Knight of the Hunted (Born Vampire Book 1)

by Elizabeth Dunlap

“Today we’re learning about the limitations of our strength. It’s important to know the exact limits of strength in order to keep it under control. You can’t be in control if you’re afraid of breaking someone or something all the time. So. Go pick a tree, and have fun.” She gestured to the forest behind us. “Don’t worry. We sell any trees you knock down and plant new ones later. You two,” she added, pointing her finger at the two bigger turned. “With me.” They followed her, and the one I knew by smell was my turn glanced over at me and waved with his pointer finger. I didn’t remember him being that big when I turned him. The turning corrected everything, including stunted growth, so he’d just been a shorty by accident.

  The other turned quickly got to it, and it was my job to supervise and motivate them. They started hitting the trees, softly at first, but then they really started giving it their all.

  “Don’t be afraid to punch it! It won’t hit you back. No,” I told one of them. “Put your thumb on the outside of your fingers. You’ll cut into your palm if you- Hey! No punching other students!” I heard a faint laughing noise and saw Balthazar standing next to one of the gas lamps. He swung his cane at me as a hello. No one else noticed him, so I left the turned and crossed the clearing.

  “Hey,” I said as I got closer. “What are you doing here?” I squinted at him, trying to figure out his motives. “Don’t tell me. The restriction is lifted and you want to tell me all about the human girl you just-”

  He interrupted me with a weary sigh, no traces of amusement on his face. “Am I not allowed to visit you whenever I choose?”

  I blinked. He was never not cheerful. And he never came here. “Umm, of course you are.”

  “I’m just checking up on you,” he said quietly, his face softening and looking more normal. “You’re busy though, so I’ll leave.” I started to protest, but he was gone and there was no way to call him back. It was about time he got a mobile so this would stop happening.

  “What was that about?” Olivier asked, suddenly right in my ear. Startled, I jumped three feet in the air and came crashing down, only to land on one of my heels. I heard a snap that wasn’t my leg. Olivier peeked at my broken shoe and said with a sigh of relief, “not designer,” as if that meant breaking it wasn’t a big deal. Though, if they had been designer, I'd have been more upset. I hobbled to the log she’d stood on earlier and sat down to inspect my broken shoe.

  Speaking of breaking.

  “You might want to…” I pointed to her big charges that were launching tree trunks at other trees, and starting to launch them at each other.

  “Son of a- QUIT THAT RIGHT NOW, YOU HOOLIGANS!”

  I laughed under my hand, since frustrated Olivier was always entertaining but she didn’t appreciate me giggling about it. The turned continued for several hours, making the small clearing into a bigger one with the effort. We still had awhile until dawn, but by then we were all as exhausted as we can get. The turned walked back to the castle with us at their heels. I hobbled beside Olivier with my broken shoe. She was about to make a snarky comment about my boots, but stopped when we opened the rear gate and entered the back garden.

  Othello stood with a few older vampires, discussing something intense. Among them stood a tall muscled Born I’d never seen before. We walked closer, catching their attention. Everyone’s gaze was business as usual, except for the new Born. He stared at us like he was looking for the person who stole the cookies, and we smelled like chocolate chips. Olivier went rigid beside me and gave him an equally pensive look. She was momentarily the Hunter Olivier, the side of her I’d never been around, and if her face was anything to go by, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  “Ladies, there you are.” Othello motioned us closer. The Born’s eyes followed us, as if he expected us to bolt away if he wasn’t looking at us. “This is Arthur,” Othello said, waving a hand towards the hawk-like vampire beside him. Arthur’s clothing was decorated with a horde of weapons strapped to his limbs and waist. His face and arms had several nasty looking scars, but it only made him look more virile, and annoyingly, slightly attractive.

  Arthur finally spoke, his voice deep and rough. “Olivier and I are acquainted.” His inflection on acquainted spoke of more than simple friendship, but his expression remained neutral. Staring into his cold icy blue eyes, I found myself wondering if he was capable of any emotion other than disinterested.

  “If you’ll excuse us, Lisbeth and I are exhausted. Good night.” Olivier grabbed my arm and herded me through the back door. I tried to speak several times, but she continued to hush me until we’d reached my suite. Cameron was asleep in his room so the parlor was empty. Olivier sank down into a chair and sighed heavily. I didn’t say anything, just sat on the couch next to her chair, and waited for her to explain. She peeked over at me and then looked at the ceiling. “Arthur is a Hunter. A special kind of hunter, I should say. When he arrives, he’s looking for a criminal that’s part of an Order. And he never, EVER, shows up at an Order unless someone has broken the law.” I tried not to tense at her words, and failed. She sat up straight and appraised me blankly. “Something you’d like to share with the class? You know I’m trained to notice even the slightest hint of body language, right?”

  Oh, I knew. I’d once attempted to pull off a lie in front of her, and it didn’t go very well. She’d taught me what she knew, though my observations were more instinctive.

  When I met her gaze, I couldn’t help but display a small measure of guilt. She stared at me for a long time, waiting for me to explain, but I kept my mouth shut. Admitting what I’d done would mean Olivier might be punished as well. Besides, I wasn’t even sure Arthur was here for me. Just because law breaking was rare didn’t mean it never happened.

  “So,” she said slowly, dragging the word out. “Keeping secrets? I hate secrets. No one is allowed to have secrets.”

  I almost laughed. “Not even Renard?”

  “Never.” She dropped it, seeing that I wouldn’t be confessing anytime soon. I couldn’t tell whether she suspected me or thought I knew who the culprit was.

  Days passed, and I’d almost forgotten that Arthur was there. Lying in bed, my mind kept flashing images of the Alpha, and the brown eyed pup I’d saved. Had it been worth it? I chastised myself for even wondering. I’d hidden the bracelet behind the drawer in my nightstand, and for some reason, I felt like taking it out. It truly was a fine piece of work, despite the insulting teeth woven into it. I tried to pretend they belonged to a cat. A very large cat.

  I’d just drifted off with the bracelet still in my hand when there was a pounding at the door. My blood turned cold, the way it did when bad news was coming. I quickly used the bracelet to tie my hair back and then covered it with a wide ribbon so no one could see it. Cameron was answering the door when I walked into the parlor, and in burst Arthur, followed by the security team.

  Othello entered behind them, protesting loudly. “I told you that Lisbeth cannot possibly be the-” He was cut off by Arthur’s hand rising as a signal to shut up.

  “Everyone is suspect. No exceptions,” Arthur informed him. Arthur’s voice was deep and rough, like he’d shouted too much or hardly used his vocal chords, but he also lacked the tonal quality that made voices nice to listen to. It somehow made me lose any attraction I felt towards him. He was truly cold inside and out.

  Without even asking me, the Born security team swept over my rooms. They took care to not break anything, thankfully, but they didn’t care about replacing pillowcases after they’d been removed or putting my belongings back in an orderly fashion.

  I played it cool, and kept my face neutral like I was simply annoyed at being bothered. “Anything in particular you’re looking for?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.

  Arthur had stayed in the parlor, probably monitoring mine and Cameron’s reactions. “Evidence,” he replied, like it was obvious.

  “He’s searched everyone else’s rooms as well,” Othello mentioned, no doubt trying to make me feel better. I
t didn’t work. I knew exactly what Arthur was doing. He was an experienced Hunter who didn’t need to bother with looking for evidence. Searching our rooms was just a pretense to appease whomever had sent him. Once nothing incriminating was found, the criminal would relax and slip up somehow. And then Arthur would have him. Or her.

  The security group finished, having only found a naked mermaid statue in Cameron’s bathroom that held a stash of money. Othello led the team out and onto the next suite, but Arthur didn’t move from his spot on my carpet.

  “You didn’t answer the door.”

  “I was asleep,” I told him. He was squinting at me, and I really wanted to slap him for it. I kept my face as clear as I could. Looking innocent was working with me for once. I’d always hated my ability to do that, but now it was saving me. I hoped.

  “It wasn’t the first room we searched. You didn’t hear us?” he asked me. We all had perfect hearing, not to mention a wider range than humans, so his skepticism wasn’t unfounded, but he didn’t live here so he didn’t know the rooms were beyond soundproof. We all lived so close together, if one of us had a rousing rendezvous, we didn’t want the entire house to hear it.

  Cameron was the one who spoke up and saved me. “Dude, these walls are ridiculously soundproof. I could play the drums and the couple next door wouldn’t hear anything.”

  It occurred to me that Arthur knew all of this. He was simply testing my reactions. He was nothing if not thorough. And that meant he was close to being onto me. Thankfully, he left, and we all went back to bed as if nothing had happened.

  Chapter 5

  I had no concept of fear, even with Arthur there. I was confident that I would be able to get him off my scent and on his merry way. I even entertained that he wasn’t here for me, though I didn’t discount it. I mean, who had even seen me at the border? I hadn’t smelled anyone nearby at the time.

  However, if anyone had seen me, even a human, they could find out. Since it involved drinking excess blood and using their powers on humans, it would be technically against the law, which was ironic. Breaking the law to find out who broke the law. It all depended on how far Hunters could go to keep us in line. I supposed it was a grey area for them. They got exceptions for all kinds of things. Mind controlling humans might be in that category.

  I had a slight hope that such methods were not allowed, even for them.

  The next morning, I spent ten minutes finding the best way to hide the bracelet on my person without someone noticing. Why was I even keeping it? My intuition overruled my logic since some part of me wanted to hang on to it. I finally went with fastening it to a garter belt.

  I forced myself to relax when I went downstairs after feeding from Cameron. Even he was noticing my off behavior, so when I joined Olivier in the dining hall, I tried to pretend like nothing was wrong.

  Arthur was sitting next to her.

  He didn’t react when I approached. I sat next to Renard, who was clearly annoyed that his lady was sitting next to another man. I avoided all body language that indicated hiding something and lying. My body felt stiff from sitting a certain way all the time. The way Arthur was staring at me was unnerving, like he was hunting and I was his prey.

  I almost laughed, because just this once, I might actually be his prey.

  “Hey hey,” I said as I unrolled my napkin and put it in my lap.

  No one spoke. Olivier picked at her food and stared at a spot behind me. She too looked unusually stiff.

  “So,” I said slowly. “Arthur. Did someone break a law, or what?”

  He turned his frigid ice blue eyes to me and I had to physically hold my breath to keep from displaying any damning signals.

  “What?” he asked blankly.

  I saw Olivier’s eyes dart to me, and then back at whatever she was fixated on. “Olivier told me that you’re the leader of the Hunters. They only appear when the rules have been broken, am I correct?”

  “Yes.” He liked single word responses.

  “I’ve never seen you before,” I continued. “Laws aren’t broken often, are they?”

  “Not very,” he responded.

  I went back to eating my food in silence, since my table mates were doing the same. After a long period of quiet, Arthur said, “You’re awfully chatty, Lisbeth.”

  I shrugged. “I’m the second in command here, technically. Am I not allowed to be interested in my Order?”

  Instead of answering, he got up and took his dishes to the sink. Olivier waited until he had left the room before she relaxed. She gave me a pursed look.

  “Stop sitting like that. You look uncomfortable.” I slacked my spine a bit. “And stop talking to him. It won’t go well.”

  I wanted to tell her I was just trying to make sure he wasn’t targeting me, but I could tell that she already knew. And she thought I was sucking at it.

  It took effort, but I managed to maintain a normal attitude and continued with the turned training for the next few days. Arthur was never far away. I dreaded when he would show up, seemingly out of nowhere, and then watch me for hours. My only consolation was when I saw him doing the same thing to a few other Born vampires. Sickeningly, the small group of female vampires he was cornering all had the same hair color. My hair color. I looked down at my thick black curls and knew.

  Arthur was here for me.

  The thought was relaxing and terrifying all at the same time. On the one hand, I knew all along that he was here for me. It also dashed my hopes that I was wrong.

  Olivier had never told me what happened to law breaking vampires when the Hunters caught them. I assumed it was decapitation or something similar. No trial before the heads of the Orders. Who cared if they were falsely accused or were in the wrong place at the wrong time? I could tell Arthur killed and asked questions never. I wasn’t about to become his next victim.

  I stood in the shadow of the castle, thinking of what my next move would be when Olivier drove up in her convertible.

  “Get in, loser. We’re going shopping.”

  I jumped in and we sped away.

  Olivier drove to the nearby town, and kept going past the city limits.

  “Arthur is here for you,” she said finally. Of course she knew. I hadn’t even tried to fool her, as if I could. “I’ve known for days.”

  Her tone tipped me off and I understood what she was saying. “He recruited you to help him.”

  “I had no choice, Lisbeth. The heads of the Order commanded it. He told me someone had spared a Lycan that crossed the borders, and he was sent to find out who it was. We’ve been drinking extra blood and interrogating dozens of humans in the town. We eventually found what we needed. The humans that were there that day remembered you. Black curls. Purple eyes.” I shut my eyes and curled my fingers around the bracelet, still strapped to my leg. “Why, Lisbeth?” she demanded. “Why would you break the law?”

  I opened my eyes and stared at the road in front of us. “He was a child, Olivier. If there’s only one rule I can live by in my long life, it’s protecting the life of a child.”

  She slammed her palms down on the steering wheel and looked away in frustration. “You’ve risked everything. Everything.”

  Reality slipped into me, like a cold icicle down my throat. “I know.”

  “I can’t protect you,” she said. I could hear tears in her voice.

  “I know,” I repeated. I wanted to apologize, but that would mean I regretted it. And I didn’t.

  She casually ran a hand across her face. “Backseat,” she said. I unbuckled myself and leaned over the backseat. There was a huge duffel bag in the floorboard. The duffel bag she’d brought with her when she came to our Order, an ex-Hunter with no sense of our way of life. I sat back down with it in my lap.

  “We going camping?” I said casually. She abruptly pulled the car over into a little roadside park and stopped.

  “You have a choice. Right now. You run. You run like there’s a forest fire licking your ankle. And you never look ba
ck. You never stop running.”

  That sounded exhausting. “Or?”

  “I take you back to the Order. And you face Arthur’s justice.”

  We sat there as I weighed both options. I realized that while I didn’t regret what I’d done, I didn’t want to die. I really didn’t. When I’d saved the child, I thought no one would ever know. And now I would be paying for it with my life.

  I spaced out. When I came back, I saw half an hour had passed. Olivier sat next to me, also spaced out.

  “I’ll run,” I told her.

  Chapter 6

  Olivier left me at the roadside park with very few parting words. Don’t tell her my plans, and follow the list in the duffel bag.

  I took the list out and started walking down the highway.

  Olivier’s list of survival

  1. Get a car.

  Seemed simple enough.

  2. Pick something in-between what you’d pick for yourself and what you’d never drive.

  Oddly specific.

  3. There’s sneakers in the bag.

  Thank god. I took my heels off and put the sneakers on. Much better.

  4. Stop reading the list and follow number 1.

  I rolled my eyes and stuck the list into my pocket.

  I had to rearrange my way of thinking. Whatever the Hunters and Arthur thought I was going to do, I would have to do the opposite. Or was that completely wrong and stupid? Would they expect that of me?

  They probably expected me to steal a car and then leave a trail of stolen cars for them to follow. A trail was not a good idea. After an hour of walking on back roads, I reached a town. I rummaged through the duffle bag and found a plastic baggie with a large amount of cash in it, enough to buy a car. Or maybe two cars.

  After asking around, I found a used car place that looked semi-shady, but one that wouldn’t ask questions or require paperwork, and would keep their mouths shut with the proper encouragement. I bought something tiny, expensive, and probably extremely gas efficient, which was completely not me at all. The dealer charged me double and I didn’t break his arm for it, though I was sorely tempted to. The money baggie was still semi full when I left in my new-to-me tiny car.