LOGINShare
NINETEEN | HESITATION
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56It was all my fault. I’d hesitated, and, because of that, Old Tim was dead. The demon had lured me in, with what were most likely lies, and I’d taken too long to strike. And I’d forgotten another important rule of hunting, though it was an unspoken guideline more than an actual rule: don’t gloat.
Maybe, if the demon hadn’t known it was going to die, it would have left Old Tim alive. I berated myself angrily the whole way back to Seafall, and as my emotional exhaustion began to set in, I continued to berate myself in a bitter inner voice, rather than the angry one, cold and almost toneless.
Death was an unfortunate part of the reality of hunting. But unnecessary death was something far, far worse, and this time I’d been the one to cause it.
I’d gone through the motions of the clean up rigidly, hardly noticing what my body was doing. I was less than a passenger as we sorted t
Related chapters
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY | TUESDAY
Bella e Buona. Beautiful and good, it meant. At least, that was what Cyrus had told me when I’d asked, grinning and eyeing me meaningfully around a mouthful of pasta and garlic bread. “Just like you,” he’d added, his eyes gleaming.I made a mental note about the garlic bread. I was pretty sure that was a myth, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I had to focus on work, otherwise I’d tumble into a swirling pit of anxiety. There were too many thoughts to contend with – too many difficult, confusing thoughts – so I kept my mind purposefully blank, save for useful information. It was a notepad, and my thoughts were allowed to be the pen – and only the pen.I was yet to meet his family, and considering the time I’d spent with him already, there weren’t many notes to make. I idly commented on the food, which was, admittedly, delicious – too delicious for a vampire to h
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-ONE | THE FALLS
As I took Cyrus’s hand, I made a split-second decision. I’d not yet met his family, but with each passing second the likelihood of that shrunk further. And, even if I did meet them, would I be able to discern their true nature? A chef at work or a barman would be unlikely to do anything that would suggest something one way or another, and Cyrus was willing to tell me the truth. About what I didn’t yet know, but I had a feeling I wanted – needed, even – to hear it.So I took his hand, and I followed him out into the dark.He drove. It was a nice car, more understated than I’d expected for a man of his arrogance and wealth. The seats were plush and comfortable, but the dashboard was relatively low-tech. Actually – I squinted through the dim light – was that a tape cassette player? I thought they’d become obsolete years ago.I nodded to it. We’d been sat in comfort
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-TWO | LEDGE
I froze. But it was not just fear that flooded me; it was relief, too, as cold as ice water and just as refreshing too. Someone other than my Dads and the others hunters knew, and the heady part, the thing that freed me, was that I hadn’t told him. I hadn’t broken their trust. He just… knew. But how?My second response was to lie, to protect myself and my team. “A hunter?” I repeated, curling my lip up into a bemused smirk.He rolled his eyes at me. “Don’t pretend.”I sighed. “Fine, okay, yeah.” I gave in too easily, simply because I didn’t want to have to hide it. My whole issue with Harper came from my omission of the truth in our relationship, and now here we were, sleeping in separate beds while I went off on trysts with another man. A man who knew who I was, far better than I’d anticipated. “How do you know, exactly?”
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-THREE | VAMPIRE
I stumbled backwards, my hands moving automatically to my waist, wanting to grab a stake. Realising that I was unprepared – unaware of the danger I faced – my hand slipped further down, and I quickly crouched to grab the switch blade I kept in my sock for emergencies. I’d never been more relieved to feel a sharp piece of metal before. It wouldn’t do much against a vampire – and we’d come in his car, so I didn’t even have my supply of stakes in my boot with me – but it was better than being completely empty-handed.I swung into a defensive stance, my right knee bent and my arms raised. Cyrus rolled his eyes at me.“I’m not going to hurt you, Callie.”I snorted. “How can I believe that? You know what I am. That means that you know what I think of – of things like you.”I swung at him, all of my prior attraction having d
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-FOUR | UNDONE
“Good date?” My Paps teased. His arm was slung across the back of the sofa, and he shuffled around to face me as I sloped into the living room. The wood burner was crackling quietly in the corner, and the mantelpiece was strung with fairy lights. The dark room was bathed in a soft, golden glow, and it made my brain feel even foggier.“Date?” I frowned. “What date?”My Paps raised an eyebrow at me, and I grinned. I toed off my boots and sat down beside him. The living room was painted in deep, neutral shades, cool blues and sandy beige along the skirting board. The sofa was a soft grey, and my Paps blended in neatly. He, and the room, looked like something straight out of an Ikea showroom. He gave me a quick squeeze, and then I settled against the cushions, tucking myself into the throw he offered to me.“It was fine. A bit boring, really. Where’s Dad?”
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-FIVE | SPELLBOUND
“And you’re sure you don’t remember anything out of the ordinary?” Trigger asked, tapping her sleek purple boot against the linoleum floor. Her boiler suit – orange today – shifted with the bouncing movement, tightening at her waist only to tug loose again immediately after.I swung my own legs haphazardly from my seat on the desk. Tonight we were in my old school – they often hired out the assembly room and larger classrooms, and it was a good second best for us when the town hall was booked solidly. We’d dragged in tables and chairs, though most of the chairs were left unused and had been discarded to one side, as the majority of us had opted to sit on the tables or stand.I’d settled myself down next to Sierra, who had been alone and off to one side. Though she was well-liked, there was still some unease between the other hunters and her, especially since the mishap with Old Tim. I&rsq
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-SIX | SIERRA
Sierra rented a small flat down by the coast. It had to be extortionate – it had a sea view, for God’s sake – although it was a studio, and about the size of mine and Harper’s living room. It had the closed in, cosy feel of an academic space, like a towering library or study nook, as it was crammed with books and other odds and ends that looked old and worn. I decided that I liked it.“Sorry it’s such a mess,” she said, flapping her arms wildly as she shoved clothes around, kicking shoes under the bed and launching jackets across the back of the sofa. “I knew you were coming, but I guess I’m so used to living in it that until I saw you stood in here I didn’t realise just how bad it was.”I grinned, and shook my head at her. “No, no, it’s fine. Harper and I are the same. Especially after he’s been at work, or I’ve been on a hunt – I just want to ge
The Hunter and the Vampire TWENTY-SEVEN | RESEARCH
I leant back in my chair and stretched. My legs, outstretched and resting on the desk, shifted and jostled my latest stack of unhelpful documents.“I forgot what it was like to read this much in one go,” I groaned, resting my current book on my lap. “How do you do it?”We’d been working all day, and, as of yet, we’d found nothing of substance. It was exactly what I’d expected – I’d had a hunch, nothing more, and the hunch would always remain just that. It was a vague idea, an uneasy feeling, and there was no literature anywhere in Sierra’s collection to back it up.The sky had darkened hours ago, which made me feel even more separated from the outside world. Sierra’s flat was cosy and warm, with huge bulbs dotted across the walls, slung over her small, ancient television, and wound up the sides of her multiple bookcases. There was enough light for us to wo
Latest chapter
The Hunter and the Vampire 116 | EPILOGUE
I braced myself, lifting a bandolier weighted down with silver bullets and resting it across my chest. My knife was strapped to my ankle, a gun was slung low across my hips, and a silver dagger rested at my thigh.I’d laced my boots with resolve, each knot a promise. I was doing this for the right reasons. I was a protector, not a monster. The sword down my back was double-edged, both killer and saviour, but I wielded it with the power to choose. I would not allow myself to be what I had been, and what many of the others still were.Cyrus caught my wrist, pulling me close. Our lips met in a heated kiss, his tongue and teeth searing my core. Hands tugged the plait from my hair, and fingers tangled in the dark waves. My skin tingled with his touch, and bolts of lightning fractured down my spine.The bond between us swelled, crackling with glossy sunlight and soaring blue waves. The heat of Cyrus’s affection bec
The Hunter and the Vampire 115 | SWORD
Gaudy lights flashed above, drenching Cyrus’s face in bright reds and blues. With alcohol humming in my veins and his arms holding me close, I moved past the flashing, burning image of blood that overlaid the reality of the coloured, moving lights. Even as my mind whispered that it was blood, blood and pulsing blue veins, Cyrus swept me into a spin that threw aside my fears.I grinned at him before he pulled me in again. His joy brushed mine, intertwined within my chest. It didn’t lessen the ache that I dragged with me, but it smothered it, forcing the pain to submit.“As much as I like it when you curse and tease and fight,” he murmured, his lips ghosting across my ear, “you are truly beautiful when you smile, Callie.”Before I could respond, Cyrus tugged me around so that my back was pressed to his front, and his hands cradled my hips. We swung from side to side together, my steps cl
The Hunter and the Vampire 114 | LIGHTNING
I had to move on. At least, I had to try. And, though understanding and enacting were two different things, it was easier to try if I kept myself focused on the present – rather than my jarring, pain-distorted past, or the murky and indistinct waters of my future. Looking back brought forth only blood and terror, and I couldn’t see through the thick, cloying mist shimmering softly ahead. It coated my crumbling relationships, Cyrus’s vampiric nature, and my comparatively short lifespan. Behind, my Dad’s words had carved themselves into my bones and tattooed themselves onto my skin. I could taste Veronica’s fear with every swallow. The walls closed in around me whenever I was alone, and the neat, sharp clicks of Alice’s footsteps followed me around every corner. Even in Wiley Manor, a hotel so detached from my old life in Seafall, monsters found me in my sleep. Sleepy, soft kisses to my forehead, my temples,
The Hunter and the Vampire 113 | SANDBAR
“Get out,” Dad hissed, his face contorting. Shadows crept across his cheeks and nose, distending it into something twisted and evil. Fear filled my gut, and I stepped backwards. My hands trembled as I reached for the door.My fingers turned to claws as I scrabbled behind me. Dismay rose in my throat as I flattened my palms, feeling desperately for the door. I turned slowly, knowing before I saw it that the door was gone.I was trapped. The windows shuttered, and my Dad loomed before me. Paps cowered at his side, shrunken and rat-like with front teeth that slipped from beneath his lips. As I watched, they sharpened into points and became fangs.My feet skidded under me, slipping on something wet streaking across the floorboards. I looked down to get my bearings, to get my balance, and bile clung to the back of my mouth. It wasn’t just something wet. It was blood.Flames shuddered acr
The Hunter and the Vampire 112 | RIFT
The drive to the hotel was quiet, but comfortably so. Perhaps because there were no words that could have made the situation any easier, Cyrus and I allowed the silence to swallow us whole. He rested his hand on my thigh, a steady pressure that kept me grounded enough that thoughts of shoving myself out of the car and rolling across the road – just so that the physical pain overshadowed the emotional for even a moment – seemed nonsensical.Without him there, I wasn’t entirely sure what I would have done. I heard my Dad’s last words to me on every inhale, and I saw the dull look in my Paps’s eyes with every exhale. I breathed, but it didn’t make me feel any better.Get out. Get out. Get out.The sun was just starting to break through the clouds as we pulled in to a car park, nestled alongside a shaggy stretch of woodland. I turned to Cyrus, confusion drawing my eyebrows down. H
The Hunter and the Vampire 111 | BLOOD MOON
My back stiffened. Any attempts at lounging went out the window the second my Dad entered the room. I curled my hands into fists, digging my nails into the soft, broken skin of my palms.His face was shadowed. I ached to go to him, to bridge the gap between us. He’d placed a blanket on me as I’d slept mere weeks ago, and now he was staring at me as if I was a stranger. My breath latched in my throat as I tried to speak.“What is your decision?” I asked. My voice did not sound like my own.“This has not been easy for me, Callie. For us. You have made it incredibly difficult.”I stood on shaking legs. There was a softness to him beneath the hard shell that forced his mouth into a downward tilt. It spilled out rarely, but it was there.“I am sorry for what I have done,” I said. “But I do not regret it, nor do I wish to t
The Hunter and the Vampire 110 | FAMILY
The world collapsed in on itself as I waited for the door to open. My right hand remained curled in a loose fist, raised against the wood, knuckles bared. I flexed my fingers and, slowly, lowered my hand.I focused on my breathing, caught in that everlasting moment. With every rise and fall of my chest, I could feel the passage of time. It had to be moving. I was not trapped here.I turned halfway back towards Cyrus, needing to see him, to reassure myself that he was still here with me, when the door finally opened. I caught a flash of hair so dark it shone blue even in the dim light, and then hard arms were pulling me inside.“Callie,” Paps breathed, his body warm and unyielding as he held me close. “Oh, thank God.”I stilled against him, my arms at stiff angles by my sides. My heart leapt – he seemed glad to see me – even as it twisted and tangled, knotting itsel
The Hunter and the Vampire 109 | NOSTALGIA
“You know,” Cyrus said, his tone carefully casual, “I could do the same for your Dads – and the other hunters, too.”He set down the photograph he’d been holding, the wooden frame knocking against the hard surface of the kitchen counter. I didn’t have to look to know which photo in particular he’d been about to pack into my old, worn suitcase, scraped from years of overuse.The day had dawned slowly, the sun hiding behind blank white clouds that had grown grey as they had settled into the sky. The kitchen was dim, though Cyrus’s eyes still somehow glittered like stars on a calm sea as they met mine.I sighed, shoving the last of my cutlery into the same wicker basket I’d used to move my utensils to and from university for the last three years. It smelt faintly of fruity cider, and my nose crinkled slightly at the faded red stain down its side.
The Hunter and the Vampire 108 | HARPER
“Harp?” I called out. It was the first time I’d spoken to him since our argument. I’d heeded his wishes; as such, I had no idea if he’d even still be at home. I hoped he was. Whether for me or for him, I longed to offer him this chance to move past this. I had ruined myself. I didn’t want to destroy Harper, too.“Callie?” Harper thundered into the hall, eyes wide, chest heaving. “I – I went to find you, and you were gone.” He pulled me into a crushing hug, pressing me tightly against his chest. “Fuck. I was so worried, Cals.”My heart ached. “I’m sorry.” My voice sounded tiny.“I – I thought–“ he spoke wildly, the words spilling out between panted breaths. “I thought you were – oh, shit,” he swore, and then pushed me away, holding me at arm’s length to appraise me. &ldqu
