Hunted Read Online Free

He left long before I was born. I figured he was just another of my mother’s one-night stands. She never told me when I asked.”
    “Does your mother have any special qualities or powers?”
    “Other than her ability to consistently pick losers? No.”
    “Maybe your father holds the key to your and Jake’s abilities. We need to find out more.”
    “Yeah, well good luck with that. My mother refused to tell me anything. What does it matter anyway?”
    He stared into her eyes. “Emma, the Vinco Potentia wants you, not Jake. You have significance. I suspect they want you for you and not just the baby, otherwise why would the prophecy call you a queen? Why not just a vessel or a baby momma?”
    Emma glared, not just because of his flippant remark. Her possible pregnancy wasn’t a subject she was willing to discuss. The Vinco Potentia wanted the baby they believed Emma was carrying. A baby who was supposed to be Jake’s enemy. Some centuries-old prophecy said that her baby would have powers equal or greater than Jake’s, somehow giving the group that possessed him power to control the world.
    Emma thought it was a crock of bullshit.
    Will sighed. “What if your significance has something to do with one of your parents? Especially your father since you have no idea who he is. Emma, we need to talk to your mother and find out more. Where is she?”
    Memories of her mother flooded her with anger and shame.
    “Emma?”
    She realized she must look as horrified as she felt. “That’s really not a good idea.”
    “Why not?”
    “Let’s just say my mother and I didn’t part on good terms and seeing me again is probably the last thing she wants.”
    Will sat next to her on the bed and took her hand. “We have to try. Maybe it will lead us closer to Jake.”
    She had sincere doubts talking to her mother would lead them to Jake, but Will knew which carrot to dangle. She’d do anything to find him. Even if it meant seeing her mother.
     
    ***
     
    Will packed what few belongings they had, which wasn’t much. When the Cavallo, a splinter group from the Vinco Potentia, kidnapped Jake, they’d blown up Will’s truck, burning up everything he had with him as well as Emma’s suitcase. Even though he’d leased his apartment under an alias, he’d hesitated going back. The people looking for them were powerful enough to sniff it out. But the little money he withdrew with his debit card the night they got away, and what the chop shop paid for the BMW he stole to escape, was running out. They needed money so it might be worth the risk. Even if they knew about his apartment, hopefully they’d stopped watching after nearly two weeks.
    “Where’s your mother?” Will asked. “I’d like to try to go back to my place. I can plan it into our route.”
    Emma hesitated long enough that Will suspected she wasn’t going to tell him.
    “Missouri. Joplin, Missouri. I’m sure she’s still there.”
    Will raised his eyebrows. “You grew up in Joplin? My apartment’s in Kansas City, only a couple hours north.”
    Emma eyed him warily before she frowned. “What a lucky coincidence.”
    These were things people usually discussed on a first date, not after spending several weeks together. There was so much he didn’t know about her, most of which she kept guarded even after everything they’d been through together. Maybe she used it as leverage to get him to share his own secrets.
    Emma lifted herself off the bed. “Will, I can help.”
    “Emma, I can do this. I don’t need your help.”
    “I’m not a fucking invalid, Will. You saw my leg. I’m healed.”
    The exasperated tone in her voice was something he’d become well acquainted with over the last week. “I know, I just don’t want you to overdo it.” He pulled her into an embrace and nuzzled her neck. “I can come up with something else for you to do.”
    She pushed him away, but she wore a small grin. “I don’t even think so.”
    He laughed. “Yeah, no time to