Huntress Rescued Read online

  My heart started to race when I realized he knew exactly who I was—not just a huntress, but a huntress from one of the oldest lines on the planet. Even so, I didn’t bother denying it. His expression told me it would’ve been futile.

  Rumor had it that older vampires could see into the minds of the people whose blood they drank. If I claimed I wasn’t a Julii, it would just make me look stupid and ridiculous.

  Popovic grinned at me, displaying the same sharp fangs he’d used to attack me earlier. “Oh, I knew you’d be an interesting one. Most hunters aren’t like you. They try so hard to hide their little tricks, but in the end, it always backfires on them. But you’re not hiding. I can appreciate that in a lady.”

  The mere thought that he appreciated something about me made me want to scream. “Is there a point to this conversation or are you just trying to intimidate me with your intimate knowledge of my supposed past?”

  “Oh, I’m not the type of person to use empty power plays,” Popovic replied. “I was merely pointing out a fact. Your people have been fighting us since the days of the Roman Empire. How does it feel like to be one of the many who’ve failed?”

  “I’m just one member of the family,” I answered. “When you’re a hunter, you’re always prepared for the possibility of failure and death. Our battle will continue even if you kill me.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it will. In fact, I’m counting on it. I find it almost as intriguing as you are. If nothing else, it’s a wonderful source of amusement.”

  “I wouldn’t describe our fight as amusing,” I answered, wondering if I could prolong this conversation enough to give my brother time to rescue me. I hated the idea of being the classical damsel in distress, but I’d happily discard my pride as long as I survived.

  “I’m afraid you’re wrong about that one,” Popovic said. “It is very funny. You see, I have no problems with the actual hunting. It’s in your right to try to stop us. But you have this tendency call us by these distasteful names.” He grimaced, as if genuinely offended by our insults. “Monster. Anomaly. Beast. It’s really quite offensive. We’re none of those things.”

  I remembered my sister’s body bag, the way Alan had brought her home in pieces he had refused to show me. I wanted to throttle him, or better yet, to tear him apart like his people had done to her. Instead, I fought back my temper and encouraged the conversation. “What are you then? What do you call yourselves, if not that?”

  “I am a vampyr, nothing more, nothing less. Yes, I feed on humans, but that is no different from humans feeding on cattle.

  “That’s the truth of it, Lady Julius, and that’s what makes our little conflict so funny. Humans don’t have a problem being abused or even killed. They’ve been abused by their own kind for generations. More humans have died to the genocide you yourselves committed than we could ever hope to kill. Your problem is the inability to accept that there can ever be a species stronger than you, that you’re not the top of the food chain any longer. It offends you and that’s why you jump through all these hoops to kill us, even if in reality, we’re not that different.”

  As much as I hated to admit it, he wasn’t completely wrong. We were predators, just like vampires, and that was what we’d always been. Certain extremists even called mankind a plague on the planet and paranormals the ‘cure’ to our continued existence. But to me, that didn’t really matter.

  “I couldn’t care less if you’re a monster, an animal, or a person,” I told him. “My job is to keep people safe from anyone and anything that might threaten them. You just happen to be the biggest threat.”

  Vladimir arched a brow at me. “So if I had been a human and had done the same things I did as a vampire, would you have hunted me down then too?” he asked.

  His skepticism grated on me almost as much as his presence. “Of course,” I answered. “It wouldn’t have been as easy as it is now, or as accepted by the government, but as far as I’m concerned, any kind of being who is a threat deserves to die.”

  A gleeful laugh escaped Vladimir’s lips. “How open-minded. An indiscriminate murderer. It looks like we lucked out when we found you.” He leaned in a little closer and brushed his lips over my cheek. “I am incredibly tempted to keep you for myself. I think you would make a wonderful addition to my coven.”

  “That wasn’t the deal, Popovic,” a different male voice intervened. “You made me a promise and I expect you to uphold it.”

  Popovic pulled away from me, turned toward the door and smirked. “Oh, have you changed your mind already, Mr. Rossi? I thought you said a huntress wasn’t appropriate for our little project.”

  A tall, dark-haired man walked into my line of sight. He was obviously the same person Popovic had been talking to while I’d been trying to convince my stupid undead guard to let me go and he was more intimidating that both undead put together. “I changed my mind. Your new find is most impressive.” He scanned me from head to toe with crimson eyes that seemed to see straight into my soul. “A perfect bride.”

  His voice was flat and level and his expressionless face reminded me of the training dummies we practiced our techniques on. Even so, something about his aura felt intensely bright and larger than life. Alarm bells started screaming at the back of my mind. Surely, my luck couldn’t be so rotten. Surely, I didn’t have to face a demon, as well as a coven of vampires, today.

  As if he could read my mind, Vladimir smiled and made the highly unpleasant introductions. “This is my friend Daimon Rossi and he asked me for a favor. Being an immortal can get pretty lonely, you see, and we need companions to cheer up our days. But demons can’t exactly sign up for Tinder, so they have to resort to some other methods to find appropriate life partners. I agreed to assist him.”

  Under different circumstances, I would have deemed it hilarious that a vampire even knew what Tinder was. Right now, I had more important things to worry about. There was a demon in the room with me and he was far too interested in me for my comfort.

  While my family now specialized in hunting undead, that hadn’t always been the case. In older times, before the main branch of the family had fallen apart, the Julii clan had focused a lot on demons. They’d taken a pretty bad blow after Pompeii, when a group of unidentified demons had managed to awaken the volcano, leading to the destruction of the city. Since then, the clan had decided on a more cautious approach on hunting paranormals, as the full extent of their abilities was never known.

  But it looked like we were doomed to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors, because I hadn’t expected my target to be the ally of a demon and I hadn’t come prepared for such a thing.

  Rossi smirked at me, having obviously noticed my silent panic. “I knew one of your ancestors. He absolutely despised me and my kind. He made it his life’s mission to track down every single demon and destroy us.”

  “I suppose that sort of thing happens a lot when you’re a genocidal maniac,” I said, marveling at the fact that I could provide a coherent answer. “Can you blame him?”

  “No, not really. In fact, I appreciated the effort. It gave me something to do. Terrorizing regular humans gets old after a while and the mortals from that time were so annoying.”

  “I know, right?” Popovic asked. “Always with the crosses and the holy water. You’d think they’d realize after the first few attempts that such nonsense doesn’t work on us, but they kept trying for some reason.”

  “Church propaganda killed more people than we ever did,” Rossi commented with a small chuckle. “But anyway, that is beside the point. I always knew there was something special about the Julii. It’s why I didn’t hunt you all down when I had the chance. I have to admit I had my doubts when Vladimir suggested you for a mate, but I should have trusted my instincts and his more. Yes, I think you’ll do wonderfully.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, to tell him I had no desire to be his mate, his bride, or anything else remotely resembling the concept. He clearly didn’t care about my opinion, because befor
e I could say anything at all, he crushed our mouths together in a kiss that redefined everything I’d thought I’d known.

  I hadn’t kissed a lot of people in my life. There had been some experimentation with other hunters, but sex and intimacy just hadn’t been a priority. To top it off, my mother had started making demands of me after Eliza’s death—demands that I take up our secondary duty, to solidify and ensure the continuity of the Julius line. I’d always suspected it had more to do with her desire to protect me than the need for more children, but I’d adamantly refused all her suggestions anyway.

  At that moment, I wished I’d been less proud and career-oriented. I wished I’d taken Pauline up on her offer and had some kind of sex before today. It might have prepared me more for this experience. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have helped since a demon’s kiss was as different from a human’s as night was from day.

  When Daimon’s unique flavor exploded on my taste buds, I felt lost. It was both disgusting and the best thing I’d ever experienced in my life. His tongue slid into my mouth like a slithering snake, and I could’ve sworn that it lengthened and split, managing to explore parts of me it shouldn’t have touched. My lips tingled under the intensity of his assault, and demonic fire traveled all throughout my body, making my nipples stiffen and my pussy wet.

  His voice echoed in my head, no longer emotionless, but rather, full of determination, strength and possessiveness. “That’s it, my beautiful one. Surrender to me. Come to me. You’re mine, my own. We will be together forever.”

  The words tugged at my core and my consciousness like a physical thing, and a strange haze started to settle on my mind. Together forever. That didn’t sound so bad. Granted, I couldn’t let Daimon Rossi win so easily. He needed to fight a little more if he truly wanted my surrender. But so far, his endeavor showed promise.

  Wait, what? Promise? No! I didn’t want this. He was a demon and I was a huntress. He was forcing me into an anomalous, parasitic connection that went against my very sense of self. He had been my family’s enemy for as long as our line had existed and he would continue to hunt, kill, and defile everything I’d ever known and loved.

  I hated my body’s treacherous response. I hated that he was making me enjoy something I didn’t want. I hated this and hated him with all my might.

  Even if he intended to make me his mate and his bride, I would not go down so easily.

  I started to struggle in my bindings, straining against the cuffs in my desperation to escape. My defiance displeased Rossi, but he showed no sign of wanting to break our kiss. Instead, he climbed onto the bed and straddled me, physically holding me down while he ravaged and consumed me.

  I bit his lower lip and promptly regretted it when the sharp, spicy taste of his blood filled my mouth. He chuckled and my protests began to grow a little more feeble. An alarming lassitude descended over me, and I suddenly had trouble moving my limbs.

  A cool hand landed on my cheek and for some reason, I opened my eyes. My gaze met Vladimir’s and he smiled down at me. “It’s all right now, little huntress. Some things are just meant to be. Let go of the pain. Don’t fight it.”

  The words weren’t meant to reassure me. They were an enchantment, a command, and Vladimir’s eyes began to glow once again as he uttered them. I tried to look away, but my muscles wouldn’t listen, and I was still trapped underneath Rossi.

  Tears started flowing down my cheeks and, as much as I hated the display of weakness, I couldn’t stop them. My vision became blurry, but it didn’t help me. It didn’t lift the thrall Vladimir had managed to cast on me, nor did it remove the effects of Rossi’s demonic kiss.

  “That’s it,” Rossi purred in my head. “Let go. You’re mine, lovely. Do not fear me. I will be your master, your lover, and your protector. I will be whatever you need me to be, and in return, you will be my beautiful pet, my companion, my bride.”

  A distant voice at the back of my consciousness was still screaming, desperately trying to refuse this, to resist him. But that voice was barely audible now and his power was coaxing something different to the surface. It was a desire I’d never been aware of, the desire to belong and surrender, the desire to be one with a person who fully understood and accepted me.

  Memories of my family flashed through my mind’s eye, the way we had been before our work had torn our lives apart. I could see myself hiding behind a tree as my father taught my sister and my brother how to shoot a gun. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but he’d caught a glimpse of me, and for my following birthday, he’d given me a dagger. It had been small—nothing I could actually use to fight vampires—but I’d treasured it.

  He’d died one year after that. It hadn’t even been because of paranormals. All the cigarettes he’d smoked throughout his life had finally gotten to him, and it turned out that even talented hunters could succumb to cancer. I’d held his hand when he’d been on his death bed and I could still remember his last words.

  “Don’t be afraid, Genny. You are one of the Julii. You should never be afraid, especially not of death.”

  “All right, Daddy,” I’d told him, half-numb with the knowledge of what was going on. “I understand.”

  “Death comes to all things,” he’d added with a smile. “It’s our job and our duty as hunters to face it, the same way we face everything else. For the pride and dignity of our forefathers. For the survival and happiness of our descendants. We will… fight on, until our last breath. That is the code of the hunter.”

  I couldn’t fight on any longer. The last remnants of my strength were already fading away. I sent a mental apology to my brother and my mother, wishing I could’ve stayed with them, by their side, a little while longer. I prayed my father would forgive me for not having a more dignified end. And as I drifted into darkness, I let myself hope that my family would live on and I would be avenged.

  Chapter Three

  The subspecies Homo sapiens canis is thought to be the most numerous paranormal being on Earth. Including a variety of minor subspecies, such as Homo sapiens lupus and Homo sapiens vulpes, it is one of the few known subspecies to be present on all continents. No official census exists, but studies suggest that the numbers of the Homo Sapiens Lupus—also known as werewolves or lycanthropes—may very well reach millions.

  Some scientists argue against the accuracy of this classification and claim that werewolves are merely the most social of paranormal creatures and more prone to interact with regular humans than members of other subspecies. The claim has never been questioned or verified by any official source. (…)

  Most aspects of werewolf culture are unclear, as they have shown a tendency to adapt to human customs without revealing too much of their own. They are known to live in larger familial groups, called unions. The term ‘pack’, originally used in reference to these units, was recently deemed obsolete, as it created a far too close connection between werewolves and their animal equivalents. The validity of the change remains in question, as werewolves seem to use the two terms interchangeably. (…)

  Werewolves are also known to engage in polygamy. Unlike their animal equivalents, this is not a manifestation of promiscuity or of a male’s desire to claim as many females as possible. On the contrary, while it is not unusual for a young werewolf to engage in sexual relations with a variety of people, once they commit to a relationship, they are faithful and never falter. This is due to the process of ‘soul bonding’, the ability of a werewolf—or other members of similar subspecies—to find their mate. Due to the closeness of each werewolf union, it is not unusual for more than one werewolf to have the same mate.

  Despite the sexual compatibility between various subspecies of the Homo sapiens genus, paranormal beings do not mate outside their own kind.

  - Homo sapiens canis, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia -

  * * *

  Xander

  “I understand your situation, Lead Hunter Lee, but you must also understand mine. The undead have managed to build a b
ase right on the edge of my territory. I can’t just sit on my hands and allow you to handle it as you see fit.”

  “We are trained for this, Alpha Brooks. I assure you we are perfectly capable of removing this threat ourselves.”

  I gritted my teeth, tightening my hold on my communicator so much the metal started to crack. In front of me, Byron shot me a concerned, dark look. “Do you want me to speak to him?” he mouthed.

  I shook my head. No matter how much I would’ve liked to let my Beta deal with the irritating humans, I was the leader of the pack and this was my job and my responsibility. I might not be the most tactful person in the world, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from doing the best thing for my union.

  I also suspected that Lead Hunter Alan Lee was fully aware that he needed us for this operation. He was less condescending and a little more professional than other humans I’d been forced to work with, and while his dislike of paranormals still showed, I’d heard he was competent. That could only mean one thing. This was a power play to get me to acquiesce to his demands and agree to let him call the shots during the fight against the undead.

  That wasn’t going to happen.

  “Mr. Lee,” I said, letting my voice drop into a near-growl, “I urge you to not insult my intelligence. You might not think too much of me and my people, but I’m well aware of how hunter units function. I also know who you’re hunting now and that you have no desire to get your people killed because of pride. You and I both know that we will work together on this one. Now, we can either do this the easy way, where you’ll stop playing games with me and we’ll both respect one another as leaders of our individual groups, or the hard way, in which I will take my union, ignore you, and barrel in there with no regard to collateral damage on your side. It’s your choice.”