"What on earth were you thinking coming here?" When she snuck inside the club and stood at his side, Logan commanded.
Before concentrating on the entryway Nathan and the others had left through, Kara gave him only a fleeting look. Her fingers slipped to the stake in her coat's inside pocket. She said, "I ought to be out there."
To turn her toward him, Logan grabbed her shoulders. In shock at the abrasiveness of his attractive face, as he gazed at her, Kara blinked at him. She was yelled at, "You have no business being here at all!"
"You have no right to direct my actions," she said.
I'm quite entitled to direct you. You've endangered yourself, your brother, and our whole way of life by coming here, and we're about to be married. I won't accept it.
Willfulness was the one quality she had always possessed that her teachers loathed the most, but she wasn't going to take orders from anybody. nor her father, nor her brother, and most definitely not the guy she was compelled to wed.
She gritted her teeth, "I will not have you talking to me in such a manner. No one will be able to boss me about, Logan, even if we are getting married. not even my spouse.
She shook free of his hold and sent him a venomous glare before turning her attention back to the door. She blocked off everything around them, including the dancing and swaying people and flashing lights covering the floor and walls, to concentrate on hearing sounds from the outside world. Her father's hunting family had always been the most powerful; as a result, they had always been in charge of the hunters. She and Nathan outperformed the rest in speed, strength, and sharpness of perception.
Even if she were the sole surviving descendent, she would not have been permitted to govern since she was a woman, but she had the power of that line in her blood. Her spouse would guide the hunters until she gave birth to a male heir who would eventually assume over if Nathan were slain before he could bear an offspring. Her daughter would suffer the same fate if she had only given birth to females. They only had an outsider as leader three times in their history, each time until a successor was born.
Logan responded, "I'm just trying to keep you safe."
When he put his hand on her shoulder, he distracted her from her focus on the outside. He raised his finger and stroked her face. She fought the want to recoil from the gentle touch. She has always loved Logan as a friend and always will, but she is aware that he has emotions for her that go beyond friendship.
He drew her in by tightly enclosing his fingers around her neck in a possessive manner. Kara tensed up when he touched her, but she would have to grow accustomed to it if she wanted to make it through their marriage.
Before she wiped it out, her stomach churned at the memory of their wedding night and the countless nights that would follow. provided she thought about it too long, she wouldn't survive the wedding ceremony, much alone the roughly 150 years they could be married provided Logan didn't die while on a hunt.
Despite the music barely picking up on the gunshot from outside, she was aware of what she had heard. She crashed at the door's bar with a forward thrust, forcing it open. As the second bullet rang out, the chilly air deprived her of breath.
Logan pulled her back into the club by grabbing her arm. "Enter now!"
Kara stumbled backward but didn't look in the direction of the closing door. Instead, she ran as quickly as her legs would allow as she followed Logan down the alley. Her brother and the others should have easily killed him because there was only one vampire and three hunters. But from farther down the alley, she could hear the noises of fists striking flesh, the twang of a bolt, and the shuffle of many feet.
There had been an error.
Please do not include my brother as well. If she lost her father and Nathan, she wouldn't be able to bear it.
The only remaining member of her family was her brother. As the leader, Nathan would uphold tradition, regardless of how miserable it made her. He wouldn't stand in the way of their marriage. He would, nonetheless, be there for her to rely on when necessary. Although she couldn't complain to him about her marriage at the time since he already had too much on his plate, she knew he knew she wasn't pleased about it.
Though he'd never told her, she was aware that he didn't want to be the newly anointed leader. They had always gotten along well as twins. Before Nathan enlisted in the military and she was obliged to learn how to be the ideal wife and mother, they had been closer when they were younger. He had been her closest friend and her rock even if their paths in life had diverged.
Kara sped around the alley's bend, gasping for air as her legs ached and she struggled for breath. Fresh blood and rubbish left a coppery stench in the lane. Her throat began to churn with bile, and she struggled mightily to control her gag reflex. When was the last time she experienced such a strong blood smell?
Before she put them away, memories of her father's mangled corpse sought to take her beneath.
She came across Nathan right away, who was unhurt and had the vampire in his hand. As she stared at the being that had killed her father and destroyed her life, hatred clouded her eyes. Although she could smell the bloodied and battered vamp in the air, it was not his fragrance that was filling her nose at this time. This fragrance was distinctive, spicy, and without any traces of the evil emanating from the vamp.
Her gaze fixed on a guy with a bulky build who was pushing Asher aside. Asher's nose was broken, and blood was coming out of it, yet she couldn't smell his blood. It was the victim's blood that had pushed Asher out of the path. He was a man, his deadly fangs extended, and he radiated an immense aura of strength.
She couldn't believe it when she realized that he was the guy who had been observing her from the balcony. She had finally come to grasp part of what she had read in those romance books thanks to this guy. a guy who was a deranged monster who loved to murder, not even a man at all.
How could his blood have that odor? All vampires had a foul odor! The male hunters have caught a few vampires throughout the years and brought them to the stronghold for training. The ladies of the camp had been permitted to approach closely enough to smell the odor that the vampires gave out. She would never forget the fragrance.
She saw the bolt sticking out of the vampire's shoulder as he turned to face her and the blood dripping from the wound. His black shirt was torn open, revealing a slice of browned skin across his big chest, and his coat was thrown back.
He kept his sunglasses on, but she knew he was keeping an eye on her. Her veiled eyes exposed her and tore her soul naked as molten lava seeped through her veins. He gave her a unique look into his eyes. While her heart sprang into her throat, Kara trembled. She couldn't resist her attraction to him despite the fangs and the fact that he was a monster she had been raised to despise.
Lucian glanced at the huntress while feeling shocked. He hadn't anticipated her leaving the club, coming out here, or even the rapt attention with which she regarded him. Throughout his thousand-year existence, he had encountered many lovely ladies, but none had ever captured his attention in quite the same manner.
He fixed his gaze on her as the fight and his troops vanished. Her silvery hair was being pulled by the wind, which caused it to fly loosely about her oval-shaped face. His every move was observed by her blue gaze. She couldn't figure him out, and he couldn't figure this lady out either, based on the expression on her face.
Kara saw that just a few seconds had gone as they continued to stare at each other, even though she felt like time was passing slowly. Logan pushed the vamp against the brick wall as Asher narrowly avoided getting in their path.
The guy with reddish hair yelled, "Lucian!"
The person with the sunglasses growled, "I'm fine," and she realized it was Lucian.
When Kara moved to block Logan from attacking him, her common sense and heritage kicked in, filling her with loathing for herself. He was a vampire, for goodness' sake! What the heck was wrong with her?
She felt warm and fuzzy for her fiercest adversary on her first trip outside the fortress. She was a lousy excuse for a hunter and an imbecile.
She inhaled deeply as she battled to stop the rapid pounding of her heart as Logan was sent backward by Lucian's strike. Lucian motioned to the guy with the auburn hair, "Declan, go that way," with a sweep of his hand. He gave the one with the scar the order, "Killean, that way."
When Kara saw there were two more vampires in the alley, her hands immediately went to two of the stakes she had hidden in her inner coat pocket. Declan shifted to the right as Killean was shot in the shoulder by Jayce. Jayce's pistol was knocked out of his grasp by Killean's forward thrust.
When Jayce moved forward, Killean could have torn out his neck with his teeth, but instead, he tossed Jayce away. There was no doubt that Killean could murder Jayce. He had pushed him away instead. Kara attempted to make sense of what she had seen while her thoughts raced, but nothing made sense.
"Kara! Take off from here! Now!"
She winced at Nathan's shout, but she refused to do what he asked. She was forced to see what took place. Logan attempted to stab a spike into Lucian's chest while brandishing a stake, and Kara screamed. As if Logan were just a toddler, Lucian snatched Logan's hand and tore the stake out. He flung the stake away with a quick sweep of his fingers.
He pulled Logan away from him like Killean had done even though his deadly teeth shone in the dark alleylight. Kara saw as the hunters moved to take up positions on one side of the alley and the vamps formed a line on the other side. With his crimson eyes gleaming like rubies in the light, the vampire who had slain her father raged in her brother's clutches. She thought his windpipe had been smashed at some time because of his florid cheeks and asthmatic breathing.
We are reaching a turning point, Lucian said.
Her spine tingled at the sound of his rich voice. Kara began to shake. He was a vampire, plain and simple, no matter how captivating she thought him to be.
She was so overwhelmed by her emotions and uncertainty that she was oblivious to what had transpired throughout the battle. The vampires were lined up in front of her brother and the hunters, who were lined up on their side closest to the wall.
That would have been OK. Her brother was the assassin of her father. While they left the other vampires alone for the time being, Kara was more than ready to depart with him and travel someplace else to kill the monster.
The true issue was that she was trapped behind the vampires and had been cut off from the hunters.