Chapter Three

Rainn

       Rainn pulled up to the mansion outside of town that he and his brother Liam bought ten years ago. He's exhausted after a night of hunting a group of rogue demons through the city. He was so close to finding them and then the trail went cold. He needed to talk to Liam and see if they had any updates from the team on demon movements in and out of the city. He decided to head for home for a few hours of sleep before he would be back at it again.

      He got out of his car and decided to go check the gardens that he had put in this year. He told the gardener he wanted plenty of color and he wasn’t disappointed as he turned the corner and saw all the blues, pinks, purples, reds, and yellows. Rainn wasn’t particular about the kind of flowers that they planted but did ask that some were from his homeland. The garden was something that he and Liam decided to have put in when they first moved in. There was partially one already there, but it was small and overgrown.

     They wanted it to be for their mother because she would always be sitting in a meadow somewhere surrounded by flowers. They had a pond put in as well with some Koi fish and added a plaque with their parents’ names on it. He walked into the house through the back door, kicked his boots off and headed into the huge modern kitchen. They did have people who came in and cooked occasionally and cleaned but they had not arrived yet this morning, so he grabbed a muffin that was on the counter. The house was mostly left like it was when they first bought it except for their offices, their bedrooms, and the rooms their team used when they were there.

     He wanted their mates to decorate their home. He took off his coat and tried to quietly head upstairs because he figured Liam was trying to get some sleep too. He would talk to him when they both got up. He went up the stairs and walked to the right, which was his wing of the house and pushed his bedroom door open. He hadn’t done much with the room except for picking out bedding.

      The less there was the easier it would be for his mate to decorate. He took off his gun belt with twin .45 caliber revolvers with sandalwood grips and placed it on his nightstand, next he pulled his sword out of the sheath he kept hidden on his back under his coat. That sword was one of his prized possessions. It had been a gift when he completed his hunter trials from Ard’al. It was an immaculate silver sword with a carved wooden handle and intricate etching up the blade.

     A very old protection spell cast by a very powerful witch that he was lucky enough to have as part of their team. As he headed into his bathroom, he started stripping his clothes off piece by piece and turned the knob on the shower all the way to hot. He needed it scalding to wash away the night that he had. Steam soon filled the room and he stepped in to let the water beat over his body. As the water washed away the dirt and blood, he is almost taken aback by how many scars he has now and a few minor bruises that would heal before the morning.

     He wondered if he would always be alone. He wondered what she would look like, what her voice would sound like. He wanted to find his mate more than anything, but he just didn’t know where to look. He thought all this time that he would come across her, only to be disappointed year after year. He knew that he would treasure her and if anyone hurt her even slightly, he would burn the world to the ground.

     He laughed to himself that he had such strong feelings for a woman that he had never even met. He got out, dried off, and went to lay down on his bed in hopes that sleep would soon come. He almost immediately drifts off and is thrown into a dream. He very rarely ever dreams and when he does, he can’t even say that they were dreams, more like nightmares from his past that replay over and over. The sound of thunder was almost deafening as he walked through the forest very unsure of why he was there.

     He saw a break in the trees and started to walk into it when he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a woman standing there in the middle of the opening. She looked to be just over five feet tall, with an athletic build, long black hair braided over her left shoulder. He couldn’t see her face yet and he doesn’t think she realizes that he is even there. There’s something about her though that is drawing him out, closer to her. Then he smells it, wildflowers.

     That smell made him think of home. Could she be the destined mate that Ard’al told him about? No, this couldn’t be her, could it? He had lost all hope of ever finding her. Now just when his life is the most dangerous, he thought he had. How did she get in his dream? How was he going to protect her or even find her?

     A million other questions were running through his mind while he moved toward her. He looked back up into those deep brown eyes and was lost, her face was exquisite. She was staring at him and taking in every detail of his body. His stomach started to twist remembering the scars, but she didn’t seem to notice. He had tried over the years to cover most of the worst ones up with tattoos.

     She didn’t run away but just stared. He wished he knew what she was thinking. His stomach started to feel like it was full of butterflies the closer that he got to her. He wanted to touch and taste her. Would she let him? He didn’t want to scare her away. He wanted to adjust himself because there was no way she didn’t notice the effect that she had on his body. In all the years that he was alive, he never felt this way. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had an erection.

     When she was right in front of him, he realized just how much shorter than him that she was. He had to bend his head down to talk to her. "What took you so long love, why didn’t you come to me sooner?", he whispered. The look of confusion on her face was evident but before she could answer him, he saw movement from behind her and every muscle in his body tensed. They followed him into his dream, he had heard of some demons that could dream walk but he thought it was just a rumor. Well, he thought to himself there was another thing to add to the books.

     He knew he needed to get her out of there and fast before they saw her face because once they do, she will be in danger. They wouldn’t stop until she was dead. This is not how he wanted this to happen. He took his palm and put it on her chest to mark her as his. Any other hunter would recognize this mark and maybe it would make it easier to find her. He felt selfish marking her like this because she had no idea what it would mean for either of them.

     She didn’t back away even though he knew it was painful. She’s strong, which was good. He assured her that he would find her and moved to her side so she could get passed him and escape. Then turned his attention to the five demons that were finally making their way to him. He reached down and realized that he didn’t have his guns but the sword that was given to him by Ard'al and blessed by the Arch Angel Micheal. He took his stance as they surrounded him and he beckoned to them, "Bring it on you bunch of pussys."

     The demons growled at him and immediately attacked as a group. He traded blows with them easily thrusting and trying to catch one of them with their guard down. He took down two when a hard strike from one of the demons took him down to one knee. In that moment he heard her scream and turned to see her running back towards him. Oh no, as he looked up and saw that their attention was now on her.

     They could see her face with the moonlight shining down. He was mesmerized for a few seconds, but the demon’s growling brought him out of it. He screamed at her "RUN" as he struck up and beheaded one to get their attention back on himself. In an instant he was sitting up in his bed with his sword on Liams throat. "Woah brother you were having a dream and one that didn’t end well since you were yelling at someone to run." Rainn looked at his brother, "I found her, I finally found her, she was there in my dream. I marked her but then there were demons and they saw her face."

     Liam looked down at his older brother and tried to hide the fear from his face, "Rainn you know if she is real, and that dream was real she is in a lot of danger now. You have to try and find her." Rainn knew the danger that she was in and got up out of bed. "I’m getting a shower and then we are going hunting for some dream walking demons." He couldn’t stop worrying about her. Everything in him was pushing him to find her as soon as possible to make sure that she was ok. He jumped in the shower, dressed, they got their gear, and headed out to the garage.

     They decided on taking Rainns car, "Where do you want to start tonight", Liam asked. "Where we left off last night, down by McGinley’s." They stopped about a block away from the little hole in the wall bar and parked the car. They got out and headed up the street. There were more people walking around than last night and he was worried. They would have to take extra precautions to not get seen.

     As they got closer, he caught a very familiar scent of wildflowers. No, she couldn’t be this close the whole time. He followed the scent to the door of the bar and pushed it open. He was immediately hit with the strong scent and started to look around for the source. When his eyes moved to the booths, they locked onto a beautiful little woman sitting there and his body immediately reacted. He shifted his feet uncomfortably.

     His woman was sitting there with a very thin blonde in deep conversation, she looked up at him and when their eyes locked his heart almost exploded. The feeling was overwhelming, he needed to catch his breath. He grabbed Liams arm and went back out of the door. Liam looked at him strangely, "What’s wrong with you dude, where’s your head tonight?" "She’s in there Liam, she was sitting in one of the booths and I saw her mark light up when I looked at her."

     He looked down at his palm and there was the same purple light, and it was starting to itch. “Why is your hand lighting up again?” “I have no idea. I mean I marked her, but she didn’t mark me so maybe that’s why.” “I think I remember something about that from training. Her mark is calling out to you in a way. It will pull you two together.” “I don’t know what to do Liam.”

     "Ok Rainn calm down, you can’t go in there all macho or you’re going to lose her." "Oh, wow thanks brother this coming from the love master himself." Liam laughed, “Dude you know I'm right." Just then they heard a commotion inside the bar and there was anger in her voice. He would kill whoever made her sound that way.

     He pushed the door to the bar back open just in time to see this little woman of his drop a man three times her size. The anger inside of him was intense but so was the pride that his mate had taken this man down. He wanted to kill this idiot that would dare to threaten his mate, but he doesn't. The embarrassment that he would face when he came to was enough. Her glare then turned to him.

     He knew she would want answers from him, but some of them he wouldn’t have yet. He needed to think fast because there are still demons out there. He knew they came out tonight for a reason, but he didn’t know how he was going to leave her here. He couldn’t be certain that she was ready for all this yet. Liam thought it was hilarious that this little woman was getting into his face. Just then the blonde that she was sitting with stepped beside her. "Addie?"

     No response then a little louder, "Adalyn seriously this was supposed to be a fun girl’s night out." Adalyn, he said her name over and over in his mind. It was a beautiful name. She then turned to glare at the blonde. "Tabby seriously did you not see that jerk.” Rainn thought he caught a strange look on his brothers face at the entrance of the blonde, but he was so worried about his mate that he didn’t pursue it. If she was Liam’s mate, he would’ve said something right?

     When he looked her straight in the eyes his decision was made. She had to come with him, it would be the only way he could protect her. He could not leave her after he looked for her for so long. "Adalyn you need to come with me, and I will explain everything to you." He extended his hand to her not sure whether she would take it and come with him.

    She grabbed his hand without any hesitation. Tabby was again protesting, "Addie seriously he could be a murderer or something." Liam let out a scoff that resounded through the whole bar, "Sweetheart you don’t know the half of it." He seemed agitated and annoyed for some reason. Addie looked at Tabby, “It's ok for some odd reason I trust him."

     Tabby shrugged her shoulders and headed back to the bar. Out of the corner of his eye Rainn swore he saw Liam almost go to follow her, but he turned away when he saw her sit next to the guy. Rainn didn’t understand what was going on with his brother but then Adalyn put her hand in his and his mind went blank. They walked out of the bar into the crisp night air. He looked down at her, "Did you drive here?" "No, I took a cab."

     "Ok our car is right up the street and then we will head to our house. I will explain everything once we get back there, I need to know that you are safe.” “What do you mean? How are we not safe?” “You remember the dream, right?” “There’s no way that those things are real.” Liam laughed, “They are very real.”

      They got seven feet from the car, when they heard laughing. Rainn and Liam tensed as they realized that the only weapons, they had were the swords on their backs. Everything else was in the trunk of the car. The demons started to emerge from the side streets, in front of them and behind them. "Well, well boys look what we have here two hunters and” the leader sniffed the air "yuck a human", he said. "What are you boys doing with a human girl." "I'm not a girl" Addie said.

      The demon laughed "Well she has some guts now doesn’t she." Rainn pushed Addie behind him and said, “Well, I thought I'd get to explain everything to you before you would see me in my hunter form, but I can't take these guys on like this." Addie watched in amazement as both Rainn and Liam changed into what looked like skeletons shimmering over them, their coats now looked tattered. Rainn had a purple glow around him, but Liams was blue. "Now we are talking", the leader says. “Hunters let me tell you the name of the demon that is finally going to kill you both."

     Rainn laughed, “Go ahead demon what is your name.” The demon snarled, “My name is Abaddon", and he jumped towards Rainn. They are both in battle and Addie had no idea what was going on or how she was supposed to defend herself. She was in the middle of the battle with no way of getting away. She could see the car and tried to run to it. She caught the attention of one of the demons and he came at her. She ducked and tried to kick him, but he grabbed her foot easily and put her on the ground. She landed hard and the mark on her chest burned a beautiful violet.

     The demon closed in on her and a pulse of energy blasted out from her sending the demon backwards into a pole. He screamed as he turned to ash on the ground. Rainn looked back and realized that Adalyn was tapping into his powers. He didn’t know she could do without going through the transition. Liam dispatched the two that he was battling and then it is down to just one demon who realized that he was in major trouble. "Wait my name is Malik, I can help you I know what Beherit is planning because I’m high enough on the food chain to be trusted with information."

      Rainn didn’t want to hear anything that the demon had to say he just wanted his head for almost getting Adalyn injured. Rainn looked at Liam, "Demons can’t be trusted can they Liam.” “No brother they cannot.” Rainn put his sword on the demon’s neck. Adalyn ran over and grabbed his arm, "No wait maybe he can be trusted." Liam let out a hearty laugh, “Listen Addie you are new to this game and let me tell you that demons can’t be trusted in any way, shape, or form."

     Adalyn looked at Malik, "There's something about him", she said. "I'm a great judge of character and have a flawless bull crap meter, he’s telling the truth." She looked at Rainn and he turned his head not really wanting her to see him like this, but she grabbed his face, an innocent gesture but one that set his whole body on fire. He was hoping that she didn’t look down because his shaft was probably pulsing through his pants. She turned his head down toward her and said, “Please we may need him." Rainn looked at her in absolute disbelief and said, “I haven't even told you the cost or what all of this means."

      Adalyn looked up at him with those big brown eyes that he could get lost in and never want to surface and said, "Rainn I'm drawn to you in a way I don't quite understand, and I'm not going to stand here and deny it, I feel like I have known you all my life." Rainn looked at her and wanted so badly to kiss her which she noticed. She tilted her chin up a little more, enticing him. "Um guys lets focus here", Liam said breaking them out of it.

     "Look if you guys want to see what he has to offer we have those enchanted cells in the basement of the mansion that he can't get out of, but we really have to get off of the street." Rainn nodded his head in agreement and swept Adalyn up in his arms. They walked over to the car and Rainn looked at the guys, "Liam you’re riding in the back with Malik and Adalyn I’m putting you up front with me." He sat her in her seat and walked over to get to his side. He found it more difficult than he expected to not put his hand on her leg for the ride, but he was still unsure how she would react to his advances. It was starting to get late and Rainn knew he needed to get to the house before they started hitting morning traffic.

     He looked over at Adalyn who was in conversation with Liam and Malik. He wondered what her reaction was going to be seeing the house for the first time. He wanted her to like it and wanted her to want to make it her own. He couldn’t wait to take her out back to see the gardens hoping that she would love them and think of it as her home. He rolled down the window because her scent was filling the car and he was having trouble concentrating on the road.

     He kept moving in his seat trying to readjust himself. When they finally pulled up to the gate and into the drive, Adalyn let out a gasp in awe of the house and surrounding grounds. Rainn leaned over and said, “just wait until you see the gardens in the back.” She looked at him in surprise, not realizing that she had made an audible sound. Rainn got out and went to her side. He opened her door and picked her back up, settling her against his chest.