by Terry Spear
“You always have choices.” Zachary motioned to the newly turned vampires. “Their maker is dead. Now they have a choice, become like their maker, kill hunters, or live in peace among us.”
“I don’t know why you’d stick up for them. You and Michael were great hunters before this,” Gregory said, glowering at him. “Michael’s hung up on a sister of this abomination who calls himself a hunter still.” Gregory motioned with his head to Adonis.
So he and the others didn’t know Zachary and Danai had also been turned.
“Either you accept what has happened to Adonis as I have, as his family has, or you fight us now and be done with it,” Rachael said.
Zachary was surprised she hadn’t mentioned that more of them were hunters turned, but he was proud of Rachael for speaking up against the hunter, many of whom would still feel the same as Gregory did toward Adonis and the others.
Even if Gregory and the others said they accepted what they had become, Zachary had a hard time trusting Gregory now. If Gregory had just been hotheaded about it when he first knew Adonis was a vampire and as far as he felt, had stolen Rachael away from him, that was one thing. But to continue to harbor the deep-seated hate and want to act on it, that was another. They needed to work together if they were going to get rid of the bad vampire blood in the area, not battle it out with each other.
“Join us in the fight against Rutherford and the other vampires,” Adonis said. “If any of us kill him and the others and you have signed up to take the bounty, it’s yours. We don’t care as long as the area is cleansed of those who murdered our family.”
“What about them?” Gregory pointed an accusing finger at the newly turned vampires.
“Like I said, they’re here so we can protect them. Some hunters think all vampires are bad.” Zachary figured Gregory still thought they were too. At least when Gregory had to obey the hunter’s leadership, he minded, but now he was little more than a rogue. Especially if he killed Adonis.
“Attempt to kill Adonis and you’re dead,” Daemon said. “Between hunters and vampires alike, a contract will be out on you and the ones who follow you. You know you’ll be considered a rogue hunter and they’re put on a list for termination. No one wants a vampire-hunter war.”
Gregory’s disgruntled expression didn’t change. “All right. Then what are we up against and who’s in charge of the mission?”
Adonis smiled, albeit wickedly. “I am.” Then his smile vanished, and his expression turned hard again. “We’re here to kill Rutherford and any vampire who is in cahoots with him, ancients, his minions that fight us. All of them. The city sanctions the work. Like I said, you and your friends can get the money for the job. We don’t care. We just want—”
“Revenge?” Gregory said.
It wasn’t a hunter’s way and he was still trying to pull Adonis’s chain.
“To right a wrong. Either you’re with us or you’re—”
“Against us,” Rachael said.
Gregory glanced at his friends. They all nodded. Zachary wasn’t sure they wanted to be on a terminal list should they try and take out Adonis. That was all on Gregory.
Just this once, he was getting a second chance. Beyond that, everyone was in agreement. If he tried to kill Adonis, Gregory was a dead man.
“Don’t make me regret my decision,” Adonis said.
“We have to take jobs where we can now,” Gregory said. “Maybe you can put in a good word for us and we can return to Dallas.”
Now that was the first smart thing Gregory had said. His friends looked relieved that he said so. Suddenly, from battle ready, to making plans to take out the really bad guys, everyone relaxed a little.
“You and your men can stay in one of the hunters’ homes sitting on the beachfront. We’ve cleared them out and have hunters watching the houses from across the street,” Adonis said.
“But the vampires have already been in your homes and can enter without going through the front door,” Gregory said.
“Right, and you’re a hunter. Eliminate them if they appear in the homes. You can even stay here in my parents’ home, but you’ll have to share it with these vampires. They were here first,” Adonis said. “The house next door is mine, if you want to stay there.”
Zachary wanted to laugh, but he kept his amusement to himself.
“Thanks, we’ll do that.”
Zachary was hoping that Gregory and the others would abide by the agreement. If not, Zachary had no aversion to killing them. If they knew Zachary was just like Adonis, they’d have to kill him too, and Danai. Then again, they had to realize, at least for now, everyone would be against them if they attempted to harm Adonis again.
“I’m staying here the rest of the night,” Daemon said, motioning to the vampires.
“Is this where you were all along?” Zachary asked. “We thought you were sleeping in your room.”
Daemon shook his head. “Once I knew we had vampires to protect, Ephraim and I came here with our mates.”
Zachary was thinking a hunter should be with them since the vampires would sleep during the day.
“I’ll stay here,” Adonis said.
“So will I,” Rachael said. “We can protect the vampires if any other hunters are looking to come here for a bounty.”
“I’ll escort Gregory and the others to your house, Adonis, to make sure no one has shown up that shouldn’t be there,” Zachary said.
“I’m going with you,” Pasha said.
“I’m going back to the house and when you return, Victor and I can get some sleep,” Boniface said to Zachary and Pasha.
Then they all made their way to the houses, Pasha having keys to all the hunters’ homes as a precaution if any of them had been in trouble.
“You can use any of the bedrooms to sleep in, except for Adonis’s. He wouldn’t have said so, but, considering that you tried to kill him and would have done the same again here if he hadn’t talked you out of it, for now at least, his master bedroom is off-limits,” Pasha said.
“Naturally. You’re really all right with what he’s become? I didn’t think you felt that way,” Gregory said to Pasha.
“Yeah. I really am. He can’t help what was done to him, but he’s been a great help to all of us. Rachael chose him over you because she loves him, and for no other reason. You’ll find someone else who would do anything for you like that, love you unconditionally no matter what. Then she’ll be the one for you.” Pasha showed them the house, living room, bathrooms, bedrooms, even Adonis’s master bedroom, mainly to make sure no one was there who shouldn’t be.
“You think the vampires who were turned and now are saying they’re not going to harm anyone will really live up to their word?” Gregory asked.
“They want to. I’m sure of it. You might want to take shifts on sleeping. The vampires won’t come during the day—”
“Except for Adonis,” Gregory said.
“Yes, which gives him an advantage over the rogue vampires,” Pasha said.
“And over the hunters.”
Pasha frowned at him. “Sure, and that means, since he’s on our side, it’s to our advantage. Talk to you later. We’ll keep in touch about what’s going on. Be sure to keep us posted also. We’ll come to your aid if you need us to. Zachary’s been keeping up on who’s where and when.”
“All right, thanks,” Gregory said, and he sounded like he meant it.
Maybe Gregory and the other hunters would be a help and not a hindrance then, Zachary thought.
Then he and Pasha returned to the house across the street from her parents’ place and they relieved Boniface and Victor again.
“Hey, it’s like last night for us when we had to fight the vampire threat,” Zachary said, smiling. “We each have to take turns.”
“I’m returning to the couch,” Pasha said, kissing Zachary, then lying back down on the couch and pulling her covers over her. “And good work for catching Gregory and the others slipping into the house. If you hadn
’t, I’m sure the newly turned vampires would have been dead.”
“Maybe. A hunter or two might have been killed.”
“Or turned,” Pasha said, smiling.
“Wouldn’t that be a kicker.”
“For Gregory if it happened to him? It would be worth it!” Pasha closed her eyes.
Zachary poured himself another cup of coffee and went into the office to watch her parents’ home across the street. Everything was nice and quiet, like it should be while all good little vampires, and bad, should be asleep.
Chapter 21
Pasha woke about an hour later and found Zachary checking in with everyone who was awake to see that everyone was okay.
She rubbed his back. “How are the kids doing at the hotel?”
“Wanting to run outside and play. They’re getting antsy being cooped up all the time in the hotel room.”
“I don’t blame them. I feel that way while housesitting. I take it everything’s been quiet.”
“Yeah, it has been.” Zachary sounded glad.
“Did you want to lie down for a little bit?” She was still rubbing his back, feeling comfortable with doing this when before she’d gotten to know him better, she didn’t think she would have.
“Thanks, I’m good for now.”
She was glad he felt rested enough. Who knew what else they’d have to face before long? But it was quiet the rest of the day. The night would most likely be another story.
Once the sun had set that night, Alex contacted Zachary telepathically, feeling connected with him and Zachary hoped that he was good for his word and not attempting to lure them into Rutherford's trap. "I was surprised that so many of you are hunters turned. I'm sorry for that," Alex said.
"Don't tell Rutherford that," Zachary warned. They didn't want to kill Alex if they didn't have to, so they were really putting themselves out on a limb to trust him with the truth when no one else knew about them.
"I won't. I had to tell you that Rutherford's beginning to communicate with us. He told us to kill Crichton because he had attempted to kill Rutherford."
"I thought he said two hunters had tried to eliminate him."
"He did. He said after being injured so badly, he hadn’t wanted to let on that he had remembered that Crichton had nearly killed him. Two of his vampires had seen Crichton stabbing him with a hunter's sword he'd grabbed up for the purpose of killing Rutherford."
"Does Rutherford know Crichton’s dead?"
"No. I’m waiting to hear what you want me to do about it. The others don't know what Adonis did, and I sure didn't tell him. But when Rutherford gave the order to all of us who had been turned by him to find Crichton and eliminate him, we swore we would."
"Good. Any other orders?"
"The same standing order as before. Kill the hunters."
"So he's feeling better," Zachary said, disappointed.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so."
"And you still have no idea where he's at." Zachary wished they did, and they could end this now.
"No, but he might share with us once he knows Crichton is dead."
"Hmm, maybe we'll say you did it, send it to the news reporters to let them know the one who changed the others in the city is dead and you'll get the credit for it. You will have proof with his ashes left behind at the condo where he was staying. We didn't have the police remove his ashes yet," Zachary said.
"Okay, then I'll spend a couple of hours 'looking' for him and then find him. Once I share with the others, someone's bound to come see for themselves," Alex said.
"Rutherford?"
"I doubt it. Not at first. He'll want to send someone else to make sure it's not a trap for him. He didn't seem that cautious to me before, but I think Crichton's betrayal and nearly killing him changed that. Now Rutherford feels more vulnerable. At least that's what I think."
Unless Alex was feeding the hunters all lies. "Who do you think he'll send to verify your story?"
"Maybe one of the ancients who's left. Then again, maybe not if Rutherford believes the other ancients are out to get him also. He’ll probably send a couple of the men he turned."
"How many ancients are left?" Zachary asked.
"I'm not sure. I've met five, but I haven't seen them in a while. Whitefoot was the only one who was speaking to Crichton still, as far as I know," Alex said.
"All right. Let me know when you have told Rutherford you killed Crichton."
"I will. But you promise me you'll kill him. All of them. They'll all want my head if they learn I've betrayed them."
"We will. We'd do it now if we had a clue where the rest of them are," Zachary assured him.
"If I learn anything, I'll let you know." Then Alex ended the communication.
Zachary shared the information with the other hunters but then Adonis told Zachary, "We have activity at the hotel. Apparently, someone's checking to see whatever became of the vampires that disappeared there. I need you and Pasha to check it out."
“We’re on our way. But we’re taking Gregory with us.” Not because Zachary thought he needed to be watched, but because he wanted Gregory to see what the hunters were there for. Not just to take down a bunch of rogue vampires for money, but to help protect the youngest of their kind, because without them, the battle with the rogue vampires would be lost.
“Okay, good. He needs to know that he’s not fighting for me, but for the next generation of hunters,” Adonis said.
“Exactly.” Which made Zachary have the unsettling notion of what could happen if a vampire-turned hunter had a child who became a rogue. They didn’t know what abilities they might have, aversion to sunlight, no problem with it. Fangs? No fangs? Fly and vanish like the vampires? Control minds, telepathic communications? Or none of it? They just didn’t know.
And there was no telling what might turn a good hunter—whatever his or her background—into a rogue. It could be anything that marred them for life and that was the way they dealt with it.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, they saw a group of five men talking to a couple of different clerks. None of them had bags. Not that it meant anything unnecessarily untoward, but it could mean they were vampires searching for the others, or for the hunters they might suspect were staying here.
“I’ll go check them out,” Gregory said, sounding eager to kill vampires.
Zachary grabbed his arm. “Wait. Pasha will take you up to the room where the other hunters are that need our protection.” He wanted Gregory to see the reason for them bringing him along. And he didn’t want Gregory to witness that Zachary could communicate with the men as a vampire when he did, to learn if they were some of Rutherford’s men.
“Come on, Gregory. We’ll go to several different floors to ensure we’re not being followed.” Pasha leaned over and gave Zachary a smile and a kiss. “Do your best.”
“You know I will.” Zachary kissed her back. He also knew she’d be in good hands if anyone tried to fight her before she and Gregory reached the suite of rooms where the kids were staying.
He headed over to where the men were talking to the clerks, close enough to listen in on what was being said.
“We’ve heard there’s a vampire problem in the city,” the one man said. “We’re hunters.”
But his words didn’t ring true. He and the other men weren’t wearing hunter’s weapons. The weapons forged to kill vampires were handed down through the generations. If a vampire was cut by one, it wouldn’t heal up as quickly as a regular knife or sword wound. And stabbing one in the heart meant the death penalty.
Not that any sword in the heart wouldn’t kill a vampire, but if the sword only nicked it, the vampire might still live. The hunter’s blade would mean instant death for the vampire.
“Are you some of Rutherford’s vampires?” Zachary telepathically asked the men. No one looked in his direction. He sensed they didn’t hear him speaking to them as a vampire would. “Did the city hire you to kill the rogue vampires?” he asked out loud this time.
“What’s it to you?” one of the men said, all of them instantly holding the hilts of their swords as if worried he might be a vampire himself.
Zachary motioned to his sword. “I have a hunter’s sword. Where are yours?” He wanted to ask if they had lost them, but he curbed the inclination to make light of the situation.
“We don’t have them,” the one man said, challenge in his voice. “We’re not born hunters, but we took up the trade. We’re Van Helsing hunters.”
Ah, hell. Some of the human hunters were fair and just, but some just killed anyone that was vampire, not allowing that some were decent citizens and had no quarrel with the human population.
“Listen, some of the vampires here were turned by a man named Crichton,” Zachary said.
“We saw it on the news,” the one man said, sounding arrogant about it.
“He’s dead. The vampires can’t undo what he’s done to them, but they want to live in peace.”
“Like that can really happen,” the one man said.
Zachary wanted to eliminate him on the spot. “We don’t kill those who don’t harm humans or fight hunters. That’s the rule. You disobey the rule, you’re considered murderers. You’ll be eliminated just like any rogue would be. If you can’t live by those rules, leave.” Zachary communicated to Adonis, “We have hot-headed Van Helsing hunters at the hotel. And they’re ready to kill any vampire on the spot.”
“Hell, okay, I’m on my way, but I’ll make a perfectly hunter entrance.”
“Good. I really don’t want to have to kill the human hunters if we can help it.” Then Zachary said to the men, “The hunter whose kin were murdered by the vampires is on his way here. He’s in charge. He makes the rules of engagement. This is his city. He’s in charge of the hunter clan.”
The humans looked irritated that they couldn’t just handle this their own way.
“So where are the vampires?” one of the men asked.
Zachary knew he wasn’t getting through to the men. “The ones you can’t touch? They’re at Adonis’s family’s home. They’re being protected by our hunters in case vampires opposing them and hunters who are not part of the original family, think of harming them. You don’t want to have to fight us on this.”
