Well, that wasn’t entirely true, considering she lived in a vampire community where most vampires were all about playing games and being merciless douches. But Hans was definitely one of the most persistent ones, and she didn’t like it one bit.
She also didn’t like the certainty that the moment he found out she was a vampire, he would kill her. No questions. She knew his reputation enough to know that.
The claws dug on her side again, not necessarily hurting her. But it still made her wince. His body was pressed against her, and a memory of his naked muscles in the cave right before she gingerly dressed him flashed through her mind. A shiver ran up her spine. Even with her vampire strength, she wasn’t going to escape easily from this kind of hold—not with that sheer strength he was radiating now that he was no longer injured.
Clan leader strength definitely trumped fresh vampire strength this time.
And so Nell decided to play a little game of her own. It was one she never utilized before—hated to do so even now, when she knew it was such an unfair tactic.
She closed her eyes. He didn’t make any sound, almost as if waiting. When she opened her eyes, she let tears fill them, on the verge of spilling.
Hans froze right away. Then his eyes narrowed, bottle green and beautiful and just too observant for her own tastes.
Nell let her shoulders shake, as if she could no longer take the pressure. Then her whole body began to shake, and while his claws didn’t retract, she felt his body soften enough to give her leeway—but not enough to escape. He definitely wasn’t letting her go easy.
Slowly, Hans’ head moved and settled right beside her ear, whispering in the lowest decibel possible.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. Her mouth was just near his cheek, so she let it tremble, too.
Discomfort radiated from him in waves. But he held on to her, repeating his question.
“What’s wrong, Lena?”
A stab of guilt hit her at the fake name, but she stubbornly told herself he hadn’t used his first name, either. “I’m looking for my brother.”
“Your brother?”
Nell kept crying. “Yes. He ventured here for a hike and I haven’t seen him…seen him…since…”
Her crying turned to silent sobbing, and she let her hands pull at his shirt to bring him closer in comfort. She expected him to pull away at the feel of a crying woman in his arms, considering he was the big, bad bear who was too proud for his own good—at least, reliable reports said so.
But Hans surprised her yet again by retracting his claws, placing his arms around her and—oh.
He hugged the hell out of her. His hands soothed her shoulders, willing her to stop shaking, and his mouth whispered careless, nonsense words in her ear: words like it was going to be okay and he was going to make sure of it.
Bewildered, confused, Nell’s tears stopped. “He was a rogue hunter. Is. Bounty hunter.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured. “We’ll find him.”
It was the certainty of those words that had dread filling her stomach. Crap. Who knew the bear clan leader had a hero complex? She certainly didn’t.
Nell cursed multiple times in her head, but forced her outward expression to brighten in hope. It looked like she had no choice now but to let him guide her until she could find the opportunity to escape.
Because of course she needed to escape. Soon. Very soon. She couldn’t very well show her true strength in his presence, which meant she couldn’t kill rogues as effectively this way.
Which meant she would end up failing her mission.
This too was not gonna happen.
Hans’ soothing didn’t stop, and for a second she let herself absorb the warmth of his body. She knew shifters were warm by nature, but it was like standing beside a furnace when it came to him. Before she could contemplate it further, he was already whispering instructions in her ear, something along the lines of following his lead so they could get away from the rogues and get some actual rest.
She reluctantly nodded her head.
Then Nell resigned herself to this little scheme she started.
*****
They escaped unscathed from the field area, but weren’t exactly in the safe zone as they entered another forest. This was more elevated than the last, making trekking more challenging—if they were human. Nell pretended to stumble and fall plenty of times, drawing suspicion from Hans every time she did so. She realized later on that she didn’t stumble at all when they got out of the cave and out of that forest, and seemed confident enough when they navigated the field earlier. No wonder he was suspicious.
But he didn’t say anything.
Instead, he was as steady as they came when he led her through the forest, where they ended up hiding most of the time at the slightest noise. When the rogues they encountered were less than three, he would kill them before they could blink. Her hands itched and despair filled her that she couldn’t join in on the action, but she stubbornly held on to her cover.
It slipped one time—when a rogue approached them and he didn’t sense it at all, busy as he was fighting another. She threw her dagger at it before it could leap towards him, but didn’t follow up with a kill as the dagger alone got his attention and had him killing the second rogue before she could make a move.
Then they were running for it, with him nearly dragging her to catch up. When they were within a minute of safe zone, he made her stop and dragged her towards him, standing up to his full height. It was meant to be intimidating, and she’d be a fool to say she didn’t care. In retaliation to her nerves, Nell glared at him.
“Stop dragging me around just because you’re strong,” she snapped.
He glared right back, green eyes heated. “Stop being as incompetent as you pretend.”
Damn it.
“What are you, really?” he growled.
“I’m human,” she growled back, though her voice was smaller than his—a fact that irritated her further. “And stop getting on my case. I saved your life, remember?”
He reluctantly took a step back. Nodded. “Just remember. I don’t like being lied to.”
Pot calling kettle black. She rolled her eyes, but he was too busy walking now. With an inward sigh, Nell followed.
They hiked for what seemed like hours, stopping only when they encountered a rogue. This forest was larger than the one with the cave, and Nell wondered how much farther they were going before they could recharge. She hadn’t slept since she got here, having kept watch inside the cave while he was injured and unconscious. While vampires didn’t really have a problem with that, she wanted to recharge for a bit before they moved any further into hostile territory.
As if to answer her questions, they came across the sound of running water. Then, a few minutes later, they saw a river. Hans cautiously treaded away from the flow of water, and she understood his caution right away—the sound of water would mask any other sound a rogue might make, which would place them at a disadvantage. So they followed the river at a distance, with Hans risking less than a minute to get some water for their empty bottles while she kept watch. At the end of the river was another mountain, too steep for them to climb.
There was also a waterfall with a hollow space inside. It was a good place as any to rest.
As if he read her mind, he told her to keep watch again as he scouted the interior. He came back five minutes later and took her inside, where she found a dead end space with an entrance by the waterfall—enough for them both to squeeze in. It was smaller than the cave but good enough for two people. Given how big he was, it was a bit of a tight squeeze. But it would do.
Nell placed drops of the masking potion on the entrance again. There was no longer any need for the noise silencer, because the waterfall itself would mask whatever whispering noise they made inside. She could feel him watching her, but he made no move to protest. He didn’t even say a word. Once her task was done, Nell turned back around to finally
face him.
Moonlight filtered well inside the waterfall, making her see him fully—something she hadn’t given herself a chance at when they were running from the rogues. In the dark, he had already been crazy huge, a complete opposite to the lean vampires that she was accustomed to dealing with. His broad shoulders glinted in the light, radiating enough power for the both of them. His dark brown hair was more than a little wild, sticking up in all directions. She let her gaze trail down, checking out the abs beneath the shirt, the big thighs…and the big feet. Then her gaze trailed back up, watching his large hands, square jaw…and eyes that were pinning her with a look.
Caught looking, Nell allowed the blush to enter her cheeks, adding to the damsel in distress effect. She expected him to act all suspicious, but he threw her for a loop all over again as a smirk formed on his mouth.
“Like what you see?” he asked, his voice deceptively low. It had heat shooting to her stomach, and temper shooting to her head.
The arrogant, conceited—
“I’ve seen better,” she replied, sniffing.
“Right.” His tone told her he obviously didn’t believe her.
Silence lapsed, and Nell tried not to let him get to her. He commanded presence even when he didn’t speak, and she couldn’t wait to get away from him. They offered each other food, refused at the same time, and stuck to their own. She ate fast, cleaned herself up and looked for a dry spot inside to lie down in—again, not that she needed to lie down to sleep, but she had to keep up all pretense.
“Wake me up in two hours,” she said, adjusting her body on the hard floor. This was going to be a non-fitful sleep.
“No.”
She paused in her movement, looking up at him. He had already positioned himself by the entrance, his stance indicating that he was already keeping watch.
“I’ll wake up and take over,” she said. “I don’t need some arrogant hero saving me.”
He bristled, but didn’t say anything. Nell let it be and closed her eyes.
When she woke up almost three hours later, it was still dark and he was still by the entrance, sitting down with his eyes closed. She went to him and tentatively touched his shoulder.
He opened his eyes right away.
“Go to sleep,” she said softly. “Please. Let me take over.”
There was a long bout of silence where she expected him to protest. Instead, Hans nodded once, then took her position inside the cave. She sat by the entrance, feeling coldness seep in her cloak and a spray of water hit her cheek.
She stayed like that for hours, alternating between watching the entrance and watching him.
When she was absolutely sure he was asleep, she crawled towards her bag, as silent as the vampire she was. She eyed him one more time, sensing the rhythm of his heart—steady, strong, calm.
Then she took a deep breath and quietly slipped back to the outside world.
CHAPTER FIVE
Hans wasn’t an idiot.
But that didn’t stop him from feeling like one when he woke up a couple of hours later. He’d trusted her. He’d started trusting the woman named Lena, along with every other stupid emotion in the book—pity, worry and maybe a tiny bit of physical attraction that had no place in this scenario. She’d cried in his arms when she told him she was looking for her brother—and he’d comforted her, because she was shaking and sounded so sad. Maybe a part of him still believed she was lying, but he had decided to ignore that during their hike, especially when she looked so damn hurt when he asked.
Apparently, that suspicious part of him was right.
Hans didn’t waste any time inside the waterfall. The sun had already risen up, which meant all the rogues were in hibernation—or at least, he hoped so. Rogues weren’t necessarily afraid of the sunlight, but they did avoid it like the plague because of their sensitive skin and poor eyesight during the day. He didn’t know if the same rang true for forest rogues, so he crossed his fingers. Then he continued his hike, confident he was going to break more ground now that he was better prepared for the rogues.
The cure had to be somewhere here, along with the witch. That was his priority now, not some lying chick who used innocent puppy eyes to pull him in and soften him up. She was probably long gone by now, anyway, and he only had one thing to say about the matter: good riddance. He wasn’t worried.
Nope, not at all.
The long forest and waterfall trail finally ended, and Hans found himself in another field. This was relatively smaller than the last, and the grass was short enough for him to see across the horizon. He easily crossed it and entered another forest, and he deduced that was going to be his endless encounter until he got to the very top: a mix of fields and forest, just like any other mountain area in the world.
Imagine his surprise when, upon exiting the latest forest, he came across a vast expanse of lake—a very wide, very clear lake. It was frozen to a gorgeous blue color, an unusual sight.
The surprise was doubled when he saw who was on it.
Or rather…stuck in it.
“Need some help out there?”
She was stuck very deeply in the lake, and how that happened he couldn’t really tell. But Lena stiffened the moment she heard his voice, her head turning a quarter in his direction and shooting him what he presumed was a death glare.
Hans couldn’t help it. A grin spread across his face before he could stop it. He looked around, seeing that the lake covered the whole area—which meant there was no other choice but to cross it. The sides were filled with thorns, which was a bummer because he would have preferred to stay to the sides. As it was, he had no choice but to trudge through the middle.
A quick test of the corners determined that the ice was thick, but he still took his sweet time walking. Despite the lake being frozen, it didn’t feel cold at all, which only confirmed his suspicion that some kind of magic was at work here. He finally reached her side, watching her back stiffen further as she refused to face him. Her bag was on the icy floor beside her, and she looked like she was still trying to pull her legs free.
Casually, he picked up her bag and hitched it on his shoulder. Then he smiled when her eyes met his.
He repeated his earlier question about her needing help.
Lena’s eyes narrowed as she eyed him suspiciously, her eyes trailing towards her bag.
“No, thanks,” she said sweetly. He scoffed at the fake tone.
“How did you get stuck here, anyway?”
Her sweet tone disappeared, replaced by a sulky one. “I ran. Apparently you’re not allowed to run here.”
She pointed at the end of the lake, and he squinted. Well…he’d be damned. There really was a sign at the end of the lake that said no running, among other things. It was so at odds with the wildness of the place that he couldn’t help but shake his head. What was the witch playing at?
Hans looked one more time at his surroundings, where he saw nothing amiss. Then he sighed and bent down to study the ice. She was stuck up to her thighs, and was trying to punch her way out of it. He tried to punch, too—but even his strength couldn’t penetrate.
“Are you feeling water below?” he asked.
Lena nodded her head, not looking at him. He stepped forward until there was only about two feet of space between them. This time, she reluctantly met his gaze again.
“Water’s not cold,” she said. “But I can’t feel my legs.”
Which was an alarming symptom. Without a word, Hans took her hands, ignoring her startled jump. He placed them on his shoulders, then waited for her eyes to meet his again.
“Don’t move. Don’t let go.”
“What are you doi—”
Her words were cut off when he shifted his hands to claws and bent down further. Slowly, carefully, he traced a circle around her legs once, then repeated it with force—again, and again, and again.
The ice cut off, and her weight took her down to her waist. At the same time, her hands clutched at his neck, and he used
his body strength to pull her up and out of the water.
He landed on his butt, and she was sprawled inelegantly on top of him. Hans moved to steady her waist, but she wrenched away from his grip right away as if his hands burned her. She forced a smile on her face and nodded. “Thank you.”
Prickly little thing.
Hans tipped his invisible hat, baring his teeth in a deliberately conceited gesture. “Anytime, sweetheart.”
The nickname obviously riled her up, but she clamped her mouth shut. He handed her bag to her and she quietly accepted it. Then they were walking together, as slowly as they could, towards the other end of the lake.
The silence didn’t last long.
“How did you know to cut through…?” she trailed off.
Hans tilted his head towards the sign. At the bottom of the words no running were the words sharpen your arsenal, in much smaller letters. She frowned at the sign in disapproval.
“This place is wacko,” she muttered under her breath.
He agreed in silence. They kept walking without saying anything further, and he wondered again where she was headed. Knowing her, she’d probably clam up if he asked her point-blank.
They reached the end of the lake, where they looked at each other before she glanced away first. He could feel the tension vibrating from her, even while she remained deceptively calm on the outside. She surprised him by holding out her hand.
“Truce?”
Hans took it, but didn’t say the word. An electric zing passed between them, which proved that chemistry just didn’t know when to let go sometimes. She snatched her hand back, pretending she didn’t feel it.
“Don’t follow me around,” she warned. “We’re even now.”
He almost scoffed, but let himself fall quiet and simply watch her. Obviously unnerved, she gave him one short nod before walking straight and not once looking back. She disappeared around the corner, her footsteps disappearing into nothing.
Hans gave it fifteen minutes.
Then, using the tracker he’d placed on her bag without her knowledge, he quietly went about following her.
*****
He figured following her wasn’t going to cost him lost time, considering he was headed in the same direction, anyway. Maybe she really did have a brother that she was looking for, and the brother really was some kind of bounty hunter. Maybe that was a lie, and she had some other ulterior motive here—though he was pretty sure it didn’t involve killing him, because she wouldn’t have wasted precious medicine to heal him if that was her plan.
Hans (The Clan Legacy) Page 3