Chapter 13: Hunting the Hunter

As soon as I stepped into the house, Jax shoved me against the wall, his arm pressed tightly against my throat. His face was twisted with rage.

“What the hell were you thinking bringing Chloe here?” he snarled.

I pushed him off me and glowered at him.

“I can smell her everywhere.” He scrunched up his nose. “Are you trying to expose us?”

“Don’t be stupid.” I brushed past him. “She doesn’t know anything about us. Yet,” I called over my shoulder, mostly to piss him off. And it worked.

He lunged at me, but I spun out of the way before he could make contact. I crouched, fangs bared, ready to fight. Until he knew how it felt to find a soulmate, he could never possibly understand what I was going through, but if he didn’t back off, I wouldn’t hesitate to put him in his place. I was fed up with his attitude.

“I swear to God, Trent, if you tell her the truth about us…”

“You’ll what?” We circled each other, both of us poised for a fight but neither of us making a move.

“Enough!” Sean was suddenly standing between us. “This fighting needs to stop. Now.” His hard gaze darted from me to Jax, then he pointed at me. “You should’ve known better than to bring Chloe here. At least warn us next time.”

I straightened and nodded. “Sorry.”

“And you”—he turned to Jax—“stop antagonizing your brother. We’ve got bigger problems to deal with.” Sean dropped his hand and sighed. “A local student was found dead today.”

My eyes widened. “Who?”

“Rachel Wellington. Did you know her?” Sean asked.

“Not really.” I shook my head. “She was Abby’s best friend.”

Sean’s expression was confused.

“Abby is Chloe’s cousin.”

“Ah.” He nodded with understanding.

“Was it a vampire attack?” Jax asked. He stood a few feet away, arms crossed.

While he wasn’t actively trying to hit me at the moment, his muscles were tense, and I could feel the anger pulsing off him in waves. I seriously didn’t understand his issue with Chloe. Did he loathe her that much just because she was human?

“The authorities are calling it a hiking accident, but I suspect it wasn’t. Why would she be hiking Roaring Brook Falls when she was supposed to be in class?” Sean asked with a small shake of his head.

I stiffened. “Roaring Brook Falls?” My voice sounded detached and far away. I swallowed hard. “Chloe and I were there this morning.”

Jax whipped around to stare at me, eyes wide. “You were there?”

“Yes.” I frantically searched my mind for any memory or hint of anything that had been out of the ordinary, but I’d been so focused on being with Chloe that I hadn’t really paid much attention to anything else.

“Who else knew you were there?” Sean asked, an edge of worry in his tone.

“No one,” I said quickly.

“Until Chloe decides to run her mouth,” Jax muttered.

I growled.

“Knock it off,” Sean warned.

I paced away and rubbed the back of my neck. This was bad. I hoped Chloe wouldn’t tell anyone we’d been at the falls this morning, but what if she did? We’d become suspects in what I was sure would turn into a murder investigation, and if I was implicated in something like that… My stomach sank. I’d put my entire family at risk.

“Did you see or hear anything this morning?” Sean asked.

“No.” I sighed. “Nothing.” I wasn’t about to tell him I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. I was already mad at myself for letting my guard down; I didn’t need him to pile on the guilt.

“You need to make sure Chloe doesn’t talk,” Jax said.

Spinning around, I glared at him. “You’d better not be suggesting what I think you are.”

“He’s not,” Sean said, shooting Jax a look that clearly screamed shut up. “But it wouldn’t hurt to talk to Chloe and see where her head is about this.”

I’d never say no to an opportunity to see Chloe, but how could I show up at her house unannounced? What would I say that wouldn’t raise suspicion? I couldn’t come up with a plausible excuse to go see her, so I’d just have to wait until school tomorrow.

“I’ll talk to her,” I said. “And I’ll convince her not to say anything.”

“If she hasn’t already,” Jax said.

Sean groaned. “You boys are going to make me age a hundred years overnight,” he muttered.

Jax laughed, and I grinned. Despite our constant bickering, we’d gladly kill for each other, and even though Sean wasn’t our biological father, we loved him as if he were. We’d do anything for him—except stop fighting, apparently.

“We should probably check out the falls ourselves. See if we can pick up on something the cops can’t,” Sean said.

“Anyone else notice all this shit started happening when Marc arrived in town?” Jax raised a brow. “Maybe it’s time we pay him a little visit.”

That was certainly a plan I could get behind. “That’s a good idea,” I said. And while we were at it, I was going to be very explicit in what would happen if he messed with Chloe again.

“Do try to control yourselves. The last thing we need is another unexplained dead body in town.” Sean grabbed his keys from the entryway table. “Let’s go see what we can find.”

“Shotgun!” Jax hollered, then zipped out of the house so fast he was a blur.

The three of us piled into Sean’s SUV and headed for the falls. He drove past the main entrance and pulled off to the side of the road about a mile away. From there, we maneuvered through the woods on foot.

My senses where sharp and hyper-focused. Other than us and the wildlife, I didn’t hear anything out of place. Nor did I pick up on any unordinary scents. The sound of rushing water became more prominent the closer we got to the falls.

I slowed my steps in tandem with Sean and Jax, and we inched closer to the trail that led to the base of the falls. No one was there, not even a cop standing guard. That was odd. A sign that read: Closed by Police Order stood at the trail entrance.

“Isn’t this supposed to be an active crime scene?” Jax whispered.

“Apparently not,” I said and glanced around. The surrounding area was utterly devoid of human life. What the hell was going on?

“C’mon.” Sean took off in a flash.

Jax and I followed, stopping only when we reached the base of the falls. Yellow police tape cordoned off the area, but again, the place was desolate. No crime scene investigators. No coroner. No police.

“When did they find her body?” I asked.

“Around one o’clock, I think,” Sean said as he surveyed the area.

“They didn’t waste any time cleaning up the scene, did they?” Jax approached the rocks where Chloe and I had sat early.

I was hit hard with the memory of having her so close to me, her head resting on my shoulder, the feel of her soft hand in mine. I drew in a deep breath, then pushed the thoughts from my mind. Now was not the time. I needed to stay focused.

Jax crouched on a rock. “Notice anything odd?”

I approached and studied the rocks and water. My gaze moved from that to the top of the falls. Something didn’t add up. I sniffed the air—trees, water, flowers, various animals…

“No blood,” I said.

“None.” Jax stood. “If she fell from way up there”—he pointed to the top of the falls—“there’d be blood down here.” He nodded at the rocks. “She would’ve gone splat.”

I winced at his description, but he was absolutely right. Anyone who fell from that distance would’ve made a hell of a mess. But there wasn’t a single drop of blood anywhere.

“The police wouldn’t have cleaned up the mess.” Jax shook his head.

“Even if they had, we’d be able to detect traces of it.” Sean came to stand next to me. “This wasn’t a hiking accident.”

“Which means she was left here. It was staged,” I said.

“She must’ve been killed somewhere else then,” Jax said.

“I can barely notice traces of another vampire.” Sean sniffed. “But I have no doubts this was a vampire attack.”

“Marc isn’t a vampire, though.” I moved off the rock and back toward the trail. “Unless he really doesn’t have anything to do with this and it’s just a really strange coincidence.”

“Only one way to find out.” Jax gave me a devilish grin.

“You two go have a chat with Marc, but do not kill him.” Sean’s stern expression left no room for argument. “I’m going to go sit near the police station and morgue, see if I can hear anything useful.”

“Be careful,” I said.

Then, Jax and I took off through the woods toward the cabin where Marc was staying. We emerged near the front of the dilapidated structure. A single light shone through the poorly boarded-up front window. Inside, I could hear the sounds of a TV and the steady heartbeat of Marc. He was home.

I gave Jax a nod, and we strode up onto the porch. When it didn’t collapse beneath our weight, I let out a relieved breath. I raised my hand to knock, but Jax kicked in the front door. The wood shattered.

“Yoo-hoo!” he shouted as he strode into the cabin. “We know you’re home, Marc.”

No one could mistake my brother for subtle. With a shake of my head, I followed him inside. Marc sat on a brand-new sofa, his attention on the equally new TV a few feet in front of him. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised by our presence. Then again, Jax hadn’t exactly been quiet about our entrance.

“I was wondering how long it would take you two to show up.” Marc clicked off the TV and stood. He stretched his arms above his head, then crossed his arms. “What can I do for you?”

“For starters, you can tell us what you know about Rachel’s death,” Jax said. He stood with his arms crossed and feet planted shoulder width apart.

“Not a damn thing.” Marc shrugged. “I happened to like Rachel.”

“Well, if this is how you treat people you like, I’d hate to see what you do to people you dislike.” Jax smirked.

“Are you accusing me of killing Rachel?” Marc’s tone took on a dark and deadly edge. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, vampire.”

Jax took a menacing step forward, and Marc took a step back. My body tensed in preparation for a fight, and I curled my hands into fists. Sean’s warning raced through my mind. No matter how badly we wanted to kill Marc, we couldn’t, which meant if Jax lost his temper, I’d have to intervene.

Marc held up his hands. “Now, now. If you kill me, the Zoya will view that as an act of war.”

“Not if we’re simply retaliating,” I said.

He laughed like I’d lost my mind. “Retaliating for what? I didn’t do anything.”

Something inside of me snapped. Maybe because of his flippant attitude, or possibly because of what I knew he’d done to Chloe. I moved forward so fast he couldn’t see me coming, grabbed him by the throat, and pinned him against the wall.

“For messing with Chloe.” I snarled and bared my fangs. “You so much as look at her sideways again, and I’ll make you beg for death.”

Marc flicked his hand. Intense, stabbing pain shot through my body, causing me to drop my hold on his throat and stagger backward. He sagged to the floor and gasped for air. When the pain subsided, I moved forward.

Jax clutched my arm, stopping me. “As much as I’d love to stand here and watch you kill him, you can’t.”

I jerked free from Jax’s grasp. When we’d walked in, I honestly thought I’d be the one reining him in, not the other way around. I shook off some of the rage boiling in my veins and crouched in front of Marc.

He glared at me through narrowed eyes. “You’ll regret that.”

“Leave Chloe alone, or next time, there won’t be anyone around to stop me from killing you.” I stood and marched out of the cabin before I did something I couldn’t take back.