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  Setenid Blight

  Book One

  Kimberly Montague

  Cover images are courtesy of:

  FreeDigitalPhotos.net Photographer: Graur Codrin

  PublicDomainPictures.net Photographer: Petr Katochvil

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are fictional or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is completely coincidental and unintentional.

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  Setenid Blight Book One

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Homer Montague

  This book may not be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission from the author.

  Visit my website at www.kimberlymontague.com

  For my Teddy, who rescues me from green-eyed monsters every single night and never complains then helps me write new ones down in crazy stories like this one.

  For my mom, who enthusiastically reads every single word I write, encouraging and loving me even when I suck horribly.

  For Nguyen, who inspired a very large portion of Dev, and who always knows when I'm most in need of a "Hey, you're doing great" speech.

  And for those of you who know who you are that see a little of yourself in my characters: you've stuck in my head and my heart through the years, it's only natural you come running out through my writing.

  Dear Harm,

  I've been staring at this piece of paper for days. I know you asked me to write to you—to tell you or explain what happened—but I can't get my mind to leave their faces, their eyes. I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop dreaming about it. Day and night, I just—I'm terrified.

  I know I don't make any sense. You just can't understand what we went through. I never would have thought Jay could turn into that. I didn't think he could ever do what he did to them. I can't… I just… I don't know if I can tell you about it.

  Sonya seems to think it would help me to talk about it with you, since you've always been my rock. But you weren't there. I don't blame you at all; please don't think that. But Dev became my rock, and now that he is gone, and you are gone, I just feel lost and alone and scared. I know Sonya told you I'm not eating, and I'm not sleeping. I try, really I do, but their eyes Harm, their eyes won't leave my head.

  But I want so badly to tell you about Dev—to tell you what he did for me, what he meant for me. From the moment I met him, there was just something different, something indescribable between us. Maybe if I start there, you can get to know him as I knew him when we met… before everything became dark and scary on a level I couldn't have imagined possible.

  Your baby sister,

  Evie

  In Harm’s Way

  "Is this all you're bringing, Piper—three boxes and a suitcase?" He stared at my belongings, his eyebrows arched high on his small forehead. "I know you've got more junk than this." He pointed questioningly to several boxes near the door. "What about those?"

  Despite the fact that Jay had been with us for two days, seeing my long distance boyfriend standing in the center of my empty living room was a little surreal. But I supposed that had less to do with him being there than with the fact that it was empty along with every other room in the small house.

  Jay's milk chocolate eyes narrowed on the small grouping of boxes I had deemed necessary. "You didn't get rid of all your stuff, did you? You know I've got more room in my garage to store anything you want to keep."

  "No," I answered, flipping my head over and gathering my heavy pile of hair into a ponytail. Even up high, the stubbornly straight strands still fell inches past my shoulders. But at least wearing it up gave me a little relief from the heat of the summer. I tossed my head back up into its rightful position, tightening the scrunchie and brushing my fingers through the softness as I focused back on Jay. "Harm's putting those in storage where the rest of my things are. You know him—he wouldn't let me get rid of anything. There's like twenty or thirty boxes in the storage building that are just mine."

  Squatting down, I strained to pick up a box full of clothes. Jay picked up a box next to me, straining almost as much as I was. He wasn't weak by any means, but his dark blue "athletic fit" T-shirt didn't fit as snugly as it was supposed to. Of course, even someone who worked out often would look scrawny around my brother. Harm's big, buff, military muscles were always noticeable—just ask the girls who constantly drooled over him when we went out in public.

  "Evie! Put that down!" Harm rushed in through the doorway with a scowl that would make any grown man quiver. His thick eyebrows pulled together as he snatched the box out of my arms.

  I was a little alarmed that I'd done something wrong, but Harm always used my real name when he was mad at me, so I relaxed. Not that he was really ever mad at me. I could count on one hand the times he'd actually called me "Piper." I was always "Evie" or "kid" around Harm, and both names made me feel very loved and special.

  He turned on Jay. "Really, Jay? You're just going to let her throw out her back picking up heavy boxes?"

  Harm had spent the last two days loudly disapproving of Jay in every way possible. And while I hadn't spent any real time with Jay since my parents' funeral six months earlier, I did my best to strongly defend him. After all, he had driven seven hours to the Bay Area just so that he could hang out with me for a couple days before bringing me home with him. We both thought it would be a good way to put Harm's mind at ease, but it seemed to have backfired.

  Their "friendship" had always been strained mostly because Jay and I had "gotten together" when I was ten. Harm had never been happy with me having a boyfriend, but as the years passed, he sort of tolerated and even became friends with Jay—well, acquaintances might be the better word. Now, he seemed to have reverted back to barely dealing with his existence.

  Harm mumbled something about "ungentlemanly behavior" and carried the box out to Jay's car.

  Jay put down the box he'd lifted and stared, wide-eyed at the door. "Wow! He's really not my biggest fan anymore."

  I winced and gave him my best sympathetic smile. "Sorry about that. He told me last night that he really hates it that I'm staying with you—not your family—but you specifically." I shook my head and couldn't hold back a quick snort of laughter over my conversation with Harm. I was sure there wasn't a single brother on the face of the planet as over-protective as Harm had always been. "He said his seventeen-year-old baby sister shouldn't be staying under the same roof as her eighteen-year-old hormonal boyfriend." As I tucked the corners of a box closed that was filled to the top with Butcher's dog food, snacks, and toys, I peeked up at Jay to see that he wasn't laughing. I bit the inside of my lip, trying my best to push away my smile.

  "Great," Jay spat. "Now I'm some out of control sex-crazed guy, huh? He knows I've never done anything he wouldn't approve of."

  I glared up at him as if he'd just asked what color the sky was. Seriously, how could he have been my boyfriend for seven years and still not understand the depths of Harm's over-protectiveness? "Jay, at this point, he doesn't even approve of you looking at me."

  His voice hitched higher, and he scratched the back of his head shifting his short brown hair. "So I've got Special Forces against me now, is that it?"

  "No, of course not… He's not Special Forces yet—he still needs to finish the language stuff, then collective training, and the survival course." I gave him my cheesiest, all-teeth grin, hoping it would make him laugh…it didn't. "If it makes you feel any better, he spent an entire month training Butcher to get in-between us if we get too close, but since Butchie will be staying at Sonya's, you won't have to worry about that."

  At the m
ention of his name, Butcher, my German Shepherd, came over to nudge my hand with his nose. I patted him a few times on his head and returned to taping the top of the box in front of me.

  Jay shoved his hands in the pockets of his loose cargo shorts. "Yeah, that makes me feel so much better."

  Picking up and moving back to my hometown after being gone for five years was hard enough without having to smooth things over between the two men in my life. I sighed loudly. "Give him a break, Jay. He's being forced to let go of his baby sister, leave her with some other family while he's off on the other side of the country, and he's worried about going back into training. He's got too much going on to add being fair to his little sister's boyfriend to the list. Heck, he's still arguing that we should stay here, and he should just take back his job at the home improvement store." Jay started shaking his head, but I put my hand up to stop him from interrupting me. "He already knows he lost that battle, which is yet another reason he's cranky. Just, take it easy on him, huh?"

  He folded his arms across his chest like a sulking kid. "Fine, I'll deal. We're leaving soon anyway."

  "Thank you." I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him on his stubbly cheek, tapping the small bump on his slightly crooked nose like I always did.

  Harm's low and violent voice made us jump apart. "If you two can't keep your hands off each other, I'll decline the training, we'll stay here, and lover-boy here can go home… alone."

  Despite the fact that he'd been angry all day, this rudely vocal reaction to me kissing Jay on the cheek seemed to just be going too far and snapped my temper. "Harm!" I ground my teeth together in frustration—a bad habit I'd picked up from him. I waited and watched as Jay carried his box out the door as mouse-like as possible, his head ducked in hiding. Crossing my arms in front of me, I glared at Harm. "You're starting to piss me off. I've tried to be understanding, and Jay has put up with you being a jerk, but I'm losing my patience."

  He looked down at the ground. It was a little staggering to be able to reduce a big, tough military guy to staring at the floor and kicking imaginary dust. I studied him for a moment, missing his longer hair which he'd cut in favor of the short crewcut he wore when in the military. With his hair this short, you couldn't tell that it matched mine in color. I'd always been unbelievably proud that Harm was my big brother; so naturally, I loved our matching dark auburn hair color, our incredibly similar light-green eyes, and our identical long, thin noses.

  The reminder of how much I was going to miss him made me think he was being mean to Jay to cover up how upset he was over leaving me. I tried to be a bit gentler. "We talked about this several times. You can't stay here. I want you to have a life, Harm. I want you to live your dream and become Special Forces. You don't have any leave time left. I can't let you lose everything you've already worked so hard for. You deserve—"

  "Me?" His voice was higher than it had been the day I sheepishly told him Jay was my boyfriend. There was no anger in his tone, but the frustration and sadness were almost worse.

  I slouched in preparation for the speech I had already practically memorized because I'd heard it so many times.

  "What about you?" His voice returned to his usual unreadable tone. "You turned into a middle-aged woman at the age of seven. You spent all your time helping mom take care of Uncle Gray, then Grandpa, then Aunt Malory. When exactly did you have a life?"

  "Hey, that's not fair. I loved them, and I'm so glad I got to spend that time with them. I wouldn't change any of that. Besides, I have a life. I'm the one with a boyfriend here." We both looked over at Jay who had just walked in and now looked like a deer caught in headlights.

  Jay put up his hands and shook his head innocently. "Don't bring me into this."

  Harm turned to Butcher, who was standing between everyone looking confused. He was such a smart dog—always had been since the moment he showed up on our doorstep two weeks after my parents were killed. He was able to gauge emotions and intentions better than I was most of the time.

  "You!" Harm's voice was sharp as he pointed at our dog. Poor Butcher stood there with his ears pointed down, peeking up at Harm with the whites of his eyes showing. I was about to rescue my Butchie, but Harm ruined the meanness of his tone by crouching down to hug Butcher. "Stay by her side whenever she is near, you hear me, young man?" Butcher nudged Harm's hand, trying to get more attention as Harm stood up again. "And you!" He pointed his finger rudely at Jay. His tone reverted to angry and vicious. "She's not allowed in your room—ever! Is that understood?"

  Jay turned on his best defensive tough guy voice. "I know."

  Even though I sympathized with what Harm was dealing with, it pissed me off that he was speaking to Jay this way. Jay and his family were graciously taking me in, and he was making it sound like this was some master plan Jay had hatched up.

  Harm continued pointing. "And you're not allowed in her room—ever."

  Jay's voice got a bit quieter and his head a bit lower. "I know."

  "And—"

  I had to stop this before it got out of hand. "Harm!" My nostrils flared, and I put my hands on my hips. I knew he was just trying to protect me, but he was being a jerk to Jay about it. He clearly wasn't capable of controlling himself, so I decided it was best to just get on the road. I reached up to place my hand on Harm's shoulder. "If we're gonna to get to Bishop before dark, we have to get going."

  The reminder of our imminent departure made all traces of anger leave his face, replaced by sadness. My own heart began to ache. Harm and I hadn't been separated since our parents' car accident six months earlier. He had been my rock, and now we'd be on opposite sides of the country and barely able to talk except by letters that took forever to get to one another.

  Jay picked up the last box as Harm opened his arms wide for me. Without hesitating, I fell into the safe cocoon his hugs always provided. I tried my best to burn the memory into my brain, knowing there would be many nights to come when I would feel the pain of not being able to run into the next room to him.

  I squeezed him as tightly as I could, breathing in the woodsy scent of his deodorant mixed with the detergent lingering on his crisp white polo. "I'm so lucky to have a big brother like you."

  He patted my back the same way Dad always had. "Nope, I'm the lucky one. I just wish I could give you more."

  "You give me plenty, Harm, really. You’re the bestest big brother ever."

  "Aww kid." I could hear his voice tremble just a bit, which was the only sign of weakness he ever showed. "I’m gonna miss you so much. You have to write to me all the time. And if something goes wrong or that boyfriend of yours hurts you, you call the base. I’ll come get you A.S.A.P."

  "I'll be fine, Harm. Jay loves me. He wouldn't hurt me." I felt him nod vaguely, but he didn't say anything else to me. I pulled out of his hug and took a deep breath to steady my voice. "Walk me to the car?"

  He stared at me for a moment before pulling me into another tight embrace. I rested my cheek against his chest, feeling his breaths come out a little too quickly and a little too forcefully. It made my lower lip quiver with sadness.

  My life had shifted so much in such a short amount of time. Just six months earlier, we had been living in a nice house with our parents. I could still hear my mom's laughter in my mind and see my dad's smile when I closed my eyes. They were gone now—stolen by some jerk of a drunk driver without so much as a goodbye. In the blink of an eye, Harm became my only living family member, and a big part of me really wanted to just hide behind him as the last representative of safety and family. But I had to leave him. I couldn't let him give up his life for me.

  Before my inner child broke out and refused to let go, I pulled away from him, grabbed my suitcase and started walking toward the door. When we got to the car, Jay opened the back door to let Butcher jump in before putting his hand out to take my suitcase.

  Harm stopped him. "Hang on." He unzipped the front pouch and pulled out some papers folded in half, holding them out to me. "I p
rinted these reports for you."

  A small smile broke through my grief, and I rolled my eyes at Harm. He always had a report for everything. Either a review from the internet or statistics from his military resources at the base—he had some kind of information about absolutely every subject, event, and product. It was just so "Harm" to have some to hand to me before we parted.

  "Don't give me that look, Evie," he scolded tenderly. "You need to read this. I mean it. There have been some changes since we left Bishop five years ago, and you need to be aware of them for your own safety."

  I took the papers from his hands and wrapped my arms around his chest again. "I promise, Harm, I'll read them. I love you, you know that?" I did my best to smile through the tears clouding my eyes. "You go kick some butt, and show 'em who's boss."

  "Love you too, kid." His words were shaky as he patted me roughly on the back before pulling away.

  I climbed into the car and put on my seatbelt, holding the papers close to me.

  Harm bent down, leaning through the open window. He patted Butcher on the head before glaring at Jay again. "Take care of her." I thought this might lead to more lecturing, but Harm's face softened and his tone weakened. "Please, Jay, she's all I have."

  Jay seemed to be as surprised by Harm's plea as I was. He looked at him for a minute before nodding once. "I will, Harm. You don't have to worry about that."

  Seemingly satisfied by the sincere response Jay had given, he reached in and squeezed my hand once before turning and walking away.

  I tried my best not to cry, but several tears fell down my cheeks as we drove away from him. Butcher, my ever-devoted boy, licked a few off my face as I watched Harm in the side mirror for as long as I could. All too soon though, he was gone. Jay held my hand quietly as he drove, giving me time to be upset and time to pull myself together in peace.