Page 154 of Hunters and Prey

Chapter 11

The hunters went straight for the bodyguards as a horde of vampires came barreling into the room from other parts of the house. Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, I stayed where I was with Rem, waiting for the inevitable moment when Alec would come for them.

“Friends of yours?” Remington asked, arching a brow.

My lips twisted in annoyance. “Not really.” I watched as the hunters and vampires attacked one another, piles of dust increasingly decorating the floor. “It seems like we’re out numbered.”

“So, it appears.” The irritation in Rem’s voice made me glance back at him. “Oh, don’t worry, dear. Everything is going according to plan.”

My brows furrowed at his words just as a hunter, surprisingly not Alec, came at us. He pointed his gun in my direction, and it took me a moment to realize he didn’t know who I was. With a disbelieving snort, I stood up and faced him, keeping Remington at my back.

“Die, vampire bitch.” The hunter, a teenage boy hardly old enough to grow a beard let alone be hunting this big of a nest, sneered at me.

Before he could let off a round, I grabbed the barrel of his gun and whipped it up and out of his hands in seconds. His eyes followed his gun with disbelief but then he pulled out a knife and growled.

“You’ll pay for that, bitch.”

“Oh, God, get some better material,” I snapped, dodging him as he ran at me and then jerking my hand up to hit his arm. The hard impact made his knife skitter across the floor before I unsheathed mine. In the blink of an eye, I held it at his chin, lifting his eyes up to meet mine. “You really should be respectful to your elders.”

“Just kill me, I’d rather die than be one of you,” he spat which caused Remington to laugh hysterically.

I shot him a look. “Really?”

Wiping a hand over his mouth, Rem grinned at me. “You have to admit, it is a bit ironic. He thinks you’re a vampire.”

Turning my gaze away from the laughing vampire who only seconds away from getting my knife in his chest, I glared at the kid. “How old are you?”

The teenager didn’t answer, staring me down like I was some disgusting thing sent to kill him. Rem was right. It was funny, but in a bad way. If they were sending out kids to fight without the basic training to spot vampires, then things have gotten even worse than I’d feared at the guild.

“Ned, get back here.”

My head jerked toward the sound of Alec’s voice. Alec stomped toward us, his boots pounding on the wooden floors. I noticed then that most of the vampires were gone or had been turned to dust, leaving only Remington behind.

Alec’s lips were pursed in a frustrated line, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. When neither Ned nor I backed down, his gaze turned to me. “Adara, leave him alone. He’s just doing his job.”

“Yeah,” I agreed but I didn’t lower the knife. “Badly. Are you so hard up for bodies that you had to bring recruits into this? He didn’t even know I wasn’t a vampire.”

The sound of my name at least caused a reaction in the kid named Ned. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. This time when he looked at me it wasn’t in disgust and rage but admiration and… ew… fucking horny teens.

Alec’s gaze swiveled to Ned, making the teen flush and stutter. “But she was all over that vamp. I saw it. How was I supposed to know she wasn’t one of them?”

Shaking his head, Alec stepped between us, daring me to either lower the knife or stab him. I admitted I hesitated which caused Alec to give me a curious look before I lowered my knife down.

“You have to use more than just your eyes to sense vampires,” Alec explained to Ned, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t just see them here.” He pointed at his head before pointed at his chest. “You also have to sense them here.”

Remington made a short of impatient snort, drawing Alec’s attention.

“Look at Adara,” Alec instructed him. Ned, for what it was worth, did as he was told except the way he looked at me made me want to put on a burly coat. “Now, look at him.” Alec pointed toward Remington. “Do you feel the difference?”

Ned’s brow lifted and his eyes squinted. “I think so?”

“Good, now, remember her face.” Alec clapped his hand on Ned’s shoulder. “Because she’s a pain in the ass and might not stop next time you pull a knife on her.”

Remington did laugh this time. “He has you pegged, pet.”

I glowered at the vampire over my shoulder. I sure as hell did not liking being made fun of. However, when Alec moved toward Remington, his hand making the telltale sign that he was going to lift his gun, I side stepped into his line of view.

“What are you doing?” Alec asked, his brow furrowing. “He has the director.”

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