by Kelly Hall
“No problem. You’ll see.” He jumped up from the table and came around to give Rebekah a hug. “Thank you! I’m so glad you’re back.”
Rebekah sighed. One more hunter on her side couldn’t hurt, but now, she needed to find Ignis. “Frankie, do you still have my phone?”
Chapter 12
Rebekah paced the floor of the front room of the commander’s quarters, thinking about how small the place actually was. She’d never really noticed it before, but it wasn’t much bigger than her cell at Arcadius, including the kitchenette.
She looked at the time and took a deep breath, knowing that it shouldn’t take Frankie more than fifteen minutes to round up Jarreth, Canter, and Aziel, which meant they’d be arriving any minute.
She had seen Canter at Arcadius, but it wasn’t like the others could make the trip to Rome. The academy had only been able to afford one extra ticket, and they’d sent Canter as their representative. Good choice. But she actually kind of missed Jarreth too.
Jarreth had gotten under her skin. It wasn’t in the way he wanted, nothing romantic for sure, but she felt as if he were family in a strange sort of way. Not because he was a distant relative of Ethan, the Great Hunter. More like the Great Douche Canoe. But because with all they’d been through, he was her friend.
If she’d learned one thing through her long life, it was how important and precious friends were.
The door knob rattled, and Frankie opened the door. “It’s just in here,” she said, telling them whatever she’d made up to get them down there.
Jarreth walked in behind Frankie, and his eyes widened. “Rebekah!” He had her in his arms, swinging her around, before Canter could get in the door.
“Shh, we’ve got to keep it down,” she said, finding her feet. “I’m not supposed to be here.”
He stepped away and looked her up and down as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “How long have you been here?”
Canter walked over and gave her a hug, holding her much tighter than Jarreth but keeping her on the ground. “It’s good to see you.”
“I couldn’t find Aziel. He’s probably on an errand. I’ll just leave you to it.” Frankie smiled as she walked away to her room.
Rebekah had hoped to see the angel too, but she wouldn’t complain. “It’s good to see you both. I’ve been here most of the day, but I can’t leave the room, and you guys were in training. I had Frankie check on your status all day and told her as soon as you returned to your rooms to go and get you.”
Jarreth grinned ear to ear. “Well, I’m glad we cut it short.”
“It’s not like we had a choice,” said Canter. “The new second commander came in with orders to shut down the hologram for temporary evaluation. Whatever that means.”
Rebekah looked at Jarreth’s shorts and noticed a white cross. Then she looked on his sleeve and noticed another. Canter was sporting the very same gear and noticed her looking.
“New workout issues,” he said with a disappointed tone. “We’re not sure why they have a cross and not the Huntress Star, but I have a good guess.”
“You wouldn’t be wrong. They sure don’t waste any time, do they?” She shook her head and plopped down on the couch.
Jarreth and Canter joined her, both sitting on the sofa across from her with their backs to the kitchen. “They’re really pushing you out, aren’t they? How do they intend on doing that?”
“Slowly and painfully, I’m sure,” said Rebekah with a half-hearted smile.
“How’d the trial go?” asked Canter “What was the sentence? Was what Father Timms heard true?” He had been in Rome and couldn’t believe it when Father Timms had told Rebekah what the Elders were considering.
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Jarreth was lost. “What did Father Timms hear?”
“She has to hunt Kayne and bring him to the Church.”
“Holy shit. Do they not know the man is immortal?”
“They know, and I highly doubt they really think I can pull it off. They’re hoping that if I go after Kayne, he’ll know a way to kill me. It’s a smart move, actually; putting two immortals against one another, but the problem is, he’s way older than me and more powerful. I don’t think I can take him. I know I’m a fool if I try.”
“You cannot be killed either, though, right?” Jarreth asked.
“Well, in theory. But I’m pretty sure if you cut my head off, ripped out my heart, or burned me to ash, I’d have a hard time recovering. I mean, I’ve never quite tested it, you know?”
They shared a chuckle, but she continued. “As far as I’ve been taught, everything has a weakness. It’s like a balance of nature.”
“But you’re a supernatural being,” said Canter. “So, the rules don’t really apply, do they?”
“Again, it’s a theory I can’t prove, and one I don’t want to test.” She had never asked Ignis to lop off her head or dig out her heart, though she had been stabbed there a few times since her creation.
“Have you ever been badly injured?” Canter’s eyes were narrowed as he looked her up and down. His eyes on her were different than the way Jarreth did the same. There was nothing seductive in his stare, and yet it made Rebekah feel just as uncomfortable.
“Yes, a few times. If I’d been mortal, I’d have died. But with the way we heal, I didn’t have to worry. Though I can’t say I didn’t.” She laughed, remembering the first time she was injured severely in battle.
“That would be scary,” said Jarreth. “What happened?”
She didn’t usually participate in the campfire confessions with her hunters but decided what the hell? “I was the only girl a lot of times at camp in the early days, and while I was always a surprise to the enemy, I was also seen as an easy target. I’d have many come at me, sometimes two and three at a time.” She tried hard not to remember the pain, but there wasn’t any getting over that. No matter how many years passed, some things you just didn’t forget, and though her pain tolerance was higher than most, what happened to her that day had hurt like hell.
“I was attacked by three vamps who snuck up on me while I was standing on a ridge overlooking a river. They were much stronger in those days, it seems. Of course, I was still new to it all. I had grabbed a stake from my belt and was going to drive it through one of their hearts. But after some fighting, they managed to toss me off the cliff. I fell a good hundred feet and landed on the rocks below, and all of my bones broke. The sound of them cracking was so loud I heard every single one of them snap. I even felt my skull crack. I was so rattled I just lay there. It’s one thing to jump, but to be tossed down?” She shook her head.
“Damn,” said Jarreth. “What happened? Did someone find you?”
“Ethan did. He freaked out.”
“I bet,” said Canter with a look of horror. “What did he do? Did he have to reset the bones?”
She nodded. “Every single one, but thankfully, I healed over a matter of hours. It took the rest of the day and through the night for me to feel normal again. But when I woke the next morning, I was fine.” She shrugged. “And I knew not to get thrown off any cliffs after that.”
“That’s crazy. Did you think of what you’d do differently?” Canter hoped he never had to experience anything like that in the field and knew that type of fall might even be worse for someone like him, who was only made from the Huntress and whose body wasn’t quite as forgiving. Even though his bones could mend, a fall like that one would surely kill him.
“I should have gone for Stella instead of the stake. I was better with—” Suddenly, Rebekah winced in pain, her words lost on her tongue as she grabbed her temples.
“Are you all right?” Jarreth leaned forward.
Canter stood up, ready to spring into action if needed. “Do you need me to get you anything?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just these damned headaches. I keep getting this pain in my temple, and then it fades to a dull burn. It will ease up.” She waved her hand dismissively.
The pain had already started to lessen. Rebekah didn’t want to say anything, but she had a feeling deep in her soul that it was Stella. The only other time she’d ever felt it was when she was locked away in the shifters’ cell, when Stella and Luna had been taken from her.
Stella had been used to make her and had been very much a part of her ever since.
She took out her phone. “I’m sorry. I need to call Ignis. I’ve tried to reach him all day, but he’s not returning his calls.”
“Would he know why you’re having the pains?” asked Canter. The mage might even have a stronger cure than regular medicine.
“Maybe,” she said. “But mostly, I just miss him. We haven’t been away from each other for this long in ages.” He hadn’t ever ignored her calls before, and she wondered if he had lost his phone.
Jarreth could sympathize. “I haven’t ever been away from Del this long.” He let out a sigh and sank back in his chair.
Canter sat down beside him, no longer on alert for his Huntress. “We still don’t have any word where she went.”
Rebekah had been so wrapped up in regaling them with stories, she had forgotten to tell them what she knew. “I meant to tell you. Dixon said she hadn’t arrived.”
“We already knew that,” said Jarreth with a shrug. “She never picked up her ticket. I’ve called every couple of hours to see if she had. But she did go home for a day. My mom called looking for her.”
“She left again, and no one’s seen her?” Rebekah hoped she was okay wherever she was. Thankfully, she’d been marked and was a lot more resilient, but that wouldn’t make her safe, not entirely.
“No, I don’t know what to do.” Jarreth suddenly looked wrung out, his eyes taking on a shadow of pain that told Rebekah how tired he was.
She couldn’t help but feel bad for him, and she was worried about Delilah. “If I could reach Ignis, he might be able to help. He’s pretty good at locating people.” Ignis had always had that knack, but then, he could cover more ground as mist while searching than she could on foot.
“We’re going to try and find her.” Jarreth’s leg began to shake anxiously. “We’re hoping for some kind of information that could help locate her, but so far, nothing’s come our way that points in a sure direction.” He raked his hand through his hair and cupped the back of his neck.
“Try and put yourself in her shoes. If she’s left home and she’s not at the academy, where could she have gone?” Rebekah had a feeling she knew, but even she couldn’t see Delilah living in a rogue camp with Grady and the others. She hadn’t liked the guy enough to follow him. Unless she had gone for a different reason.
Canter sighed. He already had a pretty good idea where she’d gone. Jarreth was going to have to face the truth. “Delilah wouldn’t just fall off the map and forget she’s a huntress. She’d go somewhere she could put her skills to use, and if she’s not in New Orleans and she’s not at home, there’s only one place she could do that.”
Jarreth’s back stiffened. “She hasn’t gone rogue, okay? I know her. She wouldn’t just do that, no matter how pissed off at Rebekah she was.”
Canter knew it would be an accomplishment to convince him. “We’re all having to make choices, Jarreth. We talked about this. If Delilah was here, she’d be so against Rebekah, she’d be lost. You know she wouldn’t choose the Church.”
It was time Rebekah let them in on a little secret that most only found out once they left the shelter of the Church. “Not all the rogues are against me,” said Rebekah. “They are against the Church.”
Canter’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Look, I don’t know how you feel about the Church and its power, but the rogues hate it. They leave the hunter’s camps to keep from being ruled by the Church’s bullshit regulations. They don’t like the kill ‘em all attitudes. Sure, it usually leads to killing but only when necessary, and they do it their way, which usually comes after torture and interrogation. It’s how they learn things. How they grow wiser in the hunt and learn their enemies’ moves. Sometimes, it means you make allies or bribe informants. It’s strategy.”
Jarreth’s head was swimming. “But we’re trained to believe that they are all a disgrace.”
Rebekah gave a soft laugh. “Oh, they’re disgraceful, all right. A bunch of nasty bastards, most of them, but when it comes down to the bitter end, we all still share the same enemy, and our goals are both still to protect humanity.”
Canter crossed his arms. “You sound as if you approve of them.” He wasn’t sure he could get on board with that. It just went against everything he had been raised to admire.
“Anyone who leaves the Church to choose another lifestyle as a hunter is branded a rogue, and while some camps think I’m in favor of the Elders, others know better. In the days when they weren’t corrupt assholes, I respected them, but that was centuries ago. Most of the older generations get it. People like Father Timms who have been by my side, they understand the way things really are. The way they have to be.”
“Are you saying you’re a rogue at heart?” Jarreth frowned. He had been taught to fight with honor. How could she honor anyone who would go against what they believed for their own gain?
“I suppose we all are,” she said. “At least, those who will choose my side from here on. They’ll become a new kind of rogue. At least, that’s how the Church will label us. Things aren’t always black and white, Jarreth. Which side will you choose?”
Jarreth knew the answer in his heart. “Yours, without question, but I never thought about it that way.”
“Many of the factions who still support me were formed in the year two-thousand when the Church had me come in and change things. They weren’t happy with the way the academies were changing, and I have to say, I have never agreed with the way the Church regulated your training to death. You are strong hunters, but you could be so much stronger. But I signed an agreement, and I had to honor it. Now, the Church has temporarily suspended that centuries’ old agreement, so what am I to do? I have to go after Kayne to prove my loyalty.”
“You don’t owe the Church your loyalty,” said Canter. “Not after they locked you up.” He hadn’t realized he would be considered a rogue by choosing the Huntress, but so be it. He knew there was no other choice.
“It’s not the Church I’m trying to prove myself to, Canter. It’s my Fellowship. The Church is trying to take it. I can’t let them do that. So, while the Church will manage to keep some of my hunters, I’ll take whoever will follow me.”
“You’ll form a new Fellowship?” asked Jarreth.
Rebekah narrowed her eyes. “Fuck no. The true Fellowship of the Hunters pledged their loyalty to me. Let the Church get their own. They can take up that cross and carry it straight into Hell for all I care.”
Jarreth looked down at the cross on his sleeve and looked over at Canter. The two stood and stripped off their shirts, tossing them to the floor before putting their hands over their hearts.
About that time, Aziel walked into the room, and his eyes widened at the sight before him. “Um, is this your welcome home gift to the Huntress?” asked the angel “A striptease?”
Jarreth’s lips peeled back in a sneer. “Good luck getting this one to throw down his cross.”
Aziel narrowed his green eyes and walked over to greet Rebekah. She got to her feet and hugged the angel, who squeezed her tightly.
“It’s good to see you, Aziel. Where have you been?” She had sent for him with the others.
He pulled away and met her eyes. “I had something to do. Father Timms told me you were here.”
His tone had Rebekah worried. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’ve been down in the lab with Mace.”
“New girlfriend?” asked Jarreth with a sarcastic tone.
“No, but it was about yours,” said Aziel. “I know where she is or, at least, where she was last seen.”
Jarreth stepped around Canter to stand near Aziel. “How do you
know? Did you ask one of your angel friends for help?”
“No, but only because I’m not supposed to do that, and I don’t need Michael on my ass. But I did get another text. I was going to tell you, but I couldn’t find you. I ran into Mace, and she said she’d help.”
Jarreth couldn’t wait to hear. He rolled his eyes and waved his hands. “Where is she for fuck’s sake?”
“Utah.” He turned to look at Rebekah, hoping she’d know what it meant.
Canter wasn’t expecting that she’d left Nevada. “Utah? What the fuck is in Utah?”
Rebekah knew exactly where she was headed. “Rogue 2K camp, just across the state line in the national forest. I was friends with the commander before he passed away about ten years ago. If I have to guess, I’d say that’s where Grady and the others went. It’s the closest one.”
“Shit,” said Jarreth. “Can you go with us to find her?”
“I need to find Ignis first. He has my weapons. With any luck, he’s not far, but my gut says he’s with Talia in New Orleans.”
Jarreth cringed. “Talia and her creepy sisters?”
“You seemed to be okay with them,” said Rebekah with a teasing look. “But yes. If I had to guess, I’d say that’s where he’s gone. I have to get my weapons back before I can even think of starting my hunt for Kayne. Well, that and…” She stopped mid-thought and realized she hadn’t asked them for their help. It wasn’t right for her to assume that because they supported her that they’d be willing to leave the academy early and go on a hunt with her for the most dangerous creature on earth.
“What’s wrong?” Canter was always in tune with her feelings. Just like Atticus used to be.
“I’d like for you to help me. I mean, I know it’s a dangerous task to hunt Kayne, but I can’t do it without you. I need my hunters, and since you’re also my friends, I hoped that you’d come with me.”