Aiden let her go and deftly returned to his side of the table. When he was seated again, he resumed the casual, relaxed air he liked to carry around. Cara was starting to see it for what it really was. A mask to hide what lurked beneath. Cara was sure he did it intentionally to deceive others. What better offensive strategy to have than one that ensured your opponent consistently underestimated you. On the surface Aiden appeared to be nonchalant, even lackadaisical. Ever the easy-going, good-natured playboy with all the money, power, and wealth one could dream of at his disposal. But beneath the surface lay a monster Cara would not wish to come up against even in her dreams. The monster beneath the mask was lethal, cunning, conniving, and ruthless. The monster was just as dark as he was deadly. It was also just as tempting as the man that the mask portrayed, maybe even more so.
Cara shook her head. She returned to her seat and forced irrational thoughts of Aiden, both the man and the monster, that would probably have her stamped as certifiably crazy out of her mind.
“You honestly don’t think it was a vampire that killed my father?”
“No, I do not.”
“Then what did?”
“If I divulge that information then you agree to work for me. You also agree that the information is classified and will not be shared with the Division or anyone else.” The threat of what would happen if it were shared was implicit.
Cara was not sure why she believed him but she was inclined to accept the vampire’s terms. What he said was more than a little preposterous, but at this point she did not have anything left to lose. She had followed dead end after dead end trying to find her father’s murderer. The Division had long since given up on helping her for that very reason. She was the only person alive who still cared about bringing her father’s killer to justice. Cara let out an audible sigh and thought to herself, same information, same results. New information, maybe I’ll get some new results. “I’m listening,” she said aloud to Aiden.
He silently beckoned a vampire standing guard at Tuscany’s entrance to come forth. He held out his hand and the vampire placed a large manila envelope in it. The contents of the envelope were a series of pictures, which Aiden laid out one by one on the table. Each featured a different vampire but they all had one trait in common… they looked like they had been torn into by a wild animal.
A sense of déjà vu washed over Cara. The wounds were eerily similar to the gaping whole left in her father’s throat. No sooner than she completed the thought Aiden pulled one final photograph out of the envelope and placed it beside the others on the table. Her eyes connected with the lifeless ones of her father, frozen open in stunned horror. She forced her gaze to stay on his eyes, for even though she knew what lay below his chin, she was not prepared to actually see it again. It would force her to relive the horrible events of that morning all over again and she would not go there. She had not went there in a long time and she would not do so today either. Keeping her eyes locked with her father’s, Cara reached out and hastily flipped the photograph over. She looked up at Aiden.
“You think there is a connection between my father’s murder and those of these three vampires.” She did not bother phrasing it as a question because it wasn’t.
Aiden nodded at her. “I do.”
“And you believe the culprit isn’t a vampire.”
“I do.”
“Then what the hell was it?”
“Wolves killed your father just as they killed three of my vampires and I intend to hunt them down and make them pay for it. I need the help of a skilled hunter to do so. My previous attempts to track them myself have been unsuccessful. ”
“You really think a wild animal killed my father and three vampires?!” Maybe Aiden was not as intelligent as she originally thought. Obviously he had a few screw loose.
“Not a wolf as in a Canis lupis. I mean wolves as in were-wolves,” Aiden said slow and controlled as if he was speaking to someone dense.
Cara chocked on the wine she had just taken a sip of. “Were-wolves are a myth.”
“So are vampires and we obviously exist along with the Fae who were banished from the mortal realm eons ago for reasons too ancient for anyone living to know of and witches who prefer to use their humanity to blend in with the larger human population. Beneath every myth lies a foundation of truth.”
Cara massaged her temples from the information overload. Why didn’t the Division know any of this? Maybe Ford was right when he said there were secrets to be learned. “I swear this gets more absurd by the minute. I am sitting across from a vampire who is telling me all the while I have been thinking vampires killed my father, it was really something no one believes exists and that same something is now killing vampires.”
“I know it is hard to digest but all the information I have gathered points to it as the truth. My first dead vampire with his throat ripped out turned up in Brazil about 4 months ago. No one thought anything of it. Vampires fight over money, power, wealth, territory, women all the time. We are after all predators and overly aggressive by nature. We do not suffer others encroaching on our territory or undermining our authority lightly. While the vampire was not a Lord, he was a Viceroy, a vampire noble that does not hold authority over anyone outside of the lands he owns but has accumulated enough wealth and influence to hold an exalted position within the hierarchy of vampire society. In our society you keep what you kill, and I found it odd that no one ever came forward to claim the title, lands, and wealth that came with the kill. The second and third murders happened in Colombia and Peru. They were also Viceroys and no one came forward to take credit for their kills either. There were also reports of wolf sitings around the areas each of the Viceroys were killed in.”
“But my father was killed fifteen years ago,” Cara said as her mind tried to make sense of the new information. “Why would something murder him then lay low only to pop up fifteen years later conspicuously killing vampires important enough to be noticed by the Crowned Prince?”
“I think the vampires were intended to send a message to us. The wolves may pose a threat, which I will not allow. I will protect my people and our society at any cost.” Aiden delivered the last part with the fierceness of a leader protecting his people. And not one that saw his subjects only as peons obligated to do his bidding, but one that saw his subjects for what they truly were…people. People who relied on him and looked to him for guidance and protection. People whom he was as obligated to serve as they were him. Cara found herself comparing what she had seen and learned of Aiden to what she knew of his father. All the intelligence the Division had been able to gather about the father-son duo reported that Viktor created Aiden in his image and that he was very much his father’s son. Aiden was purported to be every bit as bloodthirsty and ruthless as his father. Cara had no doubt that that was true, but she was starting to see that the two were possibly not one in the same. If she were a betting kind of woman, she would place her money on the possibility that Aiden might turn out to be a very different ruler than his father was.
“I see,” Cara said to Aiden. As much as she wanted to jump at the chance to find her father’s killer her conscience would not let her ignore that in doing so she would be helping the very beings that preyed on human kind. “So this is about preserving the vampires from a threat. I admit your offer is tempting but I don’t think I can bring myself to help vampires their status quo. Seems to me you all could do with a healthy dose of competing to be at the top of the food chain. Maybe it will be a good thing for the predators to become prey. You all prey on my kind; you kill, bleed and maim us. You use us as food then discard us as inferior trash. You do not value human life and you never will. We are disposable to you. Maybe it is time you knew what that felt like.”
Aiden’s eyes glowed gold beneath the dim lighting of the restaurant, betraying how close he was to losing control. She had well and truly pissed him off. “One, it is too late to back out. The time to do so was before I told you what I did. If you walk aw
ay now, you do so without your life. And two, you’re wrong. Humans are not disposable to us. You are our only sustainable food source. We have experimented with both animal and synthetic blood and failed. While they provide us adequate nutrients, they also have the unabidable side effects of diminishing our strength, speed, and other superhuman abilities. Power is everything to a vampire. Therefore, we must tolerate and even assist with the preservation of your species. It is why our laws have come to be what they are. Once the indiscriminate killing of humans by vampires was allowed so long as they did not leave any witnesses or evidence behind to confirm that the blame lay with us. When the Black Death cut Europe’s human population in half during the 14th century, it had devastating effects on our food supply. It was then that vampire law was changed to forbid the indiscriminate killing of humans, forcing vampires to learn to feed without killing. Now, no vampire is allowed to kill a human without proof of cause or provocation. There are harsh penalties for breaking the law.”
“Yup still not good enough. Vampires may not kill us by the thousands anymore but you do still kill us. Maybe one human here, two humans there, three a little more down the line. And I’m guessing as long as the act can be covered up or goes unnoticed no one really makes a big fuss about that particular law being broken. I wonder how many of dozens of people that go missing each year are the result of vampire involvement. Oops, I killed a human. No worries, I’ll just torch the body and no one will ever know the difference. The authorities can’t look to vampire involvement if there is no body left behind to display the puncture wounds, right?”
Aiden stared at her stone faced. “How long have you dreamed of finding your father’s killer and bringing him to justice. The better question is how long have you been futilely hunting your father’s killer? 8 years correct? How does that feel? To chase a ghost for nearly decade and never catch up to him. Don’t you want to finally look into the eyes of your father’s killer and get the revenge you so desperately seek? Maybe then you can let go of the mountain of rage and guilt you’ve carried around for so long,” he added a little more gently toward the end.
“Don’t. You don’t know the first thing about what I feel,” Cara warned him.
“I know more than you think.”
“Really? I’d love to hear why you think that is.”
“I am sure you would, but you won’t.”
It was only there for a second but Cara saw a slight flicker in Aiden’s eyes that mirrored the pain and grief she had grappled with for so long. It made her think that maybe he had not said what he did simply to bait her into helping him. Maybe it came from a place of empathy. Uncomfortable with the prospect of any sort of shared kinship among them, she let the issue drop.
“Let’s say I do decide it’s worth it to know my father’s killer, what exactly do you want from me?”
A small smile played at Aiden’s lips. Cara hated herself for noticing how much more attractive it made him look.
“How many times is it now that you’ve asked me that question?”
“More than I like to count,” Cara gritted out. She did not like to be mocked.
The smile on Aiden’s lips widened and Cara wanted to free her steak knife from its napkin holder and embed it between his eyes. He conspiratorially leaned in closer to her. “Dear Hunter, what do I want with you? About a thousand and one things that would take a thousand and one nights.”
Cara was not even about to touch that with a response. She was adamant about steering away from those particularly dangerous waters whenever they presented themselves. She simply folded her arms and returned the same stone-faced expression he bestowed upon her moments ago.
Aiden let out a sigh. “We’ll discuss that in more detail later. We regrettably have more pressing things to discuss. How do you track a vampire?” He asked her pointedly.”
Cara thought about how much of the truth she wanted to tell him. “It is mostly through instinct and intuition and old-fashioned detective work,” she lied. That was how every other hunter tracked a vampire but the truth of how she did it was much more complex. Something that she had never told anyone, not even Reiya, was that she could literally pick up on their scents and follow the trails they left behind over long distances. Shortly after joining the Division she realized it was not something anyone else could do. She decided to keep her ability to herself. A voice in the back of her mind whispered to her that it was unnatural.
The look an Aiden’s face made it clear he knew there was more to it then she was letting on. Instead of calling her on it he simply said, “Good. That is all I require of you. Help me locate the wolves responsible for the murders the same way you would track down a vampire you were after. ”
Cara still was not entirely comfortable with aiding vampires, even if it may or may not be for the greater good. Aiden made sure to point out the fact that according to myth humans were wolves preferred food source as well. In the end, she made her decision not because of a need or moral duty to protect humanity from an unknown threat, but for purely selfish reasons. She had been chasing her father’s murderer for more than half a decade and Aiden presented her with the very real possibility of finally finding him. She made her decision based on a pure, unadulterated, cloying need for revenge. She would find the fucker, whatever the hell it was, and return the favor of ripping out his throat.
“I’m in,” Cara smiled across the table at Aiden.
It was not missed on him that her smile was not a nice one. It was cold, sadistic, and twisted and promised pain. Aiden thought, not for the first time, that perhaps he was not the only one with a penchant for ruthlessness. The hunter was just as cold-blooded and merciless as he was. Damn if it wasn’t the sexiest thing he had seen on a woman. It made the growing need to have her that much more intense. Soon, Aiden silently promised. Soon.
Nine
Much to her dismay Cara found herself speeding through the streets of Manhattan toward her apartment in a cherry red McLaren. If she were not experiencing it for herself she wouldn’t have thought it possible to speed through the city. It was practically bursting at its seams with residents and tourists and traffic was always a nightmare. Then again the Upper East Side at 3 a.m. was a lot more settled than other parts of the city.
The odometer hit 180 and she knew she should have driven herself home from Tuscany. But no, Aiden insisted. Spouting some machismo nonsense about how now that she worked for him, she was under his watch and he would see that she had a proper escort home in the middle of the night. She called him on his bullshit asking where was his chivalry when he was trying to rip her throat out? He shrugged unapologetically and told her things were different now. He was testing her and she passed. Cara did not buy that excuse for a minute. However, she let it slide. The conversation at Tuscany left her too weary to tackle the issue. As they were leaving the restaurant the sky conveniently decided to open up. The late night shower that poured forth persuaded her to take Aiden up on his offer to have her bike delivered to her apartment. She hated the rain, especially in mid-February when the temperatures were still freezing.
She finally lost it when Aiden hit a curve at breakneck speed then topped off the dash at 240. “Are you trying to kill me again?!” She yelled as her life flashed before her eyes. “You clearly have no qualms with totaling a car that costs five times the amount of the average person’s yearly salary, but I have a great many qualms with you totaling me out.”
Aiden’s mouth twitched slightly at its corners. Then he sent her into a full out apoplectic fit by completely taking his eyes off the road and focusing them on her. In response, a full out laugh burst forth from him.
“I’m glad you find my imminent death amusing,” Cara scowled.
“I didn’t peg you for the melodramatic sort.” His eyes were still on her and not the road.
“I’m not. I am the practical, I want to live to kill a vampire another day sort. If you lose control of this fancy sports car and smash us into a light post or building or
oncoming vehicle, your near immortal ass will survive unscathed, I will not.”
Aiden gave her a smoldering look that could ignite a flame from thin air. “I don’t lose control. Ever.”
“Sure you don’t,” Cara said in a patronizing tone.
He refused to take the bait. “If you don’t believe me, I would be happy to thoroughly demonstrate it in numerous ways with multiple trials if you want proof.”
“Thanks, but I’m not interested,” she declined a little too quickly.
“Are you sure? You might learn a thing or two. Even enjoy it.” Aiden winked at her.
She rolled her eyes. “I doubt it, on both accounts. There is nothing I need to learn from a vampire except new and creative ways to kill your kind. And are you all this egocentric? Is that what you tell yourselves, that humans enjoy it, to make the act of tearing your fangs into their flesh somewhat less barbaric?”
Aiden looked more surprised than offended by her comment. “You’ve never been bitten by a vampire have you?”
“Of course not,” Cara scoffed. “I’m too good for that. Any vampire who gets close enough ends up with a dagger through their heart.”
“Do you know anyone who has been?”
“I only associate with Hunters. Those who have been did not live to tell about it.”
Aiden smirked at her. “I meant willingly.”
“Why would anyone willingly be bitten by a vampire? Unless they were into some kind of weird, extreme S&M shit, but again I am surrounded by Hunters. Most would never put themselves in the position of prey.”
Born In Blood (Born Hunter Book 1) Page 5
