by H. M Reilly
“I think you are wrong, Patrick. If someone can overpower someone like Thalia, they could come after me, too.”
“Not many hunters out there could have destroyed Thalia, this is true, but there is a line of hunters who can even challenge someone as ancient as me. Hunters who won’t hesitate before they kill you. I will find them, Lana, and I will kill them myself.”
“But Patrick…what if they – ”
“They won’t find you,” he said. He cupped her chin in his hand, lifting her head. He looked into her violet eyes, still glassy with tears. He glanced at her lips, and she leaned in closer. His eyes flickered a dark crimson, and dark red veins crawled across his cheeks. She leaned in closer, and he pulled her into his lap, meeting her lips in a slow kiss. Her heartbeat harder in her chest as they kissed again, a lustful hunger building between them, each kiss slower than the last.
She pushed back his coat, nipping at his lips. His hands moved over her thighs as she moved in closer, finding the curve of her waist. She yanked to pull off his shirt as his excitement announced itself beneath her. Patrick slipped her shirt off, tossing it to the floor, wanting to feel the warmth of her skin against his. Their lips met once more as her hands brushed over the pressure building up in his slacks. She reached down and pulled at his belt, their lips locked in a silent dance.
The heat quickly rose between them. Their lips and bodies spoke a language they could only express through unbridled passion. The warmth of her on top of him only increased his excitement as their bodies rocked against one another. The rest of their clothes peeled away as hunger took over.
She let out a gasp as they moved, their bodies becoming one. He groaned as she uttered his name, digging her nails into his back. The world surrounding them ceased to exist as their raw passion took over. Whoever walked in on them be damned.
Lana let out a whimpering cry as their sweaty bodies moved faster and harder until they came to a sudden stop. She lowered her head with a glow of satisfaction on her face. A grin appeared across his lips, and the dark veins in his eyes started to fade.
They collapsed against the couch, trying to catch their breath. He whispered in a soft voice. "I'll find them, Lana."
If the Eaton hunter had power anywhere near that of his great-great-grandfather, Patrick knew his life could be threatened.
Clearly, this hunter may prove to be a challenge to him. Thalia was centuries old with a strength and power that grew over the years. She was nowhere near as old as Patrick, but any hunter that could face a witch of Thalia’s strength and power was dangerous. Patrick would make sure the hunter didn’t survive. He just needed to find him.
Patrick followed Lana down the highway on their way into the city, but he continued to drive when she took an exit home. He turned down a long, quiet road not far from the border of the nearby forest. A no trespassing sign was posted on the propped open gate. His tires splashed through a puddle as he drove up the driveway and pulled in around the back of the building. He parked near the back door and slipped out of the sleek black vehicle.
As he made his way across the pavement to the back door, he lifted his dark gaze to the sky. The clouds floated slowly across the sky, revealing a patch of scattered stars. He took in the quiet night and cool air of the forest, feeling the air brush against his heated skin. There was a howl off in the woods behind him, and he lifted his head upright, glancing over his shoulder. It could have just been a dog, but Patrick knew better than to accept that as the only possibility.
The house was quiet. He didn’t even hear his dog, Azrael, running through any of the halls. He wasn’t used to the silence. Patrick left the door unlocked behind him as he stepped over to the front hall, taking off his coat and stepping out of his boots. Thoughts took over his mind like a white-hot noise he wanted to escape.
He stepped across the foyer and down the front hall leading to the rest of the house. The living room was still warm, and he glanced at the fireplace. The coals still glowed bright red, slowly fading away. John, his butler, must not have been gone long. He stepped across the room and put the bottle of whiskey on his home bar, stepping around to get a clean glass. He poured himself a drink, dropping a few stones in from the mini-fridge, and grabbed the pack of cigarettes sitting on the bar.
The house was dark except for the glow of the flame lighting his cigarette. The cherry burned brightly when he took a deep drag off the end. Smoke escaped past his lips and through his nose. He made his way across the room and opened the glass doors out to the enclosed patio. He held the glass of whiskey in one hand and puffed on the cigarette between his lips.
Patrick leaned against the railing and gazed over the horizon, out into the dark forest, hoping the quiet would ease his mind. He traded his cigarette for the glass in his hand and took a drink. He stood there and wondered where to find the Eaton hunter he knew almost nothing about.
CHAPTER 11
Bryan sent his uncle a text, asking him to meet at the local Applebee’s for dinner. He said he needed to talk in person. When Logan asked what about, he never received an answer, but still he dressed to go out for the evening.
When Logan stepped out to the driveway and jumped in his truck, the sun was setting on the horizon. The sky went from a pale blue to shades of oranges, pinks, and reds as evening began to settle across the Colorado town. The streetlights flickered on as he pulled into the parking lot, rather full for a Thursday night.
When he stepped through the front door, a hostess with dark brown hair pulled into a bun stood behind the podium with her eyes lowered. She held a cell phone in her hands. The local college emblem marked the back of her pink phone case. Logan stepped forward and cleared his throat. She pocketed the cell phone and glanced up, a glossy smile appearing on her lips. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you come in. Just you tonight?”
“I’m joining my nephews. Name’s Logan,” he said.
“Um.” She glanced at the placemat sitting on the podium a moment, then turned to grab a menu. “This way.”
She led Logan away from the front lobby and through a door to the bar area. The room was much louder than the rest of the restaurant, even without the big screen televisions mounted on the walls. Several tables and booths were lined up in the large room. The young hostess led Logan to the back corner, where he saw Bryan and Michael waiting with drinks. “Your waiter should be around before long.”
“Thanks, doll.” With a smile, the young woman disappeared. “Been waiting long?”
“Nope. Got here a little bit before you,” Michael said. They didn’t wait long before the waiter appeared. Another young college kid. They ordered a plate of assorted appetizers and some more drinks. Logan waited for the waiter to disappear before speaking.
“What’s so important that I had to drive out here? That you couldn’t just tell me or talk to me about over the phone, Bryan?”
“We’re not sure, Uncle, that’s why I asked you to come out,” Bryan said. He glanced at Michael. Logan looked between the two with a frown creasing across his brow. Bryan pulled out his cell phone. “Mom wasn’t too happy, but she suggested talking to you.”
“Yeah, of course, she wasn’t,” Logan said.
“But she wanted you to see the scratches on Michael’s back.”
“What scratches? From the hunt the other night?” Logan said. Bryan shook his head and slid the phone across the table to him. Logan picked up the phone and looked at the images for a long minute, zooming in and looking from different angles. “Those aren’t very good photos, but they don’t appear supernatural. How long ago did you take the photos?”
“Just this afternoon before I took Michael to my parents’ house.”
“And what did your mom have to say?” Logan said. He slid the phone back across the table to his nephew.
“She said to ask you. You have been doing this most of your life, Uncle Logan.”
“Yeah. I know,” he said. “They don’t look like anything except some girl got a little freaky with you
. And maybe you shouldn’t have sex with a girl so soon after getting yourself injured, dumb fuck.”
“It happened before, Uncle.”
“Why didn’t you mention that before our hunt? That’s probably why you were hurt,” Logan said. He lifted the mug and took a drink of his beer.
“How was I supposed to know about that shit?” Michael said. “Who fucking cares when it happened? What I’m focused on is that you’re saying there aren’t any supernatural creatures out there that could resemble a human? Or make injuries appear human?”
“Of course there are.”
“Then what makes you so sure this isn’t supernatural?”
“I’m not convinced. I would need more to go off than a set of scratches. Just sounds like this girl you’ve been fucking gets a little freaky. Unless you can give me more information.”
Logan took another drink of his beer. Suddenly, the waiter appeared with a tray in his hands. He set the plates down and refilled Michael’s glass before disappearing.
Bryan and Michael glanced at each other with a curious look on their faces. They then turned to their uncle, and Michael said, “I think her eyes went black when we were having sex.”
Logan sat forward in his seat, his gaze narrowed in his nephew’s direction. “Did you say her eyes went black?” Michael only nodded in response. “Black eyes usually mean a low-class demon. A succubus. Possibly possession. I’ve even come across some older vampires who had black eyes when they were triggered into becoming the monster. Vampires don’t engage in intercourse, though. You’d also have fang marks on you, not scratches. How many times have you two slept together?”
“Just the once. But you’re saying I slept with a demon? Or a chick that’s possessed?” Michael said. Bryan rolled his eyes. “I’m serious. We did other things, but this is the first time we actually had sex.”
“If she is a succubus, you know having sex with her could kill you, right?” Logan said. “They kill their victims slowly over time by the exchange of bodily fluids. They lure their victims in multiple times, feeding off their sexual energy through coitus. Scratches only speed up the process, exposing the veins to their poison. I’m assuming my sister treated you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Stay away from the bitch for now until I figure this out. She may only be a hybrid because those scratches don’t look nearly as bad as others I have seen.” Logan leaned back against his seat and lifted his arm across the back, studying his nephews a moment. “Usually, a succubus doesn’t prey on the same male more than once, unless she’s trying to kill him. Most succubi are more interested in reproducing.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Don’t worry so much about it, Michael. What’s done is done. I only hope you wrapped it up. And don’t fuck the demon whore again, shit head.” He let out a chuckle and took another drink of his beer, the mug nearly empty.
“We won’t have to worry if you can kill her, Uncle,” Michael replied.
He took his arm from the back of the seat and glanced around as he leaned in close to his nephew. A moment later, the waiter stepped up, asking if they needed anything. The three men didn’t even acknowledge his presence, and he walked away.
“I shouldn’t have to clean up your fucking messes. I’m not here to do that. You’re a hunter. You kill her. I taught you well enough, so you do it.”
“I’m not as experienced as you and Bryan. I’m not a regular hunter.”
“I’ve never killed a demon either, Uncle,” Bryan said.
Logan narrowed his gaze. He didn’t want any part of it. He didn’t want to be responsible for any of it, but even more, he didn’t want to be responsible for Michael’s death. He had lost enough family over his chosen profession—if it could be called chosen. He was the only one left in the family that had carried on the legacy. Hunting was in his DNA.
“Don’t you fucking put this shit on me. This isn’t my mess, and it sure as hell isn’t my problem. If I help you, I don’t want you to contact me again. I don’t want you hunting anymore, either. Once I do this, I don’t want to hear another word about the supernatural out of either of your mouths. Do what my sisters decided to do and live a normal life. Do you understand?” Logan demanded in a soft yet stern voice. Without waiting for a response, he rose from his seat and picked up his mug of beer, finishing it off. He grabbed his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills, tossing them on the table. “I’m done.”
Logan walked away from the booth and out through the front doors of the restaurant. He crossed the parking lot to his truck with a glance over his shoulder, then reached into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes and slipped one between his lips.
For a moment, Logan stood beside his truck, taking a deep drag from the end of his cigarette. He stared out into the passing traffic, and his mind spun. Logan didn’t know how he felt about having to kill a succubus if she was, in fact, one. He hated dealing with demons. They were deceptive and spiteful. The last time he faced one, he ended up in prison. Yet a part of him found satisfaction in the pay off at the end of a hunt.
Hunting was a dangerous business, and this proved he needed distance from those that mattered to him. He wasn’t great at showing his family that he cared for them, but he sure as hell didn’t want any of them hurt. Maybe he was better off never returning to Colorado. Maybe he should reach out to his old contacts and find someone else to take care of this because the responsibility felt too heavy. He wasn’t sure passing the responsibility off would ease his mind either, though.
He leaned back against his truck, holding the cigarette to his lips, inhaling another long drag from the end. The moon started to rise off in the horizon, nearly half full by now. Smoke billowed from his nose as he flicked the loose ash from the end. Someone called out his name, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Bryan walking across the parking lot.
“Thought you’d be gone by now.”
“Almost. I should have,” Logan said. He glanced over his shoulder and dropped the spent cigarette to the pavement, crushing it beneath his boot.
“You’ll help us then, Uncle?”
“You have my number,” Logan said. He fished his keys from his pocket and lifted himself into his truck. He started up the engine and sat in his truck while the engine warmed up, rolling down the windows. With another glance out of his side mirror, he shifted into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.
He still had dreams of the night he lost his family, reliving that dreadful night. Dreams of a bloody haze so vivid they were almost painful. Being witness to the death of his young love and their child was enough to create every ounce of revenge flowing through his veins.
He cracked the window, the chilly evening air blasting him in the face as he drove down the highway. He drove to the other end of town, hoping the drive would calm his mind. When he saw the mountains, he went up a back road to his destination.
The last time he’d stepped foot anywhere near Viper’s Cavern, he had only just been released from prison for a short time. At the time, he was looking for a way out of Colorado. Being a witch and a hunter on top of that influenced the aura surrounding him as he stepped through the front door. The energy was strong and negative.
Not a single person in the place looked at him with any recognition. His name was well known in the supernatural world, but nobody knew his face. The articles printed about the tragedy or his murder trial never included his mugshot. Even if they had, he spent so long in prison, he aged enough nobody would recognize him except those closest to him.
He crossed the room, glancing in the direction of the bar. And there, he saw her, the woman with short raven hair and large gold hoop earrings dangling from her ears. She stood there with her hands on her hips, speaking to a man who appeared from the back room briefly. As he approached the bar, he watched her pull out a frosted mug and fill it beneath the beer tap. She lifted her face and offered a smile, sliding the beer across the bar. Her bright blue eyes, lined in kohl, nearly glowed bene
ath the dim lights.
“Logan. Well, hello, stranger. It’s been a while. Where have you been hiding these days?”
“I’ve been around. Working, ya know. Been out east.”
“If you’re working away from Colorado, it has been too much for my liking.” She flashed a wink and placed her hands on the surface of the bar. The top she wore displaying her assets. “What can I get you, Logan?”
“Let me get a beer, Delia.”
“Sure thing,” she said, stepping away to fill a mug for him. When she returned, her hips swayed with each step. A smile appeared on her pale lips as she handed him his drink. “What took you so long to come see me, Logan? You know I miss you when you are away.”
“Just…work.” Logan had known Delia for years. In fact, his girlfriend was still alive when he first met Delia working the bar at Viper’s Cavern. The two women never met, nor did Logan share much of his personal life, especially while hunting. He didn’t share much about his work either, just to keep those around him safe.
A man at the other end of the bar called out for another beer, and Delia disappeared with another smile. Logan went back to his own beer, clutching it close as the room became more crowded. He soon stepped away to find a table. He spotted a small round table in the corner of the room, parked himself on one of the stools, and enjoyed his beer, listening to those around him.
Delia walked up to the table, quiet as a cat stalking her prey. He didn’t notice that she was approaching until she was less than a couple feet away. “I was wondering where you ran off to.”
“The bar got crowded. I needed some space.”
“In this bar?”
“I’ve never seen it this crowded.”
“Well, stop hiding, silly,” she said. Logan glanced up from his beer and then around the crowded bar. He looked up at her.
“Don’t you have a bar to tend, Delia?”