by Opal Carew
The doctor laid his napkin on the table. “If she’d listen to me, my job would be so much easier.” He headed out of the dining room in the direction of the stairs.
***
Her legs shaky, Rachael returned to bed with Mary’s help. “You shouldn’t have acted so familiar with Adonis at the table, Rachael.”
She groaned and laid her head back on the pillow, the nausea twisting her insides into knots, her head pounding with vengeance. “Really, Mary, my head is killing me.”
Dr. Stevens walked into the room. “That’s why you were supposed to stay in bed. Of all the family, you have always been my worst patient.”
She halfheartedly smiled.
He gave her a couple of pills. “Take these. If the nausea continues, we’ll try a shot.”
He padded out of the room.
“You’re wearing him out.” Mary sat in the chair next to the bed. “I can’t believe you put that poor man through so much agony.”
Rachael wrinkled her brow. “Dr. Stevens?”
“No, Adonis. When he dropped his fork, I had to punch Ned before he laughed out loud.”
Rachael’s face burned in embarrassment.
“The man has to have nerves of steel,” Mary teased.
Rachael had never been attracted to any man like she was with him, but keeping her feelings for Adonis hidden in front of her family, would be a monumental task. She hadn’t realized how much everyone would take notice of her actions, as innocent as they’d been and misconstrue them for something else. Although her actions hadn’t always been totally above reproach with Adonis. She guessed that’s why she felt guilty when her family lightheartedly rebuked her this time.
Mary’s blue eyes sparkled. “Hunters and huntresses notice actions. It aids us in reacting quickly in times of danger. Since everyone was curious anyway how the two of you’d get along, most watched you, but Uncle Tobias seemed surprised. For that matter, none of us have ever seen you act so... well, out of character. Adonis always seems so concerned about you. That doesn’t go unnoticed.” She took a breath. “Of course, I’m sure all of us figured you feigned sickness to be alone with Adonis. That’s why Tobias didn’t allow Adonis to do the honors and instead had Michael carry you to your bedroom.”
“Bathroom.”
“Yes, well, I guess we were all incorrect in our assumptions.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Mary snorted. “Rachael, you have provided more entertainment at the last couple of meals than we’ve had in a month.”
Trish walked into the room. “I thought when you punched Ned so he wouldn’t laugh, Ferris would burst out laughing himself, Mary. But seriously, Rachael, Mary’s right. You must keep your hands off certain parts of the hunter’s anatomy, even as innocently as you might have meant it, until Uncle Tobias says otherwise. Although, it may be a good thing. Tobias is probably considering how many children you’ll have with Adonis... and soon.”
Mary chuckled. “And because Adonis has more girls in his family than most do, I heard Tobias talking to Brent earlier today that maybe Adonis would father more girls.”
“Yes, and the prospect that both Michael and Zachary might now have huntress partners has really made Tobias look on Adonis more favorably.”
“Zachary?” Rachael asked.
Trish patted her leg. “Yes. He’s interested in Pasha, the one Piaras has imprisoned.”
“We have no idea if we can even rescue her.” Or if she was unscathed, Rachael wanted to say. What if his younger sister had been turned as well?
“They’ll do all they can to rescue her and their parents,” Trish said.
“When?”
“Tomorrow midday, if all goes well tonight.”
Not only did Rachael have to be perfectly well by then, she prayed Adonis would be all right tonight on the hunt. What if something terrible happened to him? What if Danai was right—nothing had gone well for them—would the same bad luck befall Adonis tonight?
The hunt wouldn’t be over soon enough, and she prayed Adonis would be the greatest hunter success her uncle had ever witnessed. If only luck were on his side this time.
When the vehicle doors began to open and shut, her heart stopped. She knew it wouldn’t start beating again, until she heard Adonis had returned from the hunt, not only victorious, but safe and sound.
Chapter 17
Before it grew dark that night, Adonis and ten hunters parked several blocks away from the house they’d raid. His thoughts focused on Rachael. He couldn’t blow it now. He had to prove to her family he was a hunter worthy of joining them. Even now, he could visualize her blue eyes filled with concern for him. He couldn’t shake the feeling he could so easily lose her with one wrong mistake. If a vampire claimed he was one of them and the hunters believed him, or if Adonis found he couldn’t kill one...
He shook his head. As his grandmother used to warn... don’t borrow trouble needlessly.
As soon as Tobias exited his SUV, Adonis bowed his head slightly in reverent greeting. “I’ll make my way inside the house and open all of the windows on the bottom floor around the sides and back of the house. I’ll let you know when I’ve succeeded.”
Michael grabbed his arm. “I’ll go with you.”
Adonis hesitated, trying to think of a reason to dissuade Rachael’s cousin. Michael’s wanting to help him touched him profoundly. He was like the family Adonis had so recently lost. But he couldn’t chance Michael finding out about his vampiric ties to Piaras. “No. I’ve been staking this place out for days. Only one hunter sneaking in should do the trick. I don’t want to alert them.”
To Adonis’s relief, Tobias agreed. “Go ahead with your plan.”
Adonis bowed, then headed down the street. After ducking down another street, and then once he was out of sight of the hunters, he vanished. He reappeared in the hallway leading to several bedrooms and an office on the first floor of the two-story colonial home.
Classical music from the living room drifted to his ears. The piano and harp tunes lulled the human hosts into a relaxed state before the vampires sucked the blood from their throats. But these weren’t human hosts who gave their blood for the sexual pleasure they derived from it. Some wished immortality and would be blood-bonded tonight. Others were targeted to supply Piaras with blood bonds who had special skills. Some were way too young.
Adonis had to ensure that the innocents were set free. The rest had to be killed. If one told Piaras that Adonis was involved in the killing of the vampires, no telling what he’d do to Adonis’s family.
His back stiff with tension, Adonis headed for the door to the first bedroom. The idea he might not be able to kill played in his head like a broken movie reel over and over again. When he pulled the door open, the sound of a man and woman groaning and moaning in heated rapture in the middle of a curtained bed caught his attention. Ignoring them, he slipped silently to the window.
He slid the window up, making no sound. The chilly temperature outside was the same as inside. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice any outside noises before it was too late.
He made his way to the next room... an unoccupied office. He pulled the drapes aside, then eased the window up. Movement outside in the dark caught his eye. The hunters scurried into the shadows of the night. Only Adonis, like any other vampire, could see them as if he had night-vision goggles, except his vision made it appear as clear as a cloudy day.
He hurried out of the room and walked across the hall. After pulling the door open, his heart stopped. A teenage female human host smiled sweetly at him. Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and petite stature immediately made him think of a younger version of Rachael.
She started to unbutton her pink silk blouse. She wasn’t a blood-bond yet and way too young around fourteen or so, he guessed. He met her gaze and willed her to leave the house. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the window. Then he yanked the window up and helped her out.
Gregory caught his action as he hovered in a hedg
e nearby. Great. How could Adonis explain that he convinced a potential blood-bond, not to go through with it? Would it matter to the others that she was too young? The girl walked off in a daze.
Several hundred yards from the house, Curt grasped her arm, examined her for bites, then let her go.
Adonis swore under his breath. He’d never be able to explain what happened to the girl. Only a vampire could put them into a trance like that. And a vampire wouldn’t have let her go. Unless... Curt and the other hunters suspected Adonis had killed the vampire that had put her in a trance. Yes, that would be the story if any asked. Hopefully, he’d manage to kill one before the lie could be found out.
Adonis moved out of the room and headed for a bathroom. The window was big enough to permit access. He shoved it open. When he left the bathroom, another female human host caught his eye, standing demurely in the hall. She curled a strand of dark hair around her finger. She’d already given blood and appeared groggy, but there was no blood staining her lips.
She tilted her head up at him.
He escorted her out through the same bedroom where the young girl had been. The scene replayed, only this time Michael helped her through the window, inspected her, then sent her toward Curt. “Now?” Michael asked, his whole body tense with hunter expectation.
“No, not quite yet,” Adonis said, hushed.
He left the bedroom and stalked down the hall to the next room, another bedroom. This time, he wasn’t as lucky. A redheaded male vampire was busy drawing blood from a woman’s throat, but when Adonis opened the door, the vampire turned and hissed at him for the interruption. Adonis recognized Cramer, an ancient vampire totally loyal to Piaras.
Adonis bowed quickly and left the room, shutting the door on his way out. He waited a moment, his heart palpitating way too fast, pounding against his ribs. Would Cramer think it odd Adonis was here when he hadn’t blood-bonded humans since he’d been turned? There wouldn’t be any other reason for him to be at the house.
Cramer suddenly appeared in front of him and smiled, his lips bloodied. “Adonis. This is a change for you.”
“I thought Piaras was here. I wished to speak to him about my sister.”
“Ah, Danai. He missed her today. And how did that happen? He’d sent two of his most trusted human hosts for her, and they vanished.”
“He already has my younger sister and my parents. He doesn’t need Danai to have my loyalty.” He wasn’t going to explain about the missing hosts. He figured Piaras would assume Danai got the better of them.
“But you haven’t brought Rachael to him. He thinks maybe you’ve changed your mind about giving her to him. He even jokingly said you helped a hunter escape his wrath after the man killed Julia and Sirces.” Cramer gave him a calculating smile as if to say he was in on the joke. “Did you?”
“Do you really think Piaras would have allowed me to live had he thought that seriously?”
The vampire tilted his head to the side with an all-knowing arrogant expression. “He has mysterious ways sometimes, allowing a traitor to remain in his midst, toying with him until the time is right to terminate him. Having existed over three hundred years, he likes to play high stakes games. But you did not answer me about the woman.”
“She means nothing to me, like my family does.”
“Good. That’s what Piaras will like to hear.”
Footsteps approaching from down the hall made the two men look toward the poolroom. Gregory rushed forward with a sword clutched in his white-knuckled grasp. Cramer hissed. But the hunter charged Adonis with darkness in his expression.
So focused on Adonis, the idiot hunter didn’t see the real threat.
Cramer grabbed Gregory by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Adonis whipped out his sword and jammed it into the vampire’s heart. The vampire hadn’t time to cry out as his body wrinkled into a shriveled mummy and dropped to the floor. For an instant, Adonis was numb, not believing he could truly kill one of them, but relief filled his soul after that.
Gregory collapsed to his knees, coughing and hacking, trying to catch his breath.
Michael ran up behind Adonis. “The others are all in place,” he whispered.
“Let’s finish this then.”
Michael looked down at Gregory. “Are you going to be all right?”
He nodded, tears in his eyes.
Adonis headed for the other bedroom where he had heard a vampire having relations with a human host. But this time Adonis felt confident. He had killed a vampire. He knew now he could do it. He stood a chance at being a hunter again.
When he walked into the room, the sounds of passionate lovemaking had silenced. Had the vampire heard what had happened in the hallway?
Adonis jerked the curtain aside. Her mouth covered in blood, a woman screamed, but the vampire was no longer there.
A hiss met his ear. Adonis swung around to meet the threat.
For a second, the vampire gaped at Adonis and seemed confused. The vampire’s blond hair was tangled loosely about his shoulders and his chest was bare. “Adonis?”
“Bertrand.” Adonis thrust his sword deep into the vampire’s chest.
He had no love for Piaras’s vampires, every one of whom was loyal to Piaras and his evil doings. None of them would assist him in freeing his family, and any would have brought his head to Piaras on a platter if they learned of his treachery.
Screams and cries filled the house. Brent ran into the room as Adonis pulled his sword from the vampire’s shriveled body.
With his sword, Brent quickly disposed of the blood-bond hissing at him and baring her fangs as she scrambled out of the bed.
“Are you ready to leave?” Brent asked Adonis.
Adonis gave a terse nod and headed out of the room. Although he’d have made a much quicker exodus if he could have managed unseen.
The hunters made sure all the rest of the blood-bonds and vampires were dead. They gathered their men to ensure everyone was unhurt and rushed for their vehicles.
Gregory cursed, his throat still raspy from the vampire nearly crushing his windpipe while he walked in front of Adonis and spoke to Michael and Curt. “I tell you, he’s joined them in a cause against us! He was speaking to the vampire, and he told him he was trading Rachael for his family.”
Michael shook his head. “Shut up, Gregory. If it hadn’t been for Adonis, you wouldn’t be croaking out a sound. He saved your life tonight. Admit it. And hell, after what you pulled with the huntress from his family, he would have been justified in letting you die.”
Adonis hadn’t been sure that Gregory had overheard his conversation with the vampire. But when Gregory charged at him with the sword, Adonis grew concerned he had heard the whole blasted conversation. Then again, Gregory was angry enough about Adonis’s successfully pursuing Rachael, he considered that might have been the reason for Gregory’s unbridled act of revenge tonight.
Although no one would totally believe Gregory’s accusations, still any doubt would make Adonis somewhat suspect. Would they think he’d lure the hunters to Piaras’s estate, just so he could free his family? Would they realize that’s why he could sneak into a blood bonding party without any problems? That he and his sister could escape unscathed from Piaras’s place? The other hunters who were more cautious might be concerned, even though several were pretty hot that Gregory had gotten a huntress killed through his own damned fault.
Scowling at Adonis, Gregory shook his head. “Adonis killed the vampire because he saw you coming, Michael. He knew you’d realize he was one in league with them otherwise.”
“Adonis could have let the vampire finish you off first,” Curt sarcastically said. “Then he could have killed the vampire.”
Michael yanked the door open to Adonis’s SUV. “I was behind Adonis, out of his vision. He couldn’t have known I was coming. As soon as the vampire grabbed you, Adonis didn’t hesitate to skewer the redhead. If he were in league with them, he would have waited a few seconds more. And be
lieve me, you wouldn’t have been around to tell us about it. Be a hunter, and thankful to the one who saved your life. After the hell you’ve caused him and his family, you ought to appreciate he didn’t let you die in there.”
The men all climbed into their vehicles and the long drive back to Tobias’s estates began as Adonis took the wheel of his SUV.
Michael, Zachary, Ned, Ferris, Curt, and Brent rode with Adonis this time. At least he’d garnered the respect of the closest members of Tobias’s family. He was certain Gregory was still raving to Tobias about Adonis’s tie to the vampire in one of the other vehicles.
“That was one damned good hit,” Michael said.
“Six ancients killed in one house and Adonis managed to cut that number by a third on his own.” Curt chuckled. “Your instincts were right when you said Adonis could help us, Michael. Now that we have the layout of Piaras’s place, we should have no trouble overwhelming him, unless he chooses to vanish again, like the coward he was before.”
“You’ll make a great addition to the family,” Brent added. “Too often we get young hot headed hunters who want to make an impression and kill everyone in a blood-bond house. Even innocents like the young girls you sent out to us. So good job.”
Adonis hadn’t expected all the praise as hunting was just a job, but it felt damned good to be a hunter again, as part of a team, working together to rid themselves of the evil in their midst. He almost felt good enough that he could forget the hated vampire side of him. Not that he didn’t like some of the new abilities he had. But working around hunters made the abilities a curse if they appeared at the most inopportune times.
The hunting party grew close to Adonis’s antique shop when an eighteen-wheeler pulled between them and the car in the hunter convoy ahead of them, effectively cutting them off.
His voice filled with concern, Curt said, “Turn around, quickly.”
Adonis recognized the maneuver, separate the end of the convoy from the others and pick off the occupants. He whipped the SUV down another street.