The Huntress

Chapter Two

Felix hissed, his fangs protruding as he held the quivering man against the wall, propping him up by only his collar. The Vampire King leaned down in the man's ear, whispering something threatening enough to make the other man tremble.

As soon as Felix released him, the man scampered away.

"I can't intimidate everyone into leaving us alone," he told us dryly, his eyes glittering and dark. "We don't have much time."

Grant tugged on my hand, his own eyes dark. "Let's hurry up then."

Felix met my eye briefly, his gaze dropping down to Grant's hand on mine before he curled his lip and turned sharply, leading us down the dim hall. We dropped our heads as we passed groups of chattering people, some staring at us long after we passed. Felix was right, our time was dwindling. It wouldn't be long before the entire Wheel knew what had happened.

I felt Grant squeeze my fingers and looked up at him. "Are you alright?" he asked, keeping his voice low. I watched the vampire turn his head slightly, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

I nodded and picked up my pace, hurrying as quickly as I could towards Ben. My head was thumping again, the pain sharp and near unbearable in certain places. I blinked a few times, hoping to dislodge the pins and needles worming their way into my brain.

"Your skin feels hot," Grant rumbled, slapping his free hand against my forehead. I watched the frown sink deeper into his face. "You're feverish."

"She's exhausted," Felix snapped, "she used a portal to get here—magic beyond her capability as a regular witch."

I ignored Grant's burning gaze and looked to Felix. "But I'm not a regular witch anymore, am I?"

The Vampire King nodded. "You're a Clan Mother."

Perhaps my heart would've tensed if it were still there.

Grant tugged on my hand, pulling me to a stop and pushing me behind him and he slunk into a crouch, a light growl slipping from his mouth. The Vampire King stopped too, positioning himself so perfectly in the shadows it appeared as though he had melted into them.

I looked over Grant's shoulder, watching as Ditra slipped from Ben's cell. The Water Witch had a cruel smile on her face, her fingers worrying over the aventurine necklace around her throat before she turned and bolted the door behind her.

Grant grabbed my arm as I stepped forward, heat washing over me as I stared Ditra down. She didn't see, didn't feel my rage as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and swayed off down the hall. "Not yet," Grant whispered in my ear.

But soon.

Felix crossed the hall quickly, his pale hands working over the lock. It popped free in after a few quick moves and a grunt of effort. Felix stepped back after, the broken lock in his hand as he dipped his head and motioned for me to enter.

I didn't feel the ground as I crossed the hall, didn't feel the door under my hand as I pushed it open gently, letting it groan and whine on the hinges.

Ben was passed out in his cell, half on the floor and half slumped against the wall. The front of his shirt was soaked through, his mouth and chin glittering with water still. His eyes were ringed with purple, his entire face and chest area bruised and battered.

Ben's dark hair was wet too, but with his sweat. His mouth hung open, his breath rattling as he fought to draw in air. He was clothed in rags, his pants torn and shredded in places. It was his hands that I focused on, his ruined fingers—still not healed from the vision I had of his change.

"Holy fuck," Grant whispered behind me, entering the cell with a noticeable shiver.

The small space was full of chaos, the ground wet under Ben and the rest of it covered in the remnants of the mattress he had shredded after changing. They hadn't provided him with a new bed, nor a blanket.

This was the hospitality Mayme had meant to show him.

Guilt and regret raced each other to overcome me as I faced the consequences of my decision. I cursed myself for not having the foresight to recognize this possibility. This future. If I had know that Mayme had given me a fake antidote, if I had known how Grant and Ben would've been treated...

Grant stepped around me, crouching beside Ben as he put two fingers to his neck and waited. "He's alive," he informed me, "steady heartbeat but it's slow."

I couldn't move as the fire raged inside me, threatening to burn me from the inside out. I had known how Ben and Grant were being treated, I had known what I was subjecting them to. But I had explained their suffering away, told myself that they would be fine, that they'd get through it.

And they had.

But at what cost?

Grant slipped his arm around Ben's, grunting as he struggled to get him to his feet. Ben's head lolled backwards and it was that sight of complete vulnerability that sent me rushing forward, made me slip my hand under his neck to brace it.

Between the two of us, Grant and I managed to get Ben out of the cell. Felix was waiting, leaning against the wall as he kept an eye out for any approaching threats. He closed the door to Ben's cell behind us, slipping the lock back into place to buy us some time.

Grant's eyes were dropped, a trouble frown on his face. I realised he was looking at Ben's hands. "He broke off all of his nails when he was a wolf," I explained to him, "he tried to claw his way out of the cell."

"Through the door?" Grant asked tightly.

I shrugged. "The door, the stone walls, the floor—anything."

Grant shivered. "He didn't know—"

"He's an animal when he changes, Grant, he can't think the way you can," I told him.

Grant swallowed hard, "I know but I never really understood." I watched him brace Ben a little better, dipping so his shoulder slunk underneath Ben's. I felt some of his weight slip off my shoulders, felt something change between them.

We passed by my old room, igniting a fury in me that I could only expel by setting it all on fire. Felix stopped walking, pausing to appreciate the blaze I had created before a growl from Grant sent him walking once more.

"Could you have gone any slower?" Queen Dellare hissed as we approached. She was pacing at the bottom of the stairs, her balance impeccable in her towering heels. Behind her I saw Eve perk up, jumping up from her seat on the bottom step.

"Morda," she gasped, rushing up to sling her arms around my neck. "I felt it happen—your mom—"

"Later," Felix hissed, his eyes meeting mine before dropping. He and Dellare continued to bicker as they headed towards the stairs, doing whatever it was they needed to open up the ground above us.

Grant took Ben's weight before he lowered him to the ground, taking a moment to grasp his face and try to wake him up. Eve threw herself on me again, shaking with tears as she mumbled condolences and apologies. I accepted them all numbly, heard only pieces.

Eve pulled away, wiping her blotchy face. "I felt you use my powers," she said, "you were in trouble a few days ago. I could feel your panic. What happened?"

Grant perked up, his eyes hard. "You were in trouble?"

The same panic I had felt that night started to creep up on me again. I felt my body grow tense with it as I recalled the feeling of Dane's body on mine, the sound of his laugh in my ear as he prodded me. The terror of the chase, the horror of watching the Hunters tear his arm apart.

"I—"

The ground started to shake lightly just before there was a low groan and the earth above us started to shift, allowing the dim light of the evening pierce through the artificial light of the underground. I stared up at the overcast sky, drank in as much as the outside air as I could.

Felix's skin looked grey in the new light. "We're leaving."

"Where to?" Eve asked.

"Somewhere safe," Felix mumbled, holding out his hand for Dellare to take. She did so lightly, using his hold to steady herself as she started to climb.

Eve helped Grant and I grab Ben and the three of us got him to the stairs, pulled him up them. I felt Felix lay his hand on my lower back, bracing me as I ascended the first few steps. I looked back at him but he was watching the hall, helping me with almost no conscious thought at all.

I turned my attention to the struggle of heaving a six foot two male up a rather lengthy flight of stairs, wishing that Grant was at full strength as he too struggled to support Ben's weight.

The Queen of the Succubus offered no help when we got to the top, only watching as the four of us struggled to get out of the Wheel. We all drew in long shaking breaths when we broke the surface, Grant turning his face to the open sky as he closed his eyes.

We laid Ben on the ground as we waited for Felix to join us, waited for him and Dellare to seal the door behind us. Eve was thrilled to be outside again, thrilled to be able to touch the grass and the trees and drink in the open air.

I crouched beside Ben, laying one hand flat on his chest as I focused on the rhythm of his breath. He was alive—for now, that had to matter. I stayed there, one hand on his chest while my other one stroked his hair, pushing away the damp strands from his face.

His chest quivered as his breath shook and then his eyes were open, brilliant and gold as they stared up at the open sky. "Ben," I exhaled, touching his cheek to tilt his face to mine. The mark at my throat jumped, pulsing at his presence.

When his eyes met mine they narrowed.

"Ben?" I said again, unsure.

He jerked his face away from my hand, using all the energy he had in his body to pull away from my touch. I was left stunned, crouching on my knees in front of empty space, as he struggled to his feet and walked away.

Eve hurried over to him, anxious to give him help which he adamantly refused. I was hurt, confused, shocked. He had looked at me and I had felt contempt, felt hatred. But how could I be surprised? When I was the one who had locked him away?

"Then he will," Ditra's voice flooded back to me, reaching from the vision I had had of her torturing Grant, her demanding that he help her kill me. That had been her response. I looked to Ben, shivering at the thought that Ben was the he she had been referring to.

"Follow," Felix ordered as he strode past me. I stood slowly, Grant coming to my side and resting his hand on my arm. I was staring at Ben ahead of me, meeting Eve's eyes when she tried to console him and was rejected again.

"Fickle, aren't they?" Queen Dellare murmured in my ear, stooping slightly as she walked to bring her eyes to mine. I felt Grant tense beside me and then he increased his stride, leaving me to speak with the Queen of the Succubus.

I shrugged. "Ben has every right to be upset," I said, knowing full well that every person present could hear me. "I left him behind."

Dellare laughed, her gait even despite walking through the field in very unsteady stilettoes. "Is that really why you think he is upset with you?" she asked.

I turned to glare, my patience wearing thinner as my body grew more tired. "Why are you here, Dellare?" I questioned, ignoring her raised brow when I used her name without her title. "Hm? Why didn't you stay cozy under Mayme's rule?"

The Queen wrapped her bare arms around herself. "I was alive when Mayme challenged the last High Matron, I was there when the former leader of the Witch Clan was defeated and Mayme took her place." A shadow cut across the Queen's face. "I've known since then that Mayme was ruthless and twisted—neither of which should be present in a ruler."

A dry laugh bubbled to my lips. "Isn't every ruler ruthless and twisted?"

Dellare shook her head. "Perhaps in your old world, but it has no place in your new one. If we, as rulers, act in such despicable ways then how can we expect our people to act any different? How can I judge someone for crimes that are far less worse than my own?"

I paused. "Kings and Queens haven't had an issue with that before."

The Succubus turned her face full to me and once again I was struck by the power of her beauty. "That is not how I wish to see things done, Morda, it is not how you will see things done."

The group came to a stop when we reached the parking lot of the park, all of us shifting on our feet as we looked to Felix. The Vampire King was pacing, his face drawn and annoyed. It was Eve who finally asked what his plan was.

"My plan was for Morda to take over the position of High Matron as quietly as possible," he snapped, eyes cutting to mine. "Now I have no plan."

"Back off," Grant growled.

The Vampire King hissed. "Should I, White Wolf? Should I coddle her and pretend that she didn't just make a huge mistake?"

Grant jumped in before I could. "Her mother just died," he growled, "she's grieving." I watched Ben's face contort from the corner of my eye and turned away from him.

Felix's mouth turned ugly. "And she'll be grieving a lot more if she loses. You'll be grieving her, White Wolf, is that what you want?"

Grant snarled.

"Enough," I shouted, "I made a mistake—I shouldn't have called Mayme out in front of everyone like that but it's done, okay?" I said the words but I didn't mean them. I wanted her to be outed for what she did. Wanted the whole damn world to know how she had betrayed me.

Felix shook his head and flexed his fingers before he disappeared, stalking off down some lonely path. No one made a move to follow him. Dellare sat on a heavy boulder, taking the time to inspect the damage done to her exquisite dress during our getaway.

"He shouldn't have said that," Grant stated, his mouth set into a firm line.

"Shouldn't have said the truth?" I challenged.

Grant shook his head. "You know that I'll always be the first one to tell you when you're wrong. I let you know when you fuck up, Morda. But right now, it's not the time to be heaping blame onto your shoulders."

A pair of headlights bounced into view and we all turned to watch as Felix drove in a SUV with the words PARK RANGER'S OFFICE detailed onto the side and hood of the vehicle. He brought the car to an abrupt stop in front of the group and waited, engine rumbling.

Dellare jumped up, taking the shotgun seat and getting no complaints from the rest of us. I pressed myself against the window, grateful that it was Grant who slipped in beside me and not Ben. It seemed like he was done letting Ben ahead, done assisting him after my declaration of love at the ball.

It was a complicated feeling I would sort out later.

As soon as I was stagnant I started to feel the fire build up under my skin. With no motion to quell it and no fresh air to smother it, it raged and raged. I gritted my teeth, my fingers digging into my thighs as I tried to dispel the discomfort.

Grant noticed, his hand on mine as he murmured quiet reassurances that we were almost there, wherever there was. He wasn't helping though, there was nothing that could help the fever that broke out across my skin, set my skull on fire.

I watched Eve's mouth move, focused in on her eyebrows as they crumpled together, her bright eyes as they widened with worry. I couldn't hear what she was saying though, couldn't focus one more than one of her features at once.

The car went over a bump and I groaned, Grant's arm across my waist to secure me to my seat. I gripped his forearm, my neck aching as I let my heavy head fall against his shoulder. If he was speaking to me now, I couldn't hear.

It was Ben's eyes I saw last, his golden eyes as Eve and Grant jumped out of the car, the lights overhead glaring and the car dinging as the door was left ajar. I saw their shapes race for a convenience store and then Ben's face was in front of mine and I was looking into his funny tawny eyes.

And then I saw nothing.

I woke up in front of a fire. For one moment I let my mind wander, thinking back to Ben's old house in the woods, to the dusty living room we had camped out together in when the power went out. I thought about the night often, thought about the look on his face when he asked if I was lonely. When I had asked if he was.

I hadn't felt truly lonely since that night. Not until I watched my mother die.

My body revolted as I sat up slowly, the pain in my head made dull by dizziness. I pushed myself against the back of the couch, pulling the heavy woolen blanket up to my nose and taking in the unfamiliar scent.

I was laying on an ornate couch, fitted with red cushions and gold detailing. It wasn't the most comfortable but someone had taken great care to drag it close to the fireplace, allowing the heat of the flames to warm my cold skin. I was cold now, shaking and shivering as I looked around.

Grant was sleeping in a chair beside me, his chin dropped to his chest as he slept upright. I looked past him, to a room that wasn't so different from the one that had housed me underground. Except this room had large windows, they spanned from floor to ceiling along one wall, giving an excellent view of the sky and the moon that hung there.

A glass of water sat on the ground and I scooped it up, downing it hungrily. I was left thirstier after finishing, my body once again realizing what it required to sustain it. I ignored the pangs, turning my attention to Grant instead.

He had changed into a black shirt and pants combo that made his white skin seem even more so. The color emphasized the bruises along his skin, the puffy bags under his eyes. He had scooted close to the fire too but whether that was to be close to me or far from his nightmares, I wasn't sure.

I was awake for maybe five minutes when his eyes cracked open. He didn't move or speak, just stared at me and smiled this lazy, blissful smile. It made my stomach drop because I knew I wasn't deserving of it, knew I hadn't earned that type of love.

"Where are we?" I finally asked, hating to break the spell of silence.

He winced as he sat up, his back stiff. "Chateau de Felix," he answered sarcastically, "who knew that Vampire Kings preferred their castles to be trendy country houses settled deep in the mountains?"

I looked out of the window again, this time looking at the trees instead of the sky. Just beyond them I could see more trees, an advantage only given incredible height. We were perched on a mountainside, a vast valley crawling beneath us.

"How long—"

"A few hours," he said, "that's how long it took to get here. Though we had to pull over a few times, had to get ice to..." He trailed off, lifting his eyes back to mine. "Felix told us you made a portal, something he said is only possible for advanced witches, witches with rank like the High Matron. He said you shouldn't have done it, that it put your life in jeopardy."

I thought back to the moments after losing my mother. It felt like a lifetime ago but it had only been that morning. The day wasn't even over. I closed my eyes at the thought, suddenly feeling as though I had hiked up this mountain instead of being carried up it.

"I walked through this wall of fire," I murmured, memories splashing across the back of my eyelids. "And on the other side of it was Under the Wheel. I just—I walked right there, in seconds, it was incredible." I hesitated. "I didn't even stop to think, I just walked through the fire and then I walked straight up to Mayme."

"I should have been there," Grant said.

"It's my fault you weren't," I argued.

He smiled sadly. "I wasn't good to you in the week before. I didn't make you want to be forthcoming with your thoughts and feelings, Morda. I couldn't have made you feel like we could work things out together."

What he didn't mention was that he was ignoring me because I had slept with Ben, let him mark me. I had been the one to violate the trust between us first. I had been the one to start to erosion of our relationship.

"No," I agreed, "I wanted to do it alone." And look where it got me.

"Your mom—"

"I don't want to talk about her," I interjected quickly, stomach clenching.

He pursed his lips. "Then your father," Grant redirected, "you said he was a prisoner." I didn't miss the slight shiver that went through him at the mention of the prison where he was kept in the godawful dark.

I nodded. "He was. Apparently my mother put him there—Mayme's condition if she wanted to keep me. I was a liability apparently. Mayme didn't want the wolves to find out about the witches and my father wanted his pack to know I existed."

Grant swore. "And he got out?"

I shrugged, confused. "He said that Felix released him, let him go to protect me since releasing you or Ben would have been too obvious."

Grant shook his head. "Felix was never down there, Morda, I would've called out to him if I had caught his scent."

I frowned. "He must've sent someone to do it for him then."

"But—"

"Does it matter?" I snapped, feeling dizzy once more. "My mother locked him in a cell for the entirety of my life and now I promised to do the same to him."

"Felix made that promise," Grant reminded me.

I waved him off. It wasn't a distinction that mattered. "Anyways, my father trailed me on the back to Roseburg. He—he—" I stopped myself, throat closing as I remembered the feeling of Dane hitting me on the back of the head, remembered him kicking dirt into my face.

"Did he do something to you?" Grant asked softly.

I blinked, jolting out of those memories. "What? No. We just talked and he wasn't how I thought he would be, he wasn't as fatherly as I had hoped."

Grant's eyes wavered and for a moment I remembered what Janus had whispered in the dark, something about his selfish mother and strict father. Something about the blood of his sister on his hands and the hatred in the eyes of his brother.

"What about your family?" I asked, tugging the blanket closer to my chin as I steered the conversation away from myself.

Grant's mouth twisted into a frown. "I don't have one."

"Janus said you had parents, siblings—"

"I don't," Grant growled.

"But—"

"Leave it alone, Witch," Grant muttered, turning his gaze to the flames.

"He said you had siblings. I get that you don't want to see your parents but what about them? Your sister—"

"They probably don't know I exist," Grant snapped, moving to the edge of his seat. "Is that what you want to know, Morda? Why I stay away from them? Because if I walked into their lives I'd only be blowing them up. They don't need to know about me, it doesn't help anyone to know I exist."

"Grant..."

He shook his head roughly. "I don't want pity—or comfort. It is what it is."

"Don't you ever wonder?" I asked, "Don't you ever consider what it would be like to meet them? To speak with the people who share your DNA? It might be a good thing, a healing thing, for all of you."

Grant rubbed his face. "Of course I wonder, Morda, I wonder about it all the time. I have two brothers out there somewhere, Mick and Kyle. My mother had a daughter a few years back, so I know I have a sister too." He dragged in a breath. "I wonder about them all the time, if they're happy, if my parents managed to do better for those kids than they did for me."

"Grant," I started, "we could find them when this is over."

"I hate talking about this," he growled.

"It's something you should face," I told him gently.

"Why?" he exploded, jumping to his feet. "Why should I have to talk about this?"

I jumped up too, anger roaring through me. "Because not everyone gets the chance!" I yelled, "not everyone gets the chance to have their family around them, to seek out their parents and speak to their siblings!"

Grant was frozen for a long moment, his eyes wide and staring. "Morda..." he murmured, melting towards me, arms outstretched. "I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling me into a hug and pressing his lips to my hair. "You lost her today. That's what we should be focusing on."

I wanted to push him away, wanted to scream in his face and run away. He was wrong. I didn't want to talk about my mother, I wanted to talk about his siblings, his problems. I wanted to talk about anything besides the mess my life was turning into.

But the longer I stood there, the longer he held me, the more bricks I lost in the wall I had built to hold back the flood of feeling. The longer I stood there the more my eyes and nose started to burn, the higher my breath started to hitch. The longer I stood there the more I missed her, the more I lost my composure.

"I'll make you a deal," Grant whispered, his face dark against the flames. "You let me help you with your mom and I'll let you help me find my siblings."

I kissed him through my tears, my breath wobbling as I drew him closer, thankful for his unrelenting support. He kissed me back lightly, one hand bracing my face. Grant smiled down at me but I could see the worry in his eyes and for one moment I was afraid he had noticed the absence of the heart in my chest, I was afraid he had tasted the emptiness through my lips.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Deal."