The Jaded Hunter

by The Jaded Hunter(Lit)

  "Drink of me," Theophania murmured in command.

  Jaden took the cool flesh in her hand. She couldn’t think to refuse. It was the only way she’d see Tyr again. If she must wait one hundred years to be with him, then so be it. She would wait. The council only said she couldn’t see or speak. They said nothing about the written word. She would find a way. She just had to.

  "You may get sick," Theophania said, as Jaden lowered her lips. "Vampires were not meant to drink of it."

  Biting into the first bit of flesh, her ordination began--the mixing of ancient blood with her own, the feeding ceremony of fast allies. Tyr did not return, nor was his name mentioned. When she had tasted of her new family’s blood and they of hers, the vows of loyalty were spoken and the brand was taken from the flames. Jaden gritted her teeth as she was marked for an eternity, her lips pressed tightly to prevent her agonizing screams. The ceremony lasted throughout the night. And, from beginning to end, her mind focused on the one thing that would forever haunt her--her love for Tyr.

  Chapter Seventeen

  New York City, New York, December

  The city stretched out from the height of Mack’s library window. The tall gray buildings stood frozen in the glitter of the falling snow. Lights speckled the landscape, dotting the night like stars. Jaden’s face didn’t move as she stared out over the city. She could feel the people below her, trudging through the snowy sidewalks, hailing cabs that splashed in the watery streets. It was chaos of emotions and it all hammered within her.

  She was learning to control her new powers with the help of Osiris and Shiva. Osiris was a hard teacher, very limited with praise. But his methods were fair. Tyr was not there to help her and she had no choice but to follow him.

  Over the months he began to accept her presence amongst them, especially when she didn’t complain about the tasks he set out before her. They’d tested her rigorously in those first days--gauging her skills, testing her knowledge, asking questions about her human intelligence. There were many things about the modern age they were curious about but didn’t understand.

  Shiva hung around following her ordainment into knighthood to help with her training. He even patiently explained the best way to mesmerize and bite a victim so that they would sustain no memory or injury. It had been hard at first to consciously bite into living flesh, learning to temper the need.

  Osiris and Shiva were, for the most part, amiable companions and talented instructors. She learned a lot under their tutelage. However, there were things they couldn’t teach her. They couldn’t teach her how to forget Tyr, how to stop loving him. And they couldn’t tell her how to reach him.

  That brief moment in the council’s hall was the last she saw of him. There were no good-byes, no explanations, and no resolutions. She would have to wait two hundred years before she could try and give them.

  "I have the weapons specs," Jaden whispered quietly. Uncrossing her arms, she held up a stack of folders over her shoulder. She didn’t need to look at Shiva to know he was there. She felt him behind her, could feel his movements connected to her blood.

  It was strange being back in Mack’s apartment. Everything looked so familiar and distant. So much had changed since her last visit.

  "The council will be glad," Shiva answered. He came up next to her, turning his eyes to the cold outside. Jaden handed him the folders. Then, turning around, she placed a thick book on top of the stack. Shiva glanced at it in mild surprise. "What’s this?"

  "It’s a book that describes the Dark Knights. It’s said to be a book of myths, but I thought it would be best to take it back to the council hall. I thought I could leave it for Tyr." Jaden refused to meet Shiva’s eyes.

  "There is no message within?" Shiva asked lightly. "You wouldn’t dare to try their patience by writing?"

  "No," Jaden answered. "I know the decree and I know the cost at which I must obey it."

  "One hundred years is not so long," he whispered. "Soon they will have passed."

  "Two hundred to hear his voice," she said. What she wouldn’t give to just hear him.

  Changing the subject, Shiva said, "Osiris tells me you finished your ordainment."

  "Yes," Jaden finally looked at him. "Morana, Chernobog and Hades met with me yesterday. We exchanged our blood."

  Jaden thought of the quiet, albeit somewhat hostile, knights. It had been nothing more than a business transaction. They had disappeared right after without any words beyond the required sacred oath.

  "Then it is done, little sister," Shiva whispered proudly. "You are truly one of us."

  "All but Vladamir," she said, thinking of the Moroi leader she would probably never know. She had been forbidden from seeking out Jirí, his replacement.

  "Jade," Shiva whispered.

  "Will I not be ordained with a name of a Goddess?" she broke in, knowing by the knight’s tone he was going to mention Tyr. There was nothing he could say to ease the pain inside of her. All she had was her work. She had to cling to her work. If she stopped to think, she would again start counting the days. And then she would be useless--a defeated mass.

  "And betray the beauty of your eyes?" Osiris murmured from behind, as if such a thing would be an affront to them all.

  Jaden had felt he was there. Turning to him, she managed a small smile of greeting. The pleasure was not in the fading light of her gaze.

  "Come," Osiris said. "We have located your uncle."

  "Are you ready for this?" Shiva asked.

  Jaden hardened her face. She was more than ready. After the file had been translated for her, she couldn’t wait to get a piece of her uncle’s deviously black heart.

  Striding across the library floor, she led the way downstairs. The main hall was dark but they moved through it with soundless ease. Then, stopping in the front hall, she pushed the button on the elevator.

  The three of them made quite the invisible group. Jaden had adopted their long black jacket, great for enfolding a victim within. Her clothes were also the matching color of night, tight against her form, the dark contrasting her pale skin. When they walked, it was with a decided purpose to their movements.

  It had been amazingly simple to breach her uncle’s stronghold. How foolish Mack had been to think his houses safe. She walked right in the front door, greeted kindly by the doorman. Shiva and Osiris took the same approach as Tyr once used. Jaden didn’t have the skill as of yet, but was assured it would develop in time.

  The doors slid open. Jaden stepped inside and pressed her uncle’s code into the key pad. Within moments, the doors opened on the basement level. Jaden felt Mack’s presence immediately. Shiva and Osiris slipped into the shadows at her sides.

  Lowering her face, she stepped forward, letting her footfall hit softly on the cement floor. The room was no more than a clean warehouse-like basement. Overhead the hum of fluorescent lights cast a yellowish hue over her uncle, giving a ghoulish cast to his features as he sat under their dim rays.

  Mack’s head whipped around at the noise. His hands rested over a laboratory table filled with strange potions and vials. The sleeves of his linen shirt were rolled up his arm. A machine hummed beside him. Seeing Jaden passing beneath the light, he stiffened.

  "Jade?" he panted in awe. Suddenly, a weak smile broke out over his face. As he pushed his arms up and tried to stand, a vial rolled onto the floor, crashing. He immediately settled his arms on the counter, leaned forward, and stared into the shadows trying to see her.

  Jaden didn’t return the sentiment in his tone. She stayed back from the ring of light thrown out over her uncle. Cocking her face to the side, she studied him. Mack was pale--too pale. His dark hair was disheveled over his head in overlong waves. The shadowing of a beard lined his jaw, sprouting with patches of gray. His arms stayed fixed to the countertop as if he moved, his whole body might fall.

  "Rick said you were ali--" Mack began. Her eyes flashed from the darkness, stopping him.

  Jaden stepped into the light, letting her un
cle take in the paleness of her face, the eerie glowing of her eyes. She knew what Rick had told him. She sent him with the news. Her mortal friend wanted to help out more, but couldn’t protest when she told him to go re-enlist in the military. Mack stiffened before vigorously nodding his head.

  "Yes, yes," Mack whispered. "He did say the vampire made you one of his. I’m glad you’re all right, Jade. Very glad."

  "Murder," Jaden said quietly. "Rape."

  Mack blinked. "Wh--what?"

  "That is what I was charged with by the council," Jaden said softly. She felt her uncle’s panic. She waited for him to deny it. Seeing him again, part of her wanted him to explain it to her--to justify it in terms she could agree with. He said nothing. "Why would they think that of me, uncle? Why would they think I captured vampires and mortals only to let them be abused?"

  "Jade," he began. Seeing the warning light in her eyes, he hastened, "You don’t understand. I was protecting us. I … I … you don’t understand. I can explain."

  Jaden stepped around him. Her head tilted. Her eyes held steadily on his face. She didn’t give him time to continue rationalizing, before adding, "And why would they say my mother was a vampire? You said she fell off a horse."

  "No, no, Jade," Mack began. Jaden raised an emotionless eyebrow up on her face. Mack began to sweat, pulling a moist handkerchief up from the ground. He didn’t raise his hand from the table as he used it for support. The action took an abnormally long time. Leaning forward, he huffed for breath, "I’ve wanted to tell you the truth, Jaden. But I didn’t want to hurt you."

  "Then tell me the truth now," she whispered under her breath. "For this is the only time I’ll listen to what you have to say to me."

  "I was in the horse riding accident, not Rhona," Mack explained. He took a deep breath, wrinkling his forehead in concentration. "That is when he found me."

  "Who?" Jaden queried softly. "Who found you?"

  "I was bleeding to death, lying on the forest floor for a whole of a day. And then a vampire came and offered me salvation for loyalty. You have to understand. I was just a kid. I was scared of dying. I promised him I’d help him. I didn’t know what he wanted." Mack’s words trailed off. His breath became shallow. Jaden watched him carefully, wondering if it was fright that made him so sickly.

  "What did he want?" Jaden questioned. She felt a prickling sensation go up her spine. They weren’t alone. She could feel the other knights behind her.

  "I don’t know. He helped me and disappeared. For months I thought it was a dream. Then Madame Fabienne, our young housekeeper, woke me one night and bid me to Rhona’s bedroom. I found my sister fornicating with an ungodly beast. He was drinking from her neck and she was letting him." Mack shuddered. Jaden lowered her gaze briefly, her body swaying with longing for Tyr. She understood well what her mother had felt. But she no longer resented the woman for it.

  "Fabienne told me that the creature was a vampire and gave me a potion that was to kill my sister’s lover next time he came to her. So I made the potion, gave it to Rhona in her drink and waited. The next night the vampire came, but instead of killing him the potion got her pregnant with you."

  Jaden listened to his words. Her heart paced steadily as he admitted the truth. Mack weakened and leaned harder on the countertop. Looking around, he saw a stool behind him. Reaching with his foot, he wheeled it to him and sat.

  "I thought the potion worked, fool that I was," Mack continued, growing paler with each word. "But when Rhona told me who the father of her baby was, I knew I had been tricked. By then it was too late. You were born and Rhona was going to take you away with her. I waited for Bhaltair to come for you both, but I could never catch him. I knew he had been there for I would find little flowers from the forest in your crib. Rhona was being locked into her room at night to keep her from the devil’s work. It was a different time. Our parents were ashamed to have a bastard child in the family. They knew nothing of your father and died soon after from the heartache, believing Rhona had been taken advantage of by a rogue. You were kept a secret. A year passed after your birth and one night the vampire who saved me came to me. He told me that Rhona was no longer my sister. I...."

  Jaden leaned forward to hear his whisper. His words came slower, slurring against each other. Confusion lined his face as he tried to concentrate.

  "I didn’t know what I do now. I killed her, Jaden. I staked her in the heart. I blamed her for hurting our happy family. I blamed her for the death of your grandparents. But, looking back, it might have been someone else’s hand that killed them. Doctors didn’t know then what they do now. They couldn’t explain it." Mack blinked heavily, his eyes trying to focus on Jaden’s unmoving face. "I tried to kill Bhaltair but he was too strong. He got away. Then the first vampire came to me and gave me money. He bid me to go away and to take you with me. I was scared of him, but had no choice. He said Bhaltair would be back for me and for you. I loved your mother. You have to believe that. I never would’ve harmed her had I known...."

  Jaden felt her stomach tightened. She kept her face blank, resisting the urge to beat the mortal before her. Everything he had ever said had been a lie. Closing her eyes briefly to clear her head, she asked, "And who was this vampire that saved you?"

  "I--I can’t," Mack whispered. "He’d kill me and you. He said he would turn us over to Bhaltair if I ever defied him. I’ve been his slave--killing--"

  "Mack," Jaden demanded, trying to get his attention. It was clear her uncle was sick. "What about the experiments?"

  "Experiments?" he echoed weakly. He blinked, his lids heavy. He rested his head on the table.

  Jaden shot forward. Grabbing him about the shoulders she hauled him up before her. A scream was on the tip of her tongue, but never reached her mouth. Another closed vial rolled on the table and clanked noisily onto the floor. It hit against her boot. She glanced down. To her horror, she found a thick tube ran into her uncle’s arm, sucking out his blood.

  "You have to believe I’ve always loved you, Jade," Mack mumbled, more incoherently.

  She dropped him, her fingers unable to stand touching him. Mack stumbled, but caught himself. Reaching over to the machine he was connected to, he pushed a button. The blood in the tubing slowly reversed itself.

  "What are you doing?" Jaden asked in sharp suspicion. A curling sense of dread overwhelmed her.

  "I am joining you, sweetheart," Mack said in a dying mumble. "I have found a way to harness the power of many."

  "What are you talking about?" she demanded hotly. "What do you mean?"

  "Those experiments," Mack whispered in breathless confession and pride. "I have discovered all of the vampire’s weaknesses. I have purified the blood of many. I’ll be powerful, Jade--more powerful than the council, more powerful than all of them. And you’ll be with me at my side. We will rule them all. We will be immortal. Nothing will stop us!"

  "You’re mad!" Jaden hissed. She went to the machine, eyeing it, looking for a plug to disable it.

  "No," Mack growled as he latched onto her arm. His grip held surprising strength. "I have worked too hard for this."

  "You deserve to die for this," she growled into his ear. She could feel the others watching, waiting silently in the shadows. She was grateful for their presence, just as she was appreciative for their impassiveness at the moment.

  "You can’t kill me, Jade," Mack whispered. His stomach lurched in pain. He fell to the floor, the tube still trailing out of his arm. Jaden ripped if from him. Blood spilled onto the floor from the tube, pooling around his body. But the action was too late. The rebirth had begun. Jaden watched helpless as Mack writhed in agony. She felt Osiris coming forward. Lifting up her hand, she shook her head, telling him silently to get back.

  "I am the only family you have left. I am like a father to you," Mack groaned from the floor. His body twitched in pain. Jaden could sense his death. She could sense the potent blend of vampire blood mixed with his own. He had done it. Somehow, Mack had discovered a
way to make a vampire without the drinking of blood and he had killed many to do it.

  "I had a father," Jaden said quietly. She leaned over, watching his face. She hardened her heart to him, forcing away all sentiment that still lingered. Her hand reached into the folds of her jacket. "You made me kill him."

  "I did it for you. He was … no good," Mack defended. He gurgled. His eyes pooled with red. His body lurched. Vomit trailed from his lips to splatter onto the floor. Jaden jerked away.

  Ignoring the agony of his rebirth, she said, "You are charged, Alan MacNaughton, of performing experiments on humans and vampires. For searching for the fountain of youth at the expense of others and for testing on vampire blood to see how long humans could be kept alive in suffering without turning. I charge you with cruelty rivaling any man in history. I charge you with the death of over four thousand mortals by way of your experiments."

  "Jade," Mack gasped. "Don’t. I love yo--"

  "No," she growled. Her words rose in fury. "I charge you with trying to overthrow the vampire council."

  "What do you care about the council?" he whispered up into her hard face.

  Jaden gave him a slow smile. Lifting up her jacket sleeve, she showed him the brand on her forearm--the shield with a bar through it. Evenly, she retorted, "I’m one of them now."

  "No," Mack whispered in horror. "You can’t be serious. Those rapes and murders--I did it for us, you. I did them for you. We had to have money to fund this. It was the only way."

  "I find you guilty, Mack," Jaden whispered, a touch of sadness rolling into her eyes. She tried to pretend she didn’t feel anything for him. But it wasn’t true. A part of her still loved him, as the father she had believed him to be.

  As if reading her weakness, he said, "I am your family."

  "Bhaltair and Rhona were my family. I have lived as my mother’s people. It’s time I discovered my father’s." Jaden stood. She looked down at the pitiful man on the floor. Slowly, she pulled a stake out from inside her jacket. Mack’s eyes rounded in horror. "I have a new family now, Mack."