Once Prey, Twice Forsaken Read online

  The feeling of being watched only grew stronger when she moved away from the occupied lands. Something tracked her, growing closer by the hour. She debated trying to make a run for it, during the day again if she had to, but decided that was a foolish idea.

  If David followed her, he wouldn't give up until he confronted her. If another witch was on her tail, she wouldn't stand a chance if he caught her while she was weakened from the sun. If it was a vampire, it probably wouldn't matter what she did, if they were close enough for her to sense she would be captured or killed.

  Ambush it was. She smiled ruefully, hoping this one would go off better than the last.

  Huddled in the small abandoned gas station she'd stumbled upon the night before, she dozed until darkness fell. Weights pulled at her eyelids, and she was almost irritated enough to look forward to the coming fight. Almost. It was maddening; the few brief hours of sleep she'd attempted since she'd left David had been restless.

  She knew she'd done the right thing. But that was of little comfort when she missed him so badly. She dreamed of his touch, dreamed of his face, dreamed of his quiet laughter.

  She waited for the person tracking her, hiding on top of the filling station roof. Hunter or vampire, he would follow her here, she was sure of it.

  Less than two hours after dark, an old Jeep pulled up to the station, kicking up dust that covered the asphalt in its path.

  Blaire's eyes narrowed. He must be very good or very foolish to drive a vehicle into the Badlands—especially at night. That kind of noise attracted the things that had made the Badlands their home, beasts like the Varkolak, and worse.

  She knew at once it was not David. He would have been more cautious.

  The door to the Jeep opened and the man who stepped out of the vehicle wasn't David, although he was of similar build. Not a vampire either. A witch then, a Hunter. Humans did not hunt vampires alone.

  He was handsome, though not as attractive as David by her estimate. He had a strong jaw, and his light hair waved in the breeze. A couple of inches shorter than David, he sported fewer visible scars. And while Blaire would have sworn she'd never seen him before, something about him seemed familiar.

  The man strode toward the gas station door, a swagger in his step. She tensed, ready to jump down on him the second he got close. He stopped a few feet shy of where she wanted him and glanced around. He didn't seem nervous; he moved with confidence, the hint of a smile on his mouth—even without a weapon in his hand.

  Thrill seekers had no business hunting vampires.

  Blaire jumped down from the roof at her pursuer, hoping to get a good jab in with the knife she'd taken from David's things. She didn't want to kill the witch if she didn't have to, but she wasn't above hurting him badly enough to give her a solid couple of weeks to get out of his range.

  The witch sidestepped her attack and sent her free-falling into the dirt. Blaire grimaced as she picked herself up from the ground, spitting out a chunk of earth. She eyed the witch. The landing hurt, she would feel the bruises for days.

  If she survived this day.

  "I just want to be left alone," Blaire said, looking him in the eye.

  The witch met her gaze without hesitation and barked out a quick laugh. "The humans wanted the same thing when you attacked them, didn't they? You bloodsuckers didn't care what they wanted then, why should I care what you want now?"

  Blaire opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't part of the Invasion—she was a victim of it herself. Before she could get a word out, he made a few quick motions with his hands, muttering under his breath. Then he threw what looked like a ball of energy—bright white with dark spots swirling through it, the size and shape of a softball. It caught her square in the chest.

  Blaire collapsed to the ground, breath knocked from her, but she didn't feel any real injuries. So much for the witch being unarmed.

  She looked up to see him approaching her, a grim smile on his face. His hand was set to his side, palm up, as if carrying something. But there was nothing there. Yet.

  "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but it has to be done."

  Face blank, he didn't look sorry, he looked indifferent.

  He began muttering again under his breath, and Blaire used the moment of distraction to fling her knife at him. Flipping end over end, the handle connected with the witch's forehead, emitting a clear thunk as it hit.

  He grunted and grasped his head. A small bit of blood trickled out from under his hand. "You're going to pay for that!"

  The witch stepped over the knife, positioning himself between her and the blade. Blaire searched the ground frantically for another weapon. An old squeegee lay on the ground. She grabbed it and swung at the Hunter. It connected, the protection spell knocked the squeegee from her hand, but he fumbled over his words.

  Blaire moved, dodging the balls of energy the man repeatedly conjured and tossed at her. One caught her with a glancing hit to the shoulder, knocking her down. Pain shot down her arm and up into her back.

  Using her other arm, she grabbed a rock and flung it at the witch. He bent at the waist, ducking the blow while he continued to move toward her, building a ball of energy in his hand, muttering words under his breath.

  Crab-walking backward, Blaire threw herself to one side to avoid the next blow, then grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at the witch, catching him in the eyes. He screamed and covered his face.

  Finally, seeing a clear path from their fight, she ran full speed away from the witch.

  Or tried to.

  After only a few strides, she found herself stuck in place, feet clamped firmly to the ground, while her arms and the rest of her body moved freely.

  "That's enough of that." His smile was back, though the confidence behind it didn't seem as strong as before.

  Blaire hissed at him and stifled a scream of frustration. She wouldn't scream for anyone—never again.

  His lips pulled back into a snarl. The angry expression faded and his brow furrowed in concentration as he raised his hand and muttered again under his breath. He was careful to stay out of her reach. "Magica virtus, vim fulminis, exire!"

  Blaire pulled at her legs in vain, knowing that she wouldn't be able to free herself before he finished the spell.

  A glow formed in the witch's hand, gaining mass as he spoke. As he pulled his hand back, ready to finish her, she closed her eyes.

  Thinking of David, peace flowed into her, overwhelming her fear. He was safe.

  To see you again, one last time. It was enough.

  Light flashed, visible even through her closed eyelids, and she waited for the pain. But there was no pain, only a feeling of warmth, like standing too close to a fire.

  She opened her eyes, just in time to watch the energy from the witch's spell dissipate only inches from her chest in a swirl of color and light and heat.

  She raised her arm to ward off the Hunter, but he didn't move toward her. His attention was on something behind her, his mouth opened but no words came out.

  Turning her head, she saw him, striding toward her with a hand outstretched. A deep scowl on his handsome face, dark circles under his eyes, clothing dirty and tattered.

  David.

  Chapter Six

  "David?" The man lowered his hand, and the snarl on his face was replaced by slack-jawed confusion.

  "Harrison." David nodded at the witch. "You mind letting Blaire go." It wasn't a question.

  Harrison frowned. "Blaire?"

  "Now would be good."

  Harrison made a quick gesture and muttered more gibberish under his breath. The pressure around her ankles lifted, and she walked in place a couple of times to test if it was really gone. Feeling no resistance, relief washed over her.

  "David? What are you doing here?"

  "Did you actually think I was going to let you go? I can't lose you again, Blaire."

  She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back. "What took you so long?" she whispered as he approached her. He was a
mess, dirt and blood stuck to his clothes and skin.

  "Had a small detour along the way."

  Spellbound by his eyes, for a moment, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

  The feeling broke as the other Hunter—Harrison—shifted his weight from one foot to the other, carefully looking at his Jeep.

  "Thanks," she muttered to her attacker.

  Harrison scowled at her, then looked back at David. "You gonna fill me in, brother?"

  No wonder he seemed familiar. Now that she knew they were brothers, the similarities were obvious. Harrison had the same bone structure as David, and eye color—though it was difficult to determine their exact shade in the dark, even for a vampire. He's younger, Blaire decided, closer to my age than David's.

  David gave his brother a brief explanation, including few of the details aside from their fight with the Varkalok.

  "How big was the pack?" Harrison asked.

  "Six dogs, four large ones."

  Harrison whistled. "Decent."

  "If Blaire hadn't been with me, the fight might have ended badly."

  Blaire opened her mouth to protest, but decided to tease him instead. "Very true. David here huddled in the corner of the alley and let me take out the beasts all by myself."

  David gaped at her, and Harrison let out a loud laugh. He continued to chuckle while Blaire grinned at David.

  A wide smile replaced his shocked expression. Walking over to Blaire, he took her into his arms and whispered, "You're going to pay for that one, sweetheart." His promise sent a pleasant shiver along her spine.

  When Harrison could finally speak coherently again, he wiped tears from his cheeks and said, "Brother, you're in for a tough time with this one."

  Her joke seemed to break the air of tension. After some good-natured ribbing between the brothers, David's expression sobered. "I need you to take a message back to Dean."

  Harrison's smile disappeared. "Don't you think you should talk to him yourself?"

  "Yes." He took Blaire's hand in his and squeezed it. "But not now. Not until he's had time to cool off. I won't risk her being within his reach until then."

  "He's calmed down since you last saw him, David. He's different, since he met Olivia." Harrison looked at Blaire and smiled. "I think you'll find him more receptive to your problem than you think."

  Blaire's heart warmed at Harrison's smile. Such a simple gesture, yet she knew he didn't see her as a monster, a vampire. He smiled at her as one person smiles at another.

  Maybe there is a chance for me yet. The thought brought her to a new level of hope, one she hadn't dared even consider since her change. If a Hunter—one who hadn't even known her before her change—could accept her, maybe others could as well.

  David still didn't look entirely convinced, but said, "Good. I hope so." Then he frowned. "Not everything has changed, right? He still leads the Grand High Council?"

  "He does."

  "Good. Because there are probably other vampires out there like Blaire. Ones who were changed during the Invasion, who weren't part of it."

  "I'll talk to him about your girl, David. I think that making her off-limits to Hunters is a pretty easy sell. He'll remember her, from when you took off looking for her after they attacked the cities. But as for the rest..." He grinned. "I'm going to let you bring that up."

  Blaire started at the mention of David looking for her, but remained silent. That was an explanation she'd rather him give while they were alone. She listened to Harrison's stories as they all rode in his Jeep to a safe house—a farmhouse kept for Hunters to use when they needed it. The home rested on the edge of the Badlands they were leaving behind.

  She laughed at the appropriate times, teasing David when the opportunity arose, but most of her attention wasn't on Harrison. It was on David. The way he looked at her—with such passion and possessiveness in his eyes—sparked a fire in her. A fire she knew only he could extinguish.

  ****

  Harrison dropped them off at the safe house and promised to be in touch. Old and more than a bit tattered, the farmhouse was set a few miles from where the true Badlands started, but still a distance from the human settlements.

  The door clicked shut behind David, and Blaire looked back at him. Watching her face, his expression revealed nothing of his thoughts.

  She wanted to reach out, to touch him so badly. But, now that they were alone, she was unsure of herself. What if he was angry with her for leaving him?

  "David, I'm sorry," she whispered. When he didn't respond, she turned to face him. "You understand why I did it, don't you? I couldn't—"

  "I know." He stepped closer to her, then reached out and grasped her hands with his own. His thumbs rubbed her palms softly. "I understand."

  He pulled her into his arms, and she reveled in his scent, clinging to his hard frame.

  "Just please...don't do it again," he said, face buried in her hair.

  "Never."

  He kissed her softly, making her tingle from head to toe, his cheek rough against hers. Then he moved back from the kiss, keeping her in his embrace, and whispered, "I love you, Blaire."

  "I love you, too." Blaire smiled and leaned in for another kiss. No matter the dangers they might face in the future, they would face them together. She was home.

  A word about the author...

  Tiffany Allee lives in Phoenix, AZ and is happily engaged to a secret romantic. She spends her days working in Corporate America while daydreaming about sexy heroes, and her nights writing and bothering her cats (according to them). Her passions include reading, chocolate, travel, wine, and family.

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