by Izzy Shows
I swallowed and took a step back. "I'm very grateful, but I should really go."
"Of course," he said, bowing slightly. "If you need anything, please let me know."
"Thank you," I whispered, and ran into my rooms.
21
Grayson
Two weeks.
Two weeks since I had last traded words with Nina--if you could call that trading words. I had scared a man away from her, and she had thanked me, and that was the end of it. I didn't count it as a conversation, though the second her words graced my ears, it had felt like a balm to my soul.
It felt like I was going insane, spending so much time without her, when before she had been a regular part of my life. Two months had passed since I'd found out what she was, and I hated it every second of every day. If she just hadn't been a blood mage, if she hadn't betrayed me, we would still be as we once were.
If you hadn't been such an asshole when you found out, you would still have the time and opportunity to know her.
That was the real issue; I was man enough to admit it. The onus was on me for acting in haste rather than considering all aspects of the situation, as Alex had tried to make me do.
"Gods, I can't stand this," I muttered aloud, dragging a hand through my long hair as I paced my bedroom.
I wasn't going to make it much longer without seeing her--really seeing her. Speaking to her, having a moment alone with her when I didn't have to worry about getting away as quickly as possible so as to avoid the suspicion of the other residents of the castle. They couldn't know how I felt about her; they might destroy her just to ensure that there were no distractions from me taking a mate.
Fools. If they did such a thing, I would let their blood run free through the streets. They would not be able to contain me.
It worried me that this was my response to the thought of Nina's life being in danger. I shouldn't have such a strong reaction to her. It shouldn't bother me this much.
But the fact was, it did.
"And I'll have no peace if I'm left to my thoughts like this," I growled. "I need to see her."
I debated with myself on the next thought that came into my head--that I could see her. That I could go to her just as I had a while ago, sneaking into her run and waiting for her to return from her reconnaissance mission. No one would be the wiser if I was moving about during the day when I should be in bed.
But you risk quite a lot by doing this. Think with your head, Grayson. If you lose control while you're with her, you risk everything.
I knew that. I did...but I couldn't help myself.
Just once. I need to see her one more time, just enough to get by...
It seemed that the decision was made. It helped that the sun was already rising--if I didn't waste much time, I could get there before she left for the night, rather than waiting the entire day for her to come back.
I continued to pace the room as I waited impatiently for the sun to fully rise, and then an additional ten minutes to ensure that all the halls would be cleared before I left my room. I would have preferred to go through her window, but I couldn't do that while the sun was up. I had to risk the possibility of a guard being out, though there shouldn't be one this far down my hall.
Cautiously, I opened the door and looked down the hall. Having seen no one, I left my room. Nina's room was directly beside mine; she'd been placed there intentionally so I would be able to get to her if she did anything suspect. I was glad for that, since it meant I didn't have to risk going far.
I slipped into her room without knocking and caught her with one foot out the window.
She was fully dressed as a hunter--black clothes, the red scarf around her wrist, her mask in place--and for a second I felt a surge of nostalgia for the night I had found her on the rooftop. What a simpler time that had been.
She turned to me with her eyes wide but said nothing.
"Come back in," I said softly.
She nodded, still silent, and crept back into the room. But there was something wrong with the way she moved, a little jerky, and when I got another look at her eyes, I saw that they were almost wild. Her hair was awry about her shoulders, and she shivered though it wasn't cold.
"Are you all right?"
She took off her mask but didn't answer me. Instead, she began to pace the room. Her fingers twitched at her sides, and again her movements were erratic.
I watched her with narrowed eyes, uncertain what was going on. I had never seen her like this before, and it worried me.
"Nina," I said, then walked over to stand in the way of her pacing and grasped her by the shoulders. She jerked, her eyes snapping up to mine, and I saw a fierce need in them. A hunger for something I couldn't put my finger on, though I knew what it wasn't. "You need to tell me what's wrong, so I can help you."
She shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. "You can't."
At least she was talking to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't been sure how far gone she was, but she was really worrying me.
What could have her so worked up like this?
Still she fidgeted, toying with the red scarf on her wrist, shifting her weight from side to side. Again, and again, her eyes drifted to the window before she seemed to force them back to me.
That had to mean something.
And then it dawned on me.
Nina was a hunter, in many ways just like me. How many times had I gone crazy with need for the hunt before I'd learned to tamp it down after I'd ascended to the throne? Still, it raged within me, the beast wanting to be free, but I had learned to ignore it for the most part.
She needed a release.
"Nina, I need you to answer my next question, OK?"
"I'm not a child, Grayson," she snapped. "I'm not stupid. I just...I need..."
"I know what you need," I said softly. "How long as it been since you ran free?"
She jerked again, surprise in her eyes as she held my gaze. "A while. I haven't done anything but go back and forth between the wolves and the vampires, over and over again, since the battle."
"You haven't hunted since before the battle," I said, more to myself than to her. Two months cold turkey would have killed me, back in the beginning.
She nodded. "I know it's terrible, but I miss it."
Her voice was little more than a whisper, but it went straight to my heart. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. Hadn't I been in her position before?
It's a bad idea. Don’t do it! What are you thinking? You shouldn't even be here. GET OUT!
My mind raged at the idea I had come up with, but now it was there and I couldn't get it out.
I cleared my throat, suddenly self-conscious. What if she rejected me?
"Would you like to run with me?" I asked, hating the way my voice cracked.
Her eyes widened, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
"I would love to," she whispered. "Please, take me running."
It touched my heart to think we shared this innate need to run, to hunt, to battle.
It made me feel closer to her.
22
Grayson
I slipped into her room again just before sunset. It would have been preferable to go right away, but I couldn't exactly run around in broad daylight. I wanted to take her running, but not enough to kill myself.
As soon as I closed the door and turned around, I could see how eager she was. I couldn't help but match her grin with one of my own; her excitement was mine as well.
It pleased me to be able to please her, to give her what she needed.
"We're really going to go?" she asked, rocking on the balls of her feet.
"Yes, we're really going to go," I said, laughing.
"I wasn't sure if I dreamed you up earlier, or if maybe you were saying whatever you thought I wanted to hear..."
I walked over to her and cupped her cheek in my hand.
"Words cannot describe how much I want to give this gift to you," I said. "It pleases me to do
this for you."
She blushed, her eyes darting down for a second before she looked up at me again, smiling tentatively.
"Thank you, Gray. It means a lot that you'd do this for me. I know how you must feel about me, but this means so much. Thank you."
"Anything, varina," I whispered.
She frowned, clearly confused, but I cleared my throat before she could say anything.
"We should get going before the rest of the castle awakens."
I didn't want to explain my slip to her, didn't want her to know what I had called her. She couldn't possibly know; it was knowledge that wouldn't have been shared with her.
Varina. Dearest one.
I should never have called her that, but it had felt so right that I hadn't been able to stop myself.
"Yes, let's get going," she said at last, offering me yet another smile before she slipped out the window, and I followed her. We were careful as we crept across the carefully manicured grounds to make sure that no one saw us. But it was unnecessary; the sun had just set, so there was no one to see us.
As soon as we reached the forest, we began to run, and I heard laughter bubble out of her and knew the joy she must be feeling to be free for once. I didn't understand how she couldn't have taken advantage of the situation. Every day, she was given leave to roam the castle, with no one following her to ensure that she did go and spy on the wolves. Why did she not go and hunt, as she was clearly dying to do?
She hadn't ever promised not to. No one had brought the subject up.
Maybe because of how you reacted when you found out what she was. She wouldn't want to risk making you that angry again.
I felt the familiar shame come over me, at the way I had reacted to her, but I tried to ignore it. I didn't want it to mar this moment, this memory we were creating.
Running with her was beautiful, better than anything else I'd ever done. We sped past the tree line and made it into the city, where we darted down one alley after another, enjoying the feeling of the wind moving past us and the adrenaline of running free. I was careful to make sure that I didn't go too fast, that I matched my speed to hers; I could easily have outpaced her, but I didn't want to. I wanted to be by her side for every second of this.
Even running as I was--not full out; more along the lines of a lope--it was nice to be free like this. Not just because I was with Nina, but because for the first time in a long time, I was free of the rules and regulations that dictated my life. Free to enjoy the company of someone I'd denied myself for what felt likes ages now.
Hearing the sound of her heart beating, smelling the excitement on her, made me feel more alive than I'd felt in a while.
I couldn't help but notice how in sync we were, how fluid our movements were. She aligned perfectly with me, somehow knowing which way I would want to go. We never had to stumble over the other’s movements, never had to check to make sure we weren't about to bump into one another.
It was as if we had been made for one another, made to move and play and run together.
My heart felt full at the thought, and I felt something else pressing at the back of my mind, urging me toward something that I couldn't quite figure out. It was an alien sensation, one I'd never felt before, and I pushed it away. I didn't want to spend the time trying to figure it out when I could be paying attention to her instead.
Paying attention to the way her lips curved with joy, to the light in her eyes, to the movement of her hair as it bounced around her shoulders with each step she took, to the swing of her hips as she ran. She was beautiful, and I wanted to engrave this moment in my mind, to never forget it, because deep down, I knew this might be the only good time I'd get with her from here on out.
I don't want to think about that, not now. I just want to enjoy this. Enjoy her.
We ran like that for hours, and I was perfectly happy to keep going. I didn't particularly care if we found a hybrid to hunt. It would have to be a hybrid; she wouldn't be willing to hunt my usual prey, and I wouldn't want to hunt hers. But I knew we needed to. Nina needed the hunt, needed to make the kill and feel that euphoria again. I would do everything I could to ensure she got that.
At last, we heard the sounds that heralded the presence of what we were seeking.
The screams of humans.
23
Nina
Hunting with Grayson was exhilarating. I had never realized that working with another person could feel this good, because I had always worked on my own. There was no such thing as teaming up with another hunter; we all competed with one another for kills. Very rarely were people given a single target for themselves. Usually, multiple hunters were given the same target, and the first one who got the job done won. It was a cutthroat world, but it was the one I'd been molded in, and I'd never known it could be any different.
Now, with Grayson, I was learning it didn't have to be that way.
We dove as one down the alley the screams had come from and found a hybrid terrorizing a group of humans. It looked absolutely mad. It clearly had no capability to reason, and it had already killed one of the humans. The only reason it hadn't taken the others yet was that it was too busy feasting on its one kill, but the humans were cornered at the end of the alley. They couldn't escape while it was busy, or, I was sure, they would have attempted that already.
Not that they would have gotten far, of course. We'd learned in the attack that the hybrids were damned difficult to kill, and they had sharp reflexes, even if they weren't intelligent. If one of the humans made a wrong move, they would attract the attention of the hybrid, and it would be on them before they could blink.
"Yoo-hoo!" I called, waving the hand that had the red scarf attached at the wrist for a greater chance of attracting the hybrid's attention. "Over here, big boy."
Grayson looked sharply at me, and I could tell he didn't like the idea of me drawing the hybrid's ire, but he would have to deal with that. I wasn't here to watch while he took care of business. I wanted the kill, and I was willing to fight him for the right to deliver the final blow. He needed to respect that I could take care of myself, that I was just as competent a hunter as he was.
But this is natural to him. He's a born predator, and if abuelita is to be believed, you aren't.
I dismissed the thought the moment it entered my mind. I fully believed that hunting was my true nature; otherwise, I wouldn't go so damned crazy if I didn't get the opportunity for it. It wouldn't feel so good, so natural to me, if I wasn’t supposed to be doing it.
The hybrid raised its head from the human it had been feasting on, and its lips curled back in a snarl as it growled loudly. The hybrid was a terrifying mix of vampire and werewolf, something that should have never been born, if it even had been born. It stood on two legs, and had the fangs of a vampire, the fur and claws of a wolf, but none of the reason of either species. It was absolutely animal. I had seen no signs of sentience in the ones I had battled before, and now that we were facing off with a lone hybrid, I still didn't see any.
"Come and get it, buddy," I said, popping my hip to one side and resting a hand on it as I smiled sweetly at him.
With a roar, it launched itself at me, completely ignoring Grayson. I laughed as I danced to the side, one hand raised as I chanted freely. Little wounds opened up across its body, spilling its blood to run in rivulets down its chest and arms.
Grayson darted in and out of the hybrid’s reach, fangs flashing as he tore into the beast. I couldn't help but admire his technique. He was a magnificent hunter, and it was like watching a perfectly orchestrated performance.
Go in for the kill. You can destroy this creature, just like you destroyed all the others at the castle.
But I didn't want to. I didn't want this to be over yet. I wanted to enjoy myself, wanted to enjoy the hunt.
There was another reason I hesitated to get the job done. While I wasn't having a problem getting small spells to work, I was having a little difficulty fully latching on to the creature's bior
hythm to finish him off. It seemed like I was a little rusty, but that was to be expected after two months of doing absolutely nothing.
While I worked on getting a firmer hold of its biorhythm, I continued playing with the creature while Grayson attacked. I gave it a migraine for half a minute, long enough for Grayson to disable one of its arms, then opened wounds on its chest while it howled in pain.
It was fun, and I caught the look on Grayson's face when he glanced over at me as he danced out of the creature's reach--the look of unbridled joy mixed with anxious hope.
Hope that I was enjoying this too? I couldn't help but send him a brilliant smile in response, hoping to allay his anxiety. I was enjoying myself immensely, and I was eternally grateful for the gift he had given me. No jewelry could compare to being taken on a hunting trip, not to me.
That moment of a shared look was all the distraction the creature needed.
It lunged for me, raking its claws along one of my arms, rending the soft cloth there to shreds and ripping into my skin. I stumbled back out of its reach, groaning in agony before I could school myself. It kept coming at me, and I barely ducked its next blow.
It's time. Finish it.
I spied an opening and took it, dropping to the ground to roll under the creature's feet and come up behind it, just a few inches away from Grayson. I laid one hand on the creature’s back. It wasn't necessary for me to touch my victim in order to lock on to its biorhythm, but considering how difficult it had been for me so far, it made everything a thousand times easier. Instantly, I synced with the creature and constricted its heart.
It fell to its knees, howling and clutching at its chest as blood-curdling sounds flew from its mouth out into the night. Still, I continued the spell, my lips moving almost supernaturally fast as I chanted. I brought its blood to a boil as I stopped the flow of blood from its heart. I watched as it opened its mouth time and time again, its head tilted back and its eyes wild as it tried to find its attacker.
