Chapter 28
Addison
The car jolted violently, screeching metal and the crunch of gravel piercing my skull as it veered sharply to the left. Cathy let out a hiss of frustration, gripping the wheel tighter. I wanted to lunge for her, but I could do nothing.
My body was frozen, my limbs unresponsive, thanks to whatever Elven talisman she had tangled around my neck. I sat stiff and incapacitated in the back seat as Cathy muttered under her breath, cursing Hunter and whatever chaos she thought might follow.
“Let me go.” It was an effort to get the words out, a strain to speak through my locked jaw.
Cathy didn’t even spare me a glance as she gripped the steering wheel with one hand and adjusted the rearview mirror with the other. I struggled against the charm, snarling at her back. “This isn’t going to end well for you.”
Cathy’s gaze flicked to the mirror again, her knuckles whitening on the wheel. She still didn’t respond, but I saw the faintest flicker of unease in her expression.
“Hunter will come for me.”
Still she ignored me, but I caught the subtle twitch of her lips. She was afraid. That realization sent a smug vibration through me, despite my terror.
The car suddenly jolted violently, swerving hard as something heavy landed on the roof with a thunderous thud . The entire vehicle reverberated at the impact, and the canopy above me dented inward slightly. Cathy let out a sharp curse as she fought to keep the car under control.
She craned her neck to look around, even as her foot pressed down on the gas pedal. Her eyes darted to the rearview mirror, then the side windows. When she glanced through the back window I saw the terror in her eyes. And it confirmed what I already knew wholeheartedly.
There was a tinge of dark satisfaction in my words that seethed through my gritted teeth. “She’s going to tear you apart.”
“Shut up!” Cathy snapped, her voice shrill. She tried to keep her focus on the road, but I saw her glance up at the roof again, her breathing quickening. The car swerved slightly, tires screeching as she overcorrected.
Everything happened rather quickly after that.
My breath hitched and my pulse pounded when a clawed hand smashed through the driver’s window with terrifying force. Shattered glass shot about like daggers and Cathy shrieked – a sound that was equal parts terror and rage. A sound that was cut off abruptly as the grasping hand clamped around her throat.
She jerked against the seat, her hands flailing at the clawed appendage as it yanked her sideways, hauling her part way through the shattered window. The car veered wildly and I braced myself as best I could.
The vehicle swerved again, lurching violently before careening off the road with a bone-rattling crash. I was thrown sideways against the passenger door. My head snapped back, the world spinning, as the car shuddered to a stop. Cathy barely had time to curse before that hand reached for her again, yanked her clean from the driver’s seat, and dragged her into the night.
Dazed but conscious I blinked through the haze, my ears ringing from the impact. The charm’s magic still held me in place, but adrenaline ran rampant through my veins as I tried desperately to see what was happening, to get a glimpse of that hulking, shadowy figure that stalked outside my peripheral. I twisted my neck as much as the charm would allow, and my breath caught in my throat as I glimpsed the Elven woman, pinned to the ground by a winged monstrosity.
Every limb was long and sinewy, fierce talons arching in the moonlight. Leathery bat wings unfurled and glowing eyes burned with a feral intensity. Despite the racing terror burning through my paralyzed body, despite the horrifying sight of that fanged maw drawn wide above Cathy’s stricken face, I recognized her.
I knew it was her, despite the monstrous form she had taken.
Her fangs were bared, jagged and deadly as she loomed over Cathy, forcing the scrambling woman to the ground and out of my field of view. I heard Cathy struggle, writhing in the dirt and cursing in what had to be Elvish, but it was no use. Hunter was too strong, too angry.
For all her scheming, the Elven woman didn’t stand a chance.
That creature was Hunter, I knew it was. But those sounds… It took a good long while for the sound of violent slashing – for Cathy’s screams – to fade into a chilling silence. But the brutality of the carnage I couldn’t see lingered in the air, thick and suffocating. I sat frozen in the car and squeezed my eyes shut, barely able to think past the pounding in my ears.
When I opened my eyes again, Hunter – that ghoulish version of Hunter – turned sharply toward the car, monstrous form casting a long, jagged shadow in the moonlight. Her wings dragged against the dirt, clawed hands flexing at her sides, and her eyes, still glowing that ghastly red, locked onto me.
My chest tightened, breath coming in shallow, uneven bursts. She wasn’t human anymore – not even the version of her I’d learned to call vampire. She was something else entirely, something feral and terrifying. I tried to press myself against the seat, my stiff fingers faintly gripping the upholstery until my knuckles ached from the effort.
She doesn’t recognize me. The thought struck like a thunderbolt. She was too lost in her rage.
Through the cracked window I watched her move toward me, wings rustling behind her like dried leaves. I wanted to scream, to shout her name. But the sound died in my throat, and all I could do was watch as she reached the crumpled wreck. Her claws closed around the car door, and with a terrible screech of metal she ripped it off and tossed it aside.
My breath came short and fast as she leaned into the cavity until that misshapen face was inches from mine. I couldn’t look away, even as my instincts begged me to shut my eyes.
This was it. This was where it ended. I braced for her claws, her fangs, her wrath.
But instead, I felt a soft brush against my neck. Her claws, though sharp enough to slice through steel, grazed me with care. There was a faint tug, and then the charm snapped, the braided cord falling away. Immediately, the crushing hold of the magic on my body lifted, and I gasped, drawing in the first deep breath I’d managed in what felt like eons.
As I slumped over, groaning in relief, Hunter pulled back as though burned, retreating from the car in one swift, almost skittish motion. Her shirt was a tattered slash of fabric, her wings folding tightly against her back like she was trying to make herself smaller. She backed up further, and the roaring fire faded from her eyes.
The car door was gone and nothing stood between me and the night, and the creature that waited outside. I should’ve stayed where I was. I should’ve been scared. Any sane person would have been terrified. But even as the fear prickled at the edges of my thoughts, something deeper urged me onward – a quiet, unshakable certainty.
That monster was still Hunter. And Hunter would never hurt me.
I’d seen her in those fiery eyes, past the distorted, bat-like face and the tearing claws and the beating wings. Swallowing hard, I pushed myself up and climbed out of the car, my legs trembling beneath me. My heart thudded wildly as I took a step forward, then another, my gaze fixed solely on her. Hunter stood still, her hulking body rigid, rippling muscles taunt and twitching.
I refused to look at what was left of Cathy, refused to let my eyes drift to the carnage Hunter had left in her wake. Instead, I kept my focus on her – on the creature standing before me – and my fear ebbed with every step.
I stopped a few feet away, close enough to see the finer details of her wings, the membrane stretched taut over bony notches. Without thinking I reached out, my fingers brushing lightly along the ridge of one of them. Hunter stiffened as I edged closer, examining those spider veins visible through translucent skin.
She didn’t say a word, and for a long, tense moment, neither did I. And all the while those dark eyes tracked my every movement like they had done so many times before.
“These wings,” I murmured eventually, the doctor in me surfacing despite everything. My gaze glazed over the faint sheen of blood on her claws. “These wings – how do you grow them?”
Hunter blinked, a double helix membrane folding over blood-red pupils. But I was already circling her, running my fingers along the other leathery appendage. “You have to let me do an X-ray. I have to see how they connect to your scapula.”
Her mouth, riddled with pointed teeth, twitched faintly, her voice a hoarse, grating snarl. “Addison, you’re not serious.”
“Dead serious.” My own voice shook, but I lifted my hand cautiously, resting it lightly on her bare chest. She was taller now, all sharp angles and teeth, but the flesh beneath my fingers was warm, alive.
I kept my eyes on hers, and this time my voice didn’t shake. “I’m not afraid of you, Hunter.”
Her shoulders sagged, and something in that twisted expression turned sullen, moody – comfortingly familiar. “But you weren’t expecting… this.”
“It’s a shock, sure. But it’s still you. And I–” I shook my head, stepping closer until her wing curled faintly around me, sheltering me. “I want to know you. All of you. Claws and all.”
The aftermath of the tumultuous evening was a blur. The chaos had died down, the masked elves subdued and bound. Penelope and the other human captives had been loaded into ambulances under the watchful eyes of what I came to learn were armed Leyore vampires.
I stood off to the side of the mansion entrance, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as my gaze followed the retreating vehicle; the ambulance carrying Penelope to safety, to a human world free of mythical creatures lusting for her blood. My throat felt raw from the screams I’d swallowed during the whole ordeal, but at least I could breathe again, knowing she was safe.
Hunter had promised I’d see her soon, that I could head to the hospital the minute we were done here, but I hated letting her out of my sight for even a moment. My body was torn between staying planted where I was and running after the ambulance, but Hunter’s voice snapped me back to the present.
“You’re not going to lose her again,” she murmured as she stepped up beside me.
I turned to face her. She looked human again, though her tattered clothes and disheveled hair betrayed what she’d been through, what she had become. Her shirt was barely holding together, and her pants looked like they’d been through a shredder, and still, her sharp eyes scanned me, searching for any semblance of fear behind my pupils.
“I know,” I said quietly, my voice far steadier than I felt. “Thanks to you.”
Before Hunter could respond, a new voice interrupted. “So, this is Addison.”
I turned to see a group of women approaching – beautiful, confident, and wreathed in a power that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Maxine led the charge, bounding over in a streak of pink, somehow looking completely unruffled despite the scuffle she’d endured trying to keep me out of Cathy’s grasp.
The woman at her side radiated authority, discerning eyes sweeping over me. She was dressed for battle, a far cry from the crisp suit jackets I’d seen her wear on TV, but I knew who she was. “You’re Jordan. The Jordan.”
The woman’s lips quirked into a wry smile. “The one and only.”
The other two women stepped forward, their features just as striking. One of them, tall and lean with a razor-sharp smirk, extended a hand. “River. Nice to meet you.”
The last woman, shorter but no less imposing, offered a nod. “Dylan. And judging by the fact that you’re still standing, I’d say you’re tougher than you look.”
“Uh, thanks?”
Maxine clapped her hands together, her grin as bright as ever. “Oh, she’s adorable. Isn’t she adorable?”
“She’s definitely something,” River agreed, her smirk deepening as her gaze shifted to Hunter.
“All right, lay off,” Hunter grumbled, stepping forward slightly to shield me from their fawning.
“Protective, are we?” Dylan chided.
Rather than respond to the rampant teasing, Hunter’s head jerked to the mansion doors and she grinned at a small figure emerging. “Oh, you’re still here. Thank God you’re not dead.”
Ethan sidled into view, his suit rumpled and his expression harried. “Yeah, no thanks to you!”
Hunter shrugged. “I had priorities.”
The banter continued, light and teasing, and a breath of fresh air after so much carnage, but eventually the group dispersed and Ethan set out to fetch the car we came in.
As the others drifted away, I turned to Hunter. The earlier adrenaline eddied from my body, the tension of the night thoroughly diffused, leaving only a heavy, expectant silence between us.
I opened my mouth, but no words came. Now that we were alone, I realized I didn’t even know where to begin. And so, without a word, I stepped forward and threw my arms around her, burying my face against her chest.
“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice muffled against her skin. “For everything.”
I pulled back just enough to look up at her. Her face was right there, her dark eyes searching mine with an intensity that made my heart stutter. My gaze dropped to her lips, and all I could think about was closing that small distance between us, about what it would feel like to finally admit–
No. Not yet.
There was too much to do, too much of my life still in shambles. My sister needed me. My own world needed rebuilding. This wasn’t the time, no matter how much my heart ached for it. Behind me, Ethan pulled up in the rental cab, honking the horn to let me know he was ready to go. Penelope was waiting for me.
Hunter’s expression softened and I knew she saw the hesitation in my eyes. Her lips curved into a sad smile, and I could see the flicker of pain behind it. She held me a little tighter for a moment, like she was reluctant to let go, but then her grip loosened and she stepped away.
The loss of her warmth was immediate, but I forced myself to meet her gaze.
“I’ll – uh – catch up with you later,” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.
Hunter nodded, her expression still unreadable, but her posture more guarded now.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice just as soft. “Take care of yourself, Addison Moore.”
I nodded back, then turned away before I could lose my nerve. Every step I took felt heavier, like I was leaving a part of myself behind.