For decades Highland Academy has trained soldiers to haunt the vampires that plague the City of Cresthill but when a grave mistake threatens their school and everything they've built, Eden - a huntress - is given a chance to save them. All she has...
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Chapter Eight
Eden zoomed down the narrow road, motorcycle lights cutting through the dark as she went. No matter how much she wanted to, there was no going back. Specter gave her no choice. He wanted her far out of the city before dawn. He made her take the backroads, the longer, yet safest route considering people rarely used it. But worst of all, he made her promise to survive.
Eden clenched her jaw to keep from crying. She was leaving everything she'd ever known behind. Specter, Lexi, The Rebellion, home... Midori. Her heart lurched at the thought of her best friend. Midori was dead. She'd tried not to think of it, buried the images under a thousand thoughts. But it couldn't be avoided forever. Midori was dead and she didn't even get to say a proper goodbye.
Eden's throat caught and her vision begun to blur again. She swallowed and blinked back the tears. Now wasn't the time to break. She'd held it together this long, all she had to do was hold on a little longer. Just a little longer. She tried to push the thought aside, but surrounded by nothing but forrest, all alone on the dark deserted road, there was nothing but thoughts to accompany her.
Eden sniveled. If only she could, she would give her heartbeat to Julian in a second. Resuscitate him, do whatever it took to right this wrong. But it was too late. Like an idiot she took the bait. And now the Inner Circle was coming from them and they wouldn't stand a chance.
How could Father expect her to run? She could never outrun the guilt. There was no place far enough where she would ever find peace knowing she condemned everyone she loved. What was the point of living if there was nothing left to live for? Eden whimpered. Specter was all she had left and if there was a storm to come, a storm they should bare together. They were always stronger together. And regardless of all said and done, a small part of her still believed there was a way out of this grave.
There had to be. Fate couldn't be this cruel. The Rebellion might not be saints, but they were heroes. For centuries they dedicated their whole life to helping the city. Every vampire they killed was the equivalent of saving ten mortal lives. And they had saved countless.
So was it murder if the victim was a monster? Was it an injustice if the victim was a merciless blood sucking fiend? Eden gritted her teeth as her blood begun to boil. There was no crime to pay for. For goodness sake all she did was skill one vermin. And all she had to do was kill another. Eden's eyes suddenly widened in realization as the thought sunk in.
The Inner Circle was neither sympathetic nor united. Their leaders were selfish sons of bitches. Most fractions never even mixed. They would never fight someone else's battle for no reason. Unless, he would push the agenda. The one they call Sylver. He had to be the one who would force their hand. If that was the case all they needed to do was get rid of him. It was a long shot but the rest wouldn't go chasing loose ends.
No, true vengeance was a crime of passion. The Inner Circle would never go great lengths to avenge Sylver or his brother. Instead they would seek out the culprits, kill a few and call it a day. That was better.
And the Rebellion had trained their whole life for this. Pureblood or not, Sylver was just one man. Together they could do it, they could kill the one they call Sylver. And if she was thinking of it, it meant father already thought of it. Eden slowed down. It all made sense now. He was only sending her away so she wouldn't get caught in a crossfire in case things didn't go as planned. But Specter wasn't one to relent. Specter wasn't one to give up. If he was really calling it quits he would have left with her. But he stayed because there was a new objective; Kill Sylver.
She had to go back. If he was going to do this, she had to help. After all it was her fault. She had to... A beam of light illuminated her from behind and Eden glanced back in shock to fin a black van closing in on her.
"No! No! No!" She panicked.
This couldn't be happening, not now! She'd been too preoccupied to notice them sneaking up on her and now she was right where they wanted her.
Eden accelerated her bike, trying to put some distance between them, but it was too late. Next to her a pair of legs moved effortlessly. On the right, another. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Eden tried not to look at them, focusing on the distance ahead. But no matter how much she willed it, she couldn't go any faster and the vampires flanking her were resilient.
She could feel them jeering at her. But Eden didn't slow. No matter what, she had to keep going, these were the last people in the world she wanted to be caught by.
Suddenly, an arm grabbed her waist and she gasped from the impact, wincing as they pulled her off the bike, the motorcycle rolling away without her.
"NO! LET GO OF ME! No! Nooooo!" She screamed, trying to thresh out of their grip as they hauled her into a van.
Still fighting in the back of it, Eden thrashed her legs, her combat boot connecting with what she hoped was a jaw, then a chest before being seized again by a large calloused hand. She wailed but it was pointless.
Fighting was pointless, but Eden couldn't relent. She needed to get back to Specter no matter what it took. With a hard yank, she freed her leg and kicked again.
"You're a feisty one," the man said, stifling a laugh. "I'm gonna double your dose, just in case, don't want you ruining the night."
He reached back and took a syringe from another guy and Eden's eyes went wide as she watched the exchange. Her heart hammered in her chest as the man jabbed the needle into her arm and offloaded its content into her.
She shook her head, trying to fight it. Trying to stay awake. But her vision was getting blurry. Her eyelids were getting heavy. She couldn't keep her eyes open.
"Sweet dreams." Was the last thing she heard before the world plunged into darkness.
