Masters of the Hunt: Fated and Forbidden

by Sarra Cannon

  The auctioneer blinked in surprise and waited a few moments. When no other offered a higher bid, he grinned and shouted, “Sold for three hundred!”

  The vampire sat down, grinning widely, as Abigail was led off the stage. She disappeared behind the curtain and Val stood up, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head. “We’re leaving. Let’s go, Faren.”

  He weaved his way through the crowd towards the door and Faren, shaking his head in confusion, followed him slowly.

  — —

  “You’re very lovely for a human.” The vampire stroked Abigail’s arm gently as the carriage swayed.

  “Thank you.” Abigail whispered.

  “My name is Joven.” The vampire traced his hand along her collarbone and she crossed her arms over her naked breasts and huddled more deeply against the velvet cushion of the carriage.

  “You’re going to make a wonderful pet. I can tell.” Joven smiled at her and she swallowed thickly.

  “What’s your name, human?”

  “Abigail.”

  He frowned. “I do not like that name. From now on you will be known as Jarah. Joven and Jarah – doesn’t that go together nicely?”

  She nodded and flinched back when he traced the flesh of her arm. “Tell me, Jarah, have you been bitten before?”

  Abigail took a deep breath and stared at her tightly folded arms. “Yes.”

  “Did you find it pleasing?”

  “No.”

  “That’s a shame. I think you will find my touch to be very enjoyable.”

  “Please, could I have a shirt?”

  Joven grinned at her. “And hide those magnificent breasts? I think not. I like my pets to wear as little clothing as possible.”

  Abigail bit her lip and stared out the window of the carriage into the darkness. “Are we going to your home?”

  Joven shook his head as he continued to stroke Abigail’s arm. “No. We are on our way to the home of a very powerful vampire. I have business with him.”

  “What kind of business?”

  A look of irritation crossed Joven’s face and he squeezed Abigail’s arm until she gasped with pain. “Do not ask me my business. Do you understand, pet?”

  She nodded, a look of fear crossing her face, and he relaxed and smiled at her. “You know, I wasn’t planning on stopping at that hovel of an establishment, but I was tired and thirsty and it was the only place for miles where a vampire could get a drink. I’m so glad I stopped. I would have missed out on the opportunity to purchase you if I hadn’t. When I saw you on that stage I thought you would make a fine gift for my new business partner. But now, I fear I must keep you for my own. A vampire would have to be a fool to give up such a magnificent creature such as yourself.”

  Joven moved closer to her on the seat and put his arm around her shoulders. “I am still thirsty, my pet.”

  “Please, don’t do this.” She whispered.

  He laughed. “I promise I will make it painless. In fact, if you are a good girl and please me well, I will make sure—”

  He paused as the carriage bumped to a stop. There was a muffled thud from outside and Joven frowned. He stood and reached for the door. As he opened it, he looked behind him at Abby. “Stay where you are, pet. Do not—”

  He jerked and a look of surprise flickered across his face. He looked down at the sword embedded deep in his chest before staring at the man in the hooded cloak standing on the steps of the carriage.

  “What—” He whispered.

  Abigail cried out as Joven exploded into ash. Her eyes widened with shock when the man pushed the hood back and revealed his face.

  “Hello, little dove.”

  — —

  “What have you done?” Abigail cried. She stood and shoved Val in the chest. Not expecting it, Val stumbled and fell off the steps, landing on the hard ground with a thud.

  Abigail shot down the steps toward Val. Hard hands came out of the darkness and grabbed her. A vampire, tall and lean with blond hair and blue eyes, pulled her into his embrace.

  “Hello, pretty one.” He grinned at her. “I’m not sure what it is about you that has Val so hot and bothered but I for one, am anxious to find out.” He dipped his head towards her throat and stopped when he felt the blade against his chest.

  “Any closer and I’ll use your own blade to send you to hell. Do you understand, leech?” Abigail hissed.

  Faren blinked in surprise and slowly let the woman go. She had taken his dagger from his belt without him even realizing it and he held his hands up as the woman backed away, his dagger clenched tightly in her hand.

  “Easy, my pet.” He smiled at her.

  “I am not your pet.” She snarled as she retreated until her back hit the carriage. A flicker of purple caught her eye and she inhaled sharply when the small pixie hovered anxiously in front of her.

  A small smile crossed her face. “Hello, little one.”

  Violet zoomed forward, her entire body glowing brightly, and began to plant kisses across Abigail’s cheeks and forehead.

  Abigail laughed. “Okay, okay. I’m happy to see you too, Violet.”

  As Violet landed on her shoulder, Abigail looked down at Val. He had moved into a sitting position and was staring silently at her.

  “You shouldn’t have done that, Val.” She frowned.

  He scowled and rose gracefully to his feet. “I shouldn’t have saved your life?”

  He moved towards her and she held the dagger up warningly. “Don’t come any closer.”

  “Don’t come any closer? I have searched for you for months, Abigail, and now that I have found you, I cannot touch you?”

  She didn’t reply and he held his hand out to her. “Put the dagger down, little dove. Come to me.”

  She shook her head as there was a rustling in the trees behind them. Val whirled around and raised his sword as three men stepped out of the trees. They all carried swords and they stared unblinkingly at Val and Faren.

  “Abigail? Have you been hurt?” The biggest of them, a dark-skinned man with brown eyes and a bald head, called softly.

  “I’m fine, Wesley. I – I know him.” Abigail replied. “Put your swords away.”

  When neither the three men nor Val moved, she cursed under her breath. “Put them away I said. Val, these men are my friends.”

  After a moment, Val sheathed his sword and the three men did the same. They approached the carriage, staring warily at Faren and Val.

  “Where is Joven?” Wesley asked.

  “He’s dead.”

  “Bloody hell!” A red-headed man, his skin fair and covered in freckles, spit on the ground. “What the fuck, Abby! You weren’t supposed to kill him!”

  “I didn’t, Evan!” She protested. “Everything was going according to plan and then these two showed up.”

  “What do we do now?” The third man, he was white-haired and missing his left eye, asked quietly.

  “We’re screwed!” Evan snapped. “We needed Joven to get in and now he’s dead. We’ll never find a way in now.”

  “Shut up, Evan!” Wesley retorted. “We’ll find another way.”

  He approached Abby, his eyes dropping to her naked breasts, and Val growled warningly. Wesley ignored him and stripped off his shirt, handing it to Abby. She pulled it over her head, smiling sweetly at him, and a surge of jealousy shot through Val.

  “We need to get this carriage off the road before someone sees it.” Wesley said. “Where is the driver?”

  Faren, leaning against the carriage, studied his fingernails. “I was thirsty.”

  He grinned and pointed to the side of the road where the driver’s crumpled body could be seen. “I’m afraid I may have drunk a little too much.”

  Val cursed loudly. “I told you not to kill the human, Faren.”

  Faren shrugged. “You’re not the boss of me, Val. I agreed to help you at the risk of my own life. Why should I not take my reward?”

  Moving with a silent speed that Val had never suspe
cted in her, Abigail stood in front of Faren and held the dagger to his chest. “If you so much as look at me or any of my friends, I will gut you like a fish and rip your heart out with your own dagger. Do you understand me?”

  “Oh I like her.” Faren grinned at Val. “I can see why you wanted to go after her.”

  He gave a squeal of shock and pain when Abby shoved the dagger into his breastbone. “I am inches away from your heart, leech.” She whispered. “One little push and you’ll be nothing more than a pile of ash. You do not touch any of us. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Perfectly.” Faren whispered.

  She yanked the dagger from his chest, ignoring his wince of pain and the steady stream of blood that began to flow from his wound, and stepped back. “They come with us.”

  “Are you crazy?” Evan gasped. “They’ll kill us while we sleep.”

  “No they won’t.” Abigail replied. “Besides, we’re going to need them.”

  She reached up and stroked Violet’s thin leg and the pixie grinned happily before kissing her neck. Val stared silently at the woman standing in front of him.

  “What the hell happened to you, Abigail?” He whispered.

  She stared grimly at him. “I stopped being afraid.”

  — —

  Val stared at Abigail from across the campfire. The three humans had carefully manoeuvered the carriage into the trees until they became too thick for the bulky carriage to go any further. Evan and the older man, Bill, had disappeared and returned with three horses. Abigail had used the carriage to change and Val couldn’t stop staring at her. She was wearing a plain short sleeved shirt with a leather vest over it and tight dark cotton pants. Knee-high leather boots completed the outfit. The pants clung to her ass and he could feel his cock stirring in his pants at the sight of her lush curves. A short curved sword hung around her waist, a knife was strapped around her right thigh and he could see the handle of a dagger sticking out of the top of her boot. Wide silver cuffs were around her wrists and a band of silver around her throat.

  He couldn’t believe the difference in her. It wasn’t just the weight loss; it was in the way she moved and the way she spoke. The Abigail he had known before had been a frightened little mouse. This Abigail had an aura of confidence and strength that he hadn’t known existed inside of her.

  He was desperate to take her away from Faren and the others. He could barely stop himself from touching her, but when he had tried to sit down beside her she had given him a warning look and immediately moved to the opposite side of the fire. She had sat down on the fallen log next to Wesley, smiling fondly at him, and Val had to tamp down his urge to kill the man.

  “So, this is cozy.” Faren grinned at the group before checking the wound on his chest. It was nearly healed and he gave a grunt of satisfaction before peering interestedly at Val who was still staring at Abigail.

  “You two obviously know each other.” Faren smiled at Abby. “Are you the reason Val is so soft-hearted towards the humans.”

  Abigail, who was stroking Violet’s back as the little pixie perched on her knee, didn’t reply and Val cleared his throat.

  “Tell me what happened, Abigail.” Even from across the fire he could see the way that Violet glowed with happiness. The bug hadn’t gone near him since the moment she had flown to Abby and he ignored the trickle of hurt he felt. He was being ridiculous.

  “Tell me.” He prompted.

  Abigail sighed. “The vampire that took me carried me to – I don’t really know where – some section of the forest. I have no idea how far he carried me. It happened so fast.”

  She continued to lightly stroke Violet’s back, staring down at the small pixie. “I got lucky. A man named Michael was hunting in the forest. He literally stumbled onto us and killed the vampire before he could feed from me.

  “A human killed a vampire that easily?” Faren frowned.

  Evan snorted. “It happens all the time leech.”

  “Obviously he was distracted by his hunger.” Faren retorted.

  Evan started to protest and Abby shook her head at him. He lapsed into silence and stared moodily at the small campfire.

  “Michael took me back to his people and I’ve been with them ever since.” Abigail finished.

  “That’s it?” Val said softly.

  “Yes.”

  He gave her an angry look. “You’re not the same, Abigail.”

  She shrugged. “Michael is very skilled at killing vampires. He’s been teaching others how to kill them and when I asked him to teach me, he agreed. I’ve spent the last year training with him. He taught me how to find their weaknesses and how to – to not be afraid anymore.”

  “How did you get captured for the auction?” Faren asked curiously.

  “I allowed myself to be captured.” Abigail gave him a look of contempt. “Michael has been taken by a vampire named Darius.”

  Faren started and Abigail raised her eyebrow at him. “You know him?”

  “I know of him.” Faren corrected. He glanced at Val. “There are some ugly rumours about him.”

  “They are not rumours.” Bill said quietly.

  “What are you talking about?” Val frowned.

  “This vampire, this Darius, has been taking humans and keeping them prisoner in his estate. He’s waged war against the humans.” Abigail replied.

  Faren rolled his eyes. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

  “Bullshit!” Wesley snapped. “Your kind has been using us like cattle for years. This world would be a much better place if the vampire plague had wiped all of you from the face of the earth.”

  “What is he doing with the humans?” Val asked, ignoring Wesley’s outburst.

  “He’s been using them for his own sick little games. He pits them against each other in death battles, and invites other vampires to watch and make bets as to who will win. It’s become quite popular and apparently there’s quite the wait list to watch the games. Vampires either pay money to watch the games or they provide Darius with new humans to fight in the games.”

  “Why did you allow yourself to be auctioned?”

  Abigail glanced at Wesley. “Darius had invited Joven to his estate. Joven has his own large estate and Darius is anxious to expand. He wants Joven to join him in his little business venture. He would hold games at his estate in the west and Joven would hold games at his estate in the east. Darius would take a generous cut of the proceeds of course.”

  Val frowned. “Why did Joven not just start his own games? Why does he need Darius’ permission?”

  “Darius has killed any other leeches who have tried to mimic the games.”

  “I told you – that’s nothing but ugly rumours.” Faren said quickly.

  “No, it isn’t.” Abigail replied steadily.

  “Anyway,” she took a deep breath, “we found out that Joven was meeting with Darius to discuss their new business arrangement. We have been following Joven for days and when we realized he was stopping at the auction house, I allowed myself to be captured in the hopes that Joven would purchase me. Darius’ estate is heavily guarded and we needed a way to get in.”

  Val stared at her in disbelief. “So you put yourself in harm’s way? How did you know that Joven would even purchase you? What if another had purchased you? What would you have done then? Did you think of that, Abigail?”

  His voice was rising and he could feel anger burning in his belly. If he hadn’t stopped at the auction house tonight, Joven would be feeding from Abigail at this very moment.

  Abigail gave him a cool look. “We’ve been watching Joven for a long time, Val. He has a certain taste and I fit the bill. We were quite certain that he would purchase me.”

  Val snorted angrily. “If I hadn’t killed him when I did, he’d be feeding from you right now. You know that.”

  She shrugged. “I will do whatever it takes to save Michael.”

  “Have you gone mad?” Val asked softly. “Is that it?”

  “N
o. I told you - Michael saved my life and I owe him a debt. I pay my debts in full.”

  “I remember.” He said tersely.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Evan said gloomily. “Thanks to that goddamn leech, Joven is dead. We’ve lost our chance to save Michael.”

  “Maybe not.” Abigail said thoughtfully and Evan glanced at her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Darius and Joven have never met in person. All we need is a vampire to pose as Joven.” She stared at Val as she spoke and he shook his head.

  “I will not.”

  “You have to.” Abigail glared at him, her hand clenching into a tight fist. “This is your fault, Val, and you’re going to help us get into Darius’ estate.”

  “No.” Val said calmly.

  Abigail took a deep breath and looked at Faren. He held up his hands. “No way, pet. You can count me out of your little suicide mission.”

  “Coward!” She hissed at him and turned back to Val.

  “I won’t put you in deliberate danger, little dove. Do not ask me to do so.”

  “Neil and Maria are in there.” She said quietly.

  Val jerked in surprise. “How do you know that?”

  “We have someone in the estate already.” Wesley spoke quietly. “He’s been sending us information.”

  “Then use him to get past the guards.” Val said angrily. “Why do you need Abigail?”

  “It would be too dangerous for him. There is no way he can get us into the estate without his betrayal being discovered. He’ll be killed.” Abigail replied.

  “This is madness, Abigail!” Val suddenly shouted. “You’re playing a game you can’t possibly win. I will not allow you to do this.”

  “Allow me?” Abigail stood, ignoring Violet’s frown as she tumbled from her knee, and marched around the fire. She stood in front of Val and glared at him.

  “You have no right to tell me what to do. I do what I want.”

  He stood and scowled at her. “Have you forgotten what happened between us?”

  “Shut up!” She hissed at him before glancing at the others.

  Val arched his eyebrow. “Do they not know, little dove? Do they not know that you belong—”