The Hunted Page 4

  Drake was naked to the waist and stared at me in wonderment as I suckled my fingers. He was indeed an awesome specimen of maleness within human or vampire form. Before any hesitation overtook me, I reached over with one hand and with my vampire strength, I ripped the britches from his waist to reveal strong, well-muscled legs, a flat stomach, dark, curly pubic hair and a taut, erect penis. I could feel the hunger building within both of us.

  Slowly and with care, Drake moved to my bedside and placed one hand on my naked belly, which was rippling with excitement. The contrast of his dark skin against my pale, almost translucent skin was startling and more fodder for our desire. Such complete opposites and yet we shared so much similar history.

  “I can see inside you, Silver, and I know what you want. Contrary to popular belief, I am not always a brute. I want this to be mutual.” He moaned.

  I shuddered at the deep, silky, male sound of his voice. I knew he was not above raping a woman but he wanted me to choose him, to want him in this moment.

  My voice sounded strangled as I replied. “I want this. I want you.”

  He needed nothing more than my affirmation. Drake moved into the bed and swept his hand over every curve and line of my body. My back arched in response and my hips moved upward, begging for a touch; begging his body to connect with mine.

  As he stroked my skin, I could feel a sultry heat rising from my thighs to my chest and then finally to my cheeks. I drew back my lips to reveal my fangs. As much as I wanted Drake psychically, I also wanted his blood. For a vampire, bloodletting and the act of intercourse could be a violent but highly pleasurable combination.

  “So beautiful.” Drake moaned as he kissed each of my breasts in turn, teasing the nipples with his tongue and gently grazing them with his teeth.

  I grabbed his head and raised it level with my own. As I kissed him, I drew his tongue deep into my mouth. He tasted warm and almost sweet.

  I smiled as Drake’s teeth grazed my bottom lip; he drew blood. Lapping voraciously, the kiss turned into a bloody frenzy. Soon, both of our sweat-covered bodies beaded with droplets of ruby blood as sweet as wine to the taste.

  The delight I felt at seeing and smelling the blood in conjunction with the ecstasy of each touch and kiss was almost overwhelming. My head began to swim in a dizzy haze of lust and want.

  Our bodies danced together in unison; the guttural sounds and sighing heaves of breath was the music to which we danced. Finally, Drake pinned my arms above my hair and thrust himself deep within my core. Each stroke sent my skin and body aflame with sensations.

  I opened my eyes wide and thrust my hips upward to match Drake movement for movement. With a final crush of our slick, blood-covered lips, we climaxed together. Our cries of release were loud and animal like as we collapsed in a sweaty heap upon one another.

  For a moment, our breathing was the only sound. The room around us was dark and cool and quiet.

  “We are indeed vampires,” I whispered as I settled into the small of his back. I could smell the drying sweat and blood on his skin.

  “One cannot fight what they are, Silver. We must embrace and celebrate it. We must live as what and who we are without shame.”

  Silently, I thought of how this man seemed to have settled so comfortably into the vampire world. As a human, he always seemed full of fear, angst and hatred for his own kind.

  I listened as his breathing slowly changed and we both settled into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  A white-hot pain seared my brain and my eyes, causing me to literally jump from my slumber and the bed I had shared with Drake. I lifted both hands to my head and rubbed my temples. I was alone.

  “Drake?” I whispered into the dark room.

  Silence.

  I carefully lifted my legs and placed each foot on the cold floor. I could not hear any movement. A slight chill ran up my spine at the thought that something had happened to Drake and if so, what was waiting for me outside the door?

  How long was I asleep? I wondered quietly.

  After finding my way to the door, I silently opened it just a crack. A dim light entered from the hallway but I still couldn’t see Drake anywhere.

  “Drake!” I exclaimed. All that returned was a dull echo off the bare basement walls.

  I turned and moved across the floor and grabbed a satchel full of clothing laying on the floor at the foot of the bed. I hoisted it across my back and ran as quickly and quietly as I could down the hall until I came back to the bathing room.

  In mere moments, I washed and dressed in black leggings, a fitted red t-shirt and black, ballet-type slipper shoes. Functional and comfortable. My leather jacket hung on a hook on the wall. Seemingly, someone, most likely Drake, had taken the time to clean it of the blood and gore that had spattered it earlier. I slipped it over my shoulders and strapped my small dagger to my thigh.

  Tense, but refreshed, I carefully made my way back up the hallway to the foot of the staircase and listened carefully.

  Why can’t I hear anything? It was frustrating that even with my vampire senses I could not hear so much as a thought from anyone, not even any humans. What was going on?

  I pulled the dagger from its holster and tentatively began tiptoeing up the staircase. The iron gate at the top of the stairs was open, which indicated to me that Drake or someone else had been in and out very recently.

  A quick glance downward revealed the remainder of what looked like a collected pool of blood and large, telltale footprints leading away from it.

  “Only one set of footprints?” I muttered, confused as I gingerly stepped over the burgundy-colored puddle and skulked along the path into the forest.

  A hushed voice caused me to pause and hide. I strained to listen. Was it Drake?

  “I don’t want to hear or see you or any of your followers again. Do you understand? There is enough going on without your interference right now. Yaqui is gone and for good reason. Bide your time and...”

  I swallowed hard as I heard Drake’s familiar voice end abruptly. He must have sensed I was here and listening to every word. The sound of footfall grew faint as whomever he had been speaking with hurried off into the night.

  Glancing up the trail, I straightened up and walked toward the spot I had heard the voices. I needed to confront Drake and find out what was going on.

  I stopped a few meters away from where Drake stood with his back to me. He held a long, slender blade in one hand; the other was on his hip as he stared off into the distance. I felt a shudder run through me as I recalled our intimacies only a short time before.

  “I know you are there, Silver. How much did you hear?”

  “Drake, please tell me what is going on? Who were you talking to and whose blood was that outside the door?” I stood silent while I waited for Drake to face me. He didn’t even turn as he answered.

  “I can’t explain it all right now but you have to trust me. In short order, the Vampire Clans will be more powerful than even you can realize. Once we rid the world of the impure bloodline. As for the blood you saw…” He sighed deeply before continuing. “It was unfortunate for one of Hannah’s nosy brood. He took it upon himself to come too close to my home and to you. I’ve taken care of it. It is nothing for you to worry about. His body is now embers, like the others.”

  The smell of freshly burned vampire flesh was still wafting in the light evening breeze. I closed my eyes and shook my head sadly.

  “So much death,” I said quietly. “When will it end?”

  Despite his own distraction, I knew Drake could feel my frustration and sadness. He turned and placed a large, warm hand on my shoulder. “Soon. It will end sooner than you realize. Come, I know from that poor unfortunate where the majority of Hannah’s brood is still hiding. They had scattered throughout the city since her death but they have mistakenly come together now to try and work out what to do and where to go. Together they will die.”

  Uplifted by the prospect of finding all of the
m together, I ignored the nagging voice that was whispering loudly in my head. The voice that was asking who or what Drake was referring to about things ending soon. “One thing at a time,” I whispered.

  “What?” Drake asked as he grabbed my hand and led me through the dark forest of trees, back toward the city.

  “Never mind,” I muttered. “We will talk later.”

  Trust in him my love. Soon it all will reveal itself to you. Andrew’s voice once again permeated my brain and my heart. A sudden intense stab of guilt froze me in mid step.

  What is there to see? What do you know? My mind sought out answers and reason where there was none. If there was anything I truly believed, it was my love and trust in Andrew, my Vampire King.

  Chapter Nine

  There was a feeling of familiarity as Drake and I hurried silently up the dark alley. Time seemed to slip past the closer we ventured into the city.

  All at once, my knees buckled and drove me to the pavement. An animal-like wail escaped my lips as harsh, guttural sounds invaded my brain.

  Drake knelt at my side and held my shoulders, reminding me to breathe. In mere seconds, the pain subsided and I sat, cross legged, exhausted and trembling in the darkness behind a large building.

  “What...what was that? What just happened?” My breath came in ragged gasps as I struggled to speak.

  Exerting a gentle pressure on my shoulders, Drake helped me to my feet. “I have a hard time believing you have never experienced this before? How long have you existed as a vampire?” he asked.

  “I think I know what you are referring to,” I replied. “Although I have existed for eons, my powers have never quite been this enhanced. I felt and heard these creatures. Hannah’s brood?”

  I already knew the answer but Drake affirmed it by nodding his head.

  “Here? All of them?” A shiver ran through me. Could it be as easy as this? Could this all end tonight? I wondered inwardly.

  “Think of it as a new beginning. You...we both have given up so much for others. It is time for reclamation and for life to go forward,” Drake said as he helped me to my feet.

  I stood and stared at him. It was almost inconceivable to me now that he was once a priest. We now had to work together to end what my error in judgment had caused.

  An image of fair-haired Marie, Andrew’s distant relative flashed in my mind’s eye. She was a former nun who, through circumstance and necessity, I had turned into a fledgling vampire. She, in the end, had served justice on Hannah and killed her.

  I now knew why this place was so familiar. Marie had taken me here once, to this blood bank, in order to save my life when my thirst threatened to destroy me. It was here that Hannah had revealed her treacherous plan and her minions to me.

  “Perfect isn’t it?” Drake asked. His dark eyes glittered like diamonds in the moonlight. I kept forgetting he could read my every thought.

  I nodded in agreement and shifted back and forth, tossing my bejeweled dagger from left to right hand. I was restless and I could feel the anticipation making my pulse hurried and my breathing labored.

  “Silver, you need to keep your emotions in check. These are creatures; animals and nothing more. They are no longer human and not vampires in the truest sense.”

  I nodded my head once in agreement with Drake. Ironic, coming from you.

  If he sensed my sarcasm, he said nothing and motioned for me to move with him to the back doorway of the blood bank. I could also smell fear. The fledglings feared living without Hannah and they feared dying without her as well. They were smarter than I imagined.

  Drake smiled down at me and then with a powerful kick, he shattered the door handle and the door itself sprang open with a loud twanging noise and a thud.

  We rushed into the darkness, anticipating a hoard of new vampires at our heels.

  Nothing.

  “Where are they? I’ve lost touch with them,” I whispered, concerned that my mind had gone quiet and blank.

  At that moment, Drake’s face appeared to go blank and his eyes became devoid of any further expression. His jaw set and he was so still I could not tell if he was even breathing.

  “Drake? What is it? Is something wrong?” I asked as quietly as I could but still wanted him to hear me.

  He remained that way for only a moment but the time that passed felt like hours. “Damn him!” Drake’s voice was hoarse and angry as he spoke. “How could I have been so stupid as to trust him?”

  I reached out, grasped Drake’s sleeve and drew him close to me. “What the hell is going on Drake? You need to tell me now!”

  “You want the truth?” He roared so loudly it caused me to bend backward and seek safety in the wall behind me. As suddenly as his temper appeared, it abated and he wrung his hands in front of his chest. “I’m sorry, Silver. This was not supposed to happen like this. It is not time and now it’s a wretched interference with our plans.”

  I was confused but tried to maintain calm as I straightened up and took a step toward him. “Whose plans Drake? Enough lies or misinformation. I deserve to know what is going on here. Hannah’s brood did not just suddenly disappear into thin air! Does this have to do with the person I overheard you chastising earlier?”

  I could tell by the change in Drake’s posture and body language that I was correct in my assumption. Now I had to press onward and find out who or what we were dealing with.

  “Set,” he said quietly. “It’s Set and his followers who have done this. This was not what I intended, Silver. You must believe me.”

  “Set!” I shrieked. “How is that even possible?”

  Set was a myth within the Vampire Clans. Set’s followers were distantly related to the Toltec or Mayan vampire race. They thought themselves superior and wore snake tattoos on their wrists to identify themselves and warn others in the Clans. They were creatures more than vampires who bought and sold Clan secrets to the highest bidder.

  The Clans thought that Set himself was long destroyed or dead, or as happened to some of the Ancient vampires, mad with age and hiding in self exile from the general vampire population. Set was once a much feared and lauded Prince rumored to have murdered an ancient fertility God in front of his family. His gall was renowned and despised.

  Drake raised his hand in an effort to quiet my rising voice. “Are you insane Drake? Even for you this is unexpected. If, and I mean if, Set is indeed alive and even capable of intelligent thought at his advanced age why would he be here? What were you trying to accomplish?”

  I could tell Drake was struggling to answer. For the first time, he actually looked uncomfortable.

  “Drake,” I said. “There is no time to think about what to say or not to say. Out with it so we can get on with finding these hateful abominations.”

  “He is alive. Yaqui convinced him and his remaining followers to join her in taking over the Vampire Clans. With Yaqui gone, I had hoped, with your help, to convince him to join them rather than conquering. Instead, it seems he’s decided to take over control of Hannah’s brood.”

  I tried to make sense of what Drake was telling me. My stomach felt oily and I could feel hot bile rising in my throat.

  “How did you possibly presume to think Set could be controlled by anyone? Yaqui could have had some hold on him at one point, as she was an Ancient like him, but now with his age and dementia, control will be impossible. His followers are brutal and dangerous. Hannah’s fledglings are young and weak; they will never be able to defend themselves or stop Set from taking them over. They will breed uncontrollably now!” My voice shook with anger and disappointment. I had started to trust Drake and even admittedly developed feelings for him. I betrayed Andrew just as Hannah had betrayed me. What did I have left?

  Drake met my eyes and my heart fluttered. In those dark eyes, I saw sadness and regret. “Believe it or not I thought I was doing what was best. My intention was to prevent war. Do you have any idea what could have happened if Yaqui had followed through with her takeover of the
Clans?”

  I winced at the bloodshed and violence between the vampire factions and the possible dethroning and murder of my beloved Andrew.

  “You forget who you are talking to, Drake. I was Queen for eons. Please don’t think I am unfamiliar with war.” It took all my will to control the anger in my voice.

  “I have not forgotten anything, Silver,” Drake’s gaze was intense as he spoke and I had to turn away in order to compose myself. He was referring to so much more than my former reign as Vampire Queen.

  “Where is Set now? Can you feel him at all? Is he close by?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “Right, back to business,” he said uncomfortably. “It’s hard to tell. You know how well some of the Ancients can hide their minds.”

  I nodded. “True. It is not a gift I have yet mastered, but with Yaqui’s blood inside me, I can tell they are either hiding or have moved very quickly from here. I felt their presence very strongly before now.”

  “They have gone. I remain.”

  Drake and I jumped and turned toward the slick-sounding, arrogant voice that spoke from within the shadows. I held my dagger so tight that the hilt bit into the palm of my hand. I could feel Drake tense and clench his own blade as he moved in close to my side.

  “Set,” we answered in unison.

  “Indeed, Ms. Devries, and what a distinct pleasure to see you again, Father Von Brugel. I did not think our paths would cross again quite this quickly.”

  We watched as Set revealed his hiding place and walked from within the shadowy corridor. He was taller than I imagined and walked with a confident swagger. His auburn-colored haired was cropped close to the scalp and his eyes were as dark as pitch. This was not the appearance of a frail, demented elder. Set was whole and strong and unpredictable.

  As I quickly scanned his hands and body for weapons, I heard Drake hiss quietly. “He doesn’t require psychical weapons. Keep that in mind.”