Page 16 of Immortal Hunter
In the back alley, he leaned against the wall and stared up at the purples and blues of the sky. He’d grown up in the light, but then taught to hunt in the dark. He knew both worlds. Lived in both worlds. Wanted both worlds. But then he thought of Declan and Riley. How she’d saved his life, and the look of utter and complete devotion on Declan’s face when he’d been prepared to sacrifice himself to save her.
Kára was brave and beautiful and made him feel like no other in his life ever had. Yet he knew so little about her—and given her age, there was probably much to know.
“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” a raspy, feminine voice said from the shadows.
“Fuck me,” he yelped as his entire body went on alert. He was losing his edge. Tommy would have beaten him black and blue if Ewan had let someone sneak up on him back in Dublin. “I dinnae see ya’ there.”
“No. You would not have.” The woman stepped forward, her long, gray hair trailing over slim shoulders. “I came for you, Ewan Blair. To offer you a choice.”
“How do ya’ know me name?” Ewan reached for the small folding knife he’d tucked in his pocket.
With a wave of her hand, the woman called upon a gust of wind that knocked the knife from his fingers. “Now, now…you should learn some manners, young man.”
“Yer a witch.”
“Mynameis Vesper.” A few whispered words, and the woman’s eyes turned from milky gray to almost pure white. “Listen carefully, Hunter.”
“I’m no—” His lips welded themselves shut, and he clutched at his mouth, trying to free himself from her spell, but it was no use.
“I said, ‘listen.’ There’s something you need to know. This town is under treaty. My coven keeps the Hunters and vampires at bay, and in exchange, St. John’s is protected.”
From what?
“From an evil so terrible, if it takes hold, it will grow until it consumes everything good in this world. We need the vampire’s help, but she’s consumed by this infernal mating madness. So I am going to put an end to it. With you.”
Fuck me. She just read my mind.
Vesper pulled a small vial from her pocket. “This draught will sever your bond. You’ll forget all about one another, you’ll both be safe, and she’ll be able to enforce the treaty.”
As the witch pressed the small glass container into his hand, Ewan’s entire body shuddered. This was wrong. He might notwantto mate with Kára…not exactly…but severing the bond with a spell?
“It has to be your choice, young Ewan Blair. Mate with the vampire and ensure not only your destruction, but hers and the rest of the world’s as well. Or take this and save us all. She is distracted, her mind focused solely on you, and we cannot allow that to continue. It is possible for us to spell her and cause her to forget, but her mind has been tortured more than enough for a dozen lifetimes. So we come to you.”
His lips parted, and Ewan sucked in a deep breath. “Witch—Vesper—this will hurt Kára, aye?”
Vesper inclined her head. “It will. But she’s a Valkyrie. She’s been hurt worse before. She will recover. But if you don’t do this, the rest of us will not.”
* * *
Kára
When she woke, her eyes were swollen, and her pillow damp. She hadn’t cried in decades. Perhaps even a century. Yet here she was, pining over a man. Ahuman. A Hunter. The tether between them pulled taut, and the connection made it hard to think straight.
Checking the time, she pulled on the only dress she owned, a black number with a plunging neckline and a long skirt that could easily be tucked and tied should she need to fight. It molded to her like a second skin, and she smoothed her hands down her hips. One of the blessings of her making…she would never age and never gain an ounce. The last time she’d put the dress on, she’d been followed around by a dozen different suitors at a party in London. And then she’d glamoured the rogue shifter who’d been terrorizing the town and had convinced him to move to South America.
Grabbing her weapons belt, she cinched it tight, but as she was about to open her door, her hand slipped off the knob. Was she really going to try to force Ewan to accept her? How could she do so when she’d suffered so long under the sadistic tortures of her sire?
A sob caught in her throat as one of the worst moments of her vampire existence came rushing back to her, the sights, sounds, and smells overwhelming, pulling her from the present and sending her back two hundred years, to a dark, dank dungeon in northern Sweden.
“You will come to heel, Kára,” Hagen said, his voice low and threatening. “Or you will rue the day you were reborn.”
“I…already…do…” Kára gasped. Naked, she lay on a rough wooden table, silver chains biting into her wrists and ankles, holding her down and burning her skin. The scent of her blood hung thick in the air, and her back burned like the fires of hell were lapping at her skin. He’d kept her bound for months, scarring her, letting her heal, and then coming at her anew. All to get her to submit to him. “You will never break me.”
Hagen slammed the silver studded belt down on her back, and Kára bit through her lip with her own fangs. She wouldn’t give her sire the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
Over and over again, he beat her and flayed her skin, trying to turn her to his side with promises of peace, of no more pain, of all the blood she could drink. And she was weakening.
“You have been without blood for six days now, daughter. How much longer do you think you can last?”
