Hunter Reborn (19 page)

On a muffled cry, Aiden shifted forms, his clothes and boots shredding before a pure white wolf stood next to her, breathing rapidly.
Sorry my wolf took over. Something about this place is off and it wanted to protect me. I feel in control now.
He looked up at her as he communicated and if it had been possible she'd have said there was surprise in those lupine eyes.

She frowned at him.
What?

You're glowing.

Larissa looked down at herself and realized that
all
of her skin was putting off that blue glow now. She shoved up the sleeves of her long T-shirt and stared at herself. Little tendrils of blue fire licked against her skin, but she wasn't burning. Neither were her clothes. Everything about this felt familiar, as if she'd done it before, but she simply couldn't remember. Her head ached as she struggled to grasp those elusive memories. She was about to try to tone it down when Aiden shook his head.

You're protecting yourself from Magda. If Angelo and Brianna see you, we'll deal with that later. But I trust them not to say anything.

She still wasn't sure
what
was going on with herself or why she was actually glowing, but she trusted Aiden.
Okay. Where to now?
she asked as she bent to retrieve his fallen cell phone. It was the only personal object he'd brought in with him. Before they left she'd be sure to gather his clothes as well.

He cocked his head to the side then turned toward a door on the other side of the big kitchen. From the house layout she'd looked at, she was pretty sure it went to the basement.

Inhaling, she caught the faintest hint of blood. And something else lingered in the air. Something putrid . . . like death. Or dark magic. It was coming from behind that door.

At a soft sound, like a footfall, they both turned. Brianna and Angelo—also in wolf form—stepped
cautiously into the kitchen. Brianna's eyes widened as she looked at Larissa, but she didn't say anything. Just pointed upstairs and mouthed
“All clear
.
”

Larissa pointed to the door and indicated they were going to find out what was on the other side. Brianna nodded and for the first time Larissa noticed the fae female's hand was glowing blue. Nothing like Larissa's own full-body thing, but a ball of energy like . . . something rested in Brianna's hands. Okay then. Looked like the fae could take care of herself.

Letting her claws on one hand extend, Larissa twisted the door handle with the other. It was hot to the touch, enough so that she was pretty sure she'd have been burned if she wasn't already a walking lighter.

Don't touch the handle. It's hot. I think it's spelled,
she told Aiden, who simply nodded
.
She turned back to Brianna and indicated the same thing to her before slowly easing it open to reveal a walled-in set of stairs that descended. A soft flickering glow emanated from the opening at the end. Candlelight.

Instead of using her natural speed, she crept down the steps carefully with Aiden right next to her, paying attention to potential physical traps. Larissa was sure the witch already knew they were there, but that didn't mean they could rush in like fools.

Next to her Aiden was impossibly silent. She'd always been fascinated by how quiet he was for such a huge wolf. It abruptly registered what she'd just thought.
She'd always been fascinated.
Random memories of him sneaking up on her in the woods as they'd played with each other raced through her mind, one after the other.

Played.

They'd had fun together. So much fun. Something she'd never had much of until Aiden. Her throat tightened but she locked all those memories down, putting a pin in them until later, when she could savor each and every one of them. Talk about the worst timing ever to get some of her memories back. She was filled with a sudden rush of rage at whoever had taken her memories from her.

Aiden nudged her with his nose before veering in front of her and covering the last few stairs.

Damn it, Aiden.

He ignored her as he slowly peered around the corner. The moment he did, a gunshot blasted through the silence. Fear choked her as Aiden reared back, making a rough growling sound.

A
iden jumped back from the open entryway, the wall behind him splintering as the bullet slammed into it.

Larissa's fangs descended, joining her already unsheathed claws. A volcano of rage erupted inside her that Aiden could have been injured. She knew he was old enough to possess the strength to withstand a hell of a lot of injuries, but that didn't matter. A head shot was still potentially lethal.

She shot a quick glance over her shoulder to find Angelo and Brianna tense on the stairs, Brianna's ball of energy hovering quietly in her hand.

“I've got this,” she growled before turning and jumping over Aiden.

Larissa, no!

She ignored him. Using her vampiric speed, she dove into the entry, avoiding a barrage of shots as she twisted midair before landing safely on her feet on a
cold stone floor. She didn't pause long though as she ducked down behind a giant barrel filled with—she didn't want to know.

In a matter of milliseconds she took in the room. A dead male lay on an altar surrounded by dozens of candles. His heart was missing from his chest. Another male was chained to a wall, welts covering most of his naked body as he slumped forward, unconscious. She could hear his faint breathing and heartbeat, so she knew he wasn't dead.

But all of Larissa's focus was on Magda, crouching behind the stone altar. Larissa heard but couldn't see the gun clatter to the stone floor. Probably out of bullets.

Larissa stepped out from behind the barrel and narrowed her gaze on Magda. At the sight of the dark-haired female, rage like Larissa had never known rose up inside her. As it grew, she was vaguely aware of a thin blue coating of flames moving out from her body, covering the floor, walls, ceiling, and altar. It snuffed out the small flames from the candles, but didn't touch the males as it moved closer to Magda.

The witch jumped up and stumbled back, her pretty face twisted into an expression of horror as she tried to escape. But there was nowhere to go. The female wore a blood-covered skimpy piece of lingerie that seemed obscene with the wet crimson stains on it. And the room smelled like sex, which told Larissa all she needed to know about this monster. The female had probably screwed her victims before torturing them.

Larissa's flames created a circle around Magda,
tightening smaller and smaller around the witch the angrier Larissa got.

“You shot at my mate,” she snarled.

“I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you.” She held up her hands in surrender.

Larissa's eyes narrowed as she closed the circle of fire even tighter. She tried, but couldn't scent a lie and wasn't sure why. “Why don't I believe you?”

“Someone broke into my home, I was just defending myself,” she whispered, the fear rolling off her very real.

But her words were bullshit. “Your home in lovely Winston-Salem. The same city where you got a hotel room with me and pretended to be my friend, told me you wanted to help me find my parents' killers, and told me that a shifter named Aiden tried to kill them.”

Big fat tears rolled down the female's cheeks, giving her an innocent, annoying quality. “He made me do it,” she whispered.

Larissa didn't believe a word out of the female's mouth but held her anger in check—though not her fire. “Who?” she asked as she felt something tickle against the bare skin of her forearms.

Without looking down she knew it was Magda attempting to use a spell against her. It wasn't a surprising attempt, but it was weak. Larissa ignored it, not letting on that she knew what Magda was doing. When the witch didn't answer right away, she tightened the circle of fire within an inch of the female's feet. Flames danced up, licking against her bare calves. Larissa's eyes narrowed on the witch's left leg as she directed a few sparks to attack.

When they did, a surge of power raced through Larissa. Magda yelped and jumped up, trying to slap at her leg. As she did, the sleeve of her shirt caught the flames. Before it could move or singe the skin on her arm, Larissa put it out. “Answer,” she ordered. “And don't lie or my fire will eat you up one inch at a time. I'll keep you alive for a decade of torture.” Larissa wouldn't actually do that, but she hoped the reputation of vampires savoring their torture would resonate with the witch.

She also hoped Aiden didn't think she was capable of torturing someone like that. He was quiet along their link, but she could feel his solid presence directly behind her.

Magda shivered in fear as she wrapped her arms around her slender frame. Larissa could still feel the invisible fingers skittering across her skin and knew that Magda was attempting to buy time. Fine with Larissa as long as the female talked. “My master made me. Once he found out you were still alive, he . . . he ordered me to bring you back to Winston-Salem.”

“And how did he even know about me?”

“There's a reference to your stasis in my grimoire. I wasn't lying about my line being connected to your coven. My grandmother was the one who assisted with the spell that put you under.”

Yes, Larissa had guessed that was the truth already. Magda looked eerily like one of the witches from the Moldoveanu line that her own coven had worked hand in hand with. “Why'd you change your name to Petran?” She kept her voice soft, her question
seemingly benign. The more truth she could get from this witch, the easier it would be to discern lies. It still bothered Larissa that she hadn't been able to tell the female was lying to her before, but she was watching for facial and body cues now. Maybe it was because she had been so weak after stasis that she couldn't scent them. Now she felt as if she could take on an entire army and hoped she'd be able to pick out lies from truths. Aware of the others close behind her, she reminded her fire that Brianna and Angelo were friends, not enemies. She didn't need to remind the fire about Aiden. The most fundamental part of her would never hurt him.

Magda shrugged. “Who the fuck can pronounce Moldoveanu?”

A truth. She could see it in Magda's tiny facial expressions. Now Larissa wanted to know more. “Who is your master?”

Raw fear sparked in Magda's brown eyes. “I can't tell you. He's a monster.”

Her master was likely a monster. But so was Magda. “You cut out that man's heart and likely ate it,” she said, tilting her head a fraction in the direction of the dead human. Not the actions of an innocent or sane woman. “Now tell me about your master. What does he want with me; what the hell did you or he do to my memories; and how is he able to control vampires?”

When she hesitated, Larissa engulfed the female's entire right leg in flames. Magda screamed, falling to her hands and knees. Larissa moved the fire back so it wouldn't completely engulf her. She was aware of Aiden moving up beside her. So far he'd been silent in
her head and for that she was appreciative. She had a good control of this fire but feared she wouldn't be able to hold it. Even though it felt familiar to guide the flames, her power and energy were waning. She just needed to hold on to them for a little bit longer. Something told her Magda would be easy to break.

Suddenly she withdrew the flames from Magda's leg. The female's skin was unmarred, but she still rolled around, slapping at her leg as she shrieked in pain. It didn't matter that she hadn't actually been burned physically, she'd feel the phantom pains for a while. Larissa wondered how she even knew that, but didn't have time to dwell on the unexpected knowledge about her gift.

“Enough!” Larissa finally shouted.

Whimpering, Magda pushed up onto her knees to face Larissa. Once again she felt the whisper of fingers over her skin. Foolish woman. Kneeling so that she was at eye level, Larissa pinned the female with her stare. “You think I can't feel what you're trying to do? That I can't feel your pathetic attempts whispering against my power? You are a child with much untapped power, but you clearly don't know how to use it.” If the witch did she wouldn't be resorting to the dark arts. True witches could call on power from within. “You have two options. Tell me what I want to know and I'll make sure your death is painless. Resist and you've just barely tasted what I can do. Understand?”

Larissa let the flames dance higher in a bright circle. Next to her Aiden growled at Magda, the sound low, deadly. The female nodded and collapsed against the
floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking young and terrified. But Larissa wouldn't be swayed by appearances. The female was pure evil.

“Who put me in stasis?” Larissa demanded.

“Your parents.”

“Why?”

“They didn't want you mated with a shifter. They thought if they killed him while you were in stasis, you'd get over it once you awoke. You are virtually immortal. Maybe they figured you couldn't stay angry forever.”

Larissa balled her hands into fists, furious at her parents. “What does your master want with me?”

“I'm . . . not totally sure. I swear it!” She held up her hands when Larissa's jaw tightened. “He wants your blood, but he doesn't tell me everything.”

Shock rippled through her. Her blood was naturally powerful because she was a pure, bloodborn vamp, but why would anyone want it? She didn't think it could do anything for anyone long-term. “Why didn't you just kill me instead of waking me from stasis and take my blood that way?”

Magda's expression darkened and Larissa could tell that she wished she'd done just that. “Because he needs your blood fresh and he couldn't travel to Romania. Plus . . . he needed you to gain back some of your strength for you to be of use. Now I think I understand why,” she muttered, looking around at the burning blue flames coating everything.

“How is he controlling vampires?” Because if he could, that meant none of her kind was safe. Larissa
wondered if it was a distance thing. Maybe he had to be within a certain range.

Magda swallowed, fear rolling off her in waves so potent, Larissa nearly gagged on the foul scent. Like weeks-old garbage that had been left rotting under a hot sun. It masked everything else in the room, even the stench of death.

“Tell me,” she demanded.

Magda shook her head, and moving with shocking speed, withdrew an ancient-looking dagger from behind her back. The jagged blade glinted for only a moment in the firelight before she raised it high. Larissa moved to cover Aiden, but he knocked her out of the way, lunging for the female. But instead of striking at either of them, she sunk the blade deep into her chest before either of them could stop her.

Cursing, Larissa frantically knelt down next to her as Aiden shifted back to his human form. Her flames immediately died. Behind them she could hear Angelo shifting too. With the witch dying, most of her spells would weaken, giving them more control over their wolves. But Magda couldn't die. Not until they knew everything.

Larissa didn't attempt to pull the blade out, not wanting her to lose even more blood. But she tried to stanch the bleeding, pressing her hands to Magda's chest around the entry point. The witch dragged in a gurgled breath and Larissa knew she had to be in pain, but Magda looked almost smug. Probably because she was dying on her own terms.

For a brief moment Larissa thought about giving her
blood to Magda to help save her, but quickly dismissed that idea. There was no way in hell she could share a part of herself with someone this evil, no matter how desperate she was. “Who is your master? Where is he?”

“Stupid bitch . . . your mate . . . killed . . . parents.” She laughed maniacally before her dark eyes dilated and her body went completely still. Her hands fell away from her body as her facial muscles sagged, her jaw falling open as if in shock. Larissa knew from seeing more than her fair share of dead bodies, this was normal in the first stages after death. There was no more tension in her muscles because she was truly gone.

“Damn it,” Aiden cursed as he looked up from the body. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” She started to stand, but a wave of exhaustion swept through her and she stumbled. Aiden caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to his naked body. “You need to feed,” he murmured, his deep voice soothing.

“I'll be okay.” She placed her hands on his chest and steadied herself, but it didn't help much. She had a lot of questions, like what was the deal with this fire-wielding ability.

Holding on to Aiden for support, she glanced around the room, everything coming into sharp focus again now that she wasn't intent on Magda. Brianna stood next to the chained male, her hands glowing a soft green as they hovered over his chest. Larissa knew some fae had a similar healing ability so it wasn't shocking.

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Brianna said,
looking up at all of them. Angelo was in human form and moving around the room, seemingly inspecting everything. He just made a grunting sound and Larissa figured they were communicating telepathically.

Larissa and Aiden needed to be searching this place too. If they could find the witch's grimoire it might give them the answers they needed. If not that, something that could lead them to the nameless vampire. For all they knew, the vampire might show up and find them here. And it worried her that he wanted her blood. The only possible reason Larissa could fathom would be for a blood ritual and those were only for dark purposes.

She pushed lightly at Aiden's chest, and even that was a strain she felt all the way to her bones. “I'll be fine, I promise. We need to search this place for clues to find out who her ‘master' is. What if he shows up and finds us all here?” Considering how weak she was, she was afraid she wouldn't be any help to anyone.

Aiden's expression tensed as he watched her. “We will. But take a break first. You just expended a hell of a lot of energy.” He tilted his head to the side, his dark eyes going pure wolf. “Feed.”