MARKED (Hunter Awakened) (20 page)

All of this went through my head as I stayed
seated on the couch, partly due to Elias's gesture, but also
because I was pretty sure I couldn't have moved if I'd wanted to. I
played scenes like this dozens of times, but being in the real
situation was much different. The trio and Elias appeared to be
studying each other, waiting for one to make their move. Elias
broke first, shifting so that he was between me and the
intruders.

Apparently, something about this amused the
trio because one of them started to laugh, a short, bitter-sounding
bark. That same one, the smallest, reached over its head and pulled
out two short swords. I stared. What the hell? Swords? Who were
these guys? Ninja assassins? Maybe Summer wanted to be lead more
than I'd given her credit for and she'd hired someone to take me
out of the picture. Rufus could've been behind it too, though I'd
gotten the feeling from him that if he was going to take revenge on
me for what I'd done, he'd do it personally. I might've been a bit
old for his sexual preferences, but he could still make me suffer,
which is what I was afraid he wanted.

Suddenly, without any warning or signal I
could see, the trio was moving, coming at Elias or me, I couldn't
tell which. They moved precisely, in perfect synchronization which
told me that they'd spent a long time training with each other. My
mouth opened to scream, to call for help or to yell at Elias to get
out of the way, which I didn't know, but all that came out was a
squeak. Not that me yelling would've done any good. It probably
would've just distracted Elias... except...

Elias wasn't there. I hadn't seen him move,
but he had been right in front of me, shielding me, and then he was
gone, but the invaders weren't coming towards me anymore. One of
them was flying backwards, pulled by something I couldn't see. He
hit the wall with a thud, but I barely noticed, my attention caught
by the fact that the biggest of the trio was swinging something
that kind of looked like a machete at Elias, who was ducking out of
the way faster than humanly possible.

It was like watching someone made of liquid,
each movement fluid and powerful, like the special effects that
were put into science fiction or fantasy movies for vampires or
elves or werewolves. When Elias's arm darted out and his fist
collided with the man's face, I could hear the crack of a bone, and
somehow, I doubted it was Elias's.

The man staggered back, swearing, his voice
muffled in a way that told me Elias had probably broken his nose.
He lunged at Elias, but Elias launched himself into the air, doing
an impossible flip over the other man's back to land lightly on his
feet. Elias's arm darted out and shoved the other man into the far
wall. The man hit it and dropped to the ground, leaving only the
medium-sized man in black. I was just about to tell Elias to let
him go—if I could find my voice—when the man attacked. Elias barely
even glanced his way, his elbow flashing backwards and connecting
with the man's forehead.

The clock on the fireplace mantle said that
less than two minutes had passed. That wasn't possible. Nothing
that had just happened was possible. Had I hit my head again? Was I
still dreaming? There had to be some logical explanation for what
had just happened. Something. Anything.

Before I could really adjust to the fact that
there were three men lying on the floor, one moaning and the other
two motionless, Elias was grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards
the door.

“I'm still in my pajamas.” The words just
popped out of my mouth, proving just how much in shock I was. When
Elias opened the door, something else clicked in my befuddled
brain. “I'm not wearing shoes.”

Without a word, he scooped me up in his arms
and ran to the car. Okay, I said 'ran' but it was more like 'flew.'
I couldn't feel his steps hit the ground at all and we were at the
car in just a couple of seconds even though we'd parked a couple of
yards away. He dumped me into the passenger's seat and was then in
the driver's seat before I'd even had time to take a breath.

We were on our way to the highway before I
realized that he'd buckled me in too. How had he done that without
me noticing? My heart was pounding and my breathing sounded harsh
in my ears. This was really happening. I didn't know what it was,
but whatever it was didn't seem like anything good. I stared at
Elias as he turned us onto the highway. Who the hell was this guy?
Special Forces? A part of my brain told me that even Special Forces
wouldn't have been able to move like Elias had moved. I didn't have
an explanation for anything that I'd just seen.

As much as I wanted to know, I wanted to be
sure that we were safe before I started asking questions, so I
didn't say anything until we'd driven for a good fifteen minutes.
Although, if I was going to be completely honest, I don't think I
could've said anything if I'd tried. It was all I could do to keep
breathing. Finally, I'd composed myself enough to speak.

“What happened back there, Elias?”

He didn't answer. In fact, he didn't even
look at me.

“What's going on? Where are we going?” I
tried different questions.

Still, nothing. Now I was starting to get
nervous. What could be so awful that he didn't want to tell me? I
pushed myself back against the door. How far was I going to let
this go? Could I really stay in the car with him until wherever it
was we were going? Even though we'd slept together, I felt like I
knew him less now than I had before rather than more.

“Elias, talk to me.”

“I am taking you someplace safe.”

Annoyance crept in. “Didn't you say that
before?”

Elias shot me a sharp look, but I took it. At
least he wasn't staring straight ahead like I wasn't even there.
Annoyance was preferred over ignoring or indifference.

“Seriously, Elias, you need to tell me what
the hell is going on.” I tried to make my voice as firm as I
could.

“All you need to know is that I will continue
to protect you.”

“Damnit, Elias!” I slammed my hand down on
the dashboard and saw him jump. “I'm not a child! And I'm not as
fragile as you seem to think I am! Either you trust me enough to
tell me what's going on, or we're done here. I don't care if I have
a whole fucking army of ninjas after me. I'd rather take them on
alone than have to worry about whether or not I can trust you.”

I don't know if it was me swearing, hitting
the dashboard or what I said, but I saw the mask over Elias's face
ripple, then crack.

“All right.” The car slowed as he pulled onto
the shoulder and turned on the blinkers. He turned in his seat so
that he was facing me and I could see the tension etched in his
face. “I will tell you the truth, all of it, and then you may
decide what it is you wish to do.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

My heart was pounding so loudly that I was
sure Elias could hear it. I twisted my fingers together as I waited
for him to start.

“I—I...”

I couldn't believe it. Elias was at a loss
for words. I hadn't thought that was possible.

He stared down at his hands. “I do not know
how to begin this.”

My anxiety went up a notch. This was going to
be something huge. “Usually you start with what came first.” I
wasn't being intentionally snarky, it just came out that way.

Fortunately, Elias didn't seem to notice.
Instead, there was a look of concentration on his face as he began
his story. “On December fourteenth of seventeen hundred,
eighty-two, the British evacuated Charleston, South Carolina.
Rather than return to England, an English soldier named William
Bane defected, taking his American-born wife and their two young
children out West where they would travel along the far side of the
Mississippi River, eventually settling in present-day St.
Louis.

“The family would add two more daughters in
the following years. Over the next two decades, their children
married well, all three girls to well-respected members of the
community who would give them a total of thirteen children between
them. William's son enjoyed two years with his wife, Elizabeth,
before she passed in childbirth, their infant daughter with
her.

Devastated by the loss, he accepted the offer
of his friends Meriwether and William to accompany them on their
exploration of the western portion of this land. It was upon his
return to St. Louis in eighteen hundred and six, at the age of
twenty-four, that he would meet a woman who would change his life
forever.”

I was trying very hard to be patient. I
wanted to know what any of this history lesson had to do with what
was happening now. I didn't need a whole family tree.

“Her name was Annalisa Royce, or at least
that was the name she had bestowed upon herself. She was beautiful,
though in a way much different than his wife had been. She had
grown up in the English courts under the reign of Henry the
Eighth.”

I frowned. I wasn't a history expert, but I
was pretty sure that there were a couple of hundred years between
Henry the Eighth and Lewis and Clark. Elias looked up at me and I
could see that he was reading the skepticism on my face. A hint of
a smile played at his lips, but it was a sad smile.

“The young man also had doubts regarding
Annalisa's story, but he had seen many wondrous things in his
travels so he was not quick to dismiss her claims. When she
explained to him how this was possible, rather than recoiling in
disgust and fear, he was intrigued. To never again worry about
losing someone to sickness or old age, he thought it a blessing. It
would not be until much later that he would see it for the curse it
truly was, watching everyone around him grow old and die for the
answer to the problem of mortality was not one to be shared on a
whim.”

My chest was tightening again. I had a very
bad feeling about where this story was going and I didn't want to
hear the end because I knew that nothing good would come of it.
Still, I didn't stop him. I had to hear it.

“Just as the new year dawned, Annalisa did as
her young man asked and made him as she was,” Elias took a deep
breath. “A vampire. A creature of night who feeds on the blood of
the living and cannot bear the touch of the sun.”

I started to shake my head. This couldn't be
happening.

“I was that young man, Teal.” The expression
on his face was earnest. “I was born in seventeen hundred,
eighty-two, only son to William and Elizabeth Bane.”

“That's not possible,” I whispered.

“I have seen every American president, though
I do not remember all of them very well. I fought for the Union
army in the now-called Civil War. I was a spy for the Allies in the
first World War, and flew for the British in the second. I helped
smuggle slaves to freedom in the eighteen hundreds and ran a New
Orleans speakeasy in the nineteen twenties.” Elias's eyes were lit
with a blazing light. “I supported the Civil Rights movement, and
helped tear down the Berlin Wall. Over two hundred years spent all
around the world. I have seen so much, done so much.”

I felt like I was going to pass out and
realized that I'd quit breathing. I sucked in air and some of the
gray cleared.

“I know what you must think of me,” he said.
“You must believe that I am mad, but let me assure you that I speak
the truth.” He pulled up his top lip and I could see them now, two
sharp teeth descending over his other ones.

Now I was sure I was going to pass out, if,
of course, I wasn't already unconscious. That would be a more
logical explanation than what I was seeing. I could still be in the
hospital after my attack, my comatose mind creating this elaborate
fantasy to keep me from realizing that I was dying. Or maybe all of
that had been real and I was just unconscious from falling asleep
outside in the snow, making only this last bit a mind trick. After
all, that's when the really crazy stuff had started.

Everything else was possible. That could be
it. I hadn't woken up and had sex with Elias. No super-stealth
ninjas had broken in, and Elias hadn't moved with some sort of
other-worldly speed and strength. All of that had come from my
attraction to him and too many fantasy books over the past few
weeks.

Elias was still talking. “Before you become
afraid, please believe that I am no monster. I do not drink from
unwilling humans, only those who offer and animals when I have no
human blood available. I do not even use blood banks, and the only
humans I have ever killed have been as a soldier in battle.”

“Where do you...” I couldn't quite finish the
question, unable to believe I was even asking it.

He had an idea of where I was going with my
inquiry. “I generally purchase the animal blood from a local
butcher. Most cities have at least one who is aware of the vampire
population and caters to those of us who wish to curtail our intake
of human blood.” He paused, then continued. “As for the humans,
there are places in most large cities where the presence of
vampires is not looked upon as unwanted or strange.

“Certain clubs are run by vampires to welcome
in humans who wish to be part of our world. Some are seeking
thrills and danger, yet others believe they can save us. Some wish
to become a vampire, though many of those have been mislead by
entertainment as to our true nature.”

I needed some fresh air or I was going to
throw up. I cracked open the window and took a deep breath of the
cold early morning air. It helped clear my head. I was at one of
several crossroads I now saw in my very near future. This one, I
thought, would be the biggest. I could either believe him or not.
Common sense told me that this was crazy, that there was no way
vampires really existed. Logic, however, said that everything Elias
had told me so far fit with what I'd seen. But, more than that,
there was something deep in my bones that resonated with what he
was saying, as if I'd always known it to be true but was only just
now realizing it.