Page 3 of Hunter

He swiveled his head around, his blood pumping with anger.

“What are you doing in here? Where’s Ilsbeth?”

“Exactly where you told me to put her. She’s sleeping.”

“Seriously?” Annoyance laced his voice.

“She’s like fifteen feet away. I think I’d know if she woke up.”

“Wait…what did you just say?”

“I said she’s sleeping.”

“No, not that. You said you bit her.”

Hunter took a deep breath, forcing his pulse to remain even, tamping down his rage. The Alpha knew firsthand how demons forced their victims into hideous acts to survive. They’d likely starved Viktor.

“I won’t judge you.” Hunter shook off his own dark memories of Hell and what had been done to him. He turned to face Viktor, and sat on the floor, his back to the side of the bed.

“Of course you’re going to judge me. But before you say another word, you don’t know what it’s like in there.”

“Like hell I don’t.” The Alpha didn’t elaborate because there was no fucking way he was talking about what had happened with anyone, let alone the vampire.

“What do you know about Hell?” Viktor challenged, his eyes locked on Hunter’s.

“How do you think I got in and out so easily?”

“Are you for real? If you’ve been there before, why would you ever go back? What is wrong with you?”

“Why do you think I was there? I thought to myself, hey I haven’t had a vacation in a while. Maybe I’ll go somewhere with warmer weather. What better place to go relax than Hell?”

“Tell me you didn’t go in on purpose just to get me?” Viktor pressed.

“What does it matter?” Hunter shook his head and glanced to the female.

“You and Quint really do have a hot bromance going.”

“You’re welcome, asshole.”

Viktor’s gaze drifted over the female. “The bites aren’t all mine. You know what’s down there?”

“Yeah I know.” I’ve been bitten. “What happened?”

“You know the drill. Torture. Starve. Revive. Torture some more.” He paused, his expression solemn. “All I can tell you is that I didn’t hurt her. I swore that to her and Ilsbeth…Jesus.”

“No.” Not the witch. Hunter closed his eyes and opened them. “Please just tell me you didn’t drink from her.”

Viktor went silent and averted his gaze.

Hunter leapt off the floor and lunged at Viktor, pinning him against the wall, crushing his throat with his forearm. With their gazes locked, he repeated his demand.

“Tell me you didn’t drink from her,” he gritted out. “Say it!”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Viktor confessed, sliding down the wall as Hunter released him.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Viktor. What the ever-loving fuck were you thinking?” Hunter held up a hand, strode across the room, and stared out the window. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“I know. I thought the same at first but…”