Hunter (eBook)

Leah Lozano (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
840 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9812-2 (ISBN)

Infos

As mythical and physical realms converge, twenty-one-year-old Lina's escalating visions that catapult her into the midst of a war on the other end of the universe are becoming more plausible than ever. Struggling with the sudden silence of her midnight-eyed man, who exists solely in her visions, and her over-protective Guardian, who makes her intuition scream danger-Lina must save herself from a rebel force who believes she is the dangerous answer to their prophecies, find the truth of her own origins and inner strength, and battle epic forces of evil. While forced to run from legends, Lina's intuition ignites a warning more intense than ever ... THE DARK HE IS NEAR

LEAH P. LOZANO is a passionate writer who has been crafting stories since childhood. Growing up with nearly all male cousins and two brothers, House was never a game they played. Being the popular choice, Star Wars earned her the nickname 'Princess Leah' and ignited her inner geek. Leah's unique style allows her to create captivating narratives that resonate with readers from all ages and walks of life. Now, as an East Coast gal living in sunny South Texas, she is a happily married wife, cat mom, business owner, and author. Creating a world of adventure she can share with you has been one of her greatest joys.

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For twenty-one-year-old Lina, there is no denying what she is, not human, or the life she will soon leave behind, destined for a planet, not Earth, to claim her power, please, not blooming flowers! The Fates, it would seem, have a twisted sense of humor. As mortal and immortal worlds collide, one thing is certain: nothing about Lina conforms to the natural order. Worse, her birthday coincides with an ancient prophecy, and now she is forced to run from the very legends she read about, all while a water nymph sings her death song. Now might be a bad time to test the boundaries with her Guardian. Be it the heavens or earthbound, it is undeniable. They are watching. And now, she hears their incessant whispers. But one in particular has grown persistent, beckoning. The only escape she has is her visions, and those, too, are growing more daunting, especially in the absence of him. His visits made the strange ones worth suffering through, so where is he? As the norm crumbles at an accelerated pace, Lina's intuition ignites a warning more intense than ever, and the revelation is clear THE DARKHE IS NEAREnjoy book two of this Epic Fantasy series.

Textauszug

In truth, I was tired of waiting,
Tired of waiting for Archos, tired of waiting for him.

I was tired of waiting for it to all make sense.
I needed to do something—anything—but wait for those hunting me.
 

Now, I fear that which I have roused.

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

 

 

 

Lina

“Oh, God!” I clamped both hands over my gaping mouth as white scorched the back of my eyelids. “You hit him. You hit him!” I couldn’t shake the ghastly feel of the truck bouncing over someone’s body, and there wasn’t enough noise in the world to drown the sound of it reverberating in my head. “I,” I gripped the seat, panting in shock, “I’m gonna be sick.” I needed him to tell me that what I thought happened was somehow a fluke, that it was a nasty pothole and not a person we hit, but Archos remained silent. Say something!

“Lina …” Archos let my name linger in the charged air as time weighed heavy on every passing second.

“Didn’t you see him?” I shrieked with a mouth devoid of moisture.

My fingertips ached from clutching the seat, but I couldn’t move. I refused to believe it. Archos would never do something so horrifying, not intentionally, not Archos. The guy running at us must’ve distracted him from seeing the man on the road; that had to be it. As steady as ever, he replied, “You are hyperventilating; slow your breathing with deep breaths and calm down.” His concern was not for the one he had bulldozed but for me.

I shot a withering look his way and managed a thin breath of air tainted by an unearthly scent. “I can’t see,” I gasped, “is he moving?” Archos didn’t respond. And I had no way of knowing if he bothered to check. I squeezed my eyes shut, then let them flutter open. Nothing. So, this was what it was like when your immortal hunk of a neighbor used his power to blind you. But did it belong to Archos or the man on the road?

I recalled the night I was attacked at the theater. An intense light temporarily stole my sight then, too … was that the same thing? Needles pricked my spine at the thought of “Sever,” or rather, Severino—another immortal. He could control your emotions with a single word and had a twisted way of entertaining himself with his mean right hook.

“He will survive,” Archos stated flatly, “now breathe.”

My held breath slipped free as the initial shock lifted, and stars of lightheadedness danced at the edges of my white-washed sight. Maybe I did need to focus on breathing. I placed a hand on my constricted chest, confident that the guy we hit was the one who stubbornly refused to emerge from my visions. He was the one man who caught my eye and my heart … until Archos came along and flubbed that up.

I’ve had visions my whole life. Something I’d learned to keep to myself rather than lose another friend or get tagged as the class freak. Usually, they were glimpses of future events, minor warnings, or pre-introductions to people I would one day meet. Nearly all of them materialized, but not him, until now. And Archos struck him with the truck. “No, no, no … please, no.” I tugged the shoulder strap as if it were the seatbelt suffocating me. “That was him! Him!” The belt locked in protest, and I gave up on the one-sided tug of war. “That’s the guy from my visions. And you—you hit him!”

“You are mistaken,” his even tone held its usual sureness, and the engine roared to proclaim the truck’s accelerated pace.

It made no sense; Archos hit someone but wasn’t freaking out. Nor was he stopping. I wanted to shake sense or feeling or something back into him. “I know what I saw—what I felt. It was an accident, right? You didn’t mean to do it?” Unable to see it in his eyes and too upset to read him intuitively, I desperately needed him to confirm that, but he didn’t or wouldn’t. I knew it. Heaven help me; I knew it all along. I should never have trusted someone I met just a few short months ago—let alone start falling for him—especially when my intuition screamed danger whenever he was near. “Please answer me.”

The warmth of his hand cupped my shoulder. “It will be all right.”

He didn’t confirm it was an accident; he didn’t say no. Chills wracked my body, and everything swayed. “Don’t touch me!” I recoiled to the passenger door to get as far away from him as possible. “Don’t you touch me! Oh, God, you need to pull over.”

Archos released a contemptuous humph, “Aah, no.” His tone made clear he thought it should be obvious.

“No?” What does he mean by “No?” I thought.

Archos showed no shame in using his ability to listen to my thoughts. “I mean, no; there is no need.” I heard him fiddle with the wipers and fluid. What’s he cleaning off of the windshield? I had a distinct feeling I didn’t want to know. Then he added, “He is immortal.”

Something revolting laced his words, and I cringed. “You did it on purpose; you meant to hit him.”

The edge in his voice was palpable, “I assure you, that was not him.”

“Then who is he, ’cause he sure looked like him?” When Archos didn’t respond, I held up a hand. “You know what? Either way, you need to stop the truck.”

“I told you—”

The familiar opalescent flash of silver pressed in, announcing the vision to come …

 

~ * ~

*** A gruff, disembodied voice coiled around me, ‘He waits for you.’ My stomach went fluttery with anticipation. But I had no idea whom I was looking forward to bumping into.

Their enveloping presence went through me, leaving a chill that worked from skin to bone, and I shivered uncontrollably. ‘There was a time when you liked it,’ they mused. ***

 

Liked what? As quickly as it arrived, the revelation ended. It was a travesty that visual images didn’t accompany all of them. The voice sounded so near I feared Archos might’ve heard, but when he made no comment, I sighed in relief. Maybe he struggled to tap into my visions like he so easily tapped into my thoughts.

I folded my arms and tucked my fingertips under until my fingernails bit into my palms, but I couldn’t get warm. “W-what did you say?” I asked, trying to shake the disruption.

“I said no,” he reinforced.

I let my head drop back onto the seat, “Shocker.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, preoccupied.

I shrugged, “‘No.’ It’s your favorite word.”

“Can you blame me when it is so often merited?” I could only imagine the self-satisfaction gracing his perfect features as I straightened with indignation.

“Merited?” I fumed. What twenty-three-year-old talks like that? “You … I,” he had me so flustered I couldn’t think straight. “You know what, whatever, just—enough already—stop the truck, Archos,” I spat his name, listening for any indication he was slowing. He wasn’t. Fine, if he’s not gonna stop, I’ll make him, I thought as I searched for the door handle and released my belt.

“What the hell are you doing?” The truck swayed when he grabbed my arm, and the onset of a possible bruise forming ached under his digging fingers, “Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Ow, let go!” I gripped the lever, contemplating how jumping from a moving vehicle might feel. Drop and roll, right?

“As soon as you release the handle.”

I scrunched closer to the door, but with his height, he had a long reach. “I said let go!”

“You first,” there was no trace of yielding in his voice.

He wasn’t going to let go, which meant I wasn’t going anywhere, and he knew it. How do I get out of here and back to him? My head pounded in a ferocious beat, and while the shivers weren’t helping, the blindness only aided in my focusing on the thumping pain. With reluctance, I released the handle. The instant I did, Archos let go of me. If nothing else, he was a man of his word. Well, except maybe when it came to him? I don’t care what Archos claimed; I knew what I saw. It had to be him. “I-I need to see him—to make sure he’s okay … I have to,” to touch him and prove once and for all that he’s real. “That was him.”

“Him? Him? Why is it he has no name, Lina?” Archos said sharply while helping me refasten my seatbelt. Low blow. Why the fates hadn’t revealed that tidbit after having countless visions of him had always bothered me—a fact Archos was well aware of. “Perhaps it is because he does not exist.” For Archos to go there, I must’ve ticked him off something fierce with my attempted escape. Even so, I felt him trying to spread a blanket over me one-handed. I grabbed an edge and pulled it up to my chin, immediately thankful but unable to say so.

Incidentally, a name had come to me. But it arose like a whisper to the subconscious after a recent vision with him. Lucius. From what I knew, its meaning had something to do with light. Was there a more perfect name? I like to think it belonged to my midnight-eyed phantom, but I wasn’t sure, nor was I about to share that with lead-foot. I let the blanket fall to my lap and tested my arm where Archos had grabbed it. No bruise; I guess he wasn’t gripping me that hard.

“Of course not,” he blurted, sounding offended.

“Stay out of my head,” I countered...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.8.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-9812-2 / 9798350998122