Elijah stands across from me, looking nearly as broken up as I feel, though he’s hiding it much better than I am.
“I need to know what she wanted me to find.” I pull open the second drawer, the third, and finally, the fourth. Nestled inside is a box, so I lift it carefully, carrying it over to the table. It’s ancient and crafted with dark wood. The lid and surrounding sides are covered in swirls and designs I don’t recognize.
Elijah leans forward and brushes his fingertips over the designs. “These are Celtic,” he says. “And ancient.”
“What do they mean?”
He shrugs. “I have no clue. But I think we need to find out before we—”
“She wanted me to find it. I’m not waiting.” I open the lid, and all hell breaks loose.
Lights flicker overhead as a whirring sound so fucking loud it drowns out everything else fills the room. Black smoke swirls around me, filling me with a sense of foreboding even as it promises power.
Pure.
Unfiltered.
Ancient.
It’s addictive and beckons me forward. I reach for the lid again and try to pry it all the way open, but Elijah’s hands are on it in an instant, forcing it to remain partially closed.
I growl at him. He has no right. My sister left this for me! I let go of the box and shove him. He stumbles back, and the lid flies open the moment he’s no longer holding it shut.
“There you are,” a voice whispers to me. The call of a lover, enticing me. I turn toward it, moving closer, closer as the inky black envelops me. The stroke of fingers brushes over my skin, sliding up and down the side of my face, my arms. They’re everywhere, wrapping around me, holding me. Filling the part of me that’s been empty for what feels like forever.
The part of me that acted on instinct—that killed those who would harm me when the rational side of my brain wouldn’t allow me to act.
It made me a hunter, and they will make me better.
“Come to us.”
“We need you.”
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Free us.”
“It’s time.”
Something screams.
“Stop him!”
“He will trap us!”
I turn and growl at Elijah as he rushes toward me. “No!” I scream, though it’s not just my voice. It’s layered with their voices. With power.
We collide, my shoulder cracking as it impacts with his sternum. He flies back, and I land on top of him.
“Rainey! We have to close it!”
“Never!” I scream and ball up my fist, slamming it down into his jaw.
“Yes. Kill him! Kill him for what he would do to us!”
I reach for my dagger, my hand closing on the hilt. Elijah’s eyes widen as I snarl down at him. “You should have stayed back.”
“Rainey, no. Stop. Rainey!” he bellows. With the force of their power behind me, I drive the blade down toward his heart.
He grips my arms and throws me back, causing my head to slam into the wall opposite of him. Pain explodes in my skull, and I crumple to the ground.
“No!”
“Stop him!”
“Get up!”
The black smoke in the room begins to move more rapidly now, an inky black snake attempting to evade its enemy.
Then, as quickly as it appeared. It’s gone.
I shake my head as the roaring stops. The pain no more than a dull ache now. My thoughts scramble to find logic in what just happened as I focus on the room. Elijah stands in front of the box, his hands covering the lid. Breath coming in ragged gasps, his cheeks are reddened, his hair windblown, and he gapes at me with an expression I never thought I’d attribute to the powerful vampire.
He’s afraid of me.
“What in the fuck just happened?” he demands, stalking toward me.
“I don’t—” I search for a reason behind what just happened, but the memory of it is fading already and making it nearly impossible to focus on anything.
Elijah grips my arms and rips me up from the ground, pinning me to the wall. “You nearly fucking daggered me!”
I did? “I did? I don’t remember—let me go.” I squirm against his hold.
“What do you remember?”
“We found the box, and I tried to open it.” What the hell is wrong with him? “Let me go, Elijah. Now. We need to know what’s inside.”
His eyes widen, his mouth falling open. “You already opened the bloody thing!”
“What?” Now it’s my turn to stare at him as though he’s crazy. But as I look around the room, at the pages scattered about, the way his hair is tousled as though he’s been in a fight—I start to panic. What if I’m the crazy one? “Elijah?” I choke out his name, and he releases me, turning away.
I jump when he rams his fist into the wall. “Gather the pages. We’ll deal with this later.”
Kneeling, I gather up the pages and shove them back into the folder, then set them beside the box. Elijah’s eyes are on me the entire time, so I step away from it as quickly as I can.
“What are we going to do?”
Something crashes outside, so we race into the living room. Elijah hits a button on the keypad, and the panel closes seconds before the door leading to our only escape path bursts open, and shifters pour inside.
They stop just inside the room, teeth bared, some snarling in our direction. Doloris comes into view, and she grins at me. “Your time has run out, child.”
“How did you get in here?” Elijah demands.
“Something broke the wards on this place.” She glances around. “I have to admit this is one hell of a hidey-hole. Your grandmother worked hard to protect this from me.”
“I can see why.” My vision begins to swim, but Elijah’s hand brushes against mine, his touch rooting me in this reality rather than whatever is waiting for me in the dark. “You betrayed her,” I accuse.
“She was weak, and we serve a greater purpose.”
“What purpose is that?” Elijah steps forward. “Slaughtering innocent women?”
She cocks her head to the side. “And which women would you be referring to?”
“We know about the Lunar Divide.”
Her eyes widen at my words, and her dark smile spreads. “So you know you’re next. The final piece to the puzzle.”
“You killed them. Why?”
“They posed a threat, and threats have to be eliminated.”
“Was Delaney a threat?” I ask, the edges of my vision blurring so she’s the only one I can see.
“I wasn’t responsible for Delaney. Though, I can’t say I was overly disappointed in her death. She was getting too close. Just as your grandmother had. You should feel rather special, Rainey. They hid you from me for quite some time. It wasn’t until a few months ago I discovered your true potential.”
“Potential you want to terminate,” Elijah adds.
“Perhaps, though you might prove more useful to us alive,” she says as she studies me. The way her eyes travel over me, it’s unnerving, reminding me of a scientist’s through a magnifying glass. “Take her,” she orders, and the shifters begin to move forward.
“Over my dead body,” Elijah growls beside me. I don’t look over, too focused on maintaining a level head like Elijah told me after our first interaction with her above.
“It will be,” Doloris promises. “You won’t be walking out of this one, Vampire. I assume your council will be quite pleased with the news of your death.”
Her threat surges through me, and I snarl. “You won’t touch him.”
Doloris’s gaze flits to mine. “You are awfully protective of a bloodsucker. Must be the witch blood in you. Some of us have a soft spot for the pets. Though, I am afflicted with no such weakness. You should all die,” she spits at Elijah, and I roll my shoulders as The Hunt surges through me.
The surge of adrenaline should have been familiar to me, but it’s laced with something far more sinister now. And it wants to bathe in the blo
od of my enemies.
Elijah attacks, lunging for a wolf, and I spin, kicking out as two stalk toward me. A bear slashes out with its long claws. They grip the front of my shirt and tear, shredding the fabric.
I howl in rage, and Doloris snaps her fingers.
The bear falls to the ground. “Don’t kill her!” she orders.
The golden eyes of a cougar level on me as it lowers to pounce. I reach back and palm my dagger. It lunges. I stab. Blood drips down my arm, and I race for Doloris as the other shifters head for Elijah.
One quick glance assures me he’s holding his own—if barely. I run toward the room for Doloris. She raises both arms and stares at me expectantly.
Nothing happens, and her eyes widen.
“Surprise, bitch.” I have no clue what happened, why whatever she did to me above ground is no longer affecting me, but I’m not about to tell her that. She waves a hand, and books from the shelf beside me fly out, slamming into me. I fall to the ground, buried beneath ancient leather.
They weigh me down for a moment before I shove to my feet. The books continue to surround me, and a whirling sound fills my ears as they try to bury me. Pages flap, and Doloris smiles, her eyes burning with power.
“Rainey!” Elijah calls my name, a panicked cry as he fights his own battle. I swallow hard as books from the other shelf join the ones determined to form my grave. I struggle, fighting against them even as they pin my hands at my sides, crushing me.
My vision blurs. No, remain in control. After what Elijah told me he saw, I don’t want to risk losing it. Especially not when he could get caught in the crosshairs.
I scream.
Elijah roars.
An animal I don’t recognize yelps.
The books continue climbing, obliterating my view. My lungs burn as they press into me, and I gasp for breath. I’m going to die tonight.
Suffocated by the literature my family died to protect. If I wasn’t so terrified, I could laugh at the irony.
Spots form in my vision, and I gasp for air. “Elijah,” I choke out, a strangled sob that will be my final word.
And as everything begins to fade to black, the books crumble away.
39
Elijah
“Rainey!” Panic, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, surges through me as she disappears into a tomb of books.
I growl and release the chains I’ve kept myself wrapped in for so damned long. Bloodlust surges through me, knowing nothing but the need to survive. A wolf lunges for me. I grip it by its brown fur and rip, tossing its head to the side as I move to the others.
I kill, shred, destroy on my way to Doloris.
Rainey chokes, my name barely audible above the magic whirring in the air around us. Doloris doesn’t see me, the foolish witch believing her shifters were enough to stop me.
When it comes to Rainey, there’s not a fucking force powerful enough to keep me away from her. A bear races toward me, its claws digging into the flesh of my abdomen. I don’t even feel the pain that should have followed.
My heart hammers in my chest, and I wrap both arms around its throat, spinning and pinning it to the ground. I squeeze, and it squirms as it shifts into a man. Panicked, he grips at my arms, but it’s a futile fight. His neck snaps, and I jump to my feet, nothing standing between me and the witch.
I race toward her, and she turns as I slam into her.
The books fall, the sound like an avalanche to my ears.
“How did you?” Doloris scrambles to her feet, lifting her arm and flinging me back into the empty bookcase.
My body jolts against the hard wood. As I push to my feet, I steal a glance at Rainey. She’s unconscious, her face bloody, lip swollen, one hand outstretched as though she’s reaching for me.
“You have no idea who I am,” I growl.
“You shouldn’t have been able to do this.”
“No,” I say, calling to the power in my blood. I can tell the moment she loses sight of me. My cloak in place, I race toward her and pounce, sinking my teeth into her throat.
Copper fills my mouth, and she screams.
I bite down and rip, tearing her throat out and spitting it to the ground beside me.
“You can’t save her,” she chokes out. “She’s as good as de—” Doloris trails off, her eyes frozen open.
I stare down at her, the vampire in me wanting more. More of her blood. I start toward her, and Rainey coughs.
“Rainey.” I race toward her, throwing books to the side. “Rainey!” I yell at her, gripping her face. “Please, open your eyes.”
I have no damned clue where to even look for adrenaline in this fucking place, and I wish I could kick my own ass for not checking when we first arrived.
But this? I survey the blood-soaked ground and the bodies scattered around us. I never could have imagined this would happen.
“Elijah?”
“Yes, Rainey, it’s me.”
She opens her eyes slowly and wheezes as she tries to sit up. “My chest.”
I feel down her sides, and she winces. One, two, three. “You have some broken ribs,” I tell her as I try to lift her. “We need to get the hell out of here while we can.”
She nods, and I help her to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I hold her against my body, and she sucks in a pained breath. “We need to get the box.”
“I know.” I guide her over to the couch and set her down before running to the keypad and inputting her birthdate. Without paying it too much thought, I retrieve the file, rolling it and shoving it into the waist of my slacks before I tuck the box beneath my arm and return to her.
She stares up at me, one eye swollen and full of tears. “I’m so sorry,” she chokes out. “This is my fault.”
“No.” I wrap an arm around her waist again and pull her against me. “This is not your fault.” We stumble toward the door, my adrenaline giving me enough of a boost that I don’t pay attention to my own injuries. Which, I’m sure, are impressive enough. I can feel them, the pain in my chest where claws tore at my skin.
We barely make it to the top of the stairs without falling. I release her and shut the door, sealing the death below by sliding the cabinet in front of it. Then, I heave her up again, and we limp outside.
A black van sits just behind the main house. “We’re going to be fine,” I tell her. Though Doloris’s final words run through my mind on sadistic repeat. “You can’t save her.”
I pull the passenger door of the van open and help Rainey inside. I don’t hand her the box though. Instead, I carry it around to the driver’s side and set it in my lap as I reach down and rip the console beneath the steering wheel open.
After finding the wires I’m looking for, I pull, tearing them loose before wrapping them together. The van comes to life, and I slam my foot onto the accelerator, determined to put as much distance between me and the Astor estate as quickly as possible.
40
Rainey
After everything that took place tonight, being back at my apartment feels so surreal. The coffee mug I’d rinsed four days ago when we left town still sits in the same place beside my sink.
And yet, literally everything in my life has changed.
My sister uncovered some crazy-ass plot to kill women born during a full moon on Halloween, which is probably what got her killed. I apparently had some psychotic break because I opened a box, and Elijah now thinks I’m a witch.
Not that he’s said much since we found the van. In fact, I haven’t heard him speak since he told the pilot we wanted to return to Billings. Thanks to a quick phone call, he’d been waiting for us at the airstrip when we arrived.
The nearly two-hour flight passed in complete silence, the night’s events weighing heavily on us both. I’d been pretty dazed when I’d woken up after nearly being suffocated, but I had been alert enough to notice the carnage surrounding us.
It looked like a bomb went off. And one look at Elijah told me he was that bomb. I could only gue
ss what had detonated him, but I dared to believe it was my near-death experience.
“I’m going to grab a shower,” I tell him. He doesn’t respond, just sets the box on the counter in front of him and slides onto a stool.
I flip the light switch right inside my bathroom before I shut the door behind me. Then, after turning on the shower so it can warm, I hold my breath and lift my gaze to the mirror. The woman before me has the same eyes, the same facial shape, and yet, I barely recognize her.
Blood is crusted to my face, covering nearly all of my freckles. My hair is a tangled mess, my mouth swollen. One of my eyes is black, the bruising already fading to a grotesque purple and yellow.
My sides are still tender, though my hunter blood has healed the broken ribs. Still, I look like shit and I feel much, much worse.
I’ve suffered more severe injuries in the past. My reminder does little to soothe me though, and rage burns through me. I slam my fist into the mirror. Glass rains down on me, shards of my reflection falling to the floor, and a sob rips free from my chest.
I throw my head back and cry out seconds before my door is ripped clean off the hinges.
Elijah stands there, wild-eyed as he takes in the scene before me.
I don’t have anything to say to him. My leaving the bunker nearly got us both killed. He warned me not to, and I did it anyway. And yet, he still cared for me, brought me back home when he could have just left me in Salem.
I’ve dismissed him at every turn. Told him time and time again I wanted nothing to do with him because of what he is—what could happen to us should we give in.
Not once has he told me he hated me because of my blood. And even now, I can hear the way his breath catches, the heavy thumping of his heart—so much faster than my own. Even after what we discovered tonight, after I supposedly nearly killed him with my own hands, he still looks upon me with passion as though I’m the only thing that matters in this entire fucked-up world.
Bright blue eyes stare straight into my own. The intensity of his gaze making me feel completely naked even though I stand before him fully clothed—or what’s left of them anyway. I know he can sense the effect he has on me.
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