Alliances (Guardians of White Light, #1) (8 page)

“I thought vampires burst into flames the second they stepped into a church.” She eyed him eagerly.

He stopped abruptly and grumbled under his breath. “A myth. Just like the coffin thing.”

“So, you don’t normally sleep in a coffin then?” she asked, knowing full well that only the classicists did that. She was also well aware that vampires did not burst into flames when they set foot on holy ground. But after his underhanded dig at her being unable to understand because she was human, how could she not try to piss him off a little when the opportunity arose?

He glared at her. He was pissed.

“Did you just growl at me?” she asked, sure she had heard just that.

“I hate those stereotypes. I thought a slayer would know better, especially The Hunter.”

Jenna sidestepped his response. “If that was a growl, I just want you to know it sounded more like a purr. I’m only offering some constructive criticism, because it’s probably not good for your reputation.”

Mathias studied her. An amused smile crept across his face. “You’re joking around,” he realized.

“Of course. Your little comment got under my skin. Do you think I’d still be standing here alive if I believed
any
of those vampire stereotypes? Come on, Mathias.”

“That phrase is from one of the many vampiric volumes that Jax has penned over the centuries. We used to spend hours debating it.”

“Okay.
Thank
you. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

They reached the door and he knocked loudly. The sound of his fist against the thick oak thundered through the quiet night.

“A purr?” he said, turning to her.

“I was kidding. It was a solid throaty growl.”

“Good.”

The heavy oak door eased open and Jax stood in the doorway. He was a man of small stature and slight build. He looked about forty in human years. He wore an expensive looking black tracksuit and sneakers. His jet-black hair was gelled into sharp spikes with bright red frosted tips. He wore thick black framed glasses with brown tinted lenses. Jenna had never seen anything like it. He had an extremely eccentric look.

“Long time, my friend,” he greeted Mathias.

“It’s been a while,” Mathias responded, with a warm smile.

Jax’s eyes fell on Jenna. “Ah, The Hunter. Your reputation precedes you, my dear.”

Jenna eyed him warily.

“I trust in the company that he keeps,” he assured her. “Let’s go inside.”

Jax allowed them to pass and then he secured the door behind them.

“Whoa,” Jenna exclaimed as she glanced around.

They stood in what had once been the main floor of the cathedral. All the pews were gone, replaced by high-end furniture—red velvet over-sized couches, armchairs, coffee tables, a bar and entertainment area in the corner. But mostly, the bookcases. There were bookcases along all four walls. Sturdy mahogany bookcases. There wasn’t any empty space on the shelves. Massive gold-framed paintings hung along the walls. There were heavy crimson drapes and matching rugs everywhere. It was like a well-designed palace.

“He likes expensive things.” Mathias chuckled at the look of awe on her face.

“That, I do,” Jax said, gesturing for them to follow him further in.

He approached the bar and retrieved a crystal glass half-full of blood. He took a sip and eyed Mathias. “You drinking?”

“Human?”

Jax feigned offense, slapping his hand to his chest for emphasis. “Have you forgotten so easily, my friend? When was the last time I fed off
human
blood? My tastes are far more sophisticated. This is lion’s blood.”

God, I wish I wasn’t hearing this discussion,
Jenna thought, feeling her stomach churn.

“Just checking.” Mathias caught Jenna’s eye and looked away quickly. “I don’t think me drinking human blood would be such a great idea right now.”

Jax threw him a look. “I’m sure you can conquer temptation.” He reached for Jenna and his hand brushed the choker around her neck. “Even if others cannot,” he said, eyeing her. Jenna flinched and stepped back. She brought her hand to her neck protectively. Jax’s hypnotic gaze continued to bore right through her. It was as though he was reading her thoughts, exploring the deepest, darkest secrets that she had buried within her.

“It’s a pity you hesitated on the kill. It’s hard to get him away from his pack of wolves, those so-called soldiers of Immortalia. It would have been the perfect opportunity.”

Jenna was astonished.
How does he know that? There was no way he was there that night. It was just Arthur and me.
“What?” she choked out.

“The curse…it hurts?”

Jenna noticed Mathias’ inquiring glance. They were both awaiting her answers. Mathias didn’t appear to be at all surprised that Jax knew so much about her. And that was when it hit her.
Damn it!

“You know, it’s not polite to read someone without their permission,” she said, breaking eye contact and feigning an amused smile. “Thanks for the heads up,” she chastised Mathias. “A seer?”

“Jenna—” he pressed, wanting to know what Jax had meant by his comment about her curse.
It hurt?

“We have business to discuss,” she interrupted. “The drug?”

Her fierce glare willed him to drop it. His eyes left hers and he reached into his inside jacket pocket.
We’ll discuss this later.
He withdrew one of the vials of luminous blue liquid and handed it to Jax.

“Legion commandeered this from a human research facility. We believe they plan to mass-produce it—either releasing it into the water supply or making it airborne—to inoculate the human populace.”

Jax studied the vial pensively. “This is Liquid Death?”

Mathias had never heard of it. He really had been cut off from the rest of the world. He saw Jenna nod to Jax. “It’s also called Liquid Fire.”

“Yes. A man-made concoction powerful enough to kill the undead. Immortalia had suspected the existence of something like this for years. If Silas knew about this—”

“He doesn’t know,” Mathias assured him. “The longer we can delay their war, the better.”

“So, you can amass your army and strike first?” Jax asked with a sly grin.

“Of course.”

“Silas is tracking you as we speak. He’s worried. Rumors abound from the underground that the former warrior has returned, the infamous Guardian of White Light.“ He looked at Jenna. “And your name is on everyone’s lips.”

She slumped heavily into one of the over-sized armchairs and grumbled, “I guess your buddy, Cain, couldn’t keep his mouth shut. So much for the element of surprise.”

Mathias was agitated by her comment. He shot her a look, but she was too busy examining the magnificent room to notice. He watched her put her feet up on the coffee table and cross her legs. She let out a peaceful moan and rested her hands behind her head.

Mathias and Jax exchanged a look.
Slayers have no manners.

“We need an antidote to this,” Mathias said, gesturing to the Liquid Death that Jax held in his hand.

“I figured you didn’t come all the way down here to talk about old times.”

“Can you do it?”

“I guess we’re about to find out.”

Mathias followed him through an open archway, down a narrow hallway. There was no lighting whatsoever, just the way they both liked it. To their right was a staircase that led up to the second floor that housed several guest chambers and Jax’s own. The first and only door to the left of the corridor Mathias knew led to the kitchen. Straight ahead, down to the far end of the corridor was where they were headed. The lab.

Jax stopped outside and warned Mathias. “You might want to shield your eyes.”

“I’m fine.”

Jax shrugged at Mathias’ inability to take his macho persona down a notch or two. The guy could never admit to any sort of weakness. And that had been his biggest problem following Liana’s death. He couldn’t grieve. It was why he had stayed in the shadows for so long.

He opened the door and blinding white light assaulted them. Mathias squinted and fought to adjust his vision as quickly as possible. Jax, being used to it, headed on in and approached one of the many pearl white lab tables—or “workbenches”—as he liked to call them.

Mathias glanced around. The room was full to the brim with potions, test tubes, sterile glass vials, dozens of scientific implements, textbooks. It was a full working lab. There was no doubt about that and it hadn’t changed one bit over the years.

He watched Jax reach for a Petri dish and a microscope. He set about extracting some of the solution with a syringe and placed a teardrop-sized amount into the dish.

As Jax examined the liquid, he said, “Jenna’s something, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s something all right.”

“Rough around the edges. Tough with a ball-breaking attitude.
But
innocent.”

“She’s reckless. She’s arrogant. She’s infuriating. And—”

“You like her.”

Mathias scoffed. “Absurd. She’s an ally, that’s all.”

Jax grinned at his old friend’s denial and then returned to his task. “The bloodlust must be overwhelming. Virgin blood
and
she’s a slayer. Not just any slayer, but The Hunter.”

“It’s a little trying,” Mathias admitted.

Jax smiled to himself. He knew the only way in hell that Mathias was able to resist biting her was because he had taken a liking to her. It offered enough conflict to counter the animalistic predilection to bite. His affection for her was strong enough to override instinct. So far, anyway.

“What’s so amusing?” Mathias asked, seeing Jax’s wide grin.

“Nothing.”

“Can you do it, or not?” All the talk of Jenna and bloodlust had him riled. His patience had left him.

“Calm down. Yes. It can be done. But I need time.”

“How much time?”

“A week. Two.”

“We don’t have that long. A couple of days, Jax. That’s all we have.”

CHAPTER TEN

Jenna drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair impatiently. She adjusted her weight but she couldn’t get comfortable. Agitated, she got up and approached one of the bookcases. She studied the names on the spines of the volumes. As her eyes scanned them quickly, she stopped short suddenly at one that caught her attention.
What the hell?
She did a double take and moved closer to make sure she hadn’t imagined it. She hadn’t. There on the bookshelf, nestled among all the other great books of vampire history and lore was: THE HUNTER: TRUTH VS. LEGEND.

She didn’t hesitate. She needed to know how much vampires believed they knew about her; how much about her was public knowledge. After all, knowledge was power and, often, the difference between life and death in her line of work. She flipped through the pages. No pictures of her. Phew! At least that mystery still remained. They couldn’t identify her by sight. Nor was there any mention of her name.

She stopped at a chapter entitled, ‘The Curse’. Intrigued, she began to read:

This slayer is unlike the others in that he/she does not slay the average vampire. His/her goal is not to protect the human populace from preying vampires. The goal is revenge. As previously outlined in Chapter One, Immortalia's massacre of the slayer's people makes them his/her sole target. A job that has been passed down through generations in the slayer's family, requiring him/her to annihilate Immortalia. This slayer will be aware of the failure of his/her ancestors. No matter how well-trained they were they could not match the strength of a vampire, let alone that of Silas’ strongest warriors that make up Immortalia as we know it.

The slayer will make a deal with the Sorceress. Using both black and white magic, a curse will be bestowed upon the slayer. This curse endows him/her with strength rivaling the strongest of vampires and the know-how of a hunter. With this power, the slayer can track the prey by superhuman skills and instincts; hence, the nickname, The Hunter.

As with any deal, there is a price. Should The Hunter succeed in destroying Immortalia, his/her quest will be complete. Powers will be stripped from The Hunter. For a human, this results in death.

Furthermore, The Hunter is connected to Immortalia, to its leaders. He/she will feel the pain of their death and….

Jenna slammed the book closed and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to absorb the reality of what she had just read. One reality she never thought about, that she wouldn’t
let
herself think about.

As she tried to push away her awful thoughts of despair, a rush of adrenaline suddenly gripped her. She opened her eyes and scanned the room.
Someone’s here
.

She dropped the book on a chair and approached the windows. As she withdrew a stake, she concentrated and allowed her instincts to take control. She listened. But the world had stilled. She couldn’t feel anything. No sound.