Destined to Kill: A Destined Novel (Destined Novels Book 1) (21 page)

Turning on the faucet, I rinse my mouth out, hoping to get all of the red washed away. Glancing in the mirror, I see my eyes, white with a red ring. I see my teeth, sharp and threatening. I've seen it before, of course, but it had been so long that the image shocks me. My hands shake and my head begins to pound. Why is this happening?

I dig a locked box out of the cabinet and fumble with the key I had hidden. The pounding in my head is making it hard for me to do much of anything. When I finally get the box open, I frantically look for papa's mixture that helped me with the hunger. I down that almost as quickly as I did the blood. It stings going down, hurts actually. It feels like I am burning from the inside out.

"Deal with it, Anala," I scold myself. I endure the pain, almost appreciate it because I know what it will do for me.

"Ana?"

Amanda's voice pierces my throbbing head.

"Yes?" I pray my voice is calm, that she won't hear anything wrong.

"Are you okay? You left pretty fast."

I glance in the mirror again, my still white and red eyes staring back at me.

"I'm fine," I answer. "I just wasn't feeling very well." I replace the vial I have with another. This one filled with the liquid that would clear my eyes. It was one of the best elixirs papa could have ever come up with. If he couldn't cure me, at least he could help me fit in.

"I didn't think you would have a problem with blood being who you are."

My hands freeze. Did she know? Could she sense me? "What?"

"We're Hunters, Ana. We can't be squeamish," she says through the closed door.

I relax a bit, laugh. "I'm not squeamish, Amanda. Just felt a little," I don't bother looking in the mirror again, I know what I look like. "Off." I finish. I drink the elixir, wait for its burn. It takes a lot of strength to keep in the groan as my insides, once again, felt on fire.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Apparently, I'm not completely successful at holding in my pain. When it begins to subside, I risk a peek into the mirror. My eyes were normal again - well, normal for me - and, I'm starting to feel better.

"Yes. I'm good," I tell Amanda, and lock the box back up, hiding it again. "Feeling much better," I say as I open the door and face Amanda.

"Good. I mean, you're going to have to be at your best to deal with Sam. He's not exactly happy about your announcement."

"What else is new?" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Ana, have you thought this through?" Sam - pacing, of course - drinks, runs his hand through his hair, sits, gets back up. It's all extremely frustrating and stressful as hell.

"Of course I've thought this through, Sam. I'm not going to just send you guys out there on a whim." I'm insulted, especially after what happened between us. "We simply do not have the time to keep waiting. Every minute we sit in here, train here, more Hybrids are being made."

"How do you know that?"

"Because, that's what they do."

"But, how did you learn that they were back?" Sam asks, curiously.

"I've wondered that, too," Jeremy chimes in, and the others follow suit.

"Bernard told me," I answer. I have to keep so many things from them, that being able to tell the truth every once in a while feels good.

"And, who is this Bernard guy? How do you know him? Can he be trusted? Does he know where they came from? Why they're suddenly back after centuries of being…well, dead?"

So many questions, I feel like I'm in an interrogation room with Sam, and he's trying to get me to confess to every bad thing that is happing in the world. I wonder, fleetingly, if my head would explode if I didn't have inhuman abilities. "Bernard used to work with my father. I've known him for years." I hesitate, wondering how to answer the other questions. Do I trust Bernard? No. But, should I tell them that? "Trust doesn't matter," I say. "I know that what he says is true, we've seen it. I don't know how much he knows of their return. Honestly, I haven't had time to sit down and have a long chat with him. The important thing is Cursed Ones are back, and it's up to us to stop them."

"Fine," Sam says, obviously not satisfied with my answers - or lack of them, but moving on. "So, how do you propose we go about hunting? You said this isn't a whim, what's your plan?"

"I will take half of you out..."

"Wait, you're separating us?"

"She has to," Emily answers softly. She blushes slightly when everyone - including me - looks at her questioningly. "She can't risk losing us all at one time," she explains.

"Right," this comes from Jenna - I know, I'm shocked, too. "If something happens, like, we're ambushed or something, she can't jeopardize us all."

"I get it," Jeremy chimes in. "Separate groups are like...back up," he says, looking at Sam expecting him to understand his analogy.

"Whoever is left has to clean up," Zac declares. "We would have to take care of any Hunter that's been...compromised."

Amazing. My faith in them is renewed by their ability to understand what must be done.

"Exactly," I say aloud. "You are all correct." I turn to Sam. "I would feel better if our group was bigger, but we have to work with what we have."

I address the whole group again. "As I was saying, I will take half of you out the first time. After that, you will choose groups with one person rotating in the fourth spot. I don't care how you choose, but I will suggest keeping Eric and Emily together. Their ability is a great advantage when they're together."

"Rotate? Does that mean you're not going to be with us?" Amanda asks.

"You can't just throw them out there to fend for themselves, Ana."

Unbelievable. Just when I think Sam is maybe beginning to understand me, he completely proves me wrong.

"I'm not just 'throwing them out there', Sam! I will be there to make sure they can handle themselves."

"And, then what? Why wouldn't you be in rotation with us?"

"I will! As much as I possibly can, I will. But, this will never end for any of us unless I find who is
making
these Hybrids! I will be out hunting for their Maker!"

"She can't hold our hands every second, Sam," Eric interjects. "She's given us the knowledge we need. It's up to us to utilize it."

Well, holy hell. These kids are going to make me cry. If I didn't think it would make them think I had no faith in them before, I probably would cry with pride.

"Choose your first team," I tell them. "Whoever is going out tonight, get some rest. The others, train. We will go out at midnight."

I do drills by myself in the training room, anxiously awaiting for midnight to come. The others had finished training and were doing their best to get sleep. I'm restless, scared, nervous. If earlier were any indication, these Hunters finally get who they are, and what they are destined to do. That doesn't mean it doesn't scare the hell out of me, taking them out for the first time. Only now, it's not them I'm not confident in, it's me. My ability as a leader and trainer is about to be put to the test. God, I hope I pass.

"You should be resting up for tonight, Sam." I could smell him the moment he entered the training area. There were arguments earlier when teams were being chosen. It came down to putting names in a hat and choosing that way. I wasn't happy when Amanda and Sam's names were consequently picked, but I said nothing.

"I can't sleep. Shouldn't you be resting, too?"

"Can't sleep." I focus on the wooden dummy, practicing counterattacks and quick reactions.

"Want to spar with me?"

I stop hitting the dummy and face Sam. "You shouldn't be going out with Amanda. You know that, right?"

"I didn't choose it," he answers, innocently.

"But, you're glad it happened," I accuse.

He got into a fighting stance, affixed a smirk on his face. "Can't say that I'm not. You going to spar or what?"

He struck out at me, hoping to catch me off guard. No such luck as I duck his punch, crouching and sweeping my leg at his feet. He was obviously ready for that as he jumped quickly, avoiding my leg.

"Not bad," I tell him.

Sam doesn't respond. He moves around me, waiting for me to show a weak point.

"I want to make love to you again," he says quietly, and I falter ever so slightly. He uses it against me, grabbing me and spinning me around until my back is pressed against his chest. His arms are wrapped tightly around me, and he mimics having a stake. But, before he can bring the 'stake' down into my heart, I break free, capturing his hand and twisting it behind him as I rotate to face him.

"Dirty move," I say, my lips close to his.

"Doesn't make it untrue," he replies, before crushing his mouth to mine.

"What in the hell?"

Sam and I tear apart as though a fire had started on our lips.

"Amanda!" Damn it! I do
not
need this now. Not tonight.

Amanda abruptly turns and leaves the room - very angrily. When Sam makes a move to go after her, I stop him.

"Let me go."

"But, she's my sister."

"Exactly. I don't think she's going to want to talk to her brother after seeing him kissing her best friend." I don't mention that I don't think she's going to want to talk to me either.

"Maybe," he answers, unconvinced. He places a hand on my arm as I start to walk by him. "I'm not sorry. Whether she likes it or not, I'm not sorry."

I smile at him before leaving him. We'll see how long he feels that way. I step out into the hall and stop. Closing my eyes, I heighten my senses, focusing solely on Amanda's scent. She went towards the balcony. Hearing her grumbling and kicking the chairs out there only solidified my assessment.

I step cautiously out onto the balcony.

"Amanda?"

"I don't think I want to talk to you, Ana."

"I know you're..."

"No! You don't know how I feel at all! You want to know? I don't feel like I know you at all, Ana. You have been my best friend for two years, and I don't know who you really are!"

"That's not true."

"It's not? Okay, first there's this whole Hunter thing," she starts, ticking each thing off on a finger. "Then, there's this place. Not to mention whatever the hell happened between you and Zac!"

"Wait. Zac?"

"Don't even try to say nothing happened. I mean, I've seen the change between you two. He's not going to tell me anything, and you certainly haven't told me anything. And, now, my brother? Sam, Ana? Really? You could have anyone you wanted. Why did you pick Sam?"

I sigh and pick up two of the chairs she kicked over. I gesture for her to sit with me, but she refuses.

"Amanda, if I had told you I was a Hunter, a
vampire
Hunter, you would have thought I was mad. Let's face it, until you actually saw the Hybrid, you
did
think I was mad. This place," I spread my arms, enveloping the enormity of where we were. "I never thought I would ever have to be here again. It was built merely as a precaution. I had hoped to never have to use it."

I pause. I know Sam is there. I smelled him the moment he decided to listen in on our conversation. But, I don't have time to think about his feelings right now. Amanda wants honesty. I'll give her as much as I can.

"I kissed Zac."

"What!"

"That night he came to check up on me. Your first date with Robby? I wasn't feeling...myself. He was sweet and concerned, and before I knew what was happening, I kissed him."

"Ana! How could you not tell me?"