Primal Desire (Heart of the Huntress Book 6)

by Terry Spear

  "The one who bit me said, 'She was killed by them.' It made me believe a vampiress close to him died at the hands of the rogue hunters, but I can't be certain. And what have I got to do with any of it, except that I want to take down the hunters who have done this as soon as I can," Selena said.

  "Are you welcome to return to the League?" the man asked.

  "I would have been. I was given hunting restrictions after killing the hunter instead of handing him over for trial, but I didn't have a choice. Now that I'm a vampire also, I'm not sure that my saying anything will have much weight at a Counsel trial. They might even believe I asked to be turned, to be one of you so that I could fight the hunters as a vampire. I would hope they wouldn't believe that. But this is all new to me and there's not much I can do but find the rogue hunters and turn them in."

  The vampiress said, "Not women? What if the hunters are huntresses?"

  "Then they'll get the same deal. It doesn't matter if they are male or female. All that matters is that we stop them before they kill any further," Selena said.

  A few of the vampires gathered agreed among themselves. The crowd had already grown to twice its size, about forty people there now. That was the thing about vampires. They didn't have to use cell phones to get in touch with each other. All they had to do was telepathically broadcast the news, alerting the others they had an issue, and the vampires could just magically appear. But they had to be shielding their communication with her because she hadn't heard any of it.

  She wondered if they would let Atreides’s in on the secret. He didn't seem ruffled by the appearance of so many vampires, and she hoped she could keep her cool. How would that look if she got angry or scared? She had to tell herself this was important for all their kind and just like when she had gone into the vampire club looking for Twilight, she was standing her ground on this.

  "We'll start canvassing our people right away," a giant of a vampire said in the back, towering over everyone. "If we discover any vampiress is missing that we can't account for, we'll let you know, Atreides."

  "Is she replacing Iconia?" the vampiress asked Atreides.

  Atreides didn't answer her. Selena suspected he felt it was none of the vampiress’s business, but Selena wanted to tell the vamp she was. Iconia was out of the picture, as far as she was concerned. She just hoped it wouldn't lead to a fight between her and Iconia.

  "And the wolf?" the black-haired, male vampire asked.

  Now this was where it got tricky, Selena figured. They wouldn't want to hand over one of their own to the League. But they had to know it wasn't good business to shield a rogue either. She did know that the vampires did hide the rogues on the fringe, if they felt they hadn't done that much wrong. Some were dealt with though, in their own way. If they would do evil in one place, they would do evil in another. Let the fringe vampires take care of them then.

  Chapter 14

  That was the best they could hope for, Atreides thought. He was glad Selena didn't draw her sword. He worried she might be intimidated by the numbers of vampires that had suddenly appeared.

  "We'll await your word on the vampiresses and in the meantime continue to bait the rogue hunters to try and draw them out." Then Atreides took Selena's hand and transported her home.

  "You didn't answer the woman about you dating me."

  "I didn't want to give some fringe vampiress the word before I talked to Iconia about it. She deserves to hear it from me, not from someone living on the fringe."

  "I want to go to the hunter fringe to try to learn if the rogue hunters are living there. But I think it would be better if I go with my sister and brother and maybe his friends."

  "I don't want to leave you alone but—"

  "I will be well protected, and you could cause more trouble than it's worth. If you got hurt or killed, I would never forgive myself."

  "We will transport you there. I don't want you to take too long while I'm not protecting you."

  "You just worry about speaking to Iconia about us. That will be your duty."

  He smiled. "I think I will have the harder task."

  "I think it's best done while you're alone."

  Next, they took the hunters via the way of the vampires to see the fringe hunters, both her brother and one of his friends getting sick from the vampire way of transportation. At least they were only somewhat disoriented and didn’t throw up.

  Then the vampires left, and the hunters went together as a group to speak with the hunter in charge of the rabble. They hadn't established a rapport with them like Atreides had with the fringe vampires.

  She thought it was a good idea if the League would reach out to try and develop one though. But she assumed they were too high and mighty to think the hunters who wouldn’t be part of the “establishment” were worthy of working with at all. Who knew if some of them might change their mind and leave the fringe and become legitimate hunters working for the League?

  She thought it was a mistake that they wouldn’t even consider working with them, especially after she saw how well Atreides worked with the fringe vampires.

  Atreides knew he would have a fight on his hand when he told Iconia he was seeing Selena. When he arrived at Iconia’s place, she was having a tea party with a couple of her woman friends and Ragnar was there. Atreides would have been mad if he'd been interested in continuing to date her and she'd taken up with the Viking warrior.

  Ragnar smiled at him as if knew Atreides was ending the relationship with Iconia and he was there to take his place. That would help to take the edge off. Atreides said, "Can I speak with you alone, Iconia?"

  "No, tell me what you have to without all the secretiveness."

  "I'm dating Selena. She needs someone to teach her our ways and I'm the one to do it."

  Iconia snorted. "You don't think I know that? After the way the two of you danced at the club, and she returned to seek your help? And then we learn she’s one of us? Save your breath. I'm with Ragnar now. I think you and I both have known it was over between us for some time."

  Which was why she was late coming to the club that night. She was always late for events, when he was always early, and it frustrated him to no end. He was glad that she wasn't angry about it. He had been afraid she would try to take it out on Selena. She already had enough to deal with after having been turned. Ragnar was a good enough guy so he knew Iconia couldn't do much worse by him.

  "You know, I might not care that you've taken up with the huntress, but others won't like it," Iconia said.

  "She's one of us, Iconia."

  Iconia let out her breath. "I won't disparage her name any further."

  "I appreciate that. She's going to be going through a lot with the transition, and she still wants to do everything in her power to help our people. Even now, she's going with her brother and sister and some hunters to speak with the hunters on the fringe of society."

  "Alone? Without you?"

  "Yeah. We figured the hunters would object more if a vampire showed up with them."

  Iconia narrowed her eyes at him. "A vampire has shown up with them."

  "If they can help it, they're not going to let on that Selena is one of us now," Atreides said.

  "How did your trip to the vampire border towns go?" Iconia asked.

  "They are going to provide a list of the women’s names who are missing from their areas." Atreides was greatly relieved about Iconia and her decision to not cause trouble for Selena. He inclined his head to Ragnar, who smiled and inclined his head also in acknowledgement. Atreides said, "Ladies," and then he vanished and returned to the house.

  He wanted to check on Selena and was amused at her last night when she came to join him in bed. And he knew when she was telepathically communicating back to him, she was becoming more vampiric. That was another reason he was staying with her. He and Iconia had separate places to live. With Selena, he already wanted to stay with her always.

  "How are things going with you?" Atreides asked Selena telepathical
ly, while he paced across the living room. The other men were off looking for leads as to who the wolf might be and who the rogue hunters could be.

  "We haven't found any hunters willing to talk to us. And we haven't found any hunter name for someone who might be in charge of the riffraff in the border towns. We're hoping that if we hang around long enough, we might learn something. What about you and Iconia?" Selena asked.

  "Surprisingly, she is supporting my decision to date you and ditch her. She's already dating Ragnar."

  "Well, I'm glad for that at least."

  "I agree. She even said she wouldn't spread any more bad words about you."

  "That's good. I figure I'll be having to deal with enough vampires who don't like me. What about your brother? What will he say?"

  "He'll be glad I'm settling down." At least Atreides figured he would be after he got over the initial shock. In fact, he had no intention of telling Dameon about all the issues he'd had. Just that the huntress had been turned and he had taken her under his wing, fell in love with her… He had fallen in love with her! He couldn’t believe it. With all the years they lived, he had dated countless vampiresses, but Selena was the only one he had such deep feelings for. He felt totally connected to her and ultra-protective of her. If Daemon was angry about him being with her, he would leave the clan to go with her anywhere that she wanted to live. He had never felt that way about any woman, that he would leave his brother and their clan behind to live with a huntress turned vampiress somewhere else.

  "I love you," Atreides said to Selena.

  "We found a hunter who's in charge. Hold that thought."

  He was glad they had found someone who might help them discover who the hunters were who were killing vampiresses, but he'd declared his love to her, and he felt a little bereft that she hadn't declared the same back to him, even though she’d done so before. He couldn’t believe how needy he could be when it came to Selena. He had work to do, but he casually asked his manservant, Jacque. "You love Catherine, don't you?"

  Jacque smiled at him.

  "Have you ever told her so?"

  "Not in so many words."

  "Tell her. If you really feel that way, you need to spell it out."

  "Are you projecting?" Jacques asked.

  "What?"

  "Catherine and I have discussed that you and Selena seem like a good…fit. In truth, we've never seen you act like this around any other vampiress you've been around. So we know she's the one for you. Don't listen to what Daemon has to say about it. If he's angry, remind him about Tezra. You didn't turn Selena, you've protected her. So it's not the same thing," Jacque said.

  "He turned Tezra to give her more power against the vampire who was targeting her."

  "Yes. But Daemon only has to realize how you feel about Selena to recognize that it was the same as he felt for Tezra. So what are you going to do now?" Jacques asked.

  "No one is to tell Daemon about all the issues we're having. Not even after they're resolved, and he returns home."

  "And about Selena?"

  "She is mine."

  Jacques smiled. "As I said."

  Chapter 15

  Selena was still so newly turned, she couldn't wrap her mind around the business of being a huntress and a vampiress all in one. She needed to talk to Tezra about how she'd felt about being turned, the emotions, her feelings for Daemon, and everything else. But Selena knew Atreides didn't want his brother to know what was going on here while they were trying to hunt down rogue hunters.

  Still, she felt she needed to have someone to talk to—another woman who had gone through what she had, to an extent. A huntress who would understand what she was going through.

  But right now, her brother was talking to a man who called himself King. Not as in he was king of the fringe hunters, but that was his last name, and he didn't go by any other.

  "Okay, look, I know that the border towns where hunters hang out govern themselves, and though we would want to take in the rogue hunters who have wantonly killed vampiresses without provocation to be tried by the League and be dealt with, we also understand that you might want to deal with the rogues on your own, as you see fit. The vampires might not like it, if they don't know if the rogues are terminated or not. The League won't either, but we don't care, as long as the rogues get their just rewards and they're prohibited from killing any more innocents," Daniel said.

  King tilted his chin up in a condescending way. "It would be fine with you?" As if he didn't give a damn about how Daniel and this group of League hunters felt.

  "I would hope you wouldn't want a civil war between hunters and vampires. This is a powder-keg situation. One little spark could set the whole thing off. Your people won't be any safer than anyone else as the conflict spreads. None of us will be safe. And lots of innocents will die. And for what?" Selena was desperately trying to keep her fangs sheathed, but it wasn't working. Still, her brother didn't seem to be getting through to this guy. "So that you can wield power over your little dominion?" She didn't mean to sound condescending about how many people he might actually be in charge of, but she didn't think being nice about this was going to work.

  King was frowning at her, and studying her damn mouth, as if he'd glimpsed something that wasn't quite huntress about her. "You're not a huntress. What the hell? You bring one of them into our border towns?" King switched his attention to Daniel with accusation in his expression.

  Her brother looked exasperated with Selena.

  She was ready to bare her teeth at him. She touched them with her tongue, and they seemed a little longer than they had been before.

  "She's our sister," Rosa said. "And she killed a hunter who tried to murder a vampiress for carrying his child. We don't know if they are the same hunters involved in the other vampiress killings or not."

  "You could already have the right ones who, what? Work for the League?" King snorted. "And you come here seeking them? Typical. If you want to blame someone, do it with those who aren't members of your own League." He studied Selena again.

  Their talk with the fringe hunter leader wasn't going half as well as the talk Atreides had with the fringe vampires.

  "Yes, I'm a vampire too. I was turned by a rogue. All right?" Selena guessed it was time to let the world know what she had become. Truthfully, even though some vampires would still hate her because she was a huntress by birth, she'd felt more nervous about revealing the truth to hunters, even the ones on the fringe. Maybe more so because they lived by their own rules.

  King shook his head.

  "It wasn't by choice," she said again, even though she'd said the vampire was a rogue, which indicated it wasn't her choice to become turned.

  "All right. Well, we have two other huntresses turned vampires who live among us. If you want to join us, you're welcome."

  Selena and her companions all looked shocked. She couldn't believe that it had happened to a couple more huntresses.

  "They weren't from this area," King explained. "They planned to join the League, then decided they would rather be with us. They were in the League's territory, though, when they were attacked."

  "Both at the same time?" At first, Selena thought it was the same rogue vampire that had bitten her.

  "Separately. He seemed to target huntresses who were alone."

  Like what had happened to Selena. "How long ago?" It had to be before she was bitten since she had killed the vampire, if Atreides was right about it. All except for the vampire who had telepathically told her she should have died, and that made her doubt the vampire who had bitten her was dead.

  "A month ago for one, two weeks ago for the other."

  "Every two weeks," Selena said. "If it was the same one who tore into me."

  "Viciously?"

  "Yeah. But he didn't kill me. I killed him though."

  King looked skeptically at her. "You couldn't have killed him if he'd turned you."

  "His body—ashes—and clothes were left behind. The vampires who too
k care of me told me they had found what was left of him." Except nothing added up. Like Atreides said, she couldn't have killed him while he was biting her. And if she'd stabbed him with her sword, he would have disintegrated before he could have bitten her. The only other thing was that if he had been a wolf, and if she'd killed the wolf, no clothes, just ashes would have been found.

  "Unless his blood mixed with yours hadn't turned you fast enough?" King shook his head. "It doesn't make sense."

  "I agree. But I thank you for your offer. Can I speak with the women?" She hoped she could learn if it might have been the same one, yet she'd never seen his vampire face, just as a wolf. Unless there had been two of them. Or…three?

  "Let me set up a meeting with you and them."

  "Are they okay?" Selena asked, genuinely concerned.

  "Yes. We don't treat them like the League hunters would." King got on his phone and texted the women.

  Selena thought of broadcasting a telepathic message to them, but she figured it would probably be better if she just let King arrange the meeting since they would trust him.

  "They're on their—"

  The women appeared in the hall. And looked the hunters over. "Which one of you is—"

  "I am," Selena said. "Selena Townsend."

  "Brittany Hollingsworth," the one blond said.

  The other's hair was a darker blond and she smiled at Selena, showing off her wicked canines. "I just had to show them off. I'm Eliza Broom. So what did the guy look like who attacked you?"

  "I only saw a wolf."

  "A wolf?" Brittany said. "The one who turned me was black haired and had nearly black eyes. He was tall, maybe six-foot, and he was sadistic, savage, but he fought me for a while. It was my fault. I shouldn't have been alone. I had parked my car and was some distance from a vampire club, near a drugstore. I was going to go into the drugstore to ask directions. I was looking for one of the border towns, deciding I didn't want to work for the League. I'd worked for one back home in New Jersey, and then lived with a border town there and was much happier. Anyway, I didn't make it to the drugstore. He nearly killed me, but it was like he didn't want to finish the job."