Page 12 of Immortal Hunter
“You are a vampire without a clan, Kára. You and your sisters. And if you do not come back with me, I cannot protect you.”
“Fuck you,” Kára said as she pushed to her feet, ignoring his offered hand. “I would sooner die than submit to yourprotectionever again. Leave. And never return.”
“And where do you think I could get in two hours?” Hagen gestured to the horizon. “The sun is due soon.”
“Then burn,” she spat.
“I am hurt, Kára. After all I have done for you…” Hagen pressed his fist to his heart. “I will not go without you. And I am having such fun here.”
“You killed that shifter last night.” Kicking her destroyed knife to the side, she gripped her remaining blade tighter. “This is a safe town. Those who do not follow our rules…are dealt with.”
She would give him one chance. Because if the witches got a hold of him, they’d delve into his mind, and they’d see what she’d done under his control. And then…they’d end her.
Hagen streaked forward, grabbed Kára around the throat, and backed her against the wall. His cold breath ghosted across her cheek, and he ran his nose along her neck. “You reek of human.”
“I feed on them. What do you expect?”
He wasn’t cutting off her air, but his eyes flooded a deep red as his gaze bore into her. “Something is different.”
Kára willed her heart to settle down, to stop beating for just the few moments it would take to get away from him and get to Ewan.
“I’m free of you. That’s what’s different, you sadistic goat-fucker.”
Hagen cocked his head. “You have a heartbeat. A mate. How interesting. Perhaps I should find him and introduce myself.”
No! Anything but that.
Bringing her hands up with every ounce of her vampire speed, she broke his hold on her, shoved him back, and jumped. Her legs carried her halfway up the building, and she got one hand on the old metal gutter, clutching it with desperate fingers. From there, she swung the rest of her body up onto the roof and crossed half a dozen buildings before looking back.
He hadn’t followed. She had to get to Ewan, but if she wasn’t careful, she’d lead her sire right to her mate. If he got a hold of Ewan, he’d kill him. Or worse. He’d turn him and subject Ewan to the same horrific acts she and her sisters had suffered.
He willnotget to my mate. He cannot take anything more from me. I will not allow it.
She kept to the rooftops as much as she could, until dropping down into the shadows by the docks.
I am coming, Ewan. I will keep you safe. Even if it kills me.
* * *
Ewan
The end of his shift was quiet, and Ewan closed out the till, secured the cashbox in the safe, and headed to lock the pub’s door. But a burst of cool night air ruffled his head before he got there, and he whirled around.
“Shite, Kára. What are ya’ doin’ here?” He wanted to kick her out, but her scent and the odd tug on his heart he’d felt all day strengthened, and he couldn’t find the words to reject her.
“I came for you.” In a single blink, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his.
Ewan groaned, the taste of her unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. She was home, and he couldn’t understand why. He tangled his fingers in her hair, and Kára hooked her leg around his.
“I need you, Ewan.”
Unlike the previous night, her voice shook, and when he looked into her eyes, he thought…was that fear? “We can go upstairs—”
“No. My place. Please? There are things we must discuss, and sunrise is not far away.”
He nodded, then took a step away, needing to put some distance between them. “Yer not glamourin’ me, are ya’, luv?”
“No.” Kára took his hand and pressed it to her heart. He felt the steady, slow beat, and sucked in a breath. Vampires didn’t have a heartbeat. Whatwasshe?
