Chapter 36

The moon was high in the sky by the time Garne and i made it around the warehouse to where Mihai and the others were, and the Nati i had come to care for looked worse than i did. A large gash down the side of his face that travels down towards his neck, blood slowly sliding down his face.
But regardless of his wounds, when Mihai spots me limping towards him, he’s at my side in a flash, checking my wounds and exploring my body with his hands.
“I thought i had lost you.” He says, grabbing my face with both of his hands, “I would have killed them all if they had taken you from me.”
I smile weakly, tiredness overwhelming my mind, “I killed her.” I whisper, not even knowing how the words left my lips.
Mihai frowns, glancing at Garne, “What happened? Why is she injured?”
“We were separated by one of the blasts, and she had to face a female hunter alone.” Garne looks at me, softness in his eyes, “She killed her, and abandoned her own family to stay here.”
Mihai glances at me, shock and a little bit of pride in his eyes, “The council will never accept you back, not after killing one of your own.” He tells me softly.
I look up at the stars in the sky, wondering if Amanda is now one of them, “I was never a part of the council, i always knew that i was meant for something else.” I turn to look at him, my eyes full of tears, “I was never a hunter.”
Mihai lifts me into his arms, cradling me against his chest, “Let’s get those wounds looked at.” He says, “I think some of them may need stiches.” He turns to Garne, “Call the doctor in the city, we’ll go there.”
Garne nods, immediately pulling out his phone and walking away as i watch, wondering if he had also killed the hunter that he faced.
A lot of people have died today, on both sides, all because i chose a Nati over my own family. And yet, i cannot bring myself to regret even a moment of the time i have spent with Mihai. I have never felt so alive.
I didn’t want to kill Amanda, but she gave me no choice, and the things she said were rolling over in my mind, consuming me with anger. Sean has abandoned me completely, he believes me to be a traitor, but he is the one scheming to kill his own blood.
Perhaps he is doing it to travel high in rank among the council, or maybe he always thought I'd betray them. He called me a whore, and I'm sure he was thinking other things to call me that were much worse.
But none of that matters, not anymore, i have made my choice, i just hope that it was the right one.
“What’s on your mind?” asks Mihai as he walks us towards a black SUV, gently placing me inside.
He clearly doesn’t care that I'll bleed all over his expensive leather.
I look down at my hand, the flesh barely hanging on as it continues to bleed, and fuck, it hurts like hell, so does my back and my leg.
But he’s taking me to a doctor, maybe he can give me something for the pain.
And maybe something else to quiet the voices in my head, the negativity is really starting to piss me off.
It is one thing to regret killing Amanda, but i should not feel sorry for her or for any other hunter that was killed, they made their choice, and now they have to face the consequences, just as i do.
Amanda would have celebrated my death, not mourned me. I should do the same.
“Sean wants me dead.” i say when Mihai climbs into the car next to me. “He and the hunter who attacked me, Amanda, they both want me dead.”
Michai nods, glancing out of the window into the darkness, “I have failed you then.” He says quietly, “Sean was close enough to kill, but i was preoccupied with making sure my men got out alive. I should have killed him.”
I grab his hand in mine, the one that isn’t hanging on by a thread, “You have nothing to apologise for, you were protecting the people loyal to you, there is nothing wrong with that.”
“He will come for you again, and he will not stop coming for you until one of you is dead.” he growls, running a hand through his hair, “I’ll create a taskforce to find him, they’ll make sure he never gets close to you again.”
I smile, honoured that Mihai would go to such lengths to protect me, even from my own blood.
But he doesn’t need to. I can fight my own battles.
I'm not a child anymore, and i am not afraid of death, it will either be him or me, and i am not ready to give up my life. Not anymore.
I'll fight, for myself, and for Mihai.
“Let him come.” I say, a snarl coating my tone, “And when he does, I'll kill him, just as i did Amanda.”
Mihai buckles my seatbelt, the car slowly pulling out onto the road as he strokes my hair, trying to calm my growing hatred, “Killing someone you dislike and killing someone you love are two very different things, Mae, are you sure you are ready to go to such lengths?”
I turn to him, anger in my eyes, “I am ready to be free, and that will never happen, not whilst he is alive.”
Not whilst any of the council is alive.
It is time that the hunter council is dissolved, permanently, and i am more than happy to help with that, even if it means betraying those i once loved.
My life has just begun, and i am never going back, not whilst i still have breath in my lungs.