Page 5 of Hunted in the Shadows
I glided down, catching Jon’s eye meaningfully. “I’ve got him,” I murmured, allowing my defensive magic to melt away. Looking between us, Jon gave a nod and murmured his gratitude before pulling himself away to check on Veronica.
Wincing, Cliff tore his shirt further to make his wound accessible to me as I approached him. Tiny pools of blood gathered inthe bite’s many punctures, trickling steadily down his chest, over his many interlocking tattoos. My head still throbbed from the glamour attack. AndCliff—we could have lost him.
I stumbled over the words of the healing incantation, my hands trembling so hard that the magic couldn’t form properly.
“Hey,” Cliff murmured. I peeked up to find a pained little smirk on his lips. He gestured at the icy formations adorning the inside of the building. “A little over the top, don’t you think? You’re taking the fun out of the hunt.”
A harsh laugh rattled through me. “Any morefun, and you would’ve been tasting blood instead of ash.”
“You don’t think I’d make a hot vampire?”
“Please. You’re enough of a nightmare as is.”
Miraculously, our shared chuckle gave me the poise to complete the healing. My handiwork was far from perfect. When I tried to tell Cliff my suspicion that part of his collarbone might still be cracked, he advised me to save my energy and nodded in Veronica’s direction. Jon knelt beside her, helping her breathing calm.
“No pressure,” Cliff added, softer. “The hospital isn’t far.”
The hunters never forced me to do anything, but I couldn’t bear the idea of letting that poor girl suffer while I had the power to take the pain away.
Jon stayed close behind me like a sentry while I healed Veronica’s many bite wounds. Although I doubted she would do anything rash, I was grateful for Jon’s watchful stare. His eyes only tore from me long enough to punch in the phone number on his cell to request a cab.
The sight of the fang marks, ranging from weeks-old to hours-old, made my chanted words tight. Veronica stayed quiet other than a few sighs when the freshest wounds faded, but as I finished closing the last few punctures near her wrist, she swallowed hard and drew in a little breath to speak. I bracedmyself, certain that I would be met with a slew of questions that I’d rather not answer.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Relieved tears mixed with the ash on her cheeks. “I forgot what it felt like not to hurt.” She still stared like she couldn’t believe I was real, but freedom from the utter hell she’d lived through must have superseded all other thoughts.
“I know how you feel,” I replied, reminded of the constant ache of a bullet hole in my wing. Except Veronica’s captors never had the faintest intention of letting her see sunlight again.
Within ten minutes, headlights pierced the vacant parking lot outside. After looting through a few piles of clothes, the hunters found plenty of cash to cover the fare two times over. Jon pressed the money into Veronica’s hands, careful to stay in the shadows when we ventured out the front of the building. I hovered beside Jon at eye-level, mindful of the slow approach of the vehicle.
“You have somewhere safe to go?” Jon asked.
Veronica rubbed her bare arms against the sting of the bitter autumn night. “My brother. He lives across town, not far from my place. He must’ve worried himself into an ulcer by now. It’s beenweeks.”
She attempted a laugh which came out more as a choked wince. My brow knit—I knew the feeling poignantly. It would be some time before that smile came without effort.
Cliff stepped forward, shouldering off his jacket. He draped it around Veronica to quell her shivering. Vampire blood smeared a large portion of the canvas material, but she clung to the sleeves like he’d given her diamonds.
“How can I thank you?” she asked in a thready voice, eyes wide.
Cliff gave her one of those softer smiles that made me melt, exchanging a look with Jon.
“Wait a couple days before you give a statement to the police,” Cliff said. “And… maybe you could forget the two handsome devils that came on the scene when you do.”
Veronica scanned him up and down, an understanding clench set in her jaw. “What guys?”
Cliff grinned. “Attagirl.”
The cab parked at the curb, idling. I cemented myself to Jon’s shoulder, silencing my wings to stay hidden. Veronica dove forward to embrace each hunter and paused to regard me—offering a teary smile of gratitude before she ducked away, tearing open the back door of the vehicle and climbing inside.
I became more aware of my heart hammering out a war-beat as ambient stillness took hold, broken only by the rumble of the cab’s departure. Its fading tail lights cast a fleeting glow against the damp pavement before turning onto the main road and disappearing into the night.
Relief should have washed over me. We had survived another hunt. We’d saved a woman and perhaps the very soul of this sleepy town.
I cast a look back toward the crime scene, unease licking up my spine. I hadn’t sensed the coven leader’s presence, and Cliff had nearly lost his life because of it. Were there others I had missed during our stops traveling west?
My fluttering pulse wouldn’t slow. What would it cost if it happened again?
Taking wing, I flew ahead of the hunters back into the Blockbuster. Under the weak gray light of the surviving fluorescents, I surveyed the room warily. It was choked in quiet, smoldering with ash and ice.
