The Hunter Secret (Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 2) Read online

  The Hunter Secret

  Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy Book 2

  Juliana Haygert

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Juliana Haygert

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Manufactured in the United States of America.

  First Edition July 2019

  www.JulianaHaygert.com

  Edited by H. Danielle Crabtree

  Cover design by Covers by Juan

  Any trademark, service marks, product names, or names featured are the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if one of these terms is used.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Map

  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

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Thank you

  About the Author

  Also by Juliana Haygert

  Author’s Note

  I hope you enjoy reading The Hunter Secret!

  Don’t forget to sign up for my Newsletter to find out about new releases, cover reveals, giveaways, and more!

  If you want to see exclusive teasers, help me decide on covers, read excerpts, talk about books, etc, join my reader group on Facebook: Juliana’s Club!

  Want to join my ARC team (Advanced Reading Copy)? Find out how by clicking here!

  Map

  Map of Blackthorn Hunters Academy

  Click here to view the map in a separate browser.

  1

  Erin

  My life changed completely five months ago.

  I grabbed another shirt from my closet and shoved it inside the bag on my bed. Even these … this shirt, this closet, this bag, this bed—they were all new. Five months ago, I would have never dreamed of this crazy freaking life.

  But things were what they were. I couldn’t deny it anymore. I was half demon hunter and the half-demon daughter of the stoic Professor Martha and Brikan, the king of the underworld. And because of it, my mother thought everything would go downhill from here.

  To me, everything started going downhill the day I entered the haunted house on a dare and my aunt Paula died, but the biggest turn of all had been when I found out about my father—and when Rey and I had made a deal with the headmaster, Randall.

  In the last month of classes before the end of fall semester, the headmaster had summoned me. If he had summoned Rey, I didn’t know. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about Rey anymore. After that kiss—that amazing, breathtaking kiss—he told me he had no interest in me and he distanced himself from me. He even convinced Professor Astrid to let him change class periods. I ended up without a partner in weapons forging class and I almost failed.

  Despite the immense sadness I had felt the first week when I didn’t see or hear from Rey, I forced myself to move on. To forget about him. He didn’t like me? That was okay. It wasn’t the end of the world. I was only nineteen. I was in no rush to find love or have a serious relationship. I liked being single and spending time with Claire.

  Speaking of Claire …

  I glanced at the time on my cell phone sitting on the nightstand. Claire should be arriving any time now. She promised to come here the moment she was back. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if I could sneak a phone call before my mother caught me using my phone. Cell phones were forbidden at the academy. Last semester, I had had mine in my bedroom with me, because I didn’t have anywhere to keep it, but this time, my mother wanted me to leave it here. Would I be able to?

  I reached for my phone.

  “Erin?”

  I whipped to the door. “Claire?”

  A moment later, my friend stepped into my room. “I’m back!” Short brown curls bouncing, she opened her arms and rushed to me. “I missed you.” She squeezed me tight.

  I chuckled, trying to return the hug, but not able to when she tackled me like this. “Me too.”

  She pulled back and smiled at me, her green eyes twinkling. “It’s so good to be back.” She plopped down on my bed beside my bag. “Holy crap, you have no idea how bored I was.”

  I snorted. Professor Crimson, Claire’s father, had taken her to visit his mother, a retired demon hunter living in Chasseur Ville, just a few minutes from here. But because Professor Crimson had a stick up his butt, he hadn’t let Claire take her phone or send any kind of news to me during winter break.

  “I wasn’t bored,” I told her, “but I bet it wasn’t much better either.”

  “Ha, I might take on that bet. Can you imagine? My grandmother is as rigid and demanding as my father. For the last two weeks, all I heard was about how I had to work harder and do better to uphold the family name.” Her shoulders slumped. “We all know I’ll never be the demon hunter they want me to.”

  I poked my foot at her ankle. “I can help you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I doubt that, but you’re welcome to try.” I picked up another shirt from my closet and put it in my bag. Claire’s eyes softened. “How about you? How has it been?”

  I glanced around the bedroom. Students weren’t expected to stay in the dorms during winter break and summer vacation. When the semester ended, I had no idea where to go. As far as I knew, the house I lived in with my aunt had been sold. With that money, I could rent a place nearby, but the last couple of times I had been by myself outside the academy walls, I had been attacked by demons. I wasn’t sure I wanted to repeat that.

  Professor Martha surprised me when she invited me to stay at her house.

  “I’m your mother,” she said in her robot-like voice. She wasn’t as bad as Professor Crimson, but she sure wasn’t open either. “It’s only right for you to move in with me.”

  I was skeptical at first, but what other choice did I have? So, I crossed the campus to the Dahlia Villa and joined my mother at her townhouse. Matching my mother’s personality, the townhouse interior decoration was contemporary and impeccable, with nothing out of place. I couldn’t imagine myself lounging on the leather couch, eating popcorn, with my feet on the glass coffee table. Or devouring a pizza with my hands at the sleek dining room.

  As we moved around the townhouse, I realized it was bigger than I first realized, with spare rooms that had been turned into an office and library and guest bedrooms. I thought she would put me in one of those, but then she took me to the last door on the second floor. To my surprise, this bedroom was different. It reminded me of my room at the aca
demy: twin bed, nightstand, desk and chair, dresser, and a walk-in closet and bathroom, but here the wood was white and the accents—blanket, curtains, etc.—were light blue and off-white. Simple, clean, but pretty and cozy.

  “This is your bedroom,” she said, beckoning me to enter. “Though the decorations have changed over the years, this has always been your room.”

  I stared at her, speechless.

  Moments like those wreak havoc inside of me, but they were rare. Instead of having a nice, lazy break where I got to know my mother and spend my first Christmas and New Year with her, we spent most of the time in the basement. Doing what? Training.

  It was all about training.

  Protesting didn’t help, so after a while, I gave up. It would be easy to just suck it up and go through her intense training regimen than try to rebel. Try being the key word. She would never allow me to rebel.

  “It has been … odd,” I confessed. I told her about training nonstop and no bonding time whatsoever. “I guess it’s better than being out there alone.” At least, that was what I told myself.

  My feelings regarding my mother were messed up. I still resented her for abandoning me and for being so cold and distant, but despite it all, I understood her reasons. I knew why she kept away; it was to protect me. That had to count for something, right?

  In my head, I called her my mother, since it was easier and felt better than calling her professor. However, I couldn’t bring myself to call her my mother out loud. Whenever I had to talk to her, I either called her professor, or simply Martha. Thankfully, she didn’t push the subject—not that I thought she would.

  “I’m sure she’ll warm up to you in no time,” Claire said. “After all, everything she did was for you, to save you. That means she loves you a lot.”

  I frowned. That might be true in theory, but it was hard to believe it when she was so cold to me. I let out a long breath. “It doesn’t matter now.” I shoved a jacket in my bag and zipped it up.

  A slow smile tugged at Claire's lips. “Nothing else happened? Nothing interesting?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Her smile widened. “Like … Rey. Didn’t he come to see you?”

  I scoffed. She knew very well that Rey had shut me out completely after our kiss in the graveyard. She also knew my feelings for him had only grown in the meantime. I was so stupid. “Why would he?”

  “Because he realized he loved you and needed you.”

  “Right,” I drawled.

  I pulled my shirt out, threw it on the floor, and picked up a clean one from the closet.

  “Oh!” Claire yelled, startling me. “I did some research during the break.” She pointed to my chest. “I know now what that mark means.”

  I glanced down at myself. Some time ago, a mark appeared above my heart—a small black mark that looked like two sideway hearts entwined, tied together by another swirly line. When I first noticed it, it was right after the battle at the cemetery. My urge was to find Rey and tell him about it. He knew what the mark on my wrist meant; he would know what this one meant. But since his disappearing act, I let that idea go. So, I asked Claire during class one day. She said that mark was familiar, but she couldn’t remember from where. We had plans to research it, but then the final exams hit us hard and Claire became a studying robot. I thought about researching it on my own, but to be honest, I was afraid of the meaning.

  The first one was a sign marking me as the daughter of the king of the underworld. This one couldn’t be much better, could it?

  But apparently, after the stress of finals and going to visit her grandmother, Claire remembered.

  “Do I want to know?” I asked, pulling a clean shirt over my head. The mark was pretty, just like a small, delicate tattoo over my left breast, but that didn’t mean I liked to look at it.

  “I knew I had seen it before,” she said, her voice eager. “It’s the sign of a soul bond.”

  “A soul what?”

  “A soul bond,” she said, as if I should know what that meant. “A soul bond is the connection formed when twin souls find each other. Technically, it’s called a Twin Soul Bond.” Her eyes shone. “That means, you’ve found your soulmate.”

  “What?” I shrieked.

  Claire’s nose wrinkled. “If it’s not Rey, who could it be? Harvey, maybe?”

  “Claire, what the hell? That doesn’t make sense. A soulmate? Me? Don’t you think I would know?” I gestured to my chest. “This can’t mean that.”

  “But it does.” She stood. “I would say someone at the academy is your true love. Now you just have to find him. He’s sure to have the same mark in the same exact place.”

  “No way.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to find a soulmate. I don’t want any bond connecting me to someone. I’m fine by myself.”

  “This isn’t up to you,” she said. “From what I read, your twin soul calls for you. Sooner or later, you’ll find it.”

  This subject irritated me. The only guy on my mind and in heart was Rey, but he had shut me out. If he was my soulmate, if he felt for me the same way I felt for him, he wouldn’t have told me he didn’t like me. He wouldn’t have pushed me away.

  Right?

  I shook my head again, determined to forget about this nonsense. “All right, that’s enough.” I grabbed a thick sweater from my closet and put it on. “Are you ready to go?”

  Claire nodded. “My bags are on the porch.”

  After putting on my thick black wool coat over the sweater, I slung one of my bags across my shoulders and picked up the duffel from the floor. Many of my things had stayed in my dorm room across campus, like the picture of my aunt and me, her Dawnblade, and my uniforms. But even so, it wasn’t like I needed a bunch of things. And if I forgot something, it was easy to come back to my mother’s house and grab it.

  Together, Claire and I trailed to the front of the townhouse. As I expected, my mother was nowhere to be seen. Since classes started the next day, I bet she was in her office in the Aster building, getting ready for the new semester.

  Outside, the chilly wind whipped around, ruffling my hair. “At least, it’s not snowing anymore,” I said with a groan. It had snowed most of winter break. The paths between the buildings had been cleared, but the amount of snow accumulated in the grass and at the corners of building reached my thighs.

  My entire life, Aunt Paula and I had moved a lot. The best places we had lived were Florida and southern California, where it was warm year-round. When we moved to Colorado a few years ago, I protested. She assured me I would get used to the snow and ice. Well, I hadn’t, and I doubted I ever would.

  Though the snow had been shoveled away, the pathways were still slick, so Claire and I walked slowly across the campus, toward the Gardenia building, which housed the female dorm.

  As we crossed the square in the middle of campus, I stared at the big Blackthorn tree. In the middle of so much snow, the tree seemed to have a dark glow, its thousands of thorns shinning like jewels. It was so beautiful and yet so dark, so cold, so eerie.

  Claire and I weren’t the only ones arriving at the Gardenia building. Many students walked into the dorms, carrying bags and boxes. In the Snapdragon building next to Gardenia, the boys did the same.

  Claire and I split once we arrived on the second floor. I fished the keys from my coat pocket and unlocked the door to my room. Then, I kicked the door open and threw my duffel bag on the floor.

  “Home, sweet home,” I whispered, glancing around.

  Though it had been only two weeks, it seemed like I hadn’t been here in forever. Despite being grateful that my mother had taken me in during the winter break, her house would never feel like mine. This room felt more like home than anywhere else I had lived so far.

  With a sigh, I took off my coat and started organizing my things. After making sure everything I had left behind was intact, that my uniforms and boots were clean, I unpacked my bags and placed my clothes inside my closet.

  I was almo
st done when a knock came from the door.

  Frowning, I glanced at the closed door. If it was Claire, she would have tried opening the door, which was unlocked, before knocking. Who else could be coming for me? Ava? Harvey? I doubted it.

  Rey?

  Yeah, right.

  Shaking my head, I opened the door.

  “Hey,” Rey said, standing in the middle of the hallway.

  I stared at him, stunned. I really hadn’t expected it to be him. But, holy shit, I had forgotten how beautiful he was. Well, not really, but damn, could he get more handsome each time I saw him? Tall, with just the right amount of bulk, a handsome face full of sharp angles, and brilliant gray eyes that sometimes looked silver—he was the exact definition of eye candy.

  His beauty plus the way he stood, so sure of himself, so powerful, so intimidating, had my heart tugging inside my chest.

  I frowned. “Hm, what are you doing here?”

  “Randall wants us.”

  My frown deepened. The headmaster hadn’t sent for me in almost two months. I had barely set foot back into the dorms and he was suddenly breathing down my neck. “Right now?” I asked, skeptical.

  Rey nodded. “Right now.”

  I stared at him some more. Here was the guy who made my heart skip a beat. The guy who had ignored me for a couple of months now. The guy who apparently wasn’t my soulmate.

  I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that hurt so bad.