Hunting the Dark

by Karen Mahoney

  I wrapped my arms around my aching stomach and looked pointedly at the door. Feed, said a voice from somewhere deep inside me. Feed. You know you want to.

  ‘If you’re done with playing at being Dirty Harry,’ I said, ‘can I go? I need to get out of here. Now.’

  I couldn’t see the expression on his face, but I really hoped it wasn’t disgust. Or pity. Both would suck pretty badly.

  ‘Sure,’ Jace said. ‘Sorry about the gun. I’m an idiot.’

  ‘You’re not wrong about that.’

  He shrugged. ‘I’m going to stick around for another day or so, after all. See if anything shakes out with this whole Nicole deal. And now I have to find out who did this to Quinn. I owe him that much.’

  ‘OK.’ I still couldn’t look at him. ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

  ‘Right.’

  I bit my lip.

  ‘Call me if you hear anything,’ he said. ‘Especially if it means I’m in the clear.’

  ‘Of course.’

  He nodded, but he didn’t move away or anything.

  ‘Jace,’ I said.

  ‘Moth,’ he said at the same time.

  We both laughed. Well, I did. He just sort of smiled.

  ‘Ladies first.’

  ‘Are you going to do anything about, you know . . .?’ I trailed off, not sure how to say what it was that I wanted to actually say.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘You know,’ I repeated. ‘The body. Quinn’s body, I mean.’

  ‘Well, I’m not going to move him.’

  ‘Of course not!’ I shook my head. ‘I just wondered if you were going to call the police.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, his expression completely serious. ‘I was thinking of making an anonymous call. Let them come snooping around his stuff, find out what he used to do for a living, and then maybe start an investigation to determine whether he’s a murderer or a whack job.’

  I scowled. ‘Very funny.’

  Jace pushed a hand through his hair. ‘Actually I was thinking of just burning down the whole place.’

  ‘Are you kidding?’

  ‘Do I look like I’m kidding?’

  Jace was as tightly wound as I’d ever seen him – and feeling trigger-happy. And maybe we were less ‘friendly’ than I’d stupidly begun to believe. Better to just get out of there and let him do whatever he needed to do. I thought about the packet of photos I’d swiped, and figured that now definitely wasn’t the time to say anything about it.

  Hopefully I’d gotten the most important computer files, including the stuff that seemed to indicate Quinn had been working for some kind of shady project with the codename Nemesis. I knew that I should tell Jace about that too, but I wanted to look at it properly for myself first.

  And he’d held a gun on me. I didn’t owe him a thing.

  I’ll definitely talk to him about it, I told myself. Eventually.

  But for now I was on my own.

  The early morning light lifted my mood as I headed back toward a more familiar part of the city, breaking into a jog so that I could enjoy the sunrise, clear my head – and think. Not about Jace, but about the pieces of the puzzle I was beginning to gather.

  But first I would go home and grab some of the bagged blood that Holly and I kept in the refrigerator. That should hit the spot.

  Grimacing at my own disgusting lifestyle, I picked up the pace and found myself drifting closer to Theo’s neighborhood than I’d intended. It was like I was a freaking homing pigeon or something.

  Beacon Hill is one of the most affluent sections of Boston – certainly nothing like where I live in the more funky North End. I had stayed with Theo here during the early weeks and months of my transition, until he could trust me not to rip out the throat of anyone with a pulse. But even then, after I’d reached that so-called milestone – he had dumped me with Holly, my own personal vampsitter.

  I drifted up Beacon Street, touching the gas lamps as I went by – for good luck. Something felt ‘off’, and I wasn’t sure whether it was just my hunger making me nervous or whether there really was something to worry about.

  The back of my neck prickled and I held myself still and silent in the shadows cast by tall houses and their wrought-iron gates. I heard passing traffic, an engine starting and then backfiring, the buzz of a streetlamp that hadn’t switched off, but I didn’t move. The world focused super-clear and tight around me, in each of my senses; everything was sharply defined, like a camera just before taking the picture.

  Someone was following me.

  Or, more precisely, someone was laying a trail for me. Leading me back the way I’d just come. I could smell them now that my vamp senses were even further enhanced, thanks to my need for blood. The scent was strangely familiar, and yet . . . not. And talking of blood, there was the faint but unmistakeable trace of it in the air. I was almost certain that I had smelled way too much of that very same blood in Quinn’s house.

  It was probably a trap.

  I frowned. Trap or not, I had to find out what was going on, and the only way to do that was to follow the breadcrumbs.

  ‘Coming, ready or not,’ I muttered as I headed back out onto the main street.

  My city was a place of contradictions: the old living side by side with the new. Narrow, cobbled streets were swallowed by modern roads; curved steel and mirrored glass embraced the charming colonial buildings of the Old World. History remained, speaking of a time when hope ruled human hearts – people in search of a better life. Theo had been one of those seekers, crossing the ocean and risking his life for a new start.

  Only, in Theo’s case, he had gotten way more than he bargained for when he had met the vampire who changed him forever – Nicole.

  I followed the mysterious scent, picking up speed as I followed the street back toward the Common. The faint smell of vampire tickled my nostrils. It was just a hint, a whisper . . . but that was enough to get me curious. Another vampire out in daylight?

  Whoa. I was the youngest vampire in the entire Greater Boston area. Seriously, the only one under twenty. If there was another vamp around who was able to handle being outside during the day, I wanted to know who it was. And I had to find out where they were from so that I could tell Theo we had a rogue in the city. Perhaps this had something to do with Nicole’s death and I’d been wrong about Quinn, after all.

  Then again, Quinn had gotten himself killed. Maybe even by a vampire. Nothing made sense and it was driving me nuts. I patted my jeans pocket, checking that the flash drive was still safely tucked away. So many questions and not enough answers – perhaps this new lead would help me to join the many confusing dots.

  I sniffed the air again. Whoever this person was they didn’t smell quite right. Vampires tend to have a familiar sort of scent. Honestly, it’s hard to describe: a mixture of cold winter nights, liquorice and moonlight; old blood and fresh ashes. Whoever I was tracking didn’t smell exactly like that. There was something definitely not human, but an important element was missing. Attempting to make sense of it and to put it into words was almost impossible, but my brain continued to try as I tracked the scent. Blood was definitely part of the complex equation, though.

  Blood and fear and rage.

  Repressing a shudder I kept moving, even though my theory that I was being drawn into a trap was growing. I was closing in on my quarry, I could feel it. Either I was gaining ground, or whoever I was following was letting me catch up. I didn’t like the second possibility, but I continued on the path anyway.

  By now I’d reached Boston Common, crossing the road and losing the unseen thread that drew me in as I crossed the busy intersection and headed into the Public Gardens. I tried to separate all the various scents, tried to focus on the one I’d tracked all around the back streets of Beacon Hill, and out onto the main intersection.

  Growling with frustration, I turned a slow circle just inside the entrance to the Gardens when I suddenly caught the scent again.

  Only it was no
w directly behind me, virtually on top of me. I spun . . . too slow.

  A slender arm flashed around my throat, dragging me backward, and something sharp dug into my lower back. Whoever was holding me might not be big, but they were certainly strong. And they were armed.

  I prepared to break free, tensing all my muscles –

  ‘Stop,’ a girl’s voice said. ‘I have a silver blade and I’ll use it if you try to move.’

  Luckily, I didn’t need to breathe, because right then I wouldn’t have been able to. I felt the sharp jab at my back, and didn’t doubt what the owner of that voice said. She’d run me through with silver – in broad daylight – if I didn’t do as she said.

  Maybe I’d live through it, but not if she went for my heart. Not if she angled through the ribs just right.

  I tried for delaying tactics. ‘You don’t think this is going to look a little weird to the people around here?’

  She laughed, a sound that sent chills down my spine. Not because it was a particularly scary sound, but because she sounded so incredibly young. ‘It’s early, yet – at least for the humans. Nobody cares about us, Marie.’

  Crap. How did she know my name?

  ‘Speak for yourself,’ I said.

  ‘Nobody cares about either one of us,’ the girl repeated, sounding bitter.

  I swallowed, forcing myself to remain calm. ‘Wow, you sure have some low self-esteem there, girlfriend. Don’t drag me into your pity party – I have plenty of people who care about me.’

  ‘Stop talking,’ she hissed. ‘Be quiet or I will end you.’

  ‘But talking is good,’ I continued, ignoring the warning in her tone. ‘We can totally work this out. Grab a coffee, maybe—’

  The next moment I was lifted off my feet and propelled backwards, so fast it made me dizzy. We moved through a narrow gap in a sharply overgrown clump of bushes, and then I felt myself shoved forward – no longer restrained.

  I spun, facing my assailant, prepared to fight for my life.

  Chapter Eight

  Less Than Human

  I stood in a small grassy clearing, facing a girl who looked to be about my age, maybe a little younger. She didn’t look all that dangerous on the surface, but I was an expert in the whole notion behind ‘appearances can be deceptive’.

  I wasn’t fooled for a minute.

  She was taller than me by several centimeters, with plaited blond hair pinned randomly around her head. The huge dark glasses she wore made me hesitate. It reminded me too much of myself – how I always have to hide what I really am. Far more athletically built than I’d ever be, her slender limbs were clad in blue jeans and college-style clothes. Her sweatshirt declared that she was a member of RUS at Harvard, but something about the expression on her face made me doubt that. Despite the oversized black shades she wore, I still had no trouble reading her: she’d far sooner rip my head off than invite me to join her Women’s Studies group.

  My certainty also had a lot to do with the fact that her shirt was covered in dried blood. How had she gotten away with walking around like that? Amazing what people will ignore in the early hours – or at any time. They see what they want to see, so long as they’re tucked up in their safe little worlds.

  ‘Who are you?’ I asked, backing up a step, hoping to God that nobody chose that moment to wander into this corner of the Gardens. Boston’s Public Gardens were usually busy in spring, but we weren’t in full bloom yet and it was still horribly early in the day. Thanks to Blondie dragging me through a particularly thorny bush, we probably had a little privacy. At least long enough for us to kick the crap out of one another.

  I bared my teeth, letting her see the tips of my fangs. Somehow, I didn’t think it would be a surprise to her.

  ‘What do you want? Speak up, before I kick your GAP-covered ass.’

  My mystery assailant hardly reacted, just took up a fighting stance and waited for me to come at her. Dog tags glinted around her neck, raising alarm bells somewhere in the back of my mind. She was way too young to be military-trained. Maybe they were just for show, but it seemed like a strange sort of statement.

  ‘The strong silent type, eh?’ I said, as I slowly circled our tiny clearing.

  ‘You talk a lot,’ she said, a disdainful expression flashing across her face.

  ‘Talking’s great,’ I replied. ‘Talking is the best. Just think, if there was no such thing as conversation, the world would be a much poorer place.’

  She genuinely seemed to consider that for a moment. She shook her head. ‘I think it would be quieter.’

  ‘You like quiet, huh?’ I circled the other way, looking for a good opening.

  ‘I like to be left alone,’ she said. ‘But you were tracking me. I smelled you coming.’

  Whoa. Smelled me? ‘Are you saying I smell bad?’ I made a big show of sniffing under an armpit. ‘I’ll have you know I shower at least once a day.’

  She raised her eyebrows. ‘Do monsters need to shower?’

  ‘Force of habit,’ I said in a breezy tone. ‘Can’t keep a good girl down. Or dirty.’

  She smiled tightly. ‘You’re not human.’

  ‘No,’ I agreed. ‘But neither are you.’

  She cocked her head to one side, examining me. ‘I am more human than you will ever be.’

  ‘Actually, I’m not sure I can agree with that,’ I said. ‘You remind me more of that female Terminator.’

  ‘I don’t know what that is,’ she said, ‘but if we are talking about termination, that is enough for me.’

  ‘Like you “terminated” Quinn?’

  Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t reply. Bingo.

  ‘Who are you?’ I asked. ‘If I’m going to have to fight you, it seems only fair that I know your name.’

  She swiveled to face me, a movement so quick that I would have missed it if it weren’t for my own enhanced reflexes.

  Not human. Definitely less than human . . .

  But she wasn’t a vampire. I was almost certain of that now.

  The girl raised her chin. ‘I was born Subject Ten. Most people at the Facility simply call me Ten.’

  Subject Ten? What the hell kind of name was that? And what was ‘the Facility’? Maybe I’d find out once I accessed Quinn’s—

  She made a tiny movement, shifting her weight to the left, and I tensed. But with a blur of speed that was most definitely not human, she broke right and attacked, dropping and rolling as she lunged at me, fists blurring as they pounded into me.

  It was the perfect strike.

  ‘Subject Ten’ was strong and fast, but that didn’t tell me much. Like, what was she? And where did she come from? And why was she beating the crap out of me? It’s not like I’d done anything to hurt her.

  Yet.

  I flipped myself upright and pounced on her, taking her down to the ground so hard that her head bounced. She rolled away and kicked me in the stomach at the same time.

  The girl smoothly rose to her feet, watching me from behind her shades, pale face still and unreadable. The sunglasses were cracked and blood trickled from her lip where she must have bitten it going down.

  If I could injure her, there was hope that I’d get out of this.

  Ten removed her glasses and stared at me from silver eyes that made my throat tighten. Fear hollowed me out, made my knees weak. This girl was a killer – there was nothing in her face that I could recognize as human.

  And she had silver eyes. Just like mine.

  Early morning sun glimmered in those impossible eyes, mirroring the bright water of the pond just beyond us.

  I’d only had a limited amount of hand-to-hand fight training with Kyle before he’d shown his true colors. I had the increased strength, speed and reflexes of a vampire, but I was still new – and she was way more skilled than I’d ever be. I could see it in the way she moved; in the way she sized me up and evaluated everything I did. She’d been trained from a very young age, which made me wonder about her origins all over again. S
omehow, I knew she’d dismissed me even before we started, and that made me mad.

  But I had some things going for me apart from my natural strength and speed. I wasn’t afraid to fight dirty, for one thing. I was determined. A survivor.

  ‘Are you some kind of blond ninja-vampbot?’ I asked, trying to stall her next attack.

  ‘I already told you,’ she replied, tossing the busted shades away. ‘I am Subject Ten. That is all you need to know, vampire.’

  She flattened me before I could fight back, kneeling on my torso so that all I could do was flail around with my legs. My arms were pinned and she was strong. Stronger than me? No, I didn’t think so, but she was tough and with her athletic build she sure was a pretty good match. She also had the upper hand – literally. At least she was fighting fair and had put that silver knife away. I hadn’t seen her do it, but I’d take whatever bonuses I could get.

  We were locked together face to face, lying on the ground and snarling at one another like animals. The noise she was making shocked me – I hadn’t expected that from her. She looked too human, if a little strange and spaced out. Her dog tags were cold where they touched my skin.

  But maybe she’d forgotten that I had something that she didn’t. Very sharp fangs.

  Also, as already noted, when it came to survival I really wasn’t personally concerned with fighting fair. And I was famished.

  I struck, like a snake pouncing on its prey, but she was too fast for me. As I went for her throat, she pulled back, just enough so that all I did was graze the surface of her skin. I barely left a mark, but I did get a taste. And I grabbed the tags and pulled, just for good measure.

  Luckily they weren’t silver.

  She yelped with pain as I half strangled her, then bared her ordinary human teeth at me. If she was a vampire (and I really didn’t think she was), she definitely filed her fangs.

  ‘You can’t beat me,’ Ten said, breathing heavily as I put all my strength behind an attempt to break her hold. ‘I’m faster than you.’

  ‘Maybe you are,’ I replied. ‘But I’m stronger.’