A Dark Hunger (3 page)

Surquyn kissed
him. “Thank you.”

Chapter
Four

Riyzan struck
hard and fast—only giving Surquyn a second to respond. She side
flipped away from his attack and twisted around. Riyzan used his
forearm to deflect her kick and grabbed her thigh and forearm.
Surquyn twisted her arm, making Riyzan lose his grip and jumped,
twisting around. Her kick hit the side of his face and he loosened
his grip on her thigh as she landed on her feet.

“Why are we
fighting? I thought you were teaching me to control my hunger?”

Riyzan
straightened from his stance. “Are you hungry?”

Surquyn tilted
her head to the side. “I am now.”

Riyzan smiled.
“But you were not.”

No I
wasn’t.
Surquyn smiled. “Good point.”

“I always make
a point.”

Surquyn
chuckled when Riyzan attacked. She ducked quickly and twisted on
her heels. Riyzan jumped but Surquyn stood and quickly jumped,
twisting at the same time. Riyzan grabbed her thigh and pulled her
forward until their lips were only inches apart.

Surquyn held
her breath as Riyzan pressed his lips softly against hers before
moving away.

“You are
improving.”

“I should hope
so,” she breathed. “After all the hours we spent fighting.”

Riyzan smiled
and moved away. “You will be back to your old self in no time.”

Surquyn pursed
her lips. “I doubt I will ever be back to my old self.”

“No, but you
will be able to protect yourself without my help.”

“But that
doesn’t solve the problem of my hunger.”

“No, but as
we’ve already found out that fighting makes you forget about your
hunger, for now, that is what we will be working on. Once I think
you are ready we will work more on controlling your hunger.”

“Are you sure?”
Surquyn asked, worried.

Riyzan framed
her face. “Of course I am sure. We will get through this, my love.
You have nothing to fear.”

Surquyn smiled,
then the ground began to tremble. She spun around, backing into
Riyzan and watched with horror as the pictures of Layla and Akila
dropped from the wall and smashed. The walls cracked and bits of
rock from the ceiling rained down on them.

A loud rumble
sounded throughout the mountain and suddenly, Riyzan shoved Surquyn
away when the ground crumbled and caved in on itself.

Surquyn rolled
to her feet when the wall behind her collapsed on top of her,
making her fall to the floor and hold her hands over her head,
curling into a ball to protect herself.

The noise was
deafening and then suddenly, the sound was gone and everything
stilled. Surquyn shoved the rocks off her and slowly climbed to her
feet. Her hands were cut and she could feel blood slide down the
side of her face as she surveyed her wrecked home in shock.

“Surquyn, are
you okay?” Riyzan asked, brushing himself down.

Surquyn glanced
at him, still in shock, unable to answer.

Obviously
seeing her distress, Riyzan slowly made his way towards her, and
then stopped suddenly, his red eyes flashing with anger.

Surquyn
stiffened, sensing others in the room with Riyzan and herself.
How dare they enter our home!
Before she could act, she
noticed a red beam shining on Riyzan’s chest. “No!” She ran
forward.

Shock flashed
across Riyzan’s features and his eyes widened briefly as he jumped
forward in time to grab Surquyn and spin her around.

She struggled
against him, fighting to free herself but couldn’t break out of his
hold when the human standing on the other side of the room fired
the gun he had pointed at Riyzan.
No!

A large bolt
shot out of the weapon and then expanded in midair, splitting into
five bolts connected by wire. They hit Riyzan in the back and he
convulsed against Surquyn.

“Step away from
him or I up the voltage.” The human smirked. “Believe me, it
will
kill him…eventually.”

Surquyn growled
when the human smiled and Riyzan convulsed even more, dropping to
the ground. “Stop!”

“Step away from
him.”

Clenching her
hands into fists hard, she stepped back. Instantly humans appeared
behind her, handcuffing her hands behind her back, pulling her away
from Riyzan.

The human who
fired stepped over the mess and stopped when he reached Riyzan.
“Ah, the famous vampire I’ve been hearing a lot about.” He leaned
in close while scratching his chin. “Doesn’t seem much of a
Hunter.” He kicked Riyzan in the stomach.

Surquyn
screamed and wrenched her arms from the human’s grasps and jumped
forward, knocking the human back a step before he composed himself
and Riyzan began to convulse again. Surquyn’s anger left her as she
dropped to her knees. “Stop it!”

“Behave then or
I will fry his insides before the poison from that silver can do
any real damage. It’s a horrible way to go—trust me, I’ve seen it.”
The human kicked Surquyn and forced her to stand. “Get moving and
don’t try anything—this thing has a long range.” He pushed Surquyn
forward.

She cast a
glance at Riyzan over her shoulder, willing him to wake and help
her.

Riyzan didn’t
move.

Chapter
Five

Riyzan’s ears
had stopped ringing and he finally had feeling in his entire body
and enough strength to push himself to his feet. Electricity shot
through him, but he gritted his teeth and staggered into the
wall.

He was
alone.

Riyzan dropped
to the ground and yelled, the sound causing the walls to shake and
the ground to crack underneath him as his anger rose up, magnifying
around him. The ground caved in underneath him and he dropped fast
through the large mountain before everything turned black and all
sounds and scents disappeared for a second.

Riyzan landed
hard and dropped to one knee, clenching his teeth against the
electricity pulsing through him, and looked up, happy to see he’d
gone to the right location.

Layla’s
home.

“Riyzan?”
Doxiak touched his arm, his brows drawn down as he looked around at
the surrounding wreckage that had been Riyzan’s home. “What
happened? How did you get here?”

Riyzan
grimaced. “My own way and I have no time to tell the story. I need
help,” he spoke quickly as more electricity shot through him.
Still, his anger kept him from being paralysed.

It also kept
Doxiak distracted from how Riyzan had arrived here. He wasn’t yet
ready to tell others that years of drinking Surquyn’s blood had
given him the ability to teleport wherever he wished to go.

He saw no need.
Since Surquyn became a vampire, she was unable to travel through
light, and Riyzan’s own ability had begun to dim because of
that.

Doxiak touched
his back gently and heat spread across Riyzan’s back.

Riyzan didn’t
feel a thing thankfully and soon, Doxiak was helping him to his
feet.

“What has
happened?”

“They have
taken Surquyn.”

“Who?”

“The
humans.”

Doxiak’s
eyebrows rose when his phone began to ring. He cast an apologetic
glance at Riyzan before pulling it out of his pocket and answering
it. “Hello?”

“Doxiak, it’s
Belia. You told me I could use this number in an emergency.”

“I’m on my
way.” Doxiak hung up. “I am sorry, but this is something I cannot
ignore.”

Riyzan shook
his head and clasped his forearm. “No worries. Do what you must
do.”

“As soon as I
am free, I will come to your aid.” Doxiak nodded before walking
away quickly.

Riyzan watched
him leave before walking forward. He’d taken one step before
darkness swirled in front of him and Shade appeared, glancing
around with the same expression Doxiak had.

“What has
happened?”

“Surquyn, the
humans have taken her.”

Shade’s silver
eyes flashed with anger. “Do not tell Layla. She will want to go to
battle to save her mother, and with Nikalye still missing—”

“No need to
explain, Shade. I understand that Layla’s anger is not one to be
messed with.”

Again, Shade
warily glanced at the wreckage surrounding Riyzan. “Do you have any
idea where they could have gone?”

Riyzan shook
his head, his anger rising slightly. He never expected to be
attacked by humans—never expected humans to go back to hunting
their kind after Layla had destroyed everything they built the
first time.

“I will gather
your guards and we will go hunting for Surquyn,” Shade murmured. He
disappeared before Riyzan could speak. Within seconds, he appeared
again, Uilasel, Kiovel and Rhijakh Ramlie standing with him.

Riyzan raised
his eyebrows, impressed with Shade’s abilities, not realising how
fast or strong they had grown.

Shade smiled as
though reading his mind. “It grows with each second, which is why I
don’t want Layla involved in this. She will destroy everything
before we get answers.”

Riyzan grunted
with agreement. Since her attack and Nikalye’s disappearance, she
hadn’t taken kindly to questioning those who he had brought,
instead choosing to take her anger out on them instead.

Riyzan wanted
to know who was behind everything before unleashing his anger.

“Lord Theraux,
I am sorry—”

“Ramlie, you of
all people should not apologise. I am just thankful you are here
now to help.”

“We will find
her, my Lord,” Uilasel told him, placing her fist over her heart.
Kiovel did the same.

“The question
is, where we start first,” Rhijakh said.

“I can help
speed that up. I need you to take me to where she was taken. If we
hurry, I can follow the signature pattern they left in the air and
use that to get us to their whereabouts,” Shade replied.

“Let us hurry
then.” Riyzan turned to walk away, the others following.

He would find
Surquyn and destroy those responsible.

Chapter
Six

“Where’s
Layla!”

Surquyn laughed
and hissed when the human pressed a hot poker against her skin. “I
will tell you nothing!” She screamed the words at the human and
pulled against the chains holding her securely to the chair. She
could feel the links breaking as she struggled but knew she would
lose the war against it. She was losing energy fast, becoming
weaker by the second as they cut her and bled her, making her
hungry to taste the blood pumping loudly through their veins.

She needed to
get more energy, just a small amount so she could escape.

The human threw
the poker on the floor and put his face close to hers. “There are
other methods to get you to speak.”

“Try your
best,” Surquyn whispered and then made a lunge for him, sank her
teeth into his skin and tore a chunk from his neck before he could
react.

He screamed and
staggered back, clutching his bleeding neck.

Surquyn lifted
her arms up, breaking the chains and stooped to grab the human from
where he’d fallen before he could escape. She sank her teeth into
his skin again and took a deep pull while he screamed into her ear,
flailing against her. He couldn’t escape, not from the grip she
held him in.

His blood was
sweet on her tongue, putting the flame out inside of her when she
swallowed, but it didn’t control the hunger that rose with each
swallow.

“Drop him!”

Surquyn lifted
her eyes to the humans that had entered the room without her
knowledge, too caught up in the human’s blood and the hunger rising
inside.

The newcomers
aimed their weapons at her.

She raised her
hands and let the human drop to the floor, dead. She licked blood
from her lips and then smiled widely. “Oops.” She ran forward fast
and knocked the closest human to the floor with his own weapon
before turning to the others, hunger and anger controlling her.

The humans
fired at once and Surquyn watched the barbed nets shoot towards her
before sinking into her flesh and knocking her off her feet. Her
body convulsed, thrashing wildly as white hot pain stabbed every
inch of her skin. She opened her mouth to scream, but wasn’t sure
if any sound made it past her lips when her eyes rolled back into
her sockets.

Then she felt
numb.

Sharp pain shot
through Surquyn’s body, jerking her out on unconsciousness with a
scream that did nothing to ease the currents washing through her.
Just when she thought her insides would fry, the pain disappeared,
leaving her breathless and her muscles twitching
uncontrollably.

A blurred
figure loomed over her, his image wavering. She blinked but
couldn’t focus properly.

A sting of pain
sliced through her cheek before fingers dug into her skin, holding
her in place with a tight grip.

Surquyn felt
her eyes slide shut and her gums throb with hunger. She knew she’d
lost a lot of blood in however much time she’d spent in the humans
hands, and could feel her hunger rising with each passing second,
just as hope that Riyzan could rescue her was slipping also.

“Wake up!”
Another sting of pain followed his words.

Forcing her
eyes open, Surquyn made herself stay awake and focus, but no matter
how many times she blinked, nothing became clearer than a blur of
colour. When she was forced to her knees, she swayed when
everything spun and pain pounded behind her eyes.

“So.” The human
bent down in front of her. “This is how things are going to work.
You’re going to tell me what I want to know, and every time you
don’t, I’m going to give you a little zap.” He demonstrated by
holding something up to her eyes.

Even blurred,
Surquyn could see it was a remote with a large red button in the
middle. When the human pressed it, her body convulsed painfully
when currents of lightning shot through her. She screamed loudly,
pulling on the chains holding her in place, trying to escape.