by Kelly Hall
Kyle Cross stepped up and slapped Grady on the back. “We should have asked around some more and maybe looked this shit up on our phones while we still had cell service.” They had entered the dead zone hours before, and now they were running out of daylight.
“What do you want me to say, that you were right? Well, I’m not, so you can just fuck off.” Grady wasn’t going to admit a damned thing about being wrong. He wasn’t the one who acted like he knew his way to the rogue camp like the back of his hand.
“I should have known this fucker was blowing smoke up my ass,” he said, referring to Bull. “You never visited the fucking camp, did you?” He didn’t even wait for Bull to respond as he kept on bitching. “I guess that fucking name of yours is short for Bullshit, isn’t it?”
Bull rolled his eyes. He’d heard every joke before and had developed a thick skin early in life. “I did visit the camp actually. I came with my cousin when he was in the Fellowship.”
Grady stopped and turned to look at the guy, who was ten seconds from a fist down his throat. “What do you mean when he was? He’s not there now?” He had assumed he would have someone to meet up with when they got there instead of walking in as strangers.
“No, he left and got married. He was in the reserve for a while, but his wife got tired of him coming and going. She wanted him to be around to raise the kids.”
That was why Grady knew Katie was perfect for him. Not only did she understand the way of life for the hunters, but she had never really talked about wanting kids. He could see them living in the camp and making it their home, and just as soon as he got settled and made sure things were all set, he was going to go back to the academy to get her. He’d told her to wait there for him, and while she had tried to fight him on his leaving, she hadn’t asked to go.
Besides, she needed to make sure she was healed good enough to go, and that sprain had been nasty. She’d be waiting like a good girl if she knew what was best for her.
As they trudged on in a new direction, Grady saw another trail, one that had grown up quite a bit and was barely noticeable. “Wait,” he said. “What is that?”
Drake, who had been quiet most of the day, lifted his head and sighed. “There hasn’t been anyone down that way in a while it seems. It’s barely a path.”
“I say we follow it. That’s just the kind of thing a group of rogues would do, take the lesser path. Let’s see where it goes.” He took his machete from his hip and beat his way through. After he made it a few feet, the others followed.
“This is probably some kind of fucking shifter trail,” said Bull. “We’re going to walk up on their camp by mistake.”
“You should know better,” said Grady. “We could smell their scent if this was their trail.” He’d learned a thing or two in the short time he’d been marked, and with the battle against the mage and their impromptu confrontation with the shifters, he had more experience than the others.
Bull and Kyle exchanged a look, both clearly tired of the guy and his mouth. “I’ll just be glad when we get there,” said Bull, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Me too,” said Drake. “Then I wouldn’t have to listen to you three bitch and bicker all fucking day.”
Grady turned and rested the machete on his shoulder. “You should have stayed back at the academy with the other pussies.” He was still pissed that Chris had stayed behind, but his injury had made him gun shy. He turned, whacked another branch, and pushed through the brush until he came to a clearing.
The others stumbled out behind him, Drake brushing off his pants as if he’d gotten into something. “Well, it led to somewhere. Where are we?”
“Utah,” said Bull, with a cocky smile.
Grady looked around, but the clearing had no other visible trails. “Shit. I don’t know where to go now. This place is fucked up.” He was a hunter, not only born and raised with this as his path, but trained for it too. The time spent in the hologram chamber and the short forest outings with the academy hadn’t been shit compared to this. And leave it to him to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with three assholes who didn’t know fuck all either.
The small area was cleared into a round space, as if it had been deliberately done that way for a purpose. “We need to go this way.” He pointed away from the sunset. “We need to head east.”
“Northeast,” said Bull. “Didn’t you look at the map before my phone died?”
That had been hours ago, but he had. “Yes, I know where the fuck I am!” Grady stepped out into the clearing, and while he made it safely to the other side, he heard the sound of a stick breaking. Suddenly, he hit the ground and was dragged up into the air to hang from the nearest tree. “Son of a bitch!”
The others laughed, and as they walked over to see if he was okay, the ground came out from under them, and they all landed in a pile below.
“Well, Utah sucks,” said Kyle. “Can we go back to Nevada now?”
“At least you can cut yourself down, Grady,” Bull said. “We’re stuck in this fucking hole.”
“And if I cut myself down, where the hell do you think I’ll land, Einstein?” Grady tried swinging his body over to the tree, but it was no use. Even when he did, he still couldn’t reach it.
“Well, look at what we have here,” came a thick, southern drawl.
Grady wiggled and turned his head to see where the voice came from. Two men, not shifters but more like the rogue band of hunters that they’d been looking for, stood with their weapons drawn. One had a gun trained on them. The other held on tight to his sword.
“Get me the fuck down from here!” Grady demanded.
The one with the gun stepped closer. “Ah, ah, ah,” he said. “Ask nicely.” He was thirty-five if a day and had long hair that was braided on each side of his head like he’d seen Katie do hers. Except for some reason, it still made the man look like a badass.
“Yeah, like that will work,” said the other with laughter in his voice. He looked a bit younger but just as crazy. His long hair wasn’t braided, but it was tied away from his face with a scrap of leather. He pointed the sword at Grady. “Who are you, and what are you doing roaming around?”
Grady noticed the Huntress Star on sword dude’s pommel. “I’m a hunter, just like you.”
The other man laughed. “Not just like me. I’ve never got myself stuck in a trap.”
“Take it easy, brother. I have heard the academies are raising pussies these days.” The other man gave a taunting grin, and the two chuckled.
“We made it,” said Bull from down in the hole. “You’re from the rogue camp, aren’t you?”
The gun-toting one shrugged. “If we are, why would we tell you?”
Bull rolled his eyes. “It’s the reason we’re here. You know it is, or you wouldn’t be fucking with us. Do you know a man named Bear Bivens?”
“Bivens? I remember that whiny little pisser. He’s not around anymore.”
Grady looked at Bull. “Your cousins name is Bear?”
Bull glared at him, but the other men had already caught on.
“Baby Bear Bivens is your cousin?” The one with the sword snickered.
“Look,” said Drake. “We’re here to join up with you guys, so could you please take us to your commander?”
The man looked Drake up and down and did the same with the others. “Why should we? Cause you said pretty please? Fuck that. There’s enough of your kind here already.”
“Our kind?” Kyle wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He knew the two were going to have some smart-ass remark.
“Yeah, fucking greenhorns. Freshly deflowered pussies who want to join the big bad band of hunters. Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t send you back to the fucking academy you ran away from? Did your girlfriends dump you? Mommy and Daddy still on your backs? There’s got to be some lame-ass reason you’re here.”
Grady’s temper flared. “Is the fact that the Immortal Huntress abandoned us for a fucking fanger a good enough reason?”
The two men stopped laughing and exchanged a look. The one put his gun away. “Maybe I should introduce you to our fearless leader after all.” He looked at his friend, who shrugged.
“I think he’d like to meet you,” the other agreed. “He’s always interested in what one has to say about the Immortal Huntress.”
“I’ve got plenty to say,” said Grady, spitting on the ground. His eyes were damned near bugging out from the blood that had pooled in his head. He feared that soon he’d lose consciousness. “Could you get me down before I have a fucking stroke?”
“It would be my pleasure.” The man swung his sword, and with a clean slice, the rope broke, sending Grady into the pit headfirst with his friends. Luckily, Drake and Bull were prepared to break his fall, and while he kicked Kyle in the head, the guy didn’t complain much.
“Are you fucking nuts?” said Grady. “Get us out of here!”
The one put his sword away. “Not so fast. You didn’t think we were going to take you to our camp, did you?”
“How dim do you think we are, man?” The gunman turned and gave a whistle. It sounded like the thing echoed, but Grady noticed the subtle differences in the tone. Someone else had whistled back in response. There had to be other hunters in the trees around them, and then a rustling sound got their attention.
A large, blond-haired man, who was at least six-foot-three and packing more muscle than the two rogues combined, walked out from the trees and stood near the edge of the pit. His hair was just below his chin, but then Grady noticed that was only because the longer part was pulled back behind him. His beard was just as blond as his hair, and his eyes were narrow and fierce.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Nevada Academy,” said Grady. The man seemed like a real hard ass, and he had never been so intimidated by anyone as much in his life.
“Why?”
“We’ve come to join.” Grady thought that was obvious.
“Did you think it would be any easier than the academy?”
“On the contrary,” said Grady. “We hoped it would be harder. We’re tired of the Church’s pussy bullshit, and don’t even get us started on the Immortal Cuntress.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “I’d heard the Huntress was nearby. That she’d taken up with one of the academies to seek vengeance for her fallen.”
Drake laughed. “Vengeance, right. If that’s what you want to call it.”
“What do you mean?” His eyes, which were already narrow, got smaller.
The swordsman stepped forward. “He said the Huntress is a fang-banger.”
Grady wasn’t sure what the look on the leader’s face meant. “It’s true. I saw the photographs of her and Kayne. She was definitely having a good time with him and dressed like a whore too.”
The man wasn’t impressed. “I’ll be sure to look into the situation with the Huntress, but in the meantime, I don’t see any reason why we can’t welcome four able-bodied young men into the camp.” He turned toward the one with the sword. “Gill, help these men out of the pit.” He nodded at the man with the gun. “You can tell the others to get the camp ready, Port. We have visitors and possible recruits.”
“Will do, boss.” The man hurried away.
Gill stepped over to a tree and grabbed a rope that was tied there. Then he tossed it in the pit so Grady and the others could climb out. Grady grabbed the rope first, and when he got to the ground, he stepped up to the man. “You didn’t have to cut me down like that, man.”
Gill spit at his feet. “If you think that was tough, turn around now and head back to your academy.”
Their commander stepped up as the others made their way out of the pit behind Grady. “He’s right. Anyone thinking this is going to be a fucking cake walk can piss off. I’ll expect your cooperation, and when you’re in my fucking camp, you’ll do what I say, when I say it. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir,” said Grady. He was ready. “Whatever you say. We want to prove to you we’re ready.”
The man smiled. “Good. We’ll see how much you mean that. Because no one here gets a free ride. It takes, guts, hard work, and determination to hang with us.”
As the man turned and walked away, Grady followed.
Bull looked at Kyle and Drake. “How’s Utah now?”
Neither young man was certain what the hell they’d just walked into.
Chapter 8
Rebekah had finally gotten used to her new neighbor, and while she was sure Rye had been sent in to irritate her, she was actually starting to make regular conversation with the shifter. It wasn’t that she was making friends or anything, but just having someone, anyone, even a filthy shifter to keep her company, she couldn’t complain.
She sat on her bed and ate her breakfast, which consisted of lumpy oats and sugar, listening to Rye blather on about the past.
“Were you really around in the old west?” he asked, stirring his own bowl of oats. “Did you know Wyatt Earp?” He picked up his spoon and licked the lump he had gathered. He curled his lip at the gruel, wishing they’d get him something with meat.
The shifter had been playing twenty questions since Rebekah woke up. “No, I can’t say I did. It wasn’t like I spent all of my time in America. I’ve traveled the world.”
“It’s just strange to think you’ve been around so long,” said Rye. “Mind boggling. Especially since you look like a harmless, little girl.”
Rebekah wondered if it were possible for him to focus on just one thing. So far, he’d taken her through most of the classical eras in time.
“You haven’t seen much, have you? I mean, all of the cool shit, you were probably off in the woods somewhere, killing my ancestors.” He let out a low growl.
“Not all of them, obviously.” She looked up from her bowl and met his eyes.
“Did you ever think about fighting in other wars?”
“I had my own battles to fight, Rye. Did you ever think of what good you might be able to do in the army yourself? There are several wars in the world as we speak, yet here you are.”
He put the bowl down and stretched his arms before leaning back against his bed. “Fair enough.”
When the guard opened the door, Rebekah thought he couldn’t get to her fast enough down the long hallway.
“Is it time for recess?” asked Rye.
The guard looked down his nose at the shifter. None had been friendly, and Rebekah didn’t have any of their names. She had a feeling they’d all been told not to get friendly for a reason, and while she’d tried to warm up to them a little for the sake of her sanity, they had remained straight faced and stoic. He turned toward Rebekah. “Your representative is here to take you to your trial. You know the drill.”
Rebekah breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t known when the time would come for trial, and she had a feeling the assholes wouldn’t tell her in advance. They didn’t want her to have time to plan any tricks. She stuck her hands through the opening in the bars, and the guard cuffed her. She knew everything they used on her had been reinforced, the chains heavier than usual, but little did they know, that only made them a better weapon.
As the guard opened the door, she thought of how easy it would be to crack his skull or to wrap the chain around his neck and choke the life out of him. She would let them all continue with their false sense of security, with the idea that they had her right where they wanted her. The only reason she was standing trial was to prove her case and to try and keep her men on her side. The Church was going to be working extra hard to win them over.
As she walked out of the room, she looked over at Rye, who had gotten up from the floor to approach his bars.
“Get back!” the guard warned.
“Don’t worry, Rye. I’ll be back. You can think of some better questions for me, but be ready because I’ll have a few of my own.” With any luck, the guard would tell Elder Hollow, and her annoying guest would be gone when she got back. With the trial upon her, she didn’t need
his company anymore.
The guard gripped her arm and pulled her along. “Come on, you.”
She looked over at him and wondered if he would tell her anything, but the man was about as warm and friendly as a wet blanket.
He took her down several floors, and when she walked out, she saw Warden Hollow waiting.
The man glared down at her with his hardened stare. “Your representative is here. I believe you know Commander Hoyt Dixon from the New Orleans Academy. He said he had been pleased to have you as his guest recently. I’m sure the two of you will have some catching up to do.”
Rebekah couldn’t believe that Hoyt Dixon had agreed to represent her, and she wondered if it had anything to do with his feelings toward her. He had made it more than clear that he wished to get to know her better, and she hadn’t been oblivious to the tone he’d used.
She rounded the corner into the small room and took a seat at the table, while Warden Hollow disappeared down the hall.
As Rebekah was secured to the table, Commander Dixon walked into the room. “Thank you, sir. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
The guard gave a nod and left the room. Rebekah turned her head to see Dixon sit across from her.
With a straight face which wasn’t easy for Rebekah to read, he took a small stack of papers from his briefcase. He slapped the edges down on the table to keep them in order. Then he dug around for a paperclip to keep them secure.
Rebekah had expected him to talk to her, but he was too busy fussing with the forms. “Excuse me,” said Rebekah, rapping her fist on the table. “Hoyt?”
“I’m sorry, I’m just waiting on your apology.” He turned his eyes up from the paper with an accusing stare.
Rebekah could only think of one thing she’d done against the commander. “I’m sorry about your bike. I returned it in one piece.” She shrugged casually.
Hoyt sat up straight to look down his nose at her. “I would have taken you anywhere you wanted to go, Rebekah.”