CHAPTERONE
Asher’s lungs burned,and his heart thundered as he sprinted down cramped side roads and dark alleys. He ran behind some buildings, passing cars with their headlights on, and darted between them.
He didn’t see the Prius until its tires screeched and a bumper smacked his calf. When his hand slapped down on the hood as he caught his balance, the woman behind the wheel slammed her hand against the horn and gave him the finger. The obscenities she shouted at him would have made a sailor blush.
Asher ignored her as the fading slap of footsteps against pavement alerted him that his quarry was getting away. He couldnotlet that happen. He’d spent far too long hunting the woman to lose her now.
Brie. Her name is Brie.He hadn’t forgotten it from their encounter at the airport.
Years of training taught him to focus on his breathing, while ignoring the discomfort in his tiring legs while sprinting after his prey. She was a vampire, faster than him and more agile, but when Asher rounded the corner of an old brick building, she came back into view.
She was faster; he was more determined. And he was steadily gaining on her, pushing himself harder past dumpsters, trash cans, cardboard boxes, and tents. Some of the occupants of those boxes and tents poked their heads out. One of them shouted after him to leave the girl alone, but none were fast enough to catch up with them.
He wondered where the others were; he’d left Lucien and Declan by the waterfront where a group of Savages was trying to attack a woman. While they were busy with the Savages, Asher spotted the prey they’d originally been out in the city to hunt.
At first, he’d thought he imagined it when he looked up and discovered her standing across the way on the abandoned warehouse lot. It seemed impossible that he’d hunted for her for weeks, only to have her suddenly appear in a part of the city forgotten by anyone not looking for drugs, sex, or murder.
Her wide eyes and stunned expression made him realize he didn’t imagine her. As impossible as it seemed,she was there.
“It’s her! There she is!” Asher shouted as she turned and ran.
“Follow her!” Lucien had shouted back.
Knowing his friends could handle the Savages, Asher pursued her. And now, he had no idea where his friends were, or if he was ever going to catch this infuriating woman.
When Brie turned a corner, her brown hair flapped like a banner behind her as it bobbed in her ponytail. His fingers flexed, itching to grab it; if he got alittlecloser, he could grasp that hair, pull her back, and take her down. And get someanswers.
Normally, treating a woman in such a way would make his stomach turn. He would have lashed out at anyone who inflicted that kind of abuse on one, but she had to be stopped.
He couldn’t let her get away again. There were too many questions when it came to this woman, and she was the one with all the answers.
She had to reveal how she knew he shouldn’t return to the compound and that all those who lived there would soon be in danger.Howhad she learned about the attack?Whyhad she warned him? And then why had she vanished?
Was she somehow part of the attack? Did she help the Savages and demons plan it? Had she somehow known and given away their location? Was she the enemy?
The questions running through his head helped him ignore the growing fatigue in his legs and the pain stabbing his side. They’d been running for miles, and while she showed no signs of slowing, it was starting to catch up with him.
Gritting his teeth, Asher ignored his rising discomfort as he pumped his arms and legs faster. When she turned another corner, the streetlights illuminated the lighter strands of brown woven throughout her hair while it whipped behind her.
If he threw himself forward, hemightbe able to grasp it, but the move would throw him off balance, and if he missed, she would gain ground on him again and possibly get away. He couldn’t take the risk.
Instead, he pushed himself faster. He only required a few more feet. That was all. But as he tried to close the distance, she hit a new level of speed and expanded the distance between them once more.
Brie didn’t dare look back as the hunter chased her through the streets and alleys of Boston. While she had to keep some of her strength suppressed—she couldn’t let the humans see her at full speed; it would blow their fragile minds—he was keeping up far better than she’d anticipated.
Sure, he was a hunter. She was aware they were stronger, faster, and deadlier than any human, but she still should have lost him by now. She couldn’t have him following her back to the van, and he couldn’t catch her.
If he discovered what she had on her or tried to take it away, he would ruineverythingshe’d spent most of her life fighting and searching for. She couldn’t allow that to happen.
She had no fear the man would destroy her; even if he somehow managed to catch her, he wasn’t looking for a kill. He was looking for answers. And while she had them for him, they weren’t answers she could, or was willing to, give.
Unfortunately, the stubborn hunter made things far more difficult for her than they should be. She never should have come back to the city, but she hadn’t been given a choice.
She’d gotten what she came for—one more piece of the puzzle, one more fragment to help propel her to the end of her centuries-long quest, and then…
She didn’t know what would happen, but ithadto be done. She didn’t doubt that at all. Thiswasimportant. It would help destroy her enemies, enemies she shared with this man, but she didn’t have the time to explain that to him, and she sure wasn’t going to stop to chat with him.
Shenevershould have approached him at the airport. She should have let him walk out the door to meet his destiny like she’d done to countless others over the centuries. It had been hundreds of years since she learned not to interfere with fate, but apparently, she hadn’t learned her lesson well enough because now that moment of conscience was biting herin the ass.
