“And there is no talking you out of this? Whatsoever?” Reiya had to ask one final time.
“Sorry, but no. None whatsoever.”
“You have my blessing,” Reiya sighed, “but if you do not make it back here in one piece, I will dismember him.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
And like that it was final. She would be leaving for South America with the Prince of Darkness himself at dawn. Reiya hesitated at calling the others back in.
Cara sighed. “What is it?”
“I also saw the way you looked at him,” she said quietly. “ I have been collecting intel since he showed up in Manhattan. It is pretty damn hard to find any worthwhile information on him but one fact I did readily come across is that he is notorious when it comes to women. He has a reputation for collecting eccentric lovers. But his interest never lasts long. They are fleeting amusements to him, nothing more.”
“Like I said, I’m not easy prey,” Cara responded even more quiet.
Fourteen
“Time for tequila!” Reyes called out as he brought what had to be the world’s biggest bottle and three shot glasses back from the kitchen.
Cara and Reiya were sprawled across the common room floor. Reiya insisted on going over the details of her upcoming trip once more. This was the thousandth time they had done so, but Cara was willing to indulge her one final time.
“Your plane will land in South America just before sunset. The plan is for you to visit the sites where the three vampires were murdered and see if you can find anything worthwhile that the vampires missed. I know the agreement is to work with these vampires, but be careful, Cara. Do not forget what they are. No matter how civilized or evolved they may appear on the outside they are still predators, first and foremost.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know the monsters I am dealing with.”
“Still, I would feel a lot better if I knew how long you are going to be gone.”
“I know you would, but even I am unsure of that. Aiden believes the answer to my father’s death lies somewhere in South America. If he is right, then I am not leaving until I get the answers I have sought after for so long.”
“I don’t like it, but I understand.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Okay, okay, enough of the mushy stuff,” Reyes stated as he filled their shot glasses with tequila. “Into the mouth and over the tongue, look out tequila, here we come!” He sang out.
“You are such a douche,” Reiya and Cara told him in unison then burst out laughing. They clinked their shot glasses together with Reyes’ then the three of them downed the contents.
As always, Reiya was the first of their trio to pass out. She was the lightweight of their group and after two or three shots she was inevitably done for the night. Reiya lie on the floor beside them snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Cara and Reyes sat beside her with their backs against the sofa. Reyes flipped through the satellite channels looking for a late night movie.
“See anything you want to watch?” he asked Cara.
She shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. I should really call it a night. Try to get some sleep before the flight. But I’m too anxious.”
“And drunk,” Reyes nudged his shoulder against hers. “You never sleep when you’re drunk. You and Reiya are like polar opposites. She cannot keep her eyes open and you cannot close yours.”
Reyes settled on an old black and white horror movie.
“You and your horror movies. If I’ve had to put up with them for the last seven years we have been living together, how long has poor Reiya had to?” Cara laughed aloud.
“For as long as we could sit up unassisted,” Reyes laughed too. “Our Dad loved them as much as I do. Our mother was a hunter so she worked all the crazy hours we do. Dad was our main caregiver. He quit work to be able to stay at home with us and give us all the attention we needed. I remember staying up all hours into the night sitting on the couch beside my Dad watching old horror flicks. Reiya could never keep her eyes open long after the sun went down. It is a wonder she has made it this far as a hunter.”
“Yeah I think she secretly takes No Doze when no one is looking,” Cara joked.
Reyes nudged her shoulder again and smiled at her with affection. It caught Cara slightly off guard because it contained none of his usual mocking sleaziness. His face held genuine affection; the way one sibling would lovingly look at another. Cara warmed inside. She was more grateful for Reyes and Reiya than words would ever be able to adequately express. They had become her family and support system over the years. When the grief and rage threatened to become too much and consume her, they were always there to pull her back from the edge.
“I am glad to see you are in better spirits after trying to take my head off this morning.”
“Sorry about that. I had a rough night,” Cara murmured.
“Another nightmare?” Reyes inquired.
Cara had been having them since the day she found her father’s body. Reyes and Reiya were the only two people she confided in about them. Even at ten she never woke up screaming in terror like most people. She quietly held the nightmares deep inside her like she did her grief and guilt. Her rage was the only one of the triplet emotions she allowed close to the surface.
“No,” Cara shook her head, “just a really disturbing dream.”
“Care to share? You know I am an expert in interpreting dreams,” he probed. Reyes loved any bit of juicy gossip he could get his hands on.
“Why not?” Cara decided to indulge him. Under clear-headed conditions she may not have confided in him, but all of the tequila had her head foggy and it was making her looser lipped than usual. “I had an erotic dream about Aiden,” she all but whispered.
Reyes seized on the information like a shark scenting blood. “Ooh. This is good. Was it forced or were you willing? Was it good?”
“I don’t know Reyes,” Cara snapped, “It was a dream not the real thing.”
“Hey if you want me to interpret what it means, I need all the details,” Reyes threw his hands in the air in defense.
“I suppose I was willing and that it was good,” Cara grudgingly admitted. “Not that there is a chance in hell I would go there in real life,” she quickly added.
“I might be tempted,” Reyes exclaimed, “and I usually prefer women to men. But he is hot. Like unrealistic, out of this world steamy. The photo we have in our files on him does not do him justice.”
“Reyes, anything that walks upright on two legs could tempt you,” Cara mercilessly teased him.
“I resent that.” Reyes tried his damnedest to keep a straight face, but the truth of Cara’s statement combined with the effects of the alcohol would not allow him to. He broke into a wide grin.
“So what is your assessment dream expert?” Cara really did want to know. The dream was so bizarre and so uncharacteristic of her. She was not exactly a prude, but she was not exactly the provocative sort either. And even if she were, it certainly would not be with a vampire. She had spent the last eight years of her life hunting and killing them and the last fifteen years hating them. All of them. She knew it was prejudiced and bigoted, but she could not bring herself to care. One of them killed her father and she wanted them all to suffer her fury. However, if what Aiden said could be believed, one of them may not have killed her father after all. Something she never knew existed outside of fairy tales and legends was responsible.
“I know I say this at the risk of having another blade thrown at my skull, but you are reckless at the best of times and downright destructive at the worst. The dream you had about the Prince of Darkness is probably just another manifestation of that. He is the epitome of death and destruction after all.”
Reyes’ voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Now you sound like Reiya, almost verbatim. Gods, you two really are twins,” Cara groaned.
“Speaking of Reiya, do not ever tell her,” h
e lowered his voice an octave as he glanced over at the sleeping form of his twin. “You know how she is. She will flip.”
“I know better than that,” Cara agreed.
They passed the remainder of the night watching one horror flick after another.
Fifteen
Cara arrived at the private airstrip half an hour before the scheduled take off time. It made sense that the vampires preferred flying during daylight hours. While vampires could actually survive in the sun, contrary to what popular culture would have one believe, they typically did not like to conduct many activities during the day. They were nocturnal creatures by nature and as such found that they were strongest after sunset. The sun did not make them burst into flames, but it did seem to drain a considerable amount of energy after prolonged exposure. Their senses became less heightened, their strength weaned, and their speed lagged. It almost had the effect of humanizing them. As a result most vampires spent their days sleeping and/or conducting whatever minor business they needed to tend to from the comfort and security of their homes.
Three vampires stepped into her path as she approached the waiting plane. She recognized the first one as the vampire from the coven house who showed her from Michaelson’s office to the library while looking as if he was contemplating bringing her existence to a permanent end himself. The second vampire was the jackass from the private vamp party whose ass she had had to hand to him. The remaining vampire was entirely foreign to Cara. She was sure she had yet to encounter him. He was not exactly the type of man you would cross paths with then forget. He stood almost as tall as Aiden at about 6 feet two with broad shoulders and a complexion the color of the most decadent dark chocolate. He stood the epitome of coolness and refinement as eyes that were not merely black but the color of anthracite examined her from head to foot. It was not a threatening assessment like the one the blue-eyed steely blonde was giving her or salacious as the way the supermodel playboy was roving over her curves. Rather it was a methodical and purposely appraisal of her strength and any perceived weaknesses. He was sizing her up, taking her measure and no doubt storing the information away for later use. Cara respected it. She did the same of everyone knew she encountered. She did not know what judgment was passed on her but it couldn’t have been too bad for when it was complete he offered Cara a silent nod of respect. She smartly returned it. Respect, even from an enemy, could go a long way. It might mean the difference between a drawn-out and excruciating death and a quick and painless one.
“Where is Aiden?” she asked the welcoming party.
The blonde spoke first, “His Grace, my Liege, is already onboard.” His tone was acid and it dripped with admonishment and dislike.
The obnoxious one from the sangue party spoke next. “We cannot permit you to board the plane with any weapons, Hunter. Either willingly relinquish them now or have them forcibly removed from your person.” He spat the word Hunter at her as if it left a bad taste in his mouth just saying it.
Cara looked him squarely in the eyes. “My blades stay where they are. But you are welcome to try to take them. Round 2 should be just as entertaining as the first one, don’t you think? Only this time, your Liege won’t be able to stop me from carving out your heart.” Cara smiled at him sweetly as she said it. However, her tone communicated the same murderous intent as her eyes.
The third vampire spoke last. “The Hunter should be allowed to keep her weapons. As much out of courtesy as a show of good faith. She is after all about to board a plane and travel across the continent with vampires.”
His words surprised the hell out of her. She had never known a vampire to be concerned with showing a modicum of courtesy or good faith to a hunter. She made a mental note to contact Reyes and have him pull any intelligence N.A.D.H may have on him. She was curious as to what his story was.
The other two moved to argue just as Aiden stepped out of the doorway. “Asad is right. Cara can keep her blades,” he told the trio that Cara deduced made up his Circle. His tone made it clear that there would be no further discussion of the issue. Then he looked directly at her and winked. “It should make for an interesting flight,” he grinned.
Cara told herself she hated that smile. It made an unwanted warmth simmer within and made her think of the dream she was actively trying to forget.
A few hours into the flight Cara was still actively trying not to remember that damn dream. The fact that there were a dozen seats on the private plane with only 5 passengers and Aiden chose to sit in the one directly across from her made it that much harder to accomplish. She really, really, really wanted to launch a blade at his head. “Don’t you have something to do? Some business to attend to?” she rudely asked.
“As a matter of fact I do not,” Aiden answered her unaffectedly.
“A journal, a magazine, a book to read?” Cara did not bother to conceal her annoyance or the fact that she was trying to swat him away. Her efforts were met with that infuriating smile of his.
“While I enjoy a good read just as much as the next bibliophile, I am currently interested in exploring something a little more mind-shattering,” Aiden told her in a way that made her traitorous body come alive with desire.
“I told you I am not sleeping with you,” Cara fiercely whispered at him. She knew it was a futile effort. Vampires could hear the faintest of sounds from miles away. The three sitting a few feet away at the opposite end of the plane could no doubt hear her now.
Aiden grinned at her conspiratorially. “Are you going to tell me not even in my dreams because I am pretty sure you did. Twice.”
Cara experienced several emotions in rapid succession. First complete and utter mortification. Then uncontainable rage. “You had no right,” she started in on him but was forced to pause. She shook so violently she was momentarily rendered speechless. Her palm itched to close around a blade.
Aiden held his hands up in innocence. “Before you ruin another perfectly good custom upholstered seat, I did not force my way into your mind and alter your thoughts. I swear.”
“Then what did you do?” Cara growled.
“I would love to take credit for that level of telepathic power, but even as substantive as my abilities are, I am unable to alter thoughts or perform compulsion while someone is in a dream state,“ Aiden confessed.
“If you did not break through my mental barriers while I was asleep then how in the hell do you know what I dream about?” Cara’s tone made it clear she still did not think him blameless.
“I crossed through your mental barriers but not uninvited. I admittedly reached out to softly probe against your mind for weaknesses, but not to cross its threshold. I only intended to test its strength. It is very unusual for a human to have telepathic defenses as strong as your own. You must have subconsciously detected my presence and in response your mind seized mine, forming a mental joining of sorts with it. Then you recreated the renovated warehouse around us.”
“That. Is. Impossible,” Cara let the lie roll off her tongue. She learned during a series of aptitude tests in intake training that her telepathic abilities were off the Richter scale. Even she was unaware of what all she was capable of. She did not experiment with or explore them much. She did not want to run the risk of revealing the extent of her abilities to anyone else. It would spark too much of an interest in Cara and the Division might ban her from active duty, seeing her aptitude for telepathy as too valuable an asset to risk losing. Beyond mastering nearly impenetrable mental shields, Cara made it a point not to cultivate her abilities any farther.
“You insult me with your feigns of ignorance.” Aiden was now the accuser. “Really I should be the one crying in outrage over the invasion of my mind,” he added in a false note of woundedness.
“I am done with this conversation.” Cara kept her face impassive. She chanced a quick glance at the three vampires across the plane. They did not appear to be any wiser to their conversation but Cara was sure they could hear every word. Aiden followed the direction of he
r glance and guessed at her worries.
“They are unable to hear us. I created the telepathic equivalent of a sound barrier between them and us.” He then leaned his face in closer to Cara’s and whispered, “Don’t worry, I won’t alert the authorities. My mind invites you to take advantage of it anytime you like. The wall was my personal fantasy that you pulled from my head but the table, with your ass arched high in the air and your legs spread wide that was all your dirty little fantasy and my mind enjoyed every minute of it. It’s not rape if you like it, eh?”
Aiden brushed his legs against hers as he spoke. The contact was brief but teasing, and it was enough to elicit a small shiver from Cara. Aiden eyed her with a rapacious glint in his green eyes. Their usual lightness having abruptly receded to the background. The darkness that normally lurked in the shadows rose to the surface. Cara had been exchanging words with Aiden the man, but she now faced Aiden the predator. Her mind went to the serrated knife strapped to her ankle or the twin daggers at her back, but she had been a hunter long enough to know better than to reach for either of them. When a predator faced you down there were two things you did not do. You did not under any circumstances show fear and you did not issue a direct challenge unless you were prepared for it to be answered. She certainly was not prepared to engage Aiden at 30,000 feet in the air with three other vampires near. When one predator is happened upon by another and they wish to avoid a confrontation, the best thing there is to do is appear fearless and unaffected.
Cara forced out a yawn then looked down at her watch. “I think I will get a few hours of rest before we land. I assume I have a long night ahead of me.” She forced her eyes shut and pretended to slip into unconsciousness as if completely unfazed by the predator that sat across from her. She wished she really did fall into such a sleep. Then she would not be consciously aware of the tiny sparks of electrical impulses that were firing throughout her body. What the hell did it say about her, she wondered, that she was attracted to the predator just as much as the man? Maybe Reiya and Reyes were right and she did have a self-destructive streak.
Born In Blood (Born Hunter Book 1) Page 9
