Page 30 of The Secret of Pain

Oh, the wonders of Hunter hearing. I try to shut it out, I don't need to hear all the voices, but it makes a lot more sense now why my parents bought this place—it’s so secluded there's no other houses within miles, so no extra voices to filter out.

I pull my jacket tighter as I head inside and Colt meets me at the door with a stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, little sister. Welcome to the clan for reals."

"You're such a goofball, Colt." I push him out of the way, and he laughs again.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't change me for the world!" His voice follows me as I walk through the house back to the kitchen where everyone else will be congregated. It has been the same way for as long as I can remember.

I enter the room and it goes quiet, except for the sound of Colt still laughing as he walks up behind me.

"So, that was fun," I say with a shrug and take off my jacket, the temperature inside here hot as hell. I look around the room and take a seat at the table, grabbing another donut and ignoring the fact that I'm going to practically burst. Emotional eating is a real thing.

"Remy," my dad starts, but Maddie interrupts him.

"Now then, her memories won't be back fully for the next few days, so no questions, from any of you." She pins everyone with a look that says not to give her shit, and Nate laughs next to her.

"My wife, badass, mother extraordinaire, and layer-down of the law." He takes a sip from the mug in his hand, his eyes still dancing with laughter.

"Don't you start." She rolls her eyes at him, but the rest of the room murmurs in agreement.

"Remy is marked by Leviathan," Creek drops, and all gazes shoot to him before turning to me.

"Leviathan? That isn't possible," my dad says as Bauer leaves the room, and the stairs creak under his weight as he climbs them. I assume he’s going up to the library, because as much as my eldest brother loves cars, he is also a total book nerd. "Remy, will you show us your mark?"

"Sure, I just showed Creek. I don't understand what the big deal is though." I stand and turn my back to them, pulling my hair up.

"Erm, Remy, it’s still growing," Creek says and Maddie shushes him.

"Growing?" I ask warily.

"Yes sweetheart," Maddie says softly, closer to me than I thought. "I've never seen anything like it, but it’s beautiful. The back of your neck, and from what I can tell, it’s growing across your shoulder."

She pulls the back of my T-shirt from my neck and hums. "Just as I thought. Your Hunter mark is there, in the middle at the base of your neck, but it is surrounded by the mark of Leviathan, and then something extra that I don't recognize. It’s like roots, or vines, with bursts of color and symbols. I imagine Bauer will want to start looking into this straight away.”

"Will I not remember what it means?" I ask, puzzled.

"Not necessarily," Bauer says as he re-enters the room with a book bound in brown leather, that looks older than anything I've ever seen. He sits across from me at the table and opens the book.

"This is the mark of the Hunter," he says, showing me an image on a page surrounded by text that I only half recognize.

"Is that Latin?" I ask and he nods.

"It is the old language," Dad answers from across the room.

"Once your memories return, you'll be able to read it, write it, and speak it as well as the rest of us. And anything that's missing, Bauer can help you with," Nate says reassuringly.

"Okay. Can I see that?" I ask Bauer who nods and spins the book so I can see the image. It looks so strange, and yet at the same time, so familiar. A circle, wrapped in vines, and a sword through the middle, the hilt above the circle, as if the sword is piercing it.

"Every Hunter has one," Bauer says and lifts his arm to show me his, on his wrist, surrounded by tattoos so that it’s almost hidden. "We tend to disguise them when they're in an obvious place, so it’s not just like a beacon to the other factions. They appear in different places in each life, but your old mark will be represented by a constellation, which people just assume are weird birthmarks, just as you always have. The more marks, the more respect a Hunter is given in the community. Unless they have been cast out as rogues for whatever reason."

"We can be cast out?" I ask, my head whipping to my dad, Nate, and Maddie. Creek and Colt are unusually quiet, but then, they've always been the most in tune with me, so I guess they're trying to give me the space Maddie called for.

"We can," Nate says. "It is unusual though. If a Hunter breaks our laws, depending on the crime, there are two punishments. Banishment, which is being cast out of the community, or death. Upon rebirth, if killed, Hunters are usually not given the choice again until they have cycled at least twice as a human as part of their punishment."

"Holy shit," I say, wide-eyed. "Nice of you all to have left out these wonderful snippets of information until there's no turning back."

"Remy, you have never been cast out or killed for breaking laws," my dad says, and Nate looks at him. I can't read it, but it’s as if I'm missing something, a silent conversation between them. My dad shakes his head subtly and I tuck that away, because I'm definitely missing something here—maybe my memories will reveal the full truth. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

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