Page 73 of Fated to the Hunters
“I should, huh?”
“Not necessarily. You don’thaveto do anything.”
“What are you going to do?”
You,Ezra thought, but he didn’t dare say that out loud. Instead, he drafted a more appropriate answer. “Spend time with you.”
Scarlett hummed, deeming his response sufficient. “Tell me how you grew up, Ezra.”
His name rolled off her lips like a kitten purring and Ezra swayed on the spot, drunk off the sound. The words fell from Ezra’s mouth easily. “My mother and father married for convenience. They didn’t care for each other, only to create a strong bloodline that would produce powerful witches and warlocks. Nothing was more important than teaching us what had been passed down over generations.”
“So you learned everything from your parents?”
Ezra nodded, leaning into Scarlett’s touch. “Mmhmm.”
“And you have siblings?”
“Two sisters.”
“Older or younger?”
“I’m the oldest. Probably why I’m so fucked up.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
He shrugged it off and rolled his head back to look up at her. Her fingertips crawled down his neck and teased back up to his ears, just like she had before—just like helovedit. “They only cared for success. A warlock’s magic comes with age, it’s something one grows into over time. It depends on your bloodline, of course, but it’s like learning to walk or write.”
“But your parents weren’t patient enough to wait for it to happen naturally,” Scarlett deduced.
“No, they weren’t. They had me learn spells instead of nursery rhymes and had me carve runes when I was far too young to be wielding sharp objects. The older I grew the more I understood what they were doing to me. They pressured me. I always felt like I had no other choice but to please them by trying even more advanced spells. It’s hard to explain, but if you don’t have a good relationship with your magic, it taints it.”
“When you hate something, you will never be as good at it as if you love it.”
“That’s right. I left once I was old enough and rediscovered magic. I taught myself what it meant tome. My parents always wanted to achieve pure magic, powers solely from within like our ancestors. They didn’t need spells, nor did they have to use other creatures’ magic to create theirs.”
“Do you feel like you found your own path now?”
Ezra nodded. “I do.”
“When did you decide to become a hunter?”
“I was looking for a new supplier when I met Mateo and Vince. They were just starting out and had stumbled upon a vampire. I offered to help them for a share of their rewards.”
“And somehow you managed to talk them into a blood bond.”
“That was later down the line, but they did enjoy the perks of liquid luck.”
“Have you talked to your family since leaving them?”
“No.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Fourteen years.”
“So, how old are you now?” Scarlett asked cautiously, as if she feared the answer—or his reaction.
“Thirty.” Emboldened, Ezra reached up and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, guiding her hand down his neck and around his throat. He’d always wondered what her fingers would feel like once they formed his very own hand necklace. “Tell me about your family. Have you always been sheltered?”
