Chapter 13 ∣  Showdown

-Evicka

My parents are within my sights, along with Killian and Orion...however, there is one vampire that I do not recognize. She stands near Orion, unsure of exactly how this all is about to play out. I breathe in deeply and feel the connection. Her eyes found me, I notice the tell-tale sign of a hunter, the white irises staring at me with apprehension

This is the hunter that my father turned.

The way she presses herself into Orion's side has me thinking she must mean something to him. Whether her life had been at risk, or that Orion asked my father to turn her, I can't quite put my finger on the cause for her transformation.

The sky is growing light, the sun threatening to kiss our forms if we are to stay out in the open like this for more than a few hours. If the hunters manage to keep us unaware of the timing of the rising sun...we'll all be killed.

I step forward and away from the covens, closing the distance between them and my family. Lucca is right behind me, Erebus on my right as the purebloods come forward to join me as well. I notice the hunters in the distance are growing anxious, ready to attack if we make any sudden movements.

Some of the hunters look as though they are about to charge us, while others remain unsure and uneasy, gazing at Orion with pleading expressions.

Select few hunters do not want a bloodbath to take place here.

My mother and father smile at me relieved that I'm okay. After all, the sole purpose that they had entered the underground city was to save me. Instead, coven members had been killed and my parents' lives had been placed in danger...to come after me.

"Evie," my father pulls me into a warm embrace, not able to completely close the gap between us. I hold onto him tightly; glad to have my family back once again. My father pulls back and looks me up and down before asking, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lucca snorts and I glare at him, "really, I am."

My mother's eyes are full of concern. I knew this was going to happen, but I don't want the focus on me...there is much more at stake here then my life and this little being's.

Erebus shifts past me, standing in front of Orion as the female vampire-hunter moves behind him. She'd just been turned and is now feeling the strongest pureblood presence in the world if I were her; I'd be frightened as well.

"Erebus?" Orion questions Erebus, knowing this must be his grandfather, but not entirely accepting it.

"Yes, and you must be my grandson, Orion?" Erebus responds with a faint smile on his face. He then regards the female behind him and asks, "And who is this?"

Orion never gets the chance to answer before some of the hunters surge toward us, taking all of us off guard. That's when I see him.

Enock is leading a group of hunters toward us; their blades are drawn as they move to close the distance.

Take Zak and Cristela with you and get back behind the covens.

Dad, bu-

This isn't up for discussion. Get out of here now!

I breathe in deeply, watching as the newly turned vampire, Cristela, moves toward me, "Zak, let's go!" I yell at him, turning around and running in the direction of the combined covens.

Cristela and Zak are right behind me, finding sanctuary as soon as we meet up with Kenzie, beckoning us through the large group. After making sure they are safe, I push my way back through to stand next to Kenzie and Kato, watching with hesitation as Enock withdraws a gun, pointing it at Orion.

Killian dashes to the left side, wrapping around toward the hunters and out of Enock's way. My mother bites into the soft flesh of her inner wrist, flinging her blood in the direction of the advancing hunters. It thins out, spreading out on the ground. As the hunters step onto it, my mother's hand clenches into a fist and the blood solidifies, stopping them dead in their tracks.

In the next second, Kadessa appears out of thin air five feet in front of my mother. She holds the hilt of a dagger backward, swing the blade at her. Losing her connection, the blood liquifies, my father's form rushing to block my mother. He isn't quick enough for the ranger, her blade slicing into his chest and drawing blood. It doesn't appear to cut him too deep, but he pushes my mother away from Kadessa and back toward the purebloods who are arcing around the group.

My blood pulsates, biting my lip and calming myself so that I won't spark the connection between myself and my blood magic. It is growing harder to just stand back and watch as Kadessa and Enock immediately switch places, Kadessa sliding to the ground and kicking Orion's feet out from under him as Enock pulls the trigger on my mother. My father blocks the shot, the dart hitting his upper chest as he growls at the ranger in annoyance.

"That shit isn't going to work on me," my father yells, pulling the dart from his chest and baring his fangs at Enock. The wound from Kadessa's blade had already closed, the blood no longer falling from his cut shirt.

Erebus steps back, focusing on something I have no understanding of.

Why isn't he fighting?

Lucca pulls my mother away, sending her back behind the purebloods. I can tell she's pissed off beyond belief. No one has ever seen a fighting style like Kadessa and Enock are using. It appears that they can swap locations with each other at the drop of a hat.

Is this because they are twin hunters?

Lucca, they're too dangerous to fight head on. You guys need to come up with a strategy...

They're relentless; the only way we are going to get ahead of them is if all the purebloods attack at once. But, we can't communicate silently with them, so announcing what we are about to do is not going to work. I've seen how fast Kadessa moves, she was on par with Locaine.

I realize then, that the reason the pureblood coven leaders are lingering back is to catch any hunters that manage to get past my father, Lucca, Orion, and Erebus. Erebus is now standing beside my mother, right behind the line they have drawn to keep the hunters at bay.

While Orion gets to his feet, two hunters run past him, heading straight for the security line. The female pureblood, who had spoken to Erebus when they had all arrived, lunges toward the hunters. One of them escapes her grasp, the other one is laid out of the ground with her hand around his neck, compressing his windpipe. He thrashes beneath her grasp, but he isn't anywhere near as strong as she.

As she snaps his neck like a toothpick and then slashes her nails across his neck, the female hunter who had managed to evade her spins around and out of reach of a male pureblood. If she wasn't the sole target, she could have gotten away, but she's soon entrapped by two males. One tackles her to the ground and plunges his fangs into her neck. In her panic, she grabs the dagger at her belt and is about to slit his throat, when the second pureblood snatches her wrist, the weapon hitting the ground.

"Oh, Orion...here are more purebloods...vampires you said needed to die. Their power-hungry ways will only cause any agreement to be broken," Kadessa sighs as she jumps back out of his reach.

Orion's eyes shift to a bloody red, throwing his arms back and pulling the blood from the hunters' bodies that were just recently slaughtered. "You need to listen, Kadessa." She won't even stop for a moment, striking her blade at him. Orion just narrows his eyes, the blood rushing onto the ground until it encircles Kadessa's feet, creeping up until it rests at her hips, keeping her immobilized, "You shouldn't have betrayed me."

While my father holds Enock's attention, Lucca lands behind Enock, attempting to grab his arms. It's a good try, but Enock drops to the ground and sprints out of the way. They really are just as fast as purebloods, but at least Orion manages to capture Kadessa.

Enock reappears, catching my father by surprise as his elbow rams into the side of his ribs. I have never seen anyone overtake him, but these rangers aren't your run of the mill hunters. My father flips backward, catching himself as Lucca finally manages to slam Enock into the ground, hissing at him, "If you move, I will end your life."

The hunters that follow Enock and Kadessa all run at our group, Killian standing in the way.

"STOP!" Erebus' voice carries power, filling my body with an icy shudder as each hunter comes to a halt, every head turning toward him. He walks past the line of purebloods, coming to stand between the captured rangers and the hunters. Erebus growls lowly before stating, "You are ALL of kin. Because of ONE mistake, the hunters were cast out, shunned by their own kind!" He turns his words on the shaking hunters, startled by his sudden outburst, "The very first of your kind came from the union of a pureblood and a human...the reason why you are so strong and are so different, and that is because you have vampiric blood running through your veins. Yes...you have a soul and want to protect the humans."

Vampires and hunters alike are wrapping their heads around his words. Finally, everyone knows the truth.

Erebus turns toward the vampires, "You all can live without the killing of a human...yes you need to feed, but there is NO reason we have to kill in order to survive."

"H-how can we live together...?" One of the hunters speaks up.

Erebus turns toward me, silently calling me toward him. I do, not hesitating for a moment as I walk back across the field, past the line of pureblood coven leaders, right past my mother and standing beside him.

"This is King Locaine and Queen Annika's daughter, she is the only living pureblood vampire huntress alive. Annika was once a hunter...it appears, that when a hunter is bitten by a pureblood, they do NOT die, fully turning them into a vampire and accepting them as their own kind. It is only regarding humans, that a bite is deadly," Erebus informs them.

I feel the eyes of all the hunters staring at me, unsure of what to believe, until Orion states, "What Erebus says is true. Evicka has blood magic, she is part hunter. We don't have to fight anymore...we are ALL the same. If you truly believe in everything I have been working for, you will throw down your weapons."

It goes quiet, murmurs breaking out amongst the hunters. My heart is pounding in my chest as three hunters take ten steps away from the group, their grip on their swords tightening before releasing them. The metal falls to the ground as they glance at each other and walk across to where our group is in the center of the field.

They walk up to Erebus, waiting for us to turn on them. It never happens. He waves them past him, allowing them to walk toward the line of the pureblood coven leaders. Full of speculation, their eyes watch the hunters cautiously. The tension they pose toward them fades, allowing the hunters to now be protected by them, standing between the covens and their security line.

After observing the three hunters being accepted, more of the hunters let go of their weapons, coming in small groups across the field.

Orion keeps his focus on Kadessa, watching as she glares at him with rage. These two rangers really do want to sabotage this treaty. As two hunters walk past her, quicker than any of us can follow their movements, Enock is now entrapped within Orion's bloodroot while Kadessa is beneath Lucca. Because of her smaller frame, Lucca was not expecting this and she's able to throw him off her.

My father dashes at her while throwing a punch. His fist collides, but it's Enock's chest it contacts. They are switching places...their speed is incredible. Enock takes my father's wrist and throws him to the ground.

Enock dives past Lucca and Killian, sprinting toward the line of purebloods. Erebus places me behind him, Enock removing his second gun and shooting my mother. The dart hits her, rendering her blood magic useless. The purebloods descend on swiftly, pinning him to the ground and locking his arms behind his back.

The gunshot surprises us all, the blood trickling away from Kadessa's body as Orion loses control of his blood magic. She'd taken one of the guns that had fallen to the ground when Enock had been entrapped by Lucca when they had first swapped positions and loaded a live round.

At first, I thought it was because he had been injected with a blood thinner, but the blood coming from the open wound in his chest, right at his heart, makes me reevaluate the situation.

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Ascension of the Hunters by K. A. Young.

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