said from behind me, making no move to separate us. He would know better than to interfere if we fought. When Luke’s father was alive, they often brawled. It was what brothers did, he told me.

  Luke and I finished scowling at each other. “Fine.” He added, “We’ll check her out, but then it’s—“ he made a motion against his throat. “This came a little too late for my parents and I’m not going to risk losing this opportunity. We grab her and go to a safe house where we can question her. Where is she?”

  I turned away from Luke. “Father?”

  He shook his head. “It is not our job to decide anymore. You will have to do what you think is best. You know we don’t have to kill humans, you know how I feel about that. But to give your mother a chance at a normal life…” his words trailed off, not making my decision any easier.

  I turned back to Luke, resolved. “We do this my way or not at all. Once we confirm who she is we find out what she is, understand? We are not rushing this. I will explain everything on the way to New Orleans.”

  “Anything else, brother?”

  “Yes. I’m driving.”

  Luke smiled his sinister smile, “When do we leave?”

  Chapter Three

  How long had it been since I'd actually attended school? Sure there were times where my hunting had led to high schools. The Supernatural didn’t age and they could be found anywhere and everywhere. Cleaning up in such an impressionable, public place was never easy. But this time was different. This time I was actually enrolled. There was no doubt that we may garner some unwanted attention. Despite our human appearance, we would never be normal.

  It didn’t help that Luke was basking in the female attention. He was young, irrational, and arrogant. I should have done this alone. I couldn’t trust him to actually do this my way. He had to agree because he had no other option; he didn’t know who or where she was. Luke didn’t care about answers; he just wanted to be relieved from duty.

  I just needed to find her.

  “Come again?” I asked Luke, who was looking at me as loathingly as I was looking at him.

  “Chill your language, man. This is high school, not the 1800’s.”

  Like he knew about either. There was more insult to his comment than truth. Hunters had the ability to adapt to any language, any dialect. We had the ability to blend in anywhere. It was all in what we were created to do. “Just meet me at lunch.”

  I thought we should follow the schedules the school assigned to us until we found her. We already knew that she’d be here, thanks to Sansha. She gave us no name, no address. What we had was the name of a private academy in Metairie, Louisiana along with a description of how to recognize the girl. Cafeteria. Laughing, blue eyes. Lemonade bottle. Shouldn’t be too difficult.

  * * *

  I walked into the cafeteria with Luke. As we sat down, I thought a little too late that we should have brought food with us. Luke didn’t care enough to be sloppy, but I wasn’t about to jeopardize everything.

  “We can’t risk losing this opportunity or having someone beat us to it. Let’s just do it here and now and we can worry about cleaning up later.” We had been arguing all morning.

  “I think your hat is on a little too tight because you're being an idiot. We are not killing her,” I emphasized.

  “Right now…?” It was almost a question.

  “For now,” I conceded with a sigh. “Can you just act normal while we’re here?”

  “Hey, I’m the one that’s really 18.” He rose an eyebrow at me. “Why is it so important to you to be normal? What gives?”

  I didn’t answer him because I was too focused on the girl across the cafeteria. A feeling of accomplishment and dread filled me from looking at her. Accomplishment, because we had found her and dread, because she had to be the one. I didn’t know why that made it harder. She was not anything like what I had pictured in my mind. I had wondered if, because I had seen so much evil in my time, I could successfully judge a person based on this factor alone. And this girl wasn’t it. No, she really was innocent. Which raised a thousand more questions about who wants her dead and why.

  I looked her up and down, taking inventory. Long, unruly blonde hair framed a delicate face. She had the most vivid pair of the blue eyes I had ever seen in my hundred-and-twenty-seven years; a blue-green that reminded me of tropical waters. Those eyes are amazing! And they seemed to be fixated on me. Penetrating almost. As if she could see right through me and my secrets. I realized then that the only reason I could see her eyes was because she was looking right at me. In fact, she was staring first.

  My behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed and now Luke was assessing the girl. He made a comment about her staring at us and I laughed with him as an automatic motion but still couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  She parted her full, pouty lips at the sound of our laughter and turned away with chagrin. I watched her quickly take out her phone and longed to know what she was looking at. A funny text from her boyfriend? The time, because she had to meet someone before class? She put it away and as I was still lost in my thoughts, she stood up to leave with her lemonade. The lemonade bottle. There was no uncertainty that I knew it was the right girl, but each piece of confirmation was as startling as the last because of what I originally came here for.

  “Call Troy. We’ll need accommodations for the night,” I delegated to Luke, unable to tear my eyes away from her retreating figure. Troy was on the Boudreaux payroll for whenever we were in New Orleans. Wherever in the South Hunting brought us, we had people that got us whateve
r we required. Troy was human, but very resourceful and never blinked an eye at our odd requests. Hell, we paid him enough not to. Calling Troy meant one thing; we would be staying for a while.

  I knew I had decided right then and there. We would still have to get answers from her, but Luke and I now had entirely different reasons for doing so.

  Chapter Four

  The sun started to come through the un-shuttered windows and I looked at the brand new clock in my room. 5:28am. Finally, it was dawn. I wasn’t going to kid myself, I wanted to leave right then for school. It was like for the first time in many years, I had something to look forward to. I was excited. No, excited was too strong a word. I was merely looking forward to concluding this whole matter.

  I had managed to wait a few more hours but at Luke’s pace we were going to miss her. “Let’s go, Luke,” I called up the extravagant staircase.

  “Chill. Unless you’re planning on running her off the road on the way, there is no reason to follow her to school,” Luke called down after me.

  I clenched my jaw. Luke didn’t need to know my reasons. Frankly, I didn’t want to know my reasons. I was becoming a little too interested in this girl. Beyond the why-does-someone-want-her-dead interest, officially closer to the I-want-to-get-to-know-her-better interest. And that wasn’t a good thing, especially since she was Human and especially since someone had sent me to Hunt her.

  After lunch the day before, I had worked out a plan. I found out in exactly which classes Miss Adriana Alexander was and divided them between Luke and me. With a little influence, the receptionist happily switched our schedules. I thought I should have been the one to be in all her classes, but as Luke was technically enrolled as a Senior, I let him have the AP classes and gym. I was the one preaching about not causing unnecessary attention so I guess I had to model it. The receptionist was also kind enough to give me Adriana’s home address. Which, as it turns out, was in the same gated community as a house that Boudreaux Properties owned. It was newly acquired as of 4pm that day thanks to Troy, but our house nonetheless. It was in perfect position of the main gate to see everyone that entered and exited.