The Beast Within by Jones Lisa Renee

Author:Jones, Lisa Renee [Jones, Lisa Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9780373617753
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2007-11-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

J ag was the leader of a bunch of immortal monster hunters. No. Beasts. Marisol had called them beasts. From what she understood, there were about twenty “trainees” on the property, and a core group of five Knights who worked directly with Jag. Men he kept close, who helped him train and place other Knights outside of their facility. All those years growing up near this place, she’d thought it was a horse ranch, thought the rumors of the monster hunters living here to be silly.

Karen sat at a very normal-looking, wooden kitchen table, tucked in the corner of a very normal-looking kitchen. In front of her was a bowl of macaroni and cheese.

A quite normal meal.

But it was a facade.

This normal-looking room sat in the middle of a training facility for what she now knew to be the “Knights of White.” After hours of talking with Marisol, hearing about the “beasts,” Karen was quite certain nothing in life would ever be “normal” again.

Especially Eva.

Marisol had worked hard, with Karen’s assistance to revive her sister. The results had been dismal at best. Eva had tossed and turned as Marisol had tried to heal her. And no matter how hard Karen had tried to calm her sister, she hadn’t been able to. Eva seemed lost, gone forever.

Marisol set a glass of soda on the table and then claimed the seat next to Karen. “I can feel your exhaustion.”

Karen would have responded, but she had just shoveled a spoon into her mouth. The minute the food hit her taste buds, her stomach growled. It was as if it had gone into hibernation and just woken up.

“God. I was hungrier than I thought. It’s been forever since I ate.”

“Makes mac and cheese taste like lobster, doesn’t it?” Marisol asked, offering a smile.

“I love this stuff,” Karen said. “I’d take mac and cheese over lobster anyday.” She’d mentioned her travel reporting during their earlier talks. “None of my travel is in the States, so it’s not easy to get some of the things I enjoy. The last time I was in the States, I packed Kraft Easy Mac to take on the road.”

Marisol finished off a bite of food. “It must be fun seeing places and getting paid for it.”

Karen shrugged, guilt stabbing at her gut and zapping her appetite again. “I guess. Maybe.” She hesitated, needing a friend. Marisol already felt comfortable. Almost familiar. Much like Jag…Well, not like Jag, but familiar all the same. “It also took me away from my sister when she obviously needed me.”

Marisol set her spoon down. “You didn’t do this to Eva. The Darklands did.”

“But—”

“There is no but. You feel the guilt because you love her, not because it’s deserved. Besides, we aren’t done fighting. If I can’t fix this, Jag can.”

Karen took a drink, trying to hide the way just hearing Jag’s name affected her. For hours, she’d hoped to see him. She told herself it was to curse him for treating her as he had, but it was more than that.

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