by Terry Spear
The scratching began at the bathroom window. “Sounds like they want your blood.”
“They can’t have it.”
“I know. As a huntress, your blood would poison them. What I don’t know is why Nicolai wants you if you’re a huntress.”
“He’s crazy.”
“He’s got to have a reason, Crystal. He didn’t live as long as he has without having a reason for the things he does.”
“You’re not a vampire, are you?”
He wrapped her wounds carefully, his gentle touch sending a trickle of heat through her veins. “Hardly.”
“You can’t be a hunter.”
His gaze met hers. “Why not?”
“You don’t slay them, just attend their bloodsucking parties.”
He snorted. “Who says so? At Dimitri’s house, I killed two in a bedroom.”
Crystal’s knees weakened. He grabbed her arm to steady her. Her brothers hadn’t killed the other vampires. Robert had. “Why were you following me then?”
“I hoped you’d lead me to a cousin of theirs.”
“Who has done what to you?”
“Killed my sister, Catherine.”
“I’m sorry,” she said with feeling, but added, “We don’t kill for revenge, Robert. It’s the first oath. If we do that, we put ourselves in jeopardy.”
He touched her cheek. The electricity flowed between them. “I wondered why you had such an effect on me. Only a vampire, or a female, who has the hunting gene, could make me feel this way. But our people don’t believe in allowing our women to hunt.”
She stared at him incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding. Why wouldn’t they?”
“They have to provide the next offspring to fight the vampires. We keep our women well protected, normally. There are too few of us as it is. But my only sister, Catherine, wanted to hunt. She was killed because of it. No other females in our line will hunt. We can’t afford to lose our women.”
He led her back to the bed. “Eat, before your meal gets cold.”
“Your people sound archaic.”
“Look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself in. Why don’t you have a family to back you? I never considered you were a huntress because you have no family to turn to. Hunters don’t hunt alone.”
“You do.”
“That’s different. My family doesn’t approve, but since I insisted, they allowed me to trail Yorovitch and take him on my own. It isn’t normally done.”
She took a seat on the bed. He’d turn her out like everyone else did who considered her an outcast if he knew the whole story.
“Did Nicolai and his bunch kill your family?”
When she wouldn’t say, he nodded. “Do you need anything else to eat?”
“No, thanks, Robert.”
“I’ll be right back with my food.”
Somehow, she had to avoid the subject of her family. Once it was daylight, she had to find Nicolai and his minions. Destroying them was her only salvation, although doing so during the day wasn’t usually done. Vampires deprived of their sleep often were more deadly adversaries.
Crystal slipped her fork into the white sauce covered noodles, but after eating two mouthfuls, she wondered what was keeping Robert so long.
She set her plate on the tray. With a cautious step, she headed for the kitchen.
Robert’s voice came from his office. “Yeah, I was wrong. She’s a huntress.”
He tapped a pen on the desk. “Listen, can you look her up in the database?”
Damn. If he searched for her in the database, it would show the local hunters considered her a traitor.
She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.
“She’s…I see.” His chair squeaked as he twisted it. “So how should I handle it?” The chair squeaked again as he moved in it. “She’s not turned. Hunters can’t be turned. What do you mean she’s red flagged?”
Red flagged? She’d never heard of that before.
“One in 10,000 have the special gene. Damn. Now what?”
He let out his breath in exasperation. “I don’t kill hunters. I kill vampires and their blood bonds when they interfere.”
He opened a drawer, then closed it. “No, I said she’s not turned. So what does it mean exactly?”
Silence. She swallowed nervously. What did she have that others didn’t?
“Damn. All right. So she’s dangerous. I already knew that.” He opened another drawer. “Both Nicolai and Dimitri are after her. Now I see why.” He closed the drawer. “Of course I’ve already touched her.” Brief silence followed. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself…and her.”
She stepped into the doorway.
He looked over at her. “Gotta go.” He hung up the phone. “Didn’t you like your meal?”
She folded her arms. “What have I got that most hunters don’t?”
“You’ve never been told?” He shook his head and rose from his chair.
She stepped back, fear tingling in her bones. Did Robert plan to kill her?
He took a ragged breath. “I suppose not. No sense in worrying you about it. Some folks think if someone’s left handed they can concentrate on using their right and retrain themselves. But you can’t change what you’re born with.”
“What was I born with, Robert?” Her heart beat harder, the blood pounding in her ears. She knew she was different from the others, but not why.
“A special gene.” He took a step toward her.
“What are you supposed to do to me?”
“Feed you. Come on. I’ll get my dinner, and we can watch a movie.”
“What gene do I have, Robert?”
He frowned at her. “It’s very rare.”
“I heard that part.”
“Your blood can mix with a vampire’s. It won’t turn you, but it means your abilities can be transferred to a child they have with you. So the child would have both the powers of the vampire and the hunter. Maybe even have the ability to be a daylight vampire as you called me earlier. No one really knows.”
Crystal held the wall to keep her balance. “If they bite me, it won’t kill either of us?”
“No.”
She took a ragged breath. “Both Nicolai and Dimitri think it will.”
“Good, don’t let them know otherwise.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“I don’t kill hunters.” He strode down the hall to the kitchen.
She hesitated, her mind still trying to take in the notion she differed from most of the rest of her kind. No longer was she a huntress with a heart, but some kind of an abomination.
She ran to catch up to Robert. “Nicolai must know he can have a child by me then.”
“Yes, unfortunately. Somehow he’s discovered that you not wanting to kill is linked to your being different in other ways. I’m not certain they know it’s due to a gene mutation though.”
She wrinkled her brow at him. How much did Nicolai know? And how many others were aware of it?
“It’s like internally you can’t distinguish between the vampires and hunters. The vampires and your own people seem like one and the same. Killing the vampires causes you great heartache. That’s why your family has turned you out. Your actions, or lack thereof, put them at risk.”
Using a ladle, he served up his noodles and sauce, then walked with her back to the bedroom.
Her family must have known. Why hadn’t they told her? Prepared her for what might become of her?
Her stomach churned with anger. She couldn’t help what she was. They could have warned her. Or were they too ashamed of her?
She swallowed hard. The past hurt didn’t help her now. Preparing for the next eventuality was the only thing that mattered. “What happens now?”
21
Robert sat on the bed as Crystal plunked herself on the other side. His emotions fluctuated between wanting to preserve his confirmed bachelorhood and taking the challenge on that he knew Crystal Anderson would be, if
he treaded that dangerous path. He was torn. How could he let her fend for herself all alone? She couldn’t help what she was. But no way did he want to get mixed up in a mess like this.
She sucked on the white sauce covered fork, and his interest was stirred up in her all over again.
Yet, killing vampires was in his blood. Just like it was in his sister’s. Understanding a huntress like Crystal who had qualms about it, didn’t seem possible. He had no intention of getting entangled with a woman like her.
“For now, you’ll stay at my place. You need a safe home to live.” He poked his fork at his noodles, then glanced at her. “As soon as I kill Yorovitch, I’ll be returning to Oklahoma. And you…well, you’ll need to move somewhere else…somewhere nobody knows about you. It’ll be the only way for you to remain safe.”
“I’m not leaving Killeen, Robert. I have a job to do. I’ll transfer to another post when the Army sends me. Otherwise, I’m here for the duration.”
Her stubbornness irritated him. He’d assumed if she left the area, she could remain safe. Certainly, he wanted that for her. “That’ll mean a lot of vampires to kill. And frankly, I don’t think you’re capable of it.” Somehow, he had to dissuade her from her foolish slant on the situation.
“I’ll have to do what I can. I’ve asked Nicolai to leave me alone, but he’s determined to act otherwise.”
Her obstinacy reminded him of his sister. But the notion gnawed at Robert that her family had left her out in the cold without their protection. Despite his family’s reluctance to allow Catherine to hunt, they all watched her back, although not well enough.
Crystal was even more petite than his sister. And although she’d be stronger than human hosts and weaker vampires, she wouldn’t be as strong as Nicolai or Dimitri. It was unconscionable that her family had left her alone in the world to fend for herself. He stiffened his back. Hunters were family-oriented. He couldn’t imagine how it must have felt to her upon being stripped of that closeness. He combed his fingers through his still damp hair.
Another thought came to mind, creating a whole new worry. “Nicolai most likely believes he could start a new race of vampires, stronger than before.” He paused to see what effect the news had on Crystal, not wishing to upset her. At the same time, he wanted to stress the importance of the matter to her.
Her expression remained noncommittal as if she was taking the whole idea in stride.
The next bit of news he broached with apprehension. “From what my brother, Thomas, says, most of the vampire huntresses who have your gene, die early in their hunting career. They hesitate to slay the vampires, which get the hunters slaughtered.” Despite not knowing her well enough to be concerned, he couldn’t help the dread bunching up in his gut.
Again, she seemed unaffected by his sentiments. What was going on in that pretty head of hers? “Thomas said you haven’t hunted for some time, which is probably the reason you haven’t been—”
“I hadn’t killed in four years. Not until recently anyway.”
“That’s probably the only reason you’re alive today then.”
Crystal finished her meal, not commenting on his words, then set the tray on the table. Couldn’t she understand how futile it was for her to remain in the area? She’d get herself in a worse predicament—either killed when she attempted to eliminate the vampires, or taken by the head of their family to provide his offspring.
She pulled the rest of the pins from her hair. Sweeping her fingers through the waves, she mesmerized him. He couldn’t help but fantasize about running his own fingers through her curls. His hands fisted, fighting the urge. Resistance to her allure…that’s what he had to keep in mind.
Robert turned away and looked at the television, but all he could imagine was sleeping with the huntress who stirred his loins. Her warm naked skin next to his. Her soft curves leaning against his hard—and getting harder—body. To think his brother suggested Robert terminate her.
He took a sip of his wine. He wanted to ravish her, not snuff out her life.
Was that her unusual gene’s fault? Did it make her more attractive to him, like it had fascinated Nicolai and Dimitri? In his brother’s words, she sparkled like a fishing lure dangling in the water. If he took a bite, she’d catch him, and there was no way of getting off the hook. It was more than animal magnetism, his brother warned. Any who could be her perfect mate were drawn to her like a powerful magnet attracted its kind.
Robert cleared his throat as he considered the alluring huntress. How many had desired her like that? “So, I imagine you’ve had a lot of male companions.”
“You know how hard it is too have a relationship with someone who might be targeted by a vampire so they can get to the hunter.”
He stared at her for a moment, not believing she could have been celibate or alone all these years as appealing as she was. And certainly not, if Thomas’s words rang true. “You must have dated someone.”
She plumped up her pillow, then lay against it. “Briefly, a couple of years ago.”
“And he let you go?” His voice arched, incredulous.
“Army transfer.”
When he tilted his head to the side in disbelief, she looked down at the comforter and ran her fingers over the velvet material. “He found another woman he liked better. His loss though.” She gave kind of a half-smile.
The man must not have been the perfect mate then, or he’d never have left her. “He wasn’t a hunter?”
She shook her head.
That most likely was the reason. Vampires and hunters were the only ones for her. “And Nicolai?”
She turned her attention from the television and glared at Robert.
“I mean, when did he get interested in you?”
“About a month ago.”
“Why hasn’t he turned you yet?” He reached over and touched her cheek with a tender caress. She flinched. No matter how tough she tried to act, he felt it was all a performance. She was vulnerable and needy, just what he didn’t need in his life right now.
“He can’t turn us.” Her voice sounded razor sharp. Talking about Nicolai definitely triggered feelings of hostility.
Still, he sensed she wanted more than anything to convince Nicolai to leave her be, rather than kill him. “I’m not so sure about that. What makes you so certain he can’t turn you? You seem to have less of an aversion to the vampires than normal hunters have.”
“So now I’m a vampire lover?” Her voice had elevated several notches.
He wasn’t making any points with her. “In a way. You try to convince them not to bother you, rather than seem to have a desire to get rid of the ones who wish to turn you.”
She grunted.
He studied her stormy face. Her blue eyes had turned into ice shards, her full pink lips pursed, and her cheeks looked like they’d been iced down as red as they were. Still, he had to ask the question he was dying to know the answer to. “When he touched you, for instance, what happened?”
Crystal scowled at Robert.
His brows rose. “So you liked the way he touched you.”
Her mouth dropped open. He visualized if she’d been turned, she’d extend glistening white fangs at him about now. She paused before answering. Then she took a deep breath as if she were attempting to calm her upset.
“He nauseates me.” Her words dripped with poison.
“And me?”
She folded her arms, tightened her lips, and stared at the television.
He chuckled inwardly. He knew she was attracted to him. Only the knowledge she found vampires attractive, too, curdled his wine.
Silence ensued for several minutes. He tried to ignore the long-legged huntress next to him, but couldn’t get his mind off her. The way her floral scent drifted to him and that body of hers willed him to tackle her…
He chanced another look at her.
She turned to glower at him. “Well, what about you, Robert?”
He smiled. “What about me?”
&n
bsp; “I’ve told you about me. Who’s Susan?”
A woman who got straight to the point. He laughed. “Ah, Susan.” Was Crystal jealous? He noted a bit of envy in her voice. “She’s a captain. Just wants my body is all.”
Crystal’s cheeks grew flushed. “Oh.”
He laughed again. Then he grew serious. “I can’t have a relationship with any woman. Not with the kind of work I do.”
“I guess it’s good that all of our kind don’t feel the way we do or there wouldn’t be any of us left to fight vampires.”
“Suppose so.” He grabbed his tray. “I’ll get a refill for our wine glasses.”
She lifted her tray and followed him down the hall.
He glanced back at her. “I think it best if you stay here with me for the time being.”
She twisted her mouth, then nodded. “All right.”
“Guess we’ll have to run by your place and get your clothes tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to work this weekend?”
“Well, there’s work and there’s work.” He stuck their dishes in the dishwasher.
“True. So what’s Nicolai’s cousin’s name?”
22
“Yorovitch killed my sister in Oklahoma City last month. The whole community became pretty incensed over it.” Robert leaned against his island counter. The pain still clutched at his heart. “He fled down here to avoid being killed as every hunter in the area targeted him. I finagled a special temporary duty assignment from Fort Sill to Fort Hood as I’d tracked him to Dimitri’s house. But he wasn’t there when I arrived.” His voice took on the determination of a man who wouldn’t be dissuaded. “I’ll get him soon.”
“How did you get in without them being aware you weren’t part of the vampire’s family?”
“Followed two men, who looked like twin brothers, through an upper floor window.”
“Boniface and Victor.”
He raised his brows.
“My twin brothers.”
“Oh.”
“You walked out through the front door though. I thought you’d been invited.”
“No. I’ve done it often enough. If you’re already in the house, they don’t seem to think anything of it if you walk out through the front door.” He grabbed the bottle of wine and motioned toward the bedroom.
