But that’s not good enough. Both cainians must die.
“Kaneva!” I shout.
The female eyes me. The last living male is scaling the wall toward Darius, but he pauses the moment she lifts her hand.
All along, I thought the other had been in charge, had been guilty of the crime I hated most. I had been wrong on both accounts.
She’ll be the next cainian to die.
"Brother, come lay waste to this one," Kaneva says without any emotion. Her wicked smile leaves me more worried than her telling the cainian to kill me.
The cainian drops to the ground. Maybe I can use his momentum if he rushes me and fling him out of the room and into the tunnel or at least closer to it to try to take him out of here.
But I’m wrong on my prediction. So very wrong.
The cainian takes only a few steps before Kaneva alters into her wolf-tiger. She bounds over to him, sideswipes the cainian, and throws him onto the altar. In a second, she’s devouring him.
Five have been sacrificed. Kaneva can’t sacrifice herself, right?
She probably can.
The last cainian standing backs away from the altar and reverts to her human form. She wipes the blood from her chin with the back of her hand and eyes me.
The others have been easy to kill, but I know, I just know, that she isn’t like the others.
Chapter 30
Kaneva stalks toward me. “I was the first. It’s only fitting that I am the last.”
“You… You can’t eat yourself.”
“No. But you can do it.”
“Do what?”
“Kill me.”
“That’s the plan.”
She grins again. “For the sacrifice.”
“Nope. No way. Not happening.”
“I know others like that fool of a witch hiding up there have tried to tell you that you have light and goodness and all of that crap. It’s a lie. You know it is. They’re only trying to temper back what you know to be true.”
I say nothing.
"Admit it, Rebel. You like what you do. You're good at it and not just because of practice." She's talking to me patiently, almost in a kind way. There's something about her voice that is oddly hypnotic. "You've killed more of us than any other person, paranormal or not."
“Other humans have killed you?” I ask, surprised.
“Of course not,” she snaps before adopting that same patient tone from a moment ago. “We’ve killed ourselves more than anyone, for various reasons, but you have killed the second most amount.”
“So? Killing your kind is a good thing.”
“You like killing.”
I don’t respond and back up a step.
She stops advancing toward me. Damn. I had been hoping to lead her away. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy.
I risk a glance at the altar. It’s bathed in the dark light from the strange star. The moon is still behind it. How is that possible? Time has passed! It’s not as if time can stand still!
But I heard about Alene, the first witch ever, even before Luna told me about her. She had been able to hold the sun still for three days. I’m not sure what kind of magic she possessed, though, but maybe, just maybe, the cainians have that magic to some extent.
Wait. If time isn’t moving, then the hour Morgana stated doesn’t count. Time isn’t ticking right now.
There's only one cainian left. That's all I need to focus on, but the altar is glowing. It's pulsating. The ritual is nearly complete.
Not on my watch.
“You know what? Fine. I’ll admit it. I do like to kill, and I want to kill you.”
Kaneva snaps her fingers. I don’t know why, but I’m lifting the scepter and pointing it at her. My legs are churning, and I’m going to collide with her. At this angle, I would push her back toward the altar.
I have to stop myself!
But I’m human. I’m not capable of stopping this compulsion.
Not on my own.
Thankfully, I’m not alone.
An arcane blast hits the ground between us. I jerk back and fall flat onto my back. My head connects with the ground, and I lay there, stunned but myself.
“Get up!” Darius screams.
“It’s on the to-do list,” I grumble as I sit up and scramble to my feet.
Kaneva chuckles. “Oh, dear child, do you wish to die? I wanted you to live so you can continue sowing seeds of chaos and destruction where you go as you have since you took on the name of Rebel. If you aren’t willing to embrace what you truly are, then perhaps you should die. Then nothing can stop me. Nothing and no one.”
“I know who I am.”
“You claim to be a supernatural bounty hunter. You are not. You are a supernatural killer. You are an assassin. You are a murderer.”
“I’ve never murdered—”
“You can make excuses all you want, but you know the truth. Not all of those paranormal creatures were given a chance to defend themselves. Some you literally stabbed or staked or shot in the back. They could not defend themselves.”
"If I gave them a chance—"
“You would have fought them and died. But you’re a fighter and a killer, and you lived, and they died. You can kill so many more. So many more, but no. Your killing spree ends today.”
I shove my hand into my pouch. Just as Kaneva grabs me, I throw the fairy dust on us both, and we’re transported outside of the volcano, right where Darius and I arrived.
Before she can recover, I stab her in the back, about where her heart would be.
“Your killing spree ends today,” I whisper.
She twists around, and I’m fast enough to yank out the scepter. The cainian eyes me and grins.
“Darkness,” she mouths before she crumbles to the ground.
Dead.
I stand over her fallen form in disbelief. I can't believe it. We did it. My revenge is complete. The cainians are dead. Their ritual can never be completed. It's the end. The end of everything.
It’s also a new beginning. A fresh start. A clean slate.
I can do anything I want, be anyone I want.
I don’t even have to be Rebel anymore.
In a daze, I make my way back to the room. The moment I lay eyes on the altar, I shiver. Darius now stands beside me, and he lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Darius, we can’t leave yet.”
“Why? You don’t think…” He eyes the altar. It’s still glowing, still absorbing the dark light from the star. The moon is shifting away slowly, but the star is in a fixed location.
“We have to destroy it. All of it.”
“We don’t need to worry.”
“How can you say that?” I all but shriek.
“Calm down, Rebel.”
I wince. “Please, just trust me. We need to have all of this gone. Obliterated.”
“If that’s what you want, fine, but I don’t think we… Okay.”
“Okay?”
He nods.
"You're really just fine with letting all of this stay here so anyone can wander in and set up shop?" I demand, hands on hips.
“Most normal people won’t even think about stepping foot inside a volcano,” he says dryly.
“Still. It needs to be gone.” I swallow hard. “This too maybe.”
Darius gapes at me. “I know we talked about that, but are you sure? I mean, you’ve had your first taste of magic. Do you really want to give it up?”
“If I were supposed to have magic, I wouldn’t have been born a human,” I say. “We can’t risk this falling into the wrong hands.”
“How are you going to destroy all of this?” He sweeps his hand and turns. At his grimace, I follow his line of sight to the cainian I crushed before killing.
“Isn’t it obvious? Kibo needs to erupt.”
“But—”
“It’ll be hot enough to melt everything, the blood, the bones, the gemstones… Cain…”
“And how will we get out of here?” he asks.
“You go on ahead.”
“No. I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to. I’ll give you a few hours to get away from the mountain… Or do you need days? A week? Two weeks? I’ll give you two weeks and then—”
“You will do no such thing.”
“I have to. It’s always been me. This is why I was born, and I always knew the risk. I.. I wasn’t… Thank you for everything, but… Is that fairy dust?”
He grins as he withdraws his hand from his pocket. “Yes. Vinca gave me some.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place!”
“I like watching you squirm.”
I slug his shoulder.
“Ow.” He grins.
“You’re impossible,” I mutter.
“Maybe so,” he says with a wink. “Now blow up this joint, but not too much. We don’t want there to be casualties.”
I wince. Given there are hikers here all the time, it’s very possible people may die, but it’s for the greater good. Cain can’t come back. What if there’s a hidden cainian somewhere? I doubt it, but I will not take that risk.
With the scepter, I point at the altar and let it rip. Darius feeds the scepter more and more energy, and even more powerful magic flies out until the altar explodes, the cave floor bottoming out and magma rushing upward. I keep on blasting the magma, heating it, giving it pressure.
All around us, the walls start to quake and tremble, and Darius wraps an arm around my waist. I toss my scepter into the magma. Correction, the scepter since it had never been mine in the first place.
Just like that, Darius whisks us away. Kilimanjaro is in the near distance, and we can watch as it begins to erupt.
“We did it,” I murmur, turning in his arms to face him.
“You did it,” he says.
"No," I start to argue, but his lips are on mine. I embrace him, my body pressed tight against his. Heat rises between us, and it has nothing to do with the erupting volcano.
I lay my head on Darius’s shoulder. Now, I can decide who and what I want to be. Or maybe tomorrow. Right now, I just want to live in the moment.
I’ve had my revenge. What can come next?
But that night, as I crawl into bed, I can’t help feeling worried. That one cainian’s body had been closer to the altar than I originally thought. It shouldn’t matter, though, right? The bones hadn’t been ground down. I’m paranoid. Worried for no good reason.
My eyes close, and I fall asleep.
“Thank you, Tiffany Rose,” a deep, raspy male voice says, the kind of voice that suggests someone hasn’t spoken in a long time. “Thank you for bringing me back to life.”
My eyes fly open, and I sit up, sweating. A nightmare. It was just a nightmare. Cain can’t come back. He won’t.
But I can’t fall back asleep. Whenever I close my eyes, I see Kibo erupting, only this time, there’s a form in the smoke rising from the volcano.
Impossible. Please tell me that’s impossible.
Cain’s dead. I know he is. He’s dead and gone, just like all of his descendants. Life can be peaceful now. Boring and peaceful. And maybe even a little romantic too.
This time, when I close my eyes, I dream of Darius and the one kiss we’ve shared, which just might be the first of many.
The story continues with Hunter’s Legion, available for preorder now!
You can read more about Mirella’s adventures in Magical Hunters Academy and Clarissa’s chaos in Bedlam in Bethlehem!
Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed Hunter’s Revenge! I love to read my reviews. It’s not possible for a review to be too short. Even one sentence works. Thank you!
Until next book,
~Nicole
Other Books By Nicole Zoltack
Rebel, Supernatural Bounty Hunter
A human hunts supernaturals
Hunter’s Quest
Hunter’s Revenge
Hunter’s Legion - available for preorder
Magical Hunters Academy
A school for paranormal teens to train to fight evil creatures
Bedlam in Bethlehem
Cops plus Supernatural Creatures
The Vampire Hunter Tribulations
Heroes of Falledge
A superhero struggles to find love and save his town
Age of Dragons
A tale of lost magic and dragon riders
Once Upon a Darkened Night
Twisted Fairy Tales
The Queenmaker series
YA Female King Arthur Retelling
The Winged Beast Chronicles
Dragons enslave humans.
Magic Incarnate
Magic + Faith + Teens
Magical Awakening written as Nicole Beyer
Friends attempt to save a friend from a magical sickness
A Magical Sickness
A Magical Adventure
A Magical Misadventure
A Magical Awareness
A Magical Journey
A Magical Odyssey
A Magical Disaster
A Magical Crisis
Beyond Boundaries
Can love cross class boundaries?
Masked Love
Starry Love
Standalones
Moonstruck
Gender-bent Cinderella set in NOLA
Dark Hunt
Vampires vs witches vs humans
Bloodlust
Epic fantasy with forbidden love
Not on Her Watch
A military romance
The Test of Time
Unpredictable time travel
Love Before Honor
Medieval knight. Regency lady. Magical Christmas.
Joy to the World
One lady. Two dukes, one an imposter
Christmas Kisses
Two gentlemen, only one Lady Anna’s mother approves of
Starving for Love
The Little Mermaid with a zombie twist
Guns and Fangs
A vampire huntress turns into that which she hates
About the Author
Nicole Zoltack is a USA Today bestselling author who loves to write romances. Of course. She did marry her first kiss, after all!
When she’s not writing about knights, superheroes, or witches, she enjoys spending time with her loving husband, three energetic young boys, and precious baby girl. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they’re unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire dressed in garb. She’ll also read anything she can get her hands on. Her current favorite TV shows are Game of Thrones and Stranger Things.
Sign up for her newsletter to learn when her next book is released as well as excerpts, cover reveals, and giveaways!
For more information
www.NicoleZoltack.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
First and always, I have to thank my husband. I’m sure it can’t be easy being married to a writer, and I am so appreciative of all the support over the years. I love you, Todd! Thank you to my wonderful children for understanding that Mommy has work she has to do, but she still does and always will love you!
To some of the best writer friends a girl could ever have. You know who you are and I can’t wait until we can retreat again!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my wonderful street team. You keep me going, and I’m writing for you and for all of my fans. Thank you for all you do for me!
And finally, I want to acknowledge my readers. You are why I write. As long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing. So please keep reading, all right?
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Hunter's Revenge: A Mayhem of Magic World Story (Rebel, Supernatural Bounty Hunter Book 2) Page 20