The Jaded Hunter

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “I had no idea you cared for me so deeply,” he said with feigned astonishment. The look ended as swiftly as it began. He didn’t move to touch her, but Jaden felt as if he was all around her. A sliver of green tinted his blue eyes. She blinked, darting her gaze away from him. She stared at the wall.

  “Don’t try to read me,” she demanded hotly. “I won’t be mesmerized so easily again. I know your vampire tricks.”

  “All of them?” he goaded.

  “Yes. All of them.”

  “Tell me, what am I trying to do now?”

  Jaden’s eyes cautiously shifted to watch him. He didn’t move. His eyes bore steadily into her. She swallowed before meeting his gaze. But how could she back down now? The icy blue stayed the same, though a glint of silver threatened inside. A wave of hot desire washed over her before she could block it. Her breath panted with marked shallowness, her lashes fought to dip demurely over her eyes. She felt her sex heating with a potent fire as they violently tweaked close to orgasm. Within an instant the feeling was gone, leaving behind a dull ache that her body produced naturally to aggravate her.

  “You are trying to annoy me,” she said, instead of telling the truth.

  Tyr’s lip curled up.

  Feeling vulnerable in the middle of the large bed, she moved to stand. Her instincts told her to hurry, but she moved slowly. She wouldn’t let this creature know he scared her.

  Jaden winced as her lower back cramped. Lifting her arm over her head, she stretched the tight muscle. Then, seeing Tyr watching her, she dropped her hand to the side. Pride came over her and she refused to let him see her pain.

  “By the way, I don’t care what happens to you. I would just as soon see you dead,” she muttered.

  Tyr grimaced. “And should I worry about what will happen to you?”

  “What do you mean?” Seeing the intensity in his eyes, she stepped back suspiciously. “Why would you worry about me?”

  “You are mine.”

  Jaden shivered at the finality of his words. They left no room for argument.

  “You are my indicium.” His low tone wrapped around her like a warm blanket in winter—safe and enfolding. She was not deceived. “You are marked, my familiar.”

  Jaden couldn’t find the voice to speak. His words were so possessive, as was the look he gave her as he said them.

  “You are my slave and I your master,” he continued, low, dark, seductive.

  Jaden wasn’t sure if his lips were moving, but the last caught her attention. “No, I’m not your slave. Slaves obey their masters and I’ll never obey you. Aside from a scratch, you have no claim on me, nightstalker.”

  “I saved your life.” Tyr didn’t touch her, but she felt him. He let her feel him caressing intimately along her skin. His eyes narrowed languidly, urging hers to do the same. A breathless moment passed between them, stretched out in a cloud of immeasurable time. The world faded until they were the only two in it.

  “No,” she managed at last. Her words were a husky defiance. Jaden didn’t fight the sensations of her body, needing all her power to fight the pull he had on her mind. “You only spared it. My life cannot be saved.”

  “Why do you seek death, dhampir?” A spark of curiosity moved over his face as he released her from his hold.

  “I...” Jaden couldn’t continue. She shook her head, unable to answer. Moisture crowded her eyes and burned her nose. The dull ache that haunted her unfurled beneath her ribs, offering its pain into her heart. She steeled her nerves before he saw what he was doing to her.

  At her silence, he closed some of the distance between them. His face, though mainly devoid of expression, beckoned her to finish her answer. He lifted his hand to gently cup her cheek.

  “Enough.” She stopped his progress before he reached her. Tyr’s hand dropped to his side. Jaden felt the kindness he tried to force on her. She was no fool. A creature like him couldn’t feel what he tried to offer her. It was all a lie. Knowing it as such did not make it easier to resist. Her hands balled into fists. “I do not belong to you. I may be marked, but I am not yours. All you will find here is a fight. Now, tell me your business or leave. I have no interest in speaking with you further.”

  “My business?”

  “Do you even know who lives here?”

  “You mean your uncle? Yes, I know all about your uncle. This is his home.”

  “Then you know what he is capable of,” she said. “You know what he will do to you if he finds you.”

  “I know more than you realize.”

  A chill crept up her spine. She backed away from him, moving towards her vanity. Tyr’s eyes followed her. She stared at the icy orbs—so cold was his look. There was no fire in him. She felt the morbid calmness of his soul swirling in her blood. It was like a drug—mind numbing with its aloofness. This creature was beyond feeling, beyond regret or redemption.

  “Leave or you’ll be sorry,” she stammered. “I’ll call my uncle’s men.”

  Tyr chuckled at the threat. She suspected he could detect her fear, her rage, her helplessness.

  “I thought you would be happy to see me.” He moved his head slowly to the side, never tearing his gaze away. “You did seek me out.”

  “I wasn’t looking for you,” Jaden said. “I was looking for...”

  “For death,” he supplied when she faltered.

  The words hung in the air between them. She detected the dark angel of death within this large vampire.

  “And,” he continued, “in a way you did find it, did you not? So what do you want with death, m’lady?”

  “My life is none of your business.” Her chest heaved as she took deep breaths. He opened the dam between them a bit more, bombarding her with sensations her mind couldn’t interpret. Little explosions snapped on her skin, tingling the roots of her hair. The cords in her throat strained as she shakily commanded, “Leave at once. I demand that you never come back here. You are not welcome.”

  “You might not have been looking for me, but you did find me. And I was looking for you.” Tyr finally drew his gaze away, taking his disruptive feelings with it. He looked around the room and then crossed over to her vanity. Jaden stiffened at his approach. He glanced briefly at her before pulling out the chair. He sat.

  “You’ve clearly been buried for too long. You’ve gone crazy.” Jaden stalked away from him, desperate to put distance between them.

  “I’ve been called worse over the years.”

  “Like a Dark Knight?” Her eyes hardened. She was not going to give him the pleasure of her fear. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated on her anger. Her fingers ached, wanting to fight him.

  Tyr smiled at her and reclined in the chair.

  Jaden crossed over to the window, pulling hard at the curtains to let in more light. Almost instantly, she was sorry for it. The blue rays permeating from outside bathed over him. His hair flowed freely over his shoulders, long and golden, draping over the chair like silk threads. Jaden detected the stroke of his long, pale fingernails as they moved absently over the wooden arm of the chair. The action seemed too gentle for such strength. His fingers were long and tapered. Veins rose beneath the fabric of skin on his pale hands, hypnotic and blue.

  He dressed the same as the night before, in a long, antiquated coat. His back was to her, but she knew he sensed her every movement. Even if she had the advantage of a surprise attack, she knew she would fail. His size alone gave her reason to pause. Only too well did she remember the breadth of his shoulders, the gladiator height of his form, the feel of his hand slamming into her jaw. And not a single one of her punches had fazed him.

  “You know your vampires, m’lady,” he said at length.

  “It’s my business to know.”

  He nodded. “And what else do you think to know about me?”

  She forced a laugh. “I know you are crazy. M’lady? I think you’re trying a little too hard. Less is more. Tone down the age.” Seeing the coolness with which he received her j
ibes, Jaden wasn’t so sure this man was a myth or a joke. Despite the feeling of newness in his blood, she doubted herself. This creature knew too much, saw and said too much. “And you are trying to frighten me. It won’t work. I can tell how old you are. I can feel it in you. You are insignificant—a little vampiric worm crawling through mortal dung. You must have had a teacher who told you the ancient ways, but you don’t fool me.”

  She did not receive the outrage she expected. Instead, he seemed almost to chuckle. A vague sense of enjoyment flooded her. “It matters not what you believe me to be. I am what I am. And if I wanted you frightened of me, I could show you fear.”

  “Spoken like a true wannabe god,” she taunted. “Careful or your ego will fill up this room and push you out the window. That is, unless I throw you out of it first. It won’t kill you but it should hurt.”

  At that, he did turn his eyes to her. Jaden’s breath caught. The ice blue of his gaze softened with tender emotions. For an insane moment she thought he would declare his love for her. His lips parted as if to breathe. Her heart nearly stopped beating. But the insanity passed and in the confines of a mere second heat passed over her skin, burning and scorching her flesh. She felt bugs crawling on her clothing, biting with the prickling of needles, crawling up her nose and into her mouth to stifle her breath. She tried to fall, but her legs couldn’t bend. She was frozen. Blinking, he took the sensation away.

  Jaden coughed and wheezed for breath. She closed her eyes, the darkness helping to stabilize her panicked brain. Bending over, she steadied herself. She touched her skin and found her flesh unharmed. But the pain had been real and it had hurt worse than anything she’d ever felt.

  Tyr waved his hand in dismissal of her threats. “Naturally your nasty tongue is learned from your uncle. You are right. I should not have called you a lady.”

  Her eyes rounded and she opened her mouth to protest.

  “No, do not take offense, Miss MacNaughton. I am used to women with a sharpened, unrefined speech.”

  “What do you know about my uncle?” Jaden asked. His barb hurt. He was comparing her to all the vampiric low-life trash that he knew. She definitely didn’t need a reminder of how she lacked as a feminine woman. It was not by her choice that she was what she was. Her chest tightened. “He is a good man. You have no right to speak out against him, just because he does something about the evilness of your kind. You are a plague and you need to be destroyed.”

  “Strong sentiment, m’lady.” This time the title sounded mocking. Slowly, he came to his feet. “We have the tribal council to attend to our own. Your uncle should stay out of it and so should you. You have no business meddling in the affairs of vampires.”

  “One of your kind made it my business.” She thought of her father.

  Tyr paused, tilting his head. When he didn’t speak, she hastened on.

  “Your council does nothing. They should regulate their own. Force them to use blood banks or at least let the mortals live. But, no,” Jaden growled in reckless anger. She charged forward to face him. “You feed and spread yourselves around like a virus. You slaughter innocent—”

  “And what of your uncle’s crimes? What of your own?” Tyr seethed in return. His voice rose, revealing a smattering of an Old Norse accent. “Are they no worse than some of those committed by vampires? Do you not seek to eradicate us? We who perhaps understand this world as your kind never could? And do not speak to me about the slaughtering of innocents. We hunt for food, as does your kind. I can smell the meat of animals in your veins. And I daresay the charges against Alan MacNaughton are worse than a mere killing of a mortal for food.”

  “What crimes? I call what I do justice.”

  “Do you, little one?” His voice once again dropped to a passionless whisper. “That is why you sought me out to kill you, because you know you are right and just?”

  “You could never understand it.” Jaden stiffened, aware of his nearness. She hated him for mentioning her failed suicide and continually throwing it back in her face. How could he ever understand the dilemma her soul went through? He had no soul.

  Tyr leaned forward at her words, only slightly but enough that she felt him looming in. Jaden edged back.

  “You couldn’t possibly understand anything I think or feel. You are a walking, talking virus. A disease. A curse. An evolutionary mistake.” Jaden felt the rousing of anger in him, and it would seem the vampire wasn’t an emotionless void after all. “And, like a virus, you live long and are hard to kill. But give us mortals time—we will find a way to cure you and your kind. And if there is no cure, we will eradicate you.”

  “Your part in your uncle’s scheming has yet to be determined.” His emotions settled once more.

  “What do you mean? Are you here to judge me? How dare you.”

  “You did say that we should regulate our own,” he reminded.

  “I am not your own. I hate your kind. You have no power over me.” As she said the words he glanced at her lips to the mark he’d given her, reminding her just how much power he wielded. Tears threatened.

  “Deny it if you wish, dhampir. But you are what you hate. Half of your blood is vampire.”

  She felt the color leaving her face at the harsh truths.

  “You are the evolutionary mistake—a half-breed. You don’t belong in either world and you know it, don’t you? Humans will never understand you and vampires will never want you.”

  “I am none of your concern,” she sneered.

  “Ah, but the crimes against my people are my concern. Come with me to be judged, dhampir.”

  As the word dhampir whispered past his lips like a curse, Jaden shivered. She knew he was right. Humans looked on her like a curiosity. Vampires looked on her as a menace, a half-breed, to be destroyed if not a little feared.

  Tyr stepped forward. He lifted a hand as if he would cradle her face. Jaden was pulled towards him. Her body ached to touch him. Her eyes ached to gaze upon the beauty of his face, the handsomeness of his blank expressions. There was a serene peace in the void he radiated. This was not the disorder that exuded from most vampires and mortals.

  “It won’t take long,” he said, not touching. “If I find you innocent I’ll let you go. So long as you stay innocent, no one will harm you. I’ll give you my word on that.”

  “The word of a vampire?” she whispered, doubtful. She pulled back from his hovering fingers.

  Shaking her head, she moved away from him. Tyr followed her with his eyes. Slowly she leaned back on her vanity. She placed her palms thoughtfully behind her, hitting her finger to the silent alarm button beneath the edge. Without changing her expression, she whispered, “What crimes do you claim to be mine? And what crimes are my uncle’s? I would hear the charges brought up against me before I go to be judged, for I doubt my idea of a crime and yours are the same. You say vampires do not want me, then I do not recognize their authority over me.”

  Tyr did not like the scornful tone in Jaden’s voice or the displeasure on her face as she stared at him. He knew she was afraid of him, felt it easily though she hid it well. Tyr’s attention focused on the door an instant before running footfalls could be heard on the outside stairway. He smiled ruefully, knowing she was trying to distract him while she waited for her uncle’s men. Part of him was disappointed she’d called them. It had been an infinite time since he had felt fear, and the sound of footsteps annoyed rather than frightened.

  Jaden stared at him, trying too hard not to look at the door. Her dark reddish-brown hair spilled prettily over her shoulders, cupping around her bruised jaw. He’d eyed the wound, surprised to see it healing so quickly. There was a lot of power in this woman. It was a wonder she wasn’t mad with it.

  Tyr wasn’t sure he liked the emotions coming from her. They were a strong blend of hatred and anger and determined strength. She desperately wanted to disconnect herself from him, from his feelings. She was a woman used to resolving matters with her fists, most likely avoiding the effort it
took to speak whenever she could. Though she spewed nonsense about viruses and eradication, he could tell she didn’t believe her own words, but flung them out of a mix of desperation and helpless outrage.

  As they spoke, something curious happened. Tyr had begun to take pleasure from their banter. The feeling was rare and never lasted more than a brief moment. However, with the feisty hunter, he found himself paying more attention than usual to the words of another.

  Beneath the shield of hate she built around herself, there was more. Tyr didn’t want to discover what that was. He didn’t need the confusion. It had taken him centuries to determine who he was and he didn’t need her shaking him up with human feelings. His interview could’ve been finished before this conversation ever happened, but there was something about this woman that delayed his judgment.

  The footfalls loomed closer. He had no wish to slaughter an entire building of humans. With a slight bow of his head, he took his leave of Jaden. “Mayhap you should ask your uncle, Miss MacNaughton. If you truly do not know what it is you have done, then you should find out before we speak again.”

  Jaden swallowed nervously. The footfalls skidded to a stop and the door to her bedroom crashed open. The thick wood reverberated against the wall but didn’t break. Rick appeared in the entryway followed by a handful of partially dressed men. Confusion passed over the marine’s face as his gaze darted instantly to her window.

  Jaden followed Rick’s gaze. Instead of Tyr all she saw was the soft dissolving of mist left in his wake. The window remained closed. Her emotions pulled her to the mist, bidding her to jump after it, knowing if she did he would catch her and sweep her away with him. She held firm and didn’t move, resisting the urge to run. The thick curtain fluttered softly.

  Jaden detected the men’s eyes on her, questioning.

  “Who was that?” Rick demanded. Seeing Jaden in her nightclothes, he waved the others out of the room with a stiff command that was immediately obeyed.

  It was as Tyr said, they did not understand her. Humans feared what they couldn’t comprehend. They might respect her, but they never understood. Slowly, Rick closed the door behind him so that they were the only two in the room.