The Hunter: A Sinful Supes Novel (Red Crescent Book 3)

by Xandrie Kovak

  And if you asked me, it was fucking stupid to go to war anyway. Succubi may have natural weapons against vampires, but vampires were a lot easier to make, and they didn’t need to hit puberty in order to be turned into a weapon. No wonder we'd been all but wiped out.

  “My name is Beckett. What’s yours, love?”

  I suspected Beckett knew what he was doing. When you’re kidnapped you’re supposed to try to bond with your captor, to make them humanize you so you’re harder to kill.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you want to know my name?” Just because I had no problems with him, didn’t mean he wasn’t plotting my slaughter. We were supposed to be enemies. And after Capshaw tortured me, I had a hard time trusting any vamp, Vaughn included.

  “I make it a habit to know my clients.” The vampire quirked his head and smiled.

  I raised an eyebrow, “So I’m your client now?” Was this guy nuts? He was the one strung up and held captive. What the hell could he possibly provide or procure?

  He shrugged, “I’m considering it. Did you know that the vampire council provides pardons for certain succubi? I could broker a deal with them.” He winked at me. He regarded my confused expression before clarifying. “I can make it so vampires don’t mess with you. Consider it a hall pass, for your life.”

  This was an interesting proposal, but I doubted he could deliver. Or that he’d do it out of the kindness of his heart. “For a price, I’m assuming?”

  “Naturally.” He inclined his head. “You need only release me to reap the rewards of my friendship.”

  “So you can kill me,” I accused.

  He shook his head. “I don’t want your life, but I do want mine. We can mutually benefit each other.”

  “I think you might be overestimating my Houdini skills here.” I rolled up invisible sleeves. “I don’t have the keys. In fact, I’m as much of a prisoner as you are.” The staff watched my every move, and they no doubt already knew I was down here. Probably hoping I’m enjoying a midnight snack.

  “Your hands don’t appear to be tied, my dear. That’s all we need.” He pretended to think. “Here’s the deal, I’ll come up with the plan and then you can carry it out. Sound reasonable?”

  I rubbed my arms again, trying to rid myself of goose bumps. Quite frankly, I was scared that if I got close enough to release him, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. That I’d suck him dry and watch him wither and turn to ash in my arms.

  “I’ll think about it.” I all but rushed out of the room, ignoring Rowan’s outrage.

  “I’ll be waiting right here, love!” Beckett called.

  I shut the door and sprinted up the stairs. I would have ran all the way back to my room, but I desperately needed to raid the fridge first.

  ***

  This time when I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by corpses. I whirled around in the clearing. Burnt fur and the scent of carrion filled my nostrils. I covered my nose with my forearm.

  Alex! Lucas cried out.

  I twisted toward the voice, only to see a younger version of Lucas on the ground. Half of his face rotted off.

  Oh God!

  I sprinted forward only to slip on loose intestines. I smacked into the ground, but instead of grass, my cheek hit cold, hard tile.

  I screamed as something crashed beside me. Suddenly I was surrounded by Supes of all kinds fighting to the death. I was horrified by the savagery; the bloodshed. A jaguar feral beheaded a snake creature with the swipe of its claws. Bright red blood gushed and spurted onto me.

  I ducked as a vampire was thrown clear over my head by an enraged, hulked out Lucas. He roared at his adversaries.

  Oh fuck, I was in the school again. I crouched down, and clapped my hands over my ears as I screamed to drown out the noise. This couldn’t be happening. I clenched my eyes shut and screamed again.

  I jerked upright in bed, my screams still fresh in my throat.

  A lamp clicked on and the corner of my room was flooded with light. I almost screamed again when I saw Vicks lounging in a chair with his feet propped up on my vanity.

  “Jesus! You startled me!” I clutched my chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Having Vicks watch me sleep was a lot scarier than my nightmare. Vaughn’s words replayed in my head: be careful around Vicks. Not all monsters have fangs or fur.

  The Hunter’s eyes were shrouded by darkness, hidden beneath the shadow of his Stetson. He slid a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other as he idly picked at his nails with a sharp combat knife. “You ‘n’ I are gonna have a little chat.”

  “OK..?” I frowned, pulling my covers up to hide my upper body from him. I didn’t like the idea of being bra-less in front of him. It felt too vulnerable.

  “The way I see it,” he drawled. “You’re alive for one purpose. To be my partner. Ya see, my past partners had a nasty habit of dying on me.”

  I stayed silent and nervously clenched the covers tighter.

  “It’s become a problem. Now I picked you because you succubus types are s’pose to be durable.” He got to his feet and pointed his knife at me. “And yet it’s clear as day you’re not doing too hot. Now that puts me in a rough spot seeing as I’m outta the job if I lose another one.”

  My eyebrows lifted to the ceiling. “So… you’re worried about me?” Was this psycho expressing concern for my wellbeing? Albeit in a sociopath, self-interest kind of way.

  Vicks walked up to me and hauled me out of the bed by my throat.

  I cried out and clawed at his hand.

  He silenced me by slamming me against the wall and drawing a gun. He pressed Cherry against my temple. He leaned down, invading my space. Fear and revulsion slammed into me.

  Vicks’ eyes emptied, growing cold and hard. “What I’m sayin’ is, if you’re gonna be a coward and choose death, I might as well kill ya myself.”

  “You kill me, you lose your job,” I challenged. My pulse was frantic like a trapped bird, trying to take flight out of my throat.

  Carson Vicks glared down at me and stroked the front of my throat with his thumb menacingly. “See, this is the problem. I never met a Supe that could have the world at their fingertips, yet made the choice to be weak. Yer a fuckin’ succubus, you could defend yourself but you’re just takin’ it. You won’t even feed yourself.” He pulled away as if disgusted with me. “You got all the reason in the world to lash out at me, but you ain’t doing squat. I can’t believe I picked such a chickenshit to have my back.”

  I rubbed my sore neck, still feeling the distaste of his touch. Every fiber of my being rejected his proximity.

  But he was right. I was choosing to be weak. He may have a gun, but I could bring him to his knees.

  Before I could stand straighter and demand respect, I remembered what happened the last time I used the blue succubus juice on him. And quite frankly, I’d rather get my head blown off than entertain his affections. This fucker had burned a hole through Lucas’ picture with a cigarette. That’s all I needed to know to hate him.

  The bite mark on my neck burned. I winced, but tried to hide it. I don’t know how I knew it, but Lucas was pissed. Enraged, actually.

  Vicks chuckled. “I’d be a lot more impressed by that glare if I knew you had some bite to ya.”

  “Fuck you, Vicks.”

  He looked down at the large bulge in his jeans then cocked his eyebrow at me. “I can arrange that.”

  I reared back and threw a punch, but the asshole caught it easily.

  I stared at our hands. I wanted to recoil against the unwanted contact, but I longed to smash my fist across his smug face.

  “Fuck it.” I snarled and threw a load of blue energy behind my fist. Despite him holding my hand, I forced the strike to make contact with his chest. Vicks flew backward and smacked into the wall across the room.

  I fell to my knees, breathing hard. I’d had no blue sauce to spare, and I’d just used some of the last bits of energy I had left.

  Vicks wasn�
��t moving.

  Shit. On top of possibly killing him, I’d just moved up the neutered time table. I needed Lucas. I clutched my hollow stomach as my head swam with dizziness. If I didn’t eat soon…

  Vicks stirred, then began to laugh. He winced and spat out some blood before grinning at me. “That’s more like it, girl!”

  I glared. “Get the fuck out of my room.”

  He stiffly got to his feet. He swatted his cowboy hat against his thigh before placing it back on his head. “We also need to clear up division of labor. You can have the vampers to eat and all that, but I get everything else, agreed?”

  “I’m not going to fight you for more kills, psycho.”

  “Good.” He picked up his gun off the floor and holstered it. “Next time someone gets in your face, finish it. Hesitatin’ will get us both killed one day.”

  I shook my head and glared at his whistling, retreating form.

  “You know, I saved your ass from Gabe. This is a pretty shitty Thank You,” I muttered as I rubbed my throat.

  Vicks turned and cocked a grin at me. “Well, ya ain't dead, are ya?” He tipped his hat and winked. "Yer welcome."

  I stared at my fist and visualized crackling blue energy. It manifested and I crushed the spoon in my hand.

  “Good,” Gabe said. “You’re improving.”

  I plastered on a fake grin. “Thanks.” It took all of my concentration to avoid keeling over. When Gabe said it was time for the real training to begin, he hadn’t been joking. He had me use blue sauce every day, and I’d lost count of the amount of times I’d thought I was going to pass out. No matter how much I ate, nothing could sustain me.

  I’d gotten into the habit of daydreaming about Lucas and all the ways I needed him. I barely knew the guy, but that didn’t stop me from envisioning every possible scenario in which he could feed my succubus side.

  Even my nightmares no longer struck terror. Instead of cold sweats, I’d been waking up with hot flashes. That entire night was now painted in a rosy hue. Even the moments that I knew to be wretched. Even thinking about Professor Capshaw and what I did to him had me licking my lips.

  Anyone and everyone has begun looking like a delicious meal. I couldn’t even be near Vaughn anymore. Luckily, she saw past my bullshit and had kept her distance. There’s only so many times she could catch me staring at her like she was a big, juicy steak before she began to fear for her safety.

  I couldn’t blame her. I was starting to feel unstable.

  I’d been thinking a lot about the vampires in the dungeon, too. About Beckett and his offer. I’d decided to keep my distance. It was the safest option for him. Even if I believed him and broke him out… if I got near him I would eat him. There was no doubt about it. I wasn’t me anymore.

  I’d turned into a monster.

  It didn’t help that everyone near me wanted me to be exactly that.

  I took a deep breath and focused on my balance.

  Gabe looked at me funny, but he didn’t say anything. I’d noticed that he’d taken up the patient route after he realized that pushing me wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. He had no idea just how stalwart I could be.

  “Next, I want you to start sparring with Vicks,” Gabe said.

  My knees started to shake, so I sat down on the mat under the guise of taking a few gulps from my sugary sports drink. I wiped my mouth. “I’m not going near that asshole.”

  Gabe quirked his eyebrow. “It’s him or me.”

  I scoffed. “You. Hands down.”

  That got a smile out of him. “I could teach you fighting techniques, but it will require touch.”

  I narrowed my eyes. Had he brought up Vicks first just to make me more malleable?

  “What’s wrong with the punching bags?” I asked. I looked over at the corner of the room where a heap of the punctured bags were piled.

  “They don’t grow on trees.” Gabe smirked. “You’ve already tapped out my supply.”

  I frowned at the lot. There were at least twenty ruined bags. Even though it didn’t feel like it, I’d assumed they were filled with sand. But it was really just a bunch of scraps of colorful fabric — strewn about like violent confetti.

  “Fine,” I announced, “but I’m wearing long sleeves when we spar. And so are you.”

  A flash of annoyance crossed his face, and I resisted the urge to scoff. I knew this was a play to get some up close and personal time with me. I was half tempted to find another succubus just so I could throw her onto Gabe’s path. The guy was like a pitbull with a bone. Sure, he wasn’t as pushy, but I had no doubt that he still wanted to experience the incubus-succubus combo.

  I sighed. The sad part was that I’d probably have fallen head over heels for him if I wasn’t already linked to a certain wolf. Gabriel Benson had looks and charm in spades. Though his proximity physically repulsed me, even I could admit that he was a temptation. Just not for me.

  “Fair enough, go get changed.”

  I slowly got to my feet, careful to not let him catch wind of how light-headed I felt. “On it.”

  As I walked toward the door, a terrible pain consumed me. Something fucking slashed my wrist!

  I held up my arm and screamed at the bloody stump. Blood dripped down my arm.

  My stomach lurched as the blood turned to magma and scorched designs into my skin. It glowed a brilliant white that lit up the entire room. I shielded my eyes from the light.

  Suddenly the pain disappeared, and the room returned to normal.

  “Claire!” Gabe yelled in my face.

  I blinked at him then stared back at my hand. It was whole again, but now I had an ornamental black tattoo from wrist to elbow.

  “Are you alright?” Gabe held me to him, concern etched onto his features.

  I was so shaken up, it didn’t even occur to me to pull away.

  “What is this?” I cried, eyes still wet from tears I didn’t realize I’d shed.

  “What is what?”

  “This!” I held up my arm, displaying what looked like a black henna tattoo.

  “I don’t see anything, but I sure as hell felt something.” He grabbed my hand and looked me firmly in the eyes. “I think you’ve been attacked by black magic.”

  “Craft?” I whispered.

  Gabe nodded. “A witch just cast a spell on you.”

  I ripped my hand away from Gabe and stumbled out of his dojo. My mind blanked out as I walked numbly to my room.

  A witch.

  She cut off my fucking hand! I was too freaked out in the moment, and blinded by the pain, but now I could see her face. She had glowing purple eyes, blonde hair, and a black lace dress. Her presence in my head sent a cold shard of ice through my skull.

  I tried to push myself up the stairs but ended up pausing mid-staircase, gasping for breath. My shaky hands grabbed onto the handrail. I’d used far too much energy in the training session. I could barely make it back to my room.

  I roughly wiped the moisture from my cheeks and glared at the top landing. It was only fourteen steps. Fourteen steps with cinder blocks weighing down each foot. I took a deep breath and forged onward.

  Five minutes later, I closed the door behind me and collapsed into a heap on the floor. My entire body shook from exertion.

  I released the control I had on my appearance and looked into the mirror on my vanity, at the hideous thing I’d been hiding.

  Shit. I looked even worse than I had this morning. My face appeared gaunt, the edges of my cheekbones sharp and the flesh below hollow. My normally thick, voluminous hair looked stringy and dried out like straw.

  I looked like the hag the purple-eyed witch was supposed to look like. Withered. Spent. Brittle.

  A pathetic tear dribbled down my cheek.

  You will be in serious danger when you start losing weight and your appearance is affected, Gabe’s voice played in my head.

  I was dying.

  “Lucas…” I rasped. I curled into a ball and cried until the sun dippe
d out of sight. I closed my eyes as I started to slip away.

  I’m here, a voice whispered in my head. Or maybe I’d imagined it.

  ***

  My stomach rumbled for the thousandth time. Instead of finding myself rolled into a feeble ball on my carpet, I awoke from my trance in front of the fridge in the kitchen. I ripped the doors open and gathered the contents of an entire shelf into my arms. I transferred the food to the counter and tore into some leftover pasta.

  Not even remotely sated after finishing off a huge serving, I peeled back tin foil from a wrapped plate to reveal the most delicious looking chocolate cake.

  I grabbed a chunk, not bothering with utensils and jammed it in my face.

  Oh fuck it was good. I stuffed another handful into my mouth and moaned.

  Food had tasted like ash and dust for a while now, but I could actually experience every exquisite burst of rich flavor dance on my tongue. The chocolate cake must’ve been magical cause I could feel it breathing life into me.

  Suddenly, my unwanted tattoo burst into a spill of blinding light. I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip to keep from screaming. The intricate marking burned like hellfire.

  That crazy witch bitch was attacking me again!

  As fast as the pain stole my breath, it was gone. I blinked away the panic, almost convinced that it had been my imagination. I would have believed it, too, if it weren’t for the fact that the tattoo started to glow like burning coals. I gently prodded it, expecting it to be hot to the touch, but it felt normal. Even on the marred parts. It was almost like an illusion.

  After about a minute of staring at the offending limb, I resumed demolishing the cake. I couldn’t do shit about weird glowing tattoos. But you know what I could do?

  Cram more food down my gullet so I could stave off death for just a bit longer.

  I swallowed another huge bite before I froze from the sensation of someone breathing on my neck. I spun around, but no one was there. I opened the kitchen door and looked out into the hall.

  Empty.

  I shook my head and returned to my cake. As I was about to stuff my maw with another mouthful, someone grabbed me by the hips and rocked me against a hard body and an even harder cock. I gasped and turned to find… nobody.