Soulless (Book #2 of Hunted)

Keegan

Suddenly the doorbell chimed and I shot Phoebe a disbelieving look.

"I swear I didn't tell her she could come over," she exclaimed. I bit my bottom lip and tried to imagine who could possibly be at my door. It could be any of the three Hunters living in my neighborhood or the others. I swallowed my fear and left the kitchen. The doorbell chimed again.

"Geez, I'm coming," I muttered to myself. People were just so impatient these days. I stood in front of the closed door and silently cursed the builders of the house for not putting a peep hole in the door. I grabbed the metal handle and pushed the door open. What met my gaze was definitely the most unexpected sight. Standing on the cement landing before me was an angel. That, for some reason, was the word that immediately came to mind. He was the most beautiful man I had even seen and I felt my throat close up with nerves.

His skin was a nice shade of ivory and free of blemishes, his body was lean and muscular and sharply dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white dress shirt, and a black jacket similar to a dinner jacket but slightly more casual. His face was narrow, almost feminine, but it sported very sharp lines, there was a light color to his face that screamed life and there seemed to be a smile playing at the corners of his thin lips. His eyes were a lovely shade of greenish-grey and his dark blonde hair was combed back loosely.

"I'm so sorry to bother you but I was driving down the street and I could swear I heard someone screaming. Is everything alright?" His words were chosen almost too carefully and they held a perfect amount of indifference. His light Irish accent stuck in my brain like paste.

I reluctantly pulled my eyes away from him and I glimpsed a sleek black car behind him. I was almost certain it was an Audi R8. Once more my heart nearly stopped. That was one sexy car that I could never afford in a million years even with the checks from Grandma Moneybags.

"Excuse me, Miss, are you alright?" he asked looking at me curiously. I looked back at him and tried to keep my thoughts from scattering.

"I-I'm fine, uh, what was it you wanted?" I stuttered my way through a sentence. His lips formed a clever smile and I could feel the muscles in my legs threatening to liquefy.

"I thought I heard screaming coming from your home and I was just wondering if everything was okay," he said. His accent made the spaz fan-girl in my head squeal.

"Well everything's fine it must've been some other house," I said trying to close the door. This was a bad guy. While I was so busy ogling over him some part of my brain realized that this was Keegan. For some reason when I saw him in my vision he didn't look so beautiful...or so tall. He peered into my house with an impeccable amount of suspicion.

"Do you mind if I come in and check? I mean I could've sworn it came from this house," he said. Some switch in my brain flipped and I smirked slyly. I stepped back into my house and opened the door all the way.

"Feel free," I replied gesturing for him to come in. He glanced down at the threshold and his feet shifted about a centimeter closer to the doorway. He looked back up at me with a charming smile and said in an almost scarily polite way, "I'm a bit of a stickler for proprieties so I'm afraid I won't come in without a proper invitation." I crossed my arms over my chest and gained yet more courage from the picture of Alice Cooper on my shirt.

"Then I guess you won't be coming in," I said. His angelic face suddenly turned hard and his eyes darkened.

"I suppose you're her." The polite tone had dissipated to be replaced with an arrogant Irish lilt that was like ice cracking. The tone of his voice only made my confidence swell. Some Hunter instincts are better than none.

"Her who?" I inquired haughtily. He sneered at me in derision.

"No one but the little lass that's been causing Anton so much misery," he said bracing his arms against the door frame and leaning forward. Angry red welts began boiling up on his smooth alabaster neck. "Invite me in," he snarled before leaning back. The welts disappeared. His threatening tone didn't scare me as much as irritate and insult me.

"You know I would but I'm not a big fan of inviting bloodsucking scum into my house that sell the blood of girls for cash," I said sardonically. He smirked and his fangs, which until now had remained hidden, glinted in the dim sunlight.

"You've heard of me, I'm flattered," he said. My eyes narrowed as the dense cloud cover broke and a slim ray of sunshine touched the earth. Keegan didn't seem to be bothered by the sun.