And that hadn't even worked.
I sighed and grabbed two stakes off the wall, sliding them into their holsters, and then proceeded to line my belt with small throwing knives. Some of them were made of wood, while others were cold, hard steel. I didn't know why anyone bothered with them, but I wasn't going to argue with the way things were done. Steel wasn't going to do a damn thing against a vampire, except piss it off.
Satisfied with that, I grabbed a contraption off the wall and strapped it to my right forearm. It held a stake in it, and was designed so that with enough momentum, the stake would be launched. All you had to do was aim and punch, and it would take care of the rest for you.
Only newbies needed that—everyone else had the strength necessary to stake a vampire all on their own. But I was weaker than the werewolves, and I needed the advantage it afforded.
I checked it to make sure that everything was in the right place, and then shook my shoulders out to diffuse some of the tension that had built up.
"Hey," Lisa—the she-wolf that had broken my arm—said.
I almost ignored her by accident, I didn't realize she was talking to me.
"Hey," I said, smiling at her.
"Congrats on your win earlier."
My eyes widened a little bit. "Thanks!" I hadn't expected a single one of them to acknowledge the fact that I had taken out five wolves at once, even if I had done it with blood magic.
She grinned back at me. "You're gonna do fine. Well, you will if one of us doesn't get there first. Good luck."
I felt a little better.
Maybe, just maybe, I could do this after all.
Chapter 14
Grayson
I paced my room from one side to the other and back again, my hands locked together behind my back, as I waited for my men to join me. I had sent Alex out fifteen minutes ago to find Jackson and Thomas, the only other two men I trusted.
Bitterly, I wished once again that Raoul was there. Not a day had gone by that I didn't miss him, though I didn't show it to anyone that might be watching me. I couldn't let them think I was weak.
Raoul was the best hunter we had had, no one could compare to him when it came to tracking a kill.
Thankfully, at that moment Alex entered with the other two, interrupting my thoughts before they could go too far down a depressive road.
"Gentlemen," I said with a nod of my head.
The three of them stood side by side, legs spread, hands behind their backs. At attention.
A small smile curved my lips—they knew good and well that I didn't treat them liked soldiers, but they liked to tease me in any way they could. I appreciated anything they did that made me smile these days.
The moments were too few and far between.
"I'm sure you are wondering why I've called you here just after sundown," I said. "We have all just woken up and you would likely rather be getting started on your night."
"Our lives are yours to command," Alex said, a humorous lilt to his voice.
I resisted the urge to glare at him. "Just how far are you willing to go for me?"
Looks of surprise flickered over their faces, and they glanced at one another and then back at me. I had never asked them this before, and they were likely wondering what it was that I was going to ask of them.
"I would follow you to Hell and back, Gray. You know that." Alex spoke first, and the others nodded their heads in agreement with him.
"I'd give my life for you without hesitation, Prince," Thomas said.
It grated on me that he called me 'Prince,' but there was nothing I could do to break him of that. Alex and I had been friends since we were younglings, and I suspected that was why he felt comfortable calling me by name. Not even by name, but rather the nickname he had given me.
This was why I loved Alex most of all; I didn't have to worry about who I showed myself to be around him. I could simply exist when it was just the two of us.
"Good," I said, grinning deviously. "Because we are going on a hunt. I want the head of a wolf."
Slowly, matching grins spread across their faces.
They wanted revenge just as much as I did.
Chapter 15
Nina
Three hours.
That was how long I had been on this blasted hunt, trying to find my mark. I'd been to five different bars and clubs trying to find him, and had finally caught up with him at the sixth. But he hadn't given me a good opening yet—he'd been with three other vampires, and I hadn't wanted to get in the middle of that.
One blood mage against three vampires? No, that didn't seem like a smart decision. Especially since I was an unbloodied mage. I had never taken a life, and truth be told I wasn't looking forward to the experience. I knew it was something I had to do, for Conall, but I would have much preferred going my whole life without killing a person.
Vampires aren't people. They're parasites and they deserve to die.
I told myself this over and over to get it to sink in—but wanting someone dead and actively going to kill them are two wildly different things. Anyone can wish a person dead, but only a certain type of person is actually capable of taking a life.
Was I that kind of person?
I sighed. I was going to have to find out. And honestly, if I wasn't that type of person then I was going to have to learn how to be that type of person. There were no other options. Conall wasn't going to keep me if I couldn't kill vampires for him, and I wouldn't last two seconds on my own.
You've lasted more than two seconds since you left the mansion.
I cheered myself with that thought. That was true. I wouldn't know how to feed myself, or where to find safe shelter, but I hadn't been snatched the moment I'd left the mansion.
Six months since I'd set foot outside of the safe house, and I'd been antsy as hell the moment I was out the door. I had grown used to the halls I'd roamed, the courtyard I'd spent my days in, the library that had owned my nights. I'd developed a rhythm to the life, and it had been comfortable.
Now everything had changed.
I was going to have to fit hunting into my schedule, and somehow still keep up my fighting practice and keep learning blood magic.
Don't think about that right now. Focus on the mark.
Right. He was inside a bar right now, although his friends had gone a different way.
I crouched on the fire escape of a building across the street from the bar, waiting for him to come back out. I couldn't go into the club and kill him, there would be too many people that would either attack me or get in the way. I didn't want to add an innocent life to the list—the vampires might rule the world, but for the most part the humans were still allowed to live normal lives.
Thralls were taken, but most of them were willing. Being a thrall meant that you had a roof over your head and food in your belly, even if it meant letting a parasite feed off of you every day. For some people, that was a decent trade off. They thought it was better than living on the streets.
The very thought of that kind of life turned my stomach. I didn't know how anyone could willingly submit themselves to a vampire, but it was none of my business. As long as they were willing, it wasn't anything I could truly protest.
The muscles in my legs ached, and I stood to stretch them. Allowing them to stiffen was a bad idea; if my mark exited the bar and I wasn't agile enough to catch him before anyone else came out then I was going to be in trouble.
And if another wolf came by, I would have to be faster than them. An all but impossible task, but I refused to even contemplate failing this mission.
I spread my awareness into the bar, checking on the biorhythms of its inhabitants. I had picked up the rhythm of my mark when he left the last club, so I was able to pick him out of the crowd.
Good, he was still in there. I was antsy at the thought that there might be a back entrance he would leave by, but it wasn't like I could be in two places at once. Besides, odds were that he would leave the same way he came, righ
t?
Thirty minutes passed without anything interesting happening. A few people came, even less left the bar, and I was getting bored. It was getting harder and harder for me to focus on the bar door; my attention kept wandering.
But I did manage to keep his biorhythm on tap the entire time. I felt his heart beating with stolen blood, felt every time he moved throughout the bar and returned to his seat. Never once did he get near the entrance.
I chewed on my lip, wondering what I could do to pass the time for a while. It was dawning on me that he could spend an hour or two in that bar without coming out; I'd found him when he'd been leaving a club, I had no idea what his usual habits were.
Maybe a climb would get my blood moving again and help me concentrate.
I nodded to myself. I could monitor his biorhythm just as well from the rooftop as I could from the fire escape; if he started towards the door then I would just have to head back down before he got to it.
Decision made, I headed up the fire escape. It felt good to be moving again, to get the blood flowing through my legs. Already, I was glad with the decision—it was dangerous to stay in one spot for too long. A vampire could come along and find me.
Maybe there would be a more comfortable spot on the rooftop. At the very least, I could sit on the edge instead of kneeling on metal.
It only took me a few minutes to get to the top of the tall building.
The moment I set foot on the rooftop, I realized I wasn't alone.
Chapter 16
Grayson
I had separated from my friends over an hour ago, when I had picked up a scent that was familiar and yet unfamiliar to me. It had tickled my senses, begging me to follow it, and I had been unable to ignore it.
Something in my gut had told me this was a hunt I wanted to do on my own. My friends, especially Alex, had been loath to have me part from them—but none of them could deny the order of their Prince.
They had done as they were told, though Alex had warned me that he was going to stay in close range of me. I expected no less from him. He would keep within range of scenting me, and if he smelled blood then he would come my way.
I could hold my own in a fight without him, I had more than proved that time and time again. Still, my friends would not leave me in a fight on my own. I loved them for that, but I was glad that they had allowed me to leave without too much fuss.
I didn't want them around for this, though I couldn't put my finger on the exact why of it.
The hunter—and I was certain it was a hunter by the clothing, though I could not for the life of my figure out the red fabric worn on the wrist—was below me. She wore black clothing, and hid her face, but the swell and sway of her hips had given away her gender.
I could never tell my friends what the sight of her swaying gait had done to me.
My body had reacted on impulse, hardening to a painful degree, and it had taken all of my control to not rush to her and grab her in that moment. I had almost lost control, but I had centuries of experience under my belt and had reigned myself in.
The creaking of metal sounded and I tensed—she was either coming up or going down the fire escape she rested on.
Why do I not kill her already?
Because something was wrong about her. I couldn't figure it out, but something stayed my hand and urged me to figure her out. I had resisted the urge to confront her so far, but her scent was drawing closer now, and I knew she was coming to the roof.
I backed away from the edge, planting myself in the center of the roof, and watched for her.
One conversation. That was all I needed. I could figure out who and what she was, and then I would kill her.
She is not the wolf you seek. You do not need her head.
That was true. In fact, she was not a wolf at all. Her scent was cinnamon and spice, intoxicating and tempting me with thoughts of what her blood would taste like; not the musky scent of the animal abominations.
Brown hair appeared at the edge of the rooftop, and then her head cleared the barrier.
I stifled the frustrated growl that built in my gut—she wore a mask that covered her face. Her scent teased me with the thought that I might know it, and I had hoped that it would become more clear when I saw her face.
Who the hell wears a mask, anyway? None of the wolves wore masks, so she must not belong to them. But wasn't that obvious by the red fabric at her wrist? My eyes darted to it, once it was visible, and I frowned.
It had to be symbolic of something, but I didn't know what. Perhaps it was an indicator of her clan.
A new group of hunters moving in on the territory, that was what it had to be.
But then why did I recognize her scent? And God, where did I recognize it from?
It could be that I had passed by her in the city before. That might be all it was, and then this silliness was for naught.
Unlikely.
She stepped off the fire escape and onto the roof and her body tensed at once. I could hear her heart beating hard now, smell her apprehension.
She was aware of me.
I moved out of the shadows, my movements graceful, and she jerked her head to look at me.
For a moment, I stopped to stare at the brown eyes that looked back at me. They were beautiful, and I was struck by the notion that I wanted to waste eons just staring into those eyes.
Bullshit. Poetic bullshit. You don't have time for this.
I reprimanded myself and strode forward again.
Her eyes widened—God, they were so beautiful—and she started towards the fire escape again.
"Do not." I warned her, my voice soft and dangerous.
She froze.
"I will simply follow you. You cannot hope to outrun me."
Her heart beat faster, jackhammering against her chest. Pumping her blood faster throughout her body, and again my mind turned to the thought of feeding from her. I knew, somehow, that she would taste better than any I'd had before.
"You're right," she said, turning to look at me again and straightening her shoulders.
I had to give it to her, she had balls. Her eyes darted around the rooftop as she moved away from the fire escape, taking in her surroundings. Looking for a weapon or a way out? It had to be a way out, she had stakes on her arm and thighs—thighs that were clearly outlined by her tight leather pants.
My eyes stayed there for a moment longer than necessary, and my body hardened painfully again. I wanted her. I couldn't deny that, it was useless, but I knew that I had to maintain my control.
Regardless of whether she was a hunter or not, I did not take women against their will. I was a man, not a monster.
"So, we're at an impasse, I see," she said, a humorous lilt to her voice.
I cocked my head to the side. "What impasse do you see? I could kill you in a moment here."
"And I you, Prince," she said, hissing my title at me.
I froze. How did she know who I was? I had been right when I'd thought her scent was familiar to me—she knew who I was. She had met me before. But when?
I had never traded words with a hunter before, this was a new experience for me. And one I doubted I would repeat with anyone else.
"You know me," I said, narrowing my eyes. "How?"
"Figure it out yourself," she said, laughing bitterly. "I'm sure you've got the brain cells for it."
She walked to an edge of the roof top, her gait was casual but I could see the tension in her shoulders.
What was impressive, though, was that she dared to turn her back on me.
It was a mistake.
Not because I would kill her—why couldn't I do that?—but because she had presented me with a tempting view of her ass. I set my jaw in a hard line. My blood pounded in my head, and everything in me urged me to go to her.
To claim her.
I shook my head, glad that she couldn't see me, and clenched my hands into fists. My nails bit into my palms, providing me with little pinpoints of pain to distract me
from the pain that originated elsewhere in my body.
Pain only she could give relief to.
She turned back to me, taking a few steps away from the edge, and tilted her head to the side. "You've been following me, haven't you?"
I quirked an eyebrow, but didn't answer me.
"Because it can't be a coincidence that you just happen to be on the rooftop of this building, when I was hiding back on the fire escape. I don't believe in coincidences."
"What do you believe in?"
"Death," she said, her tone blunt.
I flinched, not knowing why, then focused on what she had said. What did she mean? Of course, everyone believed in death. It was a universal truth for all species, that death would come sooner or later. It could not be avoided, though for the vampires it was more of an afterthought then anything. We were immortal, save for murder.
Perhaps she worshipped a God of death, and the fabric at her wrist was the mark of her cult.
My head tilted to the side.
"We all believe in death," I said, hoping to get more out of her.
"Yeah. It's the universal equalizer. It's the only thing you can count on."
"You have hoped for death," I said, realizing it in the way she spoke of it.
"For years, yes," she said.
"Is that why you hunt? You wish for death at the hands of a vampire?" I kept my tone casual, although deep inside I hated the thought of another taking her life.
She belongs to me.
I averted my eyes so that she could not see them widen in horror. Where had that thought come from? She was a hunter. She did not belong to me, it was an impossibility.
"No," she said.
But she didn't bother to expand on that, and I had to smile. She was tough. I glanced up at her from beneath my lashes, locking my eyes with hers. A swallow caused her throat to convulse just a little, drawing my eyes there. Her jugular was pulsing against her neck, her heart beating so loudly—how did she keep her voice calm while such panic ran through her body?
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