Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series)

by Stoires, Bell

  Relief washed over Ari, until she heard the small staggering whelp of the animal at her feet. The momentary loss of pressure against the bleeding wounds had been enough to rob the animal of much needed blood. The beast looked up at Ari, its yellow eyes meeting her blue ones, and then its eyes grew wide, so that soon there was nothing but black orbs staring blankly back at her.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” roared Ragon, his eyes dancing over Bridget’s frozen form indifferently before he stared incredulously at Ari.

  Ari spun around to face him and said, “Help me,” before falling to her knees and replacing her hands against the gaping wounds.

  But it was too late. Already the waere was writhing violently. Its body shook and elongated, just as the light fur was replaced with skin, and the large paws became hands. When the transformation had finished, a naked woman lay on the ground. There were three deep cuts across her throat and Ari raced back over to her and flung her hands back against the wounds, desperate to stop the bleeding.

  “Don’t just stand there,” said Ari, looking up at Ragon in disbelief.

  To her great surprise it was Clyde who raced forwards.

  “No Clyde, wait!” Ari cried, recalling her premonition. “I had a vision of you being attacked here.”

  Clyde ignored her, moving with hast to race to the dying girl, and removing his jacket so as to place it over her. Ari watched in confusion as Clyde fell to the floor at the girl’s feet. It was the exact image she had seen from her promotion; but Clyde hadn’t been attacked.

  “Riley?” he said, staring the girl in the face.

  The name had stirred something in Ari’s memory and when she looked back down, she realised who the waere was; Clyde’s mystery woman. And suddenly Ari understood; she’d had her premonition, not to save Clyde, but so she could save Riley.

  “What can we do?” asked Clyde, still kneeling next to Riley, his eyes struck with desperation.

  No amount of stiches would save Riley, they needed a miracle.

  “Take her to Lea; she’s on the first level of my halls,” said Ari, hoping like hell that Lea’s good magic extended to healing a waere. “Lea can save her.”

  Clyde nodded, cradled Riley in his hands and disappeared down the path.

  “I need to call Lea,” said Ari, getting to her feet and moving over to Ragon. “I need to tell her that we need her help.”

  “Ari, I don’t think that-” Ragon began to say, but Ari cut him off.

  “-please Ragon, you don’t understand. I saw this in a vision. I think I was meant to stop it. I thought Clyde was going to be attacked, but, but it was Riley all along. Clyde only fell down because he was… sad.”

  “Sad?” said Ragon, looking at Ari sideways. “Why would Clyde care about a waere?”

  “We don’t have time to discuss it now. I have to call Lea.”

  Reluctantly Ragon nodded and Ari reached for her phone. On the 5th ring she was starting to get worried that Lea might be at the mess hall or perhaps in her room deep in study mode, but then she heard her friend’s voice.

  “Lea I need your help. There was an accident… someone got hurt; Clyde is bringing her to you now. I don’t know if you can help but you have to try,” she said quickly. “Clyde is going to your room now. You have to help us.”

  Ari didn’t give Lea any chance to argue. As soon as she had hung up, both Ari and Ragon turned to face Bridget. She was still frozen, a wide smile plastered on her face.

  “She annoy you?” asked Ragon, indicating Bridget.

  “Annoy me? If by annoy you mean try to attack me, then yea… she annoyed me!”

  Suddenly Ragon’s face changed and he glared at Bridget; he walked towards her casually and then placing a hand on either side of her head, twisted hard. The result was instant; Bridget’s neck was broken and the girl crumpled to the floor.

  “What are you doing?” Ari screamed.

  Yes she had been angry with Bridget; but Ragon couldn’t just kill her? What if someone found out? The Final Death Laws clearly stated that it was punishable by death to kill another vampire.

  “It’s ok; I just broke her neck. She won’t die, but we can’t have her knowing that you froze her,” said Ragon, now pulling Ari away and back down the path. “This way she will just think that someone attacked her from behind.”

  Ari nodded and the pair began racing through the forest, following the same path that Clyde had taken with Riley.

  When Ragon and Ari reached Lea’s room, they were knocking on it for at least a minute before the door was finally thrown opened. Clyde greeted them; his face was drawn and worried. Ari had never seen him look so… human.

  “How is she?” asked Ari, rushing to Lea’s bed, where Riley lay, still unconscious.

  Ari knew that it was strange for her to be so concerned about a waere, especially a waere who had tried to attack her, but she couldn’t help it. She was certain that the vision she’d had earlier was designed to stop this girl from dying. She didn’t know why, but she was connected to her somehow. And it wasn’t just Ari; Clyde had wanted to protect her too.

  Lea was sitting cross legged on the floor of her room, a large silver cup in her hands. Ari watched as Lea reached into her bedside table and retrieved a dagger; she winced as Lea took the dagger and cut into Riley’s wrist, capturing the dwindling trickle of blood in the cup. Lea then handed the cup to Clyde, who drank from it, before placing his wrist to his mouth and biting down.

  “Blood for blood,” Lea said, not really talking to anyone, as she took the cup from Clyde and poured it into Riley’s mouth.

  The moment the red liquid touched Riley’s lips, Clyde let out a bone chilling scream, and Ari spun around to look at him.

  “Keep him quiet,” Lea hissed, and Ari rushed to Clyde’s side to comfort him.

  “What’s happening to him?” Ragon asked.

  “He chose this,” said Lea, looking at Ari warningly.

  Both Ragon and Ari tried to hold onto Clyde, but he fell to the floor and began writhing in pain. It was then that Ari noticed three large cuts spawn across his neck; three cuts which mirrored Riley’s injuries precisely. At first blood leached slowly from the wounds, but before long it began to stream. At the same time Clyde’s handsome face drained of all colour.

  “Clyde?” whispered Ari, brushing his light brown hair out of his face.

  “What’s happening?” asked Ragon, turning to face Lea.

  “An exchange,” said Lea. “The girl has lost too much blood. Clyde is giving up his to save her; it’s called a leeching spell. It was the only thing I could do.”

  “What?” Ari said.

  She knew that Clyde had thought that Riley was hot, but he wasn’t the type of guy to give up everything for a girl. There was no way that he would have known what he was getting himself into. And it had been she, Ari, to tell Clyde to come to Lea; this was all her fault!

  “Jesus Clyde, I’m so sorry,” sobbed Ari. “I didn’t mean for you to-”

  “-it’s ok,” Clyde whispered back, his eyes flickering into the back of his head, “I chose this.”

  Suddenly the door to Lea’s room burst open. Standing in the hallway were three girls Ari had never seen before. Had they come in because they had heard Clyde’s screams? Instantly Ari was panicked, but then she realised that the looks on their faces were not ones of surprise; they were angry. The tallest girl walked into the room almost cat-like. She was glaring at Ragon and Clyde, her eyes small slits as she considered them.

  “What the hell are you doing Lea?” demanded the tall girl. “You’re helping vampires?”

  What the hell was going on? How did these girls know what Ragon and Clyde were?

  “It’s not what you think,” said Riley, looking up at them desperately.

  “Get out of here blood suckers,” said the tall girl, her eyes dancing between Ragon and then down to the semi-unconscious Clyde.

  At her words, Clyde’s eyelids fluttered opened. He jumped
to his feet as though he had been stung and charged towards the tall girl. He was half way across the room when he fell down as if shot. Ari stared at him hopelessly, watching as his eyes become glassy and he slumped onto the floor.

  “What have you done?” screamed Ari, glaring up at the three girls.

  A sudden wave of heat washed over Ari and she felt her heart race in her chest.

  “It’s not them,” said Lea, looking from the girls then down to Clyde. “It’s the leeching spell; he’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “You performed a leeching spell for a blood demon?” the tall girl said incredulously.

  “Emily,” said Lea, looking up at the girl, “they aren’t here to hurt us.”

  “Vampires hate witches,” said Emily.

  Finally Ari understood; the three girls were witches. But this understanding did not help the burning sensation which was spreading up her arms and legs.

  “If you think the circle will allow you to work with vampires,” said Emily, but then she cocked her head, looking intensely at Lea. “Unless… did they bite you? Are they controlling you? Is that why you are doing this?”

  Emily didn’t wait for Lea to respond; she held her hands out in front of her, curling them into a strange pose as she whispered something. Ari felt a whoosh of wind against her face; it smelt strangely familiar, reminding her of being at home in Australia, perhaps sitting on the beach and feeling the sun on her skin and the smell of seaweed. This temporary respite however was extinguished when Ragon dropped to his knees, his hands clutched to his head as his mouth twisted open in a silent scream. Then he fell down, unconscious.

  “Stop,” cried Ari, glaring at the girls.

  But the witches ignored her and so she stood and charged at the first girl. Emily’s face broke into a snarl as she fell against the wall and Ari turned back to see Ragon, who was no longer in agony. Immediately the two other witches helped their fallen friend to her feet. Now the three girls considered Ari. At the same time they thrust their hands towards her, saying something that Ari couldn’t understand. Ari stood, waiting for something to happen to her… but it did not. The surprise on Ari’s face was mirrored by the three witches.

  “Why didn’t… what are you?” said Emily, slowly advancing on Ari.

  “No Emily,” said Lea, racing to Ari’s side, “don’t!”

  Lea moved protectively in front of Ari, pushing her out of the way, so that Ari fell on the floor next to Clyde.

  As Ari stared into Clyde’s empty eyes she felt her cheeks flush, as the familiar wave of uncontrollable power swept over her. She tried not to be angry, to breathe in and out and calm down but it was no use. She was furious; furious about the witches coming in here and attacking them; furious about what had happened to Clyde; furious about Bridget and Riley. She couldn’t think straight; there was too much pain everywhere and the pain fuelled the fire growing inside her.

  Her eyes burned and she closed them, just as another wave of heat washed over her, filling her veins with fire; she had to get out of here. Ari stood quickly, trembling as she moved instinctively towards the door. The three witches were there, baring the exit. She knew she only had seconds before she would explode and she raced towards them, but they did not move.

  “Get out of the way,” she screamed.

  Still the three girls remained and before Ari could do anything else, she felt a hot pain shoot up her legs and dropped to the floor. Her thoughts were swirling in her head and with each passing second, her resolve was quaking. Any moment she would burst into sunshine and Ragon and Clyde would be killed.

  “Ari,” Lea said, racing to her, “Ari, are you alright.”

  “It’s happening,” Ari screamed, “it’s happening now; I have to get out of here.”

  “What’s happening?” asked Emily, turning to stare at Ari in confusion.

  Lea’s eyes widened in realisation; her eyes shot back and forwards between Ari and the three witches.

  “Relinguo,” Lea whispered, and wisps of grey smoke curled from Lea’s hands and shot at the three witches.

  Ari watched from burning eyes as the smoke latched to their bodies, intertwining around their arms, legs and waist, making it appear almost as if snakes were coiling around them. Then the girls were pulled out of the room and the smoke vanished with them. The moment they had gone, Ari felt the heat burn so intensely that she thought the world was sliding in and out of focus. She tried to crawl along the floor, but just moving an inch made little rays of sunshine flicker from her, lighting the room.

  Ari scanned the room, her eyes resting just below her, where the dagger Lea had used earlier now rested. Her eyes lit up hopefully; she had remembered how Lea had said that if she were injured her powers might not work. She reached for it quickly, just as Ragon stirred. Then Ragon let out another cry. More and more sunlight was beginning to pour from Ari’s skin; she could see the fiery shadows across the room, dancing across Ragon and Clyde’s skin as it burnt deeply. Holding her breath, Ari swiped the blade across her wrist. She squeezed her fist tight, hastening the flow. Then mustering all the strength she could, crawled over to Clyde, holding her bloodied hand out for him.

  Ari felt the blood rush from her and with it also went the heat. Slowly the room slide out of focus, but not before she saw Ragon and Clyde, no longer burning from the sunshine.

  She wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed when she felt Ragon pick her up in his arms, and carry her away from Clyde. Though Ragon winced when he touched her, he did not let go, simply gritted his teeth. His touch felt wonderfully cool against her scorching skin, but she knew that it burned him to hold her.

  “Did it work?” Ari asked weakly, looking around the room with a dazed expression. “Is Clyde ok?”

  Though her hand ached initially, it was increasingly becoming numb. She tried not to think about the slicing sensation of the blade cutting through her skin; it just made her feel sick. Her eyes were suddenly so heavy and she blinked a few times before letting them close. The room and everything around her, including the pain, faded entirely and she welcomed the unconsciousness.

  When Ari came to, she felt a pain in her arm and rubbed at it. Glancing around she realised that she was still in Lea’s room, though Lea was nowhere to be seen. Next to her sat Ragon, his head in his hands, while on Lea’s bed laid Riley, with someone next to her… someone who was brushing the hair out of her face… Clyde? She blinked in confusion, finally forcing herself to sit up, though instantly regretting this action.

  “Ari,” said Ragon, reaching out to her quickly and pulling her close to him.

  Though Ari kept her eyes closed, she smiled when she heard Ragon’s voice, and reached out a hand to touch his face as she snuggled against his cool body.

  “Are you ok?” he asked, leaning close to her.

  Ari nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Instead she looked down and saw the makeshift bandage that had been wrapped tightly around her arm, though a blossoming red stain was already making its way to the surface. In truth the bandage felt a little too tight; already her fingertips were turning purple.

  She had just pulled the bandage loose when she heard Clyde say, “Thank you Arianna.”

  “I’m so sorry Clyde,” she said. “When I told you to take Riley to Lea… I had no idea that the only way to save her was for you to sacrifice yourself and-”

  But Clyde quickly cut her off, smiling weakly as he said, “-its ok, Lea explained to me what I would need to do to save her.”

  “But…” Ragon stuttered, looking at Clyde with his eyebrows screwed up, “but if you knew it would kill you, why did you do it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Clyde, turning back to look at Riley. “When I heard Ari say that she thought her vision was meant to keep Riley safe, I knew I wanted to as well. I can’t explain it.”

  Ari listened to Clyde’s explanation in disbelief. Though she knew that he was capable of great kindness, she did not for one moment think he was capable of self-sacrifice. So
mething that Clyde had said to her weeks ago suddenly came to thought, and she recalled the way he had spoken about a lost love.

  A few moments of silence passed; Ari used the time to wonder what had become of Lea. She was just about to ask about her absence, when Ragon spoke.

  “I’m not going to yell at you,” he said, speaking unusually slowly, “but what were you thinking? Coming into the forest tonight; you could have been killed.”

  “I told you, I had a vision. I thought that Clyde had been attacked. I was afraid that something was going to happen to him… to both of you.”

  Ragon looked as if he wanted to berate her further but shook his head.

  “Shit,” Ari said suddenly, sitting bolt upright. “Thomas… he was getting attacked but then-”