He dodges, and I lunge for it again.
These aren’t humans.
“You’re a hunter.”
“And you’re a vampire-loving whore,” he spits back at me. I race toward him, planting both hands on the top of an old table and spinning my feet out, slamming the soles of both boots into his chest. I don’t hesitate any longer before jumping on top of him and driving my dagger down into his throat.
Blood spurts from the injury, and he gurgles, his hands gripping my thighs painfully. I try to pull away, to get free, but even in death, he’s pinning me to the ground.
Hands grip my sides and rip me up. Instinctively, I fight back against the hold, twisting and turning as I try to break free.
“Rainey!” Elijah roars, and I still. “Get back inside!”
I glance over my shoulder and feel all of the blood drain from my face. I grow cold as I take in the creatures surrounding us. Wolf, bear, large cats, basically, any deadly predator you could cross paths with here in Northern America stalks toward the cabin led by one woman.
Doloris fucking Taylor. She walks in front of them, her aged face illuminated with power, white hair whipping around her head as she raises both hands.
“That bitch.” I growl, my vision growing blurry around the edges as a blackout starts to take hold. No, no, not now. I try to focus, shaking my head to clear it as I clench both fists at my sides. “You’ll pay.”
“Rainey!” Elijah yells again, coming into view and gripping both of my shoulders. He shakes me, and I focus on him rather than the woman I want to kill. “Snap the hell out of it, and get back inside.”
I don’t move, and as the blood begins to pound in my ears, I begin to shake, and something wet drips down onto my cheek. A humming overtakes the shed, and Elijah bellows.
Fire explodes on the back of my hand, and I drop to my knees, the pain overwhelming every single one of my senses.
“Fuck!” Elijah lifts me and rushes toward the cabinet, sliding it closed behind us. The moment we’re inside, the immediate pain stops, replaced by an aching that leaves my arm immobile. Elijah sets me down long enough to secure the bolt, locking us inside. He turns to lift me when the door shakes.
“Rainey Astor, come out wherever you are,” Doloris yells from the other side of the door.
I clench my jaw, cradling my arm against my chest.
“It’s not nice to hide from an old friend,” an aged female voice purrs. “I want to talk. I always wondered why your grandmother refused to speak of you, and now I know why. You are one of them.”
She’s baiting me, and based on the anger reflected on Elijah’s face, he knows it too. I grind my teeth together.
“You are something special, child. Don’t you wish to know what? I would love the chance to teach you, Rainey. I can show you things your grandmother never could. Eventually, you’re going to have to come out, and the longer you make me wait, the more painful it will be for you and that vampire you’ve aligned yourself with. Tick tock, child. Tick. Tock.”
My vision wavers, and I collapse. Before I fall, Elijah grips me, cradling me to his chest as he carries me down the stairs. He moves silently, or at least I think he does. I can’t hear a damn thing over the pounding of my own blood.
“I’m sorry,” I grind out through my teeth as he sets me on the couch. “I should have stayed here. I’m sorry.” My head aches, the pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
“It doesn’t matter now.” He heads for the bathroom. My hand and forearm are bright red and blistered, the skin charred. The mark is now a pale white compared to the skin surrounding it when, before, it had been pink.
“What the hell did she do to me?” I ask, cradling my injured arm to my chest.
“Believe it or not, that’s the least of my concerns,” he says, stepping out to join me in the living room. His eyes are hard, but they’re clear once more now that he’s wiped my blood from his face.
“Why the hell is that? The bitch burned me from outside the cabin!”
“Can they get inside?”
“I don’t know. I don’t believe so. My grandmother had the place spelled to be hidden from view. If they’d wanted in here, they could have gotten in before now, right?”
“True.”
“But if she helped my grandmother,” I start, the horrific realization taking hold. “She could get in, Elijah. If Doloris is the one who—”
He mutters something under his breath and comes toward me, kneeling in front of the couch and reaching for my injured arm. “We need to focus on one thing at a time.”
“My arm is already starting to feel better.”
“Positives of being a hunter.” He gets up and sits on the coffee table, facing me. “What did you do up there?” he asks.
“What do you mean?”
“When you realized it was her, where did your mind go? What were you trying to do?”
“I wasn’t actively trying to do anything. Why?”
“Magic poured from you, Rainey. Every single cell of your body radiated with power unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. And your eyes, you weren’t you. The blackout at Jack’s—it wasn’t even this potent, and you would have decimated had I not stepped in.”
I gape at him. “What? What the hell does that mean? Who the hell else could I have been?”
“I don’t know, but until we figure it out, you need to maintain control over yourself. Your magic isn’t what we thought.”
“I don’t have magic.”
“Yes, you do. And it is not inactive, Rainey. It’s anything but. Fuck, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You’re afraid.”
“I am,” he admits. “And that’s not a typical feeling for someone like me. Has anything ever happened around you?”
“You mean have I ever sent something flying across the room with a wave of my hand? No, because I’m not a fucking witch.”
“Enough with your damned predisposed bias, Rainey. This is a hell of a lot bigger than that.”
I push to my feet, noticing the blisters on my arm already disappearing. It’s still red and hot to the touch. “It’s not a predisposed bias, Elijah. I’d know if I were a witch.”
“Would you? Because it seems to me you weren’t aware as you were trying to rip Jack’s heart out and feed it to him—your words, not mine. And you also don’t realize that you very nearly took the whole fucking shed down on top of us up there with a mere sight of your enemy. And honestly? The fact that you don’t know—don’t remember—concerns me more than the actions themselves.”
37
Elijah
Fear settles over me, a heavy blanket weighing me down with the force of a thousand pounds. I can’t shake it despite the fact that, for the most part, she seems to be back to normal. Yet, the emptiness reflected in her solid black, soulless eyes only minutes ago was something I’ve never seen before. And still, it was more than that; her face had contorted into a grim smile, one that promised death.
Destruction.
An empty void ready to swallow up anything in her path.
She was someone else—somewhere else—and it was clear to me, as it would be to anyone looking in, that Rainey was no longer in control of herself. Her sister told me she was the most powerful Legacy Hunter to ever walk the earth, and now I see why.
She’d told me that Rainey had to be protected at all costs.
At first, I’d thought it was a sibling-like bond that bound her to Rainey, but now I see Delaney was worried about a hell of a lot more than that. The evil that poured from the woman before me only minutes ago—it chilled me to the bone and snapped me out of my own bloodlust.
And let me tell you, it takes a hell of a lot to rip me away from that once it takes hold of me.
I can still taste the coppery tang of her blood on my tongue, feel the buzzing in my blood that responded when I tethered myself to her. Something I never would have done had I known the darker side lurking within her.
“
What did you mean earlier?” she asks me, and I wonder if she can read my thoughts.
“When?”
“You said something to me before we went up through the door. What was it?”
“Is leatsa mé,” I repeat.
“Yes, that. What does it mean?”
You are mine. “Nothing. It’s just a phrase. I thanked you for offering me passage onto your property,” I lie because I just fucking tethered myself to someone who may not even be the person before me.
And if I swore my loyalty to her by taking her blood into my body and speaking those words, I also swore loyalty to the other side of her. The witch I only caught a glimpse of above.
“You thanked me?”
“What do you remember?” I demand, changing the subject.
“I was pissed.”
“At Doloris.”
“Obviously.” Rainey gets to her feet. “Now, how about we figure out what the hell we’re going to do before they manage to get down here.”
“Are there any other exits?”
She shakes her head. “The shed is it.”
“What the hell kind of hideout only has one exit?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I built the fucking place.” Rainey glares at me, the muted power I once thought was her hunter blood calls to me in a way it never has before. Because now that I’ve tasted it, I can feel the darkness.
And it’s terrifying.
“We need to scour this place, find something to help us figure out a way around Doloris’s magic because, if what she did to your arm is any indication, she’s a hell of a lot more powerful than any witch I’ve ever crossed paths with.”
“Then let’s get after it.” Rainey walks past me and starts gathering books from the shelf. I do the same, but as I’m reaching for the fifth book, it won’t pull from the shelf. Instead, it creaks, and a panel opens behind where it and the other four books once sat nestled together on the shelf.
“What was that?” Rainey asks and comes to join me, arms full of books.
“Seems whoever built this had a thing for secrets.”
“Wasn’t that clear when we entered a magically concealed stairwell leading us down to a private bunker?”
“Good point.” I set the books down and open the panel all the way, revealing a keypad.
“Well, that’s disappointing.”
“You have no clue what it could be?”
“You could try my dad’s birthday. He was her son.”
“Sure, what was it?”
“August fourteenth, nineteen-oh-two.”
“Gotta love that hunter immortality,” I say.
“Immortality only gets you so far,” she replies dryly.
I couldn’t agree more.
I type in the code and, when nothing happens, glance back at her expectantly. “You could try Delaney’s birthday.”
I type it in, and Rainey stares at me, clearly surprised I knew Delaney’s birthday.
“I had drinks with her one year. That wasn’t it either,” I say, frustrated. “What’s yours?”
“It’s not going to be mine.”
“Then that would make it the clear choice, would it not?”
Rainey sighs. “October thirty-first, nineteen-eighty-two.”
“You were born on All Hallows Eve?”
“I was.”
“During a full moon.”
“I have no fucking clue. It’s not like I track them.”
She’s a hunter with witch magic born on a full moon during one of the most supernaturally charged times of the year. No fucking wonder she’s powerful. I type in the code, and a door-sized panel to our left slides away.
“Seems your grandmother wanted you to find it.”
“Or Delaney,” she says. “If she discovered it first.”
“Either way, someone wanted you in here.” I take the books from her and set them to the side before stepping into the dark. The moment I cross the threshold, lights flicker on, and the room is bathed in their soft, yellow glow.
The room is completely empty save for a video monitor perched atop a filing cabinet and a manila folder in the center of a large metal table.
Rainey moves slowly across the room, each step appearing labored until finally, she stops in front of the table and glances over at me as I stop beside her.
The Lunar Divide is scrawled in elegant penmanship on the pale-yellow surface, and Rainey reaches for the edge of the top, opening the folder.
A picture of a woman with golden hair and a bright smile stares back at us. A bright red X has been drawn through her photograph, the word ‘terminated’ stamped beside the photo. Rainey flips it over, and another smiling woman, brunette this time, stares up at us. Another red X and stamp on her page.
Rainey continues to flip through, and one after the other, each woman’s photo has been crossed out. Until…
She drops the latest image and steps back, covering her mouth with both hands.
I reach down and lift it. Rainey stares up from the photograph, wearing a navy-blue uniform. Her name, height, age, weight, and description fill out the page. She’s the only one in the entire file who’s not listed as terminated.
“What the hell are these?” I ask as Rainey steps forward and gathers the other images. She scans them, more frantic this time, and I’m unable to tear my gaze from hers.
“Their birthdates, Elijah.”
“What about them?”
She swallows hard and steps forward, scanning. “All of them are on Halloween.”
A shiver of knowing slithers up my spine. “What are the years?”
“Three were born in nineteen-eighty-two. Two in nineteen-sixty-three, and two in two-thousand-one. What does it mean?”
“A full moon happens on Halloween once every nineteen years,” I tell her.
“What does that have to do with—”
“Rainey.”
I still, and Rainey pales as Delaney’s voice fills the room. I spin, searching for her.
“I wish I could see you,” Delaney says from the video monitor in the corner of the room. She smiles back at us, her familiar features digging a fresh wound in my grief. Rainey looks like she’s two seconds from toppling over as she moves slowly toward the screen.
“Delaney?” she whispers.
I set the page I’m holding down and move toward her, reaching down to thread my fingers through hers in an attempt to offer her some strength.
“I’m glad you found the room. I had this set on a timer to give you a chance to look through the folder. If you haven’t yet, you need to.” She pauses. “I want you to know how sorry I am that this had to happen this way. But I had to be sure you got the messages, and they had to be done carefully as I’m sure you will understand by now.”
“What? What do I understand?” Rainey asks, her voice cracking.
“As I record this, I’ve been told I have two months left. After that, my time will be over, and it will be up to you. I don’t know if Elijah has crossed paths with you yet or if he’s told you what I confided in him. I hope he has, but just in case he hasn’t, the information is in the cabinet beneath this monitor.” She chuckles. “I know you’re impatient, but before you go digging right away, I need you to remember one solid truth: Don’t let them paint you as what they believe you to be. You are a good person, and this is nothing but one final roadblock before you begin to truly understand what you are.”
“What is she talking about?” Rainey turns her gaze up to mine, her tear-filled eyes gutting me.
“I don’t know.”
“I stole these files last night from a witch named Doloris Taylor. She used to be one of grandma’s old friends but turned on her. I discovered it was a coven that killed her, Rainey, not vampires and not humans. It’s how they were able to get to her through the wards. Because they helped set them up.” Delaney’s jaw hardens. “I wish I was there to help you, but you should know—this is only the beginning of what’s to come. There is so much more headed
your way, and you’re going to need all the help you can get.”
Rainey turns to me, eyes wide. I shrug, unable to explain anything Delaney is telling me. It’s all news I am hearing for the first time too.
“If Elijah is here with you, or if you see him again, please thank him for me. And if your path ever crosses with a hunter who goes by the name of Jack.” She grins, her cheeks flushing with color. “Tell him that it wasn’t his fault. None of it was, and I wish him happiness. I love you, Rainey. You are my sister, in all ways that matter. And you are my best friend. Don’t forget. Check the cabinet.”
The video goes black, and a pained sob rips from Rainey’s chest. “No, no, Delaney!” She rushes forward and presses a button on the monitor, but nothing happens. The screen remains black. She turns and pushes past me to the table. After shoving the folder aside, she slams both palms down on the table where the folder had been.
“Why isn’t it working?”
I have no answers for her. To my knowledge, Delaney had no active magic that would have allowed her to spell the room this way. But someone had to have.
Rainey stalks across the room again and starts ripping open drawers.
“Rainey,” I say softly. When she doesn’t respond, I walk to her and grip her shoulders. “Rainey.”
Finally, her tortured gaze focuses on mine. “I don’t understand.”
“We will.” I reach up and cup her cheek, running my thumb over her skin in a tender caress that does nothing to soothe the panic in my chest. If these women were hunted down and killed…what if Rainey is next?
38
Rainey
Tears stream down my cheeks, the grief still fresh in my heart made even fresher by the visual of the woman who will always be my sister. It doesn’t matter that I’m pissed at her for not telling me the truth earlier, or that I’m furious that she knew she was going to die and didn’t do anything to stop it.
I fucking miss her, and seeing her—even in a recorded video—breaks my damned heart all over again.
Blood Hunt Page 24