The Hunted (76 page)

I grimaced. ‘I couldn’t help it you know.’

‘Well, you looked like you were enjoying it. I doubt William’s going to be real happy with you.’

I frowned. ‘Look, I was being controlled by his alpha scent, his essence. I’m susceptible to it because I’m part Vânâtor. I’m not going to feel bad about something I have no control over.’

‘That’s right,’ Lucas answered wryly. ‘You have to keep your options open—there’s always Alsatians, Labradors, dingoes and plenty other canines out there.’

‘You’re such a dumb ass.’

‘Oh God, I missed you!’ he said, laughing.

He turned around, grabbed at my wrist and started trying to tug me across the field. ‘Come on, we don’t want to miss the rest of the fight. The view back here is shit.’

My stomach rose, bile burning the back of my throat. For some reason, the thought of watching John’s eventual end made me sick. I wanted him dead. There was no denying that, but a part of me knew that witnessing his death would change things. I could already smell his blood on the air—thick and syrupy, laced with the taste of defeat. That was enough for me.

‘I can’t,’ I said, holding back.

‘Why not?’

‘Because the closer I am to John, the more likely he is to be able to control me. I don’t want to hurt anyone. You go on ahead and finish up. I have something pretty important to sort out anyway.’

‘Where are you going?’

I smiled. ‘I have to go and get Elizabeth.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

RESCUE

I
ran down the path as fast as my legs could carry me. I could hear John’s snarls and the snapping of his jaws receding behind me. Despite what John had done to me and how much I wanted him dead, I couldn’t be present for it. We were intricately bound to one another both in pack and blood, and I felt that witnessing his death would cause me pain. I didn’t like John and I wouldn’t miss him, but he was still a part of me and no matter how fast I ran down that path, I shuddered at the thought of never feeling his touch again.

I pushed these thoughts aside as I heard a howl ripping through the night, John’s final defiance, and then silence. I concentrated instead on the pounding of my footsteps upon the earth and the steady pace of my breathing. The fever that had almost gripped me before now clung to me tightly, coating my skin in fire and twisting my insides.

I kept on running.

I reached the house more quickly than I realised, and without hesitating, threw the front door open. I ran through the living room, bolted down the stairs and into the basement. ‘Elizabeth, are you alright?’ I yelled out as I jumped the last step.

I rounded the corner of the damp passage with haste, slipping on the mud and sliding awkwardly along the ground, arms flailing like a windmill. I managed to catch Elizabeth’s cell door handle, slamming against the steel surface before my rear end landed in the mud. Hastily, I pulled myself upright, steadying my shaky legs and trying to push away the ominous feeling inside.

I pressed my face up against the bars of her window and peered inside. ‘Elizabeth?’

My heart sank. There was no response and I now knew why. Elizabeth’s eyes were open, fixed in the direction of the door where I now stood, glassy and lifeless. Her mouth was slightly ajar, but her breath no longer stirred the air. Her arms dangled off the sides of the cot, her fingers dipped in the mud on the floor.

She no longer moved, she no longer spoke, she no longer lived—Elizabeth was dead and I was too late.

I closed my eyes, taking a moment to swallow back the rising feeling of failure and to digest reality. Both Kate and Elizabeth had died since my capture. I had no idea how I was supposed to feel about that. Regret, anger, and sadness were all present, as well as a lingering certainty that a part of me had fundamentally been changed. I’d felt it the moment I had broke Patrick’s neck in the forest. I’d felt it again when I’d decided Kate’s life as an individual was not as valuable as the human race as a collective group. And now I could feel that change again, prickling across my skin in a cold sweat, as I had looked down at Elizabeth’s lifeless body. My choices had led to this outcome.

I took a deep breath and re-opened my eyes, immediately turning away from Elizabeth’s cell. I placed one foot in front of the other and walked away, not once turning around. I’d seen enough.

I carefully manoeuvred the slippery floor, rounded the corner of the passage for the final time and headed back up the stairs. The wooden floorboards creaked underfoot when I reached the living room, but there was no one left to fear.

I crossed the living room, passing the armchair with the thick corded ropes that had held me in place. When I got to the door, I hurriedly crossed the threshold. In front of me the rising sun was now poking its head above the mountains in the distance. Early morning light gently spilled like a blanket over the surrounding forest.

I took a minute to let the sunrise wash over me, the feeling of freedom filling the air with more potency and effectiveness than John’s scent ever had. I could taste the approach of the fresh spring morning, and hear the birds waking up as they chirped from their nests above. As the wind billowed through the trees, dancing a tune of happiness, I felt a renewed lightness in my heart.

I headed back down the small path again, making my way as quickly as possible through the greenery and towards the safety of my family.

I could now smell smoke and the scent of burning flesh on the wind. I wrinkled my nose in distaste and quickened my pace. As I broke through trees and into the clearing again, I noticed small piles of ash scattered over the grass. The remains of the Vânâtors had become sooty smudges across the landscape, their bodies disposed of by the emerging morning sunlight. A haze of smoke still drifted up from some of the still burning embers, mixing with the cool morning air and diluting the smell of death, but not entirely eradicating it.

Sarah, Kim, Martha and the two girls were carefully walking across the field, inch by inch, to ensure that no body parts had been missed. Some of the others were talking to William and Thomas by the tree line, and I could see Susan and Lucas waiting eagerly for my return.

William turned when he saw me cut through into the clearing, and our eyes locked for the briefest moment. Then he turned his attention back to George again, effectively shutting me out.

They shook hands, and then both he and Thomas disappeared into the forest without so much as a backwards glance. I told myself that he had to leave because of the rising sun, and that he was trying to stop
anyone
finding out about our relationship, hence the cavalier attitude. Yet as I stared at his retreating back, I felt nothing but cold, emotionless emptiness rolling off him. I had to wonder.

Why didn’t he at least ask if I was okay?

I sniffed. I’d been kidding myself, that’s why. The guy didn’t love me. He was just doing his duty. Now that the job was over, he could return home to England and forget all about the pretty brunette who had momentarily stirred his heart strings.

It was a good thing I hadn’t allowed myself the luxury of loving him. I’d be a mess right now if I thought about never looking into those eyes again, never touching my hand against his chest, curling my fingers through his hair or pressing my lips against his. If I had to think about how lonely I’d be without him I’d probably go mad with grief.

I straightened up.
So it’s a good thing you don’t love him then. But why does it hurt so much?

‘Elena!’ Susan cried ‘I’m so glad that you’re okay.’ She brushed her fingers through my knotted hair and patted the side of my face. I could sense hesitation in her touch.

A look passed between Lucas and I as I skittered my eyes over towards the trees where William and Thomas had just left. He took my meaning, nodded and mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’.

‘Where did you go?’ Susan said, uselessly trying to straighten my messy hair again.

I waved her away. ‘I went back to the house where they were keeping me.’

‘Why?’

‘I left Elizabeth Stuart there. She’s the Cairns girl that was abducted.’

‘Is she still alive?’ Susan asked doubtfully.

I shook my head. ‘No. She must have passed sometime
during the fight.’

Some of The Protectors started wandering over to listen in.

‘She birthed one of their pups just before everyone arrived. I tried to help her but …’ The words got stuck in my throat.

‘It wasn’t enough,’ Susan finished.

Way to make me feel better.

‘What about the pup?’ Lucas interrupted. ‘Was it part of the fight?’

I shook my head. ‘No, it was stillborn. That’s one of the things I really need to talk to you all about. I’ve found the key to defeating the Vânâtors, once and for all.’

There was an audible gasp and The Protectors looked at one another sceptically.

Peter stepped forward. ‘For over three hundred years our ancestors and the Vampires have been fighting these beasts. If there was a way to kill them off completely don’t you think we would have an answer by now?’

I wasn’t in the mood for debating logistics. ‘It’s true, Peter. John more or less confirmed it for me.’

‘Now’s not the time,’ Malcolm said, snapping his cell phone shut. ‘Elena, you said the girl is in a house?’

I pointed to the path behind me. ‘It’s at the end of that path. Follow it and you’ll find the house. Elizabeth’s in the basement.’

Malcolm nodded and then indicated for Vincent to follow.

‘There’s a vânâtor in the basement, too.’

‘Alive or dead?’

‘Dead.’

Malcolm patted my shoulder, and started for the path. ‘Wait!’ I said, stopping him. ‘What are you going to do?’

Susan reached out and clasped my shoulders tightly. Vincent looked away, avoiding my eyes. ‘We’re going to burn the house down,’ Malcolm explained. ‘We can’t leave any evidence of the supernatural. That includes the girl.’

I numbly nodded, understanding. I didn’t like the idea of it, but I understood the reasoning. Malcolm and Vincent left. Susan’s grip on my shoulders relaxed. ‘There’s also the one that took me, too. I don’t know where he is though. We were in the forest at the time.’

‘He won’t be a problem,’ Peter answered. ‘If you killed him, then either wild animals or the sun would have disintegrated his body by now.’

Sunlight completely filled the clearing now. The early morning sun’s rays streamed through the trees, causing any stray drops of vânâtor blood and undiscovered body parts to erupt into flame, evaporating.

‘We’d better get going,’ Kim said, tugging on Sarah and Martha’s sleeves.

‘Yes,’ Martha answered. ‘There’s nothing more we can do here.’