Huntress Claimed

by M K Masterson

  I nodded, taking a sip from the water bottle, and then narrowed my eyes at Meredith. The taste was very familiar to something else that I had recently tried, and the remnants of magic lingered on my tongue.

  “Mere! Stop using me as your magic guinea pig!” I exclaimed, tossing the water bottle down.

  Meredith's face became flushed, and her hands fidgeted. "I know. I'm sorry! It wasn't my idea."

  I gave her a wild look, and she shrugged a shoulder, looking down at the ground.

  "Okay, originally it was my idea. But then I was going to dismiss it, but Zane overheard me and agreed," she began to ramble.

  I growled aloud and began pacing the room. “And who is in my head this time?”

  She shifted her feet. "Well, that's the thing. I modified it this time. I'm the carrier, and just Zane will be crossing over.”

  It suddenly dawned on me, and Zane's overreaction began to make sense.

  I headed for his bedroom and tried to open the door. It was locked. Part of the storming off had been part of his plan. Zane had barricaded himself in. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had even chained himself up behind there. He had said earlier that he had wanted to go, but if he went, he would end up fighting, instead of me. The Vessel potion did everything he wanted to do, and at least he could say that he had tried.

  “How long do I have?”

  Meredith played with her hands again. “Honestly, I don’t know. That’s actually why I gave you the first drink earlier. It was supposed to do a couple of things. One of them was to slow down the time between the crossing over and elongate how long he could help you.”

  “This is insane!” I yelled at him through the door. “You can’t fight all my battles, Zane!”

  “So, you’re staying here then?” Nate asked Meredith.

  Meredith shuffled again, and her face became bright red. “No, I have to be close to Caden to make sure Zane can cross over. The connection has to be closer to the Vessel.”

  “Oh, my god!” I snapped. “Could either one of you stop putting yourselves in danger for once?! It’s bad enough that Nate is coming. Now you’re going to be there. And you’re going to be rendered incapacitated while this spell is going on. How the hell am I going to protect you?”

  “That’s why I will be coming,” a voice from behind me startled me. I was so wrapped up in my anger that I had not heard Finn come down. Although, from the magical vibes that he was throwing off, there was a chance that he had just materialized from thin air. I hadn't officially seen him do that yet, but I didn't know everything he was capable of.

  I gave him a look, which he dismissed with the flash of magic behind his eyes.

  “I actually asked him,” Anahita disclosed. “You had asked me to look out for Nate. Zane had asked me to look out for you. I couldn’t do both.”

  “I would have come anyway,” Finn grumbled.

  "I thought you needed to stay out of this," I countered, which earned me another glare, but before Finn could respond, Nate's phone beeped.

  Nate looked at me nervously. "Time's up."

  Chapter Thirty-SEven

  Nate's alarm had been a countdown until we had to arm up; or at least until I was supposed to, but my mini entourage had found their way into the weapons’ room nevertheless since my holsters and boots were already loaded with silver stakes replacing the woodens ones right after my session with Anahita. Meredith and Nate were in the process of picking out weapons to take with them since their main deterrent was locked behind a bedroom door. I was currently inspecting my eyes in one of the mirrors, feeling relieved that that hematite look wasn't reflecting back at me. Although, Zane’s preternatural luminescence glowed lightly behind my pupils, making the golden rings look like halos. I frowned slightly at my appearance.

  “How about this one?” Meredith pointed at a very large, and very jeweled dagger, pulling my attention back to the group.

  Anahita gave her an exasperated look. “And how do you think you are going to use that being under a trance?”

  Meredith shrugged. “I don’t know. I would just feel better armed.”

  Anahita sighed, looking away from Meredith and toward Nate who was perusing the gun area, which was actually very minimal compared to the stash of sharp weaponry.

  Nate had picked out a rather large gun, which would need two hands just to steady it since its barrel was just as big. Anahita scowled, walked over, and took the gun out of his hands with ease.

  “Hey!” He exclaimed, looking like he was about to argue with her.

  She rolled her eyes and handed him something smaller with a narrow barrel. Taking it, he sulked but put it into his back pocket.

  “Ammo?” He questioned with raised eyebrows.

  “It’s already loaded,” she growled, walking back my way. “Don’t shoot yourself.”

  She continued in a voice that only I could hear as she walked past me toward the door, “otherwise, you’ll realize that it’s a paintball gun.”

  There was a small relief in the pit of my gut knowing that Nate wasn’t in danger of harming himself. Now, I just had to trust that Anahita was going to take care of my friends like she had promised.

  I would have felt even better if they were willing to stay at the manor. I got part of my wish as we were walking toward the steps out of the armory and a wave of something hit me that made my head buzz.

  I paused a moment, hearing Zane’s voice in my head.

  I’m here, he whispered.

  Internally, I snarled, still angry with him, but didn’t say as much as I continued up the stairs. I'm sure he could feel my displeasure.

  It wasn't until we got to the top, that we had noticed Meredith wasn't with us. Creeping back downstairs, we looked around and saw her sitting on one of the workout benches, her head cradled in her hands.

  “I’m not going to be able to go,” she gasped, looking miserably worried.

  Another weight lifted from the pit of my stomach.

  “I feel that if I move, the connection will break,” she explained further.

  There was a part of me that was about to snap a sarcastic response, but I felt an inner elbow nudging me in the ribs. I didn't know if it came from Zane or Meredith, but she did look up at me with an annoyed look in her eye. I chose to remain quiet.

  Anahita did not and gave a loud sigh of relief. "Well, at least I only have to look after one.”

  Finn grunted in agreement.

  "Will you be okay?" Nate asked, concerned. They shared some sympathetic look that I didn't recognize. I guess it would have to be something he only understood as being the bridge the first time, and now she was the bridge this time.

  She nodded, but her lips tightened. She was clearly struggling through this.

  Nate picked up the long forgotten and discarded water bottle that wasn’t too far from where Meredith was sitting and handed it to me. “It would help her if you drank this whole thing. It would lessen the strain of carrying the connection.”

  I held her silent pleading gaze for a moment.

  “If I drink the rest of this,” I began sternly, “you stay here.”

  She opened her mouth to argue with me, but I interrupted. “This isn’t so you can go. This is my compromise.”

  Her face dropped, but she nodded.

  I tipped back the bottle and finished it off quickly and without pause. It had an undercurrent of the irony taste from the blood that was sacrificed, slightly minty from the magical herbs, but all around, it was somewhat sweet and syrupy. I ran my tongue over my teeth making sure I got the sticky taste removed before a grunt brought me back into the moment.

  “We have to go,” Finn’s voice rumbled.

  Nate and I had helped Meredith up the stairs to a comfortable loveseat that was close to the foyer. Meredith insisted that it would help with the connection, but I got the feeling from her that she would feel better seeing us through the window coming back. We made sure she was comfortable as she struggled between being in the moment
and establishing the connection between Zane and myself. When there was nothing more that Nate or I could do, we left with Anahita and Finn.

  The moment I stepped outside, I smelled the smoke of a building on fire. Closer to the sidewalk, I looked around to see where it was coming from, knowing that it couldn’t have come from our house. By now, our home was probably nothing but rubble. A plume of gray smoke was distinguished from the blackened sky in the direction of Nate’s house and the hospital. Fortunately, it was too far back into the neighborhood complex to be Nate’s house, and it was far too close to be the hospital. There was a part of me that hoped Ajax had found the dilapidated house on Elm Street and burned it to the ground in retribution for Jesse; even if it greatly benefitted me as well. Only time would tell.

  For the moment, our walk to the school was heavy with suspense and anxious silence. But perhaps that was only coming from me as I looked around my entourage. Anahita, Finn, and Nate seemed resolute. Finn's eyebrows were knitted together, and there was a power behind his steps as he walked; as if he was annoyed, pissed off, but yet determined all the same.

  Nate kept touching his back pocket, making sure the “gun” was still there, and his pace was quick and eager with an intent expression stilled on his face. He was utterly focused on what he planned. I was relieved that Meredith had stayed behind and Anahita would be Nate’s bodyguard. Speaking of her, she was walking as if this was a normal, everyday thing.

  I start every evening going into battle, my mind mocked sardonically.

  Be nice, Zane grumbled.

  I’m a little nervous, okay? I snarked internally.

  Zane’s voice was a little softer. I know. I can feel it. It almost makes me want to throw up. Is this normal?

  It’s called being human. Having fear, being nervous. This is normal. Don’t you remember anything from being human?

  His lengthy pause was telling, and my mind was about to wonder to something else when his whispered response brought me back.

  I was never ever truly human. I am very old. Hundreds upon hundreds of years old. The werewolf that attacked me orphaned me to a society that despised my kind. The first time I shifted in front of my friends and family, people I thought I could trust, they were convinced that I was some sort of monster. And when I was forced out of my own village, I believed them. So it was easy to put my trust into Obscurus and my sire. Their offers gave me something that I had never had, and I was easily seduced. And even when I was experimented on, I was filled with more rage and power that helped get me whatever I wanted. My own sire fled in terror. And any feelings of kindness, love, or caring didn't exist. Only my own selfish lust for power and whatever I wanted drove me until recently. So, no, I don't know what it's like to feel or be human. And I don't know if I can adjust.

  Are you confessing all of this because you don’t think I will make it through tonight? A feeling of despair caused a sickening ripple throughout my body starting from my core.

  I heard and felt Zane’s snort. No. I am telling you all this so that you might understand that your friend, Nate, is right. At the very pit of my still blackened heart, I am a selfish bastard, and I don't know how to be anything but that.

  Is this about us being cerste-liebsth or fighting partners?

  Is that what they told you? He questioned quickly.

  Basically. That we are a matched set. Frankly, I don’t quite understand it.

  It’s best that you don’t, he interrupted.

  Rolling my eyes in my mind, I ignored him and continued, I don’t see how the Mundus Noctis would create a fighting partner for a Venatrix if they are meant to fight alone. Not only that but someone from a different species. Isn't that fundamentally wrong?

  He gave a short growl as a warning.

  I knew that I was hitting some sort of nerve and I was hoping to badger more information from him. Not only that, but you are ancient-

  This time, his rumble reverberated in my head, which I still ignored.

  As I was saying, you are very old. Is your world so messed up that it would pair you with a kid that can’t fight and is basically a newborn? Or is this the universe’s way of saying that you are that bad as a warrior?

  My last dig brought his beast out, and his response was slightly animalistic. I was almost Obscurus right hand! All I had to do was complete that final order! You being my cerste-liebsth is my punishment! My punishment from Obscurus for not completing my mission. And a punishment from the Casti for all the death and destruction I had caused. To be reborn on the different side and feel as inadequate as a child.

  Punishment?! I’m your punishment?! Anger and hurt scorched any feelings of sympathy that I was started to feel toward him.

  And I knew from the feelings he was emanating that there was some remorse for his words, but I wouldn’t let him speak.

  I don't want to be anyone's ‘punishment,' I snarked, more than a little irritated. I refuse to be used in your world. Your world is about to get a swift kick in its’ ass by mine.

  The Mundus Noctis is your world too. His tone was soft and barely audible inside my own head, making him sound vulnerable.

  I scoffed. By species only and that’s a mixed bag. But the Mundus Noctis knows nothing about the human heart and compassion. Or even human willpower. But it will.

  You can’t escape fate.

  I’m NOT your fate, I snarled.

  Glad to see we are on the same page. His voice was hard and snippy.

  Oh, grow a set, Zane!

  His grunt was vicious.

  You are no one's puppet! If you want to be the asshat you believe you are, then be one. If you want to be someone different, then be it. You are not resigned to some ‘punishment' that you believe they set upon you. Be more or less, I don't care but make a decision.

  Noted.

  The internal exchange had heated the chilly parts of me that were raw with anxiety and fear. But it all came back abruptly when we approached the opening of the school again. Nothing had changed, even if I had thought a day would change everything about this place because of my circumstance. It was still the same disaster sight from yesterday; the same windows shattered, same pieces of building and debris on the ground outside the school. Still dark and forlorn inside.

  We picked the entrance way near the offices, instead of the cafeteria where I was supposed to meet Myles. The cafeteria was a straight walk; whereas, going through the main entrance gave me some more time. Still standing outside the entrance to the school, I was beyond nervous this time; completely ready to throw up.

  Please don’t, Zane implored.

  I scowled and squeezed my hands, noticing the others looking at me for the first time.

  You are going to make it through, Zane promised.

  Finn's hand clasped my shoulder hard, reaffirming Zane's statement and helped settle my nerves. He looked at me earnestly and squeezed again, giving me a silent message that only my gut seemed to understand. Whatever that message was, it stabilized me, and I took a deep breath as I passed through the blackened shattered entrance.

  As if just realizing this challenge would be in the dark, Finn emanated a ball of light from one of his hands that made the area light up brighter than a candle flicker, but less than the halogen bulbs that once lit the school. It gave off an emotional warmth that also seemed to soothe the cold and nervous parts of my soul; my internal magic woke up for a moment, recognizing one of its own. It was very contrary to how I had seen his magic work, which made me realize that there was much more to being Fae than being cold.

  It was a slow walk pass offices, down a narrow hallway to another hallway of lockers before we would reach the opening of the cafeteria. It was the same path that we took to claim Jesse. I didn’t know if that was a wise decision since there were plenty of places that we could have been ambushed. And my nerves seemed to build with every step that I took. But I felt like I had more time to gather my wits going into this situation versus just entering into a cluster of vampires that were
looking forward to my death. Plus, I could smell the overwhelming stench of the Scelesti way before we had entered, a putrid smell of decay and evil.

  It would seem as if that cluster of vampires had partially organized the event. Tables had been cleared out of the middle, but how many were cleared out from them rather than the tornado that swept through, I wasn’t too sure. I didn’t take note of how many were gone when we came for Jesse. Regardless, the cafeteria area was free from clutter, and in a semi-circle closest to the gym, but facing my direction, a group of thirty to forty Scelesti vampires was gathered. And another group of ten vampires was guarding the doors in a straight line to the entrance of the cafeteria; either expecting me to enter through there or preventing my and my friends’ escape.

  Seeing a Scelestus vampire here and there didn't compare to the group that stood before me. They were the hideous monsters that I had initially imagine when we had talked about the monsters that went bump in the night. The pastiness that Zane and Anahita exuded when they were in daylight and during the height of daytime was nothing to the group that stood before me. Their skin was sickly looking, and their deadened veins stood out against it in contrast. Red eyes gleamed from their sunken eye sockets and their fangs were longer than I had ever seen Zane’s; feral looking and some were dripping with saliva; other’s just extended over their lips.

  In the very front of the group was Daniel Myles. It was the first time I had seen him since his turning. And he looked very dead, but still animated; unlike Blaine. The white-blue skin pastiness, red eyes, and dark shadows in the hollows of his face were in stark contrast to his blonde hair that was just a murmur to what was left of the human he was. His grotesque wide smile with the elongated fangs made my stomach churn again. This time, I was sure that I was going to vomit, but more from disgust than unease.

  Easy, Zane replied, and I felt a calming hand on my insides. He was taking control of some of my body.

  If you could do that in the first place, why didn’t you earlier? I snarked.