Shattered Illusions Read online

  I bend down to pick up one of my sai, slipping it back into its home against my skin. No outside holsters for these bad boys, I can’t face the thought of losing them. It’s when I turn to collect the other one that I realise I’ve made a massive mistake. Namely that I forgot I was here to deal with more than just one vampire. I’m a fool. This is why even I should have been sent with a team of three. Alone, there’s no one to watch my back.

  The vampire is right in front of me, eyeing me up like I’m a juicy steak. Guess I am to him, really. I’m human after all, albeit one with a few extra abilities.

  I try to back away, but someone grabs hold of my arms from behind. Oh shit. This is not going well at all. I begin to struggle, trying to reach for any of my weapons. I’d even take the holy water vial strung around my neck right now, and that wouldn’t really do much. Maybe distract them for a few moments because something was in their eye, but I had my doubts on how much the holy bit would make a difference.

  “Not so fast,” the vampire in front of me growls, lunging towards my throat. Shit. This is it. I’m going to die, and it’s going to be by vampire. Well, really, I suppose that’s the most likely way for a vampire hunter to go, really, but even so. I’m not ready to die.

  I struggle against the man behind me, but he’s not leaving me very much wiggle room. Regardless, I kick out, trying to hit him in the shin so he’ll leave me be. This really wasn’t my plan for the day. Failing that, I throw my head forward, trying to headbutt the man in front of me. It’s not elegant, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, and it’d hopefully stop the hungry look in his eyes as he stares at my neck. It’s probably not helping that my pulse is pounding either. I should try and put a stop to that.

  “Will you hold still,” the man behind me growls.

  “Fat chance,” I reply, struggling all the more. I need to stop them from doing whatever they are planning to. It can’t be good for me, whatever it is. Nor is it good for others either. With me out of the way, Lord knows what they’ll go on to do.

  Amazingly, I manage to get one of my arms free. I wonder why he’s let that happen, but ignore the thought. Now is not the time. Not if I want to live.

  Before either of them fully register I’m free, I rip the cord from around my neck and smash the holy water into the face of the vamp behind me. He lets go of my other arm almost instantly, screaming in pain. I turn around while they’re both distracted and withdraw my stakes, no time for my preferred weapons anyway. His face is bubbling, I guess that’s confirmation that holy water does in fact do something, and he’s crying like a baby, but I can’t let that stop me.

  I plunge one of the stakes into his heart, kicking out behind me at the same time, and hearing a satisfying grunt that lets me know I’ve hit the other man too. It’s not a deadly blow like the one my stake just made, but it’s a start at least.

  The man in front of me turns into dust, but the other one grabs me, and instead of messing about with all the intimidation tactics this time, he just sinks his teeth straight into my neck.

  It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as I expect it to, but it does make me feel particularly hazy. Like I can’t focus on anything. My stakes drop to the floor as I forget how to hold them.

  Everything looks fuzzy.

  Everything sounds fuzzy.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a loud, male, voice demands. though maybe it doesn’t. Maybe the voice is just in my head. I don’t think that would surprise me given the circumstances. It’s not like I’m thinking straight or anything.

  My head lolls to the side. Okay, really not good. What’s going on again?

  Oh yes, vampire. Blood. Leaving.

  I can still feel the teeth in my neck. The sucking as the blood leaves me. The world turns to treacle to my senses. Slow and thick and not at all great.

  Until the teeth are gone. In a moment of clarity, I think I see another man in the room. But it’s probably just my imagination wanting to be rescued. That sounds about right anyway.

  Death overtakes me. Blackness. Emptiness. Finality.

  And I give into it with open arms.

  Chapter Three

  Blinding pain assails me.

  Wait? Pain? How is that even possible? I’m dead. Or at least, I’m pretty sure I am. Having one’s blood drained tends to end that way. Particularly when the vamp gets to the stage he did with me.

  I shiver at the thought.

  Wait...shiver?

  Okay, so I’m guessing I’m not dead then. Huh. Strange. Maybe my brain didn’t make up my saviour.

  I try to open my eyes, but the light in the room burns them. It’s beyond bright, and hurts to even blink.

  One hundred percent not dead then. Interesting.

  I run my tongue around my mouth, and almost gag. It’s so dry. Like I’ve been asleep for a long time and have managed to severely dehydrate myself. Then again, I lost a lot of blood, so I guess it actually does make sense.

  My tongue catches on something sharp where my incisors normally are, and I sit bolt upright, a wave of dizziness crashes over me. I rub my tongue over the sharp spot again.

  No. Fucking. Way.

  This isn’t my reality. This can’t be my reality. No way was I a...a...nope. I can’t even think the word. Thinking it will make it true.

  “Good, you’re awake,” a smooth male voice comes from my left. I glance that way, and am surprised to find a tall handsome man there. One that reminds me slightly of the vague shape I thought I saw earlier when I...

  “I am?”

  “You’re questioning it?” He raises an eyebrow, and I will admit that it’s a pretty stupid question on my part. Obviously, I’m awake. But my awakeness status isn’t exactly my biggest issue right now.

  “Would you rather I questioned what you did to me?” I demand. My tongue couldn’t leave my fan...surprisingly sharp teeth, alone. They’re like a scab that you know is there, but you just can’t leave alone, no matter what you do.

  “I think you know the answer to that.” He flashes me a grin, and I see the tips of his fangs pressing against his lower lip. But to my surprise, all he does is sit himself down on the bed next to me. I scuttle away quickly, pressing my back into the wall.

  “Stay away from me,” I insist, patting myself down and being surprised to discover all of my weapons are still in place. Save for one.

  “Looking for this?” he asks, holding out my missing sai to me, handle first. Tentatively, I reach forward and take it.

  “Thanks, but—”

  “Because it’s not mine to take. You’re clearly attached to them.”

  “But I could hurt you with them,” I point out, then curse myself. Why did I do that? I could take him off guard if I hadn’t said anything.

  “I don’t think you’re going to. Do you have a name?” he asks softly, surprising me again. He’s not anything like I imagine a vampire to be. He’s not being brash, or abrasive. Instead, he’s calm and sure. I kind of like it. A lot more than I should do.

  “Yes,” I answer.

  “Are you going to tell me it?”

  “No,” I blurt out instantly.

  “Very well. I’m Dimitri, pleased to meet you, Red.”

  “Don’t call me Red,” I growl. I hate people calling me Red. What stupid person thinks a hair colour is a good way to define people.

  “What else am I supposed to? I’d call you Hunter, but I think it’s probably a bit late for that. Then again, I do like irony.” He chuckles, mostly to himself I think.

  “Where’s the irony?” I’m sounding defensive, even to my own ears.

  “You were a hunter and now you’re…”

  “Lalalalalalala,” I sing rapidly, sticking my fingers in my ears. I just can’t hear it. I’m not ready yet. I may never be ready.

  “Please, just listen.” He pulls my hands away from my ears with a firm, but surprisingly gentle, grip on my wrists. I stop singing, more in shock than anything else. Why isn’t he attacking me? Shoul
dn’t he want to?

  More to the point, shouldn’t I be wanting to attack something? Nothing I’ve ever heard about newborn va...people like me, suggests restraint is a common attribute. So the last thing I expect is to be sat here chit chatting with Dimitri. What kind of name is that anyway? Does he want to sound like some stereotypical Russian Prince?

  I look him up and down. He doesn’t sound Russian, but with vampires, who knows what’s possible. If he’s hundreds of years old, then it seems likely he’d have lost his accent at some point. Is it rude to ask his age?

  I open my mouth to speak, but he holds his hand out to stop me. Oh yes, he wants me to listen to him. I close it again, catching my lip against the sharp tooth and causing a bead of blood to well up there. Without realising what I’m doing, I swipe at the droplet with my tongue. Dimitri’s gaze heats up as it follows the path of my tongue. I wonder if vamps are as attracted to their own blood as they are to humans’?

  “You’re a vampire now,” he begins.

  “Am not,” I interrupt, pouting at him. How dare he say I’m one of them. I’m not a...a...thing.

  “You are, and you’re not going to be able to deny it for much longer either...now will you please tell me your name?” he almost demands.

  “No,” I reply instantly.

  “What do I need to do to get it? Swear on garlic bread that I won’t do anything to hurt you? I saved your life, need I remind you.”

  “I’d hardly call it saving,” I mutter.

  “No? So you’d be alive and kicking right now without my intervention?” He sounds a little irritated. Oops. I mean, good. I want him to. He took my life from me. “You were already dead. All I did was give you a bit of my blood. So you’re a vampire, it’s really no big deal. Unless you’re a particular fan of sunshine and churches.” He chuckles to himself, clearly pleased with his little joke. I’m not. While I can’t say I’m fussed about either of those things, it’s hardly compensation for having to drink blood.

  “I…”

  “You’re a vampire. And sooner or later, you’re going to discover the truth of that.”

  “No.” I shake my head, my long red hair whipping around me with the exertion.

  “Fine, be in denial. But when the thirst gets too much, just remember I warned you.” He sighs, and gets up from the bed. For the first time, I let my eyes meet his. They sparkle in the light, a dark brown. Softer than I expect, with flecks of gold that captivate me even without them meaning to.

  But most striking of all is the silence. Right now, I should be getting the knowledge of his deepest, darkest, secret. And yet, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  “Why isn’t it working?” I mutter to myself.

  Dimitri just stares at me for a moment. “We don’t combust just cause you want us to,” he points out.

  “Not that,” I snap, completely forgetting who I’m talking to, and the fact I shouldn’t be interacting with him at all. This was already breaking so many guild rules.

  “Then what?” He looks slightly amused at my outburst, but I ignore that. I don’t want to tell him anything else he could take advantage of.

  “I see. You have some other kind of power and you’re trying to get it to work on me.” He laughs. Oh shit, how did he work that out?

  “No,” I protest far too quickly. Oops.

  “I thought the guild removed anyone who wasn’t entirely human?”

  I glance away, stupidly betraying the truth of the matter.

  “They don’t know, do they?” He laughs again. I wish the sound wasn’t so enticing. At the moment, it’s kind of making me want him. More than a little bit too.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I refuse to meet his gaze again. I can’t. He’ll see the truth there whether I want him to or not.

  He closes the gap between us, and grasps my chin between his fingers. His touch is firm, but not painful, and it’s clear he’s not trying to hurt me. Which is just confusing. He’s a vampire. Surely he should be trying to attack me and drink my human veins all dry. Except, no, he wouldn’t because I’m not hu...I’m not like that anymore.

  “What power is it, Ashryn?”

  “How do you know my name?” I demand. He’s been so careful not to use it. And in pushing me into telling him, I thought he genuinely didn’t know.

  “I’ve known your name since the beginning. They knew you were coming.”

  “Who did?”

  “The men you attacked. Well, and woman. But Valerie was a bitch, she hardly counts.”

  How am I supposed to respond to that? He’s talking about them as if they’re just normal people. Which wasn’t right. The last thing vampires are is people.

  “How?” I ask instead.

  “It was a trap, Ashryn.” This time when he uses my name, I listen to it properly, the main shock having worn off. Much to my dismay, I kind of like it. The way it rolls off his tongue, like a caress. I look him up and down. I don’t think I’d mind a caress from him.

  Oh no. Why am I letting him affect me this way? Maybe it’s the va...new part of me. Maybe it’s taking over already and giving me thoughts I don’t really want or need. I need him though. No. I don’t.

  “No, it wasn’t,” I insist, shaking my head so much it almost hurts. I refuse to believe it. A trap, particularly one co-ordinated with vampires, just isn’t possible. It goes against just about everything the guild stands for, and then some.

  “Then how do you explain how they managed to catch you so off guard?”

  “Bad luck,” I mutter. It’s the only explanation I can accept right now. Maybe in time I’ll change my mind. But it’ll take more than a vampire telling me for me to believe it. That wasn’t how I’ve been raised to think.

  “Keep telling yourself that, Ashryn.”

  Urgh. Why is he still using my name, it’s all kind of confusing. Actually, maybe I should be asking myself why I like him using my name. But there’s something about it that calls to me.

  One of the hunter’s once tried to convince me that mates are real. But I still don’t believe him. Maybe for werewolves, but even then, I don’t think so. There are too many reports of lone creatures for any of that.

  Plus, where’s free will if you’re fated to be with someone? It just doesn’t make any sense. At least not to me.

  “I’ll leave you to think about thing,” Dimitri says. “But I don’t think it’s a coincidence you were sent into a trap, and you have some sort of power.”

  “Surely you know what that is too?” I ask, bitterness creeping into my voice without me meaning it too.

  “No, I don’t. What I do know, is that you’ll tell me in time, there’s no way you won’t.”

  “Keep dreaming.” I glare at him, but deep down, I suspect he’s right.

  “Oh, and its not working because you’ve just been turned. If you give it a week or two, whatever you have will come back,” he says, turning towards the door. “I’m just hoping it’s not being able to paralyse people,” he mutters to himself and I grin broadly. That would be a cool power. But that’s not why I’m grinning. I’m far too satisfied with how much I’ve managed to affect him to think about that.

  “Goodbye, Dimitri.”

  He jerks a little as my use of his name takes him by surprise. It takes me a little by surprise too. I think I like the way it sounds even more than I like how mine sounds when he says it.

  No.

  I really can’t afford to think like this.

  “Goodbye, Ashryn.” He steps through the doorway, and I hear a firm click as it shuts. I wait for the telltale scrape of a key in the lock, but it doesn’t come. How odd. I’d think he’d want me to keep out of the way, particularly given I’m armed.

  Then again, maybe there’s a guard outside the door. I’d check, but I suddenly feel rather sleepy. Possibly the blood loss. To be honest, everything hurts like a bitch.

  I lie back down, tell myself it’s just for a few moments, but before I know it, my eyes drift closed and a
very different kind of darkness envelops me.

  Chapter Four

  My eyes flutter open, and the world is a lot darker than it was before. I wonder how long I slept for? And does it really matter?

  I think on it for a moment, before deciding it does. If I’ve slept for a long time, then maybe some of it was just a bad dream. Maybe all of it was a bad dream.

  Reluctantly, because I’m pretty sure I know what I’ll find, I run my tongue over the inside of my teeth. Sure enough, the two extra pointy incisors are still there. So long as I don’t start munching down on any unsuspecting humans I guess? I can just imagine that being a little bit icky.

  Or really tasty. As their blood slides down my throat, I’ll lick my lips, savouring every moment of it.

  I spring to my feet. I really need to get out of here if I want to keep my sanity. I wonder if they locked the door while I was sleeping. But as soon as I turn the handle, it swings open, so obviously not. The fools. What kind of vampire leaves the door open when they’re holding a vampire hunter hostage? That’s just asking for trouble.

  The corridor is deserted. So they didn’t even think to put a guard on me. Well weren’t they getting stupider by the second. I wouldn’t think that was possible, except for the fact I’m seeing it with my own eyes. In the words of one of the older hunters, they don’t have the sense they were born with. I think this is the first time I’ve ever truly understood that turn of phrase.

  There’s a door at the end of the hall, and I debate whether not to open it. Considering I had no idea of my way around the house, or if this even was the same house, it was as well opening this one as it was finding somewhere else. Mind made up, I turn the handle, expecting a squeak, but getting none. Okay then, they were finally actually getting with being sensible and looking after the place they apparently inhabited. Things were looking up. At least it means they won’t hear me slipping through it.