Hidden In Shadows, A Fae and Vampire Romance: Shadow Court Chronicles, Book 1

Chapter 10: The Hunt

 Two days later, she was still recovering from her wounds and feeding Vincent. He had taken so much of her blood that Kieran had forcibly pulled him away when she had swayed. She didn't blame Vincent for his loss of control. He had been on death's door, and she wasn't sure when his last meal had been before the battle.

She had missed the fleeing of the cabin. She had once again passed out. She was getting tired of doing that. She wasn't a fainting princess, and she refused to become one now. They had found sanctuary at a friend of Vincent's. It was more of a compound than an actual home, which sat in the middle of the woods and had security that rivaled Fort Knox.

It was a beautiful place and provided for all of them more than Sam's did. She had a beautiful bedroom that was underground, protected from the sunlight. There was some slight hostility from the original occupants when they discovered her Shadow Court ties. A snarl and threats from Vincent had silenced the grumbling, and now they were coldly polite, just like Vincent had become again.

Her blood was to blame; she knew that. He was different because of it. Kieran had tried to warn her, but she had ignored him. Vincent avoided her now at all costs, and when they did happen to be in the same space, he was coldly distant. She hated it with a passion. She wanted to go back to the day where she had been curled around his body. That had been a nice feeling. Now she was living in the Arctic.

She sighed as she started out the window of the tower. Night was fully upon them. There was a stillness at the compound that caused her to shift restlessly. She was frustratingly idle. All of her information had been destroyed in the raids, and it was time-consuming to recreate the list from memory. She refused to reach out to Sam again, as she was nearly positive that was where the leak had originated. She wasn't willing to risk their lives again when there were other options available.

"A little help is all I am asking for. Please, just point me in the direction that I am supposed to go," she whispered.

"Lyssandra."

She spun around and faced the man who had been so distant from her. She tried to calm the racing of her heart. He had sought her out. "Vincent," Her voice was husky, sounding odd to her ears. "I didn't hear you come up."

"You wouldn't when you aren't paying attention."

She shrugged off his comment. "I wasn't expecting anyone but Kieran to come up here. Your friends would rather just avoid me. Just like you have been doing."

He moved over to her and reached out for her, but she stepped out of his reach. She wasn't ready for him to touch her yet, and she certainly was not ready to forgive him. "Don't," she warned. "Just don't."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I needed time to adjust."

"Because of my blood?"

"Yes," he hissed. "It's always been forbidden, and none of us wanted to take the risk to see why. It's powerful. My senses are heightened to a whole new level, and it took a while to adjust."

"Is that why you have been so cold?"

He shook his head. "No," he denied vehemently. "Something else came from feeding on you. I can," He hesitated briefly. "I can feel your emotions, and if I can concentrate hard enough, I can hear your thoughts."

She shrank back in shock. He could feel her emotions and hear her thoughts. For a brief moment, she felt violated from the invasion of privacy until he flinched, and she remembered that it wasn't his fault. He wasn't doing it consciously and it was because of her that he had the ability. She had linked them with her need to save him.

She closed her eyes so he wouldn't be forced to see the guilt and regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry." Her words were so soft, she wasn't sure that he heard them.

His warm, calloused hand cupping her cheek brought her eyes open, and she was staring into his. "Don't. You did it to save me, and there is no way that I can ever repay you for that."

He touched his forehead to hers and warmth flooded her body. She wrapped her arms around his waist as she held onto him. She wanted to stay like this forever. He was so warm for a creature that wasn't fully living and he made her feel so safe.

He lifted her face and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She sighed in pleasure and pressed her lips against his. Desire shook her all the way to her toes from a simple kiss. His hands moved from her face and wound themselves into her hair, angling her so he could take the kiss deeper and further. She let him as it was what she wanted, too.

She wanted him as much as she wanted her next breath. The roughness of the wall assaulted her back as he backed her into the wall, but she ignored it. All she wanted to focus on was his hands on her body and her hands on his body. She whimpered in protest as he pulled away, only to moan in pleasure second later as he began to nibble and rain kisses on her neck.

Hundreds of howls roughly pulled her out of the haze of desire and had him pulling away from her. Shivers ran down her spine from the eerie sounds of barking hounds drawing closer. She recognized that sound for what it was. That bastard Maguis had called The Hunt on her.

She could hear Kieran rushing up the stairs, and he appeared moments later, throwing open the doors. His wide fearful eyes met hers and he rushed over to her.

"We have to go," he declared, grabbing a hold of her hand.

"Go," Vincent ordered, pushing her towards her Redcap. "I'll stall them."

"No," she exclaimed, shaking off Vincent's hold. "There is nowhere that I can hide where The Hunt can't find me."

He cupped her face in his hands and gave her a quick hard kiss. "Kieran, take her to the Shadow Court; it's the only place they can't go."

"Come with us." She tangled her fingers in his shirt tightly, urging him to come with them.

"I can't," he gently explained as he untangled her fingers. "They don't want me. I'll be fine. Now go," he instructed as he pressed one final kiss to the tips of her fingers.

"Let's go," Kieran exclaimed as he once again scooped her up in his arms and began to march to a dark corner. "We have no time; they'll be here any second."

Tears in her eyes, she turned his arms to watch Vincent over his shoulder. He gave her a gentle smile before he disappeared down the stairs, and they disappeared into the cold shadows. The last thing she heard before she disappeared from the human world was the unearthly howls of the deadly hounds of The Hunt.

~~~

This the the end of Book 1 in the Shadow Court Chronicles. If you want to read the whole book NOW Absolutely FREE. Just visit here http://hotromancestory.com/scc1-free-book-wp/ To grab your free copy of this book today. You will also receive the next book in the series "Deal For Freedom" for free.