The Hunt (Of Blood and Magic Book 2) Read online

  “Grams!” Becca protested, but Grams’ index finger shot up faster than a rocket.

  “It isn’t yet your turn to speak, pumpkin.” She said sternly, not looking at her. Her gaze was fixed on Luke like a laser gun aimed at his head, poised to pull the trigger and blast a hole in his forehead at the slightest misstep or misspeak.

  Luke exhaled, clearly unprepared for this moment. Becca had seen Luke at his prime state, and in that state, he brimmed with tremendous power. He was brash and ruthless when he needed to be and never seemed to pander with emotional sentiments unless absolutely necessary. She wondered why he seemed so shifty; why his legs shivered like leaves in an autumn wind. Then, she recalled that Luke had mentioned that he needed Grams’ blessing. Becca hadn’t seen the prophecy that had apparently bound them together as fated mates, but she figured there were special conditions that forbade him from overpowering her or oppressing her into succumbing to his will because he could’ve very easily done so. Maybe there was a part of the prophecy that specifically demanded that he receive blessings from her guardian. Still, she found it peculiar, seeing this side of Luke.

  “Becca is a dominatrix; she was always destined for existence of perpetual danger,” Luke began with an unfamiliar shakiness in his voice, “But to me, she is more than just a mate. She is my destiny. I languished in the worst prison imaginable for three hundred years, holding on to life just for her. I know that the history books haven’t been fair in their telling of my story, but I am much more than a violent killer.” He blinked, as Grams drank his words, clearly astonished by the passion underneath his words. Becca, nonplussed about the appropriate reaction to the scene unfolding before her eyes, bit into the creamy middle of a golden-brown butter cookie and refused to chew.

  “And does my granddaughter agree that you are her destiny?” This time, Grams turned to face Becca, with grin beginning to form at the corner of her lips.

  Becca swallowed painfully, adjusting quickly to regain her composure. She let the question hang in the air for a moment, feeling the sheer gravity of it—her unexpected destiny foretold those several centuries ago—for the first time. Her twenty years of existence flashed before her inner eye in two seconds. Since she met Luke, she had evolved in ways she hadn’t deemed possible. Now that she thought about it, it seemed as though everything that had happened in her life, everything she had been through, had been a building block lining the path to her ultimate destination; preparing her for her fated meeting with Luke. This was it, and she knew it. She glanced at Luke and felt the familiar surge of electricity.

  “Absolutely.” She responded with a depth of conviction that she didn’t believe she could muster.

  “Very well, then.” Grams broke into a smile that warmed Becca’s insides like butterscotch. She seemed pleased. “I’ve read the prophecy more times than I can count,” Grams revealed, to Becca’s surprise, “When my little pumpkin was born, I had a strong feeling that it was to her the prophecy had been referring. For over four years, since Becca’s ruby glowed for the first time, I have expected your arrival.” Luke’s crimson eyes held, unblinking, the reds accentuated by the fire blazing just beside him.

  Grams smiled again, warmly. “I know the prophecy requires the blessing of her guardian, and I’m all she’s got left. And I forbid this.” Becca gasped, and Luke’s gaze hardened.

  “Grams!” and this time Becca’s voice had a steel edge to it, “This is what I want.”

  Grams took a slow, long sip of her herbal brew, and then burst into raucous laughter. “Of course I give my blessings,” her eyes laughed from the glee of a perfect prank, “If my pumpkin believes you’re right for her, then who am I to stand in the way?”

  Becca felt a rising elation in her chest. The deed was sealed. They had received the much-needed license. They could head out now, rebuild the lost vampire kingdom and correct history. She had finally found her purpose and the thought of what was to come sent tingles right up to her fingernails.

  She glanced at Luke and was enthralled to find him beaming. This Luke, he beamed.

  ∞∞∞

  BECCA walked into the bathroom to find Luke running a hot bath. The tub swelled with a sea of warm water capped by a carpet of soap lather. Luke lay in the middle of it, exhaling as steam rose all around him, forming a mini fog in the bathroom.

  “You’ve been moody,” Becca said through a curled tongue, as she came out of her clothes, to reveal netted lingerie, “I’m here to tame your demons.” Luke whooped.

  She unhooked her bra, letting her plump boobs break out in all their splendor, her nipples pointing straight ahead like bullets. She walked over to the side of the tub, taking gingerly steps, letting his hungry eyes take their time consuming her. She held her palms firmly over the arch of his broad shoulders and squeezed them softly in a deep massage, undoing stress knots as her fingers wandered. She felt Luke shudder as she replaced her palms with her tongue for a moment, running her moist tongue over the delicious warmth of the skin on his neck, the muscles of his shoulder, the ridges of his ear. Luke’s cock heeded Becca’s call, rising like a beast until it jutted above the water, proud and strong.

  Becca worked his tense muscles a bit further, feeling his body ease under her touch. Her nipples hard, standing firm like twin towers. Luke pulled her slowly toward him, gracing her tits with his eager lips. She moaned as he sucked and nibbled in all the right places. He ran his tongue around her areolas, sending waves of giddy pleasure up her spine. She cupped the index and middle fingers of her right hand and reached down for her pussy. It was warm to the touch, radiating outward with heat, and moist with juice.

  She attacked Luke’s mouth and they kissed like wildcats, tongues teasing each other in an endless game of pleasure. He kissed her neck, her forehead, her ears, her boobs, her belly button. Then he found her pussy. His tongue raced across her pink pussy lips and she felt herself go red in the face. Her fingers found his cock and she stroked it, feeling its turgidity increase within her palm.

  Luke ate her pussy like it was an apple pie. His tongue wet her vulva and poked her clit in all the right places, causing her to moan in pure ecstasy. The warmth of her pussy made him want it even more. She felt the juice drizzle out of her and Luke lapped it all up.

  Her lips found his nipples and she sucked on them, feeling him shiver and absorbing his moans as her tongue worshipped his abs. As she reached down, she found his cock waiting for her like a lone soldier. She teased it, kissing its sides and running her tongue all the way down to his balls. His cock responded, veins protruding as the girth increased until Luke felt his cock would burst. She ran her tongue around the cap of his cock, round and round and round, making Luke’s head explode with pleasure. Then she took all of him in her mouth. She sucked his cock hard, sliding her mouth from the crown to the root until she choked on it.

  Luke turned her back to him, smacking her ass, mixing delightful stings with her cocktail of pleasure. Her ass looked hot. It was plump and sexy and perfectly curved. Luke takes her pussy from behind with his tongue, caressing her clit from an unexpected angle. Becca moans with mad delight.

  “Fuck me like a beast,” she yells, her voice bouncing off the bathroom walls and echoing dreamily in his head. Luke’s face lights up with a smile. He rises and holds his large, fully erect cock in his hands, rubbing the head of it around the walls of her pussy. He teases her pussy with his cock as she moans and her clit hardens. His cock reaches in slightly and then retraces, teasing her, and she feels her vulva drip with pure pleasure. Her senses swirl as he draws pussy juice.

  She takes him in, arching her back to take more of him with each thrust. He smacks her ass as he drives his cock into the moist chambers of her pussy. Her pussy clamps around his cock like a magnet, wanting more, and more.

  She plasters her palm against the wall and spreads her legs. As he pounds her from behind, she rests the side of her head against the wall, mouth ajar from pleasure, feeling vapor from the surrounding mist cool into dr
oplets on her exposed tongue. She feels her face exploding with a brilliant redness and, from the corner of her eyes, she notices his usually pale cheeks turn bright pink from deep-seated pleasure. She moans and he grunts; it’s a symphony of ecstasy.

  She reaches behind with her hand and rams the rest of his penis into her pussy, taking it all in. With her hands still on the wall, she arches her back even further, until his cock fills up her body and she can feel nothing else. Only cock.

  TIMOU couldn’t tell how they had landed here, but all he knew was that he was glad to have reached a freshwater lake. Timou had always commanded respect for his sheer physical strength. With his giant frame, broad shoulders, and expansive abs, he had always found himself more physically endowed than everyone else in every setting. Maybe except for his liege, Timothy.

  Surviving in the Transylvania High Commission’s Academy had been only a little tougher than a walk in the park. Endurance training, Stamina drills and Strength tests had earned him the highest marks in the ‘Physicals’ section of the assessment exams. It was there that he had learned to appreciate the non-cannibalistic cuisine of the Lykae. It was there he had learned to shoot poison darts. It was also there that he had met the first and only woman to blow him out of his seat—Elena, who was now slung over his shoulders, unconscious, and weighing heavier than a sack of salt with each passing second.

  The battle with Luke replayed in his head as he set her down, gently, on the grass, and glanced at her now lifeless orb. They had been winning. Elena was there, levitating above the ground as she was always wont to do, with her orb hovering right beside her, singlehandedly casting the spell that would’ve returned Lukai to his eternal prison, after he had shot an enchanted bullet right through Lukai’s heart. Things had been going according to plan; Lukai’s binding spell had reached the twilight of completion. What they had not anticipated was that his fated mate would be a firecracker.

  He recalled the lightning bolt that had taken Elena by surprise and flipped the tide of the battle, and he wished that he had erased her from the scene much earlier before she got the chance to do so much damage. The next time he came across her, he promised himself, he would silence her from the get-go.

  He watched the receding sunlight cast dark shadows over the tiny lake, as the last streaks of sunlight poured through the thinning, yellowing leaves. He knelt at the edge of the sprawling body of water, feeling the strong fragrance of the earth fill his nostrils. It was when the cool water touched his tongue that he realized how thirsty he had gotten from walking such a distance and hoisting an adult human over his shoulder all the way.

  If Elena was awake, she would’ve performed one of her trademark fantastic spells and teleported them right back to Transylvania without as much as breaking a sweat. He had always felt that her vast capabilities with magic had been the central engine on which the team ran, but now it was more than apparent.

  And then there was Seydoo. Timou didn’t even want to think about him. He couldn’t tell what had happened to him exactly, but somewhere in the depths of his mind, he had a terrible premonition. He felt awful to have left him behind, to face Lukai and the dominatrix brat all by himself, but it had been a no-brainer. Elena was more than just a teammate to him, she was the subject of his daydreams, and thoughts of her had his blood boiling furiously like liquid fire. And though he had never exactly found a way to tell her, as he wasn’t exactly one gifted with words, he had always resolved that he would rather die than watch her fall in battle.

  They were a formidable team; Elena, Seydoo, and himself. In fact, informal rankings at the High Commission had placed them above all others as the best squad. This was why the commission had been confident in sending them after the most dangerous criminal in recent history all by themselves. This was why they had been arrogant enough to believe that they could take him in all by themselves. Maybe their confidence hadn’t been unfounded, after all. They had had the upper hand until his fated mate had emerged as his secret ace. Timou found himself wondering for a second if she was the primary threat, and not Lukai.

  He had never imagined that they would be in such a dire situation that they would have to call for back up. He had almost left his emergency beacon behind, while Elena had judged him with her sharp eyes for even considering an eventuality where they would need saving, even as she eyed her beacon like it was a pile of poo.

  Now she was out cold and he was clueless when it came to geography. The beacon which they had all looked down upon now stood as the last silver thread connecting them with their clans and the civilization they had grown to love and cherish and defend. He had activated it hours ago and a bird fashioned from air and earth elements had materialized before him, asking that he deliver his distress message. Having stated their situation, the bird had flown toward the aquamarine sky and vanished from his sight. The beacon began beeping instantly, too. A half-hour later, a similar but different bird had returned, bearing a message delivered in the sharp voice of the High Commissioner herself, Celine. The message had been a cocktail of rampaging emotions. First, she had expressed her consternation at the outcome of the battle, and then her disappointment in the performance of the team, and then her sympathy over the state of Elena and the uncertainties surrounding Seydoo, and then she had voiced her anger at Lukai’s treatment of her ‘finest men’ and pledged that she would exterminate him once and for all with no considerations of mercy this time. And finally, her voice had suddenly resumed its usual, practiced diplomacy, which indirectly asserted her position as an administrator, and she had assured that help was on the way.

  “Kindly hold on to your beacon at all times, as this is the only means through which we can track you.” She had admonished in goodbye, and the bird had faded into dust. Years ago, the use of magical signatures to track High Commission lieutenants had been outlawed, as it had been widely regarded as ‘intrusive’. Timou still didn’t understand why.

  So now he waited, watching silently for the intervention. Having drunk his fill, he watched Elena from his perch beside the water. Knocked out and unconscious, her beauty remained as striking as ever. Her high cheekbones and bulbous boobs were a sight to behold. Timou couldn’t count the number of times he had fantasized about worshipping those boobs with his tongue.

  Elena stirred and Timou leaped up, his eyes alive and alert. But it was only a stir, and nothing more.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter 2

  THE SEARCH

  Becca burst into the room, looking flushed in the face. Luke looked up, a faraway look on his face. Becca stopped in her tracks. He was thinking again. The spark in her eyes dimmed. But then Luke spoke up:

  “What did you see?”

  Becca swallowed. He seemed interested enough. “Grams is in a in a in a gown,” she stammered terribly, her face reddening by the second, “She’s going on a date!”

  For a moment Luke looked dazed. And then he threw back his head and laughed, a vibrant hearty sound, the peals of ringing laughter ricocheting all over the walls. A silent smile camped on Becca’s face for a brief moment. Not only was Luke cuter when he laughed, but the life in his spirit seemed to elevate hers in an unexplainable way.

  The connection, Becca reasoned. It was maybe more powerful than they had initially imagined. But there was also this matter at hand.

  “From the moment I saw her, I just knew your grandma was a sharpshooter,” Luke mused, his eyes glinting with repressed laughter, “She just seemed too virile to be the mother of your mother.”

  Becca felt her cheeks fill with blood and go pink. How embarrassing was it to find that your grandma was dating?

  “Is he here already?” Luke asked, startling Becca with the depth of his interest.

  “No,” she responded, her gaze sideways with curiosity, “why?”

  “Nothing,” he responded casually, “I was maybe considering saying a quick hi, you know. Sizing him up.” At this Becca giggled and smacked him playfully across the head, eliciting a mock “Ow!” a
nd a round of grins and giggles that sounded stolen; like the residue at the base of a pan of cake batter. Who knew he could be so naughty?

  His hair felt like a clump of feathers when her hands touched it. She flopped onto the bed, right beside him, resting her head on a soft, puffy pillow. The worry lines were back on his face, as Becca had anticipated.

  “Thinking about your clan again?” She asked, her voice dropping.

  He didn’t respond, but his eyes said it all. The crimson of it had dulled, forming worry pools of a deep, muddy, murky red, almost like ketchup that had stayed too long on the countertop. As she looked into it, all of a sudden she was transported into what she immediately realized was his mind. In it was a castle with countless spires and arches. It was dark, nearly gothic, but it was beautiful in the way that sunset was beautiful. The sky above was obsidian, mixed with grey and the gold of sun blocked out by magic. She wasn’t supposed to have any senses other than sight in this vision, but it was as though her other senses were alive. She could smell the cooking; the sweet essence of nectar from a garden of plants which she quickly figured was Luke’s; the metallic fragrance of petrichor from the last rains; the thick musk of sweat from vampire soldiers training in the fields of endurance; the choking smell of fire, like incense burning in a golden crucible.

  She saw little vampire kids running in the distance, chasing a colony of bats, their delightful chuckles ringing in her ears with the pureness of innocence. Then the vision changed. She saw the sky above erupt in a violent storm, rippling with fierce lightning and rumbling with terrifying thunder. The kids were gone from the mouth of the large castle, and in their place stood a squadron of vampires wearing dark leather cloaks and wielding weapons of wood, glass, and metal. From her vantage point, she saw a vampire with large ears addressing the assembled soldiers. She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell that he was heavily built and stocky, with his wide shoulders and bulky midsection. His hair was slick and oily, and bound at the crest of his head with a bun.