Asher, Logan, and Jayce, three of Kara's fellow hunters, followed Nathan as he down the steps to the club, which Kara saw from the shadows. She wasn't going to wait out this hunt, even if Nathan would murder her if he found out she was there or, more likely, give her hours of lectures. She would not miss this since she had to miss much of her life.
She just didn't know how to enter the club. Her eyes wandered over the queue of people waiting to enter the building that snaked around its side. A red rope was being held by the guy in front of the line. As soon as Nathan approached him, he would allow her brother in. Kara had never met the guy before, and she wouldn't have had time to go inside if she had to stand in line. Without understanding how or why, she had always had a sixth sense, and it was telling her that this night would be the one and that she needed to enter right away.
When her father was slain, she felt just as her senses had warned her. The thought of the overwhelming emptiness that had overtaken her the instant her father passed away made her quiver. Her observation of his corpse did not surprise her when his death was verified hours later. When she was reminded of how ineffectual she had been, her fingers pressed into her hands. Yes, she was aware of his death, but not in time for her to attempt to stop it.
She was now aware that tonight would be the night they discovered the vampire who had killed her father. She had been trying for a long to escape the fortress, but she knew today was the night she had to go. She had put her escape plan into action after burying her fear of being outside the walls that had surrounded her for the most of her life.
She had been taught how to kill vampires during her training as a hunter, but as a woman, she had never been permitted to engage in combat with vampires or socialize with humans. She hadn't left the hunter stronghold in twenty years, and even then it had only been because they had moved from Virginia to Massachusetts in response to a spike in vampire activity.
She often appreciated the reasons she was kept so safe, but she always loathed them. Outside of the many books she had read in her lifetime, there was so much more of the world to explore and discover. She was aware that hunters were essential to protecting the general populace from the monsters that emerged at night, but did she really have to give up her life for that?
Kara grumbled and slumped her shoulders. That is really what it meant.
One life was nothing in comparison to the billions of lives that depend on the hunting species to survive, as her father had often reminded her. They could and did recruit others, but they also had to carry on the line of the original hunters. But since it was often difficult for a female hunter to become pregnant, the women were guarded while the males engaged in combat.
She had been fortunate enough to be born into her future marriage and motherhood, or at least that's what she'd been told over and over again. She didn't think being confined to a small space and being engaged to Logan was very fortunate, but her opinion didn't matter.
She will be fulfilling her role as a wife starting in one month. When Kara was reminded of her upcoming wedding, her skin crawled. Logan was a decent, powerful, and competent guy, yet to her he was more of a brother than a spouse. At least on her end, there was no spark between them.
Although she had read about it in some of the romance books in the fortress, she had no clue what it was like to feel a spark with a guy. The importance of a spark was huge in those writings. But they were only fictional stories; in fact, she had no sparks with her future spouse.
She had been partnered with the most powerful hunter since her father had been the head of the hunters and her brother now was. Logan was among the greatest since he served as Nathan's second in command.
As she saw the still line, Kara exhaled. She had no clue how to enter, but because she had already managed to leave the fortress, she wasn't about to be discouraged. To escape, much preparation was required. Although she wasn't ready for this, she will figure it out.
By pushing her shoulders back, Kara escaped from the shadows while brushing her braid over her shoulder. As she reached the peak where a guy was holding the rope, the January air nipped at her face. Her dismissive glances from his chestnut eyes changed to more leisurely ones as they continued to scan her. Before waiving her hand in the direction Nathan and the others had headed down the stairs, Kara glared at him.
"Nathan is my brother," she said.
The guy smirked and said, "Is that so?"
"Yes."
So why didn't you accompany him in?
Kara struggled to think of a rejoinder. She noted that most of the individuals in the queue were engrossed in the phones they were holding. Several others were observing her, some with curiosity and others hostilely.
I was unable to contact him to let him know I would be late since I left my phone at home. She lied with ease and gave the guy her finest grin. "He probably thought I'd changed my mind about seeing him here.
One more time, the man's gaze passed over her. When Kara's fingers started to fumble with the edges of her sleeves, she calmed them down. She felt uncomfortable in a manner she had never been before since she was so out of her zone. If she had been a normal woman, she would have been at ease speaking to this guy and been prepared, but all she knew was what she had been taught growing up—vampires, marriage, and children.
New anger erupted inside her. Life could be She said this to herself several times each day, but it hadn't yet sunk in.
Instead of feeling bitter about what was taken from her, she should be thankful for what she already had. The fact that she was standing here acting foolishly with an increasing number of people staring suspiciously at her made her want to shove this guy out of the way so she could enter the club.
The guy lifted the rope and added, "Next time, come with him," then he walked away.
Come on, now! Bullshit, this is! Nathan is also my brother. From the queue, a clamor of shouts could be heard.
As she hurriedly down the stairs toward the pounding rhythm emanating from behind the locked door below, Kara disregarded all of them. The door opened inward to show a lady holding it for her before she could open it. The music became louder until Kara's head began to beat in time with it as the lady grinned at her.
The lady remarked, waving her arm toward a window behind her, "You can check your coat." When he noticed Kara, the guy who was leaning his elbows on the wooden ledge rose up straight.
I say, "No, thank you." As Kara moved away from the lady, she drew her coat closer to her body. She didn't know much about people, but what little she had learned from her books, family, and other hunters about this planet made it clear that the weapons she had tucked away in her cloak were not appropriate.
She hurried quickly down the corridor in the direction of the music. She was concerned that Nathan would find her here, but she was unable to suppress the exhilaration she was feeling at finally being let free and getting to see part of the outside world.
She was out of the stronghold for the worst cause imaginable, and she had no clue how to navigate this new environment, but she was at least out of the fortress.
As she emerged from the hallway, she found herself at the edge of a dance floor. The sight of all the people moving and bouncing about in front of Kara made Kara gasp. Over the years, she and her friend Simone had danced a lot in one other's apartments, but she had never seen anything like this.
She found the location to be both fascinating and unsettling because to its utter lack of inhibition, lack of clothes, and intensity. She could scarcely distinguish between the smells of perspiration and booze due to their full mingling. This was unheard of in the fortress. When Kara went back and told Simone what she had seen here, Simone would be in utter wonder.
came back...
When Kara considered going back to the stronghold—a location that served as a lovely prison for her and many other women—sadness began to seep into her, and she shook her head to get rid of it. Even if the majority of the ladies there didn't see it that way, she would give everything to be able to stretch her wings and escape her golden prison.
Not the, she sharply reprimanded herself. You are at this place for a purpose. As she looked over the throng, she was trying to find the vampire who had killed her father. She kept a lookout for her brother as well.
Lucian focused his attention on the lady as she came out of the corridor and took a position at the edge of the dance floor. Her silver blonde hair, which was braided and hung over her shoulder to her left breast, was a rainbow of reds, blues, and yellows that mirrored the hues flashing above her. She glanced at the people in admiration as the lights danced over her beautiful features and illuminated it.
She smiled as a group danced near her, pulling at the corners of her big lips. However, Lucian found his attention drawn to her completely dressed figure in its form-fitting black slacks, which were tucked into ankle-high, black boots. Many of the individuals below revealed more skin than they covered. She positioned her hands on her hips to observe the throng as her calf-length, black coat pulled back. She wore a black turtleneck underneath the coat, hugging her breasts, thin waist, and rounded hips. At roughly five-seven, she seemed to be at least five inches shorter than him.
Her hands dropped from her hips, and she lost her grin as she turned to look at the audience with a much more somber expression. Her head dipped back, her eyes fixed on his, and he was given a close-up look of her stunning beauty.
His cock hardened as he imagined her body lying nude underneath him and dancing sensually across his covers. He recalled being twelve years old and first experiencing the pleasures of a woman's body, before his love of sex had diminished through the years of his death-filled existence. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this passionately attracted to a lady, but it had never happened before.
He craved a woman for the first time in ages, and he would do everything to have her.