A Reluctant Huntress: Tales of the Wild Hunt | Book One Read online

  Praise for Graceley Knox

  "Graceley Knox debuts with a fantasy that will immerse the reader into her world, and make them never want to leave." – Once Upon an Alpha

  “Graceley Knox turns adrenaline into words, then combines them with a true storyteller's magic into a novel I couldn't put down. Her alternative world is richly drawn but passionately explored, and occupied by characters now woven into my heart…” -USA Today Bestselling author, Angel Payne

  “Graceley Knox has blown me away… This tale will take you on a magical journey that brings Fae and Goblins to life. Definitely the best Faery book that I have ever read.” - Tina at Bookalicious Babes Blog

  “Mark of Truth was absolutely spellbinding! It held me captive from the start. Ever and Dare have such a strong force of animal attraction and I cannot wait to see what happens next! So, I say, bring on more Elves, Goblins and Fae my friend!” – Mindy, Talkbooks

  Contents

  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

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Acknowledgments

  Also By Graceley Knox

  About Graceley Knox

  A Reluctant Huntress

  Tales of the Wild Hunt | Book One

  Graceley Knox

  Chaotic Press, LLC

  A Reluctant Huntress Copyright © 2019 by Graceley Knox

  All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Edited by: Polished Perfection

  Cover Design by: Story Wrappers

  This one’s for every woman out there who breaks the rules with a smile on her face.

  “Even the best laid plans don’t have a chance when fate steps in.” - Jinx

  1

  I sling a shot of whiskey to my right, a triple espresso to my left, smiling as the glass glides across the dark wood of the bar.

  “Enjoy, guys!” I yell over the pounding bass of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” the speakers mounted on the walls around the dingy room on at full blast.

  “Thanks, Jin!” one of them shouts, and I wave him off, pocketing the tip he left behind. I bob my head to the music, enjoying the groove I’m in behind the bar.

  Uncap.

  Pop.

  Shake.

  Pour.

  Slam the drink on the scarred wooden surface and collect their money.

  Easy. Just like I like it. I’ve had enough of chasing after people to last more than a few lifetimes. And the controlled chaos that is a building full of human, supernatural, and magical beings is just what I need to keep me from losing my mind between enforcing warrants with my partner, Kapriel.

  And for a Thursday night, I can’t complain. We’re fucking slammed at Karmakazis.

  Karmakazis has been my home since I left the Wild Hunt. Or, well, the apartment above the bar is anyways. The bar itself is a hole in the wall off the highway, a blinking red sign out front with a few busted letters the only indication that there’s life this far out of the city. That and the full parking lot. Every once and a while my boss needs someone to fill in, I tend the bar for a night.

  “Jinx! Help a brother out!” Kapriel shouts from the other end of the bar, holding up his empty beer bottle. He’s one of the only ones I let get away with using my full name these days. And mostly it’s because I got tired of the silly slap fights that would ensue as we argued over it.

  “One sec!” I give a customer change, dance around the other bartender, and make my way down to him. Every seat in the house, from the barstools to the booths in the back to the high top tables lining the dance floor, is full. Standing room only. He’s lucky that I’m able to get to him at all in the next five minutes, let alone the next five hours.

  Kapriel is a big dude. Six foot five, built like a brick house, and covered in tattoos. He keeps his black hair cropped short but refuses to shave off his beard completely. It leaves him looking a bit like a Viking berserker. The only thing missing is a battle axe and a shield to complete the ensemble.

  I uncap another bottle of beer and push it across the counter to him. But he holds up a second finger, glancing over his shoulder at a petite blonde smiling coyly at him.

  “Uh, one more, Jinx.” He uses my last name, as per his usual when he’s not trying to get my attention in a crowded room.

  “You know she was here last weekend, smiling that same grin at another guy, right?” I pull a face, grossed out at the thought of whatever cooties she could be carrying.

  “Hey, I wrap my shit.” Kapriel puffs out his chest. “It’s not like I’m a grown man or anything, Mom…”

  I hold up both hands, backing away. “Don’t ever let it be said I was a cock block. But when your bits fall off, I will say I told you so.” I sing song the last words, ignoring the middle finger he points in my direction. “Have fun!”

  Hours fly by, and it’s closing time.

  Fuckin’ finally.

  As much as I love my job, or well, this one, all I want to do at the end of the day is curl up on my overstuffed couch with a cup of tea, a good book, and zen out. Instead, it appears, I’m dealing with a man turned octopus as he tries to pick me up on his way out the door.

  “C’mon, baby, I promise I’ll make all your fantasies come true.” He slurs the words, the word true sounding like blue.

  I snort. “I promise I’ll leave you without a bruised dick if you leave now.”

  The man sobers up quickly, retracting his hands from my shoulders and holding them up in defense. “Sorry, Jin. You know I was just playing.”

  “Mm-hmm. I know.” I walk ahead of him and open the door to the cab. “Get home safe.”

  “Night.” He barely misses smashing his head against the door frame before he ducks in and waves goodbye.

  I shake my head. Humans and their inability to hold their liquor. I swear to the gods. It’s like a game of “how many brain cells can I kill off” in one night to them.

  I put the cash in the safe, hit all six deadbolts on the doors, and trudge upstairs to my apartment, not even sparing a glance at the fliers and posters plastered to the wall leading upstairs. A piece of paper flutters from where it’s taped to my door, and the sound stops me in my tracks.

  I slip a knife out from the sheath at my thigh and approach with caution. I move quickly to the end of the hallway, checking the rear stairwell. Once I know it’s clear, I circle back to my door and rip the paper off
my door with one hand, my tight grip crinkling the corner.

  “I know who you really are. This isn’t over.”

  I choose to ignore the shiver of concern that something is familiar about the handwriting on this note and that someone other than my boss knows who I really am. Kapriel doesn’t even really know who I am. I roll my shoulders, trying to ease the tension as I open my front door. “Real original, whoever you are. But don’t worry, I’ll find your ass.” I slam the door shut behind me, securing all five of the extra locks I’d installed when I first moved in here.

  I stumble into my room and unlace each of my knee-high combat boots, nearly tripping over the laces of the right one as I undo the left. As soon as I toe them off, I flop face first into my pillow top bed and let my eyelids drift shut.

  Whoever it is that thinks they know who I am, who I really am, is going to have to wait until I catch some z’s.

  * * *

  “Kap! Kapriel! To your left!” I shout the warning, and he spins to catch the second Ogre of the night, just before the first clocks me on the side of my head with his meaty fist.

  I bite my tongue, tasting blood as my neck cracks when my head tries to swivel around like a gods damned owl from the blow. I’m stunned long enough that he turns his back on me, heading for Kapriel and his buddy.

  “Oh no you don’t, you big bastard.” I shake off the stupor and lunge, jumping on his back and clenching his throat in the crook of my arm. I’m not sure how well this will actually work, as his neck is as thick as a tree trunk, but I’ll give it the old college try anyways.

  The Ogre grunts and tries to bat at me on his back like I’m a pesky fly, not a trained huntress with a body count that most assassins would kill for.

  “Give it up, you fucking prick.” I flex my arm, pulling it back as hard as I can with my other arm for leverage. He drops to one knee, and I almost lose my grip but manage to hold on.

  “Are you just about done, Jin?” Kapriel asks, and I growl at him, baring my teeth. He laughs, wiping gravel off of his dark blue jeans. “What? I gave you the bigger one. You should be thanking me.”

  “So fucking generous of you.” I huff a breath through my nose and tap into the last reserves of my energy before tightening my arms. The Ogre goes still and starts to fall forward. I follow him down, ensuring he’s not playing me and that he’s truly unconscious.

  I jump back and nudge at him with my toe, waiting for him to snap at me like an angry alligator with those sharp teeth of his again, but he doesn’t move. I grab his hands, secure them behind his back and haul him up with help from Kapriel.

  A drop of something wet drips down to my cheek, and I look up, expecting rain. I wipe at it and look down at my fingers, finding a smear of red liquid instead of water. “Great. He cut me.”

  Kapriel tips my chin up with his finger and whistles low. “Damn, he sure did a number on you, Jin.”

  “Yeah, no thanks to your help, asshole.” I shove at him and walk around to the passenger side of the SUV, climbing in. “How bad is it?” I ask him, afraid to flip down the mirror and see for myself. “Will I need reconstructive surgery to save my beautiful face?”

  Kapriel’s sapphire blue eyes search my face, narrowing at each new scrape. “You’ll need stitches on your eyebrow for sure, but I’m not sure anything could fix your face.”

  “Well, that’s rude.” I hold up my right forearm, wrapping it with a piece of gauze from the glove compartment. “I’ll need them here too. The fucker bit me, Kap.” I shove the bag of medical supplies back into their place and slam the door closed. “He bit me! Who even does that in a fight?”

  Kapriel laughs, shaking his head as he pulls out of the alleyway we’d parked in, heading for headquarters so we can drop off these two and get paid. “Ogres apparently. Although, I thought that biting was reserved for five-year-olds and sex these days...so color me just as surprised as you.”

  “I probably need a rabies shot,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest and then wincing when my left forearm rests on the fresh wound on the right.

  “You probably should talk with the doc about that. Don’t know how their saliva would affect you.” He waves a hand in front of my face, and I swat at him. “How many hands do I have? Are you seeing any colors?”

  “I’m not tripping, you lunatic. Both hands on the wheel. I don’t need any more scrapes and bruises from tonight. Let’s just get them back, get checked out, and get the hell home. I need a shot of something strong enough to burn my insides, and a nap.”

  “Roger that, Jin. Your wish is my command.” He sing songs his words, and my lips crack into a smile.

  “If only.”

  2

  My boots slip against the smooth cement of the holding area, and I grunt as both Kapriel and I shove the biggest of the two Ogres toward the box of bars that will keep him contained.

  “Get. In. There. You. Stubborn. Bastard.” I bite out each word, including another shove to his back to push him inches closer to the entrance of the cell.

  Getting him out of the car, I’d already earned a split lip, a solid blow to my thigh, and my wrist is probably sprained as well now too. If they weren’t so heavy, we’d have left them unconscious, but it would take a small vehicle to tow them inside as dead weight.

  “Where the hell is everyone, Granger?” I yell to our boss, who’s leaning up against the wall, watching us with amusement. He’s shorter than you’d expect, and as lean as a pole, but his track record speaks for itself.

  “Out chasing other skips,” his scratchy voice drawls. Of course they are. Granger’s the number one warrant enforcer in the country. And if someone’s skipped their bail, he’s the one you go to when you need to bring them back. Supernatural or human alike. Granger not only runs the toughest group of bounty hunters in the country but also owns Karmakazis and a few other establishments in the supernatural and human communities.

  “Feel free to help, boss.” Kapriel grunts as he tries and fails to trip the Ogre.

  “My skip chasing days are behind me. I pay you guys the big bucks for this shit now.” The buzzer to the front door sounds, and he pushes off from the wall to answer it. “Get him in a cage before he scratches my floors,” he drawls as he walks away.

  “Kap, you remember that one time in Nevada?” I ask him, desperate to get this resistant bastard the final two inches into the cell and out of my hair.

  “Of course I do… Oh! You wanna try it?” He chuckles but nods. “You or me?”

  “Me this time.” I make eye contact with him and mouth the count down.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  We both let go of the Ogre, and he stumbles backward. While he’s off balance, we rush forward, shoving him with all of our might, knocking him further off balance and into the cell. Kap slams the iron bars closed, and I wrap it with a few layers of cool iron chains just in case.

  “Ha! Take that, you ugly prick.” Kap holds up his arm for a high five, and I clap my hand in his, wincing when he shakes my arm a bit in his excitement.

  “Ow.” I wince as I cradle my right wrist in my left hand.

  “You okay, Jin?” Kap’s face morphs into one of concern rather than cocky satisfaction, and I shrug him off.

  “I’m fine. Nothing a little visit to the doc won’t fix, and then you can bring me home and nurse me back to health.”

  We walk down the hall into the staff doctor’s mini emergency room, Kapriel pushing the double swinging doors open ahead of me.

  “Doc! We’ve got a treat for you tonight. A whole assortment of injuries to mend!” he shouts.

  The old troll rolls out from behind his desk and raises an eyebrow when he gets a look at both of us. “Rough night, you two?”

  “Ogres,” I mumble, plopping down on one of the exam tables. “Me first. Kap gave me the biggest one.”

  “It was out of the kindness of my heart, Doc, I swear it.” Kap smiles, his white teeth flashing underneath his beard.

&nb
sp; “Oh, I’m sure.” The doc pulls his glasses down from their perch on top of his head and runs his gaze over me, muttering to himself as he pulls things out of shiny metal cabinets and starts piling them on the tray next to the exam table. He points to the blood-soaked wrap around my forearm and asks, “What happened there?”

  “He bit me,” I growl, still salty about it.

  “Oh dear.” Doc runs his hand through his curly white hair and disappears into the supply room.

  “I don’t like the sound of that, Doc. Tell me the truth, are you going to have to amputate it?”

  “Oh, don’t be dramatic, Jin.” Kapriel laughs.

  “You get bitten by an Ogre next time then.” I shove at his shoulder, not even making him sway, and pretend to be a damsel in distress. “I’ll never be the same again. I’ll lose all ability to defend myself. You’ll have to take care of me and keep me safe, Kap.”

  Kapriel’s face contorts into a mixture of horror and laughter, his dark blue eyes shining with mirth as he frowns so hard, lines appear on either side of his mouth. “Doc, you’ve got to save her! I’m too young for a ball and chain!”

  “You two and your antics. I’d forgotten how ridiculous you are.” He shakes his head as he appears with a big ass syringe in his hand.

  “That syringe better be for Kapriel, or I’ll amputate the arm my damn self,” I deadpan, only half kidding.