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Her lips have turned blue, and there’re scab marks across her skin.
Raya kneels beside the girl, brushing the hair back from her face. ‘We have to get her out.’
I nod, already moving. ‘Can we break the chains?’
Hunter’s inspecting them, fingers running along them. ‘They’re laced with something. We might need Kian.’
‘I thought you two were vampires,’ a voice says, and we all turn to see a human strolling into the room, a gun in each hand as he grins. ‘And you’ve brought another three to us. Wonderful.’
He’s younger than I expected. Maybe late twenties, with scruffy hair, as if he is a university student who has just rolled out of bed, but the way he holds those guns is steady and confident, which comes with experience. I didn’t quite get a good look at him before.
Theo steps in front of me without hesitation, casual in that dangerous way of his, like he’s already planning which bone to snap first.
‘Wow,’ Theo says dryly, eyeing him. ‘You’re like, twelve.’
The hunter’s grin widens in amusement and Cora snickers at Theo’s comment.
He flicks one of the guns up, aiming directly at the chained vampire girl in the corner.
‘No!’ I move before I’ve thought it through, stepping in front of her, shielding her with my body.
Theo’s already there too, fangs flashing now as he turns his monstrous eyes on the young hunter. The other two humans, a man and a woman, step out from the shadows.
Hunter shifts slightly, like he’s ready to move on Theo’s cue, and Raya’s hands are clenched tight, fingers twitching like she wants to rip the guy’s throat out, which, to be fair, I fully support. Cora keeps her distance, eyes narrowed as she watches everyone closely.
The hunter doesn’t shoot. He just glances at his friends, looking amused.
‘What is wrong with you?’ I snap, my voice shaking with rage. ‘She’s a kid.’
‘She’s a parasite,’ he says coolly. ‘You all are. Doesn’t matter how young. You stop being human the second you take your first taste of blood.’
I flinch at his words, realising I was like him not too long ago. I was brainwashed by people who told me all the same things. These boys remind me so much of the guys I grew up with. The masked men who tortured Theo and so many other vampires. I wonder how many groups formed under the witches’ guidance. How many others are out there, infiltrating towns, doing this very thing. This must be a new approach. Killing the head witch may have slowed things down, but there was already a lot of damage done. Like a cancer that has spread far and wide, it will be difficult to cut it all out.
Theo steps forward, slow and deliberate, until they’re just a few feet apart. ‘See, now I’m confused. We’re the monsters, but you’re the ones chaining kids to the wall … what does that make you?’
The hunter tilts his head, clearly unfazed. ‘We don’t murder innocent people. We only murder creatures that kill to survive.’
And then he fires. The bullet slams into the wall just past Theo’s head. Theo doesn’t flinch or move, but his eyes flash with fury. Cora lunges first, eyes flashing, but Theo grabs her by the arm, stopping her.
‘No,’ he says quietly. ‘He wants us to do that.’
Hunter moves toward the chains, trying to undo them, but they burn at his touch. He hisses, pulling back. ‘Damn it.’
I drop next to the girl. Her eyes are wide with terror now, darting between us. ‘How long ago did they inject you?’
‘I don’t know,’ she whispers. ‘Maybe a day or so ago.’
Damn. The poison would well and truly be in her system now.
Turning, I glare up at the hunter, just as he raises the gun a little higher, pulling the trigger. The dart hits her in the side of the neck. She jerks, eyes rolling back, mouth open in a silent scream. Raya is already by her side, trying to hold her still. Hunter moves to flank Theo, fists clenched.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ I snarl, rising to my feet, crossbow locked on the man’s chest.
He doesn’t flinch.
‘Relax,’ he says. ‘It’s just more of the same stuff. She was already dying.’ He looks around at us, eyes sharp and evaluating. ‘She did her job.’
‘What job?’ Hunter growls.
