Had she been captured by the vampires? There was no more horrific or horrible end he could imagine for her. Although she was stubborn, she also possessed one of the greatest hearts he had ever seen. The vampires would torture her until no trace of the Kara he knew remained.
She was still alive. They were constantly tight, so he would be aware of her disappearance.
Again, he gave himself the boot for leaving her behind when he had run off after Joseph. He just had no other thoughts since he was so determined to defeat the beast on his own. He stopped pursuing Joseph and went back to the alley when he remembered that Kara had abruptly entered the club.
By the time he returned, Kara was nowhere to be seen in the club or the alley, and people were crawling all over it. Jayce's corpse has already been roped off by humans. They were able to steal his corpse this afternoon, but it had required some deft maneuvering. He had thankfully been separated from Kara's corpse at the mortuary.
He turned on his heel and retreated in the other direction. He had to admit Kara was resourceful, despite how angry and worried he was about her. She was also more committed than he had imagined to seeing that the person who killed their father was caught. She would have been a valuable asset in the field if she had been born a guy.
He marched up to the wall while glaring at it. Why was it that he was unaware of her plans? He ought to have seen that her previous displays of obedience were really pretenses. He ought to have realized what she was planning.
They were the closest of friends in addition to being siblings since they were born together, spent their early years playing together, and shared the same womb. He had turned 10 at that point and had abandoned his youth to pursue his hunting training.
Kara, on the other hand, had fought against her training from the beginning. She had been a continual annoyance to her teachers. Her fate as a woman in the fortress had never been one she had wanted to accept. She will outgrow it, according to their father. Nathan wasn't as sure, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
When they were younger, Nathan enjoyed seeing her pranks, which included skipping lessons, lighting her food on fire, collecting and bringing a number of frogs and snakes into the classroom, and outright defying orders. He had thought she wasn't prepared to leave her early years behind. As it became more clear that his sister was really unhappy with her chosen destiny, that amusement turned to despair.
After that, their father had been murdered. He had not been shocked to see Kara waiting for him when he arrived with his father's remains since she had always known things throughout the years. Although many had attempted to prevent her from seeing it, she was able to slip past them all and stand by their father as he was brought into the mourning room.
She hadn't sobbed or pleaded for retaliation. He had no other way to put it than that she had just withdrawn. Her composure had been inappropriate. He had assumed it was due to the strain brought on by her loss, but he now knows she had been scheming.
He ought to have been wiser. Kara's stubborn personality wouldn't have been weakened by the death of their father. He hadn't noticed beyond the front since he was so delighted that she had finally gotten used to it. As a result, he lost her.
Throughout the approximately three square miles that made up the fortress property in this outlying region of Massachusetts, Nathan banged his fist against the brick wall. His palm and elbow were pierced by pain, yet he scarcely noticed when one of his knuckles cracked. The damaged bone would mend without any problems.
When his father passed away, it was this quick healing capacity, along with many of his other increased senses, that had given him the position of leadership. Although other male hunters in the area had more expertise than he had, his lineage had been the leader from the start and would remain so as long as it lived.
The more experienced hunters agreed to it just as they agreed that he would lead his own men on the hunts. The men who had battled beside his father continued to hunt, but they no longer served as their leader's second-in-command. The new generation was emerging and taking control now, yet he still approached them for their direction and counsel.
In addition, many of his acquaintances and his father had been dead for well over a century. All of them still had many happy years ahead of them, but it was time for the more senior members to begin retiring. Nathan sometimes went hunting with some of the people in their 50s and 60s, but he wasn't expecting to run across so many vampires or have Kara come up.
As much as he wanted to embrace her, he also wanted to wring her neck.
"Nathan."
Logan was approaching Nathan when Nathan turned to look at him. He asked, "Has anything new been discovered?"
Logan halted in front of him. "Nothing at all,"
She is still alive.
Logan nodded, but his gaze was elsewhere. In that alley, there had been a plethora of vampires. Yes, they had driven a lot of them away, but there were still others. He still wasn't able to, and he didn't want to, explain them. They were vampires, and if they had harmed his sister, they would die.
Insisting, "I would know if she were dead," he said. But where was she? What was going on with her? Why hadn't she phoned if she wasn't being kept captive by vampires? Nathan increased his speed. "Get everyone together; tonight, we're going out in full force to find her."
"Nathan—"
He yelled, "She's alive!"
"I agree with you, but I believe we should leave a little extra security here, just in case."
Nathan closed his eyes; he ought to have taken it into account. Kara would never voluntarily provide any information about them, but even the toughest person may give in to pressure. Men were stationed outside the gate, monitoring her in case she returned and was unable to enter since the gate code had been changed. There was still a potential that the vamps may enter despite their extensive security measures if Kara was forced to reveal their location.
Increase the power on the wall and double the guard for tonight. To be on the safe side, we'll take the ladies to the mission at dawn tomorrow.
Logan answered, "I'll have them start getting ready for the relocation.
Kara didn't know the location of the mission, therefore he wasn't worried that she would disclose it. The mission, an underground bunker in the heart of the fortress, had all of the hunters' historical information. The women and children would be blindfolded before being led to the area, but it had enough provisions inside for them to survive for at least a month.
Nobody on their adversaries' side could ever know the location of the mission. In addition to protecting the historical records of the hunters, it had been built to provide sanctuary in times of need. Only he and three of the oldest hunter men knew where it was. Before they could ever say where it was, they would all commit themselves.
Logan glanced back toward the several cottages arranged in a ring around the big brick home in the center as Nathan started pacing again. Since they had owned this land, his family had lived in the brick house. It was also the first structure in this location. All of the cabins were added over time.
On the property, there were around 300 hunters. There had once been close to 400, but some had moved on to work for other strongholds or wed local women, while others had been slain. Only a small number of the children there were less than 10, therefore there was something of a kid drought there.
There were fifteen other fortresses like this one scattered around the globe. Others had fewer hunters than others, and vice versa. All of them were governed by hunters, chosen to lead them by the stronghold's elders and appointed by his father. Nathan would have to go to one of their strongholds whenever a new leader was needed in order to approve or disapprove the nomination. He didn't like doing it, but it was his responsibility at this time.
When his eyes landed on the arches the ladies had just finished decorating for Kara's wedding, he stopped pacing. Its white ribbon was conspicuously visible against the oncoming night.
He understood that nobody had asked Kara whether she wanted this. But when the time came, they hadn't questioned any of the men or women who were paired off. Since it had always occurred throughout the years, it was just accepted that it would.
He was in the human world long enough to understand that it was a long-gone custom. However, he had never considered if things ought to be different. When a woman was ready to procreate, she was to be married off as soon as possible in the hopes that she would produce a child during the next 70 years, while she was still able to do so.
Others didn't.
Nathan was aware that the stronghold's senior citizens would soon choose a lady for him. Most often, older women made the decision since few males survived to be 100 years old, much alone the prestigious age of 200. They would choose a suitable woman from somewhere else if none were available here, but he had a suspicion that his bride would be Simone, a close friend of Kara's.
Simone would make him content. She was graceful and submissive. She performed really well in her studies and would be a good wife and mother. She fulfilled every desire he had ever had for a woman.
He lied to himself, but as the noose tightened around his neck, he could sense what Kara was going through. He would at least be allowed to continue hunting after being married and would have freedom outside of these gates. Kara would only spend the rest of her life imprisoned here.
It's understandable why Kara disobeyed; he undoubtedly would have. But at this moment, none of it mattered. He was determined to get her back since that was what mattered most.