Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (29 page)

She felt Ragon’s fangs puncture through her skin like hot knives carving through butter. She bit down hard on her lip and tasted blood, trying to force herself not to cry out in pain. She had never imagined that his desire not to drink from her was so strong, that he would rather die than bite her. But her words had not been an empty threat; she couldn’t live without him.

“Thank you,” she felt herself whisper, just as everything became dizzy.

Closing her eyes, Ari allowed herself to be drawn away from the Ancients dark cold prison, and to a place where she felt warm and safe. In her mind she could feel the numbness spreading up her arms and legs but she didn’t mind; Ragon would be ok.

Chapter 15 – The Monster is Gone

Ari woke to a gentle humming. Her eyes were closed and for a moment she wondered if she really wanted to open them. The warm darkness encasing her was soothing, and she was afraid that if she opened her eyes she would be back in the Ancients castle, bound in her prison cell.

“Ari? Ari are you alright? Can you hear me?”

She heard her name whispered and stirred. She could tell that it was Ragon who spoke, and that he was hovering just above her.

“Ragon,” she breathed, letting her eyelids flutter open.

Bright swirls of colour blurred in front of her, as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope. Instinctively her eyes narrowed, as she tried to focus on the moving objects in her field of vision. A man’s face was staring down at her, beautiful and yet sad. Blinking a few times, Ari smiled; it was Ragon, no longer deathly pale and bleeding, but shiny and new, his marble skin flawless and his emerald eyes sparkling. God he was gorgeous.      

“Ari thank God,” he said.

All of her extremities were numb, and with a pang of horror she realised that she couldn’t feel her toes or fingers.

“Why… why can’t I…” she began to say, but stopped when she looked around and realised that she was lying in a bed. “What’s going on? It feels as if I have pins and needles, but-”

“Shh,” said Ragon, his voice calm. “You’re safe now. We’re on my jet; we’re heading back to England; Bert picked us up a few hours ago from the Latvian airport. The Ancients must have used that wraith to teleport us to their castle. After… after you passed out, I took you to a hospital and they gave you a blood transfusion. The doctors said that you would feel faint for a little while; that’s why you have pins and needles… you lost a lot of blood.”

Looking around, Ari realised that they were indeed on Ragon’s jet. She was lying in one of the lush leather armchairs; the chair was vertical, and there was a thick white blanket covering her body. Ari’s memory stretched back to the last moments she could remember, when she had forced Ragon to drink her blood, but everything after that was a blur. For a moment she dared to wonder how long she had been unconscious for, but before she could ask this, Ragon spoke.   

“You shouldn’t have done it,” he said quietly. “You shouldn’t have saved me.”

“What, why?” she struggled to whisper, realising just how tired she felt, as if at any moment she might drift back into unconsciousness.   

Ragon shook his head.

“Look at me,” she said, and perhaps Ragon was shocked, because immediately his eyes locked onto hers. “What’s wrong? Why are you saying that? We’re alive!”

Ari’s thoughts drifted back to the horrible things Ragon had said to her; that he didn’t love her; that he didn’t want to spend eternity with her, but that couldn’t be true. He had just said that because he didn’t want her to die… hadn’t he?

Ragon didn’t answer right away; their eyes had remained fixed onto each other’s and Ari stared up hopefully at him, desperate for him to tell her that he loved her.

“You don’t understand,” he said, and his voice was icy and cold, devoid of all emotion; just as it had been when they first met.

“Well maybe if you explain it to me. Ragon you’re starting to scare me.”

“You wouldn’t-” Ragon began to say, but Ari sat bolt upright, her eyes ablaze when she yelled, “-don’t tell me I wouldn’t understand.”

Immediately she regretted her action. Her head spun and she clasped a hand to her face, as if hoping to steady herself but couldn’t. Her centre of gravity felt wrong, as if it had been altered, and soon Ari felt herself falling; whether this was from being 20 000 feet up in the air, or her recent loss of blood, she didn’t know. Ragon was at her side in an instant, gently laying her back against the make shift bed. It was then, as she stared up dreamily at Ragon, that she realised how retched he look, almost self-loathing.

“Please,” she said, “just tell me what you mean.”   

“You shouldn’t have to fear the person you love,” he said slowly, placing a wayward lock of her dark hair behind her ear.

“Fear you? I don’t fear you.”

“When we were back in Australia and the sun stole my resolve and I bit you, I watched the way your eyes changed. For twenty years I remained close by to keep you safe, promising myself that it was ok as long as no harm came to you, and after only a single night in my care, it was me who hurt you. All that time… I didn’t want to push you away, but I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing myself as a monster in your eyes.”

“You really think that?” she said, and she was glad that finally she understood; Ragon was afraid that because he had bitten her, because he had chosen to do it, that she would think he was a monster. “Nothing would ever-”

“-don’t lie to me Ariana,” he said, his hand jerking away from her.

“Why are you being so stupid? Do you honestly expect me to believe that if I were dying, you wouldn’t do everything in your power to keep me alive? That’s why you said what you did, when you were trying to get me to join the Ancients… isn’t it? That why you told me that you didn’t love me.”

Ragon looked down at her sharply, as if her words angered him and said, “I had to.”

“Exactly! I know how much it would have hurt you to say that, knowing that it would be the last thing you would say to me. You were prepared to let me think that everything we have shared meant nothing to you. So why shouldn’t I be expected to do the same? Do you think that your love is stronger than mine? That’s not fair; just because you have lived longer. You lied about your feelings to try and get me to stay with the Ancients and live, and I let you bite me because you were dying; it doesn’t matter what it is… you do what you have to for the people you love.”

“You really don’t see anything different when you look at me?” he asked, almost desperate for Ari to look past his eyes and into his soul, as if her assurance might save him from damnation.

“You want to know what I see?” she said, her trembling hand reaching out to cup Ragon’s face. “I see the man that I’m in love with; the man who has risked everything to keep me safe.” 

Ragon’s eyes widened. He was searching Ari’s eyes, looking into them so deeply, almost desperately, as he checked to make sure there was no deceit in her words. But Ari simply smiled up at him. She was not lying; she felt no fear. She loved him too much for any of that nonsense.

“And,” she went on, taking advantage of Ragon’s silence, “don’t you ever say that we aren’t soul mates. You are stuck with me whether you like it or not!”

Ragon smiled then laughed.

“You are the most stubborn, head strong, persistent… God what else means all of those things?”

“Determined?” Ari suggested.

“Yes all of that. But you’re right… I do love you.”

Chapter 16 – Sorry

Only three coven members, Clyde, Ryder and Patrick, were waiting when Ragon and Ari exited the barge at the Isle of Man; they were all standing like statues, unblinking and unmoving as they watched Ari and Ragon walk along the dock. As always the weather was miserable; small speckles of rain splattered down on them as they waited, so that when Ragon and Ari finally reached them, the others were heavily soaked. Iridescent droplets of water had gathered on their abnormally hard faces, giving them the appearance of windows in the rain.

“Did you miss me muffin?” asked Ryder, racing up to her so as to pinch her cheeks hard, “oh, I just want to make out with you I’m so happy.”

“Let’s not get too carried away,” said Patrick, sweeping over to Ryder and linking elbows with him. He then smiled at Ari and said, “Well, I am glad to see you in one piece.”

At these words Ragon had growled but Clyde moved over to Ari and hugged her quickly saying, “As opposed to
pieces
. What the hell happened? We got Ragon’s message that you were back but you didn’t mention anything about why you vanished for a few days.”

“I didn’t want to risk sending it in a text or talking over the phone. It’s a long story,” said Ragon.

“Well, I’m all ears,” said Clyde.

“I think it best we go somewhere private to discuss it; where are Thomas and Sandra?” asked Ragon.

Ryder and Patrick exchanged worried looks, but it was Clyde who spoke.

“There at the Three Prong Trek,” he said simply.

“That’s perfect,” said Ragon, but Ari wasn’t listening to him; there was something strange about the glances that the other coven members shared; what was going on with Sandra and Thomas?

“I don’t know if going to the Three Prong Trek is such a good idea,” said Clyde, glancing once at Ari, “Thomas is trying to bleed the blood candy out of Sandra’s system. She’s volatile right now.”

“What!” Ari exclaimed. “But I have to see her. It’s my fault that…”

But she had been spared finishing this sentence when Clyde walked over to her.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened to Larissa. It was Kiara who killed her, not you. Sandra knows that; she’s just… sad.”

Ari stopped to stare at him, her mouth open incredulously. Who was he to lecture her on blame? Hadn’t he confessed to her that he blamed himself for the death of Rebecca, the mortal he had loved who had killed herself. Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Clyde removed his hand from her shoulder and looked away, his eyes darting off to the ocean. 

“Please,” she pleaded. “Please just let me see her. I want to help. And… and we have to tell Thomas what happened in Latvia as well.”

“Latvia?” asked Ryder, looking at her sideways.

“Not here,” said Ragon. “Well, I suppose its ok; I mean there are 5 of us to protect you.”

When the group arrived back at the campus, they parked the car near Delta halls and immediately made their way towards the Three Prong Trek. It was slow moving down the steep cliff. Ari still wasn’t fully recovered, but she didn’t dare admit this to Ragon. She knew that he would blame himself, and so she kept quiet, occasionally pretending to stop so as to tie up her shoelaces, or blame an imaginary pebble in her shoe, all the while using the break to catch her breath.   

When they reached the start of the forest, Clyde took the lead. They had walked for about half an hour when they reached an enormous boulder, easily the size of a bus, and Clyde veered off the path. Clyde pushed past the thick shrubs that formed the edge of the path, holding out a particularly determined branch that almost swung back to hit Ari in the chest. She had smiled thankfully up at him following this gesture, until a loud snapping sound signified Clyde’s release of branch, which had hit Ragon square in the face.

Snickering, Clyde said, “My bad.”

Ragon laughed sarcastically, waiting until Clyde’s back was turned before reaching to an overhanging tree and picking a few of the small red berries that clutched tight to the bush. With deadly force he aimed them at Clyde’s back and Clyde yelped with surprise, spinning around to glare at Ragon, who threw three final berries straight at his stomach.

“This was a new shirt,” said Clyde, rubbing hard at the red stains that had formed on his white shirt.

Ari laughed loudly but Patrick looked horrified.

“Ari,” said Patrick, moving over consolingly to Clyde, his eyes wide, “how can you be so callous.”

Clyde smiled up at Patrick, clapping him on the back and saying, “Finally, someone with compassion.”

“It’s Armani,” said Patrick, removing the hand that was still on Clyde’s shoulder, as his eyes narrowed sadly on the ruined shirt.

Everyone laughed, though Patrick continued to look mournfully at the stained shirt.

Ten minutes later and the group came to a small clearing, where large thick conifers formed a sort of semi-circle. There was a man pacing there and Ari startled when she realised it was Thomas. He looked nothing like the clean shaven, well-dressed vampire he normally was. His hair was wiry and tattered with cobwebs and bits of leaves and sticks, while his clothes were torn and ratty. This, combined with the absence of shoes, gave him a deranged look, as if he had been living in the forest for many years, not days.  

“Thomas,” said Ari, racing to him and hugging him hard.

“I am glad you are alright… both of you,” he said, releasing Ari as he shook hands with Ragon. “I got Clyde’s message that you were back. What the hell happened? Where did you go?”  

“Where’s Sandra,” asked Ari, before Ragon could answer him.

In a flash Thomas’s face changed, his smile fading into a frown and then a grimace. It happened so fast that Ari wasn’t even sure if he had even smiled in the first place.

“It’s taking longer to-” Thomas began to say, but Ari cut him off.

“-can I see her?” she said quickly, now moving around the fence of trees, searching.

“Ari wait,” said Ragon.

Ragon had grabbed her by the hand but she shook him off and continued to search the woods, until her eyes locked on a crumpled figure, lying flat on the forest floor. As Ari approached her mouth dropped. Though she was sure that it was Sandra, the emaciated figure bore almost no resemblance to her. Sandra did not stir, nor look up at Ari’s approach. For a moment Ari wondered why; surely Sandra must have heard them arrive. Then Ari saw that Sandra’s hands and feet were bound by heavy metal chains, chains which cut so deep into her skin that thick congealed blood had formed, though in its age, had begun to turn a blackish brown colour.

“Why are you binding her?” Ari whispered.

Ari couldn’t help it, she whimpered, and watched in horror as Sandra reacted; he hands stuck out to her side at an odd angle, her fingernails digging into the earth. Sandra’s head flipped up, her dirty red hair frizzed and out of control and she glared at Ari. Before Ari could say or do anything, Sandra had sprung to her feet and charged at straight for Ari. She screamed and watched as the binds holding Sandra pulled tight, keeping her just out of reach.

“What’s happened to her,” Ari sobbed.

Ragon and Thomas had reached her. They both looked worried, and each stood protectively near their partner, though Thomas maintained a safe distance away from Sandra. 

“But, I thought… why is it taking so long?” said Ari.

Thomas’s fists clenched involuntarily at his side.

“It’s the blood candy. She’s refusing to drink anything other than that,” said Thomas, his face hollow. “I have been trying to wean her down… but she’s starving herself to death.”

“Do we know how she got it in the first place,” asked Ragon.

Nobody answered, but a memory flashed in Ari’s mind; Sandra picking up a vial at Kiara’s residence, and then a few hours later, Sandra bursting in on her and Ragon in the bathroom of his private jet, the small vial pressed to her lips.

“I think she found some at Kiara’s place a few months ago and… and Bridget has been supplying the bartender,” said Ari, her voice oddly deflated.

“Bridget?” asked Ragon.

“The stuffs been getting more and more popular,” said Patrick, “I remember years ago when I first heard about. Everyone wanted to try it. I would have thought that the Ancients would have done something by now to stop it.”

“No one seems to know where it is coming from, but it is certainly popular on campus,” said Thomas. “Quite a few vamps on campus sell it. I have been buying it in small quantities and mixing it with regular blood, trying to get Sandra to drink.”

“But didn’t Gwen say that she had been called in for a hearing because some students had been using it?” said Ari. “That doesn’t sound like the Vice Chancellor wants it on campus.”

“I don’t think anyone really cared that the vamps who were called to the hearing were using blood candy, just that they had caused such a public display,” said Ragon. “I heard Gwen and Bridget talking about it later. It didn’t sound like the punishment they dealt out had anything to do with using blood candy, more so getting caught.”

“Enough about all of that,” said Clyde, now turning to Ari, “where the hell have you two been? After Ari’s birthday party, you both just vanished. We hadn’t heard from either of you and no one seemed to know where you went.”

“I was worried that something might have happened to you, like Victoria,” said Thomas, his eyes straining sadly from Sandra and over to Ragon.  

After that Ragon delved into a long and detailed description of their fight against the Ancients; beginning with Lea being tricked by the Triad to capture Ragon, and ending with Ari bursting into sunshine and killing all the vampires around her. No one spoke during his tail, and when he was finished, every one of the coven members had a look a sheer horror and exasperation on their faces, as if they couldn’t quite believe what they had just heard.

“So the Ancients are dead?” Clyde asked, whistling low and looking at Ari, his expression set half way between fear and admiration.

“We don’t know,” said Ragon.

“I definitely killed the Triad and a heap of other vampires that came running at me, but I didn’t see the Ancients,” Ari admitted.

“And Lea’s a witch,” said Thomas. “Perhaps she might know about Ari’s um, unusual talents, or if there is any connection between Mary Grandor and the Grandor constellation?”

“Wait a minute,” said Ari; the moment she’d heard the word Grandor, she flashed back to when she had been locked in that cold dark cell by the Ancients. “When we were with the Ancients, I spoke to some guy; he wanted to know about the Grandor legend. He said that he had heard the Ancients say the name and that they feared it.” 

“What?” Ragon said, staring at Ari in disbelief, “and you just decided to mention that now?”

“I just remembered, but I think that Thomas is right. Lea might know about Mary Grandor, or whether or not there is a link between what I can do and the Grandor constellation. It’s not like we have found anything at the library.”

“But do we even need to worry about why Ari can do the things she can anymore?” said Ryder, “I mean, think about it; if the Ancients are dead then the threat to Ari is gone.”

“Yea, but we don’t know if they are dead,” said Patrick, “and speaking of Lea, she and some boy called Chris came looking for you a few times.”

Clyde snorted indignantly at this, and both Ari and Ragon turned to stare at him. Ari felt her stomach drop; she had entirely forgotten about the argument that she’d had with Clyde the night of her birthday party. But judging by the way that Clyde had reacted to hearing Chris’s name, Clyde had not.

“What did you tell them?” asked Ari, avoiding Clyde’s gaze.  

“What could we tell them? We had no idea what had happened to you,” said Patrick. “We told them that you eloped and that you were on your honeymoon.”

“What!” Ari said, unable to hide the shock from her voice.

“Yea, but Lea didn’t seem to believe us; guess we know why now,” Patrick added. “And I think Chris mentioned something about a parasite exam… or was it that the lecturer was a parasite? Anyway, he said something like it wasn’t like you to miss an exam.”