Vengeance Borne by Amanda Bonilla Page B

The creatures she hunted were far from her tonight, making their evil mischief in another Waerd’s territory. Let them be someone else’s problem for one evening, at least.
    Sometimes she envied Bearers. Their job was to comfort, to take away the pain, both physical and emotional, that wore so heavily on a Waerd’s psyche. Jacquelyn couldn’t grant comfort or save someone from a life-threatening wound. The only emotions she was allowed to absorb were hate, fear, and rage. She got none of the warm-fuzzies a Bearer received. A Bearer could sense her emotions, and the only thing she sensed was the painful presence of the supernatural. Bearers were given gifts. Hers felt more like a punishment. And the Sentry forced her to pay penance with her services.
    She shuffled up the walkway leading to her modest manufactured home. It barely broke the thousand-square-foot mark and was the shape of a fat brick, but it was big enough for her. After a face lift or two over the years, it looked a lot homier than it had when she’d bought it off the auction block. It might not have been as magnificent as some of the homes around the lake, but it was hers . And there was very little in this world she could claim really and truly belonged to her.
    Movement caught her attention in Jacquelyn’s peripheral vision and the glow of moonlight illuminated a tall, lone figure pacing back and forth on her porch. Looking to the treed area along her driveway, she noticed for the first time the gleam off the hood of his truck. Jeez. She must have been totally wrapped up in her thoughts to miss it. Way to stay on your toes, hunter .
    “Who’s the guy?” Finn asked as she climbed the steps to her front porch.
    Damn. Wes was spreading the gossip lightning fast tonight. What a butthole. She’d make him pay for it later. Rule numero uno: never screw with the lady who makes your drinks. “You’re spying on me now?” She should have known Finn would be jealous and possessive.
    “If I have to. We just broke up, Jax. What the hell?”
    She wanted nothing more than to stick the key in the lock and slam the door in his face. But knowing Finn, he’d spend the night on her porch, and Trish would kill her if he got sick from sleeping outside all night.
    “It’s not what it looked like.”
    “Funny, because from what I heard it looked pretty much like a date.”
    “If you came here tonight to pick a fight, you might as well go home. I’m not in the mood.” Date or not, her life was none of his damn business anymore. She broke up with him, which meant she wasn’t his to worry about.
    “Is it that easy for you to move on?” The hurt sliced through his voice, and it nearly tore her composure to shreds.
    Did she come across as that heartless? “No. Finn, of course not. I wasn’t on a date. This guy, Micah, he’s—”
    Finn put his mouth to hers before she could finish her sentence. She tried to pull away, but one hand found her hip while the other wound around her neck, and he brought her hard against him, his fingers biting into her skin. Snaking her hands between their pressed bodies, Jacquelyn’s palms found his chest and she pushed against him. He ignored the plea; his arms tightened around her, refusing to let her go.
    Wow. So not the way to win her over. Knowing no better way to free herself from his demanding kiss, Jacquelyn turned to the only weapon in her arsenal. She let the anger boiling inside of her build until it felt like it would flood her, then she sent it all out in a rush, flowing straight into Finn, a conduit for her emotions. Every ounce of what she felt flowed through her straight into him. He pulled away, as effective as a blow to his gut with a two-by-four and he doubled over, gasping for air.
    “Go home, Finn.” She took several steps back, putting distance between them. “Please, before something happens that we both regret.” Jacquelyn didn’t need to be a Bearer to sense his pain. The expression on his face tore