by R. Sullins
“Listen up and listen good Tommy,” I spoke quietly in his ear and put a little more pressure on his arm, causing him to rise up on his toes to take the pressure off his joint. “No means no. Do you understand?”
He nodded his head frantically.
“And that means you will stop pestering me? And that I won’t hear of you bugging any other girl the way you’ve been doing me?”
He shook his head even harder.
“What does no mean, Tommy?”
“N-no.”
“That’s right. So, if Sue Anne tells you no you’ll leave her alone too, right?”
“Yes!” He squealed with the little bit of pressure I added to punctuate my words.
I sighed, letting off his arm but not letting him go completely. “Really, Tommy, you need to stop harassing girls. I know it’s not just me. You keep it up and you are going to end up getting into trouble. You are a nice guy, everyone knows that. But you can’t corner girls and try to force them to accept dates with you, okay?”
I let him go, stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest. He turned around, rubbing the ache out of his arm, scowling until he looked over my shoulder and his eyes got wide. I turned around to see what had his attention and saw Jared, Bob, the cook, who looked a little wary, and Carrie. Carrie was a fellow waitress a few years older than me. She’s adorable, petite, dyed purple hair, and spunky. She usually had something hilarious to say and didn’t care what people thought about her. I wanted to be her when I grew up. But, she was also a bit of a gossip. Inwardly I groaned.
“I’m just going to get my coffee to go,” Tommy mumbled with a red face as he pushed his way through the small crowd. “Nice chat, Ivy, I’ll remember what you said.” He threw over his shoulder before heading to the counter to, presumably, ask for his coffee to go.
Carrie grinned hugely at me and threw up two thumbs. The cook, Bob, said, “Damn girl, I get it, I get it! No means no!” and walked back into the kitchen. Jared stood there and stared at me for a long moment until I felt twitchy and wanted to confess all my sins.
Finally, he shook his head, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “The boss thought you needed protection.” He snorted and shook his head. “Nope, I think you’re all good…princess.”
My glare had him breaking out into a full-on grin.
“One thing though,” his voice got suddenly serious. “Don’t ever drop your guard. When he saw us, his reaction caused you to turn your back to him. If he were an enemy that could have gotten you killed.”
I grimaced and felt duly chastised. He was right, it was a lesson Crispin had taught me not three nights ago during our sparring and training. He had a dagger to my throat the moment I turned back around. He had even drawn a little blood. He told me, while his eyes followed the thin trail as it dripped down my chest, “Never ever turn your back on a predator, little Hunter, you may not live to make the same mistake again.” Then he gently, but quickly, licked the line of blood and the small nick in my skin to heal me. I still haven’t gotten used to the feeling of his tongue on my skin, though he always made a point to heal any cuts or scrapes I acquired during our training sessions.
“You’re right, Jared.” I sighed, “I better get back to work.”
Jared opened the door and made a grand gesture. “After you, princess.”
“Oh noooo, please don’t!” I groaned loud and long, wanting to bang my head against the wall, hard.
“Oh, yes.” His devilish grin told me all I needed to know about my new nickname. Great. Figures, the first new friend I made in a long while was a sadist.
Chapter 11
*****
Crispin felt anxious. It was not a feeling he was used to. He double-checked that the table was set to his exact request. His little Hunter was on her way and it was time to explain things further to her. There were still many things she did not know about vampires. Or about him. It wasn’t a story he relished having to tell but was necessary if he were to pursue any kind of relationship with her.
He spent his entire vampire life avoiding any entrapments with women. He wasn’t a playboy or womanizer, but when he did become intimate with a human or vampire it was brief and unemotional. He knew there were many who longed to be by his side solely for the reason of his status. As an elder vampire, and one of the few sired by Kane himself, he held great power that had nothing to do with the actual Power we wielded.
Many tried to entice or even trap him into a relationship for that power, thinking he would wield it on their behalf, but he deftly avoided such entanglements. Now, here was this baby Hunter that didn’t even try, and he was willing to make her his. At times it angered him that she had gotten under his skin. He didn’t like the feeling of anything being out of his control. At other times he welcomed the feeling, after millennia of being alone, he could have a strong partner at his side.
*****
The hour-long drive spent with Jared was full of fighting tips and more information about the revenants that I pretty much already knew. There wasn’t much to them, they were murderous monsters that killed everything they came across without thought and were especially drawn to the scent of Hunter blood. He did explain that there have been very few sightings in the area in the last several years and speculated that they were suddenly drawn to me because I recently came into my full strength.
I knew now with Crispin’s teachings, that Hunters are normally groomed throughout their adolescent years, trained in fighting, taught the history of vampires and revenants. When they come of age, somewhere around their early twenties, their full strength develops and their blood scent changes, signifying they are ready to combat the devolved vampire threat.
One more reason for me to hate my mother. She left me vulnerable and everyone around me. What would have happened had Crispin not found me when he did? It was awful to think about.
When we arrived at the mansion Jared tipped his imaginary hat to me and walked off towards the back of the house. I looked around me while I stood in the foyer, fidgeting with my long shirt I was wearing over my yoga pants. He said we were going to eat dinner together tonight. It was an unusual request but maybe he had things to discuss. I was also still embarrassed over my behavior last night. I rubbed against a vampire king and then played the shy virgin, telling him no. He couldn’t be too happy with me.
“Miss Moore, are you going to stand in my foyer all night or would you like to follow me to the dining room?”
Looked up, startled, to see Crispin standing at the doorway, dressed in much what he wore the first time I saw him. He wore black slacks, a white button-down, and a black suit jacket with no tie. I felt my cheeks heat up, knowing what I was wearing. He said we would have a light dinner, yes, but I thought it would be simple and we would go straight to training. The doorway he was standing in I assumed was the dining room. I hadn’t seen much of the house at all to this point. I was usually met at the door by Crispin or led to the gym by Rhys.
It was hard, but I made myself meet his bold gaze. His eyes were a stormy gray and staring at me with an intensity that made me want to back up, seeing him as the predator that he really was. Instead, I squared back my shoulders and took a deliberate step towards him.
A hint of a smile tilted up the corner of his mouth. “That’s my Hunter.” He said in a tone that clearly sounded pleased. It confused me, this male, that had a predatory gleam and a tone that indicated he was proud of me. Perhaps he was pleased with my progress. I was no longer the scared little girl that he had first brought into his home. Through our hard work to teach me to fight I had gained confidence in myself as a person and a Hunter.
He lifted a hand to me and I briefly glanced at it before slowly taking it in mine. The usual intensity I felt was there, the strange feeling sparking inside me as well. I always wondered if he felt it too.
He guided me through the doorway that was basically a sitting room but not the same one that I found myself in the first night I was here. This one was s
maller, and I came to the conclusion it was a room for those waiting for dinner to be ready. It had several comfortable looking chairs and a loveseat with a low table in front of it. He led me straight from there through to a massive dining room complete with chandeliers. There were paintings on the beige walls like the rest of the house, and like the rest of the house, they were magnificent. I had no knowledge of art, but I had a feeling they were all priceless originals.
At the table were two place settings, not formally far apart, but rather, one at the head and one placed next to it. Crystal stemware and gleaming silverware sat on gold placemats. He sat me down, to his right hand as he placed himself at the head of the table. It was not lost on me that the situation was very intimate. Though I could be reading too much into it, I suppose. Wishful thinking? Possibly.
Before either of us said anything a couple of servers entered holding plates while another entered holding a bottle of wine. After we had been served and the waitstaff left there was an uncomfortable silence between us. I knew I was wondering why we were sitting there in an almost normal setting of dinner together, but I had absolutely no idea where his mind was. I kept replaying our moment on the mat last night all day today, fighting between embarrassment and regret that I hadn’t allowed things to progress further.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Crispin dig into his salad, amazed that he was eating at all. Apparently, I still knew very little about vampires. Books and movies have taught us that they were cold-blooded killers, they also couldn’t digest food and rely solely on blood. Watching Crispin eat the beautifully prepared salad in front of us obviously dispelled that legend.
“Are you going to eat your salad, Miss Moore? I guarantee that it is delicious. My chef is very talented and has had centuries of experience.”
Of course, why wouldn’t the cook be another vampire?
“I’m just curious.” I said softly while stabbing my fork in the crisp greens.
“What are you curious about. Should I guess?” He chuckled. “You wonder why I am eating?”
My blush had to have given me away because he laughed before leaning back in his seat. I swung my head to face him, hoping to catch him. He was always so serious that the sound of his laughter made him seem more human.
“If you recall, Miss Moore, a vampire never truly dies. I am as alive as you are. I eat and have bodily functions. Blood is a necessity to survive, yes, without it a vampire will eventually wither and die. For most, the will to live is very strong and there are many quicker ways to kill oneself without starving. Though it has happened in the past, a vampire may be captured and tortured by an enemy, starved. But it takes a very long time before one dies from blood starvation. During that time, he will go through excruciating pain and bloodlust.”
“What does the blood do for you that you cannot survive without it?”
“The way the curse works it seems it holds no nutritional value, hence the need for actual food.” He held up his fork before proceeding to take another bite. After swallowing he continued, “No, the blood is just a necessity as a punishment. Many have tried in the many centuries of the existence of vampirism to do away with the need for blood. Animal blood can sustain but not allow the vampire to thrive. Bagged blood works, of course, but taste like shit.” His smirk at that made me laugh. Crispin had a sense of humor. Who knew?
As our meal progressed I found myself relaxing more and becoming more comfortable in his presence. Yes, we had spent a lot of time together in the weeks since we met but they had always been as him being the Master and training me while I was the bumbling idiot that didn’t know how to throw a punch. Now, in the relaxed atmosphere, it was easier to relate to him as a man and it was making my insides squirmy. I never wanted to take the time to get to know a man because of my responsibilities towards my sister, but now I was faced with a yearning for more.
During our dessert of crème brûlée he pulled an envelope out of his inner jacket pocket and placed it next to my plate.
“There is something that I have been remiss in discussing with you prior to today. It concerns your job as a Hunter.” He cleared his throat and when I looked up at his face I saw his eyes were on my mouth. I licked my lips to see if I had any cream on them and heard a quiet rumble come from him. I’d heard that sound before, the first night we met when he healed my wound. That he’d caused.
“A Hunter’s main job is to keep the region they belong to safe from all revenants. It must be their main priority. It is expected that she will patrol the areas, usually in remote areas to draw any revenants in the area to her so she can dispatch them without the general public knowing or being in danger. Unless there has been a report of a sighting in public areas, of course. As such, she is on the payroll of the Master in charge of the area. I have 6 Regionals with 4 of them having Hunters that I pay. You will be the first one discovered in 20 years. And the first one reported in this area for some time.”
This made me think, “Did you know my mother?”
“No, I have only been in this territory for 5 years. The previous Master here took his own life after his mate was killed 6 years ago by revenants. It is said the revenants came to the city as a pack one night and destroyed several vampires before disappearing again. Your attack was the first sighting of a pack in all that time.”
“Six years ago? That was how long it’s been since my mother ran away.” I ran the implications over in my head. Were they drawn to the city because of my mother? Were they what caused the accident. I remembered what her last words to me were before she disappeared. Through the haze of pain and the steady drip, drip, drip of blood it was difficult to focus. Then my mother’s voice reached me, “I’m sorry, you’ll be safer if I go.”
“She said I’d be safer if she left.” The words came out as a nearly silent whisper. The familiar burning anger was slower to fill me this time. I thought of her leaving me trapped in a car with my dead father and damaged sister. “She abandoned me while I was trapped in the car. I had a piece of metal stuck in my side, hanging upside down in my seat. My sister was crushed where the car had flipped on her side of the car. I could see that my dad was already dead. And she left.”
I had eventually managed to pull the piece of metal out of me before the ambulance had gotten there. I still had a cut, but it was fairly minor by the time the paramedics and the firemen were able to cut us out of the car. Many times, I’d wished that it was my sister that had my healing abilities instead of me. She would have healed and been able to walk, and she would be a better person today, instead of hating her life.
“No one knows where the revenants left to after they came and killed so many. It isn’t unusual for two or three to run together but there is generally only one. They aren’t a huge problem unless a rogue vampire purposely tries to create many vampires without the proper means. When that happens, it is up to the regionals to locate and stop him.”
I tapped my finger on the envelope next to me. “So, this is what exactly?”
He leaned back in his seat while he seemed to contemplate me. “As my Hunter I will pay you for your duty. As such, you will spend your nights patrolling different sections of the territory. You are not the only one who will be doing this, I have had a team of vampires on this for years. You are not expected to exhaust yourself wandering aimlessly but will spend a few nights each week, a few hours a night, looking for any signs of revenant activity. We have an alert system in place already. Many vampires, as you know, live in and around the city, including in your little town, any time a rule is broken, or a sighting of a revenant is seen, my people are notified and take care of the problem.”
“So, I am to be bait then?” The idea didn’t thrill me.
“I suppose you can look at it that way since they are drawn to your blood, however, you will be properly trained. You are already doing excellent with hand to hand combat. But we still need to get you comfortable with a sword.”
Swords did make me uncomfortable. I had asked once “w
hy swords?” and the long and short of it was they kill cleanly and are silent. Guns are too loud and a vampire, or revenant, needed to lose their head to be sure they were dead. Vampires were much more resilient than even I was and could heal quickly and cleanly from most wounds, though they would need a whole lot of blood to replace what was lost. He had explained to me before, during one of my lessons, most vampires have a whole harem of donors at their disposal. The donors were always well compensated, and I supposed they were. The ones I had met and became friends with seemed very happy. Some, like Crispin’s, live with their vampire, others, like the individuals in town, are on call to their vampires.
“So how much are we talking about Crispin?” I tried to contain the hint of excitement beginning to run through me. Crispin was obviously a very rich male and none of his employees seem to be lacking. “I still have a job at the diner and won’t be able to function during the day if I am up most nights playing come-and-get-me with the revenants.”
“Yes. That brings us to another part of our discussion. I need you to stop working. As vampires, we have to stay out of the sun but the older we get the less we need to sleep during the day. I’d like to continue your training during the day and patrols will start at night. Your pay will more than cover your lost wages and I have already paid off your sister’s medical bills.” He held up his hand to stop my protest of him paying my bills before I could even begin to form a sentence in my numb brain. No more medical bills? No more struggles? “I know you are an independent woman and have done well in taking care of your sister by yourself. You should be proud of what you have accomplished at such a young age. But, Miss Moore,” he leaned forward, “you belong to me now and I take care of what is mine. You will more than pay me back in time. Your duty as my Hunter is a dangerous one and will be compensated as such.”
I swallowed hard and was scrambling to comprehend all his words as my eyes stung with unshed tears. He paid off my debt. I belonged to him. Dangerous job. I was grateful and wary at the same time. It was going to be very difficult to allow someone else to take any part in helping me. Swallowing the hard lump in my throat, I looked up from my plate where I had been holding my spoon still. I looked into his smoky eyes and nodded.