Page 29 of Bullets and Blood (Hunting Hearts #1)

“Fuck you. And cursed feud and lies.” He crouched down as though Scott would be able to hear him despite his ruined skull.

“I am so fucking tired of it all. Of the fighting. Of the fear.” He closed his eyes.

He’d been enjoying the truce and letting himself believe that there was another choice, but it was a lie. People like him didn’t get choices.

Lance had the chance to be something else.

To have something more than nightmares next to him in bed.

The Orlans would never accept that he was done. That he wanted to walk away.

There was only one way to end this. It’s what he should have done instead of running with Zinnia.

He snarled. “You killed my brothers. My mother. My entire family…You wanted Lance to hate me? To fear me? I will give you all something to fear. I will be the monster you think I am.”

There would be no one left alive to hunt him or Lance.

He picked up Scott’s gun and checked how many bullets were in the clip. Enough to make a start.

While he’d sworn to Zinnia that he wouldn’t seek revenge, this wasn’t revenge. This was putting down a mad dog that wouldn’t stop biting. He’d be doing every vampire in the country a favor by going after the Orlans.

It was rage at the way they had been the ones to take his life bit by bit until there was only bullets and blood left, that pushed him to move. He turned in a slow circle taking in the damage and by the time he faced Scott, he knew what to do.

He stripped Scott and dragged the naked body out on to back lawn where the dawn sun would hopefully turn it to ash before the neighbors got up and saw the corpse.

Getting rid of Scott was just the start.

There was still enough evidence to make it look like a murder had happened, and he was still the chief suspect given that he’d been renting the room for the last month.

His name was flagged in so many systems already that this would be enough for human cops to do more than question him.

He washed his hands, scrubbing at his nails and then his face. His mouth tasted like metal. Blood was smeared on his skin. He needed a shower, but that would have to wait until he’d cleaned up.

Beneath the kitchen sink were spare rubbish bags and bleach.

He bundled up Scott’s clothing, keeping the body armor for himself.

His hands shook as he filled the bag with things that would need to be disposed of.

He emptied the wallet of cash and IDs and chucked that in too.

With the towel, he wiped every surface they may have touched before putting the towel in the bag, too.

The cracked TV he couldn’t do anything about.

And the damage to the mattress… There wasn’t much he could do about that either.

He stared at the sheets with their neat holes. They’d have to go, too. He pulled them off and shoved them in the bag. Then he flipped the mattress. Scott had shot the bed because he didn’t know about the nightmare that woke Nix every night.

Nix put fresh sheets on the bed and then started cleaning every surface with the lavender-scented bleach. The room was going to be cleaner when he left than it had been when he’d arrived.

Every noise or dog bark made him jump. There was a body in the back yard. And dawn was still an hour away.

The adrenaline that had kept him going had deserted him and left him weak. His lung ached, and the scar was pink and shiny. He wanted to sink onto the edge of the bed and rest, but he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to sleep again.

If he’d let Scott shoot him, that could’ve been the end of the matter. He could’ve saved Lance the heartbreak of doing it himself when the truce ended.

He wanted to call Lance, but the sound of Lance’s voice would only open a wound that wouldn’t heal. Even though he knew his lover was a lying, oath breaking Orlan, Nix couldn’t hate him. He could only hate himself for the weakness of always falling for the wrong man.

Nix showered and dressed, ready to leave the moment every part of Scott turned to ash. His hands were raw from the chemicals, and if he ever smelled lavender again, he might puke. He stared at the sky, watching as it turned pink, willing the sun to hurry up.

Scott’s phone rang. He stared at the screen, Mirabella Orlan herself was calling.

He considered ignoring the call, but that wouldn’t achieve anything.

Though this would be awkward since he’d just killed her son.

Nix answered with no shake or softness in his voice. “Hello.”

She took a second to register he wasn’t Scott. “What have you done with Scott?”

“Nothing you wouldn’t have done to me.” Nix leaned on the sliding door frame. The dark no longer hid the body, and the sun was a sliver of gold in the sky. He willed it to hurry up.

“You listen, Hadley?—”

“No, you listen, Mirabella.” Hate and fear and exhaustion tied him in tighter knots with every passing minute. “I am done with being hunted. If you’d agreed to the peace deal, you could’ve run Melbourne’s underground on your own.”

“And let your family become honest? So they could stare down their noses and bare their fangs in contempt? Never. Your mother sought to end the feud by walking away, and her blood is thick in your veins.”

He took the compliment that was intended as a barb and hugged it close. His mother had been many things, and their relationship had been strained after he was turned, but she’d wanted peace between the families, and for that, she should be honored.

“You ruined the peace talks so you’d have a partner in crime?

You’re sick.” She didn’t care how many were hurt or killed.

To her it was a game and she’d keep changing the rules so only she could win.

“I swear, every Orlan I see will find peace in the sunrise. If you stop sending them after me, I will start hunting them.” His voice became a cold thing as he pulled on the old armor that he’d worn whenever he was sent out to do a job.

This wasn’t new. He was just picking up the old feud right where he’d left off.

There was no new start or second chance for people like him.

As long as Mirabella Orlan was jerking the strings, no vampire was safe.

“When I return to Melbourne, there’ll be a reckoning for the murder of my family.

This blood feud ends with me, but not with my death. ”

He hung up. He’d promised the Reids that he wouldn’t kill any humans, but vampires, even unblooded ones, were fair game. Since they saw fit to let more Orlans in, it was clear that this area wasn’t the safe haven he’d hoped for.

The sunlight crested the trees and hit Scott’s toes. They flashed bright for a moment, then turned to powder.

Nix watched grimly as the body was destroyed.

Scott wouldn’t have been as generous. He’d already be in the boot of a car heading home to face Mirabella.

With a final glance around, he slung his old backpack over his shoulder and picked up the rubbish bag full of evidence. Scott’s gun rig was awkward beneath his coat, but by the end of the day, he’d be as used to wearing the gun as he was to wearing sunscreen when he went out.

He put on his sunglasses and walked out.