Hunter's Fall Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  Teaser chapter

  PRAISE FOR

  HUNTER’S NEED

  “A Perfect 10! Hunter’s Need is a riveting tale that I couldn’t put down and wanted to read again as soon as I finished . . . Highly recommending you pick up your copy immediately.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “A sensual and arousing delight . . . Compelling and suspense filled . . . Shiloh has once again delivered a spectacular mystery romance paranormal. This novel had me spellbound from the start.”

  —Bitten By Books

  “This is a terrific Hunters romantic fantasy starring two intriguing protagonists . . . Fast paced from the onset . . . Fans will relish this fine entry and seek previous thrilling Hunter tales.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  HUNTER’S SALVATION

  “A page-turner from beginning to end.”

  —Night Owl Romance

  “Scorching hot . . . Everything about Hunter’s Salvation was mind-blowing . . . Shiloh Walker is truly one of the best writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “One of the best . . . Shiloh Walker provides an excellent thriller that subgenre fans will appreciate.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL

  “Some of the best erotic romantic fantasies on the market. Walker’s world is vibrantly alive with this pair.”

  —The Best Reviews

  HUNTING THE HUNTER

  “Action, sex, savvy writing, and characters with larger-than-life personalities that you will not soon forget are where Ms. Walker’s talents lie, and she delivered all that and more . . . This is a flawless five-rose paranormal novel, and one that every lover of things that go bump in the night will be howling about after they read it . . . Do not walk! Run to get your copy today!”

  —A Romance Review

  “An exhilarating romantic fantasy filled with suspense and . . . star-crossed love . . . Action packed.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Fast paced and very readable . . . Titillating.”

  —The Romance Reader

  “Action packed, with intriguing characters and a very erotic punch, Hunting the Hunter had me from page one. Thoroughly enjoyable with a great hero and a story line you can sink your teeth into, this book is a winner. A very good read!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  “Another promising voice is joining the paranormal genre by bringing her own take on the ever-evolving vampire myth. Walker has set up the bones of an interesting world and populated it with some intriguing characters. Hopefully, there will be a sequel that ties together more threads and divulges more details.”

  —Romantic Times

  Titles by Shiloh Walker

  HUNTING THE HUNTER

  HUNTERS: HEART AND SOUL

  HUNTER’S SALVATION

  HUNTER’S NEED

  HUNTER’S FALL

  THROUGH THE VEIL

  VEIL OF SHADOWS

  THE MISSING

  FRAGILE

  BROKEN

  Anthologies

  HOT SPELL

  (with Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, and Meljean Brook)

  PRIVATE PLACES

  (with Robin Schone, Claudia Dain, and Allyson James)

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

  Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  HUNTER’S FALL

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / June 2011

  Copyright © 2011 by Shiloh Walker, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without

  permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the

  author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-52892-1

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY® SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  My thanks to Maili and Natalie,

  for all your help.

  Thanks to my wonderful editor,

  Cindy Hwang,

  who listened for hours one night while I tried

  to hammer out some issues with this book.

  And Sylvia Day . . . who did the same thing.

  For all of those who asked when

  Nessa would get a story.

  Originally, I didn’t have one planned for her.

  But she had other plans.

  To my family . . .

  always to my family . . .

  I love you more than life itself,

  and I thank God for you, every day of my life.

  A special dedication . . .

  this book was finished shortly before

  the terrible earthquake that struck Haiti

  in January 2010.

  I’d like to dedicate this book

  to Fatin and Joy B,

  as well as the other readers

  who donated money to help the relief efforts.

  And a special thank you to the charities

  like Doctors Without Borders, World Vision

  and so many others
.

  You went where many of us couldn’t go,

  where many of us wouldn’t go.

  Thank you.

  PROLOGUE

  ONEOAK , ENGLAND

  1506

  HE was watching her again, the old bugger. She could feel his eyes on her and they made her feel dirty. She quickened her steps and slipped out of the village, melting into the shadows of the forest.

  William—why in the hell had he been out this late? It was past midnight. No reason for any sane soul to be awake.

  Of course, she was awake. But there were things she needed to do. Out in the forest—the sort of things the good people of the village were better off not knowing about. The sort of things that would likely have her branded a witch, if they knew what she was doing.

  And of course, she was a witch. She took no shame in it, either. It was a God-given gift—a gift that saved lives, a gift that helped people.

  The skin on the back of her neck crawled. She could still feel the weight of his stare. Casting a look over her shoulder, Agnes stared through the trees, but she could not see him.

  He was not there now.

  But he had been.

  He always seemed to be watching her. There was something about it that made her feel tainted, foul. Almost as bad as that one time he’d touched her.

  Damn that bastard. She should have taught him a lesson then. Nessa moved deeper into the forest, trying to shrug off the nervy, twitchy feeling between her shoulder blades.

  She was uneasy.

  Not afraid, she insisted, squaring her shoulders as she continued to move through the night. Agnes was a Hunter of the Council. She did not fear the dark. She did not fear the monsters lurking there.

  The darkness feared her. And she was quite certain if she told herself that enough, she would even believe it.

  But something was not quite right tonight. She could feel it. Smell it. All but taste it. She wanted to go back to her home, cuddle in bed beside her man, Elias, and hold him tight. But she could not.

  Something evil was afoot, and it called her.

  Called her from the safety of her bed into the darkness of night.

  Part of her still feared, no matter how much she might insist otherwise.

  She did not rightly know if she would ever get over that fear. After all, she knew what monsters hid in the darkness—she knew them truly and well—she knew their names, their faces, their blood and their magic. She was right to fear them.

  But fear or not, she had responsibilities. Uneasy or not, she had a sworn duty.

  Agnes was more than just a witch.

  She was a Hunter, called to protect others. She had been sent to this small village to deal with the rogue werewolves roaming in the forest, preying on the villagers. It had been the first task assigned to her and she knew she had done well.

  The werewolves were gone.

  They were not responsible for this uneasiness inside her. Perhaps it was just William, she thought. He always made her feel twitchy and jumpy. Dirty.

  Not for much longer, though. Soon she would be away from him and she would never have to see that nasty man again.

  Soon she and Elias would be leaving Oneoak. First they would go to Brendain, the home of the Hunters. It had been home to her for nearly six years, since she was twelve. She was almost eighteen now. Although she had lived in Oneoak for the past year, it was not home. Not for her. No, Brendain was home and soon she would return there, and this time, she would take her man with her.

  The two of them would take a bit of a rest. Nessa would see if there was some place she was needed.

  Needed . . . it warmed her heart to think of it.

  Nessa was needed.

  Absently, she fingered the tip of her braid, lost in thought. It was not just by the Hunters, either. She helped people. She saved people. A grin lit her face as she thought of one person in particular—she had saved his arse, even if Elias tried to argue.

  She knew the truth.

  Elias could tease her and call her a foolish girl all he wanted.

  He knew the truth. She had saved his life. It had been almost a year since she had met him, just one week after she’d come to Oneoak. The wolves would have torn him apart that night. There had just been too many of them—his silver dagger could kill them, but not if there were ten of them and only one of him.

  They would have killed him if she had not come and burned them to nothing but dust and ashes.

  The entire pack was gone now, the bloodthirsty monsters sent straight to hell where they belonged. A new pack would come here, a healthy pack, one that would roam this land and care for it the way it deserved to be cared for.

  The taint in the land would be cleansed. And it was in part because of one little witch, a Hunter called Agnes.

  Nessa. Elias called her that, said that Agnes just did not suit her. It was his mother’s name also, and she knew that was partly why he did not think it suited her. Thinking of him made that uneasiness return, stronger, more powerful.

  “Stop it,” she muttered to herself. With a sigh, Nessa started to head south. One last trip through, just to be certain. They would leave in the morning.

  But she froze. Icy fear wrapped a fist around her heart.

  Pain plunged a fist into her stomach.

  Fire danced before her eyes.

  A cacophony of voices assaulted her mind.

  Witches—we have to kill them.

  Do not kill him yet. We need him to get her back here. To make her confess before she dies.

  She is just a girl—be sensible. A nice girl. We cannot do this. We will take them before the priests. If there is something wrong, they will know what to do.

  Be silent, woman!

  She is a witch . . . oh, aye. I have seen her, using fire, casting spells—she has tried to bewitch me. Tried to seduce me, that witch.

  Rage wrapped its fiery grip around her. She knew that voice. It belonged to Sir William. Oh, she would tear his eyes out. Slamming a hand against the trunk of a tree, she braced herself to keep from stumbling as everything struck her at once.

  Adrenaline surged through her and she spun around, running through the trees. The very night had fallen silent—too silent. The forest was never this still.

  A voice rasped through her head and she heard him speak even though he was far away.

  Run, Nessa. Do not come back here, Elias said in her mind. Elias had no magic, no power, nothing save the bond their love gave him. But he knew that if he spoke out to her, she would hear him.

  And likely, he knew she would not listen.

  The anger and fear in his voice added to her own fear, but it spurred the part inside her that made her warrior as well as witch. She only ran faster. If he thought she would run away when he was in danger, then Elias did not know his wife very well at all.

  She tore into Oneoak looking exactly like what she was. One very angry witch.

  William had been watching her—watching to make sure she left before he sprung this nasty trap.

  Nessa knew she was losing control of her magic but she did not care. And then she saw that they had tied Elias to a pole, hay and branches at his feet.

  Sir William, the sodding sheriff, stood at her husband’s side, ready to burn him. Nessa’s grasp on her control fractured even more.

  Elias lifted his head, glaring at her. It was dark, but her eyesight had always been keen. Even in the dim light of the torches, she could see him well. They had beaten him. One eye was black, and both his nose and mouth had been busted, blood painting gory streaks on his handsome face.

  “Nessa . . .”

  She met his eyes and shook her head.

  “Let him go,” she said quietly, clenching her hands into fists. There was nothing she wanted more than to release the power flooding her right now. Release it all, into the smug face of Sir William.

  Oh, he would pay for this, Nessa swore, her body trembling with anger and fear. He’d pay for this.

  William fo
lded his face into pious lines. “Agnes, you and Elias have fallen into a dark path, practicing magic, worshipping dark, foul monsters.”

  “We worship no monsters.” She arched a brow. “Elias practices no magic.”

  But she’d be damned if she would lie about herself.

  They leaped on the one simple thing that she left out. “So you admit it! Witch!”

  They moved closer, and Nessa narrowed her eyes. “Stay back, you blind fools,” she said softly. “Let him go.”

  William dared to take one step forward. “You say he is no witch—we cannot take the word of a woman who openly admits she uses the dark powers. If we let him go, will you let us bind you? Will you go through our tests? Cleanse yourself?”

  She’d openly admitted nothing. She just had not denied it. Looking at William, she suppressed the urge to snort as she stared at him. Cleanse myself? “I do not fear your tests, William. Let Elias go. He has done nothing wrong.”

  William smirked. “If he has done nothing wrong, then by all means . . .” He glanced at one of the men and nodded. “But first you must agree. You will be bound. You will submit to the tests. You will be cleansed.”

  “Your men will untie him as I come to you. If you dare be foolish, Sir William, you will know pain like nothing you have ever felt,” she warned.