Page 19 of Of Hearts and Hunters (Fallen Crowns Duet #1)

VERITY

“ Were you followed?”

Paxton’s words echo through my head. I’m so sweaty and overwhelmed that I can’t even stand. I’m left huddling against the wall like a moron.

Jerald frowns at me, confused, as he holds the door open for Briony. We’re the last of the Cold Moon Pack to arrive at Megsie’s place. It’s risky as hell meeting together like this, but we don’t have a choice. An emergency pack meeting had to be called–and honestly, being followed and crowded into one place like sitting ducks aren’t our biggest problems.

“No,” Briony answers quietly as I shudder, crossing my arms over my chest to try and keep warm. It’s like I’m underwater: she’s right beside me, but I can barely understand her. “We drove slowly enough to blend in with Valentine’s Day traffic. And we didn’t smell or sense anything.”

I can’t help but flash back to the night I was hunted down by a pack of Vampyrs like a coyote to fucking cattle. I never sensed anyone watching me. Never smelled ‘em, either. Maybe the vamps had the Magicenas cloak them. Who the hell knows? It’s not like we can pull up a chair with Andre and play twenty questions.

Maybe it’s best to just confess. Who cares if I get in trouble?

“We can’t be too careful,” Megsie adds, smoothing out her dress as she takes a seat on one of her leather chairs. “Now that the Territory Laws have been abolished, there’s no real consequence for crossing our border.”

“What about the fact that all kill orders have been lifted?” Chiara demands, stepping into the middle of the living room. Figures. And here it comes–

“What about Freddie? And Jaxon?”

Jaxon was a piece of shit! And we all miss Freddie. Don’t act like you’re the only one suffering here!

And then, the thoughts I’ve been holding back this entire time–because I’m too sick and too ashamed to let them in…

Darren got the job as the new Vamp Prince because we killed the other one. The vamps retaliated. That’s why Freddie died.

I was supposed to kill Darren. But I didn’t.

But he saved me from that disgusting asshole. If Darren never turned, if I’d killed him, Jaxon would’ve raped me for sure.

And now I’ve fucked up my life even more by kissing him.

I kissed a Vampyr – and I liked it?!

What’s wrong with me?

I flinch, shutting my eyes to try and block out the wave of angry, confused, and hateful thoughts that threaten to drown me. I have no time to worry about this. With our luck, the vamps are gonna sweep in here and rip all our hearts out or snap our necks like twigs. Or the sparklies will get rid of us first.

“We need to honour the treaty,” Paxton begins, at the coffee table, his voice slowly getting louder to counteract the anxious talking from the rest of the pack. “We’ve all read it,”–I didn’t– “we all know what’ll happen if we break it.”

“But no one here actually believes the vamps and Magicena want a truce in the first place!” Max counters, jumping up from the other leather chair, blue eyes filled with vengeance. “We know it’s just a trap!”

“We need to be the ones to go along with it–for now,” Paxton booms, drowning out the rest of Max’s ranting.

Everyone else is starting to panic. Chiara’s high-pitched, annoying voice is making my migraine worse. Niles is trying to calm them down, saying things like, ‘each and every noble signed the treaty–‘they all know the repercussions if it’s broken,’ ‘nothing will happen to your families,’ ‘we’ll increase security at the border,’ blah blah blah.

As the Kormo, I need to stay respectful and honour what Paxton and Megsie want. And they want us to follow the treaty's rules. The only thing is, I don’t believe a word of it either–especially because of the thing with the Vamp Queen and Magicena King. If I wasn’t in the Korama Nobility, I’d be like my pack mates right now: running my mouth out of fear and desperation. This kind of stuff usually isn’t allowed, but I guess Paxton and Megsie understand everyone’s anxiety. Besides, they’re always spewing stuff about the Cold Moon Pack being an ‘open forum.’ So I guess this is what they–or, we –get.

Now that shit is starting to hit the fan, I’m rethinking saying anything about my own intel. Everyone else is spouting theories and crap and being shot down by Megsie in her Lawyer Voice. If I start yammering about this half-assed theory, they’re going to shut me up too. I think I’m too sick and in too much pain to say anything smart or even normal.

I don’t think Paxton likes my silence. He looks at me every once in a while, eventually seeming pissed that I haven’t contributed. I don’t like being nervous, weak, that kind of girl, but my nerves spiral out of control the last time he glares at me, making me yank over one of Megsie’s potted plants and puke into it.

MARCH FULL MOON

The weeks leading up to the full moon drag, each seeming longer than the last. I’m itching to be more powerful, safer.

The Korama Nobility is gearing up for a battle tonight. It’s been quiet over the past few weeks. Too quiet. We think the vamps are planning a raid. We need to be ready for anything.

And now that the Territory Law is no longer a thing, there’s nothing stopping vamps or sparklies from crossing over onto our side of town. In fact, we’ve already seen it happen. The day after the stupid peace party, when I was still puking my guts out, Jerald messaged the pack group chat, reporting three Vampyrs hanging around The Azalea Tavern. Megsie had to talk Max and Chiara down from brawling at the border . But me…

I already knew this was going to happen. Vamps and Magicena don’t care about rules or borders. And they don’t care about kids, families, or older people. If they’re Koramas and they’re in the way, they’re gonna die. Simple. And the innocent humans who happen to live in Wolf Territory are going to get caught in the cross-hairs.

Things are only going to get worse.

As the Kormo, it’s my job to make sure the Korama community is as safe as possible. Paxton pushed that job even further by giving me the responsibility to patrol the daycares, churches, and schools that have mostly Korama families enrolled. I’ve spent most of my free, non-working time in those areas so I could feel useful. No innocent Korama or human is going to die under my watch.

On my way to work, I pass by clueless and happy humans all wrapped up in their own little lives. Even with the rainstorm we had last night, the streets are populated with tourists taking advantage of the ‘less busy vacationing season.’

If these clueless dopes really knew what goes on in Vancouver, they’d never set foot in this batshit crazy place.

That’s why the humans need us, even if they’ve never known about our existence. We protect them by patrolling the border, making sure vamps and Magicena don’t interfere in their everyday lives. After all this, we’re still labelled as the freaks, the monsters, by the other two races (and would be by the humans themselves, if they knew about us).

Vamps don’t give a damn about human safety; they feed, erase minds, and kill without blinking. It’s like breathing to them. And the sparklies are so up their own asses that if humans get caught in the middle of magic experimentation or in-fighting, they don’t give two shits. And if they’ve teamed up with the vamps–

I almost pee my pants when someone calls my name from behind, breaking me out of my thoughts about how things used to be, how they are now, and what’s going to happen to all of us. My fear cuts through my senses, temporarily blocking me off from discovering who is behind me.

Fuck. Paxton keeps telling me to calm down, to home in on my wolf senses. If I can’t do it now, what’s going to happen tonight, when it really counts?

As soon as I see him, my sense of smell returns, and I immediately relax.

Lamar.

I was friendly with him and the rest of the theatre gang when he and Freddie were a thing. Freddie and Lamar were pretty serious. Freddie wasn’t a playboy–he was all-in with everything: boys, the pack, school, and then acting.

I grit my teeth to stop myself from grieving for Frederick all over again. I gotta keep it under lock and key for Lamar, who has darker circles under his eyes than I do. Still, he offers me a small smile, so I try to act the part for him.

“Hey, Lamar.” I hold out my hand, and we do that stupid fist bump thing Freddie loved so much. When we’re finished, Lamar brings me in for a hug. I don’t refuse.

I’m not a huge hugger, but I make an exception for Freddie’s grieving human boyfriend who still has no idea about what truly happened to the real Kormo of the Cold Moon Pack.

“Have you heard anything?” is the first thing Lamar says when he lets go of me. Thank God he can’t see the big-ass lump of guilt that chokes me as soon as he asks.

“Uh, no.” I wipe my sweaty palms on my leggings, feeling like shit for lying to him. I go through the meeting we had shortly after Freddie died, when we decided on a cover story in case anyone asks. It helps to have some Koramas on the police force. Niles is friends with a detective who even does some sleuthing while in wolf form. “We heard it could have been gang related. Wrong place, wrong time,” I finally add.

Lamar shakes his head. “Yeah. That’s what the cops told me, too,” he sighs as people pass us, giving Lamar impatient frowns because he’s in their way. I glare at them, wanting to punch them in the face.

“Freddie never put himself in those kinds of situations,” Lamar presses as we make our way to The Azalea Tavern across the street. “He knew where all the sketchy people hung out. He avoided those spots like the plague.”

This is where the cover story falls short, in my opinion. The theatres in town are usually in touristy areas, but one is in a run-down section of the city. Drug deals and gang shit go down in the alleys around the theatre. Lamar is right: he and Freddie always went to and from that particular theatre by circling or avoiding those alleys. If Lamar digs a little deeper, he might figure out that his boyfriend’s death didn’t happen there.

Fuck. This is getting bad. The sleepless nights Lamar clearly has under his belt are probably spent doing research about Freddie’s death. What do I do now?

I open my mouth to say something but freeze in my tracks. My teeth clench together.

Fuck!

Saying it in my head isn’t enough. I want to scream it from the mountains. I wheel around, Lamar following me in my peripheral vision, confused.

“Damn, Veri,” he whispers to me, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up tall.

Don’t do it, Lamar! I beg him in my head as Darren looks at us, hands in his pockets.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Lamar teases softy, but not fucking softly enough. “No wonder you fell off the grid.”

I hit him fast, a little harder than I wanted to. “Shut up!” I hiss, but I know it’s too late. Damn vamp hearing!

Lamar laughs once but clams up and squares his shoulders, ready for me to introduce him (yeah, right). Lamar and Freddie were so outgoing together. I guess that’s what happens when you’re an actor.

There’s a weird pause, which I guess should have been filled with me explaining who Darren and Lamar are to each other, but I ignore it and cross my arms over my chest.

I never wanted to see Darren again. Sure, he messaged me a couple of times, even left a voicemail asking to explain himself, but I really didn’t give a shit. When you kiss a guy and he pulls away like you just dumped garbage juice on him, you get a pretty good idea what’s going on.

“Hello.” Darren clears his throat, holding out his hand to Lamar. “I’m Darren Pierce-Crané. And you are… ?”

“Lamar. Lamar Davis.” Lamar shakes Darren’s hand easily–and why wouldn’t he? The vamp stench is lost on humans–as I huff under my breath, annoyed that a Vampyr is in Korama Territory. And not just any vamp–the vamp I kissed . It was much easier to forget about it when he wasn’t in my face like this. Why the fuck is he here?

“Well, I gotta head to work.” Lamar straightens out his dress coat. He’s an administrative assistant for Megsie’s firm. “Nice to meet you, Darren.”

“Pleasure,” Darren responds.

Don’t leave me! I think at Lamar as he turns to smile widely at me. “See you, Veri.” He grins, knowing the look I’m giving him is one of desperation but he clearly doesn’t care. He’s way too smug about this. Damnit!

“Bye,” I grumble as he turns, stifling a laugh from behind me as he trots down the sidewalk.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demand–or, accuse–meeting Darren’s eyes before he can say or do anything.

“Hello to you too, Verity. It’s been a while,” he answers, half-sarcastic and half-soft, calm, his stupid-ass tender self.

“Don’t give me that. You’re in wolf territory,” I hiss under my breath so no one can hear us. I’m opening the door to the tavern, and he fucking follows me inside !

“I know how to read a map. I know exactly where I am,” he tells me as he closes the door.

I can sense every move he makes even with my back to him, and I tell myself that’s because he’s the enemy, a Vampyr, and I’m protecting myself. But I’m bullshitting myself. That’s only half the reason.

When did I begin to fall for him? When he showed me he was different from the other vamps? When he agreed (under duress, sure) to help me protect the Koramas by figuring out the secret behind Daywalkers?

Wait. Who gives a crap about the reason–the main thing here is that I’m falling for a Vampyr! My parents, my grandparents, they’d all be turning in their graves. I’m a horrible person. A pathetic excuse for a Korama, a Kormo. I can’t do this. I can’t be this person.

I have to get out of here.

But I can’t. My shift starts in ten minutes.

“Congratulations,” I snap as I begin to shrug out of my jacket. I throw it onto the old-school coat rack that Bodhi made a long time ago. He was a carpenter when he was younger.

As I turn around, I suddenly lay eyes on Bodhi himself, staring at Darren from over the counter. Darren is clueless, undoing the zipper on his leather jacket as Bodhi shifts uneasily from his place behind the bar.

“Don’t be an idiot,” I find myself telling Darren. “You know what tonight is, right, dumbass? And you’re showing up here anyway?”

“I guess that answers my question as to whether or not you’re still angry with me,” Darren sighs, causing my heart to skip a beat. My chest clenches painfully at his words. When I look up at him, it only hurts more.

“You never answered my messages or my phone calls. I came to explain,” he murmurs.

He’s a bigger moron than I thought if he thinks he won’t be overheard if he keeps running his mouth like this.

“What did the runt bring in this time?” Max jokes as he walks over to me, pulling on my ponytail happily. I fucking hate that people refer to me this way–thank you, genes–so I smack his hand away.

“Shut the hell up,” I order as I push past him.

“I just came for some lunch,” I hear Darren saying to Max as I take my place behind the counter, feeling Bodhi’s eyes on me. “I hear the burgers here are the best in the city.”

“Verity.”

I look up at Bodhi, who is as white as a sheet. “What?” I ask, gaping at how freaked out he is.

“Chiara told me he killed Jaxon. Why is he here? And how do you know him?”

I clear my throat, hating to lie to the only family I have left. “From the meeting with the Queen, and the peace party.” I guess those aren’t lies–mostly. I just knew him before those things happened.

Darren approaches the bar, placing his hands on the counter. “Good afternoon,” he greets Bodhi pleasantly, but his hazel eyes finally look nervous under the pressure of about thirty Koramas staring him down.

Bodhi might not trust Darren, but he’d never turn away a customer–even a vamp. “Hello,” he responds warily. “What can I get you?”

Bodhi gestures for me to go through the motions, so I reach under the counter, grab one of our wiped-down menus, and slap it in front of Darren, causing him to jump. That tickles me on the inside, especially since he kicked me to the curb a couple of weeks back.

Fuck. I’m still so raw and hurt over his rejection.

I hate how much that still bothers me, even though I’ve been trying not to think about it since it happened.

I spent a day or two after the peace party holed up in my room, staring at his messages and missed calls like a pathetic loser. Briony hounded me about ‘what was eating me,’ and I couldn’t say, ‘a fucking Vampyr.’ So I stopped looking at my phone and just ignored everything. Ignored him .

Until now.

Bodhi frowns at me. “Be nice, Verity,” he tells me–or warns me. Talk of the treaty and being ‘civil’ with the other two races have been all the Korama community has been able to think about over the past few weeks.

Darren clears his throat and looks through the menu. “The burger special sounds good,” he requests.

“Coming right up.” Bodhi frowns at me again. “That comes with a drink, remember?” he prompts, telling me to do my job without saying it.

“Sorry, we’re fresh out of B positive,” I snarl.

“Verity!” Bodhi hisses under his breath as Darren flinches at the mention of blood. Vamps will drink from anyone and anything–Koramas included. And we can’t be mind-wiped, either. No snatch and erase.

Darren is probably trying to keep it together at the tavern. I guess I shouldn’t bring up blood now. I was trying to ruffle his feathers, not put anyone in danger.

“A coffee would be nice,” Darren decides unevenly.

“None is made,” I counter.

“But we’d be happy to put some on.” Bodhi throws his hand up at me as if to say, ‘what’s wrong with you?’

I stomp away from the counter and begin to make coffee, wondering if Darren would notice if I threw some shit from the grease trap in there.

How dare he just show up here!

Why would he walk into a Korama den without any kind of protection or friend? (He’s probably too annoying to have many of those.) And on the day of the full moon? Is he nuts?!

But there he is, sitting as calm as can be. Fucking idiot. I can’t believe he’s here.

I can’t believe he’s here.

I suck in an uncomfortable breath at the thought of him coming to explain himself. Underneath the pissed-off fireball wall I’ve built, I’m terrified of this conversation–but at the same time, I really want to know why–

What am I doing? I know why. I’m a Korama. I’m hot trash compared to the other girls around here. I’ve never had stars align for me and all that crap when it comes to guys. No one’s ever looked twice at me unless they thought they could get a quick lay. Even if he’s a Vampyr, he’s just the same as any other man I’ve liked or (God forbid) wanted to be with.

As if on cue, Chiara sidles up to me. I guess that pins-and-needles feeling I had this entire time was also due to her being around. Damn. I really have to pay more attention. I totally forgot she was on the roster for tonight. Great.

“What’s he doing here?” she hisses, adjusting her pink blouse. Her long black hair is pulled into a messy knot at the base of her head. Whenever I try the messy bun look, it always looks like I got into a fight with a bunch of oversized rats.

As usual, men walking into the bar look at her as if she’s a fucking goddess. Even though I want to kick myself for admitting this, at least Darren isn’t looking at her. He’s still sitting there, hunched over the counter, posture relaxed but hazel eyes darting around the room. When he hears Chiara, his eyes land on us. Shit. I hate how my chest squeezes when they focus on me.

“Shut up,” I order. “He can hear you , remember?” I stare her down even though she’s taller than me. She stares right back, a smug smile growing on her lipstick-filled lips.

“Why is he always around? Don’t you have a direct order to–”

“Stop.” I enunciate the word with every fiber of hatred I have for her, but it’s not enough to wipe the smirk off her perfect face. She knows I can pull rank over her, but she also doesn’t care about anything I have to say.

Chiara has never cared about anything to do with me, but now she’s using her anger about not being considered for Kormo against me by being even more of a bitch than usual.

Making matters worse, Chiara knows Darren can hear all this. And he’s vamp royalty. She knows all kill orders have been made ‘null and void’ under the new treaty. She’s stirring up shit just to make me look bad.

“Chiara? Could you fill this order, please?”

Bodhi gestures to the three men standing to Darren’s left, musing over the specials on the overhead chalkboard in between gawking at her. Chiara nods at him and saunters over to the men, pencil and notepad ready. I watch her, imagining taking her by the back of her head and slamming her face into the counter. Can’t do any of that now that I’ve been promoted.

Bodhi disappears from around the counter, probably to mingle with the new guests or to check on some of the rooms upstairs. I remember the coffee and grab a clean mug from the pile in the kitchen and begin to pour Darren’s coffee. I decided against spiking it with anything–too many witnesses, including him–so I just slide it over to him black.

“What do you want in it?” I ask, my voice monotone, like him saying anything other than, ‘nothing’ will ruin my life.

Darren reaches for the mug, his golden bracelet catching the light as he moves. “Nothing, thank you,” he responds, sliding the coffee cup the rest of the way without looking at me. Fine by me.

“Hey, baby. I’m getting thirsty over here!”

I roll my eyes at the drawl from Kevin, the human drunk who always comes in here. He bothers all the girls, but he’s all talk, which is why Bodhi still tolerates him–but every now and then, Bodhi’ll give him the boot if he gets to be too Kevin .

“Keep your pants on!” I call, circling back to the kitchen to put away the rest of the clean mugs. If they stay in that pile, the cooks won’t be able to wash any more dishes. I hear Kevin growling at me, but I don’t turn around. No use trying to reason with him. He’s already intoxicated and stupid–not a far cry from what he’s like sober.

“Hurry that juicy ass over here!” he catcalls impatiently.

Goosebumps rise on my arms as I finish my task. Images of my attempted rape flood my mind, making it impossible to catch my breath. Jaxon’s cruel sneer and Kevin’s unwelcome jeers feel like a sack of bricks on my stomach. I flinch uncontrollably, fighting the urge to shut my eyes and run away.

I wish I wasn’t wearing tight black leggings and a low-cut top. My outfits are great for tips, but I don't like being under the microscope like this.

“That’s quite enough.”

Lylah’s just arriving for her shift, so she walks in just as Darren turns to face Kevin. Chiara is filling beers, so she’s definitely aware of what’s happening. In fact, every Korama within spitting distance is fixated on the Vampyr taking on the town drunk for harassing a Kormo.

Kevin looks Darren up and down and laughs once. “Who are you, geek?” he chortles. “Mind your own damn business.”

“I won’t if you continue to disrespect her,” Darren answers simply but firmly.

“What’s the big deal? She’s fucking used to it. Look at her. She’s just a skank!” Kevin gestures to me with a scowl, like I’m not a real person.

Maybe it’s because Darren rejected me.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been so down about being chosen for the Kormo promotion when I know in my heart I was the wrong person for the job–the wrong person to replace Freddie.

Maybe it’s because I’m always looking over my shoulder for another vamp to jump me, to take another loved one away from me, to give me another battle scar that won’t heal.

Maybe it’s because I hate myself right now and always have.

But whatever the reason, my eyes are hot with tears at Kevin’s insult.

In one swift motion, Darren flings himself off his stool, causing it to catapult across the room. He grabs Kevin by his collar, dragging him out of his seated position. Kevin’s brown eyes are filled with fear at Darren’s unexpected strength.

Bodhi has a rule in The Azalea Tavern: no fights. I mean, there’s also a ‘no Vampyr’ rule, but because of the treaty, we can’t really enforce it.

Despite the treaty, every Korama in the place is now on their feet. Some have clenched fists, knowing a greasy human asshole is on the line and not one of their own. Some look like they want the fight to continue. Others look enraged that a vamp is causing shit on their side of town.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” a few patrons call–mostly humans. They don’t know any better.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Bodhi yells, grabbing hold of Darren’s arm and pulling him away from the creepy human.

Kevin loves this turn of events. Two Koramas jump to either side of him, dragging him off after he attempts to lunge for Darren. “Yeah! You started it, you dumb son of a bitch!” he hollers at Darren, who looks surprisingly pissed off.

I’ve never seen Darren act this way before. His lips are pursed into a thin line, his jaw is clenched so tightly, it might break off his face, and his hazel eyes look almost black. It’s kind of entertaining to see him like this, because he’s usually so up his own ass and intellectual. But now isn’t the time to be amused by anything.

“ You started it by harassing my staff! Out you go!” Bodhi shocks me by snapping back, gray eyes firm and ready.

The Koramas release Kevin but circle the width of the rumble. Now that Bodhi has kicked Kevin out, they probably think he’ll wobble out of the tavern to drink somewhere else, just like always.

“You can’t do that!” Kevin screams, throwing himself at Bodhi, who puffs out his chest and pushes Darren out of the way.

“I sure can!” Bodhi counters as Chiara and I step in front of him. She might be a nosy bitch, but we’re allied in our desire to protect Bodhi. He took me in. He doesn’t deserve this shit. Chiara and I will fuck Kevin up if it means keeping Bodhi out of harm’s way.

“Get out of my way!” Kevin snarls at us, black hair framing his angry brown eyes.