Noah.
The jagter from Sangre.The one who hunted Harlow through the forest like she was prey.
He stalks toward me, blood streaking his face, his jaw clenched, his wild eyes fixed on me like I’m the devil himself.The fighting blurs into background noise.For him, for me, there is no one else.
“You,” he spits, his voice hoarse with hatred.“Murdering bastard.”
I bare my fangs, circling him like the predator I am.“You’ll have to be more specific, hunter.”
“My sister!”His roar rattles the broken windows.“You killed her.”
For a moment, I falter.His words make no sense.“I don’t know your sister,” I growl.“But I’ve ended plenty of jagters.You’re all the same—self-righteous killers.”
Harlow’s voice cuts in, hushed but urgent.
“Mateo ...I see them.The dead.They’re clinging to him.Dozens.He’s drowning in them.”
My jaw tightens.Dozens.He may think I am the monster, but by the sound of it, he is the true demon in our midst.
Noah’s face contorts, veins bulging at his temples as he snarls, “You vampires ruin everything you touch.You take, you corrupt, you destroy lives.My sister trusted one of you, and it killed her!And now you’ve sunk your claws into Harlow.I won’t let her rot in your grasp the way my sister did!”
At her name, fury detonates in my chest.“Don’t you dare say her name!”
He lunges.The knife gleams in the shattered light.I twist, but not fast enough.The blade buries deep in my abdomen.Fire rips through me, blood spilling hot across my hand as I clutch the wound.
A growl tears from my throat.“You should’ve gone for the heart, boy.”
I slash at him with my own blade, fury giving me strength.My blade glances across his arm, and he howls, thrashing like a rabid dog.His eyes burn with madness, not triumph.
He drives his knife forward again, but I catch his wrist, squeezing until bone grinds against bone.“You think you’re saving her?”I snarl, teeth inches from his throat.“All you’re doing is signing your death warrant.”
“Better me than letting her rot with a monster!”he spits, straining, veins bulging.
Before I can crush him, Elfde crashes into him from behind, claws ripping down his back.Noah screams, jerking violently, and for the first time, his frenzy falters.The remaining hunters see it too, and their resolve crumbles.
“Fall back!”one of them shouts.
Rough hands drag Noah and Elfde apart, but he fights like a beast in chains, spitting blood, his crazy eyes never leaving mine.
“You’re mine, vampire!”His voice is raw, cracked with hate.“I’ll kill you.I’ll rip out your black heart and make her watch!And then I will burn this building to the fucking ground!”
Then they’re gone, fleeing into the night just as suddenly as they arrived, their broken numbers dragging their mad leader with them.The strength drains from me all at once, and I collapse to one knee, blood pouring hot and steady through my fingers.
“Mateo!”
This time, her voice isn’t in my ear.It’s here, right in front of me.
Harlow bursts into the ruined hall, her eyes wide, face flushed, and her body trembling.Her hair is wild, tangled from her frantic sprint, her chest heaving with shallow breaths.Fear flickers in her gaze, sharp and blinding, but beneath it, anger burns.Anger that I am hurt.Anger that the hunters dared touch me.That they dared to defile our home, our sanctuary.
She drops to her knees, hands flying to mine, pressing against the wound with desperate strength.“No, no, no, stay with me.Please...Don’t you dare leave me.”Her voice cracks, breaking into ragged sobs, but her eyes stay locked on mine, fierce but terrified.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I rasp, though black edges blur my vision.
Riggs staggers over, blood streaking his jaw, grinning like a lunatic.“He’ll be fine, girlie.It takes a hell of a lot more than a little blade from a hunter pup to kill one of us.”He claps my shoulder too hard.“Let the consort fuss.It’ll do her good.”
Harlow glares up at him, eyes blazing even through her tears.Then she tears fabric from the bottom of my shirt and presses it to my wound, her hands shaking but steady enough to hold the pressure.Blood soaks her skin, crimson streaking her wrists, but she doesn’t flinch.
“You’re too damn stubborn to die on me,” she whispers, voice trembling but fierce.“Do you hear me, Mateo?Too stubborn.”