A Hunter's Heart [The Hunters 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Suzy Shearer

  It broke the tension that Charlotte was feeling as she said ruefully, “Harley! Get down! I am so sorry but it seems my dog has a love affair for Hunters.”

  Mihăiță knelt to give the dog his attention while Louisa said, “May I enter your home? May you give me permission to enter?” When Charlotte said yes, she managed to slip inside.

  “Hi, I’m Louisa.” She held out her hand to Charlotte. “Hello, I’m Charlotte.” The two women kissed cheeks.

  Matei leant forward to kiss Louisa on both cheeks then went to thump his friend. In fact, he pushed him over so the dog could jump on Mihăiță.

  Charlotte was shocked but Louisa took her arm and said, “Let the boys play. They do outrageous things to each other when they get together so this is very mild.”

  Looking past Louisa, she was surprised to see Matei was now on the floor too and the two men were wrestling Harley and themselves.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if they both changed.” The words were barely out of Louisa’s mouth when there were two wolves and a Boxer in front of the women. The three took off through the door, into the front yard racing each other through the trees.

  Charlotte was glad her yard was big and had plenty of trees for seclusion. She and Louisa moved to the doorway and watched the three of them. Charlotte could feel the joy emanating from Matei as he played. He stopped for a moment and looked at her in the doorway, his green eyes brilliant in the light from the veranda.

  “You are not frightened, Cara?” He sent her his concern.

  “No, just a little surprised. You seem to enjoy startling me, Hotshot.”

  Louisa let out a guffaw and Mihăiță slid to a stop and changed back into a man.

  “Hotshot! Ha-ha, love it. Come on, Hotshot, show yourself.”

  Charlotte went beetroot red with embarrassment. She had forgotten that she had not learnt how to speak to Matei without other nearby Hunters hearing.

  Matei changed back into his human form, dressed, and shook his head.

  “If you breathe a word to anyone I shall be forced to kill you, my friend.” He laughed. To Charlotte he purred. “My punishment will be swift, Cara. You know what happens to naughty girls.”

  Charlotte gasped, and then reddened even more when she thought of what he may do. Oh hell, I hope no one else heard that, she thought to herself, which in turn made her think it even more.

  “Don’t worry, Cara. Unlike you I can control who hears my thoughts.” He laughed and planted a phantom kiss on her lips.

  Mihăiță threw his arm around his friend’s shoulder and the two of them walked back into the house, Harley prancing around them. Charlotte led the way into the family room and then turned to look at her guests.

  Mihăiță walked forward and kissed her on both cheeks. “I am Mihăiță, Michael in your language, please call me that, it is much easier to pronounce.” He grinned then winked. “Thank you for allowing our play. It’s been a while since I saw my friend and I miss our games.”

  She looked up at him. Similar to Matei, he was as tall and broad with the same dark hair pulled back in a leather thong but where Matei’s eyes were vivid green, his were brown with amazing golden flecks. He wore faded blue jeans, a light-coloured shirt with a long leather jacket and boots.

  He bowed slightly, removed his jacket and then pulled Louisa to him, nibbled on her ear and said, “My beautiful mate Louisa.”

  She gave him a playful slap on the arm. “While you two were playing pack games with the dog we introduced ourselves.”

  “Please, sit. I’m glad to meet you both.”

  Louisa was about Charlotte’s height and had beautiful features. Her long blonde hair fell in waves to her waist and she had a very tiny trim figure. The most gorgeous feature was her smile. She seemed to be perpetually laughing and her smile lit the room. It would be impossible not to like her. She wore a simple blue winter dress that fell to the ground, but it accentuated her lovely figure.

  “I can imagine how hard it’s been for you these past few days and now having to meet more Hunters.” Michael laughed. “Especially one who turns into a wolf before you even get a chance to say hello.”

  They settled on the two couches in the room. Harley looked from one to the other, torn between sitting with Matei and Charlotte and going to investigate the other two.

  Matei waved his hand at Michael and said to the dog, “Go on. You can sit with them.”

  He bounced across the space between the two couches and sat with his head on Michael’s feet, sniffing at Louisa. She leant forward and rubbed his ears before settling with her head on Michael’s arm.

  “How have you been, my friend?” Matei asked. “What did the Council tell you?”

  “We’re both well. We finished our assigned contract and spent some time in Italy with Dani before heading to Europe to the Council. They were very interested in your news, especially as no one had seen anything of Vasilecu for fifty years.”

  “Yes, I think we all thought him dead. Those two Hunters who cornered him thought so too. They thought they had ignited his body but he must have escaped somehow and laid low,” Matei replied.

  “By the way, you were right about another Hunter in the area six years ago. José Gustave was here. He told the Council he had destroyed two strigoi in the area around that time.”

  “That makes sense, I thought it may have been him. I took over his area when he was sent to Peru four years ago.” He turned to Charlotte. “The vampire that you heard never came back so it had to have been one of the two that Gustave destroyed.”

  Charlotte nodded, trying not to remember that voice.

  Louisa spoke up. “Thank you for the use of your home, Matei, it is truly beautiful. I am glad we didn’t have to go to a Council’s house, they’re always so impersonal. Instead I get to watch the waves crashing from the front windows.”

  Charlotte cocked her head at Matei. “Do the Council have houses here too?”

  “Yes, Cara, they have ones in a lot of major cities around the world. They are safe houses for us to stay. If a Hunter has a long-term assignment they generally buy or build a home but if it is only for a really short time most prefer to stay in the Council ones, especially if they are still single.”

  “The Council houses are fitted with shutters that block the light and, of course, there is no chance of someone entering through the day while we sleep. If we stayed in a hotel we would run that risk.”

  Charlotte could see how much sense that made. She was a little disappointed that she had not seen Matei’s home but then she suddenly realised that she had only known him for six days.

  “Do not worry, Cara, once this is over we will spend some time there.”

  “How did you and Matei meet?” Charlotte asked Michael.

  “I was born very close to the village Matei was born in, although a few centuries after. He is the old man and I am the young virile Hunter.” Michael teased. “We are related very distantly and when I accepted the honour to become a Hunter it was Matei’s parents who exchanged blood with me.”

  “Matei told me you need only two exchanges if you are born Hunters. He said for mortals there is pain attached. Does it hurt when you convert?”

  “Not really, more a discomfort than pain,” Michael replied.

  “And it doesn’t last very long, maybe thirty minutes before we then sleep,” Matei added.

  “Okay. So you knew each other from the start.”

  “No. I met him about twenty years later. He was inexperienced and nearly got a stake through the heart from some humans who thought he was killing them and not a strigoi. I rescued him and he was forced to accept that I am the better Hunter.”

  Louisa rolled her eyes. “Ignore them, Charlotte, if you don’t they will cite every hunt they have been on together and who did what to prove which one of them is the best.”

  The men looked affronted then burst out laughing.

  “She is right.” Matei grinned at his friend. “Anyway, we both know I am the
best.”

  “Ha, dream on, old man.”

  “Oh, enough, you two. There’s already enough testosterone in the room as it is.” Louisa giggled.

  Both men had one more laugh together then sobered.

  Matei looked to his friend. “We must find where Vasilecu has gone. I hope he hasn’t left the area completely now that he knows I am here.”

  He replied. “The logical place to start would be police records.”

  “Why is that?” Charlotte was interested to learn how they intended to find the vampire.

  “We can hack into the police network and see where bodies are found that have died from large blood loss. In most cases it will be a vampire, especially if there are ragged wounds on the bodies.”

  Charlotte shivered, recalling the feel of the vampire ripping her flesh. Matei pulled her closer and kissed her head.

  “Don’t tell me you guys are computer nerds too?”

  Louisa laughed and said, “That would be me actually. I became fascinated when computers first came out and learnt all I could. Now that skill comes in very handy for finding out things we need to. Amazing what you can find on the Interpol, FBI and police databases.” She winked.

  “Actually we all know our way around computers,” Matei said, “but some of us are especially adept at getting information like Louisa.”

  Charlotte found it hard to imagine Matei sitting at a computer. Just as she could not imagine the world he would have grown up in, or the world he would have lived in all those years.

  “I’m getting hungry, Cara, can we eat? I am sure Mihăiță and Louisa must be hungry also.”

  Charlotte got to her feet and Matei and Louisa followed. “What can we do to help?”

  “Stay there. Everything is actually organised so there is not much to do. Keep talking, I can hear from here.” Charlotte was glad her family room and the kitchen were one big open space so she could still join in the conversation as she set the rice cooking and got the other ingredients from the fridge.

  As soon as Harley heard the fridge door open, he got to his feet and joined her. “Sorry, my friend, you may as well go back to the others. You have had your dinner.”

  He gave her a look that said it would be her fault if he died from lack of food and went to lie on Matei’s feet.

  “I think I was born in the wrong age,” Louisa remarked, “I just love all this technology.”

  “Matei said you were born in London, Louisa.”

  “Yes, Charlotte, I was. I was born in 1823, I met Michael in 1855 when I was thirty-two. I was a governess to two children at the time.”

  “How did you meet him?” Charlotte was curious to know if Louisa had also been the victim of a vampire.

  “I was taking the children to their parents in the country. We had been visiting their relations in London. We had to stay in an inn on the way, as it was a long journey for the little ones. After I got the children settled in their bed I went downstairs and out into the garden courtyard of the inn. I wanted to stretch my legs before I retired for the night. Sitting in a carriage for hours is not comfortable, despite how romantic it looks in the movies.”

  Laughingly she looked into Michael’s face and smiled as she recalled their first meeting. “This handsome man was already there and when I walked out he stood and offered me his seat. I was frightened, I felt him in my mind. Then when he stood I made to turn away and return to my room.”

  “She was breathtaking,” Michael said. “I knew who she was the minute she entered the garden and I felt her mind. I knew I had to get her to stay while I told her about myself. I did it the only way I knew how. I sent her a command to stay and listen to me. She resisted at first, but then became curious and agreed to stay.”

  Louisa smiled up at him. “The rest is history, as they say. He released me from the command he had given almost immediately. We spent hours talking and then he told me who and what he was. If I didn’t believe him, who would? I went back to my room to think on all he had told me. In truth I thought him a madman but already I was halfway in love with him.”

  Louisa giggled. “The next morning, after making sure he was not anywhere to be seen, we left the inn around ten, arriving at our destination in the afternoon. I was still scared of him and how I was already feeling love for him. Anyway, my employers decided my services were no longer required. Their fortunes had changed and they could no longer afford to pay me my wage. They permitted me to use the carriage to return to London and allowed me to stay overnight. I would leave early the next morning.”

  Michael took up the tale. “I was desperate. I knew that she had been in her room when I finally had to sleep but then she had gone from the inn when I awoke. I had no idea which direction she had gone. I admit I was frantic.”

  Stunned by the emotion in Michael’s voice as he recalled losing Louisa, Charlotte asked how he had managed to find her again.

  “I was lucky.” He replied, “There is no other word for it. Louisa had decided to return to London and without stopping.”

  “I was so upset. I had been with the family for five years but I knew their circumstances were pretty grim so I was not all that surprised when they told me I had to go. We left very early and would arrive in London by late evening. I didn’t want to stay anywhere overnight, especially the Inn, where I knew he was. I knew I would have to be careful with the little money I had until I obtained another position. On top of that, I could not stop thinking about Michael. I wanted to find him. I wanted to see him again but I was terrified.”

  Michael interjected, “This is where I got lucky. The wheel of the carriage broke.”

  “Yes, we had been driving for a few hours and very close to the inn where the children and I had stayed in the days prior. There must have been a rock on the carriageway and we hit it. The wheel broke and the carriage was thrown onto its side.”

  Charlotte gasped, “Were you hurt?”

  “I was shaken up and badly bruised. I knocked my head and lost consciousness. The driver had jumped from the carriage as it fell. He saw I was hurt, my head bleeding, and he made me as comfortable as possible then unharnessed one of the horses and rode to the inn for help. They took me back to the inn and called a doctor. He told me I must lie quiet for a few days. I have to admit I was feeling terrible. I was so nauseous and very sore, but nothing had been broken.”

  “So once more she was in the inn and when I awoke that evening I felt her pain. I wanted to go to her but could not enter her room without her permission. I entered her mind and took away her pain. She had concussion and a bleed on her brain so I healed it.”

  “You can imagine how I felt. One minute I was throwing up and in pain and then the next, I felt so well. I could hear Michael in my mind. He was telling me I would be safe. I could not see him, thinking I had damaged my brain in the accident and succumbed to madness. Still I stood and went to the door. When I opened it, he was there. Then he did the formal asking for permission to enter and the rest is history.”

  She looked at him with such love. He took her hand and held it to his lips while he kissed her fingertips.

  Matei came over to Charlotte’s side trying to grab pieces of carrot from the wok. She tapped him on the fingers with the wooden spoon she was using to stir.

  “Just for that you can put some plates on the table while I dish out.”

  He laughed, kissed her cheek, and went to obey. The four of them settled around the table and talked of London in the 1800s while they ate.

  Once they had finished and had the dishes cleared and washed, they settled down to discuss the business of how to catch a vampire.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Matei pulled Charlotte onto his lap as she walked back from making a pot of tea for everyone. She was surprised by the amount of affection these men displayed openly for their partners. Louisa was already perched on Michael’s lap and was teasing Matei mercilessly about being called “Hotshot.”

  “How did the name come about, Charlotte?” Loui
sa asked, and Matei groaned.

  “Mr. ‘He Who Must Be Obeyed’ Arrogance here thinks he can order me about.” She prodded Matei’s chest. “It seemed a good idea to take him down a peg or two. I guess that’s what happens when you get involved with some decrepit old man.”

  Michael roared with laughter. “I think you may have met your match, my friend.”

  Matei shook his head and said wryly, “I just let her think that. We’ll sort out who is the alpha soon and then she’ll obey my every word.”

  “Dream on, Hotshot, dream on.” Charlotte laughed as she kissed his forehead.

  “Women,” he replied, shaking his head, then soberly asked, “So what do we do about Vasilecu?”

  “Once we get back to your house, Matei, I will hack into the police database. Michael scanned the local news but no deaths stood out. I think that’s probably the best place to start. If I can’t find anything then you men will have to think of something.”

  Matei nodded. “That makes sense, Louisa, if he is feeding off people with no psychic ability he’ll most likely drain them and throw them away. Very few keep those without abilities, for them there is no fun.”

  He squeezed Charlotte and held her tight. “He didn’t have a chance to take much from Charlotte. I think he would have found someone else that same night.”

  “Are you okay, Iubită?”

  “Yes. I would rather talk about it than let it fester inside me.”

  He kissed her neck then continued speaking aloud.

  “Most likely he will have fed at least twice since then, this is the fifth night since he took Charlotte so he may have even fed three times or else be out hunting tonight. He would’ve expended a lot of energy escaping. I imagine he would also have travelled a reasonable distance to make sure I could find no trace. He would know that I’d find his old lair and destroy it.”

  “I doubt he would stay in the area, Matei. He’d know that you’d search for him so it makes sense he’d want to get as far from you as possible.”