Page 19 of Immortal Hunter
Chapter Nine
Ewan
For an hourafter he’d escorted the tall, beautiful blond from the pub, Ewan tried to shake the sense of unease that had settled in his gut. But then a large group of rowdy older men came in, and he found himself too busy to worry about anything other than his work.
When he’d finished pouring the second round for everyone, he motioned to Alfie that he needed to take a piss and headed for the back of the pub. He stared at his reflection in the mirror while washing his hands. “Get yer head on straight, Ewan,” he muttered to himself.
The door opened, and a large man wearing a long brown leather coat lumbered inside. “I have been looking for you,” he said, his voice holding an accent Ewan couldn’t place.
A second person he didn’t know looking for him? Panic shot through him just as the man’s hand closed around his throat, cutting off his air. He stared into a pair of blood red eyes, and then nothing else mattered but whatever this man was about to say.
“You will come quietly out the back door with me, human. Not a sound out of you. Do you understand me?”
Ewan nodded, and when the man wrapped his beefy arm around him and guided him down the hall and out into the night, Ewan didn’t protest. They approached an old, beat-up car, and the man fished a set of keys out of his pocket.
“Get in,” he said as he lifted the lid of the boot.
Obediently, Ewan climbed into the small, cramped space, and when he stared back up at the man, fear crawled up the back of his throat. “My name is Hagen,” the man said. “And you are now mine.”
Hagen punched him, so hard and fast, Ewan didn’t see it coming, and as he lost consciousness, his last thought was of the woman he didn’t know and how sad she’d looked when he’d said goodbye.
* * *
Kára
By the time she reached the coven’s house, she’d gone from sad to angry to enraged. Pounding on the ornate doors, she screamed, “Open up, Vesper. I know you are in there.”
When no one answered, Kára pressed her ear to the wood. Nothing. Silence. “They arenotgetting away with this.”
Skirting the house, she leapt over the fence that protected the backyard from view. All thirteen of those bitches were standing in their precious circle, naked and chanting.
“What did you do?” Kára roared as she streaked towards them. Just before she could sink her hands into Vesper’s hair, ready to expose her neck and drain her of every drop of her precious blood, she bounced off a barrier and was thrown back five meters. “Fuck.”
None of the thirteen even acknowledged her presence, and she tried again, this time heading for the youngest witch, a pretty thing she thought was named Celia. Approaching slowly, she felt for the barrier. As her skin started to tingle, she fingered the bracelet with Vesper’s moonstone.
“I demand an audience,” she said quietly. “You took my mate from me, and you will answer for that crime.”
The magic parted, and Kára entered the circle. As before, her strength waned, but she didn’t need her unique abilities to kill every one of the witches before her. Hagen had seen to that. He’d taught her how to fight—and fight dirty—and she was not above using every technique she’d learned in four centuries of vampire life to get her mate back.
Though Kára stared directly at Vesper, the witches all spoke as one. “The moment you told him of your destiny, a burst of power washed over the world. This power will draw the attention of what is coming and bring the darkness upon all of us.”
“Whatis coming? You speak in riddles, in half-truths, then expect the rest of the world to bend to your will. I am not a member of your coven. I never agreed to your…rules.” She held up her wrist. “I let you bind me, track me. All in exchange for my mate’s safety. And you destroyed him anyway.”
Now, Vesper alone spoke. “We saved him, vampire. And you as well. He will be safe. He remembers nothing of his past as a Hunter. Nothing of the world of theOther. We did more for him than you ever could. You let yourself become distracted by the mating and did not even see fit to tell us you’d run into your sire. It isyouwho failed to hold up your end of the bargain. Now, you must make good on your vow. Hunt down your sire, contact us, and help us kill him. Then we will free you from any further obligation.”
“And what of my mate?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They didn’t care that they’d taken everything from her. Not as long as she yielded to their will.
“The spell is irreversible,” Vesper said simply. “I recommend you glamour him and send him away. If you do not…”
The bracelet tightened to the point of pain, and the metal links started to burn. The stench of silver turned Kára’s stomach, and she cradled her hand gently while her stare bored into Vesper’s sightless eyes. “You are a scourge on this town,” Kára snarled, baring her fangs. “And when I have ended Hagen and consigned him to dust, I will return and destroy all of you.”
Vesper smiled, and with a flourish of her hand, sent Kára flying out of the circle and into the fence. A shard of wood embedded itself in Kára’s chest only a few centimeters from her heart. “You can try, vampire. But your strength is nothing compared to our magic. We can end you with a single thought—and may still. Do not forget that.”
Kára closed her eyes as she wrapped her fingers around the shard and yanked it out of her body. When the pain subsided and she risked looking around, she swore under her breath. They’d sent her home. Back to her little cottage in the woods with the broken door and all of her memories.
* * *
Kára had just changedinto a fresh shirt—the fucking witches had ruined the only part of Ewan she’d had left—when her phone buzzed on the counter.
