A Hunter Within

by Anna Applegate

  Mr. Thornton shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s so much more than that. Perhaps that may have been her desire twenty years ago. That serum has been her cover. She was instructed to create the sun serum. She didn’t succeed in that, but she did discover a serum to create vampires,” he said, looking horrified as he spoke.

  “She told me while she was…while she had me.” I had almost said while she was torturing me, but even in death, I didn’t want to give Marissa the satisfaction that she’d hurt me in any way.

  “That’s impossible without our bite.” Gabriel said.

  “Well she accomplished it,” Henry’s father said.

  I glanced back and looked at Henry’s motionless body and felt a pain in my heart that threatened to unleash the last few days’ worth of pain I’d been storing up. Whenever I had time to deal with the fallout from this, it would be immense, and I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d ever recover. But not now. Henry’s father had something important to tell us.

  “She was weaponizing it for mass distribution. Turning it into a liquid, or gas, that could be easily dispensed and take effect immediately and with a large number impacted at once,” Mr. Thornton said warily.

  Seeley looked appalled. “Turn people against their will, in mass quantities?” he asked.

  “She was close to figuring it out but then became distracted with the discovery of who Jules was. Suddenly, she could have an antidote, or perhaps tweak the vampire serum to allow for a lesser impact to walk in the sun,” Henry’s father continued.

  “An improved hybrid. She talked sort of like that in our time together,” I confirmed.

  Mr. Thornton nodded. “I’m having my team gather her notes now. Like I said, she was distracted and I don’t believe she finalized weaponizing the serum, but if anything were to fall into the wrong hands, I’m not sure what would happen,” he finished.

  “I sent two of my own to gather intelligence and information against Marissa as well. They will bring whatever they find. I’m confident in their abilities,” Seeley added.

  Mr. Thornton didn’t look convinced. “While whoever Marissa was working for may not be here, you are foolish if you think her gaining access to Jules was by chance. I know for a fact she was working with a vampire in town. And it had to be someone close to Jules.” His eyes narrowed at the brothers.

  Seeley let out a low growl at the accusation again. “I’d never hurt her.” He seethed with anger radiating off his body.

  “Who would she be creating something like this for? We have a treaty that is honored worldwide,” Gabriel said, ignoring the defensive stance his brother was taking when it came to Mr. Thornton’s accusations and focusing on the revelations at hand.

  “I’m afraid we have all been fooled. There are some hunters and vampires working together to end the Alliance of Power treaty. Hunters have been promised the power of being turned, with the additional incentive that they can walk in the sun, which I’m sure many are unaware wasn’t made possible. Marissa was supposed to accomplish that to make the lure irresistible in order to build an army. Which brings us back to the enticing aspect Jules presented her with, another chance to get it right.”

  “This can’t be,” Seeley said, shaking his head as he paced back and forth.

  If Henry’s father was right, everything our parents had built was crumbling, and we were none the wiser, thinking that this all revolved around a silly plot for Marissa to gain power and wealth in our territory alone. If Mr. Thornton was right, this was so much bigger than all of us.

  “Who are you?” Gabriel asked finally. “How could you possibly know all of this, and why should we trust you? You were with Marissa.”

  “I understand your concern. Marissa took an interest in Henry after his infatuation with Jules as children. Henry was never far from her side, and his abilities were more quickly developed than the others. I had to hide what we were, and so I had to take on a new role to keep Marissa away, one that will most certainly disgust me forever, but one I’d do willingly again if it meant protecting my son and our secret.”

  “What secret?” I asked, not understanding anything that he was saying.

  Mr. Thornton watched the vampires warily then looked over at his son.

  “I thought you said he’d be okay,” I whispered. I hadn’t dared to hope. I knew Mr. Thornton was in denial. He smiled warmly at me, though, as I spoke.

  “He will be. It’s his first regeneration.”

  “His what?” Seeley said, spitting the words out in surprise as he stopped his furious pacing.

  “You can’t be,” Gabriel said in astonishment. “That’s a myth.”

  I despised being on the outside, once again, of this strange new world. “What am I missing?” I asked, annoyed.

  “Henry and I are guardians. We’re half angels,” Mr. Thornton replied. “Jules, while hunters were created to protect mankind from vampires gaining too much power, guardians were created and sent to protect all of humanity. We haven’t been needed much lately in your world, due to the treaty and alliance that both of your parents so boldly fought for. But, lately an evil has been growing that has been impossible to ignore.”

  “But Henry grew up a child, with me,” I said, not understanding how a child could be some sort of avenging angel protector.

  “Most of us do, and if Henry sees fit, he can tell you more as he is learning his role as well… Ah, it’s time,” he said.

  I turned and saw a strange orangish-yellow glow coming from Henry’s body. It was pouring out of the wound in his abdomen and enveloping around him. He slowly rose up, as if on some sort of invisible platform none of us could see, being raised into a standing position. His eyes were still closed, but the lights that were coming out of him began to wrap around him and slowly bring him to the ground.

  As the lights faded, Henry took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

  CHAPTER 18

  I stared in utter disbelief as Henry stood before me. He wasn’t bloody, he had no wound, and he gave me the most reassuring smile I’d ever seen. I ran, stumbling over my feet as I leaped out into his arms.

  “You’re alive.” I clung to his neck, and he chuckled into my neck as he held me tightly.

  “I tried to tell you it was okay,” he said.

  I squeezed harder and then remembered myself, pulling away and looking up at him.

  He cleared his throat. “Father.” He nodded.

  “Well done, two minutes faster than my first regeneration.” His father clasped him on the back, and I took a few steps away, bumping into Seeley and Gabriel who were watching on with a strange look on their faces.

  “What, the vampires are shocked at the existence of some other creatures?” I teased. “Welcome to my world.” I laughed, suddenly giddy with relief that Henry was alive.

  I composed myself when I got looks from all of them, probably wondering if I had lost it. I was wondering the same thing myself if I was being honest.

  “So, should we make sure we have all Marissa’s notes?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

  Mr. Thornton nodded. “We’ll go to Marissa’s office first. I told the others to leave it to me. I’m the only one with access anyway,” he said.

  “I’m sure Kellan and Rebecca have made their way there by now as well. We’ll go with you,” Seeley suggested.

  We all walked out, following like children behind the grown up, Mr. Thornton, which in a way we were compared to him. He had so many answers to questions none of us even knew to ask. And the biggest fear I knew was starting to tug at all of our minds—that Marissa was just the bottom rung of this plot.

  Seeley’s hand slipped into mine as we walked.

  He leaned over and kissed my head quickly. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said, and I noticed the darkness that was in his eyes.

  “I’m not that easy to get rid of.” I smiled at him, squeezing his hand once.

  He pulled me to a stop and brought his hands up gently on either side of my neck. His eyes fl
ickered over me, as if they were scanning to ensure that I truly was alright. He brought his forehead down to mine. His eyes were closed, and I smiled, leaning into the motion.

  He pulled back, and his lip quirked up before he leaned in and took my lips with his own. His tongue gently ran over mine, and I let out a low moan. His hand ran under the hem of my shirt, and I realized I was still in the scrubs Marissa had me in. He kissed me harder once more before pulling away again.

  “Don’t ever do that again,” he whispered fiercely.

  I was at a loss for words, having him pressed up against me and after a kiss like that. I licked my bottom lip once, swallowed, and nodded slightly.

  Seeley smirked at my lack of response and steadied me. “I guess I need to get us back to the others.” He sighed, looking at me longingly one more time. “Come on.” He tilted his head, signaling for me to follow.

  We walked hand in hand until we caught up with the others.

  We all approached the offices together. They were deserted. I was sure Henry’s father had played a role in emptying out Falcone. I grew nervous, wondering what the future of this company held and what my role would be in any of this. Marissa was gone, and if I was truly the last Van Helsing, it was my responsibility to keep this front and rebuild our hunter organization in the northern territory. Not in the future, but soon. Especially if there was a larger threat out there we needed to be worried about. The thought came to me suddenly and almost derailed me from following the others toward Marissa’s office.

  My whole life had changed, and I needed to start accepting that.

  Seeley let go of my hand and approached Gabe as they became lost in a silent conversation. Gabriel shook his head once and I frowned wondering what they were discussing.

  Henry’s father unlocked the door to Marissa’s office, and we walked into the ornately decorated and empty room.

  We all walked around the office, and the vampires started searching. Once again, we were looking for something, anything. Henry’s father seemed the most sure of what we were doing here. He stood at Marissa’s computer, typing furiously.

  “Yes,” he muttered and paused, clicking the mouse and then typing again.

  A computer-sounding voice command promoted him to give a required password. He did so wordlessly, and a recording sounded from the computer speakers into the room.

  If you’re hearing this, then I guess you survived. Good work thus far. You’ll need to get out and continue here with us. Mathias will be pleased. I’ll have to determine if I’ve been compromised, and we will proceed from there. I’ll grab what I can. He’ll be expecting you to have results from the Van Helsing girl. Contact us through secure channels when it’s safe.

  “Why does that voice sound familiar?” I asked, not able to quite determine the deep male voice on the line.

  “It’s Kellan.” Seeley’s eyes were alight with a fire I didn’t know could exist in someone. “Gabe, find Rebecca. She might be hurt.” Gabe nodded and flew out of the room without any hesitation.

  “Is he talking about Mathias, the man who turned your village?” I asked, remembering what Rebecca had told me when she was comforting me about Amanda.

  “Yes, and the vampire king of Europe,” Seeley answered, his eyes storming over. He was clearly distracted, and his thoughts had taken him somewhere else.

  “And Kellan’s working with him?” I asked, shocked. Kellan had always seemed so loyal, kind even.

  “I guess we found our inside man,” Mr Thornton said, quietly.

  “Maybe he just now got to him. Kellan couldn’t have given him much. Maybe he just gave this King Mathias some of Marissa’s early work,” I said, hopeful and trying to stay positive. We had just brought down Marissa. We thought we had at least that small victory within our grasp. I didn’t want to let it slip away.

  “It’s so much worse than that, Jules,” Seeley said, snapping out of his daze. He sighed. “Mathias is Kellan’s uncle. He’ll know everything there is to know about us. About all of us. Minus the guardians.” Seeley’s voice was icy. “I need to help Gabe find Rebecca. We’ll be back,” he muttered as he stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of us behind to take in the news.

  Henry came to stand beside me. “We’ll all figure this out,” he said, looking down at me. “Together.”

  Whatever we thought we had just overcome truly had just been the beginning.

  Marissa had been a pawn.

  The enemy was still out there, and at large. And he knew everything he needed to hurt us in his quest for domination.

  “What happens next?” I said softly.

  “There’s more. Perhaps we should wait until the vamp—” Mr. Thornton was cut off by the reentry of the vampires. Gabriel was carrying Rebecca who looked furious.

  “I’m fine. I should have known,” she rambled. I couldn’t catch everything she was saying.

  Gabriel set her down and started checking the back of her head. “You were hurt enough to be knocked out, Becs,” Gabriel said.

  “He has everything. We were gathering all kinds of documents. Things that looked terrible, notes that made no sense,” she said while she looked at the ground. “I saw something about a weapon and then nothing. I’m so sorry.” Her eyes pleaded with Seeley, almost as if looking for forgiveness.

  Seeley brought his hand to her shoulder and shook his head. “We were all fooled.”

  “Do we know what he has?” she asked.

  “Marissa found a way to create vampires without a bite,” Gabriel informed her.

  Rebecca’s eyes went wide, and she looked frightened.

  “They didn’t figure out how to weaponize it, though. Right now, it’s a serum that needs to be injected individually,” I added. “But they were trying to find a way to dispense it into the air to make it more easily ingestible.”

  “That’s madness,” she said. “Who would want this?”

  “Mathias.” Seeley immediately held Rebecca’s hand when he said the name.

  I wasn’t close to Rebecca, but she had opened up to me about Mathias. He’d killed her entire family. This would be personal to her.

  “Then let’s kill him like we should have done years ago, Seeley,” she demanded.

  Henry’s father spoke, commanding our attention from behind Marissa’s desk. “Now is not the time for rash vengeance.” We all turned, looking toward him again.

  “As I stated, there is much you do not know. We are building our own army, but we knew another was growing too. Clearly, it’s Mathias’. There are hunters and vampires on his side, and we can have both on ours, as well as the likes of our kind.” He nodded toward Henry.

  Rebecca frowned. Surprisingly, she looked to Henry, and they exchanged a look as if they were on good terms, and she looked away again, as if reassured she’d be filled in later. Apparently they had all gotten chummy in the short time I had been taken.

  “And where is this army?” Gabriel asked.

  “With the other remaining member of the Van Helsing line.” Mr. Thornton looked at me.

  I shook my head. “I have no army.” I scoffed, completely ignorant to what he was talking about.

  “You are not the last of your line, Jules,” he said kindly and almost excitedly toward me.

  I began looking around the room at the shock on every face, except Gabriel’s.

  “You knew that, too?” I asked as a new anger rose in me. “What else am I not aware of? Who is alive?”

  “Your grandfather, Lars Van Helsing,” Henry’s father informed.

  “I wasn’t sure. I was simply told of a place to take you if things went wrong twenty years ago,” Gabriel said, looking at me sadly.

  “That’s the same place you’ll need to remember, now,” Mr. Thornton said before looking to Seeley. “You will need to bring warriors. Anyone loyal to the treaty, to your parents, to you. This will be a war, and it will be against Mathias. We won’t have to wait much longer until we know his plans.”

  “A war?” I asked,
in a mere whisper. I had barely come to terms with the possibility of taking over a secret hunter organization. The thought of a war, of any kind, was something that seemed incomprehensible to me.

  “This has been stirring, and tensions have been rising for twenty years. I’m afraid Marissa’s fall, and the information Kellan will take back to Mathias, will be enough to be a breaking point. We’ll need all the help we can get.” Mr. Thornton nodded to the vampires before turning back to me.

  “Jules, you will need training and quickly. You have no skills as a hunter, and people will look to you for guidance. It’s a war against vampires after all.”

  I stumbled backward, trying to escape the conversation. “I’m nobody. I didn’t even know I was a hunter until a few days ago,” I stammered and felt an arm slip around my waist. Seeley had come back to stand next to me.

  “You come from the strongest line of hunters there are, Jules. People will follow you because of what’s inside of you,” Seeley reassured, clutching onto me tightly.

  I swayed once, unable to grasp everything coming at me. How could I be expected to lead anyone? I was the girl behind the books, behind the desk. I had never led anyone anywhere.

  “Seeley, meet us as soon as you can, and as stealthily as you can.” Mr. Thornton nodded as if dismissing the vampires. “There’s no time to lose, now. With Kellan gone, I’m not sure how much longer it’ll be safe here.”

  The vampires nodded in unison and looked between each other. Seeley took my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist. I looked into his eyes, wondering how this could all be happening so quickly.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon,” he whispered.

  “You’re leaving now?” I questioned, fearfully. This was happening too fast.

  “There’s so much territory to cover. We’ll need to get in touch with all the local leaders and advisors we have in place. We’ll move quickly and connect with you all soon, wherever it is Gabe knows to go. Be safe,” he urged. He kissed my cheek and lingered there before he left, holding my hand for as long as possible before disappearing outside of Marissa’s office door.