Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (30 page)

“I am not fucking the vampire.” Tegan’s hurt voice echoed through the house.

Renee and Coran entered the kitchen just in time to see Tegan throw another glass and Orion duck.

“You could have fooled me. I thought you had moved past following his every order. Clearly I’m mistaken. You have the attitude of a well-trained whore.”

At the last word Renee gasped as Coran moved too fast for her to see and caught Tegan’s wrist before she could throw another glass. Tegan ripped her arm away from Coran and sat the glass down.

“Orion—”

“Don’t even.” the Fae snapped. “You call her a whore any time you get upset with her.”

“I know and I shouldn’t.” Coran said, his voice even.

Renee pressed her lips together and looked at Coran, remembering the phrase he’d called Tegan. “Tegan, you okay?” Renee asked, trying to break the tension.

Silence filled the kitchen for several moments then Tegan took a deep breath. “Yeah. It’s no big deal.” She straightened her shoulders and held her head up high. She turned towards Renee, obviously trying to ignore Orion. “Orion said you were attacked last night.”

Renee nodded and glanced at the two boys then pulled on the chain around her neck, pulling the necklace into view. “They were looking for this.”

Tegan froze. “You keep it on you?” A tremor in her voice made everyone turn to her.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea to just leave it lying around.” Renee took a step back when Tegan closed her hands into fists.

Tegan took a stiff step forward as if she was trying to fight against something. “Can’t be near it. Must send it away.”

“Tegan?” Renee asked, but the woman didn’t respond. She just launched herself forward. Renee threw up her arms to protect herself, but Coran caught Tegan around the waist and pulled her against him.

“I don’t think so, girly.” He held her there with an arm across her waist.

Renee’s heart pounded against her chest as she watched Tegan struggle.

“Send it away, send it away.” Tegan whispered as she began to calm down. “Help me...” She pleaded, pain and fear filling her voice before passing out against Coran.

Coran scooped her up and Renee couldn’t help the small pang of jealousy when she saw Coran touching the other woman.

“Do you think you can handle her without causing further problems?” Coran snapped at Orion who nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I pushed too much.” He took Tegan from Coran.

Coran shook his head. “You’ve got to stop that or Lucius is going to rip your balls off.”

Well that sounded a bit harsh, but Renee was learning that was the way this world worked. “What happened? Why did she react like that?”

“It was a different reaction than just talking about the stone.” Orion added.

Coran sighed. “She’s acting like someone is in her mind.”

Renee wanted to ask for an explanation, feeling lost already with what he was talking about.

“Some vampires have the ability to get into your head and force their will on you. Tegan had mentioned earlier that she thought Markus had touched her mind a while back. When she first sent the stone way.”

“That sounds like a terrifying ability.” Renee swallowed and watched Orion leave the room with Tegan.

Coran nodded. “Yeah, it really is.” Coran glanced at the clock and cursed. “I’m going to be out until this evening. Can I trust you to stay here?”

“Where are you going?” She demanded.

He chuckled. “I have to go handle some things at the club, paperwork and such.” He held a hand up, stopping her from asking if she could go. “No, you can’t go with me because you aren’t safe there. Relax a little bit. Read a book, I have plenty in my room.”

She didn’t want to do that. The idea of him leaving her behind made her chest tighten. Being away from him was not her favorite thing. “Okay.”

“Thank you. Orion will be just upstairs if you need him.”

A few hours later Renee explored the townhome to make sure Tegan was still tucked away in Orion's bed. The woman had slept the afternoon away. Orion had disappeared to take care of something for work and hadn’t returned yet. The silence began to eat at her nerves while everything Coran told her the night before ran through her mind. She had tried to read but even her favorite book wasn’t keeping her attention. She went downstairs and looked around the kitchen. It was pretty bare but that wasn’t a surprise seeing as it was the home of two bachelors. There were two bags of trash in the corner. She’d seen a dumpster not far away. Inspiration struck. It was daylight and she wasn’t going far. What could happen?

Renee took great care to try and be silent as she snuck out the front door of the townhome. Fear settled in the pit of her stomach as she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She made her way to the dumpster, lost in thoughts ranging from puzzling over Coran’s bi-polar mood swings to why people were after her for a piece of jewelry. She made it to the dumpster and threw the bags in. Task completed and still safe. She wandered around the complex, not ready to go back in just yet.

The sun sank behind the mountains as she walked through an open park on the property. Her finger twirled the chain holding the stone against her chest. Nothing came to mind when she tried to think of reasons why the package came to her. Other than the shadows, she lived an ordinary life; but then again her parents had always excused any talk of the strange and unknown. A rustle made her pause and close her eyes. Hoping nothing dangerous waited behind her, she turned like an actor in a bad horror movie.

A man stood there, his dark hair and green eyes shockingly familiar. She remembered holding his hand as they went to the movies together and ate ice cream, and then he disappeared from her life, leaving nothing but a note claiming his job demanded he move. "Cody?" She couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice.

"Hello, Renee, surprised to see me?" He gave her the crooked smirk that she used to love. Now it sent a chill down her back. "Remember that crazy, top secret job I had that I couldn't tell you about?"

She nodded and took a few steps backwards, preparing to run. She’d always assumed he lied about the job and spent his nights in bars around town. He always looked ragged the next day without an excuse.

"Yeah, well now you're included in that. You need to come with me, the people you are with will kill you the moment they get what they want from you."

She swallowed and stared at him. "And what on earth would that be?"

"You don't know?" He laughed. "And here I thought you knew and could tell me, but what do you say, girly? I know a group of people who can keep you safe and teach you everything you want to know about all the creatures of the night. How to avoid them, how to spot them and, if you wanted, how to hunt them."

She studied the black military-style clothes he wore—a black muscle shirt tucked into black cargo pants with a gun at the waist, leather boots completing the outfit. "What are you?"

"I'm a Hunter, I'm the thing the vampires fear most. We kill those who step out of line."

Vampires? Then what the hell was he doing here? She shook her head. "Go away. You left me three years ago and suddenly you want back in my life, claiming you know more about it than I do? Why the hell would I trust you? You’re insane." That was the only explanation for him standing in front of her spouting nuts-o claims.

He grabbed her wrist. "The Hunting Society can protect you better than that wolf can." He tugged and she lost her balance, but managed to yank her arm away from him as she stumbled.

"Don't touch me." She growled and his hand went to the holster holding his gun. "You wouldn't dare."

"My job is to get you to safety, if I have to do it by gunpoint so be it. I can shoot you in the leg and drag you back to headquarters."

Her heart sped up and her breath caught. She tried to breathe to stem off the edging panic attack. "Don't pull it unless you intend on using it, Hunter." Tegan’s calm, familiar voice came up from behind her.

With a glance over her shoulder, Renee's panic attack almost hit full force when her eyes landed on the sword Tegan had. She blinked to make sure she saw right. Yep, Tegan carried a sword. Still in the sheath, it was long and skinny, but lethal. The look of determination on Tegan's face told Renee she knew how to wield it.

Cody took in Tegan’s demeanor then glanced at Renee. "You know she's tied to a vampire somehow, right? No human in their right mind comes to a fight with a sword unless they have to play by politics."

Tegan snorted. "Maybe I just like things a little more up close and personal than I can get with a gun."

The thought terrified Renee. She backed away from the two. "Why don't you just leave, Cody? Tegan just came out to protect me, there's no need to make this a fight."

"On the contrary, her being here proves that there is a vampire behind everything. So, who are you working for?" He pulled his gun and aimed it at Tegan.

Renee bit her lip as she debated what to do. She could go with Cody, but she had no way to tell if he could protect her and the thought of leaving Coran behind made her heart ache.

Tegan drew the sword. "Lucius." She gave his name without hesitation and shock hit Renee, realizing it had never been a secret. "Now, why are you so interested in Renee?"

"The Hunting Society has been watching her, her parentage is very interesting. We want to protect her and keep her away from the Circle."

Tegan snarled at the word. "This is all getting too complicated. Renee is staying with us, she belongs here and she feels safe with us."

Renee tried to protest, but didn't know where to start with either of them. "Put your damn weapons down." Her voice carried over the two of them and they both stared at her.

Tegan started to lower the sword until Cody tensed and she moved faster than Renee thought possible. Not quite Matrix fast, but fast enough that the bullet hit her shoulder and not her chest. The force of it drove her back a few feet, but the woman was still on her feet. Not possible. Renee tried to remember how to breathe when Tegan rushed Cody and attacked with her sword. He used his gun to block it and push her away.

In and out, in and out, breathing was important here. This couldn't be happening. Tegan jumped back and roundhouse kicked, hitting Cody's wrist and sending the gun flying. Her next kick took him to his knees and in a move faster than Renee could see Tegan had her sword to his neck. Renee's vision went blurry when blood dripped from Tegan's arm. How could the woman move like that? And wounded? What was she?

"Get out of here and next time I find you sneaking around here, I will make sure to slaughter you." Tegan growled.

Cody gave a dark chuckle. "You need your master's permission for that, don't you?"

"Justifiable homicide. A Hunter was on our grounds without probable cause. Not to mention you fucking shot me, unprovoked."

"No one will believe that." He swallowed when Tegan pressed the blade tighter against his throat.

Renee started to count her breaths again when she realized that Tegan would kill him if need be. Tegan shot her a glance before turning her eyes back to Cody. "I have a feeling Renee would play witness." Tegan pulled away and snatched his gun from the ground. Sticking it in the waistband of her pants, she smirked. "Rookie mistake, only carrying one."

"I didn't think I'd need two against Renee, clearly there are more parties interested in her than I thought." He growled, climbing to his feet before marching away from the two.

Once he was out of sight Renee relearned how to breathe. "He lied to me the whole time we dated. He said he was military."

"The Hunting Society is considered military. If you survive to retirement you basically have all the perks of a retired officer." Tegan sheathed the sword. "You dated that ass?"

Renee tried to focus on Tegan’s words. "There's a branch of the government that civilians don't know about?"

"You think there's just one?" Tegan chuckled and examined the hole in her shoulder. "This is going to suck. I can't believe he shot me."

"You two talked like there are rules that must be followed." Renee began walking back to the townhome as sirens started to whine? through the air.

Tegan followed, holding her sword close to her side. "There are. The Originals laid them out long ago. The Circle members are supposed to uphold said laws and the Hunters were originally meant to destroy those who did not follow the laws."

"Seems to me that no one follows them anymore."

Tegan shook her head. "There are still rules that have to be followed and I can tell you if word gets back to the Hunting Society that Cody shot a human he'll be in trouble. The Circle however, bends their rules. They aren't above torture."

"Torture? You sound like you know that for a fact."

Tegan flinched and glanced back at Renee. "I do, they tortured me for two months."

Renee hesitated. After seeing Tegan move like a ninja and deal with a bullet wound with nothing but a tightened jaw and a cringe every now and then, she had started to doubt the woman's humanity. "Right." Time to get off that subject. "How did you know where I was? You were passed out in Orion's room before I left."

"I have my ways." She smirked and opened the door. Both of them froze when Orion’s voice thundered through the house.

"Where the fuck have you two been?"

Tegan glanced over at Renee. "Would you like to explain?"

She didn't have much of a choice. She crossed her arms and met Orion's gaze. "I went for a walk, Tegan saved me with her mighty sword, we lived happily ever after. The end."

Orion shook his head. "She took her sword out, which means vampire. Who was it, Tegan?"

"Wasn't a vampire. That was my first thought." She motioned to her arm. "First aid kit please. There's a bullet still in my arm and it hurts."

Renee sat down and closed her eyes. "It was an ex-boyfriend of mine."

"An ex?" Orion laughed and he dug under the kitchen sink for the kit. "Did he think you were having a lesbian affair or something?"

Tegan made a noise. "He was a Hunter."

"A Hunter? And he shot you? Is he a rogue?"