A/N: Drum roll please...

I hope you enjoy this special sneak peek at the next book in this series:

Hunter and the Hunted Book Three: Rising

Prologue: Paths of Darkness

May 3-4, 2008

Brandon, South Dakota

It had been two days since the Winchester twins had buried their older brother and Bella had departed from her brother to go back to Forks. Sam didn't argue with her, thinking that that would be the best way to keep her out of trouble, despite Dean's final wish of them staying together to protect each other.

Sam found himself in a dingy motel after leaving Bobby's house to go search for Lilith. If she wouldn't bring back Dean, then Sam would kill her. He knew that she couldn't kill him, but he needed something more lethal to her than a demon killing blade. He frowned as he took up the object, worried about what may have happened to the demon that gave it to him. Ruby may have been a demon, but she had saved their lives more times than he could count. He thought back to Bella's words about how a demon shouldn't be trusted. She was such a hypocrite, especially after she confirmed that the vampires she was tracking in Forks were the Cullen's, and she was even dating one of them. Their argument over it ended with Bella hanging up on him.

There was a knock at the door. "Housekeeping…."

"I'm fine..." Sam spoke loudly, disturbing the dark quiet of his room.

The housekeeper knocked again.

"I said the room is clean." Sam spoke louder this time, thinking the woman couldn't hear him. "I don't need any housekeeping." She knocked one more time and he saw the doorknob rattle. He sighed angrily and got up, wrenching the door open. "I said no housekeeping-!"

He stopped short when he saw a young woman that looked nothing like the housekeeper and had no cleaning equipment with her. She smiled a little and her eyes flashed black. Sam's eyes widened and looked back to the knife that was still sitting by his laptop and before he could reach for it the demon pinned him to the wall.

"Who are you?" He growled as he struggled against the invisible bonds holding him.

"You should know by now that struggling is pointless…." She mussed, shutting the door behind her and turned on the lights. She looked around the room and grimaced at the state of his room. "Yeah right, you don't need anyone to clean up in here…."

"Who… are… you?" Sam asked again, accentuating every word. "One of Lilith's goons? Did she send you here to try and kill me? It won't work you know. I'm immune."

"Oh really?" Excitement lit up her expression as she walked over to the demon knife. "I bet this would though… I mean, I am the one who gave it to you."

Sam stopped struggling and looked to the demon again. "Ruby?"

"I'm kinda heartbroken that you didn't remember me… But then again, you did burn the body I was in before so…" she gestured to her new appearance. "I had to improvise." She let him away from the wall and he approached her warily. "Do you like it?"

"You're possessing an innocent person…." Sam frowned.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I didn't have a lot of time to find a body. I needed to track you down. I have some information on Lilith that you might want to know about."

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say." Sam glared at her. "You told me that you would help me break Dean's contract. You lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you Sam. I did try to help you break the contract. But Lilith was stronger than even I anticipated. We just ran out of time. I am sorry about your brother Sam."

"That doesn't change the fact that he's still gone." Sam grimaced as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

"I can help you get revenge on Lilith. I could still see you after she possessed me. She wasn't able to kill you because you are stronger than she is. But your powers are under developed. I can show you how to use them." Ruby stepped closer to Sam. "I believe that you can kill her Sam, but not as you are right now."

"So, I could've killed her before she killed Dean, and you're just telling me about this now?" Sam challenged her, his height intimidating her a little.

"I knew you wouldn't approve of my methods then because Dean wouldn't approve of them. But now that he isn't here…." She shrugged. "I can help you with the powers that you're afraid of. I can even teach you how to exorcise demons without killing their hosts."

Sam frowned, considering her offer. "Why are you so keen on helping me Ruby?"

Ruby's eyes flashed black again with her hatred. "Because that bitch locked me up and she deserves to die for it!" She accentuated her point by using the knife to stab the table.

Sam nodded and took a few steps away from her, considering his options and realizing that this would be his only shot at getting back at Lilith. He looked back up at her when she started to speak again.

"The only problem is that sister of yours." She crossed her arms. "If she hadn't have shown up last time, you might have been able to save Dean. She's not going to get in the way this time, right?"

He thought about it for a minute, Bella had a life back in Forks, it wouldn't have been fair of him to drag her back out. He also figured that if Dean wouldn't have approved of her methods, he figured that the road ahead would be darker than anticipated. "Maybe it would be better for her to not get involved…."

Ruby nodded and smiled. "Well, let's get started then."

"After you pick someone else to possess…." Sam crossed his arms, looking to the young woman that Ruby was possessing.

She sighed dramatically. "Would you feel better if I found a vacant body to possess?"