Chapter 13 Kit
THIRTEEN
Kit
Anticipation thrummed through Kit as he ran out of town, towards the woods. Despite the thick layer of cloud darkening the sky and obscuring the full moon, Quin would be waiting in his wolf form. Kit couldn’t wait to see him that way again.
Kit wasn’t far into the wilderness when he came to a halt, spotting a few figures getting out of an ostentatious silver Range Rover.
In a single bound, they jumped the stone wall that bordered the farmland.
A few strides forward, and Kit made out their faces as they moved swiftly through the field bordering the woods.
It was Conroy and the two female vampires from the nest. The three wore identical outfits; tan linen shirts with multiple pockets and matching trousers, tucked into knee-high brown boots of the same colour as the wide-brimmed hats on their heads and the thick belts around their waists.
Conroy had forgone his usual cravat, this time choosing a white scarf knotted at the base of his throat.
The ends dangled down over his chest, where his unbuttoned shirt lay so far open that Kit saw a flash of nipple.
The most alarming and implausible addition to the outfits, however, were the large rifles slung over each of their shoulders.
They looked like they were on safari in Kenya, not hanging about on the outskirts of a Scottish former fishing town. They were so out of place it would have been comical, if not for the guns.
“Evenin’, Kit,” Conroy shouted across the field with a mock-salute.
Kit started, not realising they’d spotted him. Dread churned in his gut as he dashed over to them, stopping a dozen feet away. The wind gusted around them, tugging at their clothing and whipping Kit’s curls in front of his eyes.
“What’s going on?” he asked, dispensing with pleasantries.
“You remember Tati and Kezia, don’t you?
” Conroy said, gesturing to them. Tati was the one who’d been hanging off Conroy the last time he’d seen her, with a long aristocratic nose and plucked eyebrows in two crescent moons above hooded eyes.
Kezia was the younger of the two, the one who’d had the audacity to call Kit adorable.
Judging from the pinched expression on her overly made-up face, she no longer held the sentiment.
“Sure,” Kit said. “Now, are you going to answer my question?”
“Gosh, no need to be such a curmudgeon,” Kezia said.
Conroy laughed as if what she’d said had been funny. Kit failed to see the humour in it.
“What’s with the guns?” Kit asked.
“Tati reminded me you’d come to see us about a werewolf. It’s a full moon. We fancied a good old-fashioned hunt,” Conroy said, gazing at Tati with undisguised affection.
“I miss being able to hunt big game,” she simpered. “It’s far too easy nowadays, but Master says that werewolves are faster and stronger than any other animal.” She hefted her gun, teeth gleaming in a toothy smile. “A true challenge.”
Kit’s insides flipped. “He’s not an animal, and you won’t be hunting him.”
Conroy’s brows pulled together. “The last time you came to me, you said I should get rid of him.”
“Well, that was before!”
“Before…?”
Kit swallowed. “Before I got to know him. Everything’s all right now. No need to do this. I have it under control.”
Tati stomped her foot like an entitled child. “But, Master, I wanted to hunt the werewolf.”
“Darlin’,” Conroy soothed. “It’s fine. We can hunt the werewolf.”
The combination of the pet name and Conroy’s insistence on hunting Quin had Kit snapping his fangs. “You’ll hunt no one,” he hissed.
“Werewolves are just big animals, aren’t they?” Kezia asked, more to Conroy than to Kit. His claws lengthened as he imagined tearing her tongue from her mouth for daring to ask such a thing.
“Kit, how about you calm down?” Conroy said.
Kit’s hackles raised. “Calm down? You want me to calm down? When in the history of ever has anyone calmed down because they were told to?”
Conroy looked amused at his outburst. “How about you be the first?” he suggested.
“You can’t go hunting people down for fun,” Kit said. His gaze darted between the three of them. Tati and Kezia were new enough that Kit could beat them one on one, but Conroy was hundreds of years older than him. Kit wouldn’t stand a chance against them all.
Despite that, he readied himself for a fight, his claws lengthening.
“What do you do every night for food?” Kezia asked.
Kit narrowed his eyes. “I do what I have to survive. This isn’t for food; this is barbarism dressed up in silly clothing.”
Tati gasped. “These are vintage.”
The wind changed direction, Conroy’s shirt flapping to reveal even more chest. He sniffed and took a step closer to Kit. “You smell different.”
Tati and Kezia followed, both of their noses sticking up in the air. “He does, Master,” Tati confirmed.
“What have you been getting up to?” Conroy asked.
Kit raised his chin. “It’s none of your business.”
“Oh my god, he smells like dog,” Kezia said, delighted.
“He smells like wolf,” Conroy corrected. “I suppose that’s why you don’t want us hunting the beast down. Is that right?”
“He’s mine,” Kit said, baring his teeth.
“Now, come on, you know you can’t make a claim unless you’re going to recreate them.” Conroy shot him a self-satisfied smile. “And he’s already a werewolf. It’s impossible.”
“That doesn’t matter—I’ve claimed him. You can’t touch him. Those are the rules,” Kit said.
Conroy shrugged. “I made the rules, darlin’. I can break ’em.”
Despite Kit’s vindication at having pegged Conroy as the rat he was, this wasn’t going the way he needed it to. “The other territory leaders will—”
Conroy waved a dismissive hand. “They’ll do nothing. It’s a werewolf, which is outside of their jurisdiction. Nobody will care.”
Kit clenched his jaw. So, he was to be alone again.
Except he wasn’t alone. All four of them heard it, turning in unison towards the woods. A long, fierce howl split the air.
Quin.
Conroy didn’t appear worried. He pulled the rifle from his shoulder, removing its strap. “It appears our prey is offering itself to us.”
“I suggest you leave. He’ll rip you limb from limb otherwise,” Kit snarled.
Tati jumped around with glee, rifle rattling.
Kit sped towards the forest, intent on getting to Quin first. Before he got there, white-hot pain seared through his arm, throwing him off-balance. He fell hard onto his side, only then registering the loud bang that echoed across the wide-open field. Clutching his arm, he looked up.
Conroy had his rifle pointed right at Kit. “Next one’ll go in your skull,” Conroy warned. “That’ll be harder to heal from. Stay down and let us have our fun. I don’t want to waste any more of my silver bullets.”
Silver. They hadn’t come to play. Kit gritted his teeth against the pain, blood dribbling from the wound and staining his fingers.
“Oh, please do get up,” Kezia said. “We’ll hunt you down, too.”
Conroy berated her whilst Kit inspected the wound.
The bullet had gone deep, and leaving it in wasn’t an option, lest his muscle attempt to knit itself together around it.
He dived in before he could wuss out, grasping at the slippery metal and trying to ignore the pain that zipped down his arm.
Rivulets of blood ran from the hole as he struggled to grip the bullet with slick fingers.
Finally, he pried it out, dropping the bullet onto the grass.
He felt out of breath for the first time in half a century.
He looked up, heart in his throat, when a loud growl reverberated through the field. Quin came running towards Kit, blurring into the night as his paws pounded against the earth.
The three other vampires cocked their weapons as Tati shouted something Kit didn’t hear over the sound of his own panicked yell. “Quin, watch out!”
Gunshots cracked as Kit stood and ran. Quin roared, but whether it was from anger or pain, Kit couldn’t tell. He kept Quin in sight, refusing to be thrown off track again.
But Quin changed direction. Instead of heading for Kit, he went for the others, barrelling into Conroy and throwing him to the ground. Kit followed, only to be stopped when fire spread through his gut. He fell to his knees, clutching at the fresh bullet wound.
Kezia grinned at him, her gun held high. “Oops,” she said.
Quin let out a menacing growl as Conroy sprang back up, a hand pushing the long hair that had come loose from his ponytail out of his eyes. “How mighty rude of you,” Conroy said, though he looked pleased at being given such a fight.
Kit let out a pained sound as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. Quin’s head swivelled at the noise, and Tati took advantage of Quin’s momentary distraction to let loose a shot that caught Quin in his flank.
Quin howled, and Kit—bullet wounds be damned—went on the attack. The guns needed to be taken out of the equation, and Kezia and Tati were easier targets than Conroy. Reducing their numbers advantage was a necessary risk.
Catching Kezia off guard as she reloaded, Kit wrestled the rifle from her and threw it as far as he could over the road.
It collided with their car, shattering a back window.
Before he could move, fingers sank into the bullet wound on his abdomen.
Kit screamed as Kezia’s claws ripped open further his already torn flesh, a wildfire of pain spreading from within.
He lashed out with all his strength, catching her over the head with a blow so hard that her neck snapped. She slumped to the ground, and Kit didn’t spare her another glance.
With a hand pressed to his burning stomach, Kit turned to see Quin baring his bloodied teeth at Tati.
She was cowering beneath him, scratches covering her skin under her tattered shirt.
Kit made a move for her gun where it lay on the grass, but Conroy came out of nowhere from his left, knocking him off his feet.