Ghosts and Hunter Boys (Misfit Academy Book 2)

by A. Vers

  “Yes?” The word was sultry and thick with the same heat I saw in her eyes.

  “Stay in here and wait for me, okay?” She frowned. “I don’t want any of those hunter idiots giving you a hard time.”

  Something like surprise colored her expression, and then her features softened. But all she said was, “I’ll be here when you come back.”

  Nodding, I spun on my heel and went to hunt.

  It didn’t take long to get from the pier to downtown. Airgid was kind enough to leave my head uncovered and I spent the entire ride there memorizing the route back to the city.

  The SUV was not overly full. It was Airgid, myself, a woman named Dolly, and another male hunter that went by Tim. They remained silent in the rear of the car, and had allowed me to take shotgun.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, especially when the small talk started.

  “So, Ryder, huh?” Tim asked.

  He had already proven himself to be one of the more talkative members of the impromptu team, keeping up a steady dialogue with Dolly and even asking the occasional question of Airgid.

  “Yeah,” I said simply.

  “How long you been hunting?”

  “Including this time?” I asked as I peered back at him.

  He nodded. “Sure.”

  “Then,” I glanced at the SUV’s clock. “Fifteen minutes.”

  He made a sound of dissent. “You can’t be that green, kid. The way I heard it, you gave Chris and the others quite the runaround last night, and your filly—”

  The woman, Dolly, elbowed him. “She’s a vampire, imbecile. Not a horse.”

  “Actually Morgan isn’t transitioned,” I said, and they both looked at me. “She is only eighteen.”

  “Most of them make the change long before now,” Dolly muttered. “Something could be hindering her transition.”

  “Is that possible?” I asked, not wanting to sound too curious, and probably failing miserably.

  She shrugged. “All the scientific journals I have studied over the years seem to think a vampire’s transition is like a second puberty. Some things, like stress, poor diet, and genes mean they don’t change until earlier or later than others of their kind.”

  “Be glad she isn’t fully changed,” Chris said from beside me. “If she was, you would be dead.”

  My jaw clenched. “Morgan isn’t a killer.”

  “All vampires are killers, kid. The sooner you get that through your head, the better off you will be.”

  “I used to think that way too,” I mumbled.

  “Oh yeah?” he scoffed. “What changed your mind?”

  “Morgan.”

  His eyes cut to me, and I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. “Don’t let a woman, vampire or otherwise, change your moral values, boy.”

  “We’ve been over this,” I replied, ignoring his crap about a moral compass. He was Horn, and I knew enough to know that not every supe was bad. Morgan had helped me see that. “I’m not a boy.”

  Tim laughed and the sound was robust, like him. “Kid, compared to us old goats, you are a kid.”

  I didn’t say anything about that, either.

  It was true that Airgid had a fair bit of gray threading through his temples, and Dolly had all gray hair she had pulled back in a long braid like an electrum whip. Tim was one of those men that had more lines around his eyes and mouth to show his age than any fading hairline or change of color in his dark locks. But in comparison, I was much, much younger.

  Airgid slowed the SUV to a crawl as we passed a dim alley near the center of downtown. We all peered down it.

  “We going down there, boss?” I asked, and I doubted any of them missed the sarcasm in my tone.

  Airgid put on the brakes. “You are, kid. You are.” I looked at him. He quirked an eyebrow at my scrutiny. “That a problem?”

  “You want me to hunt a vampire? On my own?”

  He folded his arm over the steering wheel and shifted in his seat well enough to meet my gaze head on. “The way I see it, you’ve been living alone with a fanger for how long? One more will hardly be a challenge.” His smile was just as empty as before. “Besides, this is a baby one. Easy pickings.”

  I didn’t bother to glance in the backseat. I knew where Tim and Dolly’s loyalties lay and they weren’t with me. So I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened my door.

  “Kid.”

  I glanced back with a scowl and something dark came flying for my face.

  I snatched the old-fashioned walkie-talkie out of the air before it could break my nose.

  “Radio,” Airgid told me. “If it’s too much for you to handle.”

  I slammed the door on his smirking face and climbed onto the sidewalk.

  The SUV drove off, leaving me standing at the edge of a very dark, very shadowed alley.

  I had been hunting vampires since I was ten. Shifters when I turned nine. But this was the first hunt I had been on since Morgan. And the first one I had been on with back-up I neither knew nor trusted.

  Hell, I might as well have been holding a damn orange for all the good the radio was going to do.

  At the end of the street, the SUV braked and hung a right, heading deeper into town.

  I threw up the bird finger and sighed as it disappeared from sight.

  My head swiveled back around front and I gazed into the dark corridor. “Damn, Airgid.”

  With nothing else to do, I took a step into the gloom, and then took another.

  The likelihood of a vampire sulking in an alley was slim to none. Despite most of the fantasy novels about them, vamps had special license numbers, jobs. Bills. They were nearly human except for that whole blood drinking part. Or the fact that most of them didn’t go out in sunlight.

  Only the transitioning ones of their kind could manage it, and I knew from watching Morgan’s skin redden that even they sunburned faster than a human.

  I cast around the space, squinting as my human eyes tried to pierce the blackness. It would have been too much to hope that the assholes had left me a flashlight. No. But a dinosaur radio? That was part of my tech.

  I scoffed and kept walking.

  After checking behind the dumpsters, and even lifting the lids on the foul smelling refuse, there was nothing else to search. The space was clear. There was no vampire.

  I pressed the call key on the radio. Static crackled through the little speaker.

  “You done already?” Airgid.

  “Alley is clear.”

  “Good. Leave that one and move to the next. You have the whole block to search.” More static. “And as long as it took your ass to do the first, you’ll be out here all damn night.”

  I hung my head. Pressing the key, I growled, “Fine. I’m going.” I clipped the stupid radio to my jeans pocket, and turned on my heel to head to the next alley.

  Only the alleyway was no longer empty.

  A tall, dark shape stood back lit by the streetlights. I squinted.

  “You lost?” I called.

  The figure took several steps into the alley, effectively herding me deeper into the gloom. They said nothing, just prowled closer, features hidden in shadow.

  I caught the hint of dark hair or a rather human hoodie. But the rest of the face was obscured so much in the dimness, I only knew they were tall. Broad of shoulder. Lean.

  My foot slid back on instinct, shifting my weight.

  “Can I help you?” I tried again.

  The figure stepped toward me again and the doorway next to me cracked, spilling amber light onto the trash lined pavement. But my eyes were not on the human that had just unwittingly stepped outside to dispose of the trash. No. My focus locked onto the male across from me. Because despite his androgynous features, he was indeed male.

  Gold eyes sliced through me and I caught a flash of fang behind full, masculine lips as he gnashed his teeth. “Scram,” the male hissed and the human dropped the trash bag on the ground and dashed back inside the restaurant, leaving
us wreathed in darkness again.

  We looked at each other, and some part of me knew it would come to this. I had known, deep, deep down that he wouldn’t let her go. Hell, I wouldn’t.

  And now I knew who the other vampire in town was.

  I stood up to my full height and stared stonily at Morgan’s fiancé. “Ames.”

  “Where is she?” The words were clipped, concise, around his fangs. His dark hair was like a living, breathing curtain of midnight down his back. He was the embodiment of a vampire, from his impeccable attire to his deadly gaze.

  “Who?” I asked, crossing my arms.

  He snarled. “You know damned well who.” His nostrils flared. “I can smell her on you.” He vibrated with malice as he raised his gaze to mine. “So again I will ask. Where is Morgan?”

  “She doesn’t want to see you.”

  I had no idea if she did. But judging by the way he flinched, there was bad blood between them. Black blood. And it was hitting him hard.

  Had he been part of the reason why she asked me to take her away from Lokworth?

  “Though I do not doubt that,” he muttered, “I need to see her.”

  “How did you even find us?”

  His scowl was cool. “I tried to think like a hunter. It was only too easy to follow Morgan’s trail through the trees outside Lokworth. And from there, I picked the closest haven city.”

  I didn’t respond to that. One, I didn’t think of myself as predictable. Two, if Dad thought the same way, he would’ve found us by now, too.

  “You need to get out of town, Ames,” I said.

  “I most certainly will not,” he told me. “I came for Morgan. I will not leave until I have her.”

  “Well, learn to love disappointment, then. Morgan isn’t going anywhere with you.”

  “And you believe you can stop me? You?” His smile was hard. “Even a hunter like you is no match for a full-blood like me.”

  My answering grin seemed to unsettle him. “I may not be enough to fight you alone,” I admitted. “But there is a group of hunters in town. They go by the Horn of God. Ever heard of them?”

  His already pale skin turned paler. No easy feat for anyone, but especially not for a vamp. “You brought Morgan to a town with the Horn in it?” He took a step. “Are you insane or stupid?”

  “Oh, I didn’t just bring her to a haven city with them in it.” I stalked to him, adding all the anger and swagger into my walk that I could feed into it. “We’re staying with them. They’re friends of mine.” It was such bullshit. But the old saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ made it sadly true.

  He took in the steady beat of my heart and blurred.

  One minute he was in front of me, the next he had me pinned against the alley wall. His damn hand was cool against my chest and his forearm like iron over my throat. “I will kill you for endangering her,” he snarled, flashing deadly fangs.

  I gripped the radio on my pocket and pressed the alarm button. The little device wailed in an ear-piercing shriek. “You hear that, Ames?” I breathed past his hold on me. “I just called in the cavalry. They will be here any minute. And guess what? They see you pinning me against the wall, and what do you think they are going to do? Let you walk away?”

  He dropped me like I burned him. “How could you?” he demanded.

  I met his gaze with my own. “I will protect her, Ames. Even from you if I have to.”

  There was a harsh squeal of tires, and his head whipped over. My smile bloomed.

  With one more cold glance my way, he swore and bolted for the end of the alley. Headlights swept over his broad back as he leapt up, grabbed the alley wall, and disappeared as he dropped on the other side.

  Car doors slammed and Dolly and Tim raced past. I didn’t bother to follow. There was no catching Ames. Not now.

  I rubbed my throat as Airgid approached. He opened his mouth, but my temper was shot, and my nerves were frayed

  Ames was in town and he was way too close to finding Morgan.

  I looked at the hunter and shoved the still screaming radio into his chest. He caught it without a sound. “Good luck chasing after him,” I said as I shoved past. “Because I damn sure won’t be helping.”

  “Ryder.”

  I stopped walking.

  “Good job.” The words sounded like he was choking on them and I turned to watch his face color as he gagged. But he was already going after Dolly and Tim, and I couldn’t decide which I wanted more.

  For Ames to eat them, or for the hunters to eliminate my competition.

  Chapter 22

  Morgan

  I hid in the small bathroom as long as I dared. But despite Ryder’s assurances, I was a mouse in a boat full of cats.

  It did not matter that I was a vampire. The others on the boat were hunters. And they knew exactly where to find me. But I feared none of them like I feared the greasy-haired male from the woods, Mitch.

  He walked past the main doorway over and over, his dark eyes peering into the round glass window until I could take no more. His gaze was like oil on my skin, slimy and slick. I could not lock the door without arousing suspicion, but the bathroom had a lock, too.

  I took my clothes inside the odd-shaped room, showered fast, dressed in jeans and a shirt, and then waited in the dim space until I was sure he had passed again.

  Peering around the doorjamb, I scoured the window, but it appeared empty. A sigh left me. I balled up my dirty pajamas and stepped into the room.

  A loud percussive boom pounded the door.

  I jumped and let out a high-pitched shriek before I could silence it. Heart pounding, I lifted my head to find Mitch staring at me through the glass again, his grin wide and his eyes hot.

  My feet slipped back, already returning to the solace of the pitch room behind me. But I would not hide in the bathroom. I should not have to. Hunter or not, he wouldn’t hurt me.

  Forcing my chin to rise, I scoured the space and the cloth in my hands. I plucked out my pajama shirt and stalked to the door. He watched me in keen interest as I draped the fabric over the metal rim, effectively obscuring the view inside.

  There was no growl through the metal. No noise of anger.

  I pressed my hands to the door and leaned closer, listening.

  A low masculine chuckle emanated forth. “Point, vampire girl. You get the point this round.” His retreating steps faded and I sagged, head bowed.

  It would not buy me much peace, I was sure. The hunter did not seem like the kind to give up. But he had lost interest for now.

  I let out a tremulous breath and turned to go back to the bed. A soft knock sounded on the metal.

  “Please, hurry.” The voice was not masculine, but feminine, and vaguely familiar.

  I swept the fabric to the side and came eye to eye with a pair of rich, chestnut irises.

  Beth.

  Scrambling to open the door, she slipped inside. “Hurry, cover the window.”

  I did as she prompted and she seemed to deflate against the wall, her eyes closed and her breathing fast.

  I took a step toward her. “Are you … well?”

  Her head whipped up at the sound of my voice, and her jaw set. “I’m fine.” She appraised me in silence. “You are not.”

  I blinked. “Pardon?”

  “Airgid and the others don’t want you on the boat. They aren’t watching Mitch, hoping he will either scare you enough for you to attack him, or for him to leave you in enough ruin they can dispose of your corpse.”

  Ice rushed through my body. “I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because you mean something to him. To Ryder.”

  “You’re his mother.”

  She didn’t deny it. But her expression turned shrewd, calculating.

  My heart thundered. “How are you alive? Why did you lie?” I demanded.

  She hushed me, her dark head turning to glance at the closed door. “I lied because the others cannot know,” she said. �
��Airgid wants Ryder on the team, and he doesn’t care how he has to make that a reality. He will use me and you both as leverage to keep him here.”

  I folded my arms. “Ryder is already on the team. He’s on a mission with them now.”

  Her eyes darkened. “I know. But this is a test. If Ryder passes, Airgid will force him to choose. You or the team. And Ryder will choose you.”

  My face heated and I shook my head. “Not at the sake of his own life.”

  Beth smirked, but the motion was aloof. In that moment, she looked just like Ryder had the first day he came to Lokworth. Arrogant, cool. “Then you don’t know my son very well.”

  “I know he mourned you. That he still does.”

  She winced. “He needs to forget about me. To continue thinking I am dead. And the only way I can get him far from here is if you take him away.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” Her tone hardened. “I will get you a window out. Both of you. But when I do, you have to make him leave. It’s not safe for him in this life. It’s not safe for him with the Horn.”

  I stared at her, hearing the words but not knowing what to say. What to do.

  But what choice did I have?

  “Fine,” I heard myself say. “You get us a window, and even if I have to use my strength to move him, I will.”

  When she smiled, it was just as tight as before. “On your word?”

  I inclined my head.

  She did not sag, did not seem like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She just watched me for several long beats, swept my top to the side, scoured the hall before opening the door.

  “Wait.” I took a step closer. “How will I know when to leave?”

  Her dark eyes cut to me. “You’ll know.” With that, she slipped into the hall and walked away.

  The quiet was intense as I clicked the door back into place.

  When Ryder returned, I had to convince him to leave.

  How was I supposed to do that when I had to lie about who his mother really was?

  My eyes lost focus and I backtracked until my legs touched the bed. I dropped onto the thin cot and gazed at the door through a haze.

  Ryder hadn’t listened to me before. But he was going to listen now. One way or another, we had to get out of here. Even if I had to force him to go.