by Kelly Hall
“I’m now so glad I did. Katie and I didn’t really become close until we fought the vampires together. She was so fearless that day, and I know Mace can attest that we wouldn’t have made it without her. There’s no one I would’ve rather had with me that day than her. We were painting each other’s nails just before that went down, and I remember thinking to myself that she was the closest female friend I had. It was the first time I had ever really thought about having a sister. And I guess we were in a sense. We are both huntresses made from the same blood. I’m glad I had the chance to know her. I only wish I’d have done it sooner.” She looked up toward the ceiling and took a deep breath. “I love you, Katie. Thank you for being my sister.” Her voice broke on her final word, and as she stepped down, Canter stood and walked over to help her. The two hugged for the longest time, and then Canter pulled away and wiped his eyes.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “For everything.”
She gave him a smile and went to sit with Jarreth, who wiped his tears on the back of his hand and then his pants.
Delilah reached into her pocket and passed him a tissue. She kept one for herself and wiped her eyes.
Rebekah felt as if she should say something too, but she wasn’t sure Canter would want her to. Before she could give it a second thought, Father Timms stepped back up to the podium.
“That was lovely, Delilah.” Timms gave a nod to the men from Dublin, and the taller one stepped forward and took Katie’s sword from where it lay next to her. He then handed it to Canter and gave a bow, giving the Hunter’s salute with their fists over their heart, the way honorable hunters did.
Canter hugged the weapon and looked down at Katie’s pale face. It was time for him to say goodbye. He would never be able to look into her eyes again or look upon her face at all after this. He walked over, and after leaning down to take one last look, memorizing every detail that he’d never forget, he kissed her lips and then backed away.
He gave a nod to the men who would take her to her family. He turned around to address the others. “Thank you so much for being here with me in this time. I can’t tell you how much each one of you meant to her and me as well. You’re our family. I’m going to miss her like crazy, but I’ll be fine. She’d want me to be.”
Jarreth waited for him to make mention of leaving, but he didn’t. Instead, Canter looked over at him. “Could you help me, brother?”
Jarreth nodded. He sucked back his tears with a deep breath and then stepped forward. The men took one end of the shallow box’s handles, and Canter and Jarreth took the end near her head. Together, they walked her slowly out of the small church and down to the waiting SUV where they found a beautiful velvet sheet had been rolled back. They placed her there for transport, and when they rolled the velvet in place, it bore the Huntress star.
Somehow, seeing the symbol gave Canter comfort. He kissed her forehead and then covered her face. “Until we meet again, my love.” He whispered the words close to her ear as if she could still hear.
Jarreth looked up, expecting Canter to break, but in his eyes, all he saw was a look of determination. He stepped away, and before the men from Dublin could close the door, Canter was headed back inside the castle.
Jarreth turned around and found Delilah wiping tears, and Rebekah had her by the hand. Beside them stood Lulu and Mace, and Sister Frankie and Father Timms were standing closer to the cathedral doors. No one went after him. Jarreth figured it was all he could do to get done with the ceremony.
“There will be food served in the dining hall immediately,” announced Lulu before she wiped her eyes on her apron and walked away.
Delilah watched as the men drove out of the courtyard, and Jarreth walked over to put his arm around her. “That was sweet, what you said.” She hadn’t told him she was going to say anything.
“It was true. I should have given her a chance long before I did.” She let out a long sigh. “All of that time hating each other, competing against one another when we didn’t even know each other, was just a huge waste of time we didn’t have.” She had allowed her own pride to make her miss out. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat.”
Jarreth looked over at Rebekah, who had a faraway look in her eyes. “Are you okay, Rebekah?”
Rebekah snapped out of her daze and looked up at him. “I’m going to be fine.” She wasn’t about to tell them that she was missing Ignis still or that she hated being the leader at times like these.
Ignis had always been her rock in these situations, and with him not around, she wasn’t sure how to keep her emotions reined in.
She fell into step with the others, and in the dining room, she looked for Canter, who wasn’t there. She had to make one last effort to get him to stay. She hurried past Jarreth and Delilah and ran up the stairs, but when she got to his room, he was already gone.
Across the castle, Canter went into the east tower, made his way down into the basement, and contemplated going into the tunnels. He needed to think and could think of no other place to be alone. He was almost right.
As he opened the tunnel access door, a sudden movement from his left sent him reaching for his knife, which wasn’t there. In its place was Katie’s sword.
Before he could unsheathe it, a soft purr filled his ears, and he realized it was the cat from the library. “Hey, you. You should have done better scaring me. I might have dropped dead with fear, and let’s face it. That wouldn’t be a terrible thing right now.” He went over to a stack of boxes in the basement and sat down to welcome the cat into his lap.
“You’re not going to ask me how I’m doing, are you?” He waited a moment while the cat rubbed its cheek against his hand as if begging for attention. “You won’t? Thanks. I know they all mean well, but what’s there to really say? Nothing is going to bring her back to me.” He took a deep breath, trying to hold it together.
“I’m just so angry that I brought her to that fucking tower to begin with. It was the world’s dumbest place for a proposal, you know?” He got a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the moment she said yes. “Okay, so maybe it was a bit romantic. She said yes.” He smiled. His lips quickly turned downward into a frown. “She said yes.”
The cat stilled in his arms under the movement of his hand and began to purr. Canter sat there and had a good cry, something he hadn’t let the others see him do. At least, not to that degree. A few minutes later, he wiped his eyes, still holding the cat, who had made itself comfortable against him. “How would you like to go with me?”
The cat responded with a hearty meow.
Chapter 4
“I don’t know why she wanted us to search every inch of the castle,” Jarreth said. “Canter said he was leaving after the service and he did.” Even Jarreth had to agree that his departure was a quick one. “I already checked his room, and his pack is gone, with all of his supplies and Katie’s gladius.”
“We are checking to make sure he’s not camping out somewhere in the castle.”
“Yeah, I think he might have hung himself from the rafters. I’d have to say, it’s all clear down here.” He looked at the dingy basement of the east tower. “Look at this place. It’s a mess. He wouldn’t stay here without cleaning up.”
Delilah shined her flashlight around the room. “Look, it’s the tunnel entrance. Do you think he could be in there?”
“Nah, we know the tunnels lead to the south tower, or what’s left of it, and I doubt he’d go there. It’s probably all caved in anyway.”
She turned and shined the light on the boxes out of curiosity. “Hey, look at this. He must have sat here and thought about it.”
Jarreth walked over and shined his light on the box, which looked as if Canter had left the print of his ass behind. “It has to be him, right? There wouldn’t be anyone else lurking in the basement here.”
Delilah spotted something else and shined the light. “Is that?”
“Cat prints.” Jarreth shook his head. “It’s probably the old str
ay I’ve seen around. Maybe he took it with him? I guess we should be glad he’s not alone.”
“Maybe we should see if we could find the cat?”
“For what?” asked Jarreth, looking at her like she was nuts. “Do you want to ask it if it has seen him? I’m pretty sure the cat isn’t going to give him up.”
“Even if we did find him, he wouldn’t come back. I say we go back and tell Rebekah we’ve looked everywhere.”
Jarreth had other things in mind. “I don’t think we should be in too big of a hurry to get back.”
Delilah growled. “What else have we got to do? I, for one, could be in the kitchen eating cookies. Lulu made way too many.”
“I’m worried about us. Here we are, alone together, and you would rather be eating cookies than getting close to me.” He stepped closer and put his hands on her waist. “There was a time we liked old storage rooms like this one.”
He leaned in and captured her lips in a long kiss. Delilah melted against him as his hand moved to cup her breast.
“Not here,” she said, pulling away. “This storage room is a little dank and full of dust. And I didn’t think you’d be in the mood for this.”
“I know. I guess I’m a dog, but all of this makes me think of losing you, and that makes me want to be extra close to you.”
“I know. I feel the same. I just didn’t want to be selfish at a time like this. I can’t help but think of Canter and how he’s lost the person he loves most.”
“I know. If you don’t want to, I understand.” He backed away.
Delilah moved forward and went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Maybe we should go upstairs to our big, comfortable bed and talk about it some more.” She gave him a sly look, and he smiled big.
“I like that. Let’s go.” He gestured for her to take the lead out of there, and she took his hand, and they walked back to the north tower where Rebekah was waiting in the living room.
“Oh, there you are. Did you find any sign of him? Has he really gone?”
“Yeah, it looks like he’s gone. Sorry, but Canter is a man of his word. If he says he’s leaving, he’s leaving. It looks like he stopped in the tunnels, though. I’m not sure why.”
“There is a tunnel that leads to the outside wall. It was for the guards. He may have seen it when he was down there before.”
“What did you send him down there for?” asked Delilah.
Rebekah knew there was no use in keeping secrets. “I had him on a special assignment to search through Ignis’s private library of journals. He was tasked to find something about the stigmata if he could, and anything else that I might need to know.”
“He was your spy? On Ignis?” Jarreth narrowed his eyes. “Damn. So Ignis knew you didn’t trust him?”
“Yeah,” said Rebekah. “I know this is all my fault. Ignis was angry with me and Canter, and he took out Katie to pay us back. Well, that, and there were other issues.” She closed her eyes. “I just hate the way it’s all turned out. I’m scared he’ll do something foolish.”
“Like hunt down Ignis alone? You already know that’s his intention.” Jarreth could tell by the look on her face that the words didn’t sit right with her.
“He said he wasn’t going after him now, that he’d give me time. I had hoped he’d come to his senses before he tried it. I told him the weight of what that would mean.”
“What do you mean ‘the weight’? The consequences?” Jarreth didn’t quite understand, but he didn’t like the sound of it.
Delilah didn’t either. “Wait, are you saying that you’d punish Canter for going after Ignis when you know what he did?”
“I’m saying that if Canter kills Ignis, that’s the end of our kind for good. Ignis is the one who created the spell to create the hunters.”
Jarreth’s shoulders fell. “Are you saying that the fate of the hunters has been in the hands of Ignis this entire time?”
“It hasn’t ever been a problem. Ignis created the spell that created me, so it’s not like I had a choice.”
“I guess we all just assumed it was solely your doing. That we were infused with your blood that changed us.”
“Yes, but Ignis has the spell that activated the daggers. If Canter is threatening to kill him, then we’ve got no choice but to protect the hunters.”
“Wait, what?” Jarreth asked. “Are you saying I have to go and hunt my best friend? What the fuck? I can’t do that?”
“I’m saying we have to make sure that Canter doesn’t go off and do something stupid.” Rebekah sighed. “He told me he would give me time.”
“What if he finds him before you can figure something out?” Jarreth couldn’t imagine a world without hunters. The enemy would have full reign over the earth.
Delilah gave him a sideward look. “Then I’d say in about eighty years when we’re all too old to fight, the world will be a really shitty place to live.”
“He’ll come to his senses. But I think in light of everything we’re facing, it’s time I call and get us some backup. I’m going to ask for help from the nearest hunt. They could stay in the east tower. I had thought about it already and wish I’d had them come, but I didn’t act fast enough.”
“Should I go after Canter?” Jarreth asked.
Delilah cleared her throat. “Should we, you mean?”
“No, I don’t want you out there looking for him and finding the stigmata.”
“But you didn’t care if Canter went out there alone? What if he finds Grady and the stigmata before they find us? That’s going to be too much for him to handle. I’m not burying another friend, especially Canter.”
“I need you to at least wait until I can organize the team and figure this out. I’m not sure I shouldn’t leave you in charge here so I can go.”
“We’re wasting precious time while you decide,” Jarreth said.
“You would do well to remember that I am in charge. I am not making decisions in haste, and neither are you.”
“But—”
“No buts! I have spoken. I will not lose another hunter, Jarreth. Especially you and Delilah.” She stormed away.
“This is bullshit.” He slammed his fist into the wall beside him, and thankfully, it was made of sheetrock and not stone, but unfortunately, it went right through it.
“Shit,” said Delilah. “Let’s get upstairs so we can figure this out. You need to calm down before you destroy her entire house.”
Jarreth pulled his hand from the hole and dusted off the white powder left behind. “We have to go after him, Del.” Jarreth had a crazed look in his eyes, and Delilah knew only one way to calm him down.
She got up on her tiptoes and put her arms around him. “Hey, I know it’s bad, but this is Canter. He’s smart. He wouldn’t do something that could kill the entire future of the hunters.” Jarreth opened his mouth to speak, and she kissed him.
Jarreth sagged against her, throwing her a bit off balance before he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close.
Down the hall, Rebekah ran into Mace. The girl had been quiet since hearing what Ignis had done. “I was just wondering—”
“I don’t know why Ignis did it, Mace.” She had been waiting for the woman to come and ask her about their mutual friend, but she didn’t have time for it.
“No, actually, I was going to ask about Liam. Have you heard if the transition took? Was Kayne able to help him?”
Rebekah breathed a sigh of relief but was still frustrated by all of the decisions she had to make. She simply had too much on her plate, and things were getting tense. “I haven’t. In order to do that and truly know he’s fine, I’d have to go to his place and see him for myself. I haven’t had the time.”
“Well, the funeral is over. I could go with you if you want. I miss the little guy. He kind of grew on me, and I had hoped that he’d want to see me.”
“When I go, I’ll find out, but Kayne would kill any human who walked into his house. You’d be a fair game blood bag.”
“Not in his territory, you couldn’t. He would take you so fast, there wouldn’t be time for me to react. Kayne is too powerful, and it’s too risky. I’ll go myself. When it’s the right time. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got my hands full. I’m bringing a group of hunters to help hold down the fort. With Grady and the stigmata coming, it makes sense.”
“I’m not convinced it hasn’t already been here.”
Rebekah felt an icy chill go down her spine. “Why would you say that?”
“I guess I just don’t think Ignis could do harm to Katie. We know him. He’s not like that.”
“I want to believe it too, but even if that wasn’t our Ignis and the stigmata has him, then he’s as good as dead. But you didn’t hear him. He had warned me, and I didn’t listen. He got angry and lashed out. I shouldn’t have pushed him by allowing Canter to snoop. That’s the whole cause of this. He has some dark secrets he’s not willing to share with me for whatever reason. I guess they were more sinister than I’d guessed.” She still could not believe she was talking this way about Ignis. “Look, Mace. It breaks my heart. It really does. But I have an entire race of hunters that I am trying to protect.”
“You put them before Ignis when he’s your oldest friend? And you wonder why I’ve never been interested in serving as one of your hunters.”
“I’m worried about Canter going after him! If he kills Ignis in revenge, then there won’t be any goddamned hunters or Ignis to posture over.”
Mace’s eyes grew wide. “Then I’m going after him!”
“No, you’ll get yourself killed!” She couldn’t let the woman go.
“You can’t make me stay. I don’t follow your fucking orders.” Mace turned and stormed down the hall to the basement, and Rebekah knew it was no use trying to stop her.
Dammit. I’m losing people left and right.
