HEARTLESS
CHAPTER FIVE
Hunter Callison was stood in front of me like an apparition from the past. In fact, I had a hard time processing that he was actually real. If it hadn’t been for him pulling the vampire off me, I’d have put his appearance down to my own madness.
I never thought that I’d see him again, but here he was.
“What?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “You seem speechless. I have to say that my presence does do that to people sometimes, but never quite to people like you.”
He looked the same as he always had. It was unnerving to see him looking so much like he had when I’d first seen him. His inky black hair was in its usual style, messy and tangled, reaching down to just below his ears and fringing his face. His dark eyes still held the same amused glint, which seemed to be permanently there even in the worst of situations.
If this was my first time meeting him, and I’d never talked to him before, I would’ve said he was attractive. Sadly, he’d ruined that illusion for me the first time that he’d opened his mouth.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice hoarse. I sunk down into a crouch, staring down at the flaking bodies of the vampires. I needed to look anywhere but at the man in front of me.
Memories were rushing back. They were things that I’d rather forget, that I’d tried my best to push to the back of my mind.
He shrugged, hands hooked casually in his jeans pockets. “You know, the usual. I’m just taking a stroll through the beautiful streets on this fine winter’s night. How about you?”
“You’re not real. You can’t be.” I buried my face in my hands. “I’ve finally gone mad,” I moaned.
“No offense, sunshine, but you’ve always been a bit mad,” Hunter said. “I wouldn’t blame you for tipping over the edge after everything that’s happened, but I’m definitely not a figment of your imagination.”
I didn’t look up. “Oh shit,” I murmured.
“Can we continue this somewhere else? Not that this grimy little alleyway isn’t a great place to hold a conversation, but there seems to be a whole coven of vampires running around here. I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but I don’t want to stick around for the aftermath.”
“I didn’t mean to let them see me.”
“You never mean for stuff to happen, Anne, but it does anyway. If you maybe just stopped to think for a second instead of being a reckless idiot then your plans might actually work,” he said matter-of-factly. He’d never really cared if he insulted me or not – in fact, he strove to insult me as much as possible – and what used to be an infuriating habit of his was like a glass of cold water. After having Joseph showering me with compliments and Luna skirting around my downfalls, it was nice to hear the truth for once.
I laughed shakily, looking up. “Do you think we can get out of here?” I asked.
“Please, sunshine. Give me some credit.” He extended his arm, hand offered towards me.
Sighing in defeat, I put my hand in his. He pulled me up to my feet.
“Did that vampire beat you up too badly? Do I need to carry you?”
I put some weight on my leg, wincing, but the pain wasn’t too bad. “Do you honestly think I’d let you carry me?”
“And do you honestly think that I would in the first place? I think that if I had to carry you I’d probably just leave you here to walk yourself.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Hunter sighed. “Come on. I know a way out. I’m parked near here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You have a car now?”
He smiled. “Something like that.”
Before I could think much about what he’d said, he started to run down the alleyway. I followed, trying to stay close. He took a second to peer around the corner to check for any vampires, and then broke out into a sprint. I went after him, trying to keep up as best as I could. Pain was shooting through my leg and my sides were heaving, still exhausted after my fight with the vampires.
Hunter looked back and groaned. “Have you really gotten this slow, sunshine?”
“It’s not my fault that a few dozen vampires decided to use my legs as a scratching post,” I hissed through my teeth. “And its definitely not my fault that some of them decided that it would be great to try and break my legs as well.”
“Look,” he said impatiently. “These vampires are going to come down this street sooner or later and I’d really like to be gone by then. As much as I’d like to kill all of those bloodsuckers, it looks like my new hunting partner isn’t in the best state.”
I wondered vaguely where the other hunters that I’d met back in England were. Mort, Ant, Alex, Kyle, Blake…
“Then go ahead and leave me,” I said, glaring at him. Old wounds from three years ago were resurfacing. “You’ve certainly done that before.”
“Can we talk about that later? Only I think I hear some werewolves.”
Sure enough, the sound of howling was filling up the night. These werewolves were on the hunt, and if the alliance between the supernatural creatures was any indication, they were probably trying to find Luna and I.
All of my anger at him dissipated, my thoughts focussed on the sound of the wolves. I swore, running towards him. “Okay. You lead the way.”
“You’re still not quick enough,” he growled.
“Tough!”
With an exasperated groan, he ran over to me and picked me up, swinging me into his arms. “Let’s not go about making this a habit, okay?”
“I never wanted to in the first place,” I complained. “Put me down so I can run.”
“No way.”
The howls came again, closer this time. I groaned, wishing that I’d brought my gun with me, the one with the silver bullets that could stop any werewolf or shifter. It was still in the apartment, hidden inside one of the boxes. I hadn’t thought to bring it, thinking that the vampires would be alone. How stupid of me.
“Okay, okay. I’m not complaining. Just run,” I said. I had to admit that we would cover more ground if Hunter was carrying me, however humiliating it was.
Hunter made a grunt of agreement. I looked up to see him smiling; his dark eyes alight with excitement. It was ridiculous how much he enjoyed this sort of thing sometimes.
“Do you think its just werewolves?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Werewolves, shifters. It could be anything,” he muttered. “I think we should just focus on getting out of here for now.”
Shifters. “They can’t see my face,” I moaned. “If they see me…” The vampires from the alleyway had noticed me anyway, and they hadn’t even been close to Joseph. They knew that I’d been at Joseph’s parties. What was stopping the other supernaturals from recognising me, or coming to his next party and seeing me?
“Yes, yes. They’ll be out for your blood. It happens all the time, sunshine.”
“No. You don’t understand, Hunter. They can’t see me.”
I peered behind Hunter’s arm and immediately wished that I hadn’t. A group of wolves was running straight after us. I wondered why there weren’t any vampires with them. Maybe they’d all been sent back to their hideout by the shifters.
Well done, I thought wryly. A pack of wolves running through the city is much more inconspicuous.
Suddenly, I found myself being unceremoniously dumped back on my feet. Hunter was already slinging his leg around the seat of a motorbike, beckoning for me to join him.
Since when did he have a motorbike?
“Come on,” he called impatiently, glancing around in search of the approaching weres. The first few were rounding the corner, their barks becoming more frantic as they caught sight of us.
I ran forwards, jumping on the seat behind Hunter.
He twisted around, handing me a large black helmet. “If you’re so intent on hiding your face,” he said, the exasperation evident in his voice.
With a sense of relief, I put the helmet on. My hair had come loose at some point during the fight with the vampires, and it fell way beyond the bottom of the helmet, but that wasn’t exactly the most important thing to be worrying about at that moment.
Just as Hunter revved up the engine, the first werewolf pounced. It landed squarely on my back, claws digging into my shoulders as it scrabbled for a hold on the smooth back of the motorcycle. If it wasn’t for the helmet, it probably would’ve gouged out my eyes.
“Fancy taking care of that?” Hunter yelled over the engine, kicking it into gear. We started to drive, gaining speed with each second, the werewolf still relentlessly digging its claws into my back.
Before he’d even finished his sentence, I darted a hand back to wrench off one of the wolf’s paws. I twisted around completely in my seat, dislodging the wolf from my back. I heard the rip of my top and felt searing pain as the werewolf’s claws were pulled from my shoulders.
It rolled onto the ground with a whine, but sprung back up within seconds. It started to run after us again, going as quickly as the bike. I held onto the seat with both hands and darted out a kick to its face. There was a satisfying crack as my boot connected with its snout and it was forced to stop running, falling to the floor behind us. I watched its limp body grow smaller and smaller as we drove away.
I turned back around in my seat, still clenching the sides for dear life. We turned a corner sharply, and I nearly fell of the seat.
Hunter looked round. “You still there?”
“Barely. No thanks to your driving, though.” My voice was muffled from the helmet, and I almost had to shout to be heard. I flipped up the visor.
“Please. If it wasn’t for me you’d be vampire food.”
“Luna would’ve saved me.”
“So where was this Luna person?”
“Shit,” I murmured. How could I have forgotten her for even an instant? “Hunter, we need to go back for her.”
“We certainly don’t. I have no idea who she even is.”
“I’m going to jump off this bike…”
He shrugged. “Fine. Be my guest.”
“Seriously. She could be dead by now.”
“Was she that panther who was prowling around with you? Because I already saw her get away from the vampires a few minutes before I found you in this mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if she saw us running from the weres.”
I relaxed. “You sure?”
“I never am.”
I laughed. “Fuck you.”
We turned another bend, and my hands completely lost grip of the seat. I flailed about for a second, my arms wrapping around Hunter.
“Are you sure you can even drive this thing?” I demanded.
“I just need to shake the weres off, okay? Anyway, I don’t think this is too bad.”
“For the thousandth time, Hunter, I do not want to fuck you. Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“You know what.”
“Not really.”
I groaned. “You’re impossible.”
“Says you.”
“Okay, we’re both fucked up. Happy?”
“Not really.”
“Deal with it.”
We fell silent. I gripped onto Hunter as we twisted and turned through the streets until we were sure that we were totally rid of the supernaturals who’d been tailing us. At some point, the buildings around us became taller and the streets fuller. Finally, we joined rows of traffic and busy streets.
After a few minutes of weaving through the traffic, he drew to a halt, the bike rattling to a stop.
I hopped off immediately, taking off the helmet and putting it down on the vacated seat. The bottom of my hair was a tangled, windswept mess, but at least the top was relatively neat – well, as neat as it could be after a near-fatal run in with a coven of angry, bloodthirsty vampires.
“Why are we here?” I asked, walking away from him down the street. We were on 59th, just outside Central Park. I looked up at the covering of trees that peered out from over the fence.
Hunter shrugged. “I figured that the vampires wouldn’t dare try something this far into the city, but the park’s still empty enough to talk freely. I didn’t want to take you to headquarters just yet.”
“Headquarters?” I ventured.
“We told you before that vampire hunters stretch out much further than just our little group. Things have changed since we last saw you… all the hunters have been getting together. All of the organisations and groups have been integrating. There’s something going on with the supernaturals, and we want to be as prepared as we can be to face it.”
“Speaking of since you last saw me,” I began, marching towards him. All of the anger and resentment that I had so carefully stored away all those years ago was bubbling back up. “Care to explain?”
“Well not really-“
Suddenly, I drove my foot straight down onto his. “That’s for leaving me alone the first time,” I hissed.
I kicked him in the shins and he buckled down. “And that was for not coming back when I needed you the most.”
“And this,” I said, lifting up my hand and slapping it across his face with a smack, “is for all the shitty things that have happened to me since then because of you.”
Hunter took a step back, hands raised as if in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry…” I drove a fist into his stomach as I said the word. “Isn’t…” I aimed for his shoulder this time. “Good…” I was breathing heavily by now, my voice strained. I punched him in the side. “Enough.”
In an effortless gesture, he caught my arm as I went for the fourth punch, restraining me. He twisted around my hands, holding them both in one of his, and steered me towards a bench, forcing me down onto it. He sat down next to me, carefully relinquishing his hold on my hands as if he thought I would lash out again at any time.
“I was angry when my parents were killed too, sunshine, but isn’t this stretching it a bit? You’re angry at Chris, I get it, but it’s been, what, three years now? I killed a few vampires and was over it, but you? You’re still mad.”
“I’m not mad at Chris right now,” I growled, glowering down at my trapped hands. “I’m angry at you guys. You promised that you’d come back, but you never did.”
“We heard about your family on the news,” Hunter said softly. “We came back into the country as quickly as we could, but by the time we’d reached the hospital you were gone. They’d launched a massive thing about it in the press – they’ve been looking for you for years.”
“How are they spinning it?” I asked. I couldn’t focus on staying angry when I was finally learning about news of home.
“You’re missing.”
“No mention of lunatic asylums or suspected murder?”
His grip on my arms slackened but I made no move to hit him again. “None yet.”
I sighed. “That’s good, at least.” I stared directly in front of me, unable to meet his gaze. Cars were slowly driving past, honking their horns at each other to add to the jumble of sounds that filled the street. Occasionally, someone would walk down the sidewalk in front of us, glancing curiously across at our little bench. Lights were still on, flooding the street with brightness. Even at three in the morning, the city was bustling with activity.
“We did look for you,” Hunter continued softly, as if he was continuing a previous conversation. “I mean, Blake insisted that we did, not me. It didn’t really matter to me, to be honest. If you’d wanted to contact us, you would’ve found a way, I figured. There was no point in tracking you down if you didn’t want to be found.
And you really didn’t want to be found, did you? We didn’t find a spec of evidence leading us anywhere. Your brother wouldn’t talk to us about it because he thought we were undercover cops or something, and your sister knew nothing. Sam and Claire said that you’d called them from the airport to say that you were leaving, just not where you were actually going. We just about managed to track your passport into America and then, bam, nothing.”
My brother, Marcus, had been the one to let me go. He’d given me the money and means to escape from the hospital where my family had been, before a police officer and a psychologist had carted me off. I wondered if he regretted it now. Maybe he still had moments of doubt where he wondered if he’d done the right thing – was I really the schizophrenic murderer that my psychologist and the police had dubbed me as, or was I just his little sister?
I nodded slowly. “I left the country as soon as I could. They hardly knew that I was missing until I was gone.”
“Did you ever talk to Sam and Claire again?”
“I try to call once in a while, but it doesn’t work out most of the time. It’s too hard. We’ve all changed.”
He laughed. “Death and destruction does that to a person,” he said. “You have changed, though. I mean, you’re still the same arrogant, thoughtless idiot that I knew before, but at least you know how to handle a stake properly.”
“You haven’t changed one bit.”
“Good.”
“Good for some, I guess.”
He snorted. “What? Did you hope that somewhere along the way I’d had a sudden change of heart?”
“To be honest, Hunter, I don’t really care,” I replied tartly. “I’m here so I can learn about your group of hunters, and then I’m going to leave. Don’t think for one second this means that I’m going to start parading around with you guys.”
“So I’m guessing you don’t want to go to our headquarters.”
“You guessed correctly.”
“What about Blake? I thought you two were in love.”
“Firstly, I was never, ever in love with Blake. Secondly, he’s the worst of you all. He promised me that he’d stay; he said that I’d be fine and that everything would be okay, and now look at me. You didn’t care, Hunter, and you bloody well showed that, but at least you had the decency to tell the truth. Blake told a lie. He didn’t care about me or my family, he leapt up with the rest of you to fly half way across the world on a wild goose chase without so much as a thought for me. Out of everyone, he’s the worst.”
Hunter exhaled. “Okay then. No Blake.”
I brought my knees up to my chest, looping my arms around my legs and hugging them tightly. For the first time, I noticed that I was covered in dirt and blood, and my clothes were a tattered mess. I hardly cared.
“What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Same as you, but we’re clever.”
“Who says I’m not clever?”
“Me. You did just see what you did back there, didn’t you? What the hell were you even thinking when you started that one?”
“I found out that a bunch of vampires were hiding there and I wanted to see if it was true. We – me and Luna, that is – were going to assess the situation and take care of it.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow. “Take care of it? Oh, that would go well.”
“Stop being so damn sarcastic all the time.”
“Don’t think I can.”
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“Hunting the supernatural, just like you. I’ve already told you about the other hunters. There’s something big happening soon. There’ve never been so many vampires in the city.”
I nodded. “I know about that. The coven we just saw came here a few weeks ago, at a guess, but they’re moving three more near the city soon. They’re having a meeting in two week’s time with all the leaders of the coven and a few other powerful supernaturals who are in on it, so I’d hazard a guess that these new covens are going to crop up pretty soon.”
Hunter stiffened. “Are you fucking around, Anne? Is this true?”
“It’s true,” I said with a smug smile.
“Where did you hear it?”
“You have your sources, I have mine.” I wasn’t quite ready to tell Hunter about Joseph – mainly because I knew he’d laugh. I’d wormed my way into the supernaturals, but I’d done it in a humiliating way. Where was the skill when it had just taken a bit of charm and a heap of lies?
“We have sources everywhere, Anne. People within the system, people near the supernaturals, everything. But not once has anyone ever mentioned this. If this is true I need to let the others know as soon as possible.”
“I’m good at hearing these things, Hunter. Trust me, the people who were talking about it weren’t messing around.”
“What do you think they’re planning?”
I shrugged. “No idea, but it won’t be good if Edric Hardy’s behind it.”
He paused again. “Edric Hardy?” he repeated.
“He’s in charge of the whole thing, isn’t he?”
“I didn’t know,” he said. He looked at me, his eyes narrowing. “This is about hunting vampires in general, is it? You’re still going for Chris. That’s why you’ve stuck around… to see if he’s involved in Hardy’s plans.”
I stiffened. “That’s not true.”
“Of course it is,” he scoffed. “You’ve got to stop chasing after the guy, sunshine. I know that you’re mad and everything but finding him won’t help you. If he’s close to Hardy like you think he is then it’s going to be impossible to kill him. Go ahead if you want to, but finding Chris Everdeen will only hurt you.”
“I know how to take care of myself.”
“You’re so stubborn,” he groaned. “Look, sunshine, it’s like you have a death wish. If you wanted to kill yourself so badly then you could’ve just told me to leave you with those vampires back there, or let Chris finish you off however long ago it was. But I don’t want to be the reason you die. I don’t want that blood on my hands or Blake and the rest of them glaring at me like I just put a knife through a puppy – so you better listen to me when I say that finding Chris means that you die, one way or other.”
I stood up abruptly. “You’re just as bad as the rest of them, Hunter. You act like you’re all cold and cruel, and that you’re not playing by their rules or whatever, but you’re not actually like that at all.”
Hunter flew to his feet, striding towards me until there was little more than a few inches between us. “Oh really? Because Mort told us that if we ever saw you we’d have to take you straight to him. He knew that you were in the city, sunshine. He’s known ever since we got here. I was supposed to be finding you tonight to bring you to headquarters.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Maybe you don’t, but Mort wanted you for some reason,” he said. “And if I was you, I’d be wondering why.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “He’s Mort. He’ll probably want to force me to join up with you guys or something.”
“And what would be so bad with that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe how he controls all of you like his little puppets. You never get to make your own decisions. And I remember all about how he never wants to kill the supernaturals. He hates when you do that, doesn’t he?”
“We only kill the deserving ones, otherwise it just brings more trouble. What do you do? Kill them left right and centre regardless to who they are?”
“Yes, actually, and if you’d had an inch of sense you would’ve staked Chris straight away and none of this would’ve happened in the first place. It seems ridiculous that you value his life more than the lives of the people he kills.” My voice caught on the last few words. “He killed my family, Hunter, and all because you didn’t have the guts to kill him.”
“We’ve changed, okay? The whole organisations changed. You might be surprised by what you find. It’s not as crappy as it used to be.”
“I’m never going to find anything because I’m not going.”
“Fine by me, sweetheart. Stay away,” Hunter called over his shoulder as he started walking away from me down the street. “Just don’t expect me to come in and save you next time you’re in trouble.”
“I didn’t need saving,” I yelled after him, my feet planted firmly on the ground, unmoving. I wasn’t going to chase after him. I just wanted him gone.
I watched as he got back onto his motorbike, glaring straight at him as he kicked it into gear. He glared back for as long as he could before turning and driving away.
It took me a few minutes to realise that I was left without a ride. Grumbling to myself about the general untrustworthiness of vampire hunters, especially the ones with stupid names like Hunter, I walked out into the road to hail a taxi.
I really, really hated him.