Page 24 of Of Hearts and Hunters (Fallen Crowns Duet #1)

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Bodhi responds, shocking Paxton and me.

Normally, a Korma would raise an eyebrow at a Korama refusing a direct order–whether they’re a part of the pack or not–but because of Bodhi’s standing, Paxton is inquisitive instead of aggressive. “Why is that?” he asks.

We sense it before we see it. Maybe Bodhi felt it first. Paxton swivels his large head away from Bodhi and me, growling a low and deadly warning call.

I put my head down, knowing without a doubt who is coming out from the shadows to meet us in front of the now-smashed-up corner store. I recognize the scent. I’m sure Paxton does too, which is why he’s on the offensive. He knows that the Vampyr approaching us is from the Queen’s inner circle.

Bodhi shakes his head quickly as the Australian guy Darren likes so much enters the scene, his hands up as if Paxton has a badge and a gun. “He healed a few Korama children in the street,” Bodhi tells us softly. “He won’t hurt us.”

Paxton opens his mouth in surprise but also snarls quickly for the vamp’s benefit, causing him to step back in fear. “I don’t trust Vampyrs,” he snaps menacingly.

“I know. I don’t, either. But there’s something weirdly different about some of ‘em.” Bodhi jerks his head in the Aussie dude’s direction and barks once, moving his head toward me in a downward tilt.

Bodhi’s words make me wonder what other stuff this vamp did to make him so ‘different from the rest’–and who else Bodhi is talking about.

“I’ll allow this purely for Verity’s sake, but if he tries anything–” Paxton begins.

“He won’t,” Bodhi assures his Korma.

“–he won’t survive,” Paxton finishes.

Again, you don’t want to interrupt the Korma, but Bodhi is different. Old-timers like him have a ton of respect from the rest of us. Back in his day, Bodhi was a powerful member of the Cold Moon Pack. Koramas always revere those who came before.

Whatever adrenaline I had left from my multiple battles is wearing off. Flames are licking every inch of my body–or, at least, that’s what the pain feels like. I can’t think clearly. I just want it to stop.

The vamp approaching us begins to talk, but it comes out in another language–to me, anyway. Paxton and Bodhi clearly understand him. It’s only when the vamp gets closer to me, crouching down and looking over my mortal injuries with sad (sad?!) blue eyes that things get clearer. These annoying black spots of mine distort his face, but at least I can smell him, sense him, better. I know he doesn’t have a clue who I am, but I remember him from the manor. He was the one who got the Queen when Darren’s two shithead brothers were trying to kill me.

Even though I’m on death’s door, it’s hard for me to let down my guard a hundred percent as the Vampyr smiles down at me. “G’day,” he murmurs. “I’m Terry. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

He drags his fangs against the fragile skin of his palm, then leans over me, the disgusting vamp blood coming for my face. It sickens me. I’ve never drunk Vampyr blood before–but honestly, I have no choice now. It’s not like my Korama healing can put up with all these war wounds. I’ll never make it on my own.

Live or die. Blood or die. If I’m too proud to accept help from a vamp, I’ll die an idiot’s death and won’t be able to save any of my Korama family.

Darren didn’t want anything to happen to Terry. If Darren is friendly with him, then this Aussie guy can’t be all bad. I need to trust him so I can survive. I finally snap open my mouth, allowing Terry to dig his knuckles into his palm. The crimson stuff trickles onto my tongue. I choke it down as fast as I can, wanting to get this over with ASAP.

I’m on my feet in seconds, my pounding head, weak limbs, and the splotches clouding my vision suddenly gone.

Damn! No wonder it’s tough for us to kill vamps! Their healing powers are jacked!

I know I can’t just leave without some form of gratitude. I glance up at Terry and grunt in acknowledgement.

He smiles down at me. “No worries,” he responds. He looks over at Paxton and Bodhi. “Something dark is happening,” he tells them. “Magic of some kind. Something’s makin’ it easier for the Vampyrs to move through town.”

Paxton glances at me and Bodhi in aggravated revelation.

Screaming causes us to turn, seeing two humans staring at us in shock. One guy is running away, screaming, ‘Wolves!’ Maybe that’d be funny if we weren't on the on ramp to doomsday.

Terry walks over to the other two humans who are frozen in place. We look on, wondering what he’s up to. Is he gonna drain them of blood? But why would he do that if he just healed some Korama kids–if he just healed me?

Maybe these clueless humans think if they stay still, we won’t attack. That might work with bears, but not with Koramas. We don't have time for humans. We’re loyal to them–even if they’ll always and forever label us as freaks.

My thoughts about the ungrateful humans explode when Terry waves both arms in front of the two scaredy cats, who seem to be looking right past–no, through –him, just staring at us like we’re the only ones on the street. Even though humans can’t tell that vamps are, well, vamps until it’s too late, you’d think they would’ve backed away with Terry being up in their grills like this.

“They can’t see him,” Paxton growls through clenched teeth.

Bodhi shakes his head, a scowl forming on his gray face. “I bet the Magicena are behind this,” he tells us. “Humans can’t see Vampyrs, but they can see Koramas? That’s not possible without a spell.”

Guilt churns in my stomach.

Time for a vomit confession.

“They’re working together.”

Paxton swivels his head to look at me. “Why does it sound like you have more than just a theory to back that up?” he demands.

My legs buckle slightly. The way he’s eyeing me now, it wouldn’t surprise me if he used his Korma Voice to get it out of me, to make me submit. But that’s not necessary.

“The sparklies help the vamps walk in the daylight. Spelled jewellery. I know for sure.”

It comes out like someone who has the trots: quickly and uneasily. It might not make a ton of sense, but I know Paxton is picking up what I’m putting down. His honey brown-eyes go from pensive to the aha moment and then switch again to… Anger? Betrayal? Annoyance? I’m not sure.

My guilt might not be as heavy, but there’s gonna be hefty consequences for me keeping my mouth shut. Maybe if I’d come clean sooner, Koramas wouldn’t have died. We might have been more prepared for this raid. It’s not like I meant for any of this to happen–but that doesn’t make it any better. I guess I thought I had more time to do extra digging, to get more evidence than, ‘I know for sure.’ But there’s no going back now.

And there’s one other thing.

Paxton and Megsie can’t know I was working with Darren–especially since during most of that time, we had a kill order on him, and I easily could've finished that job as a human.

I’ll have to do whatever I can to keep him out of this, and not just because he was trying to help us. I still hate admitting this to myself–will it ever get any easier?–but I’m falling for him. And if my Korma and Kormi find out about that , well–

Shattering glass and a mind-numbing crash echo through our brains, causing the humans to scatter. We’d only been talking for about ten seconds before the explosion rocked this side of the tourist district. I jump for Bodhi when one of the trees near us splinters down the middle and aims right for his skull. I headbutt him out of the way just before the tree splinters to the ground.

I guess I’ll have to be disciplined later.

Terry swings his head to look at me as we’re racing through town. I still can’t believe I’m working with a Vampyr– again . But desperate times call for desperate measures. We still can’t find the rest of the Cold Moon Pack. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Even with our sense of smell, combined with the fact that we’ve all been living here for years, it’s difficult to pinpoint fresh trails. If we weren’t being hunted, maybe we’d have more time, more luck, to find them. But with us watching our backs every five seconds, we can’t concentrate.

It’s almost like that was what the vamps and sparklies wanted: to send us spiralling. Make us doubt ourselves. Splinter us from each other. Koramas are strong and capable, but we work better as a pack–and everyone knows it. With us on our own and more or less fighting alone , it’ll make it easier for the vamps to pick us off one by one.

This is why Paxton proposed that I work with Terry. He didn’t want me to be alone, and he knew Terry had intel about Vamp HQ’s plans. Paxton sent Bodhi to find more Cold Moon Pack members, while he is fighting by himself. As Korma, he must feel like it’s his duty to ignore his own well-being at the expense of saving his people. I just hope he and Bodhi will be okay as they go it alone.

“Hey!” Terry calls, probably trying to get my attention. “I think I know where we’re gonna find the ones in charge of the raid!”

That sparks a fire inside me. It fuels my focus. I guess working with a Vampyr from the Queen’s inner circle is a smart battle tactic. Paxton knows what he’s doing.

Take me there, I want to say, but I know he’ll never be able to understand me, so I simply nod up at him.

I’m surprised that Terry is pretty spry on his feet. He’s pretty much equal to me in speed and agility as we wind our way through humans (though he doesn’t have to worry about that as much as I do) and head for the outskirts of town.

He’s taking me to the Heavenstream National Park.

I guess it makes sense if shit is going down there, since it borders Vampyr and Korama Territories.

We don’t have to get any closer to the bush for me to smell the vamp stink, the blood, the carnage. Fuck. Terry wasn’t joking about the slaughtering taking place here. I’m not gonna lie: I’m afraid Terry’s leading me here to kill me. But I need to trust Darren’s judgement. If he’s accepted Terry as a friend, a Vampyr worth saving, then I have to try and trust Terry, too. He saved me and those Korama kids. I’m just hoping those things prove Terry’s sincerity and aren’t some kind of messed-up ruse.

It’s weird how I don’t smell or sense any sparklies in the thicket, but they’ve gotta be close if they’re using their magic to cloak the vamps. I feel even dumber for keeping the truth away from everyone. There will be time for those feelings later–hopefully. Right now, we gotta get through this.

“Do you trust me?”

We’re huddled behind a large maple, watching the ricocheting shadows of a chaotic fight beyond us. We’re likely out of earshot, especially with the noise from the battle ringing in our ears.

I have no fucking clue. I also don’t have a choice.

Terry must see the hesitation in my eyes because he gives me a smile that screams, ‘understanding.’

“Right-o. Based on your size, you’re one of the Big Three. Can’t say I’m tickled pink about this, either.” He turns his head in the direction of the fighting, and his chest heaves suddenly. “But what my kind’s doing is wrong. Can’t believe we’ve gone against the treaty.”

I can.

But at least I can tell that Terry isn’t spouting bullshit based on how he’s talking, how he’s looking at the shadows dipping in and out of the heavy freezing rain.

I can trust him. For now.

Terry jumps a bit when I nudge him with my head. I give him a big nod.

He smiles at me, in a different way than before. “Why do I have a feeling that you’re more tolerant than the others?”

I frown at him, trying to throw him off the scent. But it’s no use. There’s no time for this, and I can’t lie about it anymore. At least he can’t know how I feel–about Darren, my changing views, the internal battle raging inside me–just by looking at me in this form.

“Well, once we get in there, I’ve got your back. It’s gonna be bloody awful.”

A grin spreads across my face.

That’s what I’m hoping for.

We stare at each other for a second. One second and we both know what we have to do. Terry whizzes toward the chaos from the right. I jump to attack from the left. I conceal myself behind some nearby shrubs heavy with snow and ice as Terry steps into the brawl, holding up his hands as his comrades snap necks and murder innocent Koramas. I see scared humans in the mix, too.

Fuck. They’ve all lost it.

And then I see the other Vamp Prince that’s way too annoying for words. He’s laughing his ass off as he slams a vamp headfirst into the frenzied water. Based on the blood, the Vamp Prince must’ve broken through the ice with that poor bastard’s face.

I frown at this. Why is he drowning his own kind?

“That’s enough, Gabriel!” Terry exclaims, stepping closer to the bunch of vamps who are gleefully causing shit. “This is a bloody disgrace! What are you doing to poor Zander?”

Wait. That’s one of the Vamp Princes, too!

Isn’t Darren friendly with this dude?

Why the fuck are they ganging up on a Vampyr Prince? That is a huge screw-up on their part. But who knows what the Queen wants her stupid sons to do. Ganging up on each other kind of makes sense, in a stupid-as-hell sort of way.

“Stay out of this, old man!” Gabriel hisses at Terry as he pushes Zander further into the water. Vamps won’t die from drowning but it’ll sure hurt while it happens, because they’ll reanimate or whatever and just keep on suffocating.

I hear Zander protesting under the frigid waves. Humans are screaming in confusion as vamps eat them alive. They can’t see them I guess, but they know something horrible is happening in the darkness–other than their throats getting ripped open.

“This is not right, Gabriel! Call it off!” Terry snaps angrily, not backing down, even when the three vamps closest to Gabriel start to close in on him.

Damn. I’m liking this Aussie guy more and more by the second.

“Priscilla, Ernest, Doug–get rid of this little souris for me.” Gabriel tosses his command over his shoulder like he can’t be fucking bothered.

Terry’s eyes widen as the three Vampyrs lunge for him.

Goody.

The Priscilla vamp screams when the big-ass tree branch I chucked hurtles through her chest. She drops instantly, the branch swinging into the Vampyr ahead of her. When he stumbles, I’m already mid-air, ripping his head clean off his shoulders. I grab his hair in my muzzle and rocket it underneath me, causing it to shoot through the chest of the other Vampyr who’s still trying to get to Terry–or me. I’m not sure if he was alert enough to even catch what was happening in the two seconds it took for me to get in front of him.

“Sacre bleu!” Gabriel cries out as I stand next to Terry, baring my teeth at the Vamp Prince.

“Let’s end this before there’s more bloodshed,” Terry tries to reason with the Prince, who’s pushing Zander deeper into the water. His body is limp. He must have succumbed to the water again. Poor bastard.

“Let me think about that for a minute.” Gabriel muses as he looks up into the night air, being a dramatic little bitch. “No.” He suddenly yanks Zander out of the water, who’s now awake and thrashing to be freed, just to thrust an arm through his back.

“No!” Terry screams as I yelp in surprise.

Zander’s yell gets cut off when Gabriel pulls his arm back, revealing a bloodied hand with Zander’s heart clutched between his fingers. Zander’s dead body crashes gently into the waves, being pulled under by the current. Worst of all (sort of), Gabriel laughs this little cruel laugh at the end, like it was some big, cosmic joke.

The fuck?! He’s just a kid!

I see red. I don’t think I’ve been this angry in years. Rage pulses through my body, causing my claws to tremble slightly against the hard snow. Terry’s crying slowly blends into the background as I glower at the nutbar cackling at what he’s just done to the Vampyr Prince.

That’s it!

I’m mid-lunge when Gabriel drops Zander’s heart into the dark waters, directing his gaze up ahead, where the dead foliage fringes the clearing. The Vampyrs around him are still killing humans. There are a few shifted Koramas here who are fighting–but no one from the Cold Moon Pack. I have this irresistible pull to protect them–they haven’t been trained to fight, they need me–but I know if I eliminate the threat, AKA Gabriel, they’ll be safer. And he’s distracted by whatever’s happening in the forest.

I’m distracted too, rocking back on my heels, when Darren crashes through the clearing, eyes trained on the water as he sinks in front of the lake, weeping uncontrollably. “Zander!” he cries, his grief like a knife slicing through my chest.

“You’re next, Monsieur Pierce!” Gabriel roars, rushing straight for him.

Darren looks up just as Gabriel looms above him, blood-stained trench coat and all. He’s ready to kill again. This motherfucker means business.

Gabriel screams when I land on his shoulders, crushing him into the snowy ground as Darren backs away in surprise.

“Verity!” Darren gasps as I bend down and slice into the back of Gabriel’s head. The dick screams in vain and in agony, and I gotta say, it tickles me. I cut off his annoying yelling when I sink my teeth into the vamp’s neck, digging through spasming muscles. When his head pops off, I grab it with blood-stained jaws and toss it over my head like a soccer ball. Some wolf around here will eat it or even play with it, using it to kill other vamps.

“Crikey!” Terry exclaims as I use my hind legs to boot Gabriel’s dead body into the lake. The force of my kick breaks his body through the ice.

Good fucking riddance! Get swallowed up by the water, just like what you did to Zander! But the difference is, no one will fucking miss you!

Harsh wind and the intense rain act like bullets sinking into my fur, but I don’t care about any of that. All I care about is stopping this raid, keeping the Koramas and humans safe, and kicking these Vampyrs’ asses. And protecting him .

I train my eyes on Darren. It looks like he’s seen a ghost: his hazel eyes are fastened to the icy lake, filled with grief and other feelings I can’t identify. Tears stream down his pale yet handsome face.

“Darren! Get up, boy!”

Terry sounds closer than he was earlier, but I don’t have time to turn around and find out. I’m suddenly grabbed from behind by what feels like two big-ass Vampyrs. The Douchebag Princes are dead, so my attackers have to be other vamps with axes to grind.

“Get this monster away from the Prince!” yells the Vampyr on my left as he sinks his teeth into my jugular with speed I didn’t see coming.

I howl in response as warmth explodes from the searing pain. I feel my own blood gushing from the open wound, trailing hot down my chilled fur. I’m dizzy and sick to my stomach. The clearing is starting to spin around me, swaying at alarming angles, like I’m on some broken rollercoaster ride.

Fuck! This asshole is draining me!

Man, I just can’t catch a break tonight!

“Kiran, don’t!”

I hear Darren’s firm protest against the growing wind as my eyes begin to flutter. Damn. This vamp has to be experienced because he’s already halfway done. I’ll be dead in no time.

“Kiran, that’s enough! You know better than this!” Terry’s voice warbles in and out of focus, as if I’m underwater. Just like Zander. Like that fucker who killed him.

“Stop it, Kiran! She wasn’t trying to hurt me!”

I think the second Vampyr has let go of me because I slump awkwardly as the Vampyr, who must be Kiran, continues to eat me alive. I’m sluggish and disoriented due to the blood loss. My thrashing and anger seep out of me like my will to live, to fight. This has to be how my parents and Grandpa felt.

I refuse to meet Darren’s eyes because I know the symmetry, the similarity, will be too much for me. Why give him the haunting image of my dying face for the rest of his life? I know how badly that fucks you up.

My body is heavy, cracking apart from my brain. It’s like I’m having an out-of-body experience.

This is my worst nightmare–getting murdered by a Vampyr.

I always knew this would happen.