Chapter One
Tabitha Hoffman peered into the darkness, willing her eyes
to see the mate she knew paced her steps in the velvety cover of night. The
mating ritual wasn’t a new or complex one. A female Seer reached fertile age,
her body ripening like fruit on a vine. Once she’d gained full maturity,
instinct drove her to run—literally—and only the male destined for her could
catch and claim her. Regardless of the simplicity implied by the race, it only
guaranteed the woman would find a man biologically suitable and thereby perfect
to continue their species. A year after the Seer was claimed, she’d become
ready for seed to implant, bringing rise to the next generation of their kind.
Suitable didn’t mean happy. Biology didn’t care whether or
not a couple made sense out of bed. She’d seen women mated to men who spent
their lives with lips compressed in dislike until their hunter touched them and
hormones drove away logic. She’d met men married by destiny to women they
loathed, but couldn’t resist.
Their kind, the Seers, had formed their ways back when the
stars were newly hung in the sky and had solidly clung to them, even though the
rest of the world would find them more than archaic. Tabitha might be fated to
repeat an age-old life cycle but she didn’t have to like it.
The times might change but the old things of the Land stayed
the same. They could afford to, since times would simply change again if they
hung around long enough. She understood the ways, even if she’d spent most of
her lifetime rebelling against them. She’d met a couple of men who tempted her
to end her race, to succumb to them—two came to mind as she paused for breath
and looked down the mountain. But her fantasies weren’t for a man…at least, not
only one.
In the distance, city lights glittered. The pink glow
against the horizon promised a feast for her senses—humans drowning in
overwhelming pools of emotion and trying so hard to distract themselves from
their miseries. She could simply walk up and eat the emotions without even
fearing them noticing her presence. If she could run far and fast enough,
perhaps she could make it to that beacon of lights and lose herself to the beat
of life. An emotional vampire, that was what she considered herself, plagued by
visions of what would be. Her kind were useless in an era without a bit of
belief in magic or power, forgotten in a land of technology and instant
gratification.
Her path would be nearly untraceable amongst the tidal wave
of diversion the humans in the city would provide. Although she’d fed and felt
stronger than ever, the pulse of life still tugged at her and might become
irresistible up close. The one hunting her would surely be as tempted as she to
feast rather than hunt.
She didn’t think her pursuer would allow her quite that much
of a lead, though. He’d been following her for too many years. Perhaps even the
city wouldn’t be enough of a distraction, not with the hunger growing more
powerful every day.
Scenting him, a smell like brandy on a thread of breeze, she
skipped farther into the dense forest. She knew her way led up the mountain. A
vision long ago foretold this night, even if she’d run from it. She’d escaped
other would-be mates while the moon turned and time passed. Her age, for her
kind, meant she should have taken a lover years ago. Never before, in all her
lonely nights of racing against her own fate, had she wanted to just sit down
in the underbrush and allow her destiny to catch up. Even though her dreams and
visions warned against her marathon—foreshadowing a dark figure who might
destroy their people—she’d never second-guessed her choice to elude capture. Until
tonight. Then again, she’d always known she couldn’t outrun fate forever.
The temptation, the sweet scent of the one dogging her steps,
wasn’t new. He’d found her before, though she’d slipped away. She knew his
name, Lancaster, and they’d met and mingled at
Tabitha Hoffman peered into the darkness, willing her eyes
to see the mate she knew paced her steps in the velvety cover of night. The
mating ritual wasn’t a new or complex one. A female Seer reached fertile age,
her body ripening like fruit on a vine. Once she’d gained full maturity,
instinct drove her to run—literally—and only the male destined for her could
catch and claim her. Regardless of the simplicity implied by the race, it only
guaranteed the woman would find a man biologically suitable and thereby perfect
to continue their species. A year after the Seer was claimed, she’d become
ready for seed to implant, bringing rise to the next generation of their kind.
Suitable didn’t mean happy. Biology didn’t care whether or
not a couple made sense out of bed. She’d seen women mated to men who spent
their lives with lips compressed in dislike until their hunter touched them and
hormones drove away logic. She’d met men married by destiny to women they
loathed, but couldn’t resist.
Their kind, the Seers, had formed their ways back when the
stars were newly hung in the sky and had solidly clung to them, even though the
rest of the world would find them more than archaic. Tabitha might be fated to
repeat an age-old life cycle but she didn’t have to like it.
The times might change but the old things of the Land stayed
the same. They could afford to, since times would simply change again if they
hung around long enough. She understood the ways, even if she’d spent most of
her lifetime rebelling against them. She’d met a couple of men who tempted her
to end her race, to succumb to them—two came to mind as she paused for breath
and looked down the mountain. But her fantasies weren’t for a man…at least, not
only one.
In the distance, city lights glittered. The pink glow
against the horizon promised a feast for her senses—humans drowning in
overwhelming pools of emotion and trying so hard to distract themselves from
their miseries. She could simply walk up and eat the emotions without even
fearing them noticing her presence. If she could run far and fast enough,
perhaps she could make it to that beacon of lights and lose herself to the beat
of life. An emotional vampire, that was what she considered herself, plagued by
visions of what would be. Her kind were useless in an era without a bit of
belief in magic or power, forgotten in a land of technology and instant
gratification.
Her path would be nearly untraceable amongst the tidal wave
of diversion the humans in the city would provide. Although she’d fed and felt
stronger than ever, the pulse of life still tugged at her and might become
irresistible up close. The one hunting her would surely be as tempted as she to
feast rather than hunt.
She didn’t think her pursuer would allow her quite that much
of a lead, though. He’d been following her for too many years. Perhaps even the
city wouldn’t be enough of a distraction, not with the hunger growing more
powerful every day.
Scenting him, a smell like brandy on a thread of breeze, she
skipped farther into the dense forest. She knew her way led up the mountain. A
vision long ago foretold this night, even if she’d run from it. She’d escaped
other would-be mates while the moon turned and time passed. Her age, for her
kind, meant she should have taken a lover years ago. Never before, in all her
lonely nights of racing against her own fate, had she wanted to just sit down
in the underbrush and allow her destiny to catch up. Even though her dreams and
visions warned against her marathon—foreshadowing a dark figure who might
destroy their people—she’d never second-guessed her choice to elude capture. Until
tonight. Then again, she’d always known she couldn’t outrun fate forever.
The temptation, the sweet scent of the one dogging her steps,
wasn’t new. He’d found her before, though she’d slipped away. She knew his
name, Lancaster, and they’d met and mingled at
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