by Jex Lane
A woman wearing a lab coat looked up from a chart. She had stern features and short silver hair. Kat guessed she was maybe in her fifties.
“Cadet,” the doctor said. “Come in.”
Kat took a few steps in and froze.
A vampire—big, pale, and unmoving—lie on a gurney. The creature had an IV dripping blood hooked up to his arm, a stake sticking out of his chest, and he wore a metal collar and bracers.
“What the—”
“It’s staked. It can’t hurt you,” Chase said from behind her.
“I know. What’s it doing here?”
“The event you missed was a fight. That one”—Chase nodded his head to the vampire—“against four other vamps. He’s the Lord General’s newest pet project.”
“Pet project? It’s a monster. It should be killed.”
“If we killed every vampire, there’d be none to train you,” the doctor said, closing the chart. “And what the Lord General chooses to do with the vampires he’s captured is up to him.”
“There’s other vampires here?”
“Yes,” Chase said. “Hundreds are held at Ashwood.”
“Hundreds?”
Chase nodded. “Like the doc said, we need them to train. Or did you think we only practiced on unmoving targets all night?”
“Cadet Chase,” the doctor said. “Please let Xerla know Kat will be ready for her in about ten minutes.”
He nodded and left.
The doctor motioned to a private room. She closed the door behind her and put on some gloves as Kat took a seat on the exam table.
“I’m Doctor Maryweather but hunters call me Doc. Have you been told what’s going to happen here tonight?”
“A physical. Tattoos.”
“Yes. I’ll be drawing some blood for genetic testing as well to see if you have any supernatural bloodlines.”
“To see if I have an incubus great-grandparent or something?” Kat highly doubted she had any incubus in her bloodline.
“No,” Maryweather placed blood collection tubes on a metal instrument stand. Watching the doctor work, she couldn’t help but notice how steady the woman moved. “It only takes one incubus parent for the child to be a full-blooded incubus. Most incubi you meet have one human parent. We’re testing to see if you have shifter blood. Even a little puts you in danger if a were bites you.”
Kat tilted her head. “Were?”
“Werewolf, werebear, weretiger, and so on. Shifters are born creatures that can change into a single animal at will. While were-creatures are made by curses spread through bites. They turn into a humanoid version of the animal and lose control on the full moon. We usually have to put them down. You’re not at risk unless you have shifter blood. It’s unlikely you do since your father was turned into a vampire and vampires can only turn humans, but still, if it’s a few generations removed it can happen. You really should go through your basic training before getting your tattoos.”
Yeah. Everyone seemed to think that. But Kat made a deal, and she wasn’t going to let it go. Another question came to her.
“I, um,” she started. Maryweather paused in her task and looked up. “I had sex with an incubus, and I’m not on birth control…he pulled out kind of late…”
“Incubi males are only fertile for a few days once every eleven months or so. Lord Darius isn’t due for his for another three months. You’re safe from most STIs as well.”
Kat flushed. She hadn’t mentioned Darius. Javi must have been right: word travels fast.
The doctor examined Kat, drew blood, and gave her a shot so any vampire that tried to make a meal out of her would get sick. She got a birth control implant in her arm as well—just in case.
When she was all done poking Kat, Maryweather opened the door to the private room and motioned to a girl about Kat’s age, who sat spinning in a chair while she waited on them. She had dyed dark purple hair, silver piercings on her lip and lower nose, and a row of studs down each ear. She wore all black.
She stopped spinning.
A chill went up Kat’s spine.
The witch smiled. “Take off your shirt.”
18
Kat
Getting tattooed took most of the night. Kat had thought maybe the witch would cast a spell and the runes would appear on her body, not so. The witch actually physically tattooed her with a silvery ink—a conductor for magic—while casting at the same time. It had been fascinating to watch, and painful.
When it was done, Kat was given some vampire blood to drink. Not that she wanted to drink it—it tasted nasty, and the thick texture made her gag—but it healed her right away.
With some privacy, she studied the new tattoos scrolled on her chest. Eight of them. Starting at under her collar bone, and ending above her bellybutton. The witch had explained what each did as she worked.
Teleportation, enhanced strength, reflexes, and hearing. A protection rune with the shield that blocked fast projectiles. One let her see in the dark, another masked her from vampires (so long as she stood completely still), and the last let her activate magic, like traps, veils, and leystones.
The witch had told her that there were other types of runes, and some that augmented the base ones. Some let hunters mask themselves from anyone, not just vampires. Or runes that could improve vision so that it rivaled a bird of prey, or extended the teleportation range. But witches that could tattoo them were rare. Not only did the witch have to be powerful, but they also had to be willing. Most witches didn’t want to take a side in the war.
There was a knock on the door, and Kat quickly tossed on her shirt.
Chase stood on the other side. “Let’s teach you how to use these.”
Exhausted, the sun had to be near rising. But she didn’t complain. She wanted to know how to use the runes.
Chase led her to the front of the estate, across the gardens, to the edge of the forest. “Listen to everything I tell you or you’ll end up teleporting into a tree.”
“Sounds painful.”
“I’d imagine it is. Hunters who do it scream a lot and then die.”
Kat scrunched her nose.
“Close your eyes, and focus on each of the runes. Feel them,” Chase said.
She did. The runes crawled across her skin as she thought about them. Slowly, she began to single out each one.
“Find the one that lets you see in the dark.”
She had to touch her skin before she could mentally locate it. Strange. Like an itch she only noticed when she thought about it.
Chase, who hadn’t rushed her, said, “Feel that tingling in your belly? It’s a stirring of magic. Push a small amount of that into the rune.”
In her mind’s eye, a green swirling mass of light pooled within her. She pushed some of it to the rune. Her eyes burned, and she opened them. “Oh god,” she screamed as the forest flared up. She slammed her lids closed and clawed her eyes. “It’s too bright.”
“You used too much. Try again.”
She did. Opening her eyes, the night looked like day. “Incredible.”
Chase’s eyes began to glow green, and he motioned to them. “It’ll give away your position to a vampire, so you can’t always rely on this rune. But if they already know you’re there, there’s no reason not to use it. It doesn’t take much magic. Other runes deplete your source pool fast.”
“Source pool?”
“The magic in us. Every human has some. Witches and a few other creatures can naturally tap into it. We use it to activate our runes. It runs out the more we use it, but it’ll regenerate over time. Some humans have bigger pools than others. Mine is average, Brick has a large pool—and an affinity to a toughness rune, one you didn’t get—Necrus…well, his is almost nonexistent. He has a hard time using runes. You’ll see him using chain hooks to keep up with us.”
Kat wondered how big her pool was.
“Okay, to use the teleport rune,” he continued, “you need to visualize where you want to appear. When you firs
t start, it’s easiest to only teleport to places you’re looking. Eventually, you’ll be able to teleport to anywhere you can visualize that’s within range. Our limits are usually a quarter mile, but it depends on the hunter.”
Chase pointed to an open area a few feet in front of Kat. “Teleport here.”
“I really don’t want to end up in a tree.”
“Don’t look at a tree and you won’t.”
Kat scowled.
Chase pointed at the area again. “You’ll feel if something is in the way and you can pull the magic away from the rune. It’s how we manage to teleport to the other side of a wall and not end up inside someone.”
Oh. That didn’t sound as bad. She focused and activated the teleport rune. Green surrounded her, and her body felt as if it stretched and reformed a few feet away.
“Oh god.” Dropping to her knees, she began to heave. “I forgot.”
She heard Chase snort, covering laughter.
“It’s not funny,” she said, standing and wiping her mouth.
His face returned to his permanent state of grump, and she wished she hadn’t said anything. Seeing him actually express some emotion had made him feel more human and less asshole-robot.
“Do it again,” he said.
She did.
He pointed to a new location. “Again.”
“How many times?”
“Until we get to the academy.”
She looked at the thick forest, sucked in a hard breath to stop herself from giving him lip, and teleported forward. She vomited. And then pulled herself up and did it again. And again. And again.
And about three thousand—not really but it felt like it—teleports later, the two of them made it to the academy. Thankfully, around teleport thirty or so, she stopped heaving. Her body seemed to have adjusted to the magic.
Chase was kind enough to let her get some sleep then.
It was short lived. He didn’t let her sleep much over the next week. Now that she had her runes, the kid gloves were off. Every waking moment she spent learning to master them. But they didn’t stop at the runes; she also learned how to correctly throw a punch, shoot a crossbow, the best practices for staking a vamp…and jogging…so much jogging. Kat was sure she’d lost ten pounds in that week.
The rest of her team, thankfully, didn’t give her a hard time about her new tattoos.
One night, while training, Kat—and every other cadet team training in the arena—came to a halt when Commander Cullip entered; trailing after him was an unchained vampire.
The same vampire Kat had seen in the infirmary, obviously no stake in his chest.
A sharp command from Instructor Ricthas, a warrior incubus who specialized in hand-to-hand combat, had Ashwood Red focusing on their task again. They were ordered to ignore the vampire, but Kat couldn’t help but watch him out of the corner of her eye. Cullip was training him on how to throw a punch. Secretly, Kat hoped the creature would make a break for it or start attacking. She wanted a chance to bring it down.
That didn’t happen.
A few days later, Chase had the team gathered in a meeting room attached to the arena an hour before sunset.
“We’re doing live training tonight,” he said.
Dawn and Javi perked up, while Brick seemed indifferent, and Necrus frowned.
“Great,” Necrus said. “I’m going to get my ass kicked tonight.”
“Not if you listen to my commands,” Chase said. “Are you wearing your chains?”
Necrus held his arm out, and from under his leather sleeve, a thick silvered chain with a hook at the end shot forward. Before it hit a chair, he flicked his arm and the chain rapidly reeled back in. “Always.”
“Live training?” Kat asked Javi.
Javi patted his stakes. “We’re going to be playing with a vamp tonight.”
“It’s a fledgling, only a few years old with no sire around.” Chase glanced at Necrus. “Which means all of us should be able to handle it. I’m having it brought up while the sun’s still out so you can get used to staking it. And I can show you where its vital areas are.”
“I’ve staked a vamp before,” she said. “I know how to do it.”
“And you’ll be doing it again until I’m convinced you won’t get caught on a rib bone.” Chase teleported out and came back with a belt that had three stakes, a handful of clear vials, and two silver daggers on it. He held it out to her.
“No sword for me?” she asked as she put it on.
“Sword training is next week. Ready?”
Dawn pulled out her own sword. “More than ready, it’s been way too long since we’ve really trained.”
Kat tried not to take offense. The past few days had certainly felt like real training to her, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue.
She pulled out her stake and nodded.
The team walked down a long passageway leading to the training arena. They stopped outside of some massive doors. “There’s a vamp trap around this,” Chase said to Kat, pointing at green runes lining the door frame. “Vampires can’t pass through it. If something goes wrong, teleport into the stands.”
Kat nodded.
Chase pushed open the doors. Everyone entered, Kat trailing behind.
A rectangular silver cage stood upright in the center of the arena. Hanging from chains around its wrists was the vampire. Mistaking it for a corpse would be easy.
Kat’s feet stopped moving, her hands felt as heavy as lead, and her heart slammed against her chest.
Chase opened the cage. “Alright, Kat, ready to stake it?”
She didn’t move.
Everyone turned. She took a step away and fought back tears. She knew Chase hated how she’d acquired her tattoos, but she hadn’t expected him to be cruel about it.
Her throat closed and she had to work to catch her breath. Her hand gripped her dagger, and she glared at Chase.
“Fuck you.”
She teleported away from her team.
Away from the unconscious vampire who had once been her dad.
19
Darius
Darius scrubbed himself raw in the shower, unable to shake the dirty feeling he always got now after feeding. His skin crawled.
After sleeping with Kat, he had fasted for a few days, but the Lord General noticed and ordered Darius to eat. It had been miserable. He didn’t bother going out to hunt and used house feeders instead; taking what he needed before tossing them out, keeping the transaction as short as possible.
The last week and a half, he’d thrown himself into work, hoping to find something that could remove Kat from his thoughts.
Nothing helped.
He reminded himself that she had chosen to walk out. He had considered going after her, fighting for her, but what’d be the point? He couldn’t stop being an incubus. He couldn’t force her to accept him.
Guilt racked him. He should have told her about feeding from the beginning. He shouldn’t have lost control. He shouldn’t have risked hurting her.
He swallowed hard and dried off.
Sulking would get him nowhere.
As he finished buttoning up a suit shirt, an outline of green light lingered for a moment in the air. A hunter cadet appeared. It took Darius a moment to recall the hunter’s name. Javi. From Ashwood Red. Kat’s team.
Darius finished tucking his shirt into his slacks. “Cadet, this is a breach of about a thousand protocols.”
“Yeah, do me a solid and don’t report it.”
“Why wouldn’t I report this?”
Javi looked around and grimaced. “Have you seen Kat by any chance?”
“What?”
“I thought maybe she’d come here. Look, report me if you have to, I need to go.”
Darius grabbed the hunter’s arm. “Tell me what happened.”
“She’s on the run.”
Darius went cold. The Lord General didn’t tolerate any hunter who deserted the corps, and he mercilessly hounded them until they were f
ound…then killed. Often by his hand.
There’d be nothing Darius could do to stop that.
“I don’t like repeating myself. Tell me what happened,” he ordered the cadet.
Javi rubbed his face. “We had a live training tonight. She took a look at the vamp and split but not before telling Chase to fuck off. Listen, if she’s not here, I need to go.”
“You’re training to be a tracker?”
Javi nodded.
“There’s an easier way to find her.” Darius picked up his phone from the nightstand and dialed dispatch. “5521 Delta Tango, this is Lord Darius, I have a code red from the general,” he said when the dispatcher answered.
“Go ahead Lord Darius,” a female voice said.
“I need you to turn on the GPS for Cadet Kat’s phone and tell me where she is.”
The dispatcher paused. Damn it. If the dispatcher double checked with the general, it’d put Kat in jeopardy. And Darius would be in deep shit for abusing his authority.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No, my lord. She’s in the training arena.”
“Thank you.” Darius hung up.
Javi—who had been using his rune to listen into the phone call—met Darius’ eyes. “I need to get her.”
“No. I’ve got this one.”
* * *
Darius knocked softly on a door, waited a moment, then entered one of the hunter meeting rooms that lined the arena. This one had a white projection screen with chairs and a couch facing it.
Kat was in the corner of the room on the floor, hugging her legs, face buried in her knees. She looked up at him. Her eyes red and wet. And angry.
“Go away,” she said.
Darius pulled a chair in front of her. “If I leave, then you get to deal with your teammates instead. Or an instructor. Or worse—Commander Cullip.”
Her face twisted.
“Yeah,” he said. “Cullip is one of the best hunters in the corps but watching him try to comfort someone is…awkward. I honestly think being shot in the foot would be less painful than sitting through a conversation with one of those veteran hunters.”
