25

e were able to find these houses fitting the information you provided,” the woman said as she gestured to the small stack of papers in Alex’s hand.
The woman was Jeanette Norwell, part of the team of four who commanded London’s SEVEN headquarters. She wasn’t a hunter by trade, but more like a watcher, someone who recorded the on goings of known werewolves and vampires. These behind-the-scene workers were known as scribes among Eden and SEVEN. Eden, however, only employed three scribes at a time, while within SEVEN’s structure, a scribe or two always accompanied a team of hunters.
In the small briefing room, Jeanette Norwell had her apprentice with her. He was seventeen years old and eager to prove himself at every chance he saw. And when Jeanette led him into the briefing room under a shield of secrecy, the kid, Trentin, almost shit his pants. Alexander Ingram, here? The man didn’t match any of his preconceived images. He looked normal. Even more surprised than this, the head honcho was flanked by two of the most well-known hunters the world had to offer: Jonathan Avery and Douglas Paxton. Trentin forced himself to breathe as he setup his laptop.
Pax sat at the long table, lounging back as he watched the boy clumsily type away. Jonathan remained standing and glanced at the papers in Alex’s hands. The list of houses were too many to follow up on one by one.
“There would also be some kind of work shed or a place set up for a blacksmith,” Alex pointed out.
“We can cross-reference these.” Jeanette nodded at the nervous kid, who went back to his laptop. “Anything else you can think of?”
Alex shook his head. “That’s all.”
Taking out a large cylinder of paper, Jeanette rolled out a map onto the table. The map was the original version of the pieces Alex had been faxed. She began to point out each territory.
“You mentioned the Summet Territory. It’s a good place to start. There were a few properties on the list that matched, some even with their own farrier. The less likely places would be here.” She pointed at the eastern side. “The Saunder Territory, Irontusk, and Theodore. The territories all border each other and a war has been brewing for years.”
“What’s the cause?” asked Jonathan.
She shrugged at the question. “Young alphas charging in to increase their territories size. For the past eight years each pack has undergone several hierarchy changes. Saunder has gone through three alphas, Irontusk had a complete hierarchy change, and Theodore’s newest alpha basically purchased his rank.”
“Can we please look at the bigger picture here?” Pax spoke up.
They looked at him, waiting for his explanation.
Pax glanced at the kid, who immediately went back to typing. Still casually lounging in the nice, leather chair, Pax began to explain. “You’re basing his location on today’s geography of the territories. We need to look back further to when he built the house.”
Jeanette tapped her fingers on the map as she thought over his words. “The earliest information we have dates back to 1912. Perhaps that will help narrow it down further.”
The printer on a side table whirled into life. Trentin retrieved the new list and handed it to Jeanette.
She smiled. “Now this is more like it. We’ve gone from thirty locations to eleven.” She handed the papers to Alex. “Where do you want us to start first?”
“I’m doing this alone,” he corrected.
“Fair enough.”
“I’ve already settled on the Summet Territory,” informed Alex.
“If you need any help, we’re just a phone call away.” She snapped her fingers at the boy. Trentin scurried around as he grabbed his laptop and case, and then followed Jeanette from the room.
“Let’s see,” said Pax after the door closed, “we’re going out alone, on evidence that isn’t there. We might get extremely lucky, sure, but I’m placing some serious doubts on this plan.”
“You had the choice to stay behind,” Jonathan reminded.
“Curiosity. Plain and simple.” Pax looked at Alex. “So where are we really starting this wild goose chase?”
“Irontusk,” his boss said as he glanced over the map. “It’s one of the oldest territories that’s close to us.” He looked at the papers. “And there’s four possible locations.”
“All we need to do is get a look at the blacksmith shops to know if he’s there,” Pax said, propping his feet on the table.
“That’s my plan.”
“When are we rollin’ out?”
Looking at his watch, Alex plotted the drive time in his head. “If we leave now, that will put us in Irontusk Territory at dawn.”
Pax glanced at his own watch. “Oh crap! Thanks for reminding me.” He fiddled with the buttons as he reset the time. “Five hours, right?”
“Will we need to visit the arsenal room before headed out?” asked Jonathan, rolling up the map and placing it back in the cardboard cylinder.
“Nothing too heavy. I want to travel as light as possible,” replied Alex as he sat the new papers into the leather case. “Pax, you’ll be the navigator while Jonathan drives.”
“Fine, fine,” he acknowledged, his full attention still locked on his crummy watch. “But we have to at least stop at one souvenir shop. You promised.”
Alex sighed. “All right.”

The trio spent the next two rainy days going from house to house. After sunset, they would stay at a simple motel and plan the route for the following day. On their third day crisscrossing the countryside, the rains lifted, but the searching turned up more false leads. As the day wound to a close, Alex received an interesting phone call from Jeanette. The lady seemed very eager to pass the news onto him. Jonathan and Pax listened in but couldn’t make out what was being said.
Driving along and looking for the nearest motel, Jonathan impatiently waited for the call to end. After Alex uttered a quick “Thank you,” he ended the cell.
“Well?” asked Pax from the backseat.
Alex finally answered, “The alphas of the Theodore Territory were killed. They think it was the work of vampires.”
Thumbing through the papers, Pax skimmed over the list. “Theodore. There’s only two listings there.”
“It’s too late to head there now,” informed Jonathan.
Taking the list from Pax, Alex looked for the locations on the map. “It’s only two hours away.”
“No,” Jonathan argued. “It will be sunset by then. It will be too dangerous.”
Pax chimed in, “I’m with Jon on this. Plus, look at it this way, Gabriel would never take out a pair of alphas near his home. That just doesn’t make any sense.”
Deflated, Alex agreed. Pax was right. Gabriel wouldn’t do such a thing. He was always careful in choosing his hunts. And taking down a high profile couple would have brought him too much recognition.
Finally reaching a motel, the three began the task of settling in for the night. Throughout the commotion of placing their bags inside and deciding where to eat, their fearless leader slipped away. Pax was the first to notice his absence. Abruptly, he was on the phone, trying to reach Alex. The calls went unanswered. Frantic, Pax grabbed a copy of the list while Jonathan grabbed a bag filled with weapons.
As they drove from the parking lot, Pax could only shake his head at the turn of events.
“He better pray they’re false leads.”

Alex stepped from the cab and politely asked the driver to wait for him. The cab sat at the bottom of a long driveway. On the other end sat an old stone house. He could see no car in the driveway, but a smaller structure sat off to the side, possibly serving as a garage.
Alex bypassed the front door and went around the perimeter of the house. He stopped as he saw the large work shed. The sun was gone from the sky, but the day’s last light was enough to see everything. He stepped toward the building’s open door and was greeted by a familiar scene. But across all of the other locations the searched, the forges had modern elements. This one, however, was unique.
The forge smoldered, its coals continuing to give off intense heat. Alex looked over the many handcrafted tools, his fingers daring to touch each one. He wasn’t sure. There was solid no proof.
His eyes settled on a workbench. A long wooden box sat amongst the other items. Alex ran his hand over the box before opening it. As he lifted the lid, his eyes rested on a finely crafted sword.
“Hello, Alexander.”
Alex’s breathing stopped. He turned slowly, his eyes leaving the sword to find Gabriel standing across the room. The vampire kept his distance. He looked as though he just woke up, wearing only jeans and untied boots.
Alex held his hands out to his sides. “I’m unarmed and alone.”
“Admirable, but foolish,” Gabriel said as he leaned against a stack of wooden boxes, his arms crossed.
Down the small hall, Alex saw someone peeking out from a back room.
Gabriel followed Alex’s gaze. “Come on out. Your father’s here.” His eyes then returned to the human. “You came all this way. How did you find me?”
Alex didn’t hear the question. His mind was numb as he saw his daughter emerge from the back to stand by Gabriel. She wore one of his shirts, and he feared that was all she was wearing. He also noticed how she carried herself, the fluidness of her movements and the look in her eyes as she struggled hide behind Gabriel. It was true. He had no reason to deny what he saw.
“How did you find me?” Gabriel repeated.
Alex finally answered as he kept glancing at Evonne. “It was a hunch, coupled with the deaths of Lukas and Rayna Grayson.”
“That wasn’t me. I was away that night. But perhaps Evonne could fill you in. She and Demetrius had to keep themselves entertained while I was away.”
Evonne kept her face hidden behind Gabriel, her hand on his shoulder as she silently begged him to stop talking.
“Why?” asked Alex, his voice pleading. “Why do this to me?”
“I thought you would want this,” said Gabriel. “Now you don’t have to see her grow old and waste away.”
“Don’t,” Evonne whispered.
Defeated, Alex gave up on all of his preplanned speeches, beaten down to five simple words. “May I take her home?”
Gabriel almost laughed. “What a weak—”
“She’s my daughter!” he yelled.
Gabriel stepped closer to Alex, his composure frightening the human. “She’s made her decision. You came all this way for nothing.”
“I just want to speak with her,” he pleaded. He looked at his daughter. “Evonne, please. I don’t care about this. I just want—”
“She has nothing to say to you,” Gabriel interrupted as he continued to approach.
Alex backed up, bumping into the workbench. “She’s all I have left,” he begged. “Don’t do this to me.”
“I already have.”
Evonne looked up as Gabriel grabbed Alex and pulled him close, sending his teeth deep into the human’s neck. She remained by the wall, watching as her father’s weak arms tried to fight off the vampire. She could feel his body grow calm as his heart beginning to slow.
Alex’s eyes closed.

Jonathan drove fast over the country road. They decided to search the closest location first. The entire drive was filled with Pax’s array of colorful names and words all aimed at Alex. Jonathan tried his best to calm him down, but he shared the same thoughts. The man was going to get himself killed one of these days.
Parking the car at the end of the driveway, Jonathan and Pax armed themselves. The house in the distance looked lifeless—not a good sign. They split up, Jonathan rounding the corner of the garage while Pax searched for a back entrance to the house.
Entering the backyard, Pax saw the large barn. He drew his gun and stepped inside. The place was reminiscent to the others they had seen. Nothing out of the ordinary there. His eyes then landed on an open box. As he saw the sword, his blood turned cold.
Pax rushed from the building and found the backdoor to the house. Cautiously, he entered, gun aimed high and safety off. The brief search of the rooms downstairs turned up nothing. He walked down another hall and stopped, catching a glimpse of someone coming down the stairs, carrying a large, black duffle bag. His heart sank as he realized who it was.
“Oh God, Evonne,” he said, stepping into view.
Evonne turned sharply, startled to hear his voice. She looked at the gun and backed away.
Pax lowered the gun. “Where’s Alex?”
“Gabriel he…” she began, her voice trailing off.
“What did he do, Evonne?”
She kept looking at the gun in his hand. Though her body was free from Demetrius’ blood, she could still see some of the truth hidden within Pax’s words.
“Are you planning to kill me?” she asked.
“No. No, Evonne, listen. Where is Alex?”
Evonne backed up again and moved sideways, keeping Pax before her. The hunter mirrored her movements, unknowingly placing himself where she wanted him—at the foot of the stairs.
“He’s not here,” she finally said.
“Can you tell me where he is?” He caught Evonne’s eyes moving beyond him. As quick as he could, Pax removed a silver stake from inside his coat and swung around, his eyes landing on a dark form of a man. His mind didn’t register who he saw but he knew it was a vampire. With his instincts driving him forward, he sent the stake at the monster’s chest.
A hand was at his wrist, twisting it around until his grip on the stake loosened. The hand then threw Pax into the wall. Recovering fast, he raised the gun and fired. The bullets struck the vampire as though they were pellets from an air gun. This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill vampire. This was something far more deadlier.
The vampire grabbed the gun and threw it across the room.
Pax held out his bare hands. “Wait! Just wait! I haven’t come here to kill anyone. I’m only here for Alex.”
The vampire spoke. “You will kill her because of Alex’s love for her?”
He can read my thoughts. Shit! Demetrius! Concentrating hard, Pax sealed off his mind, a gift he rarely had the opportunity to use. “This love he has for her,” he said, “it’s consuming him. This needs to end.”
Demetrius lips drew into a sneer as he took in the hollow words. But he already saw what he needed.
“And here I will agree with you,” the vampire said. “But Alex is human. He will adapt.”
Pax glanced at Evonne. “Then take her and disappear.”
“We tried that already.”
“Then you didn’t try hard enough.”
Demetrius relaxed his body. “You will find Alex at the Redthorn Estate.”
The words stuck the hunter like a fist to the chest. “What?”
“Call it a peace offering, and a family reunion for you.”
Confused, Evonne looked at Pax then Demetrius. The hunter’s eyes caught hers for a moment before going back to the vampire.
Demetrius continued speaking. “Alex’s prized hunter here was born into the profession, not created.”
Pax’s attempt to keep the vampire from his thoughts faltered. “Don’t,” he begged.
“Your family frightens you more than we do. I’m not surprised. I have dealt with Redthorn strays in the past.” The vampire looked at Evonne. “Douglas here will be more than generous to us.” His eyes returned to the hunter. “He won’t fight.”
Demetrius grabbed a handful of Pax’s hair. “Like werewolves, these natural hunters can take a lot of abuse.”
Anticipating the bite, Pax squinted his eyes and prepared for the pain. As the vampire’s teeth ripped into him, he tried not to fight. There was no way out. Struggling to free himself could easily send the vampire into a frenzy, surly forfeiting his life right there.
The vampire left him. Lightheaded, Pax lifted his heavy eyes to see Evonne approach.
He heard his voice pleading, “Evonne, don’t.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Pax felt Demetrius grip on him change as he forced his arms behind his back, holding him steady before Evonne. The young vampire lowered her mouth to the menacing bite and began to drink.

“Pax!”
The pain in Pax’s neck was overshadowed by the pain in his head. Blood loss had that effect of him. His eyes fluttered open as he saw Jonathan leaning over him, shaking him awake.
“Pax! What happened?”
Fighting through the grogginess, he answered, “Demetrius and Evonne.” He could have sworn he heard Jonathan growl at the mention of the first name. “I know where Alex is,” he said through the pain.
Jonathan inspected the bite on his neck. The skin was already beginning to heal.
Pax covered the injury with his hand. “We need to head north.”
“Where is he?”
Taking in a deep breath, he replied, “With my family.”