Token Vampire (Token Huntress Book 2)

by Kia Carrington-Russell

  Connor halted raising his fingers to Chase and me. There was a small crevasse, where only one person at a time could barely fit. I heard scuttling noises and heavy breathing. There was a light pouring noise of water, like a fountain. I went to step closer, but Connor grabbed my shoulder. Instantly Chase’s hand was on Connor. Connor gave him a direct look. He wasn’t being threatening, but Chase was overcautious.

  “I wouldn’t step out past the crevasse if I were you,” Connor urged. I held eye contact with his beautiful blue eyes for a moment longer, before pushing past him so I could look further out through the crevasse, without stepping through.

  “The waterfall helps block the sun of daytime for them,” Connor lowly said. Chase stood behind me as Connor stepped aside. I could feel there was movement outside; I could sense the coldness of where there should be body heat radiating from them.

  I would have been startled, if I hadn’t felt the presence of the creature lingering against the wall. Large fangs that dipped over the vampires lip crept out from the darkness. It sniffed hysterically, only centimeters from my face. Its glazed eyes searched for our presence, yet it couldn’t see us, but somehow it sensed us.

  “Sabers?” Chase said, examining the same creature in front of us. It’s one eye searched back and forth through the crevasse.

  “It is one of the biggest packs we found. They rest here during day, to keep away from the sun. Sabers are still affected by the sun, although they don’t burst into flames like the idiotic humans thought, it still affects them. It near cripples sabers, unless it’s an overcast day. We have now only been here for six months. Cesar had his eye on this location for a while. What would deter any other coven or council force, more than having to go through one of the largest pack of sabers on this continent?” Connor said. “However this was not doable until Cesar found the Hunter who had the gift of concealment. Once that was his, he was able to conceal our presence within the walls.”

  “I thought his gift didn’t work, if you were physically seen?” I asked, still watching the Saber that sniffed in our direction. Its ghastly breath spread over my heightened smell.

  “Sabers rely on their senses more than anything, mostly their smell. But granted they are not blind. Cesar renews the concealment on the tunnels constantly. This is why, outside of this concealment, he cannot physically cover anything else. He can conceal smell and the presence of someone, but not their physical state, because all that energy is constantly washing over this coven. It’s no surprise that he is weaker now than before, although still admirable and almost near impossible to challenge. He conceals the rocky walls and what dwells within them. Basically, he has bubbled this whole system from everyone’s sight. Even the sabers, who physically peer into our eyes, they can’t see through that bubble.”

  I looked at Chase trying to read a reaction from him. But he only watched the saber in interest. When I looked back, the Saber was no longer there, it had given up. Past it, I saw shadows of many more, with the sounds of the pouring waterfall.

  “And if we were to step out of this crevasse?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Then you would be walking in the midst of their lair.” Connor said impartial. “I wish you the very best, if you decide to take your Hunter friends through there. There is another two-hundred and fifty-six meters, until you reach the waterfall and break out into the woods. Also keep in mind that these are not malnutrition sabers that you might have challenged in the city. In the woods here on a completely different land piece, they are faster and stronger.” That information sunk in. It would be near impossible, to move Julia and Dillian out, even with Hunter and vampire speed. With so many Sabers we wouldn’t make it out unscathed.

  “Shall we return?” Connor asked and gestured his hand into the direction, back towards the tunnels. Tythian was our only way of escape and for that, I had to push and make sure I went to the human compound to hold up my end of the deal. I would find Whitney’s brother, and set flames to the rest of them that caused her harm or discomfort. I will find Julia and Dillian a safe place to live, and one with purpose. A hunter without purpose was like the remains of a saber. Eventually, we would lose our mind and sanity. Especially Julia and Dillian who felt empathy towards the humans, they would soon be in disarray. It was in their genes.

  W aiting for Cesar was tedious; he had now been gone for a long time. As the leader, I wondered if he had decapitated Thomas himself or given mercy. We all stayed within the small room, waiting. Everyone sat uncomfortably amongst the odd companionship. Amongst all, Chase slept through it all unbothered by the awkward tension. When I prodded within his mind, to see if he was awake a smile crept on his lips, but he never opened his eyes.

  Yolo did not speak of the human compound any further. Ultimately, he knew it was not his decision and that when Cesar returned, I would ask to be involved with or without Yolo’s permission. I noted that out of the four brothers, Balzar was the only one who was not here. It was obviously because he was unable to control himself around hunters. He was around one hundred and fifty vampire years, and yet he still found it difficult to suppress the urge to attack hunters and humans. How were I to survive in such an unexpected way and world?

  Everyone jarred alert, with the heavy footing of a vampire walking into our direction. There was no mistaking it to be Cesar, at vampire speed I flew out the door to reach him first and make my request. A small breeze swept around me as I stopped in front of Cesar, within the tunnels.

  Cesar only smiled at me with a laugh. “Ah Esmore, you’re as subtle as a rhino dear, you really need to work on your vampire skills. I have a task for you.”

  “I have a favor to ask of you,” I said forwardly. Cesar rubbed his orange beard as he looked towards the ceiling, as if recalling a memory. He began a monstrous laugh. “They told me if I ever had a little girl, she would be more demanding, but I didn’t expect it so soon.” After his inside joke with another ceased, he focused on me seriously. “I have a task and you have a favor to request- this should be interesting. Let me go first. I want you to lead a team tomorrow. Members of separate councils are starting to move for their meeting. One of my scouts have recently found a group of them, I want you to inspect it. I need to find out their numbers, of which they migrate with and whose council it is.” I could sense someone listening; someone stood close but only hid in the shadows, for now. It was a conversation Cesar didn’t mind this vampire overhearing.

  “Is it Oppollo’s council?” Balzar asked. His face crept out of the dark as he stepped closer. Well he was equipped to be a vampire: lurking and creepy. A flash of rage crossed Cesar’s face at the mention of the name Oppollo.

  “Who’s Oppollo?” I asked indiscreetly. A long time swept through us as Cesar attempted to calm his facial expressions, but his knuckles whitened over his bone as he attempted to sooth himself. Unlike other vampires I had met, Cesar could conceal his expression and distaste for particular things and fellow vampires. But not when this particular Council leader’s name was mentioned.

  “Oppollo is the vampire who turned me. To say the least, I’ve hated him for this long. He is leader to one of the largest Council’s, I want him and his group eradicated from the face of this earth. I want him to feel dirt in his teeth, before I watch his corpse decay at my very own hands,” Cesar spat venomously.

  “So why have me lead a team to inspect it? Wouldn’t you rather have someone who has been within your coven for some time now, surely you already have an inspection group?” I said still unclear of his revolve. He must have an ulterior motive, by putting me in such a position of power.

  “Why indeed,” Balzar grumbled. “Apparently, baby sis is the favorite.”

  I hissed at his referral of me being, ‘baby sis’. The other three had implied and named me the same, but when Balzar said it, it forced me to cringe.

  “You would be wise to watch your tongue,” Cesar said threateningly. “Well I thought it was obvious. The coven doesn’t like the change of yo
u living within the same walls as them, but they must learn your importance and who you are. Instead of waiting out and trying to wean you into the group, simply we put you at the top and make you leader straight away. I don’t play games, they either follow or they don’t. They know the consequences if they choose not to.”

  “They won’t like it,” Balzar grumbled.

  “This coven isn’t meant to be a little love nest for everyone. You either follow orders or you don’t. Secondly, I know how hard it is for you, Esmore. To be a Token within your guild; and to now be shifted here- powerless. I hope you stay with us, with your real family-”

  “This isn’t my family. You are not my dad,” I snapped. My fangs split my gums in the snarl and revealed themselves. “My Dad died, he was the one who raised me to keep this monster within me at bay, and you are trying to exploit it.”

  “I am not trying to exploit anything. I am trying to give you purpose. I know how mad hatter Hunters go without any direction or order, I want to offer you that. And if you agree to this task, I will agree to your request.” I arched an eyebrow and crossed my arms enjoying the sound of that. The three other brothers walked into this meeting, and had already overheard what was mentioned. I could still feel Chase’s presence, lying down comfortably across the bed, simply listening in on our conversation. The image was very different to the one where he always lazed in his hammock. Dillian and Julia were situated close to him, and sat at the wooden table, eating some fruit that she had retrieved from her bag.

  “Before she suggests her request, I don’t like it,” Yolo presented, although half-assed. He said it in caution, but his carefree nature told me he didn’t really care either way.

  “I want to go with Yolo to the human compound. I want to see if it is a safe location for Dillian and Julia to stay within. I know there is a high risk that they would only experiment on them because they are Hunters, but I have to see for myself. I can’t cross out any options.” Cesar sighed expectantly, as if he knew this request was coming.

  “There is no guarantee you won’t register as vampire in the scans. You could destroy the whole infiltration Yolo has underway,” Cesar said, rubbing his eyebrows together in a stressful gesture.

  “Although I agree Cesar,” Connor interrupted. “With her also being a new vampire she lay risk at attacking the humans within the compound uncontrollably, but I think we could also use this to our advantage. If she comes up as neither vampire nor hunter in the scan, then she could focus on another part of the system. Yolo only has access to their records and medical procedures, it might not hurt to have her try and focus on other departments, perhaps even their current military force. If they are in fact of the government from the human time, then they might still have a fair bit of gun power. Considering they are experimenting to make Hunters; what if they are using some already, whether defect or not.” I stared at Connor for a moment. Surprised that he spoke so much in one sentence, but also that he defended me and further reasoned my purpose of going. Tythian stayed silent, which made me consider that Connor only thought of such a scheme because Tythian had already told him of why he truly wanted me to go.

  “Am I the only one registering the word, ‘risk’, being used repetitively,” Balzar sniped. “We got by fine before she came, we can still manage without her.”

  “Congratulations Balzar,” Cesar said jollily. “You have just been made second in command to Esmore, and will follow her tomorrow as she inspects out this Council group. You will basically be her lap dog and do every order she tells you to. If you don’t learn to keep your sass to yourself lad, after I’ve already warned you, you’re going to be punished like a child.”

  “Pfft.” Yolo covered his snicker with his hand, as he looked away. Balzar mixed with rage and the urge to say something else. But at the hint of Yolo’s laughter Balzar turned on him.

  “I am going to tear you apart,” Balzar growled at Yolo.

  “Don’t you have to ask for permission first, lap dog?” Yolo laughed again. Both of them ran into the tunnels at heightened speed. Obviously, the two were very used to taking their rage out on one another.

  “Tythian you seem awfully silent on the matter,” Cesar said crossing his arms and looking at Tythian expectantly. Obviously, Tythian was who Cesar went to, if in confusion or in need of advice.

  “I think it’s a risk. But I also think it will pay off if it works and that we could use that resource. I agree, send her to inspect the Council group migrating. I will teleport them, only a mere half day run from the location. They can inspect and return by dusk tomorrow. It gives them a few hours to inspect and watch. If you take Lydia, she will be able to decipher whose group it is. She has knowledge of those who publicly have gifts and might be able to identify the group by that. In the meantime, I will see if I am still welcome within Fier’s council; although, it is very possible he might have already learnt of my true identity and my false alliance with him. If he has missed it then I still have an opportunity to learn of their next movement. I’ve already been gone for a day, perhaps my return won’t be so unexpected. And then let the little vampire go with Yolo, to learn of their weaponry and such. Maybe we will learn something, Yolo has not been able to report.”

  After a long moment of thought, Cesar continued to rub his orange beard as he looked at me. “Do you even know how to act human, love?” I was taken aback by his question, yet it was the most logical question there was. “You raise your head too proudly, to be only a human. And they have that annoying thing, where their shoulders and back slouch. You need to learn that posture quickly and try to get a different air about you, one that says, ‘I’m actually a really nice girl and if you stole a piece of my cake, I won’t kill you over it,’” Cesar joked. I didn’t understand his reference, but to his advice and attempted to awkwardly slouch my shoulders. It was so discomforting that I thought my face was pulling such expressions that I couldn’t control.

  Yolo clapped his hands, now coming back to the group with a smile on his face. “Kicked his ass,” he laughed, pointing back towards where he must have fought with Balzar. “It sooo pays off not being the baby of the brothers anymore. It always used to be me; impaled to the walls in joking spirit.” Tythian and Connor exchanged a certain gleam in their eyes.

  “Never fret, the mastermind is now here,” Yolo gloated. “Have her pretend to suffer amnesia. There are humans within the compound who study the brain and characteristics of humans. I once had a friend who suffered amnesia. They didn’t recall anything about themselves, anything,” he emphasized. “We could call you Ellie. I could inform them that, I found you knocked unconscious with a wound to your head, it explains my absence for the last few days. I could say, I’ve been treating your wounds. The only thing you remember or feel comfortable with is weapons. Sometimes things come naturally to amnesia patients, this could be yours. It will give you the chance to infiltrate their military sector. I will try to organize for you to meet Sydney, himself,” Yolo said very proud of his plan.

  “Who is Sydney?” I asked, so far liking his plan.

  “Sydney is in charge of that section. He trains a lot of the humans there and has a team, they are the ones who usually track singular vampires and sabers; take them down and bring them back for testing. They are rather elite, considering they are only human. If you can get within that group, it would be to our advantage, to learn of their tactics. That way too you can inspect the area and deem whether it is stable enough for your little hunter friends.” I looked at Cesar expectantly, that plan could work. I could do all those things. I cringed at the thought of pretending to be human, but perhaps it wouldn’t be as hard as I thought. I had already attempted it within the Council, and no one suspected otherwise.

  “My only request is: that if you feel like you are losing your senses or control, you must get out of there, Esmore. You can’t eat the entire camp. It only puts us all at risk. You need to feast regularly, I mean every day. We can’t risk you going on a frenzy feast,” Cesa
r said. Before I could argue, Cesar raised his finger to me. “I know you think you have control over this, but it’s not something you control, Esmore. Being a vampire is like being a wild animal, eventually you will be led by instinct alone and your morals will come after that; after the damage you have caused, not during. I will agree for now, but if at any point, I feel like you are far from control, I will remove your involvement. I am only letting you go because you are part Hunter, and I hope, that is the part that will help you keep in check.”

  There was a moment of understanding amongst all of us. I took Cesar’s advice seriously. I felt the animal that he spoke about; reflect already within me, trying to claw out at every chance it had. I had always felt that within me, but now that I had awakened it, it was more prominent than ever.

  “Now, move them to their new quarters, a little more room for you, and where you can monitor your friends at the same time. Afterwards, Connor, could you show her to the team she will be in charge of, and have them prepare for the departure tomorrow. Come and get me when they are ready.” Cesar held out his hand past us. “Come along love, you and I have much time for discussion,” Cesar said to my mother, who had obviously been listening to our conversation beside the door. She walked through us. Before she grabbed Cesar’s hand she grabbed mine, and squeezed it. She pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “I will come speak with you soon, my beautiful daughter,” my mother said with such a glowing smile, it reminded me of the mother I once knew. She took hold of Cesar’s hand and together, they walked into the darkness of the tunnels.

  “You are starting to become an errands boy, Connor,” Yolo joked. Connor’s glare alone had Yolo running with laughter. “Well, that’s my queue to leave.”