Hunter's Blood Special Edition (Cursed by Blood Saga) (3 page)

It was moving fast. Too fast. She
jammed the pistol into her waistband and reached behind, pulling the 9mm from
her back holster. A .45 could blow a hole the size of a manhole cover in most
anything, but right now she needed speed. She fired, her arms jerking with each
round, but the beast kept coming. Blood pouring from its wounds, it lashed out,
its mouth foaming and frothing in a rage.

She twisted her body away, but the
beast closed the distance between them in seconds. In a downward slash, its
claws raked her shoulder, throat and chest, missing her jugular by less than an
inch.

It rebounded with a backhand sending
her flying into the woods, vaulting after her as she smashed against a tree and
slumped to the ground.

“Lily, shoot it!” Terry screamed,
materializing toward the center of the cliff.

Terry’s voice sounded thick and slow
in Lily’s ears. Her .45 was nowhere to be found, but she managed to lift the
9mm and fire. The bullet missed its mark, and the beast bounded onto her chest.
Instinctively, she brought her knees up between them, struggling to keep it at
bay.

Using her knees and her feet, she
tried to sweep it off balance by pushing at its hips, but the beast was too
strong. Its sharp teeth cut her hands as they fought, its drool dripping onto
her open wounds as they grappled.

Snarling, the creature bit down on
Lily’s forearm. She screamed in pain and actually heard the sound of her bones
crunch. The beast reared back, lifting her by her throat. Her eyes bulged and
her vision dimmed, and through her haze, she saw Terry gathering form behind
the creature, but how?

Finding the .45 on the ground, Terry
leveled it at the beast, but before she could pull the trigger someone leapt
from the trees, grabbing the creature by its shoulders and yanking it backward.
Whoever it was managed to break the beast’s hold, and Lily slumped to the
ground again, barely conscious.

Still in a semisolid form, Terry
rushed to Lily’s side and lifted her head onto her lap. “I’m so sorry, Lily, I
wasn’t fast enough.”

Lily tried to speak, but pain seared
her crushed throat. The last thing she wanted was for Terry to feel
responsible. She lifted her head, but a dizzying sensation crashed over her and
she slumped back, sinking through Terry’s lap toward the ground.

Terry’s corporeal form was fading
quickly. Powerless, Lily watched her friend try in vain to recapture whatever
had made her substantial, but it was no use. Instead, Terry laid Lily gently on
the ground and held her hand while she still could.

A loud crack jerked both their heads
around. The beast was locked in battle with their nameless champion. The man
fought with stealth and determination, and seemed to have no fear. Lily watched
as he fought the creature barehanded, amazed at his strength and skill, despite
her haze of pain.

With an inhuman howl, the beast leaped
onto the trunk of a nearby tree. Its claws grasped the bark like some kind of
mutant, propelling itself forward with a shriek and landing on the man’s chest.

Seeing the beast’s mind, Lily knew it
meant to severe the man’s head.

“NO!” she screamed, as the beast
raised its arm ready to strike.

With the last of her strength, she
lifted the 9mm that had fallen to her side and aimed for the beast’s head. She
squeezed the trigger, sending one last bullet flying towards its target. This
time it hit dead on. There was a soft crunching sound, as the back of the
beast’s head exploded. It slumped to the ground, dead, its blood pooling under
its matted hair.

Lily slumped back. Her eyesight was
fuzzy, and Terry’s voice sounded more far away than before.

“Damn you, Lily! Don’t you dare give
up, you hear me? Lily!
Don’t you dare! I’ll get 911 here somehow,” she
said crying as she watched her friend slip into unconsciousness.

Sensing movement behind her, Terry
whirled around. She held her breath half expecting it to be the beast, but her
shoulders slumped in relief when she saw it was just the other man.

Somehow he had managed to get himself
out from under what was left of the creature and was trying to clean himself
off.

“I don’t think they’ve got 911
responders this far out. In all likelihood, they’d probably dispatch the state
police, instead. But considering the circumstances, I don’t think that would be
such a good idea. Don’t you agree?” he said looking right at Terry.

She was dumbstruck. “You can see me?”

“Apparently…and hear you too.” Walking
over to where Lily lay prone, he squatted down next to her body. “Don’t look so
surprised,” he said, barely sparing a glance for her stunned, yet translucent
face. “Your friend here is in pretty lousy shape. We should probably get her to
a hospital. Problem is, the closest one that can handle this kind of trauma is
hours from here. I do have a private facility, though. It’s actually not that
far.”

Terry sputtered a little. “Yeah. I
mean, thank you. That would be great.”

“You don’t look so good yourself. Why
are you so washed out?” he asked, finally looking up.

Turning her insubstantial hands over
in front of her, she shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Probably over extended
ectoplasm, or the backlash from a ghostly adrenaline rush. Take your pick.”
Terry’s eyes met his, and she exhaled tiredly. “Look, I don’t know what went on
here, and since I feel as though I’m evaporating, I don’t have time to play
twenty questions. Take care of Lily. Do what you have to, but keep her alive.
Okay?”

Terry’s eyes followed his as he looked
down at Lily’s crumpled form. There was no hiding his reaction when he brushed
the hair away from her friend’s face. Lily was beautiful, like a porcelain
doll, silent and unmoving.

Clearing his voice he met Terry’s
anxious gaze. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” he replied, though her scent told
him otherwise.

Terry closed her eyes, her worry and
frustration evident, even as she continued to fade.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Looking over at Lily, a sad smile
spread across her almost invisible face. “I’m her best friend,” she said and
then vanished altogether.

Chapter Three

***

S
ean Leighton
leaned against the polished edge his desk, his torn and bloodstained jacket
tossed diagonally across its expanse. “Is that everything, Jack?”

His lieutenant placed a box of weapons
on the conference chair to the front of the polished mahogany. “Yes, sir. It’s
everything we found on the girl when you brought her in. Marcus is running a
search on the information we got from her personal effects. He said he’ll be up
shortly with a dossier.”

“Good. Is she upstairs as I
requested?” Without waiting an answer, Sean picked up the preliminary medical
report on the girl’s condition and frowned. His own injuries might have already
begun to heal by the time he had carried her in from the cliffs, but it didn’t
appear as though she would be so lucky.

“We put her on the top floor of the
manor for extra security, just in case she decides to bolt. But by the look of
things, she’s not going anywhere for some time. She’s in pretty lousy shape.
The Doc gave her some heavy meds, so it’s going to be a while before we can
even talk to her.”

“Doesn’t matter. The last thing we
need is panic down in the main clinic. It’s better she’s out of the way, at
least until we know a little more about her.”

The lieutenant shifted a bit on his
feet. “Is there anything else you need me to do?”

“No, that’s all for now. Take
everything downstairs and tag it. ‘For Council Eyes Only,’ Jack…got it?”

“Got it,” he replied.

The lieutenant lifted the unwieldy box
to his hip, shifting its weight to the edge of the desk, adjusting some of its
contents. Picking up the crossbow, he turned it over in his hand before putting
it back into the box. He reached for the bowie knife next. “
Jesus
.
Silver plated. Makes you wonder what the hell she was doing out there.”

Sean didn’t comment, but his eyes were
hard as he watched the implications flicker across his lieutenant's face.

Any speculation about what had
transpired out on the cliffs wasn’t good. Curiosity led to rumor, and in this
case, rumor would lead to panic.

“Just take care of that for me, will
you? And tell Mitch to catch up with me at some point today. I need to brief
him on what’s been happening.”

“No problem, boss,” the younger man
said picking up the box and heading out.

Sean took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. It had been a long night. Sitting down, he leaned back in his chair and
stretched, wincing as fresh pain tore through his arms and chest. He was
bloodied and sore from his fight, but there was still too much to think about,
regardless of his exhaustion.

A frown formed between his brows as he
glanced at the door to his office. Too much to think about indeed. Who was this
girl? She was a mystery, and one more complication in an already difficult
situation.

So much had happened in such a short
amount of time, but the Alpha didn’t always have the luxury of time, especially
when it involved the safety and security of the Compound.

He scrubbed his face with the palm of
his hand, the rough stubble under his fingers prickling his skin. He hadn’t
slept in days. Then again, since this experiment in accord had begun sleep was
at a premium.

Alpha Council of the Brethren
. He shoved a
hand through his hair. His title, like the idea of the Compound, was relatively
new concept.

The Compound of Weres had been met
with strong opposition since its inception not long ago. The notion of
different species living and working together, rather than struggling
separately for limited space and resources, was a concept some had difficulty
accepting—and this situation with the girl, was just one more argument the
Compound’s detractors would use against them.

Sean had been chosen to lead, and in
accepting that responsibility, had been given the task of protecting them all.
The Hunter’s Council had been formed to help him carry out that undertaking,
with all Were groups represented in its membership. As the Alpha Council, Sean
alone had been granted the ability to shift into any form. What better way to
know and understand each species under his command?

He walked into the bathroom, wincing
as he peeled the ruined shirt from his back and tossed in into the trash. He
turned on the shower and stripped off the rest of his clothes. The spray jetted
against his skin, and he let the hot water cascade over his sore body. Blood
and dirt pooled at his feet, and he watched it swirl toward the drain, his
guilt and pain swirling along with it. His brother was dead—or at least
whatever was left of him. It was over. Or it was until he needed to hunt one of
his own…again.

Sean’s thoughts drifted back to the
girl. Verifying her identity was high on his list of priorities, and not just
for obvious reasons. Was she the same one he’d caught trespassing in his head
right before he got to the cliffs? It was too close to be just coincidence.

No one had ever been strong enough
telepathically to shut him down, especially not when he had them in a
mind-lock. And certainly not a woman. If they were one and the same, then he
didn’t quite know what to make of it—and the information he managed to glean
from her mind just added to his reservations. She was a killer.

If the memories he saw were real, then
he had more to worry about than just rabid Weres gone rogue. But humans as a
species were prone to self-delusion. What intrigued him the most were the
contradictions he’d read in her mind. How could a woman so resolute in purpose,
carry such guilt and shame? It was clear she had killed in cold blood. So why
had she left herself prone to his seduction tactics? A hardened killer would
have simply ignored the attempt. Either that or tried to turn the tables. She
did neither.

Sean turned off the shower and grabbed
a towel. Drying off he pulled on a clean pair of jeans and slipped a shirt over
his head just as Marcus knocked on the door.

“Sean, I’ve got as much
intel
on the girl as I could find in a quick and dirty search,” he said handing him
the file. “She’s a pretty well-known psychic investigator. Been successful in
solving some pretty cold cases for the New York City Police Department.”

Sean’s fingers closed over the plain
beige manila folder. “Find anything that might give you a clue as to what she
was up to last night?” he asked, sitting at his desk to open the file.

“According to my sources she was up
this way about two weeks ago working on a routine haunting somewhere outside of
Ogunquit. There was an accident, and her partner was killed. Some woman by the
name of Terry Hess. Medical Examiner has the cause of death as animal attack.”