Knight of the Hunted (Born Vampire Book 1)

by Elizabeth Dunlap

  I wisely held my tongue, even though she was waiting for me to say something. I didn’t think James would appreciate me telling his guest to shove it.

  “Don’t be so jealous, Miranda,” James said playfully. “I can still control you.”

  She gave him a look that wasn’t very appropriate for a room full of people. “Yes, but I can say no. She cannot.” She looked back over at me. “Your lady looks like she doesn’t want to be here. Maybe she should go home and leave you with us.” Oh, yes, please.

  James laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Miranda. Why don’t you go get another drink?” She left in an unsatisfied huff. James leaned into me and said harshly, “Cheer up. Stop looking like you don’t want to be here.” I instantly smiled and looked like I was having the time of my life.

  And that’s how it went for hours.

  Order after order. Don’t leave my side. Stop fidgeting. Dance with me. Don’t dance with anyone else. Only look happy when you’re with me. Stop looking unhappy. Try the veal.

  He spouted out orders so often, he didn’t know which he’d already said to me, or which contradicted each other. I had a feeling he didn’t even realize he was causing me pain. With every order, my body hurt more and more. I didn’t have to think about obeying, I naturally did that, but my body was suffering being under his control. It fought underneath at the sheer wrongness of it all, and I was racked with pain in every part of my body.

  When James finally said I could leave, after everyone else had gone, the only thing keeping me up was his order to stop looking like I was about to fall over. He put me inside one of his limos, giving me a slow kiss on the cheek, and sent me on my way.

  The further I got from him, the more pain I felt. Wave after wave of agony. Every sound was too loud; every light was too bright. If I had to deal with this for the rest of my life, I would go insane.

  Drake sat there the entire time, either not noticing how much I was hurting, or not caring.

  When the limo pulled up to Sara’s hotel, Drake helped me out, and I stood on unsteady limbs that barely supported my weight. I walked slowly to the front door and put my hand on the handle. It opened before I could try to pull on it.

  Sara stood in the doorway, her face the most serious I’d seen in our short friendship. I stumbled over the threshold and didn’t put a hand up fast enough to stop myself from bonking my nose on the doorway.

  “That vile man,” Sara whispered. Even her soft voice pounded in my head and I whimpered, putting a hand to my head to shield my eyes from the lights. I noticed Knight coming into the lobby from the kitchen, but I couldn’t bear to look at him. I felt so much shame. And pain. Lots of pain. The light bothering me was suddenly gone and a hand reached out to stroke my hair.

  Without a word, Knight took my hand and led me up to my room. He walked over to shut the curtains to block out the moonlight before coming back to stand in front of me. The darkness didn’t bother our superior eye sight. I could still see him as well as if the light was on.

  Someone knocked so lightly on the door I almost didn’t hear it. Sara peeped her head in and placed a bottle on the floor before closing the door again. Knight bent to pick it up and studied the label. He showed it to me. Sky Vodka.

  Vampires can’t really get drunk. But we could get a nice buzz with a good percentage in our system. I grabbed the bottle and swigged half of it before Knight grabbed it back to swig the rest.

  I wiped my mouth and looked up at him. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said quietly. My own voice made my temple throb.

  Knight didn’t respond. He set the empty bottle down on the floor and approached me slowly, judging my response to his proximity. When he was so close I could feel his breath on my hair, I put my arms around him and I cried harder than I’d ever cried before.

  Chapter 17

  My head was still throbbing when I woke up, but everything else felt better. I sat up and crawled to the edge of the bed. Knight was lying on the floor, one arm behind his head, the other holding his phone that he was playing a game on. He looked up at me and put his phone away.

  “Morning,” he said quietly.

  I wanted to slide off the bed and just fall onto the floor next to him, probably cry again, but I didn’t. Instead I just felt more shame.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, staring at the floor. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night.”

  “That’s what the vodka was for,” he said playfully. I didn’t respond, so he added, “It wasn’t bad. You smelled like tacos.” Tacos? How could I have smelled like tacos?

  “There weren’t tacos at the party.”

  “Okay, maybe I was the one that smelled like tacos. Either way, I really want tacos now.” He put two fingers to his temple and pretended to concentrate.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sending Sara a psychic vibe so she’ll make me tacos.” He narrowed his eyes and grunted with effort. “Aww,” he said as he relaxed. “Oh well. It was worth a try.” He saw me looking at him so he met my eyes. “Don’t feel bad, Lis. I’m here for you when you need me. That’s what friends are for.”

  Was he my friend? I hated to put a label on what we were. Calling him my friend wasn’t bad though, just unexpected. Whatever I might think of him, he thought of me as a blood sucker.

  “We’re friends?” I asked tentatively.

  He looked at me like I’d just said I had an imaginary friend. “Of course we’re friends, dumb-dumb. I didn’t come here for someone I hate.”

  And yet, it was the first time he’d ever said he felt something higher than repulsion for me. He knew it, by the look on his face, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes again. Sara knocked on the door and I heard him whisper, “Tacos, tacos, tacos,” like he was praying.

  “Everyone decent?” she asked as she stepped into the room too quickly for anyone to say no. “I made croissants with custard filling.” I was speechless.

  “That’s my favorite food,” I said, in complete shock. I mean, I knew she had powers, but she was good. Like, really good. Which I’d guessed, so I probably shouldn’t have been so shocked.

  She nodded happily at me with a secret grin. “I know. You need some armor this week. Nothing helps like your favorite food.” She glanced down at Knight, who was waiting patiently for her to announce that she was also making tacos. She didn’t.

  Sara had made enough custard croissants to feed ten people. My plate alone could’ve fed Knight for two meals. She was well on her way to fattening me up, as if that was even possible.

  I ate half of what she’d given me and fell into a food coma on the bed-sofa.

  When I woke up, Knight was sitting next to me, reading a book on Civil War history. He didn’t look up when I stirred.

  “Is that accurate?” I asked him. I sat up and stretched my arms.

  He shrugged. “Kind of one-sided. Leaves out a lot.” He put it down and leaned his head back against the back of the bed-sofa.

  I tuned my ears in to the rest of the house and found it empty. “Where’s Sara?”

  “Grocery shopping. She said she was going to need more pickles.” I giggled. She was a refreshing person. “Speaking of food, you’re due at James’s for blood.” He said it matter-of-factly, like I was going there to get my mail.

  “Suddenly you’re so nonchalant about it,” I pointed out. Before we were separated, he’d mentioned he was starting to understand my kind a little better, but it was still a work in progress.

  He looked at me and then looked away. “I had a lot of time to think about it when you… when I left. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You’re not like what I was told. You’re not a monster. And besides, there’s not a huge difference between you and a human that needs blood transfusions every day. Except they can use coconut water in an emergency. Ever tried that?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Kidding.”

  I looked down at my hands. “Thank you. For being understanding. It’s not easy to push past prejudice.”
>
  He gave me a thoughtful look. “In all this time, I’ve never asked. What do your kind think of mine?”

  I held out my fingers to tick off a list. “Dirty. Gross. Hump everything. Something about fleas.” He shoved me with a pillow. “Serious, we do actually think you’re dirty, like you don’t shower or something. And you’re gross because you procreate with humans. Eww,” I emphasized. “Also, no self-control, and you get pissed at everything.”

  He conceded to that. “That applies to the Lycans. Not me. And I totally shower every day.”

  “I never said I thought those things, by the way,” I added. “I thought you were icky when we first met, though.”

  He chuckled, and I could see him remembering that day. “I thought you were icky too, what a coincidence.”

  “How about now?” I asked cautiously, trying to be casual.

  He thought about it, a half smile on his face. “50% less icky.”

  “That’s so generous of you,” I said with a sarcastic smile. “You’re only 35% less icky.”

  “Awwww, so mean. I think I earned at least 42%. Can I call a friend?”

  “Sorry, ballot is out.”

  He pelted me with a pillow until I said he was 38% less icky.

  Chapter 18

  With James, it was the same thing every day. I went to his house in the morning and drank from whomever he chose for me. Every day, before he could let me leave, he would brush my hair back and admire his bite. It hadn’t faded, no matter how many days had passed.

  At night, he threw various parties.

  The orders he’d given me at that first party were side comments, and they’d carried weight while I was near him. He knew that, so he was careful to make other orders direct commands that I couldn’t disobey, no matter how far away he got.

  Sometimes when I left his house in the morning, he’d order me to ignore everyone, or stay indoors, or not speak. Sometimes he made me stay at his house all day and just sit there, not moving.

  It was torture.

  The worst days were when I wasn’t allowed to see Knight. He made everything seem a little better, even if it wasn’t.

  After a few weeks, Knight left to shift. He returned a few days later looking battered and hollow. That afternoon, I was sent an invitation to the opera. James had been mentioning it for several days, but he hadn’t set a date yet. There was a youth orchestra here, probably funded by him, and a group of actors that put on performances. James wanted an opera, so they were putting on an opera.

  He sent a dress, as usual, and I started getting ready. Sara never helped me. Whenever she saw that I’d been sent clothes, she would disappear into a random room of the hotel until I returned, broken and sobbing.

  I cried a lot now. Knight was always there. Sometimes he let me hug him while I cried, but only when he’d had some alcohol first. And he always made me laugh the next morning.

  The dress from James was a masterpiece. Black lace, long flowing skirt, decorated with dozens of small black butterflies that danced up the dress to rest on one shoulder and flutter near the even smaller butterflies in my hair. This was a dress I would’ve chosen for myself and I hated that I had to wear it to something I wasn’t looking forward to.

  When Knight saw me, he looked a little surprised at the way I looked. I’d spent extra time looking pretty. Not for James. For myself.

  “You clean up good,” Knight said. He gave me a thumbs up. I was disappointed, why I couldn’t say, so I lifted the bulk of my skirt and left the hotel in a white car that Drake was driving.

  The opera hall was surprisingly very nice, looking incredibly authentic to the old 19th century theatres, with decorative gold plating on everything and plush red carpets.

  It looked almost exactly like certain rooms in the Order. Ah, nostalgia.

  James saw me enter the lobby after Drake dropped me off, and he smiled widely at me. “Lisbeth, my dear.” He came up and kissed me on the cheeks. I didn’t slap him. I was under orders. “You look amazing. Even a fool can see how gorgeous you look.” Apparently, he thought I cleaned up good too. “You are going to love this opera. It’s one of my favorites.” I’d seen the playbill, and I’d already seen this opera over thirty years ago, but I played along.

  “I can’t wait,” I told him with a plastered-on smile. He put a hand to my back and led me up to one of the opera boxes, all the while describing the plot of the opera, and spoiling more than a little of the ending. The theatre opened out before me as I stepped into the opera box. It was just as beautiful and breathtaking as the outside and lobby had been. I felt more nostalgia, but for memories that had nothing to do with the Order. It made me relax a little, just remembering happier times. I sat down in one of the two chairs and James sat next to me.

  The orchestra was still warming up, so I had time to look around the theatre at the other occupants. There were other opera boxes, all full, but ours was not close to any of them. We had as much privacy as you can get in a dim theatre with vampires that can see in the dark.

  “Lisbeth,” James said over the orchestra tuning. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.” Any relaxation I’d gain was gone. My body tensed up instantly and I waited with dread for him to keep talking. Would it be more orders, or would he finally order me to get rid of Knight? “I’ve greatly enjoyed our time together, as you know. I’m pleased that you’re so cooperative.” Like I had a choice. “So, I’ve decided something, but this isn’t an order. This is something you are absolutely allowed to say no to.” That was a switch. I was slightly curious now.

  “What is it?” I hesitantly asked him.

  He took one of my hands, reverently, with a familiarity we didn’t have. “I’d like you to become my mate.” He patted my hand, mistaking my shock for excitement. “I know. It’s breathtaking. Catching my attention. But you have. You absolutely have.”

  He was absolutely insane.

  “And if I refuse?”

  That made him pause, looking for all the world like that hadn’t even crossed his mind. “Like I said, you are allowed to refuse. Should you decide you don’t want to become my mate, I’ll put you in some housing on the edge of town. The dog will have to go, but that won’t be a problem, I’m sure. I may require you to have one of my children, however, that will be many years in the future.”

  “So,” I said. “If I refuse, I still have to stay here?”

  He bellowed out a laugh, like I was a child that had just said something cute. “Of course, you adorable creature. I’m not letting you leave. You’re staying here forever.” I took my hand back but he didn’t notice. I’d escaped one prison only to be caught in another one. And this one was worse. I’d put up with all of this on the mere hope that soon James would be done with me and say I could be on my way. But he wasn’t going to. And that made this situation deeper and much more dangerous than I’d thought it was.

  Chapter 19

  I didn’t say much during the rest of the opera. James seemed happier, more relaxed, after getting that weight off his shoulders. Lucky him. When we got to the lobby at intermission, he had decided to pretend as if this was the age of chaperones and stolen kisses. He stood close to me, but not too close, and every so often he’d hold my hand when he thought no one was looking, and let it go again if someone noticed. As intermission ended, I half expected him to bring a chaperone back into the box with us, but he didn’t. He did, however, giggle and say he felt wicked being alone in the dark with me.

  I really wanted to face palm myself hard enough to punch a hole in my face.

  He was always weird. That wasn’t new. But he was usually mature weird. This was putting him to bed with no dinner weird. And I was so sick of it, I wanted to jump off the balcony and be impaled on something sharp.

  When the opera ended, he insisted on walking me home. He nodded his head to everyone who passed, his face never losing that giddy grin. When we finally rounded the corner to Sara’s hotel, Drake was standing next to a limo waiting out front for
James, and my feet had gone bloody from walking in the heels I was wearing.

  James took me to the door and everything giddy wiped away, as if it had never happened. He looked completely serious, the way he normally did. “Thank you for the lovely evening, Lisbeth.” He took my hand and kissed it. “I will expect your answer soon.” I nodded, and he turned around, walked stiff backed to the limo as Drake opened the door for him, and got in. The limo drove away in silence.

  Thank god.

  I took off my heels and stepped into the hotel. The lobby was empty, no Sara to greet me as usual and no Knight to help put me back together. I sank down and leaned against the floor, the poufy skirt of my dress all around me. I sat there for a long time, mulling over everything that had led me to this moment. I didn’t want to cry about this. Crying meant I was stretched too thin. I felt more like I’d just been broken, and I was too destroyed to cry about it.

  I’d been there for over an hour when Knight appeared. He handed me a glass of water and sat down in front of me. I wanted to ask where he’d been this whole time, but he wasn’t my servant. He could do whatever he wanted. Including leave, which he would when he found out I was stuck here forever.

  “Sara,” he said quietly. “Sara said I couldn’t come out until now. She was quite adamant. She even made tacos to bribe me.” I smiled, but it faded quickly. “She also said he was going to do something that would, and I quote, ‘Break the camel’s back.’ So, spill.”

  I took a sip of my water and stared at the perfect ice cubes. “He proposed.”

  “Eww.”

  “But he said I could say no.”

  “Not as eww.”