Hunter Reborn (24 page)

Twisting midair, he came back down, slicing at the vampire's back with his blade. The vamp turned sideways at the last moment, coming up with his own blade. It slammed into Aiden's shoulder as Aiden pierced the male's chest.

It wasn't his heart though. Too far to the right and the guy didn't turn to ash. The wound just sizzled and burned from the blade's magic. Grunting in pain, the vamp started to pull his blade from Aiden's body as Aiden released his claws and punched all the way through the male's chest. Ribs broke as the male screamed in raw agony.

Grabbing the heart, Aiden let the fire loose again. The male's dark eyes widened as his heart incinerated. But Aiden wasn't done. Focusing on the energy, he blasted the blue flames through the male's entire body. In a brilliant explosion of light, the powdery remains exploded over him and the floor of the cave.

Unable to savor his victory, he dropped the blade and raced to Larissa's side. He was aware of his packmates and Jayce's brother hovering near the entrance, watching as Jayce continued to feed Larissa from his wrist. Though her eyes were closed, she was sucking hard, pulling in long gulps of blood. Relief didn't begin to describe what he felt as he looked at the woman he loved.

The enforcer's jaw was clenched tight, his piercing gray eyes locked on Aiden's. “That was some freaky shit you just did.”

“Get ready to see some more.” Kneeling next to his bondmate, he grasped both her hands in his and slowly, but purposefully, directed her powers back into her. Every second that passed, every second the energy drained from his body, he felt their link growing stronger and stronger.

As the last ounce of power left him, Larissa's eyes flew open with a start. She glanced between the two of them before lunging at Aiden, wrapping her arms around his neck.

The most potent relief surged through him, overwhelming emotion nearly knocking him on his ass as his throat tightened. “It's over. He's dead,” he managed to rasp out.
Whoever
the hell that vamp had been. Aiden wanted answers, but right now all he cared about was that Larissa was alive in his arms. Everything else was just details.

“I thought I was dead. I can't believe that blade struck perfectly in the middle of my heart. It basically shredded it,” she said with a tinge of awe.

If you hadn't been amped up on supernatural blood, I don't think you would have made it,
he projected, unable to say the words out loud. As he buried his face in her neck, tears burned his eyes. He didn't give a shit who saw him. He'd sobbed like a fucking baby when he thought he'd lost her once. To almost lose her again . . . Hell yeah, he was crying.

I know.
Through their link her voice was ragged and tired. The feel of her arms around him reassured him.
Thank you for saving me.

He snorted.
Don't ever thank me for that. I'm just . . . I don't want to move yet. Maybe never.

She squeezed him back.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually she pulled back, her blue eyes glittering with unshed tears. Reaching out, he brushed his thumbs over her soft cheeks when a few spilled over.

“We need to clean this mess up and block this cave,” she said quietly.

“Already on it,” Connor murmured from the entry.

Aiden looked up then, taking in everyone. First he focused on Jayce, who'd moved to stand next to Kat, his arm slung protectively around her. “Thank you.”

Jayce shrugged, as if the words made him uncomfortable. “I owed you.”

Aiden simply nodded, knowing that was all he'd get out of the male. He looked at his Alpha next. “I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but—”

“Let's get your mate out of here and start cleaning this shit up. Everything else can wait.”

Hell yeah, it could. Standing, Aiden pulled Larissa up with him before scooping her into his arms. She let out a halfhearted protest before laying her head against his chest. His inner wolf was soothed immensely at the feel of her head resting against his heart.

“Maybe we could get Aiden some pants because I'm tired of looking at his junk,” Jayce muttered.

Bursts of surprised laughter erupted from everyone,
echoing off the walls of a place that had seen too much evil and death. He pulled in a deep breath and released it slowly, his inner wolf quieting. For the first time in decades Aiden felt as if he were whole again.

The battle was over but his and Larissa's new life together had just begun.

Four days later

L
arissa turned the page of the crazed vampire Cornelius's journal/manifesto/tirade against the human race, wondering what insanity she'd read next. Everything in that cave had happened so fast she hadn't had a chance to see his face before she almost died and Aiden vaporized him.
That,
she wished she'd seen. But she knew who he was after reading the journal they'd retrieved among his other belongings. It had been hidden inside that wretched altar, the stone enclosure the only thing that had saved it from being incinerated by the fire.

He'd been a member of her parents' coven and while she'd never been friends with him, they'd been acquaintances. He'd even been with the group that went to Aiden's parents' castle. The male had been one of their scholars, a record keeper, and he'd been utterly
brilliant. Well, mad and brilliant. He'd been witness to her mother's little light-show display the day Aiden and Larissa had left both their families. As a record keeper, he'd been aware of the Danesti line gift, but he hadn't realized it had been transferable.

Once he'd discovered that, he'd become obsessed with stealing the gift for himself. He'd even been the one who killed her parents, poisoning them and many of the coven members using knowledge he'd learned from the dark arts. She was still trying to come to terms with her parents' deaths, but figured that would be a long time coming. Unfortunately for Cornelius—but fortunately for her—it had taken him a long damn time to figure out where her parents had entombed Larissa. It was the first time she found herself thankful for their need for secrecy.

She'd finally regained all her memories, though she wished she didn't have them all. True to her word, Larissa had contacted her parents a month after she and Aiden had left. They'd apologized and invited both of them to stay in Romania. Larissa had been unsure about their motives—her mother had not been known to apologize for anything—and had convinced Aiden to let her go alone. They were her parents after all. It wasn't as if they'd kill her. She'd thought she could deal with them much easier without Aiden under their roof and would be better able to gauge their sincerity.

It had been a trap. They'd worked with a powerful witch to put her into stasis, then had planned to kill Aiden while she was under. Nothing had gone their way after that. So caught up in their own scheming
they hadn't realized they'd gained a new enemy under their roof. After they'd been murdered, Cornelius started picking off more and more vampires until only those he trusted were left alive. Then he'd sold off almost everything, but had kept one castle and had made sure the rumors of Vlad and Oana remained alive for decades.

The man had truly been brilliant in an evil sort of way. He'd wanted to rule humans, to keep them “in their place on the food chain,” as he put it in more than one of his rants. Using the dark arts he'd figured out he could possess Larissa's gift by taking all of her blood. Stupid fool. Her gift could only be given freely.

Sighing, she rubbed her eyes as she closed the journal. She wasn't even halfway through, but she needed another break. His ramblings were confusing and often hard to understand. As she laid her head back against the couch in the males' cabin at the Armstrong ranch, she half smiled.

About ten minutes ago she'd sensed two individuals sneak into the room. They were terrible at hiding, but as cubs she didn't expect them to be stealth predators. “You can come out now, little spies.”

Seconds later, a little girl and boy jumped over the back of the couch, landing on either side of her. The girl was a jaguar shifter who would most definitely be a heartbreaker one day. Though something told Larissa that the lupine shifter next to her wasn't letting any male near Vivian. Ever. For a ten-year-old he'd shown surprising territorial instincts in the short time she'd interacted with them.

“What are you two doing? Aren't you supposed to be in school?”

Vivian beamed at her and gave her that wide-eyed look Larissa guessed was supposed to be innocent. “We don't have school today.”

Lucas snorted. “She can tell when you're lying, Vivian.”

“Oh, right.” Vivian bit her bottom lip before grinning again. “It's our lunch so we have a break. Will you show us some more tricks?”

Ever since the story of Larissa's gift had spread around the ranch the kids had been hounding her for “one more trick.” Grinning, Larissa reached out and touched both their heads. She coated just their hair in blue flames.

Squealing in delight, Vivian jumped off the couch and held her braids out to inspect. Then she released her hair from its ties and squealed some more. “This is so cool! Isn't this cool, Lucas?”

Lucas wasn't quite as energetic as the girl, but he grinned and ran to a mirror on one of the walls and inspected himself. “Yeah, it's pretty cool.”

At the sound of the front door opening, both kids froze. Larissa scented the female before the door fully opened and withdrew the fire from their hair.

Ana Cordona walked in, a half smile on her face as she nodded at Larissa. “Are they bothering you again?”

“They're not a bother.” Being around such innocent children was refreshing. Hell, being around this pack was beyond refreshing. They'd accepted her so quickly; this was just as stunning as all the changes going on in
this new world. Yes, there was still prejudice against shifter-vampire matings, but things had come so far. It probably didn't seem that way to some, but for her things had literally changed overnight. She loved living in a place where all species were accepted.

The female's lips pulled into a thin line as she glanced first at Vivian, then Lucas. “Vivian is a little hooligan, but I expect more from you, Lucas,” she said, laughter in her voice.

“Hey!” Vivian ran over to her adoptive mother and threw herself into her arms. “He's a hooligan too.”

Ana laughed, the sound throaty and loud as she motioned for Lucas to come with her. “You two are in a world of trouble with Esperanze.” As she directed them to the door, she gave Larissa a warm smile. “Your mate is on his way back. I just saw him and Connor wrapping things up.”

“Thanks.” Before the word was out of her mouth, Aiden strode into the room, passing Ana and the kids with a smile.

As always he looked fierce and sexy. And he was all hers. Larissa stood and before she'd taken one step, he crossed the distance between them. Gathering her close to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and crushed his mouth over hers. His tongue played with hers as he rolled his hips against hers in an erotic, primal dance.

Breathing hard, he eventually pulled back, his dark eyes filled with hunger. “Tonight.”

She knew what he meant with that one word. Her toes curled against the hardwood floor in anticipation
of finally feeling him deep inside her. “Hmm, I don't know if I'm ready yet.”

He let out a soft growl. “You've been ready for days.”

“So you admit you've been overprotective and crazy to make me wait?”

Aiden opened his mouth once, then let out another sexy little growl. “Don't turn my words around.”

She grinned and buried her face against his chest. “Just on principle I should make you wait four days, but I'm too needy right now.” Aiden had been absolutely ridiculous about his “no sex” policy once they'd returned to the ranch. He thought she needed more time to rest and heal, but in reality she was perfectly fine physically.

The pack, including Brianna and Angelo, had spent almost two days cleaning up those caves and making sure no one else was down there. In addition to Larissa's fire, Brianna had used some of her healing magic to cleanse the place. But the female had also called in a favor to some of her fae brethren to help. Once all the evil remnants had been removed from that place, they'd filled in that first tunnel from the cabin with cement, completely blocking it off. Seeing that had been impressive. It had taken a couple of days to get everything squared away, but they'd been back here for a full day and a half and Aiden thought he could make her wait to jump his body.

He was clearly out of his mind.

She nipped his bottom lip with her teeth. “Why tonight? Why not now?” Dusk was only a couple of hours away, but she didn't want to wait.

Tensing, he slightly straightened, but didn't pull back from his embrace. “I just met with Connor and he's already started the plans for building us our own home.”

She frowned. “That's a good thing.” Aiden hadn't told her why he'd needed to meet with his Alpha privately and she hadn't pushed because she trusted him and because she'd wanted to read more of the journal. Even if getting into the head of a madman was frustrating.

“I know. While I was there he received a call from Juhani and Narek. They're waiting outside the main gate and would like to speak to you.” His jaw and grip on her tightened at the same time, his fingers digging into her hips.

“About what?” A small sliver of worry worked its way down her spine. She and Aiden's pack had agreed that she would take credit for killing Cornelius and all those hundreds of vampires he'd been controlling. She'd read all about his control in his journal and that male had been sick. He'd forced people to do all sorts of things just for the pleasure of it. He'd said it was to practice his gift, but that wasn't why. He'd been a monster. Even so, it would seem much better that a vampire had killed so many of her own kind rather than a shifter.

*   *   *

“They wouldn't say, but they asked for permission to “retain your audience.'” He used air quotes at the last part, making her smile.

“Then let's get it over with. The sooner they're gone, the better.”

“I will tell the truth if—”

She held a finger to his mouth. “Stop. We'll see what they want first. I don't care if you were justified, it's better that a vampire takes the credit for the killings. Your Alpha agreed with me.”

Aiden just growled and sent off a quick text. “Come on,” he said a few moments later after he received a returning ping. “We'll meet them at the main house.”

If the Alpha was letting the vampires into his home, then things must not be as bad as Aiden assumed. But Larissa didn't say that.

They crossed the main yard of the ranch in silence and she noticed how quiet things were. She had no doubt there were shifters out patrolling, but she guessed that Connor had told everyone to remain inside while the Brethren members were here. Once inside the main house they found Connor, Ana, and Liam sitting on one couch, and the two vampire males sitting on another smaller one.

Narek was dressed impeccably in a suit and Juhani looked a bit grungy. She wasn't sure what his style was called, but it was strange and reminded her of a homeless person. They both stood when they saw her before bowing respectfully. She'd met both of them over a hundred years ago, long before her stasis and long before supernaturals had come out to the world. They'd been powerful then, so she knew they were even more so now. Their show of respect helped ease some of the tension building inside her.

Next to her Aiden growled, so she nudged him with her elbow. “That is not necessary,” she murmured.

Narek frowned at her as he stood. “Of course it is. You are the last of the Draculesti and Danesti line, a bloodborn. You are true royalty.”

She shifted uncomfortably. Yeah, royalty who had no clue how she fit into this new world, no money, and wasn't even sure how she was going to support herself. She had no doubt Aiden would, but she didn't want to depend on anyone that way, not even her bondmate. “Please sit.” She motioned to the small couch.

As she did, Liam stood and Connor pulled Ana into his lap so Larissa and Aiden could sit together. The Alpha had a casual pose, but she could see the predator lurking beneath the surface. He did not like these males in his home but he was doing it for her. He'd already told Larissa that she was considered part of the pack because of Aiden. She was still reeling from that declaration.

“Thank you for agreeing to speak to us. It's been a long time and I'm so glad you're well,” Juhani said.

“Thank you. Now why are you here?” With vampires it was always okay to get right to the point.

Both males half smiled before Juhani spoke again. “First, I apologize that not all of the Brethren could be here, but we speak on behalf of the four members. Second, I know you are still adjusting to this new world, but no one can negate your power or standing among our kind. Especially considering what you just did with Cornelius and all those vampires.”

She frowned at his words. There was something about the way he said it. “What I did?” While Connor told the Brethren she'd killed everyone, he hadn't told them how she'd done it.

The two males shared a hard look before focusing on her again. “We know what the Danesti line can do,” Narek said. “If it is true you killed everyone on your own,” he said, watching the others cautiously, “then we can only surmise there was one particular way you did it.”

She wasn't going to confirm or deny anything. “Okay. What is your point?”

“We want you to join us,” Juhani said bluntly.

She blinked once as Aiden let out a low, angry growl. She grasped her mate's hand and squeezed tight. It took a moment for their words to register. Surely they didn't mean . . . “Join you how?”

“Join the Brethren. We've been too lax with our people for too long.” Juhani glanced at Connor then. “The New Orleans incident is a prime example.” He quickly focused on her again. “We need someone who is strong, feared and . . . your involvement with a shifter is a bonus. The supernatural races need to be joined. What happened in Winston-Salem could have easily spiraled out of control with humans. Even the media coverage of the female enforcer could have been so negative. If it had been . . . We need a new face and you are the perfect candidate. We don't expect a decision right away and—”