Samhain: Book One of the Venatores

By Pam Sommerville

Sam’s having a rough night, but almost being eaten alive will do that to anyone.

That thing just came out of nowhere.

Nothing should be able to move like that, to keep coming like it did after the guy showed up on its tail and put that many bullets in it. Put himself between it and Sam.

Turns out the things in Sam’s nightmares aren’t just alive and well, but they have a serious bone to pick with her. Apparently so does the guy that just saved her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9780692025956

Book preview

9780692025956

Prologue

Tucson, AZ

Sam

There's no point really. This is what it is; it won't get any better. You're a bad person, you don't deserve anything better. There's a reason no one wants you, a reason you can't stand to be around other people, even the ones that you love.

Something is wrong with you.

That's why you've never really had a boyfriend, it's why you're still a virgin, why you're 22 years old and have never even been kissed. It's why your apartment walls are bare, because you live in your head and not in the real world. Face it, you're crazy, there's something really wrong with you. Only crazy people see and hear things that aren't there. Only sick people find peace in graveyards full of dead strangers or walking down empty train tracks and prefer the night to the day, prefer the dark.

You were never afraid of the dark.

If you drank you might be able to forget it temporarily, but it would still be there. Same thing with drugs or sex or whatever else you're thinking might fix it. It won't. It might numb it for a while, take the edge off, but it will all come back.

It will always come back.

There's nowhere to hide, you can run but it will all catch up to you when the distraction of a new place wears off. It always finds you again. It will be the same thing. You'll be alone there too. Eventually you'll recognize that there is only one way out of this. One solution that's permanent. Are you strong enough to do it? You've already thought about how. You already know what you'd leave your mother in the letter. You already know how you'd do it.

There wouldn't be anything left for them to find, to look for… to bury.

CHAPTER ONE

Pleasanton, CA- 6 Months Later

Sam

The sound of his breathing filled the hollow of my neck, echoed through my ears like an empty tunnel, reverberated on my skin. It felt like a warning of the end.

I shivered.

His hands were warmer than I thought they should be, so much warmer than mine were. He gripped my arms roughly, holding me still; keeping me quiet. I knew my breathing had to be just as loud as his, probably louder, but I was so tuned into his that I couldn't hear mine anymore, partially because I was alternately holding it and taking it in in gasps when I had to. I had never been so terrified in my life, but there was a calmness that came with this level of terror and adrenaline that was surprising, almost serene. It slowed things down, allowed me to think about things like the temperature of his hands and how his breath felt on my skin.

I clenched his forearms to keep myself steady as he held me; his arms basically crossed over my chest, both of us pressed against the support beam of the overpass. If I couldn't hold still we were both going to die, probably slowly and painfully. I didn't want to go out like this…not like this. He tightened his grip and then unexpectedly leaned down and pressed his lips to the skin just behind my right ear. I think it was meant to calm, to reassure; because he knew better than to even whisper. I knew better too, so I didn't do anything other than close my eyes and shiver slightly at the sensation of it, but the kiss, if you could even call it that, gave my whole body goose bumps.

Closing my eyes made it all happen again in vivid detail. I had never seen anything like that. No one- nothing- should be able to move like that. To keep coming like it had after this guy had unloaded that many bullets into it. I'm not sure how many, I hadn't been counting. I was too busy trying to get away.

I opened my eyes. His lips hovered just above my skin, warm, like his hands, and soft in contrast to his rough stubble. My neck felt the absence of them as he pulled away and craved the contact to return. It was absurd that we were running (well technically hiding) for our lives, pretty certain that I at least, was going to actually die here in the dark, murky wash that we were standing knee-high in, and that stupid little kiss made me have all sorts of highly inappropriate thoughts. Maybe it was a self-defense mechanism. My present circumstances were too scary, too intense, my brain needed a distraction so I didn't give myself a heart attack and save the monster having to kill me itself.

Yeah, that was why I was thinking about his lips- I'm gonna go with that theory. Besides, this stuff didn't happen, this couldn't be real. I was probably just having a nightmare and if that was the case, why wouldn't some hunk be kissing me? I had crazy dreams like this all the time, most of them feeling so real I could only realize them for a dream after I woke. It was about time I started seeing them like this when I was fully awake. It made sense that my mental state had progressed to this. I was sort of waiting for it to.

The sound of the water splashing downstream and to the right of us made me forget all about his kiss and if he hadn't already moved his hand preemptively over my mouth, my gasp would have given us away.

It was just so big. Head and shoulders taller than the guy behind me and quadruple his width. I was guessing at least 7 maybe 8 feet tall if it stood up straight and probably 300 pounds of solid muscle. It stood on two legs and had the basic build of a person, but it was all wrong. The arms were too long, the joints at the knees and elbows looked like they bent the wrong way, opposite of what a humans would and from what little light I had seen it in, It, or he apparently, since it was naked and obviously very male, he had skin that was almost slimy and a dark, sickly, blue-ish green color that seemed more amphibian like than mammal.

His long dark hair hung in thick dreadlocks halfway down his back and swung across his shoulders, down into the water in a sort of macabre ballet as he crouched low, sniffing I think, at the bank, as it walked awkwardly downstream looking for us on all fours. My fingers dug into the man's arms so deep that if he hadn't had on long sleeves, even my short nails would have drawn blood. His grip had tightened on me too, almost to the point of being painful; he was just as tense as I was. Somehow that wasn't comforting. I wanted him to not be afraid at all; I was terrified enough for the both of us.

My legs were numb; partly from the cold water, partly from running so hard and partly from standing in that same, terrifying position for almost the past half hour. That was how long we waited to move after the thing finally gave up, a couple hundred yards downstream and climbed out the opposite side of the bank, west, up towards the 680 Highway. I didn't hear any horns or tires squealing from people slamming on their brakes so I guess no one saw it. Of course it was the middle of the night and this was Pleasanton, California. Pleasant people were at home in their beds at three o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday. I should have been home in bed. If my sister knew I got up and went for random runs through town at all hours of the night, she'd probably not feel very pleasant about it. Of course if I was home asleep, my night would probably have been significantly more pleasant, too.

He whispered a shhh in my ear before he took his hand away from my mouth, but I wasn't planning on saying anything anyway. That thing wasn't nearly far enough away for my comfort. If it had gone to the moon in that short time, it still wasn't far enough away for my comfort. I was shaky; especially my legs and he didn't let go of me because of it. We didn't talk and moved slowly to keep quiet as we climbed up the steep bank and out from under the bridge. When we got to the top, my legs gave out completely and I hit the dirt hard, falling to my hands and knees. He hauled me back up on my feet, pulled my arm across his shoulders, put his arm around my waist to help keep me up, and more or less dragged me, as we headed towards the opening in the fence that blocked off the wash from the road.

I guess now wasn't a good time to stop.

My little truck was parked just up the street in a residential area since I didn't want to have to deal with any cops. I learned after explaining once or twice to an officer why I was out in the middle of the night, to just not do anything that would get their attention. Not that I have anything against police officers, but I come out here to run and to be completely alone, not to be bugged by cops who had too little to do in such a pleasant town to keep them occupied on the night shift.

I reached down to pull my keys out of my jacket pocket and realized it had come unzipped sometime in this evening's craziness. No keys. I checked the other pocket. No cell phone.

I don't know why that did it, you'd think it wouldn't have been that big of a deal comparatively, but that was it. I couldn't handle anything else. How was I going to get home to get my spare key? My knees didn't even want me to stand, much less walk the 8 extra miles back home. I started crying. I wasn't hysterical, yet, or even loud, but I was crying big crocodile tears in front of a complete stranger who had just saved my life from something that didn't exist. That couldn't exist.

I wanted to plunk down on the ground, but I wasn't sure that I could get back up again if I did and what if that thing came back? What if that thing came back? What if it was coming back right now and was stalking us in the shadows, ready to pounce on me in the dark like it had the first time! I started to hyperventilate then and I was still crying at the same time, which made a lovely hiccupping sound. He put his big hand on the back of my neck, pulling my ponytail hard enough to hurt and forced my head down practically between my legs.

"Just breathe." He said quietly. He had a calm, smooth voice that was both warm and hard.

"What-What-What-" I tried to ask between gasps of breath and my sobbing, but he didn't take his hand off the back of my head, or release any of the pressure pushing me down.

"No. No questions yet. Just breathe."

I took in a deep breath, despite how annoyed I was that he was holding me down and giving orders. I really don't like being told what to do. But, what was that-

No questions yet. He cut me off again.

I ducked my head lower in a sort of bob and weave and swatted his hand away, taking a step back so I could stand up straight and give him a dirty look before I wiped the tears away.

Breathe. He said before I could say anything else.

"I am breathing." I snapped.

He nodded in approval. Well, just keep breathing.

But I-

We don't have time for questions tonight. We need to get you safe and cleaned up.

I gave a quick look around and then finally down at myself, after I was satisfied that I couldn't see the creature. I was a mess. Mud everywhere and my hands were starting to sting; I must have scratched them up in my fight and flight. Gravel does that to skin when you fall on it hard enough. At least I was breathing, he should be happy about that.

I lost my keys somewhere, I said pathetically, feeling the urge to cry again, but I didn't, yet.

We'll come back for your truck when the sun's up. My jeep is just down the street. Come on. He said taking hold of my hand.

I wanted to just follow him because he had already saved me once tonight and I really liked the sound of his voice and how warm his hands were, but at least part of my brain was still functioning. Where? I asked, pulling my hand away.

He looked at me. Surprised, I think, but he didn't hesitate. To my shop in Livermore. It's safe and there's a place for you to get cleaned up.

In Livermore? It was only the next town over, not even 15 miles away but being that far away from my house without anyone I trusted after what happened, was way out of my comfort zone. Could you just walk with me to the gas station down the road and I can call my sister.

No. I'm not walking anywhere and neither are you. You got really lucky back there, and they tend to hunt in groups. I would bet there are at least three more of them out in the city tonight.

I gulped.

Come on let's go. You'll be safe there. He stated.

I took in another deep breath and shook my head at the same time I took a step back. But I don't know you. You could be a psycho.

I'm not. He said with no inflection.

How very reassuring. Yeah, but I don't know that.

Even if I was, you'd still have better luck with a psycho than one of those.

That's probably true, but I'd still rather just go to the gas station. Could you just drop me off there if you don't want to walk?

He shook his head. It's scented you now. You need to get several miles away from here, fast. The gas station would be like shooting fish in a barrel for these things.

What are they?

I told you, no questions yet.

That pissed me off. Fine. I turned and started walking.

Where are you going? He demanded turning to follow.

To find a phone.

I told you it's too dangerous. He was getting frustrated.

Well I figure it's no more so than standing here talking about it. The gas station is two blocks that way. I'll lock myself in the bathroom until my sister comes.

So they can get her scent too?

I stopped. Can they do that? I asked turning around, suddenly way more afraid than I had been earlier. I didn't want to die like that, but she had four kids and a husband at home. I didn't have anyone. So what am I supposed to do then? I asked.

Come with me if you want to live. He stated.

I let out something close to a snort. "You did not just say that to me."

He shrugged and there was a little amusement in it. He thought he was funny, even if he wouldn't let it show on his face. Your choice. I swear you'll be safe, I won't hurt you.

Or go all creepy and lock me up somewhere?

I don't think that would stop you. He said with a small smirk.

Hey,

He sighed and I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes. I promise not to be creepy and I will take you home as soon as the sun's up.

I hesitated.

Look, this is a limited time offer, I'm leaving. Are you coming or not?

I didn't really think he'd just leave me there; he was probably bluffing, probably. I bit my lip, tasted mud and sweat and maybe something else and promptly pulled my lip out of my mouth. OK.

CHAPTER TWO

Sam

His Jeep wasn't actually a Jeep, but I didn't feel like pointing that out to him at the moment. It was an old school, Ford Bronco that had huge tires and was painted dark army green. The thing was tall enough that I was glad I was wearing stretchy running pants or I don't think I could have gotten my leg up that high. I started to feel bad about getting his interior wet and muddy but he didn't seem to have any qualms about it since he was dirtier than I was and he just jumped right in. He turned the heater on and even though I didn't know him or trust him or have any idea what the heck I was going on, I zonked.

I was out so fast and so hard that when the overhead shop light turned on in his garage and woke me up, I had a little bit of drool running down my chin and I'm pretty sure I had been snoring. All in about a 20-minute drive. I wiped my spit away with the back of my hand as discreetly as possible and cleared my throat as I sat up straight. His garage was an actual one, like an auto body shop; there were several cars in various states of repair and the place smelled like oil and dirt. It was kind of a relief compared to how bad we both smelled. I think we ended up in more than just mud. He jumped out of the car and came around to my side to open the door for me. That was nice.

You still have drool on your chin. He stated.

I glared at him. OK maybe he wasn't so nice. I wiped my hand across my chin self-consciously. It came away dry.

Jerk.

Come on, you're a mess and you stink. He said over his shoulder as he started walking towards a door in the back.

I gave a little gasp. Rude! Well you don't exactly smell like roses either, buddy.

"Yeah, but I don't have limus all over me," He said without turning around.

Limus? I asked confused.

He nodded, Yeah, limus. You know, mud, slime, general filth, blood, phlegm, probably even some dog poop mixed in there too.

I looked at myself and there was finally enough light to see that some of the dark spots I thought had been mud were actually a greenish blue sludge that looked suspiciously similar to the color of that creature's skin. I squealed. It was very girly, I'm a little ashamed of how much so, but I screamed and started shaking my hands and jumping up and down as I peeled off my jacket. It had gone through the fabric and I had dark blue-green splotches on my tank top, as well as the skin on my chest and my arms. Gross! I squealed and more tears sprang to my eyes. I was more than a little ashamed of how girly I was being, but it was involuntary.

He turned around with a shake of his head and came back towards me. "Stop, stop." He said softly as he stood in front of me and took hold of my elbows. It's not gonna hurt you, it just stinks. There's a shower back there and I'll find you something to wear.

My bottom lip was out pouting of its own free will and for some reason that earned me a small smile. His face was as filthy as the rest of him, but I could tell now that he was actually pretty attractive. He had at least a day's worth of stubble on his face that the mud was clinging to, but he had warm hazel eyes, more green than brown, and he was very male. I don't know that there is a better word for it than that. He had on a leather trench coat and I couldn't see much of his body because of it, though it couldn't cover up the fact that he was big. But he had this kind of Alpha presence that made him seem even bigger than he was and made me acutely aware of him in every sense of the word. It was both intimidating and enticing.

He kept hold of one elbow and led me back to the door he had started towards before I had my little fit. It looked like a combination break room/locker room complete with a couple of open showers in a room off to the left and lockers to the right along the wall. There was an old table with six chairs around it in the middle of the room; none of which matched. A microwave, a sink, a stove, and a fridge were on the back wall under a long window and a washer and dryer were on the wall to the left of them, separating this room from the one with the showers in it. Most of the doors on the half dozen lockers were bent or dented and all of them were scuffed. I turned back towards the showers and almost started to have another panic attack when it hit home that there was no door in that room and no curtains on any of the showers.

Uh- I started, but he cut me off.

This one locks. He said nodding his head towards the door we had just come through. I'll wait outside until you're done. The locker on the end is mine, he tilted his head again, indicating which one. I have a clean shirt and some shorts in there.

I nodded and then turned to face the showers. Towel? I asked.

Laundry day. Drip dry. With that he closed the door and was gone.

I followed behind him and locked the door before I turned to face the bathroom. There were 2 toilet stalls on the wall opposite the showers and a double sink on the wall across from the doorway. The showers looked pretty clean but I didn't really want to be in them naked and bare foot. Of course, I didn't want to be covered in limus either. I shucked my gross clothes and soppy shoes and stepped under the steaming water, closing my eyes and letting it run down my face. I was too worried about getting clean to focus on anything else in the room. The blue-green gunk that came off of me looked like it was going to clog the drains, but apparently it was water soluble because it didn't, at least not that I could tell.

The only soap that was in there was some manly smelling body wash, but it was way better than eau de monster slime and who knows what else I stunk like, so I scrubbed my whole body with it and used it for shampoo. I actually really liked it; it smelled sexy, even if it did dry out my hair.

I stayed under the water for much longer than I normally would have. I had what looked like large bruises on probably a third of my body, but was actually where the creature's goo had stained my skin. Hopefully it would come off with a salt scrub and a loofah, which obviously he didn't have in here. I wrung my hair out as best as I could and slicked off the excess water everywhere else.

I pulled on his clothes while I was still damp because it was cold in here and standing on the concrete floor with bare feet while I waited to drip dry was so not gonna happen. I knew the guy was tall, he couldn't hide that no matter what he was wearing, but he must have been pretty solid too because his clothes were big enough to drown in. I cinched up the drawstring on the pair of shorts as tight as I could get them to go and I was still worried I might lose them if I had a sudden urge to do jumping jacks, so I was probably safe from losing them.

I unlocked the door and opened it into the darkness that was now the garage. The light that had come on when we got here was either on a timer or he had turned it off because it was nearly pitch black. I took a tentative step out into the void.

Uh… hello? I called out and my voice wavered.

I'm here. He said as he came into view on my right; and I say came into view because he literally just appeared out of the darkness with no sound. I choked on a scream and jumped back, throwing my hands up defensively to ward off whatever evil had just made my heart leap into my throat. That earned me a half smile, but I think it was because I was being laughed at. I swallowed and dropped my hands, but took a step back when he came towards me. He didn't touch me, but he reached around me and flicked the other light off so now it really was pitch black.

Hey, I can't see. I said trying not to sound like I was starting to panic.

He sighed. No kidding, Sherlock. Neither can I.

Well, what was the point of that? Now we're just going to stand here in the dark and wait for the sun to come up?

He let out another sigh, like I was wearing down his patience by breathing the same air. No, give me your hand and I'll take you upstairs.

I swallowed and thought of that kiss. Um…why? I asked cautious.

All the switches are down here so I have to turn them off before I head up.

I swallowed again and held out my hand in the dark, but he didn't find it. Instead I got felt up.

Hey! That is not my hand! I snapped as I swatted him away.

Sorry, I forgot how short you are. Honest mistake.

It may have been an honest mistake, but I was pretty sure that half smile had gone to a full blown one. I reached out and found his hand, which was still dirty. He gripped mine and pulled me into the darkness.

Slow down, I can't see; I'm gonna trip.

There's nothing for you to trip on, it's a clear path.

Would you please slow down anyway? I pleaded.

He let out another sigh and stopped.

I wasn't expecting him to stop; I just wanted him to slow down. I ran into him.

Oof. He made a sound like I'd punched him in the gut, I guess he'd turned around to face me and I sort of had.

Sorry, I said softly.

The guy was solid.

He grunted something unintelligible and started towards the stairs again. I followed him at a more non-trip-able pace and when we got to the top he flipped a switch and I squinted, even from the low light of the lamp he had turned on, after being in the dark, it was pretty bright.

It was one big room, the size of the break and shower rooms below. There was a sink, some kitchen cabinets, and a small fridge against the wall closest to me and a bed against the opposite wall. In between the two, there wasn't much else. A punching bag hanging from the ceiling, a dresser on one wall by a large closet, two windows across the room from the dresser and closet, some free weights and a bench. As far as I could tell, that was it.

I'm going to go shower now. You can crash here; I'll take you to your truck in the morning.

On the sofa? I asked hopefully, even though I was pretty sure there wasn't one hiding behind the punching bag.

No couch. Bed or the floor; your choice.

And then he was gone again, back down the stairs. Guess he wasn't much for conversation. I almost yelled after him that if he was going to go back down to shower anyway he didn't need to feel me up in the dark, but I was a little afraid that if I yelled at him, he would come back up stairs, so I held my peace.

I rinsed the dirt from him off my hands in the sink but there wasn't a towel, surprise, so I had to wipe them on my already damp shorts. I sighed and eyed the floor that was covered by what looked like bamboo mats over hardwood; it looked clean enough, but I was sure it would be very hard. I really didn't want to sleep on the floor, but I didn't want him to have to sleep on the floor either, especially since I'd be taking his bed, and he had saved my life. I pulled off the blanket from his queen-sized bed along with one of the pillows and laid them down on the bamboo in the middle of the floor.

It was just as hard as it looked.

Funny thing though, I woke up warm and comfy in his bed, embarrassed that I had ended up there without knowing it, normally I was a light sleeper, you'd think someone picking me up in the middle of the night would have disturbed my slumber at least somewhat.

The sun was shining brightly through the window and was warm on my face. Not only was the bed really comfortable it smelled good, like his shower gel, but something more. I wasn't sure what else, maybe just his natural scent. I took in a deep breath and rolled over so I could look at the room again in the day light. Most of everything was where I had thought it was. The walls were a warm neutral tone that matched the cabinets across the room. They were also completely bare. It was clean and sparse and quiet… until I heard a door slam downstairs and voices echoing up. I was guessing one of them was the guy whose bed I was currently in and decided I probably wasn't going to get any braver so I rolled out of his bed, untangled his huge shorts that were twisted up around my ribcage, and headed towards the stairs. It sounded like there were several guys down there, probably the people who worked here and kept their stuff in those beat up lockers.

Now I was a little self-conscious, as was to be expected, since I was going commando and had no bra on under his clothes, but I also went to bed with wet hair and there was not a mirror in sight so I had no idea how bad I looked. I let out a sigh.

I just wanted to go home.

I took in a deep breath, fluffed up my au naturel hair, hoping that with my natural curl it would be acceptable. I held my head up high and walked down the stairs with enough spurious confidence to act like I owned the place. The main garage was empty; they were all in the break room.

Can it, Julio,

I heard him say. This was met with laughter.

I'm just sayin' man, Someone started in with a slight Latino accent, Julio I assumed, There's a girl asleep in your bed, her clothes were down here covered in who knows what before you stashed them away. It just seems like you probably had a pretty good night. More laughing.

You guys wake her up and I'm gonna fire all of you. Get to work.

I was pretty sure he wasn't really serious when he said it, but if he had yelled at me like that I probably would have stopped talking if I were them. I stepped into the doorway and the laughing stopped abruptly.

Dang. Someone said appreciatively. I smiled my man-eater grin at the Latino who had said it. There were three of them sitting at the table. Someone said something in Spanish and there were several nods. I only caught a few words but one of them sounded like 'hot'. My smile grew. And then he turned around and my man-eater grin disappeared, my cheeks instantly flushed and I made a small involuntary whimper of a sound. I was pretty sure he was good looking last night in the dark, even though he was covered in mud; I wasn't even close.

He still had the stubble, though it was now free of mud, and it looked gorgeous on him. Totally rugged. He put those weights and bag upstairs to work on a definite regular basis, because the guy was cut, like maybe 2 percent body fat cut. He had on a cream colored long sleeve thermal shirt that fit him snugly, sleeves pushed up to his elbows and jeans that were loose enough to move in, but tight enough that I could tell the muscles were just as built down his legs.

Oh my… He was beautiful. That wasn't quite right, handsome didn't cover it, gorgeous seemed too cliché to use. Pulchritudinous didn't sound epic enough, because this man was epic.

He had dark blond hair with natural highlights, just long enough to be a little messy, but very sexy. Intense jade green eyes with just a fleck of golden brown that looked hard enough to physically cut you and were captivating enough that you wouldn't mind the pain. He was somewhere in his early 30's I guessed, but those eyes looked like they had seen a lot more than any 30 year old should ever have, a lot more than anyone ever should have.

A strong, square jaw and straight Roman nose gave him leading man looks, but they were somewhat upstaged by his thin, cupids bow lips, framed out by that stubble. His skin was tan, but he was obviously Caucasian and he was probably a full head and shoulders taller than me, I was guessing 6'3", maybe more. He brought to mind words like intimidating, breathtaking, overwhelming, dangerous and yes, even delicious.

I was pretty sure I was drooling again and this time I was completely awake.

Hola, Mamacita, Julio said from the table.

I recognized the voice and put the face to the name. I gave a goofy wave to the guys at the table and tried to stop blushing at the hunk standing in front of me.

Morning, The hunk said.

His face was in a slight scowl,