Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (32 page)

What the hell was going on?

“What are you doing?” asked the naked stranger, and several of the lynxes hissed after he spoke.

Until then, Ari had been trying purposefully not to stare at the man’s naked body, when he spoke she couldn’t help but look at his lower body. Instantly she blushed. Trying now to look only at his face, Ari considered him. He was hard looking, like a rock that had been left out in the weather for too long. Though he couldn’t have been any older than thirty, his watery eyes and tough leathery skin gave him an aged appearance. No longer were his eyes a funny yellow colour but now were a dull brown, which matched his shaggy hair and beard. In some bizarre way, he reminded her of an axe man, albeit a naked one without an axe.

“What business is it of yours?” said Chris, and Ari thought that he was being remarkably bold, considering they were facing a chain of lynxes, lynxes that were apparently capable of turning into humans.

As if they could hear Chris’s words, several of the lynxes behind the man spat, while one lynx stepped forward and yowled, its almond eyes fixed on Chris and Ari.      

“Riley hush,” said the man, glancing past his shoulder as he glared at the lynx who had spoken out of turn. “You, waere, I asked you a question. What were you doing chasing this girl? You have been stalking her; is she a vampire?”

Ari looked at Chris in confusion; did this man just call him a waere?

“I… we were just playing,” Chris said, seeming to have cottoned on. “Ari, she’s a friend. She isn’t a vampire.”

“She isn’t a vampire?” said the man, still looking at Ari sideways.

“Do you see any fangs?” asked Chris, clearly trying to remain in control. “Besides, why would I be protecting a vampire?”

“Why would you be playing hide and seek with a girl then?” asked the man.

“That’s none of your business,” said Chris.

“Be careful little waere. Just because you are one of us, does not mean you can talk to me like that; I’m Paul and I’m in charge of this pack.”

Ari still couldn’t quite believe what she had just heard. Paul was the leader of a pack of waeres? But… they couldn’t be waeres; waeres had been extinct for centuries.

“Look,” said Chris, “we have somewhere we have to be.”

“Well little waere, you would do well not to
play
in these woods” said Paul, his eyes narrowing as they darted around the forest. “Surely you know this place is infected with blood suckers.”    

Chris nodded; he did not take his eyes off the lynxes, but reached behind him and grabbed Ari’s hand. She let her fingers intertwine in his. He had just started pulling Ari away, when Paul spoke again.     

“Stay away from the woods for the next little while; we have plans for the leeches here.”

Paul did not wait for a reply. Instead he turned to face the many golden eyes of the cats surrounding him. Once again there was a strange snapping noise, and Ari watched as the man morphed into a hawk. The process appeared much more complicated than when he had changed from the lynx. Now it seemed that parts of his body were sliding and condensing, as if trying to compact into a much smaller form. For the slightest of instances the bird hovered, watching Chris intently, but then it flew off, its bright yellow eyes watching as the rest of the cats transformed also into birds, which flew into the sky to join him.

For a minute or two Ari and Chris stared up into the sky, watching the birds disappear; then Chris spoke and Ari was bought back to reality. With a pang she realised that they were still holding hands. Ari released Chris and looked away, her eyes fixing on a large tree, rather than his still naked body.

“Jesus, Ari are you ok?” asked Chris.

“You’re naked,” she said, removing the backpack and handing it to him, careful to keep her eyes on the ground.  

“We were almost killed by a bunch of waeres and all you can say is
you’re naked
?”  

“I’m sorry,” said Ari, as once again Chris slunk behind a tree and began to re-dress. “It’s just; can anything else crazy happen to me? We go for a walk and run into waeres, which I thought were supposed to be extinct by the way.”

“They are,” said Chris, remerging from behind the tree and sitting down on the slightly damp earth to put his shoes back on. “Supposed to be anyway; clearly that is not exactly the case.”

“But, then how? And why did they think that you were one too? How come they didn’t suspect you of being a wraith instead?”

“It’s only a few wraiths who can transform into animals, probably less than a handful,” said Chris.

“But I still don’t understand?”  

“I don’t either. I guess when I turned back into a man they just assumed I was the same as them. Or maybe I don’t seem evil enough to be a wraith, or they don’t know that some wraiths can morph? It’s not like I sign up to a weekly newsletter. But what I want to know is how there are waeres? They’re supposed to have been killed centuries ago!”

“Maybe they were wraiths?” said Ari.

“Can’t be. Didn’t you see; they changed from lynxes into hawks. If they were wraiths, they would only be able to transition into a single animal. Only waeres could morph into more than one animal.”

Ari too began nodding her head, as this crucial piece of information came back to her.

“Well, we’re lucky they thought you were a waere. If you hadn’t of shifted when you did, they would have killed me.”

“I don’t know,” said Chris, as the pair began the walk back to Omega hall. “Waeres weren’t supposed to be evil. I think they only went to attack you because they assumed that I was hunting you, because you were a vampire. I’m pretty sure that when they realised that you were just human, they would have probably let you go.”

“Before or after they tore my head off?” 

“But how come you didn’t you freeze them?” asked Chris. “That would have saved us a hell of a lot of trouble.”

“I tried. But I couldn’t.”

“Maybe you just need more practice-” Chris began, but stopped quickly when Ari spun around to confront him.

“It wasn’t me; it was them! I have gotten pretty good at freezing stuff.”

“It’s ok,” he said, reaching out a condescending hand to pat her on the head. “You don’t have to be good at-”

But before Chris could finish his sentence, Ari had thrown her hands into the air and Chris stopped moving and talking. Ari smiled at his frozen face and couldn’t help but let out a small self-satisfied laugh. She was being childish she knew, but it was infuriating for Chris to tell her that she hadn’t been able to do something. Thinking of how best to stand when Chris unfroze, Ari moved over to a large dark boulder near the edge of the path.

“-everything,” said Chris, unfreezing and looking around for Ari.  

“Over here,” she said out loud, now sitting atop the bolder.

“Hmm, I don’t know if you have noticed it,” he said, moving over to help her down from the rock, “but you’re getting pretty damn good at freezing things!”

Ari smiled back, fighting the urge to say
I told you so,
and instead said, “I need help controlling the breaking into sunshine part of my powers, not the freezing.”

“So waeres don’t freeze?” said Chris, as he and Ari resumed their walk.

“Guess not.”

“But vamps and wraiths do,” he said.

“And humans,” Ari added, suddenly deep in thought. “Also when I was in Latvia, I discovered that distance matters. I can freeze things that are close to me, but the moment they are more than a few meters away, it doesn’t work.”

For the next half an hour as the pair walked back, they continued to discuss Ari’s powers and the apparent existence of waeres. Though Ari had not voiced her concern, the biggest thing worrying her was not that her powers did not work on waeres, or that her and Chris had almost been killed by a pack of them. No, the thing that concerned her was what Paul had said about
having plans for the leeches here
. Trying hard not to broach the subject, Ari purposefully steered the conversation away from the threat they had heard. This was largely because she had decided that just as soon as she got back to Uni, she was going to tell Ragon everything; she wasn’t about to let him, or any of the other vampires that she cared about, get hurt because she failed to tell them about what had happened today. It was fairly obvious to her that Paul and his pack of waeres had something planned for the vampires at the Pasture Institute, and she would do everything in her power to stop them from hurting Ragon, or anyone in the coven.

It was mid-afternoon when Ari and Chris finally neared Omega halls. As soon as they reached the front doors, Chris offered to help her study for the mid-semester exam she had to re-sit.

“Tempting, but I think I just need to lock myself in my room and study,” she said, moving up the stairs and towards her dorm room. “Thanks for looking out for me today.”

“We look out for each other,” said Chris, smiling at her so that his light blue eyes appeared to twinkle.

Ari smiled back gingerly but didn’t say anything.

She had only just walked inside her room and closed the door when someone spoke.

“Where have you been?” said Ragon, looking up at her from where he sat, waiting on a chair at her desk.  

As soon as Ragon had spoken, Ari’s eyes were wide and guilty.

Chapter 18 – The Wraith of Ragon

Ari moved quickly over to Ragon and kissed him on the lips. It was not a long kiss, more like a peck, and Ari could tell from the rigidity of his mouth, that he was angry.

“I need to tell you something,” she said, moving over to her bed and sitting down slowly.

“You’re making me nervous Ariana.”

He was using her full name; that wasn’t a good start.

“I’m sorry; I don’t mean to make you nervous. It’s just that… something happened today and I need you to know about it,” she said, watching as Ragon’s eyes darkened.

Ragon remained perfectly still, and for one horrible moment, Ari thought that she had stopped time again. She was just about to stand up when Ragon nodded slowly and so she continued.

“Something happened with Chris today and-”

“-Chris?” asked Ragon, his voice steely. “You and Chris; what happened with you and Chris?”

Right away Ari understood where Ragon was going and knew she had to stop that train of thought.

“No, it’s nothing like that. Chris knows that I have um, powers-” she began to say.

“-what?”

“I didn’t tell him,” said Ari, “he sort of figured it out. And today we went down to the woods so that I could practice my-”

“-you did what?”

Ari sighed; this wasn’t going well and she hadn’t even gotten to the best part.

“Yea, because I can’t practice with you or any other vampires in case I turn into a giant ball of sunshine and, you know… kill you!” she said dramatically.

At these words Ragon seemed to calm down. Slowly he moved over to her bed and sat down on the edge, picking up one of Ari’s pillows and holding it in his hands.

“Anyway, while he was chasing me, a bunch of lynxes attacked us,” she said, watching as Ragon began squeezing hard on her pillow. When she thought that he might tear it in two, she moved back over to him and put a hand on his and added, “Look I am trying hard to be honest with you, but you destroying my pillow and getting angry isn’t helping. Nothing happened. Look at me; I am fine! So can you just listen before you start filling my room with feathers?”

Ragon nodded.

“Ok,” Ari said, taking a deep breath, determined to say this next part as quickly as possible. “When the Lynx tried to attack me, I tried to freeze them. But for some reason my powers wouldn’t work on them. I don’t know why. Anyway, Chris protected me. Then one of the lynx’s turned into a man… he was a waere. They told us to stay away from the woods because they were going to be after the leeches around here. And now I am worried that there are a bunch of waeres that are after vampires, and I am telling you because I don’t want you to get hurt, and we should probably tell Thomas because Sandra is tied up in those woods.”

As soon as Ari had said the word
waere
, Ragon’s eyes had lit up, but as her story continued, his eyes became increasingly small, until when Ari finally stopped, they appeared to be no more than slits.

“Let me get this straight?” he said, slowly and carefully. “You were out today practising your powers, but then you were almost killed by a bunch of waeres because your powers don’t work on them. Does that about sum it all up?” he asked, in an oddly quiet voice. “But why would the waeres reveal themselves… they are supposed to be extinct? I mean, if waeres still exist, then they have spent centuries hiding, so, why just come out into the open?”

Ari had been waiting for this question and she chewed on her bottom lip. She hadn’t wanted to betray Chris, but she didn’t have any other choice; it was one thing not telling Ragon something, it was quite another to lie to his face.

“Well, when Chris rescued me… he was… I mean, he was… a husky,” she said finally.

“Chris is a waere? For hundreds of years everyone thinks that they are extinct, and just by chance you befriend one?”

“Um, actually Chris isn’t a waere… he’s a wraith,” Ari admitted.

Ragon did not speak but ripped from the room and blurred down the hallway. Ari raced after him, certain she knew where he was going. Sure enough, when she reached the hallway, she saw Ragon pounding on Chris’s door. Before Ari had enough time to race over to him however, Chris had opened the door and Ragon stormed in.

“What the hell were you thinking?” roared Ragon, loud enough that Ari could hear him, from where she was racing down the hallway.

By the time Ari made it to Chris’s bedroom, Ragon had already thrown Chris across the room.

“Wraiths are evil,” said Ragon, turning to face Chris and unsheathing his fangs. “They are enslavers of death.”

“As opposed to blood sucking night walkers,” said Chris, standing suddenly and drawing his chest outwards. “At least I have a pulse. I can’t believe you told him.”

“I had to,” Ari began to say; she had moved into the room and shut the door, terrified that someone might hear all them yelling.

“You… you
had
to tell me?” asked Ragon, his face breaking into sadness.

“No,” said Ari, searching Ragon’s face for understanding, “that’s not what I mean-”

“-let’s face it,” Chris said quickly, glaring at Ragon. “Ari shouldn’t be hanging out with either one of us. I was born evil and you were made evil, but considering I have never attacked her, she is better off with me. Face it; she went to practice her powers with me, not you.”

“Chris,” Ari warned, but it was too late.

As soon as Chris had spoken, Ari knew all thoughts of peace between Chris and Ragon were doomed. Now she watched Ragon turn around to face her; his eyes were droopy and sad, and his head was hung in defeat. He did not speak but tore his eyes away from Ari, and once again blurred through the room.

Ari went to race after him but felt Chris holding onto her.

“Wait,” he said, looking her in the eyes as she continued to fight with him. “Do you really think you should go after him when he’s like that?”

“You said it yourself,” she said, pulling her hands free and reaching out to freeze him. As soon as his eyes glazed over, Ari knew she had stopped time. “I can look after myself around vampires.”

After that she raced from Chris’s room and down the stairs. Moving as fast as she could, she reached for her phone and dialled Ragon’s number. It rang once but then stopped; he had hung up on her.

She was half way to Cruor halls when a dizzy spell made her drop to her knees; trying desperately to catch her breath, she bent over the grassy lawn as a wave of nausea overtook her. As soon as she felt the shivers, she knew she was having a premonition. Hey eyes were teary and out of focus, but from the blur came a shape, colourful and fuzzy at first, but soon it sharpened.

She saw Ragon, sitting in a dark corner with his hands in his head. It was too dark to make out where he was, but then he stood and walked over to a paved area where many people were smoking. Still entrapped by her vision, Ari tried to focus on what Ragon was wearing. This vision wasn’t quite in focus, and it appeared as if she were watching it from behind a thick foggy glass screen. Peering closely at Ragon, she recognised the same blue jeans and dark jumper that he had been wearing when she was with him only a few moments ago. Ari knew then that this vision must only been a short time into the future, and what’s more, she recognised where he was- the campus bar.

Ari sped past Cruor halls and towards the campus bar. As she ran, she thought about the huge hole she had managed to dig for herself. Ragon was the one person who had been with her from the beginning; he deserved better than this. Sure she had promised to keep Chris’s secret, but not when the truth might have hurt Ragon.  

Ten minutes later, Ari arrived out of breath at the campus bar. She had no ID on her but was spared having to produce it as there was no one yet on the front door. Once inside she flashed to the vision she’d had, and then moved as casually as possible to the outside smoking area. For a Saturday the club was fairly empty, though admittedly it was only early afternoon. Passing a table full of gossiping people, she waved timidly to some girls in her year and continued to scan the room for any sign of Ragon.

She searched the bar, the dance floor, even the girls’ bathroom; Ragon was nowhere to be seen. Ari was halfway down the hallway that serviced the restrooms, ready to give up, when she remembered the rear entrance. Pushing the heavy fire door open, Ari exited the club. Temporarily blinded by the bright lights of the campus club, the moment Ari was outside she squinted into the darkness.

Suddenly there was a muffled scream. Inching through the doorway, Ari moved past the clearing surrounding the club and towards a large conifer tree, where she thought the sound had come from. She was a few feet past the tree when she saw the silhouette of a man- Ragon; she recognised him immediately. Relief washed over her and she reached a hand out to touch his shoulder. The moment her fingers touched his icy skin, an insanely strong hand clamped down onto her wrist and she was thrown through the air.

“Ragon,” Ari screamed.  

Looking around wildly, Ari saw Ragon staring down at her. She couldn’t help but gasp when she saw thick congealed blood hanging grotesquely from his mouth, draping past his fangs and onto his chin. For a moment she thought that he had bitten her, but then she saw the small frame of a girl standing in the shadows, her neck bloody.

“I’m sorry,” said Ragon, reaching down a hand to help Ari up.

Ari stared up at him, her mouth still open in horror. Ignoring the hand offered to her, Ari got to her feet and looked from Ragon to his victim.

“You’re sorry?” she asked.   

Ari was torn between jealousy and anger. Unsure of which emotion to go with, she put her hands on her hips and waited for Ragon to at least apologise. He didn’t.

“We need to talk. Maybe you should get rid of your
friend
,” Ari spat, gesturing towards the girl.

“
Leave me and cover that bite,”
Ragon commanded, and the girl walked back towards the club, her hand held tight against her neck.

As soon as she was gone, Ragon turned to face Ari.

“Ok, you want to talk, that’s fine, let’s talk. How long have you known that Chris is a wraith?” Ragon asked, crudely wiping the blood away from his mouth.

“It wasn’t my secret to share-”

“-not you’re secret to share? Ari, you know that wraiths are evil; we were served up to the Ancients by one and now I find that you’re playing games with him one the forest. What if he killed you? Do you seriously have such little regard for your own life?” said Ragon.

Ari looked down at her feet; immediately all the anger and jealousy washed away from her. Now she only felt guilty.

“What else aren’t you telling me?” said Ragon, now pacing around the small clearing they were standing in.

“I wanted to tell you,” she said, trying to inch closer as he took an equal distance away from her. “Ages ago, when I first found out, Clyde saw me and Chris and he thought that we were… that we were together. That’s why he was acting so strange the night of my birthday. Clyde saw us after Chris had just transformed and he was naked… and I guess Clyde just thought that we...” Ari’s voice died in her throat and she shook herself, trying to regain her composure. “I’ve had to endure snide remark after snide remark from Clyde. Don’t you think I would have told you if I could? I didn’t keep this secret for myself; I did it because it was Chris’s secret. Please, you have to believe me; I love you.”

“You love me. But not enough to tell me something this important,” said Ragon, before blurring past her.