A Close Encounter with Hunters
I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Life has been busy with dr. appointments, etc. Despite this, I have been making quite a bit of progress in book 3 of the War of Destiny series. I am happy to share another brief excerpt. I hope you enjoy it.
As I neared my destination, I heard something that made my pace slow to a wary crawl. Vampire. Find…kill them. The words were thoughts of a mortal close by. A Hunter. The clarity of the thoughts was cause for alarm. It meant they were within striking distance.
The ability to read minds is inherent to all vampires, but like many of my kind, I tended to ignore humans’ mental chatter. It wasn’t because they are any less interesting than vampires, but the sheer number of minds could overwhelm you if you didn’t filter what you sensed. Recently though, I have tried to be more aware of the mortals around me because of the Hunters. Tonight, I had been fortunate enough to have tuned in at the right time.
Samuel, there are Hunters close by. We need to –, I started, but flinched as a wooden arrow shattered against a wall next to me.
I have an idea. I’m on my way.
Hurry. Matthew, where are you?I questioned.
Too far from you. I just left Villa Medici.
I sighed as two Hunters emerged from a building in front of me. There were at least three behind me. Turning to get all of them in sight, I drew my dagger out of its sheath. As the group closed in on me, I suddenly heard other voices, loud and joyous. Most of them were male, but a few were female as well. Looking to my left, about a dozen humans came out of the tavern I had tried to reach.
The reaction from the Hunters was instantaneous. The one on my right with the crossbow lowered and holstered the weapon. They may be attempting to protect other mortals, but apparently they did not want undue attention from them either.
I quickly scanned the crowd, looking for Samuel. Although I did not see him, I could sense him close by. Was it my imagination or was the number of people growing?
One of the Hunters in front of me walked closer to me as some of the people leaving the business started passing us. He bore a striking resemblance to my head husband; especially the contours of his face and his eye color. Stefan Saladino smiled at me. “You look well, Juliana.”
Holding my dagger close to my body, I replied, “I know your name as well, Stefan.”
I had hoped to startle him the way he had done to me a few weeks ago, but the strange Hunter only seemed amused by my statement. “I’m flattered that you have saved me the need for introductions, since you surely know my sister’s name as well.”
I frowned, but before I could reply, one of the women shrieked and grabbed her left foot a couple feet from me. The young man with her looked concerned as he bent down to examine it. She had apparently stepped on the shards of the broken arrow that had been aimed at me. A second later, she spotted the Hunter with the sheathed crossbow and shouted "Perché si dovrebbe sparare quella cosa su una strada trafficata?”
“No, nessuno, non sono stato io,” he protested. Her companion pushed his way into the man’s face, apparently not happy with his answer. The sudden ruckus on the street drew more people out of other buildings, no doubt worried that there was a fire.
Soon I was surrounded, not only by the five Hunters who had attempted to attack me, but by nearly two dozen normal humans. I also sensed Samuel, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of my would-be attackers to look for him.
Stefan frowned at the growing crowd. “Very clever, Juliana. I would be a fool to attempt to hurt you now. All of these people would naïvely come to your aid, not knowing what kind of monster you are.”
“I am not a monster,” I retorted. “Your English is nearly impeccable. Is that how you figured out my name after spying on me?”
A sneer twisted his mouth. “Why would I spy on you?” He leaned forward and whispered, “I already know you are a whore and a horrible wife and mother.”
I flinched at the words. How could this stranger know so much about me? He even sounded like Gregory.
“This can’t be. This is not possible.”
Stefan laughed. The sound was unsettling. “Your vampire friends cannot protect you now. You’re mine, Juliana,” he said.
For a second, I felt paralyzed and unable to breathe. When I finally managed to draw in a breath, I realized my hands were also shaking. Blinded by anger and fear, I swung my knife.
Almost instantaneously, I was rocked backwards as my hand was caught and pinned so the dagger in it was difficult to see. “Not now!” Samuel hissed close to my ear.
“You don’t understand. He –”
“There are too many people. I emptied the tavern to give you a chance to escape. I did not expect other people to come out. This situation is too volatile.”
“Damn you!” Stefan growled. More people had started arguing with other members of his group and my attempted stabbing went unnoticed. “I was looking forward to seeing what a mob of humans could do to a vampire.”
Samuel’s hand remained firmly on mine as he stared at the Hunter. “We are leaving.”
As I neared my destination, I heard something that made my pace slow to a wary crawl. Vampire. Find…kill them. The words were thoughts of a mortal close by. A Hunter. The clarity of the thoughts was cause for alarm. It meant they were within striking distance.
The ability to read minds is inherent to all vampires, but like many of my kind, I tended to ignore humans’ mental chatter. It wasn’t because they are any less interesting than vampires, but the sheer number of minds could overwhelm you if you didn’t filter what you sensed. Recently though, I have tried to be more aware of the mortals around me because of the Hunters. Tonight, I had been fortunate enough to have tuned in at the right time.
Samuel, there are Hunters close by. We need to –, I started, but flinched as a wooden arrow shattered against a wall next to me.
I have an idea. I’m on my way.
Hurry. Matthew, where are you?I questioned.
Too far from you. I just left Villa Medici.
I sighed as two Hunters emerged from a building in front of me. There were at least three behind me. Turning to get all of them in sight, I drew my dagger out of its sheath. As the group closed in on me, I suddenly heard other voices, loud and joyous. Most of them were male, but a few were female as well. Looking to my left, about a dozen humans came out of the tavern I had tried to reach.
The reaction from the Hunters was instantaneous. The one on my right with the crossbow lowered and holstered the weapon. They may be attempting to protect other mortals, but apparently they did not want undue attention from them either.
I quickly scanned the crowd, looking for Samuel. Although I did not see him, I could sense him close by. Was it my imagination or was the number of people growing?
One of the Hunters in front of me walked closer to me as some of the people leaving the business started passing us. He bore a striking resemblance to my head husband; especially the contours of his face and his eye color. Stefan Saladino smiled at me. “You look well, Juliana.”
Holding my dagger close to my body, I replied, “I know your name as well, Stefan.”
I had hoped to startle him the way he had done to me a few weeks ago, but the strange Hunter only seemed amused by my statement. “I’m flattered that you have saved me the need for introductions, since you surely know my sister’s name as well.”
I frowned, but before I could reply, one of the women shrieked and grabbed her left foot a couple feet from me. The young man with her looked concerned as he bent down to examine it. She had apparently stepped on the shards of the broken arrow that had been aimed at me. A second later, she spotted the Hunter with the sheathed crossbow and shouted "Perché si dovrebbe sparare quella cosa su una strada trafficata?”
“No, nessuno, non sono stato io,” he protested. Her companion pushed his way into the man’s face, apparently not happy with his answer. The sudden ruckus on the street drew more people out of other buildings, no doubt worried that there was a fire.
Soon I was surrounded, not only by the five Hunters who had attempted to attack me, but by nearly two dozen normal humans. I also sensed Samuel, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of my would-be attackers to look for him.
Stefan frowned at the growing crowd. “Very clever, Juliana. I would be a fool to attempt to hurt you now. All of these people would naïvely come to your aid, not knowing what kind of monster you are.”
“I am not a monster,” I retorted. “Your English is nearly impeccable. Is that how you figured out my name after spying on me?”
A sneer twisted his mouth. “Why would I spy on you?” He leaned forward and whispered, “I already know you are a whore and a horrible wife and mother.”
I flinched at the words. How could this stranger know so much about me? He even sounded like Gregory.
“This can’t be. This is not possible.”
Stefan laughed. The sound was unsettling. “Your vampire friends cannot protect you now. You’re mine, Juliana,” he said.
For a second, I felt paralyzed and unable to breathe. When I finally managed to draw in a breath, I realized my hands were also shaking. Blinded by anger and fear, I swung my knife.
Almost instantaneously, I was rocked backwards as my hand was caught and pinned so the dagger in it was difficult to see. “Not now!” Samuel hissed close to my ear.
“You don’t understand. He –”
“There are too many people. I emptied the tavern to give you a chance to escape. I did not expect other people to come out. This situation is too volatile.”
“Damn you!” Stefan growled. More people had started arguing with other members of his group and my attempted stabbing went unnoticed. “I was looking forward to seeing what a mob of humans could do to a vampire.”
Samuel’s hand remained firmly on mine as he stared at the Hunter. “We are leaving.”
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