by Jade Farhill
“I’m not sure how I feel about what you just said,” Arthur said, his brow lowering.
The little hunter shrugged. “Feel how you want to, it doesn’t bother me.”
***
The sun rose and Abby went out to catch some deer, birds and rabbits. When she returned, Arthur, Janine, Irena and the hunters relieved her of her burdens and took them deep into the cave.
The humans slept after they’d eaten, and Abby stayed outside in the sunlight. Before long, Arthur came to find her.
“I didn’t ask this yesterday, but how are you able to stand in the sun?”
Abby explained the vaccine, and how it had made her unconscious for two days after her sister Turned her.
“Really? What else does this vaccine do?”
Abby told him about her hair growing, how she could eat honey and rare steak and her odd sense of smell. “The scent of human blood is delicious, but it doesn’t satisfy me—not the way animal blood does.”
“So that’s what you meant when you said you wouldn’t drink our blood?” Arthur asked as the hunters emerged from the cave.
Abby nodded.
“Really? Animal blood?” Arthur sounded disgusted. “Sister and I tried it, but it is foul. And what’s so wrong with human blood, anyway?”
“Are you—a human—seriously discouraging her from drinking animal blood?” Paddy asked.
“I’m just saying that animal blood didn’t even compare to human.”
“He is encouraging her,” Scotty said with disbelief.
Arthur sent a sly wink at Abby. “There are plenty of easy meals here, Abster.”
Abby quirked an eyebrow—what was he playing at?
“Don’t say that!” Paddy cried.
“Do you have a death wish?” Scotty asked, fists clenched in his hair.
The little hunter stayed quiet, seemingly unconcerned about where this conversation was going.
“Your sister finds drinking blood of those of the opposite sex very satisfying,” Arthur continued. “And just look around you, Abster—there are four candidates.”
“Just shut up!” snapped Scotty.
“Do you think we can gag him?” Paddy asked.
“Gag me, tie me up, leave me defenceless in front of my sister-in-law.” Arthur nodded, as if he understood where the hunters were coming from. “Sacrifice me so you can keep the vampire under your control.”
“What?” shouted a horrified Paddy. “No!”
“We don’t sacrifice anyone!” Scotty replied.
Arthur was about to continue when the little hunter interrupted.
“Guys, he’s just teasing you.”
Arthur gasped as if insulted. “How could you say that?”
Abby sent him a sceptical look.
Paddy and Scotty pulled themselves up and inspected Arthur suspiciously.
“How could you joke about something like that?” Paddy asked.
“What I want to know is how he—” Arthur pointed at the little hunter “—saw through my ploy.”
“I’m as confident as you are that the vampire scientist isn’t interested in human blood.”
“How?” demanded Paddy.
“I know her better than you two do.”
Arthur turned his questioning eyes on Abby, and she dropped her gaze. “So, there’s a difficult history between you two,” Arthur commented.
“They’re hunters—of course there is,” Abby replied.
“We only touched on this yesterday, but now I really do have to say my piece. Abby helped you in this war against the vampires, and you treated her so poorly! And you hunters wonder why vampires have a low opinion of you. All you have to do is think about how you treat those under your power.”
The hunters were silent.
Arthur did have a point, but it went both ways. She wondered if he knew how the hunters had been treated in the den. To break the tension, she said, “Treat a monster like a monster, and all they’ll ever think is that they’re a monster. Never realising they can rise above it.”
Paddy and Scotty shared a disconcerted look, then threw fleeting glances at Abby.
The little hunter just stared impassively out at the canyon.
“Exactly,” Arthur said. “Sister remembers how you used to sit down and talk to her. Tell her about your day, your struggles. Speak to her like she was your best friend. Even though she was restrained, it was for the safety of both of you. But you treated her with love and respect. That’s why she turned out as well as she has, why she’s so disciplined and so determined not to kill.”
Abby met his green eyes; they reminded her vaguely of Trent’s. Her chest hurt, and she longed to see Trent. To talk to him. To touch him. To be human and in his company.
“How did you come to being in the attack against us?” the little hunter asked Arthur.
Arthur shot Abby a smile. “Not what you think, Hunter,” he said. “I’m sure you know by now that our former queen has a vindictive streak.”
Abby didn’t want to talk about that, but Arthur continued. “My queen used my lovely wife against me, and said that if I didn’t go in to clear out the bombs, she would kill Sister.”
Abby growled, feeling her blood start to thrum inside her. Her senses sharpened and she felt extremely powerful. A red haze covered her vision and a plan swirled in her mind to break into the den and turn the queen human.
“Don’t bother, Abby. I held up my end of the bargain, so I know that my beautiful wife is safe. The queen always follows through on her bargains.”
Arthur wasn’t in the slightest disturbed by her sudden blood rage. The hunters, of course, had their palms on their daggers, ready to draw. But the little hunter went one step further and pulled out a colourful cloth, waving it in front of her.
Abby released a breath, letting the anger melt away. When the red haze disappeared, she turned to the little hunter. “You didn’t need to use that scarf.”
He shrugged. “You told us colours help you. We don’t want to kill you—we need you to survive—so I figured this was the best option.”
Paddy and Scotty eyed him, as did Arthur, who asked about the meaning of the scarf. The little hunter explained and then said, “How did you know she can control herself around you?” He’d asked a similar question yesterday and hadn’t got an answer.
“I know her sister,” Arthur explained. “I know the control she has around humans and the control she has when she’s in a blood rage. I knew the moment I saw Abby that she was more like my wife than either of us expected.” He turned to Abby. “Although my wife takes longer to come out of a blood rage than you do.”
“I’ve had practice,” said Abby.
“I see.” Arthur replied, sending a hostile look at the hunters.
“So, tell me,” the little hunter said. “Did you know that we were in there? And how we were being treated?”
Abby looked at him in horror. Was he trying to pick a fight with Arthur? “What the hell, Little Hunter? Why are you asking that?”
He met her eyes, a hard glint in them. So much like his father’s. “I need to know.”
“Everyone knew you were in there, Hunter,” said Arthur. “My wife was going to move to another den and I was preparing to follow her when the three of you showed up. She was so concerned about you—but I didn’t really care. I’ve been mistreated by your kind before and, frankly, I wasn’t about to risk my neck to save you. My wife had been cosying up to the queen to try to free you, either by getting the code or by being granted a favour. But the queen’s a harder nut to crack than any of us anticipated.”
Abby was glad Sharon had been trying to do something, but disturbed to hear that Arthur held such little regard for the hunters’ situation. “The little hunter tormented me every day for almost two years straight, and I still thought what had happened to them was too awful for words. The moment I smelled them, I tracked them down and released them. Even when my sister was within reach, even when the very sight of them still terrifie
d me to my very bones.”
“What?” Arthur shouted. “You tormented her while she was trying to help you?” He stepped menacingly towards the little hunter.
The hunters were far too weak to defend themselves against him. Abby jumped between them. “Please, Arthur. I didn’t rescue them so you could hurt them.”
“Why are you defending them?”
“Because they’ve just been through a terrible experience and I don’t want my brother-in-law to pick a fight with some hunters who are trained to kill!”
“I’m trained to kill,” said Arthur, clenching his fists.
“Arthur, I saved them knowing I might be losing my only chance to find my sister. But I stand by that choice, and I won’t back down.”
Arthur was breathing heavily, but he took a step back. “Fine. But if they so much as look at you the wrong way, I’ll kill them.”
“They’re hunters, they’re going to look at me like that. It’s their job.”
“Fine. If they harass you or treat you badly, I’ll kill them. And when those other hunters show up, if they try to abduct you again, I’ll turn every single former vampire against them. There’s not a lot of good will between hunters and former vampires. Sure, they’re good for when vampires are on the loose, but otherwise we’ll hate each other til our dying breath.”
Abby was relieved to hear Arthur’s heart rate slowing down and his breathing become more even. Of course, the hunters’ heart rates hadn’t changed a bit—just as they hadn’t on that terrible day when she’d discovered the bodies of the kitchen staff.
The only one whose heart had beat like a normal human’s that day had been the little hunter. That was why she’d allowed him to take her away.
She equated normal heartbeats with compassion and kindness, fear and uncertainty. She equated the hunters’ slow, unchanging rhythm with cruelty, menace and pain. And now, after learning that the former president had been planning to ship her out of the country without her permission, she equated the hunter heartbeat with betrayal.
CHAPTER 29
Abby arranged with the hunters that they would go out again that night, but this time get up close and squirt the oral spray into the vampires’ mouths. They had depleted too many dispersal units, and needed what was left for the cave entrance in case the vampires broke through. Abby would oversee everything from the cave mouth. If any of the hunters got into trouble, she would jump to their location and help them escape.
As soon as the sun set, vampires appeared in the distance. What had the queen had threatened them with to make them all come here and possibly turn human? Was Sharon now among those attacking them?
The vampires started lining up in single file to get closer. When the hunters attacked them, they dispersed again, forming a larger perimeter of dead cure zone. The humans ran towards Abby and she stepped aside, allowing them to rush into the cave behind her.
The vampires were moving forward—the hunters were fast, but the vampires were faster.
One hunter attacked a lone vampire, sprayed her in the mouth and sent her running towards Abby. Another got attacked by a group of vampires—they’d tracked him down and were now pinning him to the ground.
Abby bared her fangs, grabbed the oral spray and put on her gas mask. She jumped from the cave to where the hunter was, and suppressed a groan—did he have to be the little hunter?
Regardless, she tackled one of the attacking vampires, ripping his fangs away from the hunter’s neck and spraying the cure into his mouth. Quickly, she threw the new human away from the other two vampires, who were now aware that she was there and the element of surprise had worn off.
The hastily retreating human attracted one vampire’s attention, while the second focused on Abby. She had to act fast before they attacked. If she went in a blood rage before they did, she’d have the advantage. She kept her eyes on the vampires and thought of the queen harming her sister.
The effect was instant.
Abby’s limbs tingled with power and she crouched low to the ground, hissing territorially. The other vampires caught the blood rage, and one threw themselves at the little hunter.
Abby took advantage of the vampire’s distraction and squirted him in the mouth as he dived forward. Suddenly human, he stopped, looked up at the two vampires in a blood rage and ran off screaming.
The last vampire was now staring directly at Abby, ignoring the still-bleeding little hunter on the ground. They exchanged growls.
It was a standoff; Abby didn’t want to make the first move, and neither did the other vampire. But the hunter was still bleeding—there was no time to waste. Abby launched herself at the vampire, but she caught Abby in mid-air, throwing her to the ground.
Abby quickly rolled over and kneed the vampire in the stomach. When she moaned in pain—mouth hanging open—Abby got her with the spray.
The instant the vampire became human, she screamed and ran towards the cave. Abby turned around, breaking out of her blood rage before she approached the little hunter, who was lying injured on the ground.
She wasn’t about to take off her gas mask, so she only had one option if she wanted to save him—his silver dagger. She grabbed it from his hand; its blade gleamed menacingly.
The little hunter’s eyes went wide as he realised what she was doing, and he groaned what sounded like a complaint. Abby ignored him and cut herself, clenching her jaw at the searing and fiery pain in her arm.
She put her arm to the hunter’s mouth. “Don’t make this pain be for nothing, Little Hunter. Drink.”
He obeyed.
The blood stopped flowing from his neck and she smelled that he was healed. But he was still covered in his own blood—vampires would be attracted to him like moths to a flame.
When he was strong enough to stand and fight on his own, Abby heard about five vampires rushing towards them—she went back into her blood rage before they could affect her with their own. She crouched low as she handed the offending blade back to the hunter, pointing to the vampires with her free hand.
Abby grabbed out her oral spray and readied herself.
She leapt at two of the vampires as they came flying out of the bushes. She sprayed them in the mouth before they even realised what had happened, then swiped the leg out from under the third, who stumbled and fell. The little hunter jumped on the fallen vampire, getting him in the mouth with the spray. Three more vampires dodged past Abby, heading towards the little hunter.
She tackled one and sprayed her in the ensuing tussle. The little hunter whipped his silver chain around him—but his technique didn’t seem as strong as usual.
“Shore up your left side!” Abby shouted.
But it was too late—one vampire had already slipped past the chain whip, going for the hunter’s throat.
Abby gasped. He must still need more of her blood—he wasn’t fighting as well as she’d hoped.
But the little hunter pirouetted, his chain whip expertly restraining the vampire attacking him. The moment the vampire cried in pain, the little hunter sprayed him in the mouth.
Abby shouldn’t have been surprised—hunters had perfected the art of trapping vampires.
Before the third vampire could do anything, Abby jumped at him. He was much stronger than the ones she’d faced before, and threw her into a tree. The wind slammed out of her, but she didn’t have time to catch her breath. If she could just restrain him, maybe the hunter could administer the cure.
She sprang to her feet and grabbed the vampire from behind, pinning one of his arms back.
The vampire lashed out with his free hand, long fingernails raking across her flesh. The little hunter appeared from the right and sprayed the vampire in the mouth.
Abby released the new human. She and the little hunter eyed each other. “You’re good,” she said. “They trained you well.”
“The organisation doesn’t send hunters out until they can prove they’ll survive. They have a vested interest in keeping as many as us alive as possib
le.”
“Makes sense. But how do you prove yourself?” Hopefully the hunters didn’t have a vampire they bring out at test time to see if the hunters will live.
“We run simulations, a combination of machines and hunters attack us.”
Abby raised her eyebrows, impressed.
Their conversation stopped there as another set of footsteps came belting their way. The little hunter prepared his silver chain whip. Abby tripped the vampire as he came right for them, and the hunter squirted him in the mouth.
They kept up their teamwork, Abby resuming her blood rage to fight. But then she heard a scream from one of the other hunters. She couldn’t leave the little hunter here on his own, so she grabbed him by the waist and jumped high into the air, aiming for the screaming human.
The little hunter gasped. He held onto her shoulders tightly and as they started falling back down to the earth, he screwed his eyes shut. “Oh, god, oh, god, oh god!” he whispered.
“You’ll be fine, I’ve got you,” she replied, the wind ripping her words from her.
“But we’re still free-falling,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Controlled falling,” she corrected him.
“Same thing!”
She made sure she landed softly. Putting the little hunter down, she launched herself at the four vampires encircling Scotty. She tackled one to the ground and sprayed him. She tripped the next and the instant he fell, she sprayed him too.
The little hunter had regained his composure by this time and used his chain whip to restrain the third vampire; Scotty did the same to the last vampire.
Abby got to her feet.
“You okay?” the little hunter asked Scotty.
“Yeah, fine. But did you just fall from the sky?”
The little hunter shuddered. “Yeah, and I don’t recommend it.”
Scotty turned to Abby. “Thanks for coming. I got overwhelmed.”
“It’s fine—that’s what I’m here for. You ready, Little Hunter?”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Yep,” he said tightly. “At least you’re warning me we’ll be jumping this time.”