The Hunted (54 page)

‘But where did it begin? Who was the first?’

He paused. ‘I don’t know.’

He was lying. I don’t know how I could tell, but I just did. It must have been some sort of vampire trade secret that I wasn’t allowed to know until after I turned. Well, I could wait.

‘And the sun, you mentioned that vânâtors and turned vampires cannot venture into the daylight?’

‘That is correct,’ he said nodding. ‘Both must hibernate during the daylight hours. The reason born vampires are free to walk through the daylight hours as compared to the werewolves is still unknown, although we must still stick to the shadows to remain unharmed.’

‘What happens to you if you stray into the sunlight for too long? Do you burst into flames?’

He grinned. ‘Eventually, but not straight away. It takes quite a lot of sunlight to cause any lasting damage.’

‘But something I don’t understand is why did you vampires make the Vân
â
tors in the first place?’

He laughed. ‘Do you want to stop for some air or something?’

‘No way. I want to know everything. I have no idea what to expect from my life once I turn and so far you’ve given me more information in the last half hour than I’ve been told in the last four years. So don’t stop now.’

‘Alright, but just remember it’s my turn next and you can’t refuse me anything I ask of you.’

‘Yeah, we’ll see.’

He picked up my hand and turned it around in his so that my palm faced upwards. He spread my fingers out and then placed the palm of his hand directly over the top of my own, lacing his fingers through mine. ‘You’re so warm,’ he murmured as he stared down at our entwined fingers.

In comparison to his cold skin, I was a raging furnace. ‘William …’

‘Okay, okay. The Vânâtors were created out of our fear and lack of understanding.’

‘Fear?’ I said. ‘Fear of what? The Protectors?’

He nodded. ‘Times were very different then, Elena. The legend of the blood drinkers, the Vampires, was feared by many, and as a species we had lived untouchable for centuries. We were the top of the food chain and we took what we wanted, when we wanted. We killed many without remorse. This changed when a small village in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania decided that they were no longer going to be subject to our wanton ways any longer. As I’m sure that you are aware, they educated themselves in all forms of paganism, witchcraft, and any other magical or religious influence that they could get their hands on. These were the first Protectors.’

‘They were fighting something beyond the realms of the ordinary. So they had to use the extra-ordinary to fight your kind.’

‘That is correct.’

‘So out of fear of being destroyed by The Protectors, the Vampires decided to transform their pets into something to help in the fight?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘The wolves and vampires had been companions for many years. Wolves have always been the one animal that has never feared us and, as such, we have lavished them with adoration. Such was our arrogance that it took the mistake of only one coven of vampires to transform a creature that was once our beloved ally into a mortal enemy. Now, because of that coven, we have a planet roaming with creatures that feed just as we do, breed just as we can, but have no moral compass in order to guide them. They do not care for rules. They care only for blood and domination.’

‘What happened with that particular coven of vampires to make them turn in the first place?’

‘Those Vampires thought they could dominate the changed wolves as they had once done when the werewolves were just animals. But once they took their first sip of human blood, they became filled with a consciousness and the ability to communicate like never before. In their human form they had expected to be treated as equals, but the coven had little patience or desire to look on them as anything more than animals. Once the Vânâtors became aware that we Vampires intended to keep them locked up and trained like house pets, they began an uprising. They annihilated nearly every member of the coven. It was left to some of the rest of us to seek out the escapees, make an alliance with The Protectors, and try to destroy the mistake that had been made.’

‘So what happened to other living coven members? Were they punished for their actions?’

William turned away. ‘No, they got away. There was nothing but a bloody mess by the time reinforcements came in.’

I blinked. ‘Reinforcements?’

‘Legionnaires from the Roman Guard, the main faction of vampires that act as a body to govern us—they decide our rules and our fate.’

‘And were you a member of this governing body?’

He looked back at me. ‘A long time ago. Things don’t necessarily work out that way now. The world has changed in the last three hundred years. Human populations have exploded and you are less wary of outsiders now. It’s much easier for us to blend in now, and the need for the Roman Guard is not as strict or necessary.’

‘So you were there on the night that the alliance was signed between Protector and Vampire?’

‘Yes.’

‘Wow. I have so many more questions now that I don’t even know where to begin.’

‘Perhaps we could save some of those questions for another night? I’m not really comfortable with diving into some areas of my past just yet. There are a lot of things I have done, Elena, that I’m not proud of.’

‘Like kill other vampires?’

He sighed. ‘Yes.’

‘What about humans?’

‘No. I draw the line at harming humans,’ he said tersely.

‘What about me? Now that you know what I am and what I could one day be capable of, am I someone that the Legionnaires, your Roman Guard, would hunt?’

‘I won’t let that happen,’ he answered, resting a hand on my shoulder. ‘I will protect you, Elena. I have to.’

I frowned at his choice of words. ‘Why would you protect me? What do you have to gain from keeping me alive?’

‘Everything,’ he breathed, letting his hand snake around to pull me close. ‘You are so much more than you are willing to see in yourself. There is something very pure about you that makes me want you in more ways than to simply satiate my thirst. And though I should not say, there are some that would travel the length and breadth of time just to ensure they could be with you.’ His face darkened ever so slightly as he said this.

I closed my eyes and swallowed.

Uh-oh, now we’re getting heavy.

‘When I saw you for the first time, Elena, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. It wasn’t just your scent that drove me wild. You were the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on.’

‘Now you’re considering me a woman?’ I said, eyeing him sideways. ‘Last week wasn’t I just a little girl to you?’ I had to throw that in. Men could be so fickle sometimes.

‘Mentally, in a lot of ways you probably are, but physically—physically you are a woman in my eyes.’

I scoffed. Typical. ‘Well, that’s bloody convenient, isn’t it?’

‘I’m just trying to be honest.’

I could feel heat rise to my face at his words and I tried to push it away, knowing that it stirred his hunger. ‘So what are you saying?’ I whispered, looking up into his eyes. ‘What are your intentions?’

‘I’m saying that I’m very bad for you, Elena. I’m the most dangerous and present threat to your life, but I don’t care. I know that sounds selfish. And I know that I should not be doing this, but I can’t help myself. I want to be with you whether I should be or not. In four hundred and forty-four years I have never met anyone like you. And I can’t let …’ He trailed off, his hands curling into fists at his sides. ‘I can’t let fate get in between us. That’s not fair.’

I closed my eyes, letting his words emanate through my entire being as I processed their implications. ‘You need to get out more,’ I said shakily, ‘broaden your horizons and what not. I can’t be the only one out there for you.’

He shook his head. ‘Perhaps I should,’ he said, his finger reaching up and tracing the line of my cheek. ‘But I have a feeling that I’d still only want you.’

I swallowed. Some of my walls may have been knocked down tonight, but was I ready to clear out the rubble of their destruction? Could I swallow my fear at the chance of being hurt and take a step forward with him knowing that one day he might leave me, just as my real parents had done?

I drew in a slow, deep breath and then opened my eyes again, and letting them fall to the fullness of William’s lips once again. I knew that as soon as he pressed them against mine that all reason and common sense would fly directly out of the window. If I wasn’t going to go down this path then I was going to have to make a decision fairly quickly.

‘Elena,’ he said gently, his lips moving seductively as he formed the sound of my name.

I melted as he picked up my hand and pressed it against the side of his face, breathing in my scent and emitting a satisfied rumble from his throat. It was music to my ears, hearing his pleasure from that simple act of touch. My palm warmed his cool skin as he guided it to his lips, my breath catching as his eyes held mine. His hand closed tighter around me, my seemingly confined fingers now itching to trace out every plane and angle of his body. He was like a sculpture of perfection, hard, but strangely smooth and supple underneath my touch. He was a paradox.

His eyes closed as I let my fingers gently trace across the planes of his cheeks and then travel further down to the fullness of his lips. They were cold, slightly pink, and very smooth. I drew a picture in my mind of how they would feel pressed passionately against mine.

He opened his eyes again and wrapped his hand around the back of my head, pulling me closer to him. His eyes were still green, but only just. Tendrils of brown had started to creep in from the corners and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he was pushed to his limits.

‘Stop,’ I said calmly, rising to my feet and pulling away from him.

He grabbed my hand and spun me back around to look at him. I could feel his presence, my desire for him encircling me like a thick cloud. I began to feel giddy. All I wanted was to throw myself at him.

‘Don’t stop now,’ he murmured.

‘I just don’t know,’ I said, my voice trailing off like my doubt, away in the wind like a puff of smoke.

He smiled. ‘Well, I do.’

He tugged on my hand and pulled me back into him, dragging me onto his lap before I had a chance to protest. He wrapped his fingers around my ringlets that encircled the nape of my neck, looking at me with his ever-changing eyes and then pressing his lips hard against mine.

I gasped as his scent enveloped me completely. I could feel the weight of need pressing against me and the sound of my heart beating rapidly within my chest. His smell filled my lungs completely, the cloying sweetness and sting of desire filling my heart. I could feel the chemistry between us spread throughout my blood like liquid fire.

He moved his lips against mine with a passion and a need that I had never felt before. I was drowning but not wanting to come up for air.

Was all kissing supposed to be like this?

A moment later he stopped, my lips still aching for more of his. I opened my eyes as he pulled away. His eyes, hard to see, were blacker than the night, and his skin was marred with the tiny blue veins that marked him as a changed being. He held onto me tightly, his fingers still gripping the back of my hair.

I could see in his eyes that he was struggling against the hold his thirst had over him. But this new and exciting passion that I felt for him roared inside of me, blocking out the sound of my racing heartbeat and any words of warning.

I threw caution to the wind and, hormones or not, pushed myself against his lips again. Satisfaction filled me from within and it wasn’t long before his stiff physical response softened and melted.