Knight of the Hunted

by Elizabeth Dunlap

  I interrupted him. “You’re not in a pack? That’s, well…” I wanted to say ‘unheard of’ but I didn’t know that much about Lycans. Maybe it was normal?

  “I know,” he said, as if he’d had to deal with people being shocked about it a lot. “It’s complicated.”

  That was a good moment to stop caring, so I stood up and I was about to start inching my way out of the cave when it occurred to me that this might be the perfect opportunity to protect Olivier. She’d never, not in a million years, predict me grouping up with a Lycan. And as a bonus, his scent seemed to mask mine from other vampires. “So…” I began timidly. I searched for the right words that wouldn’t earn an automatic “no” from him. I needed him to say yes. “Want a travel partner?” was what came out.

  He slowly brought his eyes up and stared at me like I’d just offered to give him a lap dance. “You want to travel. With me. A Lycan.” I smiled in attempt to sell my enthusiasm at tagging along, despite the look on his face which said he thought I was two steps from insanity. “No wonder your people are hunting you. They don’t want a psycho around.”

  I wondered how fast his ribs would heal if I kicked him really hard. “For your information, it’s because-” I stopped myself and squished my lips together. If I told him the reason, he might think I was bragging, or saved the pup for brownie points, or worst case scenario: lying. It didn’t matter that I was on the run for what I’d done. He didn’t know how our laws worked. I could be running from a pissed off ex-boyfriend for all he knew.

  He studied me, trying to figure out what I was hiding, but then he gave up and looked back at the roasting rabbit. “I don’t want to be around a bloodsucker. I should’ve killed you for feeding off me, but that bracelet protected you. So, happy trails and whatnot.” I walked back to the fire and sat down on the rock floor. He stared at me again and I could tell he wanted to pick me up and throw me. “Well, you must be deaf and stupid.”

  I ignored him and leaned over the rabbit to smell it. The succulent scent of well cooked meat curled into my nose. “It’s done. Can I have some?”

  “You eat food?” he asked in sincere disbelief. His ignorance was starting to annoy me. I didn’t wait for him to say I could, so I extended my nails and ripped off a large hunk of meat. It could’ve used some salt, but he’d tended it well and the meat was so juicy and tender I almost moaned out loud. I would’ve eaten more but he hogged the rest, which was over half the animal, and tore into it like…well…a dog.

  I stopped eating to study him. My earlier assessment of his human-like features had thrown me off to his species. The wolves I’d encountered had big noses and large jaw lines. Their hands had thick knuckles and their nails were long. If you didn’t know they were Lycan by sensing it, you would know just by looking at them. Knight looked almost normal. His muscles were large and his teeth pointed, but other than that, normal. He noticed me staring, so I looked down at my meat and finished it. When he was done eating, the meat as well as the bones, he slipped into his sleeping bag and turned his back to me.

  I woke up curled against his back for warmth. Oddly enough, I’d fallen asleep several feet away from him, on the other side of the fire. I cursed leaving my duffle bag in Excalibur. Now I smelled like dog. Though, admittedly, Knight didn’t smell that bad. Then I realized what I was doing. I squeaked and pushed away from him, waking him up.

  “Oh God, you were actually serious,” he grumbled out. I narrowly missed his swinging arm as he got up and stretched. “Bracelet or no bracelet, you’re not staying here.” He popped his enormous shoulders. “Don’t let the cave hit you on the way out.”

  I pretended he hadn’t spoken. “I have a car parked about a mile away, if the Hunters haven’t stolen it. There’s water and snacks and blankets.” He stood up and looked down at me from his enormous height, then he gestured to his large unzipped army bag, that had everything I’d just mentioned in it. “Umm. I have Twinkies?” He rolled his eyes and started gathering his stuff. “With my car, you don’t have to walk! And it has air conditioning, and plenty of space for your long legs. I have long legs, and all I have to do is push the seat-”

  “If I go with you, will you shut up?”

  “Now you’re catching on!” I gave him my best smile and he sighed like I was a fly he couldn’t shoo away. Excalibur was still parked in the old barn. Knight gave it a look I might give to someone wearing crocs, but he tossed his bag in the trunk and got in. He barely fit into the tiny passenger seat. His head bumped the roof and his legs didn’t have enough space to straighten out, even with the seat pulled back as far as it could go.

  “What was that you said about space for my legs?” He moved his arm and bumped me on accident.

  I sighed and rested my head against the steering wheel. “Looks like our run is over, Excalibur.”

  He didn’t comment on the name of my tiny car, and didn’t make any smug remarks when I had to trade it in for something else. I let him choose, since I knew nothing about cars. The car he picked was a two door Impala from the sixties, and it rumbled loudly when he started it up. I had some trepidation, but I paid for the car and got into the passenger seat (he wouldn’t let me drive).

  “Kind of an old car,” I commented. “Will it run smoothly?”

  “Old cars are like women…”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you sure you want to finish that analogy?”

  He snickered. “Probably not.” As he drove, he touched the steering wheel reverently and fingered the Impala symbol like it would bring him luck.

  My old life at the Order seemed so far away. I leaned against my door and tried to get comfortable. Today would be companion selections. The turned could survive on bagged blood, unlike us, but we preferred to give them a companion so they could get used to being around humans again. The companions would know exactly what they were getting into, and after being chosen, they would sign a binding contract. The contract was slightly different than the one a Born companion signed. A companion of the turned had a trial period, an accident clause, and the contract lasted for one year, as opposed to the ten years of a Born companion. The turned were not in charge of their companions like we were, a fact they sometimes resented.

  Knight and I didn’t speak for hours. I could tell he didn’t want to be travelling with me, but I had money and had bought the car, so he was tolerating it. When I got out my bag of blood for a small sip, he quickly pulled the car over and left until I was done. Our natural prejudices were hard to overcome, so I couldn’t fault him for it, even if I wanted to.

  We rented a hotel room, something I hadn’t dared do before now, but we could only get one with a single bed. He might’ve been disgusted with my species as a whole, but he was still chivalrous enough to volunteer to sleep on the floor. The way he was acting made me feel as if he was older than he looked. Mannerisms age someone more than their face does. I could sense how fruitless asking him his age would be, so I didn’t bother.

  He showered first and left the bathroom smelling like wet fur and a large dose of his scent. Did he have fur under his clothes? I gagged a little during my bath and wondered if he’d showered first on purpose just to torment me. When I dressed and left the bathroom, Knight was lounging on the bed watching- wait for it -animal planet. He tossed back a soda, completely engrossed while dogs ran around on the screen.

  I couldn’t help it. I choked back a laugh.

  He tossed his empty soda can in my direction. “Shut up.”

  I sat down in one of the chairs by the door and toweled my hair. “That dog looks pretty. I bet she’s into long walks on the beach.” He threw the phone book at me and I broke out into giggles.

  “I’m not a dog,” he said defensively. I kept laughing, but then I noticed he was being serious.

  “Sorry.” Great, now I’m protecting a Lycan’s feelings. “Since we’re on the subject of labels, I’d prefer to not be called a bloodsucker or any other cute slurs you can come up with.”

  He raked a hand t
hrough his hair. “Fair enough.” He lay back on the bed and put a hand over his eyes. “I’m surprised you’re not complaining about the dog smell. I hear that from vamps often enough.” I was surprised he’d met enough of us to comment on it and was still alive. Maybe he’d lucked out and only encountered the less prejudice of us, though that was a rarity in and of itself, my own self not included.

  “You don’t smell that bad.”

  He snorted. “I could hear you gagging in the bathroom.”

  “That was umm…less dog smell and more…you…smell.” That came out weird. My cheeks flamed so I busied myself with the tanning lotion. He was staring at me when I peeked over at him. “You smell very manly. I’m not used to it.”

  “There’s a compliment in there somewhere,” he said in an amused tone. “What’s with the lotion?”

  I had only done one arm, so the other one was my normal pale tone. “Trying to appear more human,” I told him.

  “You’re not as pale as I thought you’d be.”

  I continued rubbing the lotion in, the conversation reminding me of many discussions I’d had with my protégés. “You’re thinking of the turned.” Knight didn’t know there were two races of vampires and continued asking me various things on the subject. The legends only mentioned the turned, so it was normal that he didn’t know about Born vampires. I figured he was beyond bored if he wanted to know so much about his natural enemies.

  All of the sudden, I smelled lilac and felt a whoosh of air. Balthazar appeared in the hotel room, dressed in his normal stylish suit. When he saw Knight, he brandished his cane like a sword.

  “If you are here to kill my Lisbeth, you will die before your next breath empties your lungs,” he said in a dramatic tone, though I had no doubt he meant it.

  “Where have you been?” I demanded. He’d never been away from me for this long, and I was slightly miffed about it.

  “Copenhagen,” he replied, like it was completely obvious.

  “Uhh, how did you do that?” Knight looked slightly afraid of our visitor. Vampires that ate food he could deal with, but a being that could appear out of nowhere was apparently his limit.

  Balthazar shoved his cane towards Knight and pressed it against his nose. “I reiterate the aforementioned killing should you attempt to harm my Lisbeth.”

  “He’s cool. You can put the cane down,” I told Balthazar.

  He lowered it and studied my travelling companion. “You’ve grouped up with a wolf? And one of the marked at that. Honestly, Lisbeth, didn’t I teach you better?”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like we’re shacking up, literally. We’re just travelling together.”

  Knight gave me a weird look. “You use a lot of slang for a four hundred something vampire.”

  “I like to broaden my horizons,” I told him with a smile. Plus, humans tended to look at me weird when I used the word ‘copulate’ so I tried to keep my lingo as modern as I could.

  Balthazar didn’t appear to enjoy us talking to each other. “Great. Now you two are chummy.”

  “Yeah, I think not,” I said.

  “That is so gross,” was Knight’s response.

  I smirked at him, not at all offended that he thought being around me was gross. “See? Even he agrees with me.”

  “I don’t like sharing,” Balthazar said, as if I was his pet. “Maybe I should come with you.”

  “That’s not happening,” Knight said firmly. “I don’t even know what he is; what is he?” That was directed at me.

  “An Incubus. They father vampires.” I told Knight all the details and his face shifted from confusion to outright horror. This constant explaining was making me tired. I was spoiled on people that didn’t need to be told things like this. “An Incubus finds a human female, they…. copulate, she becomes pregnant, even if she was already pregnant or barren or dying. It doesn’t matter. Nine months later, a vampire is born. A Born vampire. Like me.”

  Knight’s caramel skin looked a little green. “Even if she’s already expecting?”

  Balthazar tapped his cane against his shoe and wouldn’t look at us. “Yes. Even if she’s already expecting.”

  The unasked question was there on Knight’s face, and I almost wished he wouldn’t ask it. He did. “What happens to the human fetus?”

  “What do you think,” Balthazar said quietly. He looked upset, an emotion I rarely saw on him. Knight muttered something under his breath that sounded like, “I am so regretting this.”

  “You okay?” I asked Balthazar. “I don’t have to travel with the wolf if it really bothers you.”

  Thankfully, he shook his head. “No. It’s safer for you to be with him. I’m simply lost in a memory. The years before you arrived were dark and empty.” He disappeared without another word, leaving us slightly confused.

  “Is he always like that?” Knight asked.

  “Pretty much.” Balthazar’s visit left us both in our own thoughts, so we went to bed.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, Knight and I mapped out our route and made a plan for when we hit Texas. I narrowed the state down to two safe places and used the excuse of ‘in case the other doesn’t work out.’ In reality, I was leaving the option open for us to split up, and he most likely knew it. His response was neutral, so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking on the subject.

  After several days of traveling with Knight, I was weak from drinking only the last remnants of my single blood bag, and surprise, surprise, even Knight was starting to get mad that I refused to steal another. I would lose all my strength if I continued using bagged blood and there was literally no safe way to drink from a human. I could admit that I was probably being overly paranoid, but I’d heard the stories of Olivier’s Hunter days. They were ridiculously connected. I briefly contemplated finding Cameron, though, going on a killing spree would probably be safer than contacting him.

  Knight played around with the idea of hosting a fake blood drive, but then he realized that was the opposite of what he was okay with and dropped it. There was nothing for it; I would have to tough it out. In a few more days, I could steal another bag of blood and then just…suffer. Forever.

  I almost started crying when I realized the truth of that thought. I forced myself to continue taking this day by day. If I was constantly reminded that this was now my reality, I would break. Deep breaths. Deep. Breaths.

  “Giving birth?” Knight asked me as I continued to breathe deeply at my spot on the car hood. We’d stopped at a city park to eat lunch, and were practically alone amongst the play equipment. Knight was perched on top of the monkey bars several yards away eating his sandwich, but he could hear me clearly. Lycan hearing was as good as Vampire hearing, apparently.

  I stuck my tongue out at him. “Stopping a panic attack.” He started chuckling at me, his shoulders wiggling in mirth. I was about to toss something at him to tell him to shut up when he stiffened. His nostrils flared, catching a scent I couldn’t smell yet. Or just couldn’t smell at all since I was weakened. He jumped off the monkey bars and sprinted over to the Impala.

  “There’s a pack coming,” he said quickly. “We have to leave. Right now.” He stiffened again and made a growling noise in his throat. Now I could hear a group of footsteps rapidly approaching, and in seconds, the park was flooded with a pack of about fifteen wolves, male and female. They were all dressed like bikers in leather and old jeans. I could smell…. was that blood? Animal blood, I corrected. No matter how weak I was, I could always smell fresh blood. Knight grabbed me and pushed me behind him in a protective maneuver. Normally, I would’ve been offended, but I was no match for all these wolves. I peeked through Knight’s arm to see them.

  “Well, well, well,” one of the wolves said in a raspy voice. His tone carried power. The Alpha male. He had dozens of tattoos up and down his arms, and looked like someone who kicked kittens for a living. “Looks like there’s a wolf without a pack. Ain’t that a rare sight?”

  “We don’t w
ant trouble,” Knight told him.

  “I’m sure you don’t,” the Alpha said firmly. The wind changed and I could feel the pack’s collective emotion shift as they caught a whiff of my smell. The mask of Knight’s scent must not be fooling them. “Why are you with a soul sucking Vampire?” Well that was offensive.

  Growls tore from the wolves’ throats and their claws clinked together as they prepared to face the threat: me. They were ready to charge at us, I didn’t have to see it to know, when Knight pulled me in front of him and presented them with my arm. Specifically, the bracelet on my arm. It kept coming back to this tiny thing. The pack relaxed a little and the Alpha stared at me in absolute confusion.

  “You have an Alpha’s protection?” he asked me skeptically. “Why would an Alpha want to shield a vampire?”

  Knight patted my shoulder. “Now would be a perfect time to share that.” I could tell he’d been dying to ask but would’ve never dared to.

  “I umm…” There were so many eyes staring at me. What if they judged me, even though I’d been kind to one of their pups, and ripped me to pieces right then and there? The protection of the bracelet seemed absolute, but they could just as easily treat it like a onetime pass and steal it from me. Then all bets would be off. I decided to take the risk and just tell them. “I… There was a Lycan pup that accidentally passed the Vampire border around my home.” Every single Lycan in front of me had a reaction to that statement. Mistrust. Anger. Some were simply pensive, waiting for me to finish. Even Knight’s hand tensed on my shoulder. “I might be a Vampire, and my hands have taken lives. But I don’t kill children. Not even pups.”

  The Alpha was still regarding me, trying to figure me out. “You let him go. You spared him.”

  “Yes.” There was no need to embellish what I’d done. I’d already affected them with my words. They were all somewhat relaxed, even more so than before they’d smelled me.