I turned to Arianna. “You want to wait here or—”
She laced her arms around my neck and jumped into my arms before I’d even finished asking my question. “Hold on tight,” I told her. Squatting, I made the same leap my sister had.
Not having my hands free to balance myself, I stumbled a bit on the roof. Arianna held onto me even tighter, but she didn’t make a peep. I eventually righted myself and ducked into the window. Hunter was rifling through my sister’s closet like a man possessed, and I gaped at his frenzied search as I set Arianna down.
Nika blurred to his side and grabbed his arm. “Hunter, what happened? Are you okay?”
Hunter jerked his arm away. He looked worried, frantic, and eager to be anywhere but here. “I don’t have a lot of time, Nika. Where’s my sister?”
Nika took a defiant stance. “I hid the urns, but I’m not telling you where they are until you tell me what happened.”
Hunter groaned and ran his fingers back through his hair. “I don’t have time for this. I should be a hundred miles from here.”
Nika shook her head. “So, you are running away. After everything? After all the progress you’ve made? You’re running? Why? I thought you liked my family?”
Hunter started pacing. “I do. I do like them. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way I started to…care…about all of you.” He flashed a brief smile. “Even your dad, and I’m pretty sure he hates my guts.” His face darkened. “You all mean something to me, but I can’t stay. And I don’t have time to sit and chat about why I have to go.” He pointed out the window. “She’s looking for me, and you two will lead her straight to me.”
I knew he meant Halina. I also knew she was too far away to be able to pinpoint our exact location. “She went north, looking for you. She can’t tell exactly where we are, and our parents think we’re taking Arianna home. They won’t be suspicious.” For now. If we stayed here long enough they would be.
Hunter didn’t look any less concerned. “Regardless, I need to go. Where are the urns, Nika? Please, you have to tell me. They’re mine.”
A knot of guilt went through Nika, but she held her ground. “If you’re taking your sister, then you don’t plan on returning, so I think I have the right to ask why you’re leaving me.”
Hunter slumped and closed his eyes. “Don’t do this, Nika. Don’t make this even harder for me.”
“Why should I make it easy? If you want to leave me, then be a man and tell me why.”
Hunter’s head snapped up. “That’s just it. I’m not a man anymore. I’m a…a…”
Nika crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re a vampire. Just like me. And I’m tired of you acting like that’s such a bad thing. What have I done to make me such a bad person in your eyes?” She lifted an eyebrow. “What have you done, for that matter?”
Hunter swallowed, and looked around the room. “It’s not that simple. It’s not just because of what I am. It’s also…because of who I am.”
I tilted my head, trying to understand. “Your dad wants you dead?”
Hunter locked eyes with me. “Yes. And he’ll destroy all of you to get to me. The only way to keep you safe, is to get to him first. I know where he is, but he won’t stay there long. I need to go.”
Nika shook her head. “If this is about your dad, then let’s go back to the ranch. The entire family will help you deal with him.” She put her hand on his arm. “You don’t have to do it alone.”
Hunter glanced at her hand, then his lightly glowing eyes settled on her face. “This is my mess. I’ll clean it up.”
Nika clenched her jaw. “Because you’re hoping he’ll get you at the same time. You’re hoping this…curse…you hate so much will end with your father.”
Hunter shrugged. “He started this nightmare for me. He should be the one to end it.”
Grief washed through Nika, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “So that’s it? You’re done trying. You’re just going to let him kill you?”
Hunter looked away. “Nika, I don’t expect you to understand. You say you know what being a vampire feels like, but you don’t. Not really. What you are is so diluted…you have no idea what being a pureblood means.” He looked back at her. “I’m different from you. My desires are different. My urges are stronger. I have to fight a lot harder. And I’m tired of it.”
He sighed. “But I won’t let my dad remain a threat to you. I’ll take care of him first. It’s the least I can do to repay your family for their kindness.”
Nika moved to block him, trapping him in the closet with her body. “I’m not going to let you do this. I’m not going to let you commit suicide.” She talked to me over her shoulder. “Julian, call Dad. Tell him we found Hunter.”
Hunter’s eyes flashed to me. They were dark, menacing. I knew if I picked up my phone, he was going to be really ticked off. “I wouldn’t do that, Julian. I’m eating regularly now, and I’m a lot stronger than you.”
Arianna clenched my arm. I could smell the fear on her. Looking over, I saw that fear reflected in her eyes. She shook her head. “Let’s just go. If he wants to run away, we can’t stop him.”
Nika’s voice brought my attention back to her. “He’s not going to hurt us. And I can stop him.”
Hunter growled and bared his fangs at her. Arianna shook like a leaf. Nika only smiled. “I’m not scared of you. I’m in love with you. And I’m not letting you do this.”
Hunter rolled his eyes, which made his appearance a lot less intimidating. “You’re really getting on my nerves, Nika.”
“Join the club, Hunter.”
She lifted her chin, and a small smile touched Hunter’s lips. Then he frowned. “Fine. If you won’t tell me where my sister is, then I’ll leave her in your care. That’s probably for the best anyway.”
He started to move past Nika, but she shoved him back. He hadn’t been expecting it, and she successfully pushed him. I knew she wouldn’t be able to trap him on her own, though, not with his strength. Making sure Arianna was safely to the side, I blurred over to stand by my sister. Hunter growled at us. “Back off, and let me go.”
Menace blossomed in the air, but I ignored it. Nika wanted him to stay, wanted him alive, and it was my duty to help her. I put my hands up to his chest. “No. You need to stay here until our dad comes…and that shouldn’t be too long now, since your disappearing act put everyone on high alert.”
Hunter shifted his snarl to me. “I don’t want to hurt you, Julian, but I will if you don’t get out of my way. Please,” he added, his voice strained.
His expression was conflicted, and I knew he didn’t want to injure us, but like a wounded, trapped animal, he would. I didn’t like this. Not one little bit. “How did you break the bond?” I asked, hoping to distract him long enough that Dad would figure out there was a problem.
Hunter clenched and unclenched his fists. “How do you think? I had help from a very intelligent person.”
Anger and betrayal washed through me. “Gabriel? Why would he betray my grandmother by helping you? He loves her.”
Hunter nodded. “He does. And he also hates me. I killed more than a few of his nestmates in L.A. He can’t kill me directly because of Halina, so this was the next best option for him. Break the bond with her and kick me out of the house to sink or swim on my own.”
“Does he know about your father sending killers after the family?” Nika asked, her mood just as shocked as mine.
Hunter shifted his gaze to her. “Yes. But I assured him that my first task once I was free was dealing with him. And that is exactly what I should be doing right now.”
Hunter was wearing a large black backpack. One of his hands deftly reached around and slipped inside the pack. I had no idea what he had in there, but I really didn’t want to find out. “Hey, stop that…whatever it is you’re doing.”
Hunter sighed. “I don’t want to do this, but the two of you aren’t leaving me much of a choice. I have to go, and I can’t
have you two homing devices following me, or keeping me here until your family shows up.” Pulling something out of his pack, he locked eyes with my sister. She was finally nervous, but she bravely held her ground. “I’m sorry, Nika. I never wanted any of this to happen, and if there was another way…”
Nika held out her hand. “There is another way. Come back to the ranch with me. Stop fighting what you are and join my family.”
Hunter’s face grew heavy with sadness. “It’s too late for that.”
His hand came around then. He passed something into his other hand, then crouched to the floor. Something crashed just above his head, and I twisted to see that Arianna had thrown a lamp at him. I had one second to be impressed, and then something stabbed my leg and liquid fire burned throughout my body. I screamed in pain at the exact same time that Nika did. Whatever he’d done to me, he’d done to her too.
I crashed to the ground, holding my leg. I saw Hunter dash past me, but I really didn’t care about him anymore. The fire was quickly spreading over my entire body. It hurt, and yet, it felt oddly familiar. I saw two empty syringes on the ground, and with horrifying clarity, I suddenly knew exactly what Hunter had done to us. It was confirmed a heartbeat later, when I could no longer sense my sister beside me. Or anyone in my family.
Hunter had just injected us with the thing that shut off the bond.
Nika stood up as I still writhed in pain. She was gasping, wobbly, but she managed to stay standing. I didn’t even want to try yet. My nerve endings felt on fire. Arianna was by my side in an instant, running her hands through my hair. “Julian? Are you okay? What did he do to you?”
I couldn’t answer her. It hurt too much. Curling into the fetal position, I rested my head on her lap. God, this sucked even more than I remembered it sucking. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister look over at the open window. Hunter was gone, fled into the night while we were momentarily incapacitated.
Clutching her stomach, Nika grit her teeth and spat out, “No.” Then she jumped out the window to follow the bastard. Panic alleviated my pain. I couldn’t track her. If I lost her, I’d never know where she was, not until this damn shot wore off, and if memory served, that took forever.
“Nika! Wait!” I scrambled to my feet. It was difficult, my legs felt like rubber. When I was standing, I darted to the window.
Arianna grabbed my hand at the last second. “Don’t go!”
I looked back at her, fear filling me instant by instant. “I have to. I can’t sense her anymore. If I lose her trail, I lose her.”
Arianna frowned at me, not following. Realizing she didn’t know what Hunter had just done, I quickly told her, “Hunter broke the bond. I can’t feel her. I can’t track her location. She’s…gone.”
Arianna’s eyes widened as she looked back to the window. She knew how annoying—and important—the bond was to us. Snapping her gaze to me, she said, “Take me with you.”
I wasn’t sure if I could handle that at the moment, but I needed to go to my sister before the wind wiped away her scent. It was the only way I had to find her now. And I really didn’t want to leave Arianna behind anyway. She was safer with me than all alone.
I pulled her onto my back. My knees shook, and I felt tremors run up and down my body. The sensation would pass, though; I just had to wait it out. Placing my foot on the window ledge, I stepped out onto the roof. I had to find to Nika, and fast.
Closing my eyes, I smelled the air. Arianna’s scent clouded my mind, but I shoved hers aside and focused on my sister’s. I had to get to Nika. I caught a trace of it to my right, and leapt to the ground to pursue her. My body wasn’t ready for the landing, though, and I fell to my knees. Arianna squeaked, but I was able to reach back and stop her from falling off.
“Sorry,” I murmured. “I’m not at my best right now.”
She patted my chest. “It’s okay. Just find her.”
I could hear the concern in her voice. I shared it. Nika was following a clearly unhinged person, and I had absolutely no way to track her. Well, except her cell phone, but I didn’t know how to track her like that. I could at least give my freaked-out parents some relief though. Over my shoulder I told Arianna, “Reach into my pocket and grab my phone.”
I felt her weight adjust and felt her fingers dig into my jeans. Then she switched to my jacket. I frowned. My phone wasn’t in my jacket. “I can’t find it, Julian. It’s not there.” She was silent, then, she said, “Mine’s gone too.”
I cursed under my breath. “He took them.” That son of a bitch made us untraceable, then he’d stolen our cell phones, making us unreachable too. Asshole.
THINGS WERE ALREADY not going as planned. I never should have made a pit stop at Nika’s house for my sister’s urn. I should have run straight to Flagstaff. Dad should have been my priority, not some emotional connection with an inanimate object.
Cursing under my breath, I turned south and headed toward my destination. I hadn’t meant for Nika to be involved. I hadn’t meant to hurt her by giving her the shot. And I knew how much that shot freaking hurt. I swore Gabriel made it burn more than necessary, just for me. My injection site still ached.
After the family had grilled me at the ranch about the hunter I’d captured, I’d slunk outside for a while. I hadn’t felt like soaking in the tub after my heated moment with Nika, so I’d returned to my room while they were finishing up dinner. A surprise had been waiting for me. A backpack, holding a case of filled syringes. The shot was ready.
I’d debated whether I should still go through with my plan and take it, but I knew it wasn’t really a choice. I had to finish what my dad had started. Actually, going through with the plan was harder than I’d anticipated. Once I’d decided that my mission took priority over everything else, the next painful decision had been when to take it. Did I wait? Have a few more tender moments with Nika before saying goodbye? Remembering touching her in the tub had helped sway me. We were getting too intimate. The longer we spent together, the closer we got to sex. And I couldn’t…
Once I went there with her, I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to do.
I’d decided right then and there to take the shot. I’d grabbed the backpack, headed out to the backyard, as far from the house as I could go without alarming Halina, then I’d pushed up my sleeve, closed my eyes, and injected myself. The pain had almost brought me to my knees, but I hadn’t had time to cave into the agony. I’d had to move, had to get as far from the house as possible.
Grunting and groaning as acid poured through my veins, I’d stumbled through the brush, nearly falling every other blurred step. I’d headed north. My goal had been to lead Halina away from the direction I really needed to go. My nerves were as shot as my body by the time I’d looped around and started heading toward the city. The formula Gabriel had created was powerful, and the bond broke almost instantly. It was unnerving to not know where Halina was. It punched a hole through my heart. I’d expected the breaking of the bond to remove the emotional connection to her, as well, but it hadn’t. I still cared about her. Of course, my connection to her had nothing to do with the bond anymore. Tears had burned my eyes as I’d run away from her, but my mission had given me the strength to keep going.
Then I’d run into Nika, and my resolve had almost faltered at seeing her. Pure panic had made me act out in a rash, stupid way. But I couldn’t feel Halina, or her family, and I knew they were looking for me. I couldn’t be found, not until I’d dealt with my father.
The wind swirled around me, and I caught something on the breeze that sent a spark of anger up my spine. Nika. She was following me. I could lose her; I was by far faster and stronger than her, but that would mean leaving her on her own in the middle of the city. I was sure she could take care of herself, but Nika wasn’t super-healing like her relatives, and I didn’t want her to face something she couldn’t handle because of me. And besides, I didn’t know if any of Dad’s hunters were around tonight. That was a threat she definitely cou
ldn’t face on her own.
I stopped in the shadows of a warehouse and waited for her to catch up to me. It only took a couple of minutes. She was really pushing herself.
Her heart was racing when she stopped right beside me. “Stop following me, Nika,” I snapped.
She was still shaky on her feet from the shot. Internally, I cringed at what I’d put her through. I kept my face stern as she stubbornly shook her head. “I’m not letting you run off without me.”
I could be equally stubborn. “Go back to your family. Where I’m going, you don’t need to be.”
She grabbed my arm. “You’re my family, and I’m not letting you do this.”
I yanked my arm away. “You don’t really have a choice. I’m going, and you’re staying here.”
Just then, Julian blurred to a stop beside us. He was just as shaky as Nika. He was also carrying his girlfriend on his back. Looked like neither Adams twin was going to leave me alone. Great. I pointed to the direction where I believed the ranch was. “Both of you go home.” My gaze shifted to Julian’s female backpack. “And take the human with you. It’s not safe out here.”
Nika cringed in pain, but firmly held her ground. “Where you go, I’m going to follow. If you want me to be safe, then you better go back to the ranch too.”
I ground my teeth in frustration while Julian added, “And where my sister goes, I go…and Arianna goes. So, the only way to keep us all safe is to do what she said.” He glanced at his sister, and I was positive his concern was only for her. Not for me. Me, he could probably do without.
I ran my hands back through my hair. “You two are infuriating, do you know that?”
Even though he looked to be in as much pain as Nika, Julian smirked at me. “Yeah, we get that a lot.” Arianna giggled. It was a very nervous giggle.
Wondering if they were bluffing, and knowing I needed to be farther from the Adams’ house, I phased away from them. I didn’t stop until I hit the edge of the city. I hovered in the shadows, waiting to see if they’d really follow me. I could take off and leave them in the dust if I absolutely had to, but I couldn’t stomach the idea of Nika being alone, cut off from her family, with only her brother to protect her. I cared about her too much to let her fend for herself.
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