From the Shadows (Hunters #1)

Chapter 1

People called him Diego Ramirez. That wasn’t his name, of course. If you asked him, he couldn’t even remember what he’d been called all those years ago. Didn’t matter, though. He wasn’t that person anymore. Hadn’t been since… that night.

“Yo, D! Wanna watch the game with me?”

Diego peered over at the hunter’s seven-year-old mascot, Jeremy, who bore the same last name as Diego, as he sat there with those big brown puppy dog eyes of his. He fluttered his lashes and gave a beseeching look, but….

“I can’t tonight, Jerm. I have something I need to do.”

Jeremy’s face crumpled, and Diego could see tears at the corners of his eyes. He hated to disappoint the kid. He’d stay if he could, and they’d sit on the couch with a big tub of buttered popcorn and scream at the players, all while throwing stray kernels at the enormous television. It didn’t matter who was playing—it only mattered to Jeremy that they did it together.

Though Jeremy enjoyed being with any of the rest of the team, he seemed to gravitate toward Diego. What would he do if he knew the truth of how he came to be here with them ?

“Oh? I can help.”

Only he couldn’t. No one could. This was Diego’s burden, and he’d face it alone. Like always.

He ruffled Jeremy’s hair. “Appreciate the offer, little man, but this is a solo project. How about we do something tomorrow?”

Jeremy brightened at the promise of tomorrow. “Sure! Okay!” He coughed and his cheeks pinked. “I mean, you know, if you wanna.”

Diego smirked. Jeremy was only a kid, but he had the attitude of a twenty-year-old and tried to look cool at every opportunity.

“I wanna,” Diego promised. “Gabe is going to be here tonight. Maybe he’ll do something with you.”

That brought a frown. “Gabe only wants to read. The last time I asked him to do something with me, he made me sit here and read to him. I couldn’t even pronounce half the words.” He gave a shy smile. “But when I finished, he picked me up and hugged me, saying I’d done great.”

Of course he had. Everyone in the group tried to pump Jeremy’s self-worth up. They all knew why Jeremy was here, and they’d agreed to do whatever it took to get the kid to grow up happy and healthy. Gabe was responsible for most of Jerms’s education. He usually tricked him into reading or playing some kind of math game. He even had Trivial Pursuit on the Nintendo Switch that they’d all play together, when they weren’t out on assignment.

They needed to figure out a better way, though. Jeremy couldn’t be left alone, but if the entire team was called out, then there would be no one to watch him. They’d run into the problem of everyone needing to go on a mission more than once. And having to ask someone from another group come in to babysit? Well, it’d had mixed results. Jeremy would be surly after being left with someone he didn’t know and insisted he could take care of himself.

Yeah, that wasn’t about to happen.

“Tomorrow, you can choose what we do.”

Jeremy grinned. “Anything?”

“Within reason,” Diego answered. “No strip clubs until you’re eighteen. ”

“Strip clubs?” Jeremy’s brow wrinkled and his pug nose followed suit. “Why would anyone want to do that?”

Spoken like a true kid. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”

“What if we all play Uno?”

It was a supreme effort to keep from groaning, but Diego did it. It wasn’t that he didn’t have fun, but whenever they played a game, Jeremy cheated, and did it without any finesse at all. “Sure! That sounds great.” He bent and hugged Jeremy. “I’ll be back in a while. Remember to?—”

“Mind Gabe, I know.” He huffed. “It’s not like I’m a little kid.”

“I know you’re not. You’re almost grown now.” Another hug, and this time Jeremy reached up and hugged back, almost desperately. Diego would move heaven and earth to ensure that Jeremy could stay a kid, at least for one more day.

“Be good, Jerm.”

His blush deepened to crimson. “Love you.”

Diego hurried out of the house. He couldn’t let Jeremy see him fall apart. That wouldn’t be good. He went to the garage, opened the doors, and let his gaze drift over the available vehicles. Tonight he wanted speed. Once he finished with what he needed to do, he would hit the track their employer had outside his mansion and let loose.

“Lemme guess,” Sparks said. “You’re taking the Chiron.”

Diego shrugged. “Haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“Yeah, you did. You do this every year, D. I won’t tell you to let it go. We’ve been trying to get you to do that for years now.”

Diego turned, his arms folded, and leaned back against the banged-up stainless steel floor-to-ceiling counter and cabinet Sparks kept his tools in. “How can I?”

“Because you were doing your job. It’s what you were sent to do, and?—”

“ And? ” An ache in his chest had Diego trying to dial it back, but the pain that was always there, always seared through him, was worse tonight than any other. “How do you expect me to get past this? Tell me, Sparks, because I need someone to.”

A deep sigh rolled out of their mechanic. “I wish I had an answer, I do.” He wiped his hands off on an already-grease-stained blue rag, then moved toward Diego. “It’s not your fault. It never was. She wasn’t a good person, and you did your job. Period. Have you tried talking to Pat?”

Diego nodded. “She says the same thing you do. Move past it by focusing on the present while planning for the future.”

“But you can’t.”

Diego pushed off the counter and leaned against the Bugatti. He couldn’t help but note the look of horror on Sparks’s face. So what if the car cost their benefactor four million dollars? It wasn’t as though Biggs couldn’t afford it. “Nope. I’m reminded every morning when I wake up and look into Jerm’s eyes, and then I dream about it every night when I fall asleep.”

“So you’re going to… what? Go have your yearly visit, then hit the track?”

“Dunno. Maybe I’ll just hit the wall. At least then I wouldn’t have to?—”

Say that again, and I’m going to have them lock you up.

And of course, Pat was listening. “Not nice to eavesdrop on a private conversation, Empatia.”

If someone wasn’t avoiding his appointments, I wouldn’t have to, would I?

She had a point. “Would it help if I said I was sorry?”

Lying to a mind reader? Really?

Yeah, Diego didn’t think it would work. “Look, I gotta go.”

Tomorrow, Diego. My office, nine sharp. If you’re not here, I’m going to call Mr. Biggs.

Well, crap. “Why can’t you just let me sort this shit out myself?”

It’s been years, and you’re no closer to doing that. I’ve tried doing it your way, and that hasn’t helped.

“Why don’t you tell me something I don’t already know?” Diego snapped.

Tomorrow. Nine sharp. One minute late, and we’ll be sitting down with your boss. If I tell him to do it, he’ll take you off the roster.

And then she was gone.

“Taking the Chiron,” Diego growled at Sparks. “I’ll do my best to bring it back in one piece, but no promises. ”

Before Sparks could say anything, Diego stomped to one of his favorites, opened the door, got in, and reached for the key in the ignition. He gave it a twist, and the car roared to life. He loved the way it felt, the rumbles coursing through him, vibrating to his very core. He scorched up the road as he headed to meet his yearly requirement. Or penance. He couldn’t say which.

Through the wrought iron gate, the place looked good. The grounds were well-kept, with evergreen trees dotting the land at regular intervals. A reminder that life continued, despite the problems. After driving twenty minutes he reached his destination. He took a deep, bracing breath as he parked, then got out and locked the door. Once at the gate, he could have simply misted, but instead used his key to unlock it and pass through. He could close his eyes and find her, but that seemed disrespectful.

When he reached her, he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the silver flask that contained a special concoction Santana had mixed up for him. Vampires were notoriously hard to get drunk, so Santana had to use herbs that would lower Diego’s supernatural resistances to alcohol.

“Hey, Kendra. Happy birthday.” He settled on the grass beside the grave, took the top off the flask, and downed a healthy swig. He winced as it hit his throat, burning all the way to his stomach. He’d been doing this for too long. Coming here never eased the pain in his gut. Hell, if anything, it made it worse, because he had to go through every goddamn action from that night, trying to see if he could find something—anything—that might have made things end differently.

Biggs had called and said Kendra James was in town. She was wanted in the deaths of four people, and bringing her in would be a feather in the cap of the team, especially considering she’d escaped or killed every other person they’d sent to bring her in. Diego assembled the group—himself, Martin, Ranna, and Borne—and they tracked her to what amounted to nothing more than a shack in the hills. On the way there, the mood was light, almost jovial. They were going to bag a murderer tonight, and get paid for it! How cool was their job ?

When they got there, Diego decided he should face Kendra and the others would stay outside in case she somehow made it by him. Diego misted in, careful to stick to the shadows where he’d be harder to see. Kendra wasn’t there, but she’d left suitcases on the bed, and her vehicle was still parked outside, so Diego waited. He couldn’t believe she’d been here such a short time and already had a mass of clothing strewn on the floor. He’d expected better of a woman who was always poised to run.

He didn’t have to wait long. Less than ten minutes later, she slithered in as a diamondback rattler, then shifted to her human form. Diego was pumped that he was going to get first crack at this murdering bitch. When her back was turned, Diego stepped from the shadows. At first, he thought Kendra hadn’t seen him, but then she turned and her eyes narrowed to slits. Diego figured she was going to shift and try to escape, but she launched herself at him, snapping with vicious fangs. Diego hit her in the face, and she reeled back, tripping over the pile of clothing that had been strewn on the cabin’s floor.

“You can’t get out, Kendra. Give yourself up and let us take you in.”

She snarled, turned, and lunged for a case, then came back up with a Springfield X10, which she had aimed at Diego’s chest. His choices were to let her shoot him or fire at her. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t shift and flee. It had a better chance of success—though not against Diego—than shooting it out.

He raised his gun and fired once. It was dead center mass, and even someone who could shapeshift wouldn’t come back from that. She crumpled to the floor, blood pooling beneath her already-cooling body, her dark hair fanning around her face, her cold eyes wide as they stared into the void.

“Diego? You okay?”

He tapped his earpiece. “Fine. She’s?—”

And then he heard it. A soft snuffling. Diego turned and his gaze landed on the pile of clothes he’d all but ignored on his way in. He drew his gun and moved toward it.

“I’m armed, and I’m not afraid to use it,” he called out .

The sniffling stopped, then turned into an all-out shriek. Diego grabbed the clothes and threw them aside, revealing a baby that stared up at him, deep brown eyes wide as it continued to sob.

“No….”

“Diego, what’s going on?”

He knelt beside the child, who wailed even louder. Diego glanced over his shoulder at Kendra, then snatched the kid off the floor and held it—him—tight to his chest, hoping to block out the sight.

Goddamn fuck it to hell. “I need a fucking nurse in here, now!”

“What? I thought she was dead? ”

“She is. Her baby isn’t.”

Momentary stunned silence. “Baby?”

“Get me the fucking nurse!”

“I took some classes,” Martin said. “Let me come in.”

A few minutes later, he entered the room. The sobs from the baby had turned to soft whimpers as he clung to Diego, peering into his eyes. When Martin tried to take him, the wailing started anew.

“Put him on the bed,” Martin instructed. “Stay nearby, because he seems to have imprinted on you.”

Diego couldn’t remember the examination. He was too busy trying to understand what had happened. How he’d killed this kid’s mother, who was still on the floor with sightless eyes that would never see her son again. Would the kid remember any of this? Diego didn’t know anything about kids. Never wanted them himself. With the life he led, it wouldn’t be fair to?—

“Diego? I said the baby seems okay. Can you pick him up? I tried, but he shrieked when I did.”

On autopilot, Diego bent and lifted the now cooing child, who snuggled against him with a soft whimper, then promptly fell asleep.

“We should get him out of here,” Martin said, his eyes softening. “This is no place for him.”

Diego couldn’t disagree. He didn’t want to waste time looking for something the kid could wear, so he bundled him up in his TAK vest and pressed the boy to his chest, then stepped out into the darkness .

“What do we do with him?” Ranna asked.

“We take him to Biggs, let him deal with it,” Diego rumbled.

“I’m afraid that won’t work,” Martin said, his voice deep. “Look at how he’s sleeping, clutching your finger. I don’t know a lot about shifters, but Kendra isn’t—wasn’t—a normal one. As a snake shifter, her kind lays eggs, and when they hatch, the child shifts to human form. From that point, the mother needs to create a bond with him. As far as I can tell, that never happened, and now the boy has imprinted on you, Diego. I can’t be certain, but separating the two of you might kill him.”

“What? But Kendra?—”

“Probably didn’t know what to do with him either. As quickly as he latched on to you, it’s obvious he hadn’t with her. Maybe that was the one good thing she did—keeping him from forming the bond with her, because she knew the life she led would probably end up killing her.”

Diego shook his head, willing the memories away. He stared at the gravestone for several long, silent moments.

“He’s a good boy, Kendra. I’m not sure if you’d be proud of who he’s become, but I’d like to think so. We named him Jeremy, and he’s… amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s got this glow about him, and it infects everyone he sees. When you look at him, you can’t help but smile. He’s rambunctious, affectionate, likes bad jokes and….” Diego sighed, then raised the flask to his lips again. After a healthy swallow, he couldn’t stand it anymore. “You missed out. I know I say this every year, but it pisses me off how fucking selfish you were! How could you drag your kid along and treat him like that? If Jeremy were my son…. If…” Diego’s throat tightened, the anger surging once more. “Why the hell didn’t you just give up? Why not keep him in your life? Was attacking me—making me fight back—really what you wanted?”

He tightened his fist, crushing the flask, the remainder of the thin, viscous liquid oozing out and coating his fingers before dripping onto the dirt. The tears that Diego never allowed anyone to see came then. He wasn’t weeping for Kendra. Her lot in life had been chosen long before they’d ever met. It hurt him to know that Jeremy could never be told the truth about what kind of person she’d been. As far as Jeremy knew, he was Diego’s son, and they’d never done anything to dissuade him of that notion.

“Why the fuck do I cry? It’s been years, and I still find myself crying for what Jerm lost. And the funny thing? He didn’t lose a goddamn thing. He gained a family, which is more than you could have ever given him! I?—”

“Diego.”

He swiveled his head and Diego found himself staring at the last person he’d ever wanted to find in this stupid graveyard.

“Jerm?”

Jeremy shuffled closer, then took a seat beside Diego, close enough they were touching. “So this is her, huh?”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Diego roared, trying to block out the grave. Jeremy simply peered around him and stared at it. At that moment, Diego feared Jeremy would tell him to fuck off and get out of his life.

Jeremy smiled. “I’m a shifter, you know. We snakes can fit in the tightest of spots. Like under the seat of the car.”

He would kill Gabe for this. “Where’s Gabe?”

“At home. He thinks I’m asleep.” Jerm grinned. “So, you didn’t answer me. Is this her?”

“Her who?”

Jeremy shook his head. “The woman who laid the egg I hatched out of.”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve been listening when you guys talk. I mean, I know none of you are my parents. Not a snake among you. This woman, though? She sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Jerm, I’m sorry, I?—”

He sighed. “I don’t remember her. I don’t have any feelings for her. At least nothing beyond if someone told me a total stranger died. I don’t need a mother, D. I have a dad, and he’s awesome.”

The cold fist that had surrounded Diego’s heart for years, since the time he took Kendra from Jeremy, loosened .

“I’m sorry.” The words were trite, but Diego couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Jeremy shrugged. “Thanks, I guess. Like I said, I don’t remember her, but from what you guys said, she wasn’t a good person.”

He could lie. He could make Jeremy think that his mother had been a noble individual who’d loved him with her whole heart. Who died protecting him. That wouldn’t serve Jeremy, though. Lies always found a way of unraveling.

“No, she wasn’t.”

“You are, though.” He leaned closer and put his head on Diego’s shoulder. “You’re the best.”

“Jerm, I?—”

“Can we go home? I don’t like it here. No, I don’t like you here. This isn’t a place for you. Don’t come here again, okay?”

None of this made sense. Jerm should be pissed beyond belief, but his features stayed placid. “But I took you from her, and?—”

Jeremy smiled up at Diego. “And what? Dude, I don’t know her. I don’t want to know her. From what I heard, snake shifters don’t have that whole ‘good family’ vibe going. They lay us, then they’re expected to bond with us before they abandon us, or worse, eat us. She didn’t. End of story.”

“She kept you, though. She protected you.”

Jeremy scowled. “No. She protected herself. If she had any thoughts about me, they were wiped out when she attacked you. I’m grateful to her, though.”

That surprised Diego. “You… you are?”

“Yeah. What kind of life would she have been able to give me? I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t be playing Uno or watching TV together. She wouldn’t tuck me in or kiss me on the forehead. She wouldn’t cook—badly, by the way—for me. She wouldn’t comfort me when I’m scared. She isn’t you, D. No one is. It probably wasn’t what she intended, but she gave me a life that I’m really happy with. I have a family, and… well, when I grow up, I want to be like you guys. I want to protect people, because that’s what my dad does.”

Emotions Diego hadn’t experienced in a century flooded him. Tears pricked his eyes as he scooped Jeremy into his arms and squeezed for all he was worth.

Jerm patted him on the back. “We’re gonna be okay, D. Promise.”

And for the first time in years, Diego hoped he could believe that.