by E. J. King
“I’m not sure this a good idea,” Rafe said as he watched me load up with weapons. “If there really is a pack of Weres headed this way, you won’t stand a chance out there on your own.”
“I’ll be fine.” I was mostly just trying not to think about it. Rafe wasn’t wrong. We would be sitting ducks out there. “You’re just sad you don’t get to go with me.”
He shook his head and laughed softly. “I’m glad you can still joke with impending death in the air.”
“Impending death?” I smiled at him. “You are such a drama queen.”
“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll take care of your weak little girlfriend,” Ethan teased, throwing an arm around his brother’s shoulders.
“I’m more worried about you than I am worried about her.” Rafe said, ducking away.
“Yeah, right.” Ethan punched him in the arm and then jumped away. “I’ll let you two have some privacy to say your goodbyes. Try not to cry too hard, Rafe. Kaylie, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Everyone else had also scattered. Those that were on duty had just left while the others were off resting or gathering supplies. We had the whole lounge to ourselves.
“When this is over, you and I should go somewhere alone. Spend some time together where we aren’t killing monsters or being hunted.”
I thought that sounded like a great idea. “Perfect. I’m in.”
“Go kick some ass, Hart. I’ll see you in few hours. I’m sure I can find some way to pass the time.” Rafe looked like he was about to reach for me, but then he changed his mind.
My chest tightened painfully. “Sure. See ya soon.”
I started to leave, feeling deflated, but then I realized that I was stupid to think that Rafe should have to make the first move. I was the one that had messed up after all.
“Screw it,” I muttered, whirling around. Rafe was just a couple of feet away, already on his way to meet me.
I grabbed the front of his shirt and twisted the fabric in my hands, drawing him close. I kissed him long and hard, until we were both out of breath.
“There. That should give you something to think about while I’m gone.”
I took a deep breath, giving myself just a second to think about how good it felt to have his arms around me again. Then I pushed away in a hurry, before I could talk myself out of it. I wasn’t used to the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one that told me I shouldn’t go. This hunt wasn’t going to be like all of the others. But Hunters don’t have the luxury of choosing their battles.
For some reason, just before I stepped outside, I turned for one more look at Rafe. He was still rooted where I’d left him, blue eyes wide and bright. The smile he gave me was both sexy and sweet. I gave him a smile and a wink, and then I left.
Our assignment for the next four hours was easy enough. We just had to patrol the grounds and look for signs of intruders. Because of the risk involved, we chose not to split up. Trevor didn’t seem particularly interested in making friends, so we let him take the lead about ten yards ahead of us.
“Rafe was pretty pissed when you took off,” Ethan said frankly.
Even though I’d told him I didn’t want to talk about it, he persisted in asking me annoying questions about why I had left.
“I wasn’t trying to make him mad.”
“Eh. He’ll get over it.” Ethan kicked a big rock out of the way. “What do you think of this place?”
“I think I can’t wait to leave.” I looked back at Haven, wondering what other secrets were behind the guarded doors. “Give me bloodsuckers any day over this Were pack drama.”
Ethan laughed. “I don’t know, it’s kind of a nice change. And look at this way, as long as you are surrounded by the Weres, Benton isn’t going to try to kill you.”
“True.” I honestly hadn’t been thinking much about Benton since arriving at Haven. It had been nice to forget for a while that my vampire father wanted me dead. “Rafe never told me, how did you guys figure out where I went?”
“Rafe forced it out of our dad.” His face became stony. “He told us about his call with Violet and we put the rest of it together ourselves.”
“Clever.” I asked, “Do I want to know how he forced it out of him?”
His head shook in the dark. “No, you do not. Let’s just say, I don’t think any of us will be welcome back in this century.”
“He shouldn’t have done that.” I felt immensely guilty. “You two were just starting to patch things up with him-”
“Kaylie. Be serious.” The look he gave me was resigned. “We were never going to make things right with Dad. He’s an unreasonable, hateful man. Rafe and I wrote him out of our lives a long time ago and neither of us want that to change.”
In the distance, a wolf howl pierced the night. Several more howls responded and Ethan and I instinctively took off in that direction, following a supernaturally fast Trevor. We ran through the woods for hours, looking for any sign of an intruding pack. We searched until our scheduled shift was over and then reluctantly returned to Haven.
I had promised Rafe that I would find him immediately, but Slade insisted on having a debrief with us before we were allowed to do anything else. By the time we were done, Rafe and the others had already gone.
There was no point pretending I would be able to sleep while Rafe was out, potentially in danger. So Ethan and I grabbed something to eat and then settled in the lounge, watching a marathon of our favorite television show, Blood Suckers. It wasn’t exactly quality television, but it was definitely a good distraction.
“You know, the first time we watched this together, I was about to make a move on you,” Ethan admitted during a commercial break.
“At that time, I wanted you to make a move,” I confessed. “I think I may have been suffering from severe depression at the time, though.”
When Ethan and Rafe had moved into the upstairs apartment, I’d been convinced that Rafe was a jerk and Ethan was the good brother. With time, I learned that they were both the best guys I had ever known. But Rafe and I had a rocky start.
“Do you think it would’ve worked about between us? You know, if Rafe wasn’t a factor.”
“I have no idea,” I said, finding it hard to imagine my life without Rafe. “To be honest, I’m really glad we didn’t go down that path.”
“Ouch,” Ethan said with an awkward chuckle. “That was direct.”
I slapped his arm. “Stop. That’s not what I mean. It’s just that I really value the friendship we have and if we had dated, we would’ve missed out on this. You’re my best friend, Ethan, whether you like it or not.”
“Really?” Now his face lit up. “Not Hope?”
“I love Hope, but she doesn’t really get what it’s like to be a Hunter. And now she’s got the whole Soul thing to worry about.”
He kept digging. “Not this Luke guy? You two seem chummy.”
“He was a good friend, yes, and we have a history together. But if it weren’t for this current Violet situation, I doubt he would ever have become part of my life again.”
“Hm.” Ethan nodded thoughtfully. “I always thought you liked me best. But what about Rafe? Aren’t you pretty much required to say that he’s your best friend?”
I laughed. “Rafe is the love of my life. I would die for him. But when you are in love with someone, you become blinded to reality. Best friends make sure you don’t lose sight. That’s you, Ethan. You force me to face painful truths and be better than I think I can be. And I love you for that.”
“Aww.” He pretended to wipe away a tear. “Back at you, Kales.”
The door to the outside flew open and a haze of snow swirled inside. It was followed by Luke, looking frantic.
I jumped to my feet, already knowing what he was about to say.
“Kaylie.” His face was a sickly shade of white. “Something happened… something bad.”
“Is he okay?” I knew that something had happened to Rafe, I could feel it in my heart.
“He’s gone.” Luke looked first at me, then at Ethan. “He’s been taken.”
Gone. He was taken, but not dead. That meant we still had a chance to save him.
“Come on,” I said, hurrying past him. “We need to tell Slade.”
Slade was in his office like always, and he had somehow already heard the news. When I told him that I wanted to leave immediately to find Rafe and asked for help from Haven, he refused.
“It’s too dangerous. We don’t know why they took Rafe, or even where they took him.” Slade’s voice was tenser than usual, but he didn’t convey an escalated sense of worry. “We need to do some investigation first.”
“We don’t have time for that.” I started looking around the room for something that I could throw at him. “They could kill him while you’re doing your investigation.”
“Calm down,” he said in a bored voice. “Panicking will not help the situation.”
“He got taken while trying to protect your pack. Doesn’t that matter at all to you?” I could hear the desperation in my voice and realized that I needed to take a deep breath. Having a meltdown wasn’t going to help Rafe.
“Of course I appreciate his sacrifice to help Haven. And we will certainly aid in his rescue. But we need to go into this with rational minds, not hysterics.” Slade pointed to an empty seat. “Let’s all sit down and examine the facts together.”
Being calm and examining facts weren’t the first two actions that came to my mind, but if I was going to find Rafe, I needed the support of Haven.
The problem was that even after studying the facts, we still didn’t have a plan.
“I need to reach out to my contacts,” Slade said when we had exhausted our options. “If we can learn why they took Rafe, we can better understand how we’ll rescue him.”
That was Slade’s subtle way of telling us to get out of his office. I was fine with that as long as we were all agreeing not to give up. That wasn’t an option for me.
It took almost an hour, but eventually we were summoned back to the office.
“I think I know why Rafe was taken,” Slade announced solemnly. “Before I tell you, I need you to promise that you aren’t going to do something stupid.”
“Me?” I glared at him. “What makes you think I would do something stupid? I’ve been following your rules so far, haven’t I?”
“This information is a game changer.” Slade looked at Joy who had been quietly observing from the back of the room. “I need you to stand outside and make sure no one comes in this office.”
She nodded and went to her post.
Now it was just Slade, Ethan, Luke, and me in the room.
“They plan to use him as a bargaining chip. The pack wants something that we have here at Haven.” Slade folded his hands neatly on the desktop, an oddly professional gesture from someone that didn’t look anything like a businessman.
“Something? What something?”
He fixed me with a level gaze. “You.”
I was hit by a sense of déjà vu. It seemed like every week someone new wanted my blood or wanted me dead. Though what a pack of Weres could want from me wasn’t obvious. “Me? What do they want with me?”
“Your blood.” He cleared his throat. “According to my source, the new Alpha of the pack believes that your blood possesses supernatural qualities that enhance the Were traits.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Ethan asked.
“If they drink Kaylie’s blood, it will make them stronger, faster, smarter. Essentially, they believe it will bring them closer to immortality.” Slade shrugged. “You can see why they would want her.’
“Well it’s not an option,” Luke said. “We can’t trade them Kaylie for Rafe. They will kill her, and in the process they will become practically unkillable.”
“We’re not going to trade,” Slade promised. “I have another plan in the works.”
I didn’t even care about his other plan. I just wanted us to do whatever was going to save Rafe. “We should tell them we’ll make the trade.”
“See? I knew you would want to do something stupid.” Slade shook his head. “It’s not an option. We can’t put that kind of power in their hands. My other plan is something we may actually be able to consider.”
“What’s that? Sit around and do nothing?” Okay, it was unfair. But I was understandably upset and Slade didn’t seem to be nearly as invested in the situation as I needed him to be. Or so I thought.
“The new Alpha, Nolan Merrick, has demanded a Trial.”
“Merrick?” That name was surprisingly familiar.
“Carter’s brother,” Slade explained. “He challenged his brother and won. Now he wants to challenge me for Haven.”
I said, “You can’t possibly be considering that to be the better option? That’s insane.”
“I’m not afraid of Nolan,” he replied with cold eyes. “I believe in Haven and I am proud to do whatever it takes to defend it.”
“No. That’s stupid. I won’t have anything to do with this plan.” I jumped to my feet. “I won’t put all of these people at risk when the problem can be solved another way.”
“There is no other way, Kaylie. We won’t let them have you. Your blood is too dangerous.” Slade’s voice had grown significantly louder and he looked like he was ready to lose control.
I said stubbornly, “Then find another way.”
When I stormed into the hall, the door slammed behind me and Joy glared hard in my direction. I could hear Slade continuing to argue with Ethan and Luke through the door. Suddenly, I had an idea.
“How much of that did you hear?”
She didn’t answer right away, but eventually said, “I heard enough.”
“Do you know a way we can contact Nolan’s pack?” I was going out on a limb, but I was fairly confident that Joy would be appalled at the idea of having Slade accept the Alpha Trial and potentially put all of Haven at risk.
“I might.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me through narrow eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I want to bring this to an end. I’ll turn myself over to them in exchange for Rafe’s safety and once that’s done, I’ll kill myself so they can’t harvest my blood.” I was surprised at how calm I sounded.
“You would kill yourself to protect Haven?” She sounded doubtful.
“I would do it save Rafe. If it also saves Haven in the process, then we all win.” Well not really all of us. I would be dead. “What do you say?”
She studied me hard to see if I was telling the truth. When she was convinced, she said, “I’ll make the arrangements.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I was surprised at how quickly she was able to make arrangements. Less than an hour after leaving Slade’s office, she knocked on my bedroom door and said that it was time to go. Even though I knew I was likely headed toward my death, I felt optimistic. It seemed like I might actually be able to save Rafe and not put Haven at risk.
Joy led me through back hallways until we reached the garage. She had me get into one of their black SUVs and then we drove in the dark of night to whatever destination she had been given. I didn’t ask because it didn’t really matter.
She wasn’t much of a talker, which I appreciated. I wanted some time alone with my thoughts before I had to do the unthinkable.
“I know I haven’t exactly been your biggest fan,” Joy said after a very long time. “But I want you to know that I appreciate what you are doing. Maybe you aren’t doing it solely for us, but it’s still a selfless thing to do.”
“Do you really believe what they said about my blood?” That was the only real uncertainty I had about this plan. My blood actually killed Souls, so why would it make Weres stronger? And if that wasn’t true, then killing myself was pointless. But if it was true, then I had no choice but to cut off their blood supply.
“I don’t know. It’s the first that I’ve heard of it, but a lot of Weres do believe that some herbs and
natural elixirs have the ability to strengthen supernatural characteristics. So it’s certainly possible.” Joy glanced in my direction. “What do you think?”
“I think anything is possible. And I don’t think it would be wise to take any chances with my blood if this is potentially true.”
“There’s a way we could find out,” she said quietly.
It took me a moment to figure out what she meant. When I did, I said, “No way. We can’t try something so risky.”
“It makes sense, Kaylie. If I try your blood and it doesn’t kill me, we can see what happens. If it does kill me, then we’ll know that you don’t need to sacrifice yourself.” She tried to sound convinced, but her voice cracked slightly
“No way,” I repeated. “I’m not letting you do it.”
She turned back to focusing her attention on the road, but I could see that she was still thinking about her plan. I decided to keep a watchful eye on her in case she tried something crazy like attacking me. When we were nearly an hour away from Haven, she took an exit off the highway.
“We’re almost there,” she said quietly.
It was almost time. I was both terrified by the prospect of having to kill myself, and also anxious to see Rafe with my own eyes and make sure he was okay.
Joy parked in front of an old farmhouse and when she turned off the ignition, her hands were shaking.
“Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to change your mind.” The look she gave me said she already knew my answer. I wasn’t going to back out now.
“You should go. I don’t want to put you in danger.”
“I need to stay to get Rafe out of here,” she said.
I hadn’t even thought about the logistics. All that I had been worried about was getting to Rafe. But Joy was right. I needed to see him on the road to safety before I would be able to carry out the rest of the plan.
“We need to go around back,” she explained. “The pack will likely be in Were form.”
“Really?” I hadn’t expected that. Since being at Haven, I was used to them staying in their human bodies.