Releasing the Hunter

Chapter 29

Ivy unlocked the front door of the old bungalow and walked into the foyer. It had been over two years since she’d been in the house. It was the house that Quinn and she had shared with their father before he died. After his death, she and Quinn had lived there until Quinn did a runner. Then she’d stayed for maybe a year before forging her own path into the demon-hunting world.

But it felt good to be back. She flicked on the hall light. Everything was as she’d left it. All the furniture had been covered with sheets. The place had a musty scent, though, but nothing some open windows and air freshener wouldn’t cure.

She dragged her bags into the living room, then dropped them onto the hardwood floor. She whipped off the sheet from the sofa and collapsed onto it. She was exhausted.

The trip back from Sumner was long, hard and trying on all her emotions. She’d driven straight through without any long stops. The only time she did stop was to use the facilities or to get coffee and food.

Quinn had asked her to come with him to track down Ronan. But she’d refused. He’d left in another vehicle intending to find the cambion and kill him. Ivy didn’t want to be a part of that. No matter what Ronan had done, she couldn’t see him harmed. Well, maybe just a little. But by her hands, and no others.

She didn’t want to know what Quinn planned on doing. It was out of her hands. Her brother would do what he wanted. He would do what he had to, to retrieve the key. She understood that. The connection to honor and loyalty and a person’s word. It had been ingrained in her, as well. Their father had been huge on doing whatever it took to do the job. The job was the most important thing. Nothing else mattered.

Ivy ran her hands over her face and sighed, leaning her head back on the sofa pillows. She used to think that, feel it, live it. But after meeting Ronan and falling for him, she realized that there was so much more than following a path, adhering to a code. There was great sex and love and all the messed-up crap that came with it.

She looked at one of her bags on the floor and reached over with her foot, hooked it and dragged it over. She unzipped it and took out the white envelope with her name written across it. She had yet to open it. She was afraid to.

What if Ronan took the key and left because he’d been using her this whole time? What if he truly didn’t have any feelings for her? Then her ideas that she’d never truly been worthy of being loved would be confirmed. She didn’t know if she could face that. Sometimes she liked her delusions. They were safe.

She tore open the envelope and slid out the plain white piece of paper. She unfolded it and read.

Ivy,

I could say I’m sorry, but I know that doesn’t cut it. I imagine nothing would make what I did okay. To know that I have been searching for a cure for years, that I loathe the blood inside me, wouldn’t be enough. But do know and believe this...

That I didn’t fall for you because of the key. I fell in love with you because of you.

Ronan

She read it twice, then crumpled it up into her fist and tossed it across the room. Tears stung her eyes and she was about to wipe them away when she heard a noise at her window.

She jumped to her feet and rushed to the big bay window. She pushed the drapes aside and looked out into the yard and onto the porch along the side. There was no movement. But she sensed someone was out there, watching her.

Unsheathing one of her blades, she moved to the front door, quietly turned the knob and stepped out onto the porch. A cool light breeze blew her hair around her head and over her face. She looked to the right and then to the left but didn’t see any movement. A dog barked in the distance and she could hear the faint revving of a car engine nearby.

Then she spied it. A glint in the cypress tree in the yard. There was something hanging from one of the branches. Glancing around cautiously, Ivy stepped off the porch and crossed the lawn to the tree on the far corner.

Each step grew heavier and heavier as she drew closer to the tree. She knew what was hanging there and it formed a lump in her throat.

When she was right under the branch, she reached up and touched the thing hanging there. It was her cross necklace. It was the key.

She pulled it down, and gripping it tight in her hand, she twirled around the yard. He was here somewhere. She knew he’d watch her retrieve it. She knew he’d been at the window watching her. She could always feel when his gaze was on her. It made gooseflesh rise on her skin.

“Ronan,” she called.

A dog barked. Wind chimes tinkled somewhere nearby. But there wasn’t any answer.

She returned to the porch, and instead of going back inside, she stood there and waited and watched. Maybe if she stood there long enough she would see him flit through the shadows. Maybe he would come to her, himself.

“Ronan,” she called again. “I know you’re there.”

Still no answer. Just the rustling of the leaves in the tree.

But after an hour of standing there, her legs cramped and her stomach grumbled reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in over eight hours. She went back inside, the key still clutched tight in her hand.

Ronan watched her go back into the house from his perch on the roof of the neighbor’s place. He’d been tempted to go down and talk to her. She’d been waiting for him to, that was obvious. But he hadn’t been ready, and neither had she. The anger of his betrayal would’ve still been fresh in her mind. She would’ve acted on it, he knew. And he really wasn’t up to fighting with her. He was still sore from his encounter with Reggie and his cabal goons.

She was safe; that was all that mattered right now. Reggie had been lying about sending someone to take care of her. He should’ve suspected as much, but he had to be sure. The thought of something happening to Ivy, especially because of him, made his gut clench and his heart ache. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

He also needed to give her time. Time to think, time to heal, time to forgive. He needed that time, too. To reconcile the fact that he’d never be fully human again. That he would always be a cambion, always have demon blood flowing inside him.

He had to see himself as Ivy had seen him.

As a man.

Until then, he wouldn’t be good for her. And he really wanted to be good enough for her. She deserved that. She deserved the best he could be.

Once the door was shut and he heard the lock engage, he jumped down from the roof, walked down the street to his car and got in. He couldn’t go back to his apartment. The cabal would be all over it. So this was his chance to make a clean break from everything he used to be. And become someone different. Someone better. Someone worth Ivy’s love.

But first he had to stop the cabal from doing anyone else any harm.