by Jade Farhill
Stupid Little Brat was definitely more accurate, but not appropriate, especially if it slipped out of her mouth around him.
What had Elliot said to him the first time he’d laid a trap for her? ‘A true hunter’. Perhaps that was the best term for him. The Little Hunter.
***
On Christmas day, Abby went to the refectory, which was decked out with candles and tinsel.
Astrid sat next to Abby and handed her a beer. “Here you are.”
The rest of the kitchen staff gathered around, jolly on alcohol.
“Do all hunters celebrate Christmas?” Abby asked.
“Hunters come from all walks of life,” replied Liam. “So we celebrate religious freedom.”
“Back in the middle ages, hunters were only allowed to be Christian, considering that whole myth about crosses, churches and vampires,” Astrid added. “But when that was disproved, and we realised there were hunters from different cultures and religions, we had to put our differences aside to survive the onslaught of vampires.”
“Makes sense,” Abby said and was about to take a sip of her beer when a hand covered it. Abby froze and looked up. It was one of the hunters who’d never harassed her before: Squadron Captain Harriet. “Alcohol and vampires don’t mix. It would be safer for us all if you just stuck to animal blood.”
Abby nodded.
“Harriet!” chastised Nina. “She could have bitten you!”
Harriet shrugged and withdrew her hand. “She hasn’t bitten anyone yet.” The look she sent Nina suggested that she knew exactly what was going on.
Abby put down the cup. “Thanks, Harriet. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“If they don’t mix, then why didn’t you stop me from giving her beer?” Astrid asked Nina.
“Yes, that’s a good question,” Harriet said, giving Nina a challenging look.
“I didn’t realise it was alcohol. It could have been soft drink for all I know.”
Harriet snorted. “It seems unlikely that something could slip past hunters who make it their business to watch her closely.”
The guards folded their arms across their chests.
“What happens if I do drink alcohol?” Abby asked.
Harriet stared down the others for a moment before answering. “You get hungrier.” She turned and strode back to her seat at a nearby table.
Abby shuddered. Her guards would have let her imbibe a substance that was guaranteed to make her see her friends as food?
Astrid met Abby’s eyes, a disconcerted look on her face. Then she wrapped her arm around Abby’s shoulders and mussed up Abby’s hair.
“See, we’re not the only ones who think you’re harmless,” she said.
Abby smiled, suppressing the urge to sniff her friend’s neck.
Eventually, the humans started talking about going to the pubbing and clubbing level. Astrid wanted Abby to come, but the night shift guards wouldn’t allow it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Abby said.
“But there’s a cute guy I want you to meet and tell me what you think of him!”
“You can bring him to meet me at the refectory any day.”
“But he’s so good at pool! You need to verse him.”
Abby chuckled. “If we can set up a pool table here, then there won’t be a problem.”
Astrid looked devastated.
Abby wanted to reach out and hug her, but had a feeling there would be a blade at her chest the moment she did. She smiled at her friend. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out.”
Astrid shuffled out and Abby returned to her lab.
On New Year’s Eve, Liam gave Abby a present. “Open it,” he said excitedly.
Abby gently tore open the wrapping paper. Inside was a mini pool table, complete with plastic legs, mesh pockets, marbles and plastic cues.
Abby burst into laughter. “I didn’t think you remembered that conversation.”
Astrid rushed over and gushed, then hugged Liam. “Who are you going to verse first, Abby?”
“Chef?” she asked, offering him a plastic cue.
Liam grinned. “You’re on.”
And despite loving geometry and having been a fantastic player in the past, Abby lost to the chef because she couldn’t control the strength of her shots.
CHAPTER 18
Abby was so happy to have Trent, Jen and the rest of the scientists back after the holidays. Not only would work on the cure would progress, but she would once more be protected.
“Jen, can I speak to you tonight?” Abby asked.
“Sure—will Trent be there?”
Abby looked over at him. He was tilting his head at them like a puppy. Warmth bloomed in her chest. “If you’d prefer him to.”
Jen nodded. “I’ll see you both later.”
Abby’s breathing restricted. Since when had Jen not wanted to be alone in her company? The hunter guards were always there, anyway.
But at least now she could bring up the harassment without fear of retaliation. She wouldn’t bring up the stupid little bra—the little hunter, unless she absolutely needed to. He was just a kid and the adults encouraged him instead of stopping him like they should have if they’d been responsible.
Later that night, Abby was giving Trent a massage. They were talking about what they’d both done over the holidays and he’d just challenged her to a game of pool.
Jen entered the lab. The little hunter peeked in from out in the hallway, hiding behind the doors.
“So, what do you want to discuss?”
Abby met the little hunter’s gaze. “Harassment.”
The boy gasped and ducked out of sight. Then the scent of his blood wafted inside.
Jen frowned. “What? What’s happening?”
“Some hunters are cutting themselves around me, trying to lure me into a trap.”
Trent jumped up and glared at the guards. “Is this true?”
“I’ll investigate it,” Jen replied, eyeing the hunters—especially Elliot—in the lab.
If she was getting her information from him, then she’d come to the wrong conclusion.
“But I don’t see why they’d do this,” Jen added. “I mean, you have a common goal, and they know the only way to achieve this goal is to let you work in peace.”
“You sound like you doubt her word,” Trent said disapprovingly.
“I don’t. I’ll investigate thoroughly, and if it’s true, I’ll bring it to the president.” She looked at Abby. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” Abby said quietly, knowing Jen wouldn’t find anything—this harassment happened so covertly that only a vampire or hunter would know what was going on.
Jen started to leave and Abby heard the little hunter run off.
So … he didn’t want to get caught by someone other than a hunter. That implied he knew what he was doing was wrong, yet he was doing it anyway.
His parents had seemed so decent, Abby thought grimly.
“I’ll also keep an eye out, Abby,” Trent said. “As much as they won’t admit it, the hunters need you.”
Elliot rolled his eyes.
Trent noticed this and put his hand on her shoulder.
Abby had been waiting for this—waiting for him to touch her again. She was about to lean into him when the scent of the little hunter’s blood returned.
“You think you’re comforting her,” the little hunter said. “She thinks she’s luring you close, so she can have your blood.”
Abby and Trent froze.
Trent relaxed first and pulled her into a hug. “I trust you, Abby.”
Abby sucked in a trembling breath. She hadn’t expected him to react this way—with kindness.
Maybe the little hunter should continue making such snide comments.
“All right, enough,” said Elliot, unsheathing his dagger. “Step back, Vampire.”
Trent tightened his arms around her. “You can’t be serious. I initiated this hug.”
“Doesn’t matter. Tay-Tay
’s right. Step back.”
Abby soaked up Trent’s warm embrace for a moment longer, then stepped back.
Hurt flashed across Trent’s face.
“How about that game of pool?” she asked.
Joy sparked in his eyes again. “Sounds good.”
When they got to the refectory, Astrid and Liam were playing, cheered on by the other kitchen staff. Abby and Trent joined in, and when it was their turn to verse each other, all the kitchen staff shouted their encouragement.
Abby returned to her lab in high spirits. Even if her lawyer no longer believed her, she had friends here.
But over the weeks, the harassment intensified, as most of the hunters who’d left HQ for the holiday returned and joined in on the harassment. Ignoring it was getting more and more difficult, especially considering every time she smelled blood, she hungered for it. Abby had to increase the amount of blood she needed to drink, and had a cup every day instead of every three.
Not only was she worried about being overfed, but she was also worried about going rabid, losing her discipline and attacking her friends. She pulled back from Trent, her fear getting the better of her.
He accepted it without protest, although she knew it hurt him. They still hadn’t spoken about what sort of relationship they had.
Whenever weekends came around, she locked herself in her lab to escape the harassment, and focused on her work. Secluding herself like this didn’t help—the hunters took it as a victory, encouraging more to cut themselves outside her lab. Abby periodically moved to the incinerator room and turned on the incinerator to drown out her other senses.
It meant a few glorious hours of not salivating for blood, of not hearing anything but the dull roar of the flames.
And these moments of peace kept her sane. They were a refuge from the onslaught of tormenting thoughts. A refuge from the constant fear she lived in, knowing that hunters wanted her to make one wrong move and claim she lost all legal protections.
But in here, it was just her, the incinerator and her computer. She could concentrate on her work and make notes on the cure and where to investigate next. She was extremely productive during these times, and even contemplated asking if she could work alone from now on.
But Trent and the other scientists were a huge help. She knew their work together wasn’t over yet.
***
When Abby left the safety of her lab, and half the hunters passing her assaulted her with the scent of their fresh blood, she tried to calm her mind and raging urges. She summoned images of what made her happy: Sharon, flowers, bees and sunshine. Honey and long hair and maybe even rare steak.
This made it easier to face the harassment. Seeing Astrid’s eyes light up with joy when Abby walked in also helped. And the way the other kitchen staff joked with her about how she would turn into a cow if she continued eating and drinking so much cow’s blood.
But she didn’t stay long, as the smell of human blood was becoming overwhelming.
Abby tried not to think of vampires drinking only human blood—did that mean they were trying to become human again?
***
Lynn’s pregnancy started to show, which made her jump at any sudden movements.
As Abby couldn’t escort Lynn herself—and she’d promised to protect Lynn—she wanted to make sure that someone was always with the scientist. So she organised for Trent and Astrid to escort her. The two took shifts: Astrid escorted Lynn whenever Trent wasn’t available and vice versa.
They thought Lynn would be safe.
But that belief shattered a few months later. Abby heard Lynn crying for help on the other side of the complex.
“Trent, Lynn!” she shouted and left the lab quickly, grabbing the nearest hunter by the arm. It just happened to be Elliot. Great, another reason for him to stab her. Even so, she pulled Elliot full speed through the complex, heading towards the shouting.
Elliot was unsheathing his dagger by the time Abby reached a locked door. She only had a moment to notice that this was a section of the complex she’d never been to before, and it looked like the living quarters for humans. Numbered apartment doors were all along the corridor.
Why was Lynn screaming in her own room?
There was someone on the other side of the locked door without a heartbeat, and this didn’t bode well for Lynn. Abby threw all her strength into opening the door and burst through, Elliot close behind.
Abby saw red. Literally, it felt like her eyes had a filter on them, a red filter.
Elliot saw the other vampire in the room, then saw Lynn, and reacted immediately. He stepped between Lynn and the vampire, but the vampire was faster and stronger.
He hit Elliot, who went flying and hit his head on the wall, knocked unconscious.
Abby sank low and bared her teeth at the vampire.
“Get out of here, Lynn,” she shouted, then launched herself at the vampire.
He side-stepped her, then grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. Then he was on top of her, fangs coming for her throat. She headbutted him as hard as she could and his grip on her loosened. Abby scrambled out from under him and struck him in the face.
He roared and tackled her, landing on top of her once more, and tried to punch through her chest to her heart.
Abby deflected the punch and shoved her elbow at him, going for his temple. It made contact and he went flying at the wall, splintering a mirror.
Not giving him a chance to recover, Abby jumped after him and scratched at his face.
He dodged. His left hand came around her throat and he forced her into the wall, his nails biting into her neck.
Bending forward, he raked his fangs across her chest.
She kicked at his legs, lashed out with teeth and nails, trying to throw him off. But it was useless and it only made him laugh in triumph. “Time to die, little vampire.”
Abby thought of Sharon, remembering the last time she had almost died and how she’d heard her sister’s heartbeat. She held onto this thought so she could die happy.
A team of hunters, led by Harriet and probably summoned by Nina, burst through the door. Silver daggers went flying towards the vampire.
He released Abby and dodged the blades. The silver daggers missed Abby by millimetres. Harriet and her team were focused solely on the other vampire, making her assume they intended to miss her.
Every hunter had their chain whips out and was trying to lasso the other vampire. It was only a matter of seconds before they caught and restrained him.
The metal burnt his flesh and he screamed in pain.
Abby snarled in triumph.
Nina and her unit surrounded Abby, eyes hard, daggers drawn, silver chain whips flying overhead.
Their eyes told her that they’d been waiting for this day.
If it was a fight they wanted, she’d give them hell. She hissed, crouching low and trying to identify the weakest. Elliot was still on the ground, blood pouring out of his head and onto the blue carpet, staining it black. Abby lusted for his blood—he was the weakest link.
CHAPTER 19
“I knew this couldn’t last long,” spat Nina, chain circling high. “Time to end this farce.”
Nina’s team lunged at Abby. She dodged out of the way. A hunter sliced off a lock of hair. It fell to the ground.
Brown on blue carpet.
Abby’s breathing came fast—something wasn’t right here.
A chain whip lashed out from the left and Abby rolled on the ground, evading it nicely. She jumped up, gaze focused on Nina’s neck and growled.
Trent and Astrid rushed into the hallway. Trent—green eyes, brown hair, open white lab coat revealing an orange-and-blue shirt and brown pants. Astrid—blue eyes, red hair, freckled face, white apron, green shirt and black slacks.
So colourful.
Elliot—red blood, brown hair, brown eyes, monochrome outfit.
Through the red haze, colours jumped out at Abby.
But something was very wrong.
>
She was literally seeing red. She wanted the blood from everyone around her and she was angry at everything. She felt stronger than she ever had in her entire human and vampiric life. She was certain she could do plenty of damage to the hunters before they could even pierce her heart. And she wanted to.
She was in a blood rage.
She froze.
Silver chains looped around her.
Pain, fire and blisters exploded across her skin.
Abby squeezed her eyes shut—she only had a second to live, a second to break out of her blood rage.
How had Sharon done it? Abby had said her name.
What had made Abby realise she was in a blood rage?
Colours.
Abby opened her eyes and took in the vibrant colours around her.
Red, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown.
She relaxed her shoulders and the red haze retreated to the edge of her vision, then disappeared completely.
Nina was beside her, dagger heading towards Abby’s chest. Abby managed to release her left hand and blocked the blade, meeting Nina’s gaze. “Are you going to kill a compliant vampire?”
Nina went still, her eyes wide.
The other hunters in the day guard moved in closer, blades going for the kill.
“Stop!” Harriet shouted, tackling a hunter away from Abby. Her unit joined in, restraining Nina’s.
Fury filled Nina’s eyes. “You’ve turned our own against us,” she stated, the muscles in her arm bulging as she tried to drive the dagger into Abby’s chest.
Trent appeared behind Nina and ripped her away from Abby. “She’s not hurting anyone! She’s in control of her actions—you can’t kill her just because you don’t like her!”
“Jen!” Astrid shouted over her shoulder. “Hurry! Your client’s about to be murdered!”
Jen rushed around the corner, her eyes landed on Abby—bound in silver chains—and then to her boyfriend. “Elliot!” she shouted, and rushed for him.
