233

Days went by with nothing out of the ordinary, except that Ally had gone back to sleep at Chandra’s house but Hunter had opted to stay with me. That day had cemented our relationship, when he thought he’d lose me and I thought I’d lose him.

I hardly slept those first few nights but sat on the couch and watched Hunter sleep on the sofa bed. His dragon hadn’t separated from him yet but then again he was only four and mine had appeared when I was five.

His dragon was the same shade as mine and Riley’s was the same as Ryder’s. I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing so I made my move and left in the dead of night while Milo ran the perimeter and the house was asleep.

I left a note with instructions and even though the bonds had flamed back to life when Ryder had hugged me that first day, I knew they wouldn’t follow me. They had to take care of everyone here while I went and did what I did best.

I boarded a plane twenty minutes later, having timed it perfectly beforehand. The flight was about five hours and I stepped off the plane in Rhode Island just as the sun rose. I hired a car and drove the few miles to Richmond.

It was a beautiful place, lots of wooded forests and the smell of vampires drew me in as I got closer to where the Vampire King had a safehouse, which was known to exactly three people outside of the King’s closest advisors.

Maxim Williams frequented this safehouse and at any given time only seven people knew about it’s existence. I wasn’t supposed to be one of the three that knew its location but I wasn’t known as Ghost for nothing.

Maxim owned fourteen acres of rough land in Richmond just outside of Exeter, where legend had it that New England’s last vampire was buried. Mercy Brown had been a farmer’s daughter and due to strange circumstances surrounding the living family’s illnesses, Mercy’s body was found to be well preserved and they proceeded to cut out her heart.

The truth of the story is that Mercy was one of the first ‘resting’ vampires to be found and killed and her grave were sacred to vampires all over the world. Resting vampires are ones that had succumbed to a deep state of ‘sleep’ or rather trance. This trance could last for months or years even and in Mercy’s case had been about three or four years.

Mercy had been the offspring of Mary who had been human and the oldest vampire in existence at that time, a man named Nathaniel Garter, who was said to be over a hundred years old, which I didn’t believe of course. She was seen as vampire royalty even though she was half human and Nathaniel never recovered from her death.

It was said that he was in a resting state, till today, hundreds of years later. I knew that a man like Maxim would be close by, especially this time of year when the date of her birth was right around the corner.

Maxim had built a large fortified structure right in the middle of the overgrown land and kept it wild. No neat gardens bordered his house and there were no guards to signify a vampire presence. His seven advisors stayed in the compound with him and the top floor was off limits to all but him.

They relied on their instincts and indoor security systems to alert them to anyone’s presence in the surrounding areas which were fitted with activating light alarms throughout the house. The traps in the forest were silent and non-lethal but you could bet your life that you wouldn’t leave there alive.

I’d left the rental car along the dirt track just inside his territory. I could smell them on the trees as I walked the path deeper into the wooded forests. Birds chirped a distance away and the area around me was deathly quiet.

No small critters scratched at the earth and no birds nested in the trees. Vampires were predators and anything with a good sense would steer clear of the area, even humans. The sense of doom filled one’s soul the moment you stepped over their boundary and it sent shivers down my spine.

“Ryder’s definitely going to snap your neck this time.” Echo’s words sounded foreboding but I knew that I couldn’t sit and wait any longer. I had to find answers.

“This needs to be done, Echo, if Ryder knew where to find him, he’d be here himself. He’d do the exact same thing.”

Echo seemed to contemplate my words for a moment. “That’s true. I hope you know what you’re doing, moron.”

“Now let’s hope we get out of this alive.”

“That’s not funny, Wynter. I’m not ready to die.” Echo glared at me as I set off deeper into the woods.

“Me neither, so let’s not do that.”

I stuck to the overgrown footpath because realistically if someone were going to come snooping or stage a surprise attack, they’d come through the forest so my mind told me that’s where the sensor traps would be, not on the path.

I moved swiftly but quietly as sun beams filtered through the trees. I stopped just before the large wooden cabin came into view and made sure that my phone was still off. My keys and wallet was in the rental car and there was nothing in my pockets, I’d made sure earlier.

The cabin seemed eerily quiet and I didn’t like the silence of it. It didn’t seem right and I stepped right onto the porch. The front door wasn’t locked and I opened it while holding my breath. The house wasn’t stuffy at all and the air smelled fresh.

Echo pushed forward and his senses mingled with mine, giving me the advantage. I turned towards the living room and found a vampire asleep on the couch, the television low and its light flickering through an action scene.

I took the stairs and I breathed out a breath of relief that none of them creaked. This place was looked after and my eyes zoned in on the door at the end of the hall. Maxim would be in there, if he was in fact in Rhode Island.

I turned the knob on the door and opened it tentatively. The bed was unmade and I could smell the vampire in there. The shower in the bathroom shut off and I stepped into the room quickly and closed the door behind me.

I leaned against the door and folded my arms across my chest as the bathroom door opened and steam billowed out. Maxim took one step out of the bathroom before his head snapped towards mine, his eyes blackening.

“Your security needs training, Maxim.”

“Dragon Slayer, I was told that you were dead.” His eyes returned to their normal brown as he walked past me and I turned my gaze away as the towel fell to the floor and he pulled a pair of jeans on. I turned to face him again when I heard the zipper go up.

“Not all rumours are true, vampire.”

“You have some nerve coming into my compound, not even to mention my private bedroom.”

“This is more of a face to face type of conversation.”

“Let’s at least do it over coffee. I have a Brazilian mix down in the kitchen.”

Maxim pulled a t-shirt over his head, looking more like a young boy than the twenty-one year old that stood before me. He was at least a head shorter than me but his body showed his dedication to training and his mind was sharp.

He had inherited the seat of King from his father, having died after Maxim’s older brother challenged him in a dominance fight for the seat four years earlier. Marcel had thrown a fit when Maxim was named their father’s heir and the Elders stood their ground. Marcel was banished and living in exile.

“Come on then, dragon, I’m sure this conversation can take place in the kitchen.”

“I’ll wait until after you wake your warrior from his little nap on the couch.”

Maxim sighed and cast me a look. “He’s new. I told Brock not to leave him on guard duty alone.”

We descended the stairs, Maxim taking the lead, it was his house after all. Maxim headed to the living room instead and kicked the sleeping man off the couch. He woke with a thud and sprang to his feet his eyes darkening when he saw me.

“Go patrol the furthest perimeter from this house. I don’t want to see you again today.” Maxim’s voice had taken a dangerous tone and the man couldn’t even look him in the eye as he zipped out of the living room and the door swung shut behind him.

Maxim proceeded to grind the beans and then poured them into a coffee maker and took two cups from hooks hanging below one row of cupboards. The kitchen was state of the art but the permeating smell was one of chilled blood.

“So, Wynter Grey, what has brought you all the way out of hiding and into my house?”

We sat at the kitchen table and to anybody else it would look like two men, perhaps even friends, sitting and catching up over a nice cup of coffee. Maxim and I had only met once, just when Milo and I had joined the Unit. We had been on an assignment and we’d saved his life. I guess that warranted me one uninvited visit.

“Three vampires attacked me outside of my house in Chehalis, went after my son and I want to know why.”

“And you think I sent them? I wasn’t even aware that you were alive.”

“These vampires were stronger than your average vampire which tells me they are highly trained warriors. Tell me, Maxim, who trains his vampire warriors like that?”

Maxim’s eyes betrayed nothing and I couldn’t get a sense of what was going through his head. “What did they want? I assume they’re dead and you couldn’t question them.”

“Burnt to a crisp. The vampire didn’t seem to know who I was but he did know that I was a hunter. He wanted the woman.”

Maxim sat up straighter and his eyes narrowed. “No, that’s not possible.”

“What’s not possible?”

“That she exists.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Maxim?”

“When I was born my father’s sorcerer foretold that my bonded half would turn seventeen in the year I turned twenty-one, that she’d be a half breed and that our children would create a whole new sub-species and a new kingdom.”

“So you sent your warriors to retrieve this half breed in Chehalis?”

“Not me, Wynter. I’ve never really believed the sorcerer’s story. Half breeds don’t exist, we both know that. Yes different species might marry but their children take after one not both parents. There’s only one person that would send warriors out if it was thought that a half breed existed and that’s Marcel. He’ll do anything he can to hurt me and if he thought that he could kill my true bonded half or take her for himself well then he holds all the cards.”

“Marcel’s after my sister?”

“Your sister?” Maxim’s eyes burned into mine and his fists clenched on top of the table.

“She’s half dragon half fae. She turns seventeen in a few weeks Maxim. “

“Wynter, if I’d known that she existed I would’ve had her protected.”

“I believe you, Maxim. I need to get back to Chehalis. That bastard’s not taking my sister.”

“I’m coming with you, she’s my bonded half. There’s no way I won’t be the one to protect her from him.”

I pulled my phone out and switched it on. I dismissed all the missed calls, voicemails and messages as I dialed Ryder’s number, my hand slightly shaking. Ryder answered on the first ring and I could hear that he was both worried and angry.

“You can yell at me later Dad, the vampires want Shae. Don’t let her out of your sight. I’ll be back in six hours …. with backup.”

I ended the call and headed out the front door as Maxim slowed down to a walk next to me carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder. I started running as Maxim followed behind me and within minutes I started the rental car and raced towards the airport.

“My men will follow behind us.”

I could only nod as we waited for our flight and Maxim kept sending messages on his phone. I had no idea what he was doing but if I had to bet it was making preparations for war.