The Hunted (Guild of Assassins Book 1) Read online

  The Hunted

  Shannan Albright

  A druid sworn to protect and nurture.

  Leigh Simon, a druidic healer, lives a peaceful existence among her nomadic tribe. She practices the healing arts and communes with the earth—until her estranged mother’s death turns Leigh’s life upside down. Leigh is now heir to her mother’s worldly possessions, including one dark, brooding demon.

  A demon sworn to revenge.

  Taren’s rage against witches is all that keeps him going. Forced into the beholden vow, magically binding him to the witches’ Guild of Assassins, he bides his time until he can find a way to break the vow. The key to his freedom comes in the form of one curvaceous female who knows nothing about the violence, hatred, and fear his kind has lived through.

  A hunt to the death.

  Leigh’s shocked at the brutality Taren endures at the hand of the Isis Guild of Assassins. The only way to right the wrong is to enter an antiquated, lethal challenge called The Hunt. If they can evade a deadly squad of assassins for twenty-four hours, they’re home free—something no one has done for hundreds of years—and falling in love only makes the need to survive steeper. Now, they’re not just fighting for Taren’s freedom, they’re fighting for love.

  Other Titles by Shannan

  The Dark Breed Enforcers

  Dark Passions Rising

  Passions Flight

  Dark Hunter (A Novella)

  Dark Desire

  Knights of Excalibur

  Beloved Wizard

  The Knights Druid

  The Kings Lady

  The Guardians of Drakkan

  Soul Fire

  Learn more at www.shannanalbright.com.

  The Hunted

  GUILD OF ASSASSINS

  Shannan Albright

  The Hunted

  Shannan Albright

  Copyright © 2016 by Shannan Albright

  Formatted by The Romance Geek

  Edited by The Romance Geek

  Cover by The Romance Geek

  This eBook is not transferable. It cannot be resold, shared or given away because that will be considered an infringement of the copyright of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons (living or dead), actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief quotations for review purposes.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to www.shannanalbright.com and learn more about purchasing your own copy.

  Dedication

  As always, to my husband, my guiding light which never wavers lighting my path along the way.

  Acknowledgments

  I wrote this as an introduction to a very complex world of gods and demons, angels and witch assassins. This is the first book in my series Guild of Assassins. Watch for Demon Bewitched, coming in 2017. This is a re-release from an anthology titled When the Night Comes. Omitted scenes have been added, and I hope you enjoy the extended version.

  Writing isn’t done without the support of those who believe in you. I wish to thank Nara Malone, who has been my rock and guiding light through a tough year. And to Brandi Evans, who I’m delighted to have as my awesome cover artist and editor. My heartfelt thank you, Brandi, for your help getting this story back out into the world. I couldn’t do it without you.

  And lastly, to Gypsy, my dear friend who is always there in a pinch with words of encouragement.

  Table of Contents

  Frontmatter

  Other Titles by Shannan

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication/Acknowledgments

  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

  Sneak Peek: Soul Fire

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Chained though no links of heavy metal impeded his movements. No shackles cut into his wrists or ankles, but he was trapped all the same. Only these restraints were far stronger than anything of this earth.

  Nothing could set him free of the beholden vow.

  Taren watched. Waited. Plotted. A low throbbing pulse, much like a heartbeat, came from the dual brandings on his shoulder blades. On one side was a wing symbolizing Isis and, on the other, a cat’s paw for Bast. As if he needed an unending reminder of his status. As if he could ever forget the day he was forced to utter those hateful words. The day, fifteen years ago, which had brought him to his knees, stripped him of his pride and social standing as Infernal—a demon free of any vow—of everything he was.

  But it saved Natilla.

  A dark familiar voice whispered the thought through his mind. The reason for his sacrifice filled him with grim resignation. Yes, for Natilla, he’d suffered—would continue to do so—to give her a life free of the hell he existed in. He prayed his sister found happiness with a loving, devoted man and a large kith to protect her. A kith, or as humans called it family, always held high importance in his culture, each member taking on the task to teach the younglings and to aid the elders when they grew too weak to help themselves. As the eldest sibling, and head of his kith Taren had given his sister the only thing in his power to give.

  Freedom.

  His time, though, was near. The sound of several feet crunching over the graveled walkway alerted him to the Polariate’s arrival. The door opened without a knock. Why would she knock? He was only a lowly Enfertiti, barely higher than a beast in the eyes of the Guild of Isis.

  Two guild assassins stepped through the door, one fair-haired, the other dark. Both dressed in unrelieved black slacks and matching tunics, their features were as cold and emotionless as granite. Both held wickedly curved knives in their hands, a promise of pain to come. Taren tensed, ready for an attack. His body flooded with adrenaline, his gaze never wavering from the females. He relished any opening to inflict pain on his captors. Only the sudden appearance of the Polariate dropped his aggression a notch, yet he remained tense, ready for any threatening move.

  The Polariate moved into the room with the grace of a dancer, swathed in diaphanous silk robes the color of golden sunshine. Her dark hair spilled loose around her shoulders in a mass of shiny curls. She was positively stunning, yet it was her eyes, a piercing blue of arctic ice which gave him pause. Her gaze held an ancient wisdom belying the look of youth she wore.

  Her lips twisted into a grimace of distaste, a flash of loathing passing through those arresting eyes. He schooled his features into a mask as devoid of emotion as the assassins at her side, yet his mind raced, his heart beating hard He was highly aware of the significance of the Polariate’s visit.

  Aegis Doreen, his keeper, would never come home again, and soon, Taren would follow in her stead.

  For when a keeper died
, his or her vow was nullified, thus restoring him to his Infernal status once again. If the vow was one broken by a sudden death of the keeper…in his case?

  It was complicated.

  Besides, a free demon was a dead demon if the Guild of Isis had anything to say about it.

  “You are Taren, is that correct?” The Polariate’s question pulled Taren back from his musings.

  “Answer the Polariate, animal.” The blonde assassin snapped, her voice slicing blade sharp.

  “I wish a moment alone with Taren,” the Polariate said.

  “This is highly irregular,” the assassin argued.

  “Do not make me repeat my request.” Steel beneath silk filtered through the Polariate’s tone, grating against Taren’s skin as her power saturated the air between them. He gritted his teeth against the sudden urge to wrap his hands around the smooth column of the Polariate’s throat and squeeze until he heard the sound of breaking bones.

  “Yes, Polariate.” The blonde bowed low and followed her fellow assassin out. The door closed, leaving him standing in brittle silence.

  “May I sit?” the Polariate asked.

  “Of course, Polariate.”

  He led her through an arched hallway of ivory marbled floors and pale sand-colored walls, barren of any decoration, and into the simple living quarters. Directing her to a cushioned chair of sky blue, he sat directly across from her, separated by a small oblong coffee table of smoked glass.

  Her gaze turned frigid as she studied him, her tone sharp as a finely honed blade. “I know you’re aware of Aegis Doreen’s passing through the ether and why I am here.”

  The woman cut to the chase. No mincing of words with this one. He had to appreciate her blunt honesty.

  “And you are ready to meet your fate?” she asked.

  “Would it matter if I said I wasn’t?” he challenged.

  “Only one thing about you matters to me. Your extinction.”

  “And you always get what you want?” His voice crossed the edge of belligerence.

  “You dare much by speaking to me in such a way.”

  He studied the woman across from him. Her power whipped across his skin with stinging force, much like the fire ants he’d accidentally walked through after he first arrived on this planet from his dying world of Demos. “What will you do, have me put to death? You plan to anyway. Yet know this. You may break my body, but you will never take my will.”

  “You are a threat. You’re far too powerful…too willful. Your magic’s can destroy the world if not controlled.”

  “Keep telling yourself that. But honestly, does it help you sleep at night?” His query held the harsh edge of fury. Impotent as it may be, it still gave him a small amount of satisfaction to see the flash of discomfort in her eyes.

  “It didn’t have to be this way. Your kind came to us as the aggressor.”

  “And you don’t have a few bad apples within your species?” He ran a hand through his hair in agitation, fingers lightly brushing against the coiled horns which wrapped tight against his head.

  “I am not going to get into this debate with you,” she said. “Make peace with whatever deity you pray to.” She stood abruptly to leave, and he watched her with the intensity of a predator and almost smiled at the small tremor in her hands. She feared him.

  Good.

  When he spoke, his voice matched the arctic ice of her eyes. “How long?”

  She gave a deep sigh. “That will depend on my assassin’s daughter. She can take everything but you. As the law states, should she wish to claim a beholden demon with her mother’s other worldly possessions, she would be tested.”

  He knew the antiquated law well, just as he knew not a single soul in the past one-hundred years had ever survived the testing. Far better to prepare for his crossing than place any hope on an impossibility.

  “Remember the vow, Polariate. Natilla and her kith are to be left in peace.”

  “It will be honored as long as she never becomes a threat. She must stay far from here, or I can’t protect her and her family and keep my word.”

  “Then I am resigned to meet my death.”

  It was a lie of course. Inside, he raged against fate, wishing to see his sister one last time.

  Chapter Two

  What is it with you and early mornings?

  Leigh Simon glared at her diminutive companion curled in her arms. “You’re such a grump, Ola. Can’t you, for once, just stop and admire the beauty around you?”

  The silver and black ferret wiggled her nose, onyx eyes sharp with intelligence. I am not grumpy. Her affronted tone moved through Leigh’s mind like a warm caress. I just don’t see any appeal. It’s cold, and this fog makes my fur wet

  “You always have an excuse no matter the weather, and yet you still insist on coming with me.”

  Of course, that’s what friends do. The little beast actual sounded smug.

  Leigh just barely held back her amusement as Ola snuggled closer. With a tiny shiver, she turned her attention to the earth welcoming her to watch the sunrise. Here, standing in the wooded glen, everything seemed to make more sense to her. Immersed in the wild untapped magic of the earth as it sparkled with an effervescent energy as heady as the finest champagne, she was home.

  A swirling shimmer of fog covered the ground, wrapping around the thick trunks of tall eucalyptus trees, blanketing the forest and earthen floor, carrying the scent of brine from the nearby sea. The sun, made its appearance, lightened the darkened sky to shades of blue and pink. Golden fingers of light stretched across the dimming stars from the east announcing the sun’s spectacular arrival. She loved mornings filling her with a sense of perfect peace, she never would have guessed the drastic turn her life would take.

  The appearance of Amaya, her mentor, and the woman who’d raised her should have given her pause. Amaya never ventured out this early from her home, stating her old bones couldn’t handle sitting on the damp ground waiting for dawn to break. “Máthair, what brings you out so early this morning?” Leigh addressed the older woman with the Gaelic term of mother.

  Amaya stopped in front of Leigh. Her pure silver hair was piled into a messy bun, long tresses curling around a strong face kissed bronze by the sun and the many hours spent outside tending her plants. Deep lines had formed around her eyes and mouth, but instead of making her look haggard, they gave her an air of wisdom and quiet strength. Bright blue eyes flashed with an intense knowing, as if she could peel away a person’s innermost secrets for inspection. Most were drawn to her like a magnet, her considerable power tempered with loving patience. The five-foot leader easily captivated even those who opposed her decisions for the druidic guild. Never once had Leigh ever heard Amaya raise her voice in anger. It was just not her way.

  Leigh noticed a brief tightening in Amaya’s jaw, and her eyes darkened with a deep sadness. Leigh’s stomach knotted in apprehension, her mouth suddenly going dry as dust, instinctively knowing this visit would not be pleasant. Ola must have sensed the tension too. She squirmed out of Leigh’s arms and wrapped around her shoulders, dark eyes intent on Amaya.

  Amaya’s next words confirmed Leigh’s unease. “I fear I have distressing news for you, my dear.”

  “What is it?” The question came unbidden, and suddenly, she wished she could take it back, not wanting to know.

  Amaya’s lips parted. Each word she uttered was a dagger tearing at the flimsy fabric of Leigh’s idyllic existence. “It’s your blood mother. She…she, well. There is no easy way to put it now, is there?” She puffed out a small breath. “What I’m trying to tell you, dear, is she has crossed over to the ethers.”

  As always, the mention of her biological mother made anger burn through her veins like acid. “And this should concern me? She abandoned me as a babe. I have only one máthair, and that is you, Amaya. I don’t know why you always find it necessary to defend her to me.”

  “Because there is always a reason behind every action. You simply do not know t
he reason she left you here with me, but that is not why I sought you out so early this morning. The Polariate for the Guild of Isis requests an audience with you.”

  Leigh struggled against a mixture of shock, curiosity and the profound sense of inevitable change shimmering in the air, on the cusp of becoming reality. “An audience? Why, when?”

  Amaya held up one long weather-worn finger in the air. “Center yourself child. She approaches now.”

  No sooner had she spoken when Leigh spied a faint pulse of blue light amid the fog-shrouded trees. The fine hairs at the nape of her neck rose in warning, her instincts screaming at her to run while she could.

  Ola scrambled down Leigh’s shoulder to the ground and watched her friend scamper under the brush. Only her twitching nose poked out from the leaves.

  “Little coward,” Leigh said. “Thanks for the support there, Ola.”

  What do you expect from a ferret? I’m more of a laid back, hanging-with-the-homies kind of friend.

  Leigh shook her head, opened and closed her mouth a few times before expelling a heavy sigh. She didn’t have the time or the energy to give Ola a caustic reply.

  Turning her attention back toward the trees where she’d seen that dim light, she gasped to find the now quite clear blue orb rush at her. It stopped hovering inches from where she and Amaya stood. Squinting at the sudden brightness, she watched more than a little creeped out as only the face of a woman took form. Pale eyes seemed to stare right through Leigh with remote aloofness, and she fought the urge to cringe under the perusal.

  Recognition flashed through the Polariate’s glacial stare as it settled on Leigh. “You look so much like your mother, child. I know she would have wished to see her only daughter one last time. Alas, Aegis Doreen Simon will never have that moment with you, and I am truly sorry for that loss.”