by E. J. King
Our fingers brushed as I took the paper from her and it felt like I had been shocked by an electric charge. From the way she pulled her hand back, I knew that she had felt it too. She showed herself to the door and the second it closed behind her, everyone began speaking at once.
“I can’t believe that’s your mother. She’s so mean. And pretty,” said Hope.
“She’s crazy right? I mean, using your blood like that?” Ethan asked.
“Kaylie, tell me you aren’t seriously going to consider what she said,” Rafe pleaded.
It was all too much at once. I couldn’t even sort out my own thoughts let alone process everyone else’s. Without answering any of them, I hurried from the room. I didn’t know where I was going until I was climbing the stairs to the second floor. In the few weeks that the guys had lived in the upstairs apartment, I had found one spot to be a safe haven of sorts. Maybe because it was so removed from the rest of the house.
Rafe’s bedroom door was open. I crossed it in ten big steps, noticing briefly that it looked exactly the same as before we left. I didn’t think he had even been in there since we got back. His sketchbook still sat on his bedside table and I took it with me as I climbed out the window.
It was a cold night and I was glad that I had also grabbed an old hoodie Rafe had thrown on the chair by the window. It was Rafe-sized and therefore covered my entire body as I huddled on the roof. The streetlamp gave off enough light for me to see the delicate drawings inside his book.
Not surprisingly, most of them were of me. I had flipped through the book once before, also without asking for permission. We had never spoken of the sketchbook or its contents. Maybe that was why this time, I noticed something I hadn’t expected.
In the bottom right-hand corner of each picture, Rafe had written the date. Most of them were from recent weeks, after we had met. But nearly two dozen sketches of me were dated in the two years prior to our meeting. I knew that Rafe had been looking out for me long before I even knew he existed- I just didn’t know how intense his focus had been.
“I hope you’re not planning on jumping.”
Rafe stood in the window, leaning through the opening with his hands pressed on the windowsill.
“Would that really be so bad?” I asked.
Rafe slid onto the roof in one fluid motion. His agility always caught me by surprise. When he settled next to me, he noticed the book in my lap. “Looks like I’m busted.”
“You’re very talented,” I said evenly. “Though I think you could pick better subjects to draw.”
“I disagree with that.” He took the book from me and flipped to the very first picture of me. “I drew this one after I saw you for the first time. You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”
“I was sixteen,” I said, barely recognizing the smiling girl he had captured. “I was awkward and bitter, nothing like the person you drew.”
“That’s not true, Kaylie. You’ve always been more beautiful than you believe.” Rafe put the book to the side. “Want to talk about why you’re hiding on the roof?”
“Because I knew no one else would look for me here.” I leaned my head back to look up at the stars. “I don’t want to talk about Violet, James. I don’t want to talk at all.”
I could feel him watching me, choosing his next words carefully. After nearly a minute, he said, “Okay. No talking.”
I figured he was just saying that to temporarily please me. I expected him to wait about five minutes before asking his first question. But Rafe sat contentedly next to me for the next hour without saying a single word.
“Did you really like me the first time you saw me?” I asked quietly.
“No. I loved you.” He put his arm around me. “You were with your brother and you were laughing. All I could think was that I wanted to be the one that made you laugh like that. I wanted to be the guy that you looked at with adoring eyes.”
“You’re too good for me,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“Oh, yes,” he agreed enthusiastically. “I’m definitely the settler in this relationship.”
I took a few deep breaths, trying to burn the moment into my subconscious. “I have a really bad feeling about facing off with Benton.”
“It’s going to be tough, but we’ve survived some really bad stuff already. This won’t be any different.” Rafe’s voice sounded hollow, as if he didn’t really believe the words. “We’ll be okay.”
I didn’t know how to explain the feeling I had in my gut. I did know that we didn’t have a choice. We had to stop Benton. Even if that meant that some of us wouldn’t survive.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It was after midnight when we finally joined Ethan and Hope downstairs. Hope was seated at the table, her monster studies fully resumed. Ethan was busy working out some anger by pounding out pushups on the floor.
“I’m heading back to campus,” I announced. “Benton is going to keep grabbing students for his Soul army. I might be able to prevent another death.”
“We’ll all go,” Ethan said, jumping to his feet. “We can split up and cover more ground.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Even though I knew that the guys were lethal Hunters and that Hope was already a Soul, I didn’t like the idea of putting them in danger. If it was up to me, they would all stay safely inside while I did my hunting.
But it wasn’t up to me.
“Ethan is right. Strength in numbers, and all that.” Rafe opened the weapons trunk and started placing knives on the table. “We can’t afford to play defense anymore. We have to take the fight to Benton.”
“But we don’t have to be stupid about it,” I protested. “We don’t even have a plan, other than you acting like a tough guy and potentially getting yourself killed.”
Rafe glared at me. “We’re Hunters, Kaylie. This is what we do. You have to stop worrying about protecting us.”
“I’ll stop when you do,” I rebutted.
After a long moment of us staring at each other, Ethan said. “Here’s the plan. We prowl campus until we find one of Benton’s henchmen attacking a student. Then we torture him into giving us information on where to find Benton. Then we go kick some ass. Good?”
“Good,” Hope said, reaching for a knife that was almost as long as her arm.
“Excellent,” Rafe added. He tucked a blade into his waistband.
I still didn’t agree with them, but since I didn’t have a better plan, I had to go along with it. Besides, I knew that Rafe was right. We were Hunters, and we didn’t have the luxury of being cautious.
Campus was so empty that it appeared Ethan’s plan would never work. Benton had probably already moved on to a more fertile hunting ground. I was equally relieved and disappointed.
“This is a bummer,” Ethan said, twirling a knife in his hand. At least with the drought of students, we didn’t have to worry about anyone spotting our weapons and asking questions. “I was really hoping to kick some Soul ass tonight.”
“The night isn’t over,” I said, trying to sound like I thought that was a good thing. “Maybe Rafe and Hope are having better luck than us.”
“Maybe.” Ethan sounded doubtful. “Thanks for buddying up with me. I think Hope and I need some space right now.”
I glanced at him, surprised by the tone of his voice. “You two are definitely broken up, huh? No chance you’ll make things work.”
“I don’t know,” he said glumly, kicking a rock from our path. “I think I’ll always love, Hope, but I just don’t think that’s enough.”
Hope being a bloodsucker had definitely changed the dynamics of their relationship. But the romantic inside me really hoped they could find a way back to each other. “You know, the blood of Hope’s Alpha can cure her of her vampireness.”
“Yeah, but that Alpha is Benton. How are we possibly going to get his blood before killing him?” Ethan stopped abruptly, his head spinning toward an invisible sound. “Did you hear something?”
I didn’t hear anything, but I did sense that something was wrong. Then a girl’s scream pierced the air and we both took off running in the direction of the dorms. My feet pounded against the pavement as I raced toward the screaming. As we were closing in, I spotted Rafe and Hope speeding in our direction.
“Where?” Rafe yelled.
The screaming had stopped and as far as I could tell, we were the only four people around. But my monster-senses were tingling. The slightest movement between buildings caught my eye.
“Over there!” I pointed and turned in that direction.
Rafe got there first and pulled up so abruptly that I crashed into him at full speed. It felt a lot like running into a wall.
“Oomph.” I said as the air was knocked from my lungs. “What the hell, Rafe?”
“It’s a trap,” he said quietly.
As I took a step around him, I saw that he was right. There was no helpless victim, no damsel in distress. Instead, a smiling female Soul stood in the center of the small walkway with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Wow. I didn’t think that would actually work,” It said.
Rafe had been right. We had run straight into a trap. But as far as traps went, this one was pretty boring. I suspected that a few other Souls were lurking in the shadows, but I doubted it was anything we couldn’t handle.
“Is this the part where we pretend to be afraid?” I asked in a bored voice.
“This is wrong,” Rafe muttered with a slow shake of his head. “We’re missing something.”
“Handsome and smart,” It said with a grin. “You’re quite the catch.”
“Back off, bloodsucker. He’s already taken.” I took a big step forward with my knife in hand.
The Soul looked past me, not at all threatened. “Remember me?” It asked.
I realized that It was looking at Ethan and that Ethan was staring back with unblinking eyes. He appeared to be in a trance.
“Interficerent eam.” It spoke evenly, looking directly at Ethan.
“Ethan.” I sensed what was happening a moment too late. Everything happened to quickly for me to stop it, yet it also felt like it was happening in slow motion. I saw Ethan turn, eyes searching until they landed on Hope. She was just three feet from him, and they were both over ten feet from me. I couldn’t get there in time.
Hope’s eyes widened as he lunged at her, her mouth forming a perfect O of surprise. Even with her supernatural Soul speed, she couldn’t stop what happened next. Ethan’s knife, the one he had been casually twirling just a few minutes earlier, sank deep into the center of Hope’s chest.
A scream echoed in my ears and it wasn’t until Rafe grabbed my arms and shook me that I realized it was coming from me.
“Let me go!” I screamed at him. “I have to help her.”
“It’s too late, Kaylie.” Rafe squeezed my arms harder. “You need to focus. We’re about to get attacked.”
Ethan stepped away from Hope, letting her body fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. He blinked hard and then turned to us. “What’s going on?”
The compulsion was strong. He didn’t even realize that he had just killed the woman that he loved.
“We need to get out of here,” Rafe said, pushing me back.
It was too late. The Souls appeared from all directions. There were at least a dozen of them. Ethan was still recovering from his compulsion and was in no condition to fight.
“Take Ethan and run,” I said.
“No way. You get Ethan and I’ll cover you.” Rafe edged us closer to Ethan.
“He’s barely aware of anything. There’s no way I can move him fast enough. You have to do it.” I took my eyes from the Souls long enough check Hope’s body. It was already beginning to disintegrate. I swallowed hard to fight back a wave of emotion.
Rafe put a hand on Ethan’s shoulder and started pulling him to the side. “We’ll take the lead, but you better be right behind us.”
“Go now,” I hissed.
It took a hard shove, but Rafe got Ethan moving in the right direction. He took out two Souls quickly, creating an escape route through their circle. I quickly followed them until I remembered one thing. Ethan was still compelled. We had always believed that Benton had created the compulsion but if that was true, the female Soul wouldn’t have been able to control him. That meant that she was the one that had compelled him. The only way to break the compulsion was to kill her.
I didn’t hesitate once I realized what needed to be done. It was the only way to free Ethan and keep us safe. As I raced back into the circle, the Souls closed around me.
“Kaylie!” Rafe’s voice sounded far away.
I had to kill three other Souls to get to the female. By then, I was winded and my arm was aching from stabbing so fiercely in such a small amount of time. The Soul noticed and made the first move, jumping forward. I was instantly knocked backward, landing on the ground with the Soul on top of me.
My knife fell from my hand and I blindly tried to find it while struggling against the Soul that was pinning me to the ground. Just as its teeth were about to sink into my neck, it screamed and reared back. Pointy metal poked through its chest.
Rafe heaved the body away and bent down to grab my arm. “What were you thinking?” he snapped, pulling me to my feet.
“I had to break the compulsion,” I said, still breathless.
“We need to get out of here.” Rafe kept a firm grip on my arm as he darted through a gap in the Souls. Ethan stood waiting for us several yards away, still looking dazed.
“Run,” Rafe barked to him.
Ethan finally reacted when he saw the pack of Souls following us as we raced across campus. He turned and ran with the two of us right behind him. Rafe led the way, taking us through alleys and backyards. The constant changes of direction allowed us to shake the Souls before we headed home.
“I think we lost them,” Rafe said, cutting through our neighbor’s backyard. “We should regroup inside and then we can head back out.”
As we entered through the backdoor, the reality of what had just happened hit me. I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath as Rafe dead bolted the door behind us.
Hope was dead.
My legs gave out and I sank to the ground. I hardly noticed as Ethan shuffled mutely down the hall. Rafe was peering out the window, checking to see if the Souls had followed us. He was oblivious to my nearly comatose state of being.
“That was crazy. Benton sent that Soul to activate Ethan’s compulsion. He didn’t even really care about killing us. He just wanted to mess with us by killing-” Everything finally caught up to his adrenaline rush and he turned to me with wide eyes. “Holy shit. Ethan killed Hope.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated on taking deep breaths. “You need to check on Ethan. Make sure he is okay.”
Rafe’s footsteps faded as he followed Ethan down the hall. I couldn’t stop picturing Hope’s face as Ethan sank his knife into her heart. She had looked so surprised, so disbelieving that she was about to die.
I was so stuck in the memory that I didn’t even realize Rafe had returned until his arm went around my shoulders. “How is he?” I asked without opening my eyes.
“Devastated.” Rafe’s voice cracked.
I slowly opened my eyes. “Benton has to be stopped.”
“You need to take some time,” he insisted. “Your best friend was just killed.”
“Because of Benton.” I felt numb inside. “I’m ready now. I’m ready to kill him.”
“We’re going to need help. Benton’s army is too big for us.” Rafe’s arm dropped away. “We have to be completely focused on killing Benton or we don’t stand a chance.”
He was right. Benton had clearly just been messing with us tonight, getting into our heads so that we would be distracted. He couldn’t kill me because he needed my blood for his immortality, but he could kill my friends.
“You need to start calling Hunters. Start with the ones you
know are close by. We can’t afford to wait long before we make our move.” I heaved myself to my feet, determined to be strong. Hope would want me to be strong. “I’m going to talk to Ethan.”
I had to walk past Hope’s room. Those five steps felt like they took an eternity. I found Ethan sitting at the bottom of the stairs leading to the guys’ apartment. He was staring blankly straight ahead. I squeezed myself into the small space next to him.
“Rafe killed the Soul that compelled you. The compulsion is broken now.” I sighed, unsure of what to say next. Nothing I could say about the situation would make things any better. “It wasn’t your fault, Ethan. What happened to Hope was out of your control.”
“I killed her,” he said abruptly. “Hope is dead, and I killed her.”
“You didn’t kill her. Benton killed her.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Ethan, you can’t blame yourself. That’s what Benton wants. He did this to get inside our heads.”
Ethan dropped his head into his hands. “She’s gone, Kaylie.”
“I know.” The emotions I had been working so hard to bury threatened to take over. “Losing someone you love is like having your heart ripped from your chest.”
I had lost so many people in the last few years. It seemed like everyone I loved either left me or died. Everyone but Rafe and Ethan.
“I know that I have to pull it together. We still have to kill Benton.” Ethan lifted his head, looking at me with the saddest eyes I had ever seen. “I’ll be ready when the time comes, but right now I just need to give into the hurt.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” Some people called it wallowing in your grief, but I knew the truth. I knew that giving into the hurt was actually the easy way out. Burying your grief was a million times harder.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Eventually, I convinced Ethan to move away from the stairs. He went up to his room to spend some time alone with this thoughts. After being up all night, I was surprised that I didn’t feel more exhausted. While Rafe continued making calls, I curled up on the couch with Benton’s journal, reading it for the hundredth time.