LITMIR.BIZ

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aren’t casting any spells.”

      â€œAre you taking me to a special healer, then? Like a shaman?”

      He sighed loudly and planted his feet so abruptly she plowed into his back.

      He turned and steadied her. “We’re going to my camp, so you can meet the other hunters. I want to know who that betrayer is. If there is one.”

      Annie’s eyes narrowed. “So, you won’t help me until I help you first.”

      â€œThat’s right.”

      Worry quickly overcame her frustration. “But what if I can’t pick up anything from them?”

      â€œYou will,” he said confidently. “I’m the best in the group at controlling my energy, yet you picked up the drumming.”

      â€œBut it was only a drumming sound. Nothing good or bad about it,” she protested.

      â€œTrue, but it picked up something of my nature. A primitive beat passed down through my ancestry.”

      â€œDon’t get your hopes up,” she muttered, picking her way carefully through the prickly saw palmettos and dense underbrush. Tombi kept a slower pace today, albeit still a brisk one. “Tell me about these other hunters.”

      The more she knew going in, the less nervous she would be. Annie hated meeting new people, especially in a group situation where each aura would jumble with the others into a confusing din.

      â€œWe’re down to four in the inner circle since Bo died. Me, Chulah, Hanan and my sister, Tallulah.”

      â€œSo, what is it you actually do? How do you fight Nalusa and his shadow spirits?”

      Tombi didn’t answer right away. “It’s something you would have to see and be a part of to really understand.”

      Meaning he didn’t want to say any more on the subject. Great. Fine by her. The less she knew, the fewer nightmares she’d dream. She’d help him find the betrayer, and he’d help her control hearing auras. Then she could have the normal life she craved, and he could...maybe win his battle. Get revenge for his friend’s death. They could both move on.

      They continued until the path widened, and she spotted over two dozen tents pitched in a field. They were arranged in a circle, and in the middle of it all was a thin stream of smoke that wafted upward from a modest fire. The acrid smell of burning oak stirred her with a sense of home and cozy evenings warming by the fireplace.

      â€œYou all must be great friends,” she said, picturing them telling stories in the evening by campfire, sharing a bond of fighting evil. They were all part of something bigger than themselves. For a moment, it made her own dream seem small and selfish.

      And he wanted her to come into this...this tight group of friends and point the finger at one of them? Annie rubbed the unexpected chill on her arms. She wasn’t sure what she feared most: being unable to recognize the betrayer, or singling out someone and facing their collective wrath.

      Nobody would thank her for disrupting their alliance, that was for sure. She peeked at Tombi’s stern profile, took in his long, slightly hooked nose, pronounced jaws and cheekbones, and heavy brows. What was his role in this band of hunters?

      â€œYour name’s unusual. What does it mean?” she asked abruptly, hoping to learn more about him.

      â€œRay of light.”

      Annie snorted, and he raised a brow. “What?”

      She couldn’t help but giggle. “You’re no ray of sunshine.”

      He stared at her blankly before a rusty rumble of laughter escaped his mouth, as if it had been years since one last escaped. “At one time, my people worshiped the sun, so to be named after its ray is a great honor.”

      â€œWhat about your friend Bo? Is that a good ole Southern name as in B-e-a-u, short for Beauregard?”

      â€œNo. It’s B-o, short for Bohpoli. That’s Choctaw for ‘thrower.’”

      Would she ever hear Bo again? She shivered, remembering his plaintive pleas for help.

      Although their movements were quiet and their voices low, they had attracted attention. A woman and three men solemnly filed out of the tent circle and stood in the center, awaiting their approach with unsmiling faces.

      Holy hoodoo, this was going to be even tougher than she imagined.

      Annie tugged the back of Tombi’s T-shirt, and he frowned down at her. “What?”

      â€œHave you told them anything about me?”

      â€œWe tell each other everything.”

      She groaned. “Terrific. Bet they can’t wait to meet me. I wish you hadn’t told them.”

      â€œThere should be no secrets among my hunters. No doubts or suspicions about the man—or woman—you have to depend on for your life.”

      Her shoulders slumped. She couldn’t argue with his logic, although she resented the situation he’d put her in. They walked onward several minutes, not speaking.

      Tombi abruptly halted and frowned her way. “You care so much what others think?”

      â€œOf course I care.” She thought of all the times people had skirted around her in school hallways or outright laughed in her face. She’d watched from the sidelines in the purgatory that was high school, unsure which she craved more—the huddling conspiracy of a group of girlfriends to share secrets and fun times with, or some cute guy to take her to dinner and a movie and whisper sweet seductions in the back of a car. “Everyone cares.”

      He shrugged. “Not me.”

      Easy for him to say—with his looks he probably had any woman he wanted. And he had a tribe of like-minded friends and family. Why should he give any thought to what was so easily granted to him?

      Annie reluctantly walked beside him, trying to emulate his mask of calm. They came to a halt six feet in front of the group.

      â€œThis is Annie Matthews.” Tombi gestured to the left with his hand. “This is Tallulah, Hanan and Chula.”

      The silence roared in her, air compressing and as stifling as a sealed coffin. They formed a firewall of mistrust and resentment, shutting her out of their circle. Annie sucked in her breath at the glittering hostility in Tallulah’s obsidian eyes. Nearly as tall as her brother, she bore the same long face, chiseled features and strong chin. It shouldn’t have worked for a female, and while she wasn’t beautiful in a Miss America or girl-next-door kind of way, Tallulah was striking and commanded attention. Annie barely took in the stoic features of the other three men.

      Tallulah put her hands on her hips. “Well?”

      â€œW-well what?” Annie stammered. She glanced at Tombi in a silent plea for help.

      â€œGo ahead,” Tallulah challenged. “I dare you to point a finger at any one of us. You don’t know—”

      â€œEnough,” Tombi cut in.

      The man next to her—Chula—lightly touched Tallulah’s forearm, and a whisper as tender as a lullaby brushed over Annie at the gesture.

      â€œWe already debated this last night and agreed to meet Annie. Let’s get this over with.” Hanan pinned Annie with a hard stare, and the whisper of sound vanished. “The sooner, the better.”

      Annie swallowed hard at their collective stare. Talk about being on the spot.

      â€œIt’s

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