by Kelly Hall
Ever since the weird guy, Ignis, had found her missing, the house had been on high alert. Everyone had jumped up and grabbed weapons, all ready to fight if necessary for the beautiful young leader. He knew it was an opportunity to show them all he was ready to be a part of their team. Their Fellowship.
For the first time since his parents died, Liam felt like part of a family, and now that he would be able to train as a hunter, his life had purpose and meaning again.
He had thought all hope was lost in that vampire den, but now that he had a chance to become something strong enough to fight back, to get his vengeance, he wanted it more than anything.
“She’s not here,” said Liam, closing the door to the last room of the east tower. They had already searched the north tower, which was where Rebekah had renovated and built her home. The others were scattered about, searching spaces that hadn’t been touched since the previous owners lived there.
“And you’re sure that she wouldn’t have gone into the south tower?” asked Jarreth.
“Father Timms was going to search the parts that were accessible, but it was destroyed so badly at some point that even I couldn’t make my way in to explore. There are too many stones, and it looks unstable.”
Jarreth thought about Ignis and his ability to turn into the blue mist. “I know someone who can get inside there. Let’s get back to the north tower and see if Ignis wants to take a look.”
They hurried down to the main level, and when they crossed the courtyard, they ran into Delilah and Mace. “She’s not in the chapel or any of the old buildings in the courtyard,” said Delilah.
Mace dusted off her jeans which were so ripped up that a little dirt would only add to the look. “She’s not here. Couldn’t she have just left for the store or had a midnight craving? She’s a grown woman, and maybe we’re overreacting.”
“The closest city is still an hour away from here,” Jarreth said. “And what could possibly make her go out in the middle of the night instead of waiting until morning? Not to mention that Luna and Stella’s scabbard were left behind, which means she must have gone after something in the castle. She wouldn’t just leave us all wondering. She would have at least told Ignis.”
Delilah shook her head. “Ignis said she wouldn’t have left Luna behind. That’s not her fighting style. She must have only had time to grab Stella.”
Canter and Katie walked up and joined them. “She’s not in the west tower.”
“Have you seen Ignis around?” asked Jarreth. “Liam says the south tower is not searchable, but I thought that Ignis might be able to get in there.”
Canter nodded. “He’s already on it. Father Timms was going to try and look in the rubble, but Ignis insisted he’d handle it.”
A bell sounded. The low tones echoed through the courtyard and bounced off the castle walls.
Mace turned and walked away without saying a word. The hunters could excuse her lack of etiquette because she wasn’t exactly a hunter, but they couldn’t just abandon their mission at the sound of a bell. They had a missing Huntress to locate.
They exchanged a look, not sure what to do.
“What does that bell mean?” asked Katie. “Did they find Rebekah?”
Liam spoke up to explain. “That’s the dinner bell. Breakfast is ready. Lulu is in love with that stupid thing, and she makes sure to ring it three times a day, and sometimes when she bakes extra sweets.” Liam started for the north tower and glanced back over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t ignore it. Puts the old lady in a shitty mood.”
They headed in behind the boy. Canter put his arm around Katie, and Delilah walked hand in hand with Jarreth, their weapons still drawn. They put them away when they walked in to find Lulu and Frankie standing in the front room next to an open door on the back wall. It led to a large dining room with a banquet-sized table that could easily seat twenty people and high-backed chairs that were as ornate as thrones.
“I’m sorry she interrupted your search,” said Frankie, giving Lulu a scolding look. She wore a beautiful pale blue dress that had a floral print and would have concealed the roundness of her tummy if she had not rested her hand on it.
Lulu put her hand on her hip. “These young’uns are useless with empty stomachs. Besides, the Huntress wanted a breakfast gathering. I am just following my orders.”
Frankie sighed. “That was before she went missing, Lulu.”
Father Timms walked in behind the young hunters. His long gray hair was a mess, loose strands fell out of the ponytail, and his dark beard was full of cobwebs and dust. “It’s okay, Frankie. The search is over.”
“Did you find her?” Frankie craned her neck to see Ignis walk in behind the father, but he was alone.
“She’s not in the east or west towers or the courtyard and chapel,” said Canter to the mage.
“South wing is all clear,” said Ignis. “Let’s clean up and have some breakfast while we regroup. There’s no sense in letting Lulu’s fine food go to waste.”
“Careful, Ginger Man. I don’t want to like you.” She gave a scowl and shuffled away on her little fuzzy slippers.
Ignis grimaced as she left, but he had a lot more important things to worry about than the old woman’s opinion of him.
As everyone scattered for their rooms to get cleaned up, Ignis walked into Rebekah’s suite and looked at Luna. It was still in its scabbard and attached to the baldric that held Stella’s empty scabbard, lying on the bed as if Rebekah had just left them there, which she wouldn’t normally do if she were heading out with any amount of preparation. Even the small impression of where she’d been sitting was still visible on her duvet like she’d sat down there to take them off. He got her when we came up to go to sleep.
Perhaps if she’d heard a noise, she might have drawn Stella, but then they would have found her in the castle somewhere, investigating.
He went to her private bath and washed his hands, looking to see if there was anything else that would give him any clues. There wasn’t anything. She was there one minute, gone the next, and there was only one explanation that made sense.
Kayne.
The vampire had most likely come to take Rebekah before she could do something foolish and come after him, which would only force Ignis’s hand into doing something drastic.
Ignis wasn’t afraid that Kayne would physically harm her. It was his other interests in her that had always bothered Ignis He should have known that one day, Kayne would make good on his threats. With the Church backing her into a corner, perhaps Kayne had finally made his move.
Ignis had moves of his own. And he’d pull out every stop to make sure that Rebekah was okay. First, he had to go down to breakfast and see what her merry men and women were thinking.
He hurried down the stairs, and when he walked into Rebekah’s dining hall, the others were gathering at her large table, chatting about their guesses as to where their fearless leader had gone. She would have been pleased to see that the table she’d spent months waiting to be custom-built was finally getting some use. The only problem he could see was that the priest had taken his chair to the right of what would normally be Rebekah’s. Ignis walked to the head of the table and reluctantly took Rebekah’s chair.
Lulu made her way in, carrying another tray of food. Three others were already on the table in front of them. Two platters had bacon, ham, and scrambled eggs, while another had an assortment of flavored pancakes, waffles, and French toast. She placed the fruit tray right in the middle and slapped Liam’s hand as he reached for an entire cluster of grapes. “I’ll be right back with the beverages.”
She scampered away, and Ignis sighed as the hunters exchanged a few glances and then dug in, serving themselves.
Canter, who had his chair moved so close to Katie’s she was practically sitting in his lap, reached across the table for a pancake, stabbing it with his fork before putting it on Katie’s plate. “I say we split up into groups and check out some of the local enemy hot spots.”
/> Jarreth leaned in and stabbed a piece of ham. “I like the sound of that.” Jarreth was ready to stab something other than his breakfast.
Ignis knocked on the table to get their attention. “I know this has been a much different morning than we expected, but before we go creating more problems, we need to wait and see if she or anyone else reaches out.”
Canter pounded the table, causing Katie to jump back. “Come on, man. I know you’re not really one of us, but sitting around waiting is not really what we’re good at.” He couldn’t help but think about how Rebekah had been taken before by the enemy.
Ignis tried not to be offended at the not one of us remark, but he’d had a rough morning too. “First of all, fuck you. I’ve seen more battles than you ever will in your lifetime, no matter how long your mortal life gives you, and furthermore, if you think this is the first ravenous group of your kind I’ve seen with a hard-on for revenge, you’d be mistaken.”
Father Timms cleared his throat, and Frankie put a hand to her stomach as if his vulgar words might upset the baby’s delicate, fetal ears.
Ignis sighed. “My apologies, but I know how these things work. If someone has her, they’ll be glad to reach out and let me know about it, and if she’s not lost—”
The front door burst open so wide it hit the wall, creating a terrible noise that had everyone’s attention. Rebekah marched in with Stella tight in her grip, her teeth bared and her gray eyes beaming on Ignis.
“She’ll barge into the room looking like she wants to murder someone,” Ignis finished, getting to his feet.
Father Timms stood too. “Where have you been, Huntress?”
She waved her dagger at the priest dismissively. “Long story. I’ll tell you later.” Rebekah had one thing on her mind, and that was figuring out what the hell Ignis had been hiding from her.
One minute, she had been shocked by Kayne’s ability to hold Stella unscathed, and then everything had gone black again. She had woken up on the road to her castle.
“Come in and have a seat,” said Frankie, going to the other end of the table as Liam got up and pulled out the chair next to him.
“Thank you, but I’m not hungry.” She turned and looked at Ignis again, her chest heaving with anger that was dark enough to rival Kayne’s. Maybe we are more alike than I think, she thought.
Lulu walked in with the beverage cart. “It’s good of you to join us at your party, Huntress.”
Frankie glared at the old woman before turning toward Rebekah. “There are chocolate chip pancakes and fresh strawberries and cream.”
Rebekah felt bad that she’d interrupted their breakfast. “Please, don’t let me stop you from enjoying your meal. I’ll just go upstairs and freshen up and be back down later.”
She waited as the others all took their seats, and then she turned and took two steps toward the door. “Ignis?” Her tone was sharp, and Liam’s eyes widened as if he knew the mage was in serious trouble. “We need to talk.”
Shit, thought Ignis. What did he fucking tell her?
Chapter 3
Kayne had left Rebekah outside of her castle, knowing that her hunters were probably looking for her. When he returned to his own castle, which was twice as big as Rebekah’s though not as modernly updated, he appeared in his private suite mid-stride on his way to the window which held his favorite view of the ocean.
The waves crashed against the rocks as violently as his mood, ebbing and flowing with a force that reflected how he felt on a daily basis, but especially at the moment, with all that was happening with Rebekah.
Kayne’s anger was usually his own, as he didn’t give two fucks about most others, but the Church had dealt her a bad hand and forced them directly and personally against one another. Well played, motherfuckers.
He knew that word was spreading, and his covens would do what they did best and face whatever came against them. He tried to stay as far away from coven business as he could and let their leaders make all of the decisions, but he knew that it would eventually come down to him having to do something about the Immortal Huntress. Unfortunately, what he had planned for him and Rebekah wouldn’t be greatly accepted by the Church, her Fellowship, and certainly not by his own kind. Fuck it. We’ll be rebels together.
They might as well have the whole world against them. What did he care?
He should have taken her right there in the naiad’s bed, fucked her until she screamed his name and he’d tasted her blood. But he wouldn’t do that. He had to show her he was better if he ever wanted a chance in hell of getting between her legs or, more importantly, into her heart. The Church had already put her against the shifters by having a pack of mutts take her and torture her, and now they would have him do the same.
He closed his eyes and tried not to think about what those mongrels had done to his beautiful girl, how they’d defiled her, dirtied her, and abused her. He relished in their murders and still hated Ignis for not going to him sooner.
As soon as he’d heard, he’d found her, found his way in, and taken her out of that horrible place. The mage had underestimated his connection, although he’d never realized that Kayne had tasted Rebekah’s blood, and since it was so much like his own, he could find her anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
While he had chosen not to meddle in her life on the daily, he had given her the knowledge of how to call him when needed, and each time she had, she’d only fed his ego even more. To know she was thinking of him, needing him, it was as it should be. It turned him on too.
Rebekah was his, plain and simple. And it wasn’t just some strange type of obsession. No, she was as much his blood as one of his children, though her creation made her more like his bride. She had been born from a part of himself he’d allowed to be traded in exchange for the hope of giving him a true progeny, a child birthed into the world through his seed and not his blood. The price for the balance of nature was that she hated his guts and had been created to slaughter his own kind.
The very idea that she’d been kissing another, one of those human hunters, made him want to do violent things, and footsteps announced the arrival of the unfortunate soul who would most likely take the brunt of his mood.
“Did you get rid of her?” asked his punching bag.
He didn’t bother turning around for Fiona, who had thrown a fit upon hearing of Rebekah’s arrival. Another opinion he didn’t give two fucks about. Like the naiad’s room, she was another reminder of a bargain gone bad and the price you paid for making bad deals.
Fiona Olivia DeVoss strutted into the room, her close-set eyes narrowed. Her hair, as red as the fox on her family crest, was as wild as her temper. Her wiles were just as cunning at times. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant who owed Kayne a rather large debt, and instead of paying, he offered her up instead. Kayne had taken pity on the girl and brought her home. Then she had made a deal of her own. She would attempt to give him a child in exchange for immortality, that he would infect her and preserve her vanity for all time.
After becoming his last failed attempt at having a child, he held up the other end of his agreement with her and turned her. She assumed that meant they’d be together forever, and he guessed in some capacity, that had been true since he had put up with her shit a lot longer than he’d ever expected.
She approached and then stopped behind him to gaze at the ocean and wonder what went on in that pretty head of his. She wished he’d turn around and see the way she’d swept back her long red hair just for him, the way she’d shadowed her sapphire eyes that showed her every emotion, especially the longing for his touch. “I can still smell her stench on you.”
“My dealings with the Immortal Huntress are not your concern.” She had a bad habit of meddling in his affairs and trying to be more than the permanent houseguest he’d allowed her to be. He had given her the job of being his assistant years ago, and while she let it go to her head in many ways, acting more like a jealous wife than a person meant to fetch his slippers and buy his
suits, she was still tolerable and good for a blow job when there wasn’t anyone else available.
“I heard she’s been sentenced to hunt you,” said Fiona with laughter in her voice. “I hope you dismembered her and dropped the pieces to the bottom of the sea.” She reached out and tousled his hair. “If you haven’t yet, I’ll help.”
Her amusement did nothing for him, and he thought to himself how nice it would be to see Rebekah cut off Fiona’s head or rip out her heart. I’ll help, he thought as another wave crashed below.
It wasn’t that he hated the woman—that emotion required too much feeling—but he had lost patience with her predictability ages ago.
There were footsteps in the hall as Gretchen, who was in charge of housekeeping, approached. She had been a rather plump and humorous woman he’d hired, and eventually turned, centuries ago. She’d been with him ever since. “Would you like me to clean the naiad suite?”
“No,” said Kayne. He wanted Rebekah’s scent to linger, not be covered up with the smell of vinegar.
Fiona’s back stiffened. “Why not? You should sterilize it. I don’t like that human trash here in our home. It was bad enough when you brought Talia here.” Fiona sneered and went across the room to plop down on a sofa. He had taken the strange woman as his pet, fed from her, and probably fucked her too, but refused to share her. She hugged a tapestry pillow and sulked.
“It hasn’t been cleaned in some time, Sire,” said Gretchen, giving him a chance to change his mind. “I think the dust bunnies are starting to conspire a hostile takeover.”
“It’s my home, and I said no.” He didn’t have to offer up explanations and wouldn’t. He turned to give his maid a hard look, but she was already gone. Wise woman.
Fiona wondered what he’d been up to in the bedroom with the Huntress. Surely, he couldn’t be attracted to the woman whose thick skin was like boot leather. She truly believed hunters were nothing but the overcooked steaks of the vampire world, hard to chew.
His mood was darker than normal, and it turned Fiona on so much she was growing restless. Her legs scissored, and her knees knocked together with the tingle between her legs.
