The Jaded Hunter

by The Jaded Hunter(Lit)

  Tyr nodded. Shiva glared down at Jaden with a look of utter disgust. Jaden tried to shake her head. Shiva dispassionately ignored her.

  Throwing his empty bag next to Shiva’s, Tyr picked up the bucket. He whisked it from the room, discarding it away from his home. When they were alone, Shiva came over Jaden. Reaching down, he touched her face, turning it from one side to the other in inspection.

  "I have heard many things of you dhampir," he said, "but none as fierce as this."

  Jaden marveled at his meditative demeanor, but was too weak to ask. Shiva pulled back her gums to inspect her teeth. Jaden knocked her head back, trying to escape his hand. He followed her shaky movements with ease. Satisfied with what he saw, he stood.

  Tyr strode back into the room with a show of dominance. Grabbing his jacket from his trunk, he slid it stiffly over his broad shoulders.

  "Come, Shiva, the night is young. Let us begin our journey." His gaze was cold as he directed it briefly at Jaden. She could detect no emotion in him, despite her blood within his veins, despite the intimacy of their past and the profound gift he had just bestowed upon her--asked for or not. Jaden’s mouth opened to speak. She felt her new heart beating, the ache in it worse than before. She wanted to cry, but tears wouldn’t fall. Tyr turned contemptuously away. "And grab that one there. I wouldn’t want her to miss it."

  Tyr didn’t wait to see if Shiva listened. As he strode past the fireplace, he squelched the flames with a wave of his hand, throwing the cave into completely tomb-like darkness. The knights were fine without the light and Jaden was afforded a chance to test her new vision, as Shiva dragged her by the delicate strands of her hair out of Tyr’s cave home.

  * * * *

  The trio traveled south through Norway, taking a night ferry across the water to Denmark. Tyr barely looked at her, except to shoot her evil glares of dominance. Jaden’s vampiric strength grew after her first day of sleep. Though, she had the distinct feeling that, without her, Tyr and Shiva could’ve moved faster across the earth.

  Shiva bound and gagged her at Tyr’s request to keep her from exploring her newfound powers. Once Shiva had her limbs bound, she caught a small glimmer of manly interest in Tyr as he studied her in her restraints. The glimpse sent a rush of excitement through her. The look faded so quickly she began to doubt it was there at all. Her hands had been left to dangle above her head. She fought the ties but could no more cut through them than she could cut through Tyr’s blatant hatred of her.

  At the first of the night, Tyr and Shiva would leave her to feed. When they returned, Tyr would tear off her gag and shove a squirming rat dispassionately into her face. In the beginning Jaden tried to resist, but the pull was too strong and she was forced to bite into the hairy creature to eat. The stiff fur poked at her lips as the animal squirmed against her mouth. Her eyes shot daggers into Tyr’s, refusing to be subdued by him. Tyr’s gently mocking laughter stung, holding no affection, only scorn. Shiva blinked heavily in disgust, turning his back on her, unable to watch.

  During the feared daylight, they would sleep in old crypts, surrounded by skeletal bodies and musty clothes. Jaden was glad she wasn’t forced to breathe in the stagnant dust. Although she had the eerie sensation that other vampires were around, they didn’t seek them out. In fact, Jaden could feel Shiva and Tyr cloaking their presence from the others.

  From Denmark they traveled by the top of train through Germany. In Germany, Tyr arranged for a private plane to fly them over most of Eastern Europe. They landed in an empty field in Macedonia. The pilot glanced only once at Jaden, not showing the bound woman any concern. Tyr directed him in German so she couldn’t understand how it was he explained her presence.

  Tyr refused to speak directly to her, though she caught him staring at her with a deep-seated abhorrence. His dislike made her skin crawl and the pain in her chest intensify tenfold. Shiva was more benevolent with his words, ordering her quietly in one direction and then the other as he led her about on a rope. He too would stare at her, his eyes roaming curiously over her disheveled hair and dirt smudged face. She wondered if Shiva detected Tyr’s scent on her. It would have explained his interest in her.

  Jaden was forced to piece together the new abilities of her vampire body alone. As she slept in a smelly Macedonian crypt next to her guards, she awoke in a panic to find herself levitating next to the ceiling. Her struggles alerted Shiva and Tyr. The former who laughed in amusement, the latter who grunted and pulled so hard on her ropes that she was forced helplessly into the ground with a hard smack to the concrete earth. The landing left her dazed, her eyes rolling in her head.

  Even under the stress of her dire treatment, the nights moved too quickly for Jaden. As they crossed the border into Greece, her heart fell from her chest to the pit of her stomach. Part of her waited, hoping to hear a tender word from Tyr, some gentle reassurance that he would take care of her. Her body longed for his like before, only worse now that she had the passionate nature of the beast so newly developed in her. There were times when she felt so needy of him, she was sure she could break through her binds and ravish him in front of Shiva as witness. But, then, his eyes would turn to her, probing and dark as if he read her longing for him, and she’d force the temptation aside. There was only cold emptiness inside of Tyr when he looked at her. Tears wouldn’t come to her eyes, though her nose burned with them. Inside her chest there was a deep physical ache that made her want to retch with the force of her unreturned feelings.

  On the last night before they would take a boat over to the Island of Mykonos to meet the vampire council’s boatman, Jaden was released from her bonds. Shiva cut them from her with his fingernails, pulling them apart with his strength when they would hold true. Jaden looked at him, blinking in surprise.

  Seeing her fear, he didn’t comment, but handed her a large fish plucked from the sea. His body was still wet from his swim in the cold ocean, the little beads of water glistening on his skin. Jaden bit hungrily into it as he watched. His eyes didn’t judge her as she ate her unappetizing meal. When she finished, she tossed it aside. Resentment warred within her, as she managed a grudging, "Thanks."

  "Come," Shiva bid her, standing. He began walking through sand to the edge of the ocean.

  Jaden followed him, dread poking in her stomach. Her limbs were a little weak from malnourishment, but she didn’t complain as she trailed over the beach. Shiva led her to the calm rolling waters. Pointing out over the dark depths lighted by a round bright moon, he bid her, "Look."

  Jaden did. She fell to her knees in the white sand, transfixed by the celestial orb. She saw it so clearly, her vision picking out craters and valleys in the bright blue light. The sight entranced her into mindless wonder.

  "It is the vampire sun," Shiva said, kneeling next to her.

  Jaden turned to look at him. His hand touched the white sand, letting it fall through his fingers. The wind picked up the grains, blowing them across Jaden’s lap. She watched the tiny granules glistening with a silvery white cast all around her.

  "And these," Shiva said, waving his hand to encompass the endless beach, "are the sands of a vampire’s life."

  Jaden swallowed, not sure she got his meaning. She blinked, studying his solemn, pale face. He was so slender, so beautiful to behold. His dark eyes were nearly black and beckoned without intending to. She became entranced by him.

  Shiva didn’t pay attention to her enthralled look, pretending not to notice how she stared at his face, his lips, in total fascination as if she could suddenly kiss him. He knew well she felt no real desire for him, above the basest of desires all recently turned felt in their new forms. Taking a handful of sand, he let it fall again, drawing her attention away from his mouth. "This was your mortal life--short, over. You are now like this beach, as are we all--long and unending. No longer can you predict the number of grains in your life for they cannot be counted. And, when you do reach the end of them, the ocean will just wash more up for you."

  Jaden re
ad the meaning in his eyes, the obscure coming into reason. She was one of them, like it or not. He was telling her to accept it, to choose a new alliance. She felt a peace inside of him. He was giving her hope, comfort, in the only way he could.

  Turning to look up the beach at Tyr, he sighed. Glancing back to her, he whispered thoughtfully, "And, like us, you have an eternity to right a wrong."

  Jaden shivered, knowing this knight knew much more than he let on. Shiva stood, leaving her alone on the sand. Jaden turned to watch Tyr. His strong, proud face glowed dully in the moonlight. Her love for him hit her like an impacting wave--powerful and all consuming. If she could feel it after her change, then maybe Tyr was capable of feeling it too. Maybe she had been blind. Maybe she had misjudged him.

  Needing to tell him, she shot to her feet. Weakly, she stumbled across the deserted beach to reach him. Tyr didn’t move to help her. His eyes stayed steadily focused on her every movement. Jaden came to stand just below him. She looked up into his masked features. A vague hope struggled for life within her chest.

  "Tyr, I--" she began in a rush. His hard look cut off her words. The ice blue of his eyes sliced through her as if he could cut her in half.

  "Tomorrow we meet with the council," he said. "I have received word that the boatman will be ready."

  Jaden nodded. Her body trembled in fear. For a moment, she thought she felt Tyr soften towards her. If he would just hold her she could face anything--her uncle, the council, eternity. She waited breathlessly, unable to speak, unable to sing the joy choking to life in her chest. Her lips parted. Tyr turned away. Her hope withered. The joy died.

  Jaden watched the hard line of his back, knowing automatically that she was to follow behind. Her eyes worked wildly over his long hair. The blonde locks were tied back, away from his handsome face. She tried in vain to reason with her sorrow. Her heart sunk deeper into the pit of despair. After tomorrow she might not have an eternity. For, if Tyr wouldn’t champion her, the council would be sure to vote against her. However, if she did by some miracle survive, she doubted forever was enough time to make Tyr realize she was sorry and that he truly did love her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Island of Mykonos, Cyclades

  Tyr sensed Jaden shivering beside him. He knew it wasn’t the cool island night that made her tremble. She was scared. She had been ever since they left his cave. He tried to block her from him, like he had most of the trip, not trusting her emotions as genuine. But, as they stood on the silent beach, the partying crowd of Mykonos’ nightlife behind them, he couldn’t help but hear the strained beating of her heart.

  Every fiber inside of him urged him to touch her. His lips begged him for her kisses. But his mind held firm, knowing that he must hide his feelings well before they were detected by the elders. He knew Shiva already had a suspicion.

  Besides, Tyr couldn’t forget Jaden’s deceptions. Time hadn’t lessened the pain of her lies. She had rekindled emotions inside of him that were long dead, only to dash them into an earthen tomb once more. In centuries he hadn’t dared to feel tenderness of such a magnitude and she used it to trick him.

  Trust me. I love you. The words morphed in his head until they blended into a silent song of torment that wouldn’t leave him.

  Centuries had passed and no one had loved him. They’d been enthralled by him, enchanted. He’d been desired, lusted for in many ways. He’d even been pursued by women who didn’t know his secrets. More than that, he had been feared, despised, revered, but never loved. And for her to pretend such a cruel thing, to make him hope only to take it away was a brutality much worse than that of endless time.

  Jaden shivered again. She glanced at Shiva standing several yards away, nearly hidden by shadows. The slender knight paid them no mind. She dared a glance at Tyr. He was so strong and proud and he had lived through so much. She knew she was a fool for daring to hope that he could think more tenderly of her than the centuries of others that came before her. She loved him so much, and yet she was nothing to him.

  Tyr saw Jaden eyeing him from the corner of his gaze. He pretended to ignore her.

  "Tyr?" she questioned softly. Tyr kept his eyes on the water, waiting for the boatman to come. The sooner the boat came, the sooner it was over. "Won’t you talk to me?"

  "And what would you have me say, princess?" he murmured quietly. The endearment was not tender. It hung between them like a bitter irony choking in the bowels of the underworld.

  "What will they do to me?" she couldn’t keep from asking. Jaden’s fingers lifted absently to her mouth, feeling the sharp fangs. They were still so new to her.

  "Are you scared they will treat you as you have treated others?" he questioned, the bitterness returning as he thought of the folder in the satchel behind him.

  Jaden’s mouth trembled. She pressed them firmly together, pinning her lips closed with her fangs. The salty tang of her blood ran into her mouth. She ignored it. She didn’t answer as her eyes turned to follow his. She was scared of facing them. Who knew what heartless beings they might be? And why should they show her mercy? She was their enemy, the killer of their benighted children.

  "Tyr, I have to explain," Jaden began urgently. As she spoke a thin trail of her blood passed over her lips, dripping off her chin. "I have to explain to you about the photographs you found. It’s not what you think."

  Tyr glanced down to her and was about to answer, but his body prickled in warning. He slashed a hand before her ordering silence. Jaden blinked, startled. She felt the warm stickiness on her lips and absently rubbed it away. Tyr’s eyes went first over the distance, but there was no boat. He looked for Shiva in the shadows, the vampire had disappeared.

  Suddenly, a battle cry went out over the beach. Jaden’s eyes widened in horror as she spun around, turning her back on the water. An army clad in black rushed forward over the sand. Jaden instantly recognized their attire and detected their mortality.

  Glancing fearfully at Tyr, she saw his body postured for a fight. She had to choose--and fast. Loyalty to the humans surged within her, but her heart beat for Tyr. She was no longer mortal, but she didn’t feel like a vampire. She had never belonged in any of their worlds. Now was her chance to choose a side. What should she do? But, the choice had been taken from her. She knew that. Hadn’t Shiva said she needed to choose a new alliance? Would her uncle’s men stop at her, knowing what she had become? Would Mack?

  She closed her eyes. Her fang bit again into the tender flesh of her lips as a reminder. There was no going back to mortality. She chose Tyr.

  Tyr stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. Jaden growled, darting past his side to lunge at a man in the forefront. She thumped against his chest, tackling him to the ground. Her hand snapped to his throat in a choking hold.

  "Jade," the man gasped in terrified surprise.

  Jaden recognized the voice. Ripping the mask from the man’s head, she threw it aside. She saw the fair locks of Tom’s hair drifting in the breeze before she focused on his sharp features. The man gasped, panicked by her sudden assault. His fingers clawed the backs of her hands, digging into the flesh of her knuckles. Again, she pressed her hand around about his neck.

  "Jade," he whispered again, desperate to get her attention. An overly relieved smile came to his face when she lessened her hold. "Thank God you’re alive! We’ve come to save you!"

  "Save me," she said, her eyes glowing hotly with her immortal powers, "or kill me?"

  Tom saw her undead face and squirmed. Her skin was flushed with a ghostly pale beauty. Her lips were tinged with the subtlest shades of blue and crimson. When she spoke, she displayed sharp white teeth that glinted in the moonlight. Kicking his leg around, Tom knocked Jaden in the back of her head. Her body jolted, falling to the sand. Tom sprang to his feet. Jaden was quick to follow. Her eyes turned wide before narrowing dangerously on his retreating back. She could smell Tom’s fear--not only of her, but of all things unknown. She detected intolerance and savagery an
d she hated him, more so than when she was human.

  Tyr saw Jaden fighting Mack’s soldier from the corner of his eye. She handled herself well as they exchanged punches. He grudgingly respected her skill, recognizing moves she had used against him while they sparred. Why was she fighting the man? Tyr half expected her to help them. He had little time to ponder it as he turned to face the dozen men encircling him. One carried at net, others menacingly brandished stakes and swords.

  Above them on the road leading past the beach, Mack sat in his car watching, puffing quietly on his cigar. He clutched a phone in his hands, ready to call a gunman he had waiting in the trees. It was so dark he couldn’t see who was who, except for the gigantic creature surrounded by his men. Mack knew that was Tyr. His body jolted with eagerness as the circle enclosed around the knight. His eyes scanned the beach for Jaden.

  Jaden flew at Tom, empowered by the endurance of her rebirth. His fist met her jaw, her stomach, her temple. His feet kicked at her legs knocking them out from under her. Jaden jumped right back up. A smile played over her features. Tom froze, knowing suddenly that she toyed with him. A demonic light had entered her eyes as she studied him. Jaden pounced, tackling him to the ground. She pinned his body beneath her. Her mouth opened to bite him.

  "No, Jade," Tom wheezed. "You don’t want to do this. We’re friends!"

  "Friends?" she asked. Jaden’s lip curled. The beast inside of her took over. She had been feasting on rodents and fish for so long that her body instinctively craved a real meal. Her mouth opened. Her head sank.

  "Jade!"

  Jaden froze. The sound of childhood broke through the fog in her brain. Her eyes darted to see her uncle standing on the dock above. His arms were widespread for her. The fire and blood in her eyes lessened to see him there, waiting for her, calling her. Her eyes tilted, seeing the smile on his face as he sought her in the darkness. He was relieved. He was calling to her, but she couldn’t hear the words as blood rushed in her ears. Beneath her, Tom sighed in relief.