Page 17 of Huntress Unleashed

Like he had nothing to fear. “Is there anyone else there?”

“No, it appears he’s alone.”

It was killing Dane not to go into the house right this instant and rescue Jaqueline. He knew nothing good could come of her meeting the vampire. If he sat tight and did nothing and the vampire murdered her or sent her out to murder someone else and made her a rogue, Dane would never forgive himself.

He rushed to the front door, and it was still open. His brothers hurried to join him.

6

“I’ve been busy so I haven’t been able to really get to know you, Jacqueline. I didn’t even know who you were when you killed my brother,” Heskel said.

She was standing about ten feet away from where he was sitting on a brown and beige plaid couch, acting comfortable, like he had nothing to worry about. “He had been killing blood bonds when his temper got the best of him.”

Heskel smiled a little, his expression sinister, his blue eyes chillingly cold. “We’re twins. We both have that trait. It probably had something to do with our father who taught us all we know.”

That’s what she was afraid of and what was worse was she couldn’t do anything to him like she so wanted to. “Where are you, Dane? Take him down, now!”

Heskel said, “Just in case you alerted anyone that I’ve called you here, we’re going to leave.”

She readied her sword.

“You can’t kill me.” Heskel’s brows rose, and she suspected no one he had ever turned had challenged him before.

She swung her sword at him, and his eyes widened right before he leapt out of the way.

“You can’t threaten me,” Heskel said, his voice dark with condemnation, but it wavered a bit. He sounded a little unsure of himself.

It was just instinctive for her to react as a hunter to a vampire threat, but she couldn’t believe she could even do that much when he had been the one who had turned her. He disappeared and reappeared at her back, and she heard his heart beating wildly. Hers was too as she vanished and showed up on the other side of the couch to put some distance between them. She loved how she could vanish and reappear like they could. Even though he couldn’t turn her again, he could still kill her while she would be unable to terminate him.

“Huntress,” he snarled, angry that he couldn’t control her as much as he could humans.

That was great news to her. But when she flew at him to strike him, she felt his control stopping her. Still, she fought against his mental strength when she heard someone coming in through the front door. Heskel whipped around to see who had just arrived in the dark house.

Dane, her hero.

Heskel cast him a dangerously, evil smile. “So, you are the new lover? You can join my little pack.” Then he bared his teeth and Dane swung his sword at the vampire.

Heskel vanished and came in for an attack at Dane’s back. But Dane shoved his sword under his arm and into Heskel. He didn’t manage to strike his heart, or Heskel would have collapsed in death as a wizened form of himself, but the vampire did howl in pain.

Then Dane’s brothers rushed into the living room. They all had their swords unsheathed and hurried to take the vampire down. But he vanished.

Usually, vampires stayed and fought, being so arrogant that they thought they could fight any odds and win, but Heskel was playing it safe, the fight against four hunters too much to deal with. Still, they waited, making sure he wasn’t going to come back and try and pick each one of them off.

When he didn’t, the brothers went in twos to check out the rest of the house, Jacqueline going with Dane and Matt. The twins stuck together. She was so glad Dane had cut Heskel and the vampire hadn’t injured him. But she so wished they could have taken him down. She suspected Heskel was long gone.

It appeared that Heskel didn’t realize Dane was a vampire too, which could be to their advantage. After they finished looking through the rest of the house, they returned to the living room.

“He’s going to continue to come after Jacqueline, but since he can control her—” Matt said.

“I’m dangerous to be around,” Jacqueline said. “I couldn’t kill him, but I threatened him.”

“Do you mind having some guests at your place?” Matt asked.

“Uh—”

“I could just stay there,” Dane offered.

“No,” his twin brothers said, and she thought it was wonderful Dane had all that family support. Trey and Ryan were both dark-haired like Dane, both green-eyed. Matt was lighter haired and had blue eyes.