by Terry Spear
She’d tried to make them understand she didn’t want to kill them, but they weren’t receptive. With dread pooling in every fiber of her body, she was determined to attempt to convince them again.
Like playing with fire, the vampires lured the huntress into their midst.
But worse, Nicolai could enter her place anytime he wanted to.
2
Crystal noticed one of Nicolai’s converts standing with a woman on a corner, his long wavy black hair sweeping over his shoulders, his lips parting so she could see his ice white teeth, the extended fangs, not a taunt to Crystal, just proof he was one of them. He bowed to her as if acknowledging her, then pointed to his blood red Mustang.
Crystal pulled next to the curb on the opposite side of the street several feet away, turned off her lights, and idled the car.
Dressed entirely in black, he spoke to the petite woman wearing a cocktail-length black dress and shimmering stilettos. Her straight black hair didn’t match her blond brows. And her skin was as pale as the full moon on a cloudless night. Dressed like a Goth, she most likely was a vampiric human host.
Crystal shook her head. The woman must be crazy to mix with vampires, allowing them to feed on her, without turning her into one of their own. She’d be easy to kill, if she got in Crystal’s way, although the family code taught avoidance if possible.
The vampire assisted the woman to the car with a backward glance at Crystal. He knew she was the huntress.
He lured her just like he lured the host.
To her utter annoyance, Crystal yawned. All-night duty at Fort Hood the previous night had worn her out. With a repeat performance the next evening, she had to turn in earlier tonight or she’d be a zombie the next day at work.
Once the Mustang took off, she turned her car around and followed him from a distance. She lost him at a light, but soon picked him up again as he paused on the side of the road. Yeah, she was being suckered right into their sick party.
The element of surprise wouldn’t work tonight. The vampires must have had a pact for her to live as long as she did, alone, without a family to back her up.
She glanced in her rear-view mirror. No one followed her. She turned her New Age music on, attempting to placate her nerves with the sounds of pipe whistles and flutes of a South American band.
Before last week, she hadn’t killed for four years. Not since she’d left her family’s way of conducting business. The vampires had left her alone, too. Until recent weeks.
Somewhere along the line, Nicolai had learned of her living alone and refusing to hunt vampires. For weeks, he’d stalked her. She’d had to kill again, against her wishes. Three times, his minions had attempted to take her. Three times she’d killed. She shuddered, the vision replaying in her mind again as the handsome creatures turned into white raisin-skinned, bony monsters at death.
Tonight was the first time Nicolai had actually entered her home…her only place of refuge during the deadly evening hours. Why the change in strategy? Had he tired of the cat and mouse game? Was he ready to end it now?
She sped along the road, keeping up with the Mustang, only slowing when a cop hiding in the dark caught her eye. But he never followed the speeding vampire’s car. Had the bloodsucker wiped the cop’s mind of his breaking the law?
Probably.
Crystal lost him at another light, but beyond this, found him parked curbside waiting for her. He pulled out again once he saw her headlights. Goosebumps trailed her arms as he led her to their lair.
For several miles, she followed the Mustang, then slowed as his brake lights lit up. He parked at a curb in the development featuring nice mid-sized homes with spacious treed lots.
The two-story Greek revival house painted gray with dark gray shutters, illuminated inside with cheery lights, welcomed her.
Entering a home without the element of surprise was suicide, wasn’t it? Using a show of force usually worked well, too, but going it alone? She must be as crazy as the human hosts.
Glancing at the cars parked on the street, she noticed her twin brothers’ blue Trans Am. Had they crashed the party, catching the vampires unaware?
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her brothers wouldn’t like it that she’d arrived here, too.
To hell with them. She had an open invite.
The vampire helped his host out of the car, glanced in Crystal’s direction, and smiled. Then he led his victim up the brick walk and entered the house.
Crystal waited. She’d never had an open invitation like this before. Nicolai must want her badly. But she wasn’t sure why. If he wanted to kill her, why had he waited so long to strike? She couldn’t fathom any other reason. Unless he considered a vampire huntress living alone, interesting prey…great sport.
She grabbed the door handle. A dark-haired man exited the house. She paused. His dark brow wrinkled as he strode down the path. Tall, broad-shouldered, chiseled facial features, as handsome as a smooth-faced god.
Too bad he served as another idiot host or vampire, although his hair was unusually short-cropped. Most vampires wore their hair long, not abiding by whatever was fashionable in whatever day and age they lived. Maybe this man had recently been turned.
Pulling at the handle, she opened the car door. The interior light came on. He looked in her direction and glared at her as she climbed out of the vehicle. She ground her teeth, feeling just as much animosity for his kind as she was sure he felt for hers.
She tilted her chin up in defiance. Maybe he was a vampire and not a host after all. Alone, she had a chance to take him down. All she had to do was destroy one tonight. Just one, for payback for Nicolai’s intrusion into her world.
She had to prove to Nicolai she hadn’t lost her nerve and convince him to leave her alone. If she didn’t make the attempt, he’d think her weak. She assumed he’d have her disposed of quickly, if she couldn’t play the game any better than that.
After slamming the door shut, she hurried toward the six-foot tall man, dressed in black clothes, just like everyone else. He seemed to wish to speak to her as his lips parted slightly, making her hesitate. She couldn’t kill him. Not in cold blood.
Suddenly, he veered off toward his car, a white convertible of some sort. Maybe he was a host after all.
She strode up the walk, although her mind told her to sneak around through a back window, like any smart hunter would. But they knew she was coming. Most likely they were observing her from the house. They’d know, too, then, if she attempted to enter the place in some other manner.
Before she knocked on the door, she turned to see why the man in the white car hadn’t driven off yet. He watched her. Human hosts didn’t care anything about other hosts. Did he think she was a vampire?
What an insult. Then she laughed inwardly. Maybe he hoped she’d feed off him next.
The door opened.
The female human host, who had ridden in the Mustang, motioned for her to enter. “Do you have an invitation?”
“Nicolai invited me.”
The woman’s blue eyes widened. “He’s not holding this party.”
Crystal’s heart stopped. If Nicolai hadn’t lured her here, who had?
The vampire who’d brought the woman to the party joined them. “She has an invitation. Let her in.”
“But, she said Nicolai had invited her. He’s not holding the party.”
The man smiled. “She has an open invitation to any of our parties.”
What was Nicolai up to?
The man standing before her bowed his head slightly. “I’m Kostya. Come in.”
“Who wishes me here, then?”
“Me,” a dark, deep voice said behind Crystal.
She whirled around to face him. The ebony-haired man had an uncanny resemblance to Nicolai, who she’d met only once face-to-face. Same square jaw, shoulder-length hair pulled back in a leather strap, same penetrating raven-colored eyes, similar Roman-style nose, and shoulders broad enough to carry her away. His broth
er?
He seemed to read her mind. “Nicolai’s older brother, Dimitri.”
Damn. Now she had two of them to kill. If she killed only Nicolai, his brother would come after her. It had quickly become a family affair.
“Come, enjoy some wine.”
A glass of wine, as tired as she was, would put her under for certain.
Soft classical music of piano, harp and flute melodies played in the background. A soothing tune to relax their human hosts for the evening meal. Vampires and their hosts stood talking in small groups of two to three.
Everyone was dressed in black. Most of the humans had dyed their hair raven, their lighter brows revealing the true nature of their hair color. Dark and somber, they all looked like they attended a wake. Several vampires glanced at her with interest. The intensity of their gazes made her skin crawl.
Was it because she was an unknown commodity that intrigued them? They undoubtedly knew she was born a huntress…and they knew Dimitri’s brother wanted her. That alone made them interested, too.
Dimitri cleared his throat to get her attention. She turned to him. Like the others, he stared at her, his thin lips smiling slightly, but his eyes concentrated on hers. He tried to control her mind. He couldn’t. Just because she didn’t hold with her family’s tradition of vampire hunting, didn’t mean she didn’t have their abilities any longer.
Her fingers twitched. Like vampires had difficulty controlling their bloodlust, she had to curb the innate urge to destroy the bloodsuckers. She couldn’t help it. The huntress gene she carried made her that way, but her heart wasn’t in it. That was the problem.
Even so, she knew she couldn’t attempt to kill him now, despite the inborn need to do so, or the whole house of vampires would attack. Not to mention the human hosts...though they couldn’t bite her. Still they could terminate her life in other ways.
“Not thinking of trying to kill me, are you?” Dimitri asked.
3
Crystal was as transparent as her kitchen window. Taking a deep breath, she folded her arms. “Why did you want me here, Dimitri?”
“Come with me. We can be alone.”
Alone. She stood a chance of killing him if she was alone with him. But he, like his brother, must have ruled families of vampires. He’d been around for over a 150 years. She’d do better working on some of their minions, weaker vampires, easier to take down.
The vampires were an arrogant breed. Crystal came armed to the teeth. The vampires, on the other hand, preferred taking advantage of the hunters in the ancient way, through brute strength. If the vampire felt overwhelmed, he could always vanish and reappear somewhere else. But most times, they persisted to the end, conceited enough to believe they’d win the battle. Willing the hosts to help in their cause could be an obstruction to the hunters also.
Suddenly, she wished she hadn’t come. No matter how much her blood stirred to kill the vile creatures, the whole notion disgusted her.
Dimitri said, “I won’t harm you…not yet. Nicolai has claimed you for his own. Unless he changes his mind, you’re safe with me and mine.”
He touched her arm. A jolt of electricity ran through her body. Her own nerves attuned to the touch of a vampire assured her she had one nearly in her clutches and not just a host. She stepped away from Dimitri.
He smiled. “My brother says you don’t want to kill us, not really. It’s the only reason I’ve agreed to this. Come. Show me what you have that makes my brother want you so.”
She glanced over at the female host now reclining on a black velvet sofa. Kostya ran his hand under her dress and up her thigh, then sank his teeth into her exposed neck. He sucked briefly. Then he turned to see Crystal watching him.
His extended canines dripped in blood, and his lips were colored with the sticky substance. The woman pulled at his arm to get his attention again, to offer him more of her life sustenance.
Crystal’s stomach wrenched with nausea. How could hosts give in to the bloodsuckers like that? He smiled at her. Torn with wanting to kill Kostya so that she could free the woman from a life of servitude, Crystal knew killing one of the vampires in front of the others would ensure her speedy demise, whether Nicolai wanted her for his own or not.
She noted some of the crowds had dispersed to spend time alone with their intended victims. Others sat on black sofas stroking their human counterparts’ necks before drawing blood.
Dimitri grabbed her hand suddenly. Momentarily befuddled, she felt a breeze stir in her face, and everything turned dark. She blinked her eyes and realized he’d transported her to a bedroom…his bedroom, she presumed. For a moment, she fought being disorientated. Then concern filled her as the blood rushed to her ears. She attempted to quash her disquiet as she focused on her new predicament.
Black velvet drapes trimmed in gold braid hid a canopied bed in darkness. Dimitri drew close to her and cleared his throat. “Want to join me there?”
She shifted her attention back to him. What was he saying? She frowned. The notion a vampire could have sexual encounters with human consorts had never occurred to her. The thought of Dimitri and her intertwined together in his bed stirred longings deep inside her, but at the same time, her stomach turned with revulsion.
He studied her response, his brown eyes darkening to black again, then he raised his brows. “You don’t think we can pleasure a woman?” Then he smiled. “Oh, but you do. I can see from the darkening of your eyes that you’re interested, despite fighting the notion.” He motioned to a black velvet sofa, but she remained standing.
Her heart beat out of control. Did Nicolai know what his brother had in mind to do with her?
Dimitri reached his fingers out to touch her cheek. She stepped away from him. “Yes, we very much enjoy the companionship of a woman. Kostya himself is an example of the union between a vampire and a human. He was born, not turned. There are others also. But not here.” Dimitri tried to touch her arm.
She’d never heard of a vampire that had been born. She sidestepped Dimitri’s grasping fingers. Her blood turned to ice. She wasn’t exactly human either. Dimitri and Nicolai had to be mad to consider a sexual union between a vampire and a huntress.
“Kostya wants Lila to carry his child. She will, too, once he’s bonded with her sufficiently.”
The room seemed to grow colder. Nicolai couldn’t truly want that with her, could he? A huntress?
“Why do you cover your throat?” Dimitri touched the knit collar of her turtleneck and fingered the top edge. “You know we cannot bite you without infecting our blood.” His voice was soothing, almost whispered with passion.
Dimitri wanted her.
Being a vampire’s concubine would be worse than death. She brushed his hand away and triggered the dagger at her wrist to reveal its shiny blade. Better to die a huntress in the end, than become the pet of a vampire.
In the next instant, she thrust the knife at his chest, but he jumped back to avoid being stabbed. Passed down from generation to generation, the ancient magical blade, when plunged into the heart of a vampire, would end its otherwise immortal life. But she’d missed her chance.
Just as quickly, he leapt forward and grabbed her wrists with superior vampire strength. He slammed her against a wall. Her spine radiated with pain on impact. She gasped. Irritated with herself, she’d reacted too slowly again on the rebound. She just wasn’t cut out to be a huntress.
“Tsk, tsk, my brother might be wrong about you. I’ll have to speak to him about your behavior here tonight. Not at all friendly.” He nuzzled his smooth cheek against hers. Had he recently fed? Most likely. His cheeks were full of color.
He smiled and ran his tongue over his lips. “Although, you didn’t kill me when you had the opportunity. Perhaps there’s hope for you yet.”
He suddenly jerked his head toward the door. “I’ll be back for you later,” he growled. He released her hands and before she could strike at him again, he vanished.
She ran for the door and jerked it o
pen.
In the hall, a female human host screamed, then ran down the stairs to the first floor. A dark-haired man grabbed Crystal’s wrist and bared his wicked, bloodied canines at her. The electricity from his touch sent her adrenaline into overdrive. His unbridled action meant he intended to kill her. She had no choice…kill or be killed.
He released her wrist, then grabbed her neck with both hands, intent on crushing her windpipe, the vampire’s method of choice for killing hunters. Before he could squeeze her throat, she shoved the spring-loaded wrist knife between his ribs and deep into his heart. The special blade worked its magic.
He crumpled to the floor, the skin of his hands and face wrinkling with age. She jumped over his wizened body and headed for the stairs. Instantly, she saw what the commotion was about. Her twin brothers ran out of separate rooms, their swords dripping with blood. The vampires must have relayed their trouble to Dimitri through mental telepathy.
Her brothers excelled at infiltrating vampire parties. She’d walked through the front door, but they’d undoubtedly sneaked in some other way. Relief washed over her to see them there, but in the next second, concern.
Her blond-haired and bearded brother, Boniface, noticed her first and scowled. “What the hell are you doing here?” He didn’t wait for a response as two vampires charged up the stairs at them.
His identical twin, Victor, tackled the one while Boniface handled the other. With their strength and skill, the brothers swung their swords and severed the weaker, newly turned vampires’ heads from their bodies.
Crystal twisted around to find a female behind her, hideously hissing at her, blood-soaked teeth bared. The vampire reached her hand out with lightning speed and grabbed Crystal by the neck. Crystal seized the woman’s wrist trying to keep the pressure off her throat, then jammed her knife into the creature’s heart, ending its reign of terror.
Boniface grabbed Crystal’s arm. “Get out of here, now!”
She glared at him. They’d given her up for dead. No way would any of her family order her about. Not ever again.
