The Lost (28 page)

He pushed upward, hoping that additional height might give him a better view.

It did.

He tracked her as she drove to the edge of town and
then onto the avenue along the ocean. Dive-bombing down, he pursued more closely, just feet above her, until she pulled to the curb and parked.

Settling onto the electrical wires by her car, he watched. The bird’s keen-eyed sight enabled him to see much more than he could have as a Hunter. Enough to see the woman head to a row of mailboxes by the main entrance to the building, where she slipped her key into a slot.

Carrera; 301.

It was all he needed to know, he thought, as the woman walked into the building. Although he had defied his Quinchus’ orders by following the woman, he didn’t think that they would be disappointed with the information he would provide from his detour. The woman was a risk that had to be handled, and now they were one step closer to dealing with her.

He was about to fly off when he noticed Kikin’s car pulling into a spot before the building, but his Quinchus’ son remained in the seat. His aura deepened, and the threads of silver and red jumped wildly, a testament to his discomfiture. Even if his aura had not given away his upset, it would have been evident from the way his knuckles had turned white from his grip on the steering wheel.

Kikin sat in the car for a few minutes, clearly torn, until he finally pulled away again. With a flap of his wings, the Light Hunter followed. Another cadre member would soon be relieving him, and when he did, he could provide the woman’s location to his Quinchus.

Bobbie had been puzzling all day about the information she had gleaned by tailing Salvatore. Adam’s father
clearly saw her as a problem, but she didn’t know why. The references to an Equinox made little sense to her, and even after returning home to do research on the Net, she was no closer to understanding what the two men had been discussing.

But she was sure of a few things, she thought as she got changed for bed. Salvatore was lying to Adam, probably because he wanted to get his son together with this Maya person, whoever she was—judging from the conversation, a woman with whom Adam was to bind his power only…

Bobbie thought it was a little too late for that. Since yesterday’s lovemaking she had felt different. Connected not only to Adam, but to so many things around her. It was as if she had been living with blinders on and someone had just ripped them off, exposing her to a world that was filled with more than she had ever thought possible.

Including a link to Adam that was difficult to ignore. She had sensed his anger all day long. Felt his presence right outside her building earlier that night. By the time she had gone to the window to double-check, the only thing she had seen was the taillights of his car as he had driven away, obviously having reconsidered the wisdom of seeing her when there was still so much uncertainty between them.

Climbing into bed, she shut off the lights and forced herself to try to sleep. She needed a clear head if she was going to make sense of what Salvatore was up to and figure out how to convince Adam of it without breaking his heart.

Salvatore might not be Adam’s biological father, but she was sure that Adam loved and respected him. He was
hurting over the possibility that Salvatore might not be what Adam had thought for so many years.

She closed her eyes, willing her mind to put away all thought so she could rest. But barely minutes later she heard a noise. It was slight, only a hint of a footfall, but her soldier’s instincts kicked into high gear.

Bobbie tossed off the sheets and came to her feet in a fighting stance, the swift action taxing her damaged leg and delivering pain throughout her thigh before a blow ever landed. In the shadows before her, close to the balcony doors off the bedroom, stood a woman.

“Who are you?” she said, fists raised defensively, legs spread wide in anticipation. Not that she was sure she could launch a kick as effectively as she could before, but it wouldn’t stop her from trying if it was needed.

“I’m Kikin’s mother,” the woman said, and took a step closer, into a beam of moonlight that illuminated her features, revealing the elegant lines of her face.

Achingly familiar lines, Bobbie thought, but maintained her guard.

“Who the hell is Kikin?” she asked, although she knew the answer even before it was provided.

“The man you know as Adam Bruno,” the woman replied, and then stretched out her arm. A glow began in her palm, reminding Bobbie of the attackers who had blasted her. If this woman let loose at this distance, Bobbie would be toast.

Only the woman surprised her by saying, “May I provide us some light?”

As before, the answer came before she could respond. The orb doubled in size, its glow spreading, bathing the woman’s face in bright red-gold light.

There was no denying the similarity then between her and Adam. It was there in the shape of their eyes, nose, and mouth. Even down to the thumbprint-sized cleft in her chin. But unlike Adam, the woman’s hair was darker, although marked with gray, and her eyes were a slate color, lacking the life of Adam’s marvelous emerald gaze.

“How about we go traditional light?” Bobbie said, relaxing her stance only long enough to flip on the lamp beside her bed.

The woman immediately cut off her display of power and dropped her arm, an encouraging sign. Maybe she didn’t want to turn Bobbie into a crispy critter.

“How did you get in here?”

The woman pointed to the floor beside her. Light snaked along the ground and then slowly formed into three balls lined up uniformly at her feet, almost militarily neat. Unnaturally still at first, and then suddenly one ball grew larger, elongated, and filled out into the shape of a man. The other balls immediately followed suit. In less than a minute, Bobbie found herself staring at not one, but four individuals.

She had no doubt about the identity of the man beside the woman. He had Adam’s sandy-colored hair and verdant gaze. Deep slashes on either side of his face hinted at the dimples that might emerge if he should ever smile.

She also had no doubt about the identity of the two men to his right: their assailants from the parking lot. One still bore the remnants of swelling and bruises from her cane. You had to pick your battles, and she knew she was no physical match for the four able-bodied and
super-powered people before her. She lowered her hands and quipped, “I guess you’re not here to talk.”

Selina was intrigued by the young woman her son seemed to fancy, and not just because of Kikin’s interest. The woman’s aura was not what she had expected. It wasn’t Light or Shadow energy, but despite that she could sense Kikin’s force swirling all around her.

While they had been standing there, the woman’s blue aura had darkened to maroon, hinting at the emotions she was hiding beneath her unyielding façade. The woman was well-versed in guarding any weakness and clearly had been trained in the martial arts. She would never reveal her feelings or weaknesses, and she would not back down in a fight. All qualities Selina would have appreciated in a mate for her son, had he not been promised at birth to another.

“Well? Are you going to stand there all night staring?” the young woman said, yanking a chuckle from Selina.

Andres and Eduardo took a step toward the woman to teach her some respect, but Selina shot her arm up to block their path.

“Quinchu?” Andres questioned, surprise evident on his normally stoic face.

“Leave us,” she commanded her captain and his second in command.

“She is a Shadow—” Eduardo began, but Kellen silenced him with a sharp jab of his hand and confirmed her instruction.

“Leave us. Go wait outside.”

With starkly rigid salutes, the two men left them, prompting yet another saucy comment from the woman.

“I guess you don’t mind getting your hands dirty,” she said, and assumed her fighting stance again, as if deciding that two against one provided her with possibly winning odds.

“Give me your hands,” Selina said, and stepped toward the woman, a mistake. But not on her part.

Bobbie jabbed at Selina, who immediately seized her hand and sent a blast of mind-numbing electricity through Bobbie’s body. Her knees gave way and she dropped to the floor, but Selina didn’t release her hold, although she tempered the strength of the charge.

Bobbie glanced up at her, biting her lip to keep from pleading for freedom. The expression on her face sent a clear message: She would never surrender and leave these people free to possibly hurt Adam.

The woman’s topaz gaze blazed with irritation as she leaned close. With a disdainful sniff, she glanced over her shoulder at her companion and said, “She’s not a Shadow. She’s a hybrid.”

The man grunted and stepped toward them. Selina released her hold on Bobbie, who fell back onto her haunches, her body vibrating in reaction to the jolt of power.

“What do you want?” she said, her voice tremulous as she tried to regain control of her muscles.

“We want our son. We want Kikin,” Selina said, and stepped back toward her husband, who protectively placed his arm around her shoulders.

“If you want him so badly, why did you abandon him?” Bobbie challenged. “Why show up now and go to such lengths to get him after twenty years of absence?”

Her words struck a raw nerve with Selina, who
flinched. In a voice that was decidedly unsteadier than when she had commanded the two men, the woman said, “We didn’t abandon him. He was taken from us.”

“Taken? How was he—”

“We were attacked by the Shadows at our desert home,” the man said, offering a comforting squeeze at the woman’s shoulder before pulling her close to offer greater support.

“What’s a Shadow?”

Adam’s parents shared a glance and then his mother said, “Maybe it would be best if we sat down for this discussion?”

Tottering as she came to her feet, Bobbie jumped when the man surged forward to assist her, his touch gentle. With his aid and that of Adam’s mother as she came around to slip her arm through Bobbie’s, they half-carried her to the kitchen table, where they helped her to a chair.

“It’s a long story,” Selina said, and clasped her hands before her on the oak surface.

Leaning back in her chair, Bobbie said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Selina’s voice went from cool-as-steel to honey smooth and soothing as she wove the tale of a different people, whose future had irrevocably knitted together with that of the humans around them.

“Millennia ago my people would rise to the sun and honor its gift of life. In time our leaders realized that there were some amongst us who could harness that gift. Gather it within us,” Selina said, and mimicked that embrace, her arms fluid and elegant. Normally Bobbie would have wanted to rush her along, forcing her to get to the point,
but there was something almost mesmerizing about her motions and the cadence of her voice.

“Our leaders identified those who could harvest the energy. They came to be known as the Quinchu, since they could sip energy from the sun like hummingbirds taking nectar from flowers. They were tutored and joined with others to enhance that gift and became our priests and priestesses.”

“Genetically breeding those with desirable traits,” Bobbie added, her tone a trifle harsh, earning an immediate rebuke from Adam’s father.

“Has not man hybridized animals and plants for centuries to bring out the best of them?” Kellen challenged, a dangerous glitter in his emerald gaze.

Selina laid a hand on his, and a slight orangey glow arose at the contact, seemingly soothing him.

“In time the Quinchu learned not only to use our Mother Sun’s gift, but to hunt for other energies from the cosmos and the living things around us,” Selina continued, as if she had never been interrupted, her voice once again calming and inviting.

“If you have such wonderful powers, why are there so few of you?” Bobbie wondered aloud.

“At one time there were many more of us and our people prospered for millennia. We were isolated high in the Andes, close to Mother Sun, and away from the humans down below. In time, some of our people left to explore and find out more about the humans.”

“Which explains people like me, I guess. Hybrids,” Bobbie said, and Selina dipped her head in agreement.

“We’ve learned that the Hunter genes are recessive and that they also blend. It’s the reason why there are
not more hybrids and why their powers vary so greatly. Although in general, Hunter hybrids are stronger and smarter than most humans. It’s why they are invariably viewed as leaders. Your strength and ability to conduct energy is one of the highest levels we’ve encountered,” Kellen explained.

Selina must have sensed her uneasiness, for as she had done before, she reached out, took Bobbie’s hand in hers, and sent a gentle pulse of power that immediately brought tranquility.

At Bobbie’s questioning glance, Selina said, “We can heal as well, but you know that, don’t you? I can sense Adam’s power within you.”

Since there was no denying it, Bobbie nodded. “I was injured in Iraq.”

“Humans are always so aggressive and warlike,” Kellen interrupted with a disdainful sigh.

“Seems to me that the Hunters do a pretty good job of being bellicose as well. Adam remembers a battle. He remembers death and destruction all around him in the desert. Are you saying it was humans that did that?” Bobbie challenged.