It was early evening by the time Evie judged it safe to re-enter the kitchen. The last of the knitting circle had left and her mother was clearing up after them.
‘Do you want something to eat?’ she asked Evie.
‘No, I’m good, thanks,’ Evie mumbled.
She watched her mum out of the corner of her eye, weighing the opportunity, and deciding to wait until the best teapot and creamer were safely stowed on the sideboard before she began.
‘So, mum,’ she started, clearing her throat.
‘Yes, sweetheart?’ her mother answered, closing the cabinet and turning to Evie.
Evie saw the weight of expectation in her mother’s eyes, the hope that Evie might be about to start explaining what had happened eight weeks ago, and for a split second it almost all came tumbling out of her.
Lucas died. She very nearly said it. It was right there on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped herself at the last moment. She winced and took a deep breath, letting the pain dull to a savage ache inside. Her mother was still watching her expectantly, eyebrows raised.
Evie opened her mouth to try again. She had practised this in her bedroom. This time she wasn’t going to run off without leaving a note. This time she was going to tell her mother to her face where she was going.
‘I need to tell you something,’ she began.
Her mother’s face fell and her gaze flew to Evie’s stomach. Evie groaned inwardly. She knew her mother was thinking, Pregnant, oh dear lord, she’s pregnant. Perfect, Evie thought, that’s just what she needed her mother to believe. How long would it take before the knitting circle started crocheting baby booties?
‘I …’ she hurried on, then stopped again, unable to find the words.
Her mother waited. ‘You what?’ she asked after several more seconds of silence.
Evie could see the worry building, the panic flaring behind her mother’s eyes, but just as she was about to tell her she was heading to LA for a few days to see a friend, her attention was snatched by something outside. Her hearing funnelled and her eyes flew to the back door.
There was someone outside in the dark, hiding. There – a footstep – so light it could have been mistaken for a leaf falling. Then, almost simultaneously she became aware of a familiar tugging sensation at her sternum.
There was a Hunter outside.
‘Evie?’
She blinked at her mother. ‘Huh?’
Her focus was fully on the footsteps, which were growing more distant as they headed through the orchard and down towards the river. She tried to calculate who it might be. It wasn’t Jocelyn. There was no reason for Jocelyn to be skulking through the orchard at the back of the house when she could just walk right in the door, no questions asked.
Vero and Ash didn’t know where she lived, as far as she knew, and they weren’t likely to be paying a social call on her of all people. Which left only one other Hunter she could think of. Victor.
Evie brushed past her mother, already scanning the counter top for a weapon and seeing only her mother’s best teapot.
‘Where are you going?’ her mother shouted after her.
‘I need to borrow a hammer,’ she called over her shoulder as she made for the stairs to the basement.
‘That’s what you wanted to talk to me about? Why didn’t you just say so?’ her mother huffed. ‘You know where your father keeps his tools – kept his tools,’ she corrected herself a little angrily. ‘And what on earth do you need a hammer for anyway?’
Evie was already halfway down the basement steps. ‘Um, there’s a floorboard that’s come loose in my room.’
‘I can get Joe to fix that,’ her mother shouted down to her. ‘There’s no need for you to go hurting yourself with a hammer.’
‘I’m not going to hurt myself,’ Evie answered, her gaze running anxiously over the tools hanging from nails along two walls. Her hearing was still tuned to the outside. But she could no longer hear anything. The tugging on her sternum had lessened too.
‘Suit yourself,’ her mother sighed loudly before marching off.
Evie jumped onto a wooden crate and quickly lifted down her father’s hunting rifle from where it hung above the door. It had been rusting up there until a few months back, but after Caleb had come looking for her that time, Evie had taken it down and cleaned it, scrubbing the rust spots off the barrel, oiling the firing mechanism and learning how to load it one-handed in the dark. Now it was pristine. Already locked and loaded. She hefted the gun to her shoulder and headed for the basement door, pocketing some spare shells from the drawer on her way.
Once outside she crouched down in the shadows of the stairwell, letting her eyes and senses adjust to the dark. There. She caught the faint pull again, as though a fine strand of thread attached to her clothing was snagged on a thorn bush. She jumped to her feet. If it was Victor she needed to be fast. He was stronger than her, but she knew she was faster. He was also a bigger target, so if she could slip through the trees and track him, she might be able to take a shot.
She sprang up the stairs and darted towards the tree line, crouching low. Her breathing was coming quick and fast. He’d pick up on that. She tried to rein it in, not wanting to show anything he could misconstrue as fear. Her feet were crackling through the piles of leaves despite her efforts to move silently. Evie paused, pressing her back against the rough bark of a tree. She closed her eyes and willed her instincts to take over.
She caught the scent of him first. Something musky and, overlaid with it, something floral. It was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She frowned, listening harder. There was a crunch, a heavy footfall, and what sounded distinctly like a sigh. Evie’s eyes flashed open. She swung out from behind the tree, the rifle at her shoulder and her finger already pressing down on the trigger.
Chapter 9
‘Don’t shoot!’ a male voice shouted.
‘Jesus, what are you doing?’ someone else yelled. ‘It’s us!’
Evie lowered the rifle slowly. Ash stepped forward out of the shadows, his hands held up in a gesture of surrender.
‘It’s only us,’ he repeated, as Vero appeared scowling behind him.
‘You couldn’t just ring the doorbell?’ Evie asked, her heart hammering wildly. ‘I almost killed you.’
‘We didn’t realise you’d be armed,’ muttered Ash, frowning at the rifle.
‘Well, what are you doing sneaking around my orchard in the dark? Who does that?’ Evie asked, anger taking over now the adrenaline was draining away.
Ash took a small step forward, bringing his arms slowly to his sides. Evie saw that he was moving fine, as fluidly as ever – with no trace of the injury he’d sustained in the fight at the Bradbury two months back.
‘We needed to talk to you,’ he said, ‘and Vero figured showing up at your front door might not be such a good idea. What with your mum being home.’
Evie studied him closely for a second, her eyes flitting to Vero before returning to settle on Ash.
‘What do you want to talk to me about?’ she asked, already feeling pangs of unease.
Ash paused, his dark brown eyes glimmering in the moonlight. ‘How are you?’ he asked.
Evie shrugged in answer.
Ash nodded as though he understood what that little gesture meant. ‘Any news of Victor?’ he asked. ‘Has he been back here?’
‘No,’ Evie answered. ‘But I’m going to find him.’
Ash shot her a questioning look, but then he nodded once again. He understood the need for revenge. It was the one thing they all had in common, other than grief. Cyrus had once claimed that revenge was what made the world go round. Back then Evie had argued with him that it was love. But now she knew better.
‘Just ask her, Ash.’
Evie’s eyes flashed to Vero. She was wearing her normal ensemble – Doc Marten boots with green laces, and a pretty floral dress with a lace collar. Her wrists were bound with leather cuffs and her hair was cut short and spiked upwards. I
n the moonlight, Evie could see the piercings on her face glittering like shadow blades.
‘Ask me what?’ Evie asked, her stomach already contracting tight in trepidation.
‘Have you been watching the news?’ Ash asked.
Evie drew a long breath. She’d known as soon as she’d laid eyes on the two of them that that’s why they were here. She’d just been praying that she was wrong.
‘I take it by your silence that you have. So you know what’s happening, then?’
Evie paused a moment before nodding.
‘You know that it’s not a serial killer, right? You know it’s unhumans?’
Evie nodded again.
‘It’s the ones that got here before we closed the way through,’ added Vero.
‘It’s not just Thirsters. We can handle those,’ Ash carried on. ‘And the Mixen and Scorpio that came through seem to have gone to ground.’ He held Evie’s gaze. ‘We think it must be Originals.’
A shiver of goosebumps ran up Evie’s arms.
‘There must have been others, besides the one you killed in the Bradbury. It’s more than we can handle alone,’ said Ash, fixing her with a pointed stare.
‘You don’t say,’ Evie replied tersely. It had taken five fully trained, heavily armed Hunters to stop just one Original. There was no way on earth the two of them could stop one, let alone more than that.
‘That’s not the only problem,’ Vero added. ‘We think they’re making more.’
Evie stared at her, the blood running cold in her veins.
‘It would account for the number of people going missing,’ Ash continued. ‘The police are keeping it all quiet. But the homicide rate is up three hundred percent.’
‘The police couldn’t handle a stray dog,’ Vero spat, ‘let alone this. It’s a good job there are still some Hunters around to handle it for them.’
‘You’re still hunting, then?’ Evie asked.
Vero frowned at her as if she was stupid. ‘What else are we going to do?’ she snapped.
Evie shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I just figured that … I mean …’ She hesitated. ‘You wanted out, didn’t you?’
‘After it was over,’ Vero said. ‘And does it look like it’s over to you?’
She strode towards Evie, her teeth flashing in the darkness. She looked a little like a rabid Thirster, Evie thought, taking a minute step backwards and gripping the gun tighter. She had learnt to be wary of both Vero and her sister, Risper. Though Risper had turned out to be an ally in the end, for a time Evie had been her target practice. And Vero and she had never exactly bonded either.
‘There are still unhumans out there,’ Vero said ‘and we’re Hunters, unless you forgot. We can’t just stand by and let it happen. This is our realm.’
‘We came here to see if you’d help,’ Ash interrupted, stepping in front of Vero. ‘We figured you might join us.’
Evie saw the doubt flickering across his face as he waited for her response.
‘There are no other Hunters?’ she asked, her voice uneven. ‘No one else who can help?’
‘No,’ Ash said. ‘There are no other Hunters who can help. Don’t you think we’ve already thought of that? We’ve exhausted all other options. That’s why we’re here.’
His words landed as hard as a slap. Evie didn’t say anything.
Vero took Ash by the elbow. ‘I told you we shouldn’t have bothered with her,’ she said, tugging him backwards. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
‘No,’ Evie said, reaching out and grabbing Ash’s arm.
He turned back to her impatiently.
‘It’s not that,’ she said. ‘I want to help.’ She paused. ‘But …’
‘But what?’ he asked.
She hesitated, wondering what to tell him. ‘I need to deal with something first.’
‘Listen,’ hissed Vero, rounding on Evie, ‘we gave you time. And space. We kept away these last eight weeks even though things were getting out of hand and we could have used you. But we’re all dealing with stuff, you know. Not just you. We need to end this,’ she growled. ‘We owe Risper that. We owe Cyrus that.’ A pause. ‘You owe him that.’
Evie staggered back a step, reeling at her words.
‘Is it Victor?’ Ash suddenly asked. ‘Is that the thing you need to deal with?’
‘Yes,’ Evie admitted.
‘OK,’ Ash said, nodding. ‘How about this? Come back with us. We have weapons.’ He glanced at the hunting rifle in Evie’s hand. ‘You’re not going to get very far against Victor with that. You know how well armed he is.’
Evie scowled at him.
‘You help us get the situation under control – help us wipe out all the Originals. And we’ll help you find Victor in return. Is it a deal?’
Evie didn’t say anything. She just chewed it over in her mind. She wasn’t going to be able to find Victor and kill him if she was dead, which was what was most likely going to happen to her if she agreed to this deal to hunt Originals.
‘Are you a Hunter or not?’ Vero asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Evie studied them both, her mind whirring. ‘You think the three of us can deal with Originals? You think we have any chance – at all?’
Ash held her gaze. ‘I don’t know. But I do know one thing – we have to try.’
Chapter 10
It took Evie two minutes to pack her stuff. Once she’d gathered her things she threw her bag over her shoulder and scanned the room. She knew she should go and tell her mother she was leaving but, unable to face the disappointment in her mum’s face or yet another argument, she grabbed her notebook instead and scribbled a few lines:
Dear mum, I have to go and help a friend who’s in trouble. I’ll be away for a few days. I’m sorry. Evie x
She left the note on her bed and ran down the stairs. Her mum had switched the radio on in the kitchen and didn’t even hear her as she slipped out of the front door.
Ash and Vero were waiting in Cyrus’s car at the end of the driveway. As she slid into the back, Ash glanced over his shoulder. ‘All good?’ he asked.
Evie nodded and he pulled out onto the road.
They travelled in silence, taking back streets out of town until they made it to the freeway, at which point Evie turned her attention back to Ash and Vero. ‘So, how many are there?’ she asked, her body tensed for the answer.
She couldn’t stop thinking that the Originals were supposed to have been massacred a thousand years ago, and yet here they now were, alive and happy and multiplying in LA.
‘About a dozen we think,’ said Ash, glancing at her in the rear-view mirror. ‘Judging from what we’ve seen and the number of new Thirsters on the street.’
‘If only they were new Thirsters,’ Vero said under her breath.
‘What do you mean?’ Evie asked, leaning forward.
Vero shifted in her seat so that she was looking through the gap in the headrest at Evie. ‘You know how most Thirsters, especially new-born ones, are young, dumb and full of …’ She stopped abruptly, pulling a face. ‘Well, these ones are young and they’re blood-crazed and they’re ten times stronger than a normal newbie.’
‘And they’re way more intelligent than your average unhuman too,’ Ash added, grimacing as he drove. ‘The only thing they can’t do is daywalk like Originals.’
Well, at least that was something, Evie thought wryly.
‘What about the revelation law?’ she asked.
‘Revelation law?’ Ash laughed. ‘What revelation law? It doesn’t exist anymore.’
Evie slunk back in her seat and stared out of the window. The revelation law was the rule passed by the Elders forbidding unhumans to reveal themselves to humans in this realm. If there was no revelation law controlling them, then it wouldn’t be long before every unhuman in town – and there were still thousands – would start walking the streets, whether they were green or had a tail or could shift into wild animals. She didn’t want to imagine what kind of a bloodbath there wo
uld be.
She had thought that once the way through was closed it would all be over and the world would just go back to normal – that she could go back to being normal too. How much more naïve could she have been?
‘Why are the Originals making more Thirsters? I mean, what’s the point? Surely it just means more competition when it comes to meal times?’ Evie asked.
‘We think they’re creating an army to do their dirty work for them.’
The breath caught in Evie’s chest. ‘What dirty work?’
‘Bringing them food, hunting for us …’
‘What?’ Evie choked.
Ash glanced at her in the mirror. ‘They’re hunting us. Think about it. They’re here, in our realm. What are they going to do? Hide? Try to blend in?’ He shook his head, his eyes now back on the road. ‘No. They don’t care about blending in. They don’t need to blend in. Only animals that can get eaten need to learn how to camouflage themselves. These guys are at the top of the food chain. They don’t need to hide. They have nothing to fear from humans.’
He paused, as though to let Evie fully comprehend what he was saying. ‘We’re their only threat,’ he continued, ‘and when you colonise another realm you do that by first ridding yourself of any threats to your own dominance in that realm’s eco-system. That would be us. It’s Darwinism. The strongest species wins.’
‘So what are you saying?’ Evie asked, leaning forward between the two front seats. ‘They’re going to kill all the Hunters in this realm? That’s their big plan? So they can what? Hang out here at the all-you-can-eat-buffet for the rest of eternity?’
‘Yes,’ Ash nodded.
Fear wrapped itself around her insides, but Evie forced herself to ignore it. ‘So,’ she said, trying to sound a lot more confident than she felt, ‘I guess we had better find them first. Any ideas where they’re hanging out?’
‘No.’
‘But they feed right? Any patterns to the feeding?’
‘Up in the hills, along Mulholland and in Beverly Hills. That’s where most of the killings have taken place.’