Darkest Prince (7 page)

My mind whirled through everything I had learnt as a hunter. There was nothing in
the text books to say that hunters derived from a vampire and witch. In fact, our race was just accepted as always being around, much like the vampires. I sensed nothing but truth in the words Dario spoke. Not that I had any kind of witchy magic flowing through my veins that could detect lies. Somewhere way down in my bloodline, things had got mighty twisted and all for the sake of power. I’d killed countless vampires thinking I was doing a service to the human population; I’d killed mindlessly because my boss had given me a contract and paid me to do a job. Carlos was actively leading his own army with the approval of the humans and slowly picking off his targets.

No-one as far as I knew had ever laid eyes on my boss, heck, until today I didn’t even know his name. Whenever a call came through you knew it was him immediately, his voice rang with authority and he would always say ‘Hunter here
,’ and then without further a-do, tell you what you needed to hear. Emails were pretty much the same with him signing off as Hunter. I’d never questioned it before, and now…. now I was annoyed that I could have been so naïve. For generations, hundreds of years – we were purely the small army that thought we were doing a great service to the humans, when all this time it was to get my boss back his royal title – no, it was to get him a ‘better’ title!

Anger rose inside of me like a volcano waiting to erupt.
I sat up and moved away from Dario. I needed to get my head straight and get rid of my frustrations without actually harming anyone in the process, and there was only one way that worked for me. “Does this place have a gym?”

“Assault course, gym, swimming pool, we have a weights room if you’d prefer or if there is a particular sport that you want to do, I will arrange to have any equipment shipped in. Whatever you need my love.”

I went to my room and switched my jeans for a pair of sweat pants that were in my bags that someone had kindly brought to my room. I quickly brushed and tied my hair up and waited as instructed for Dario to return. Anger radiated from me. I could feel Dario hovering in my mind; feel him trying to comfort me as I paced the floor.

Arius, Mackinley and Dario walked me to the
outdoors assault course. There were several guards patrolling the area, and a few hidden away just outside of the grounds. I could sense them even though I couldn’t see them. After yesterdays near death experience, I took comfort in knowing they were there. I glanced about checking the area, it was what I always did when I went somewhere new. I guess my hunter training had some benefits! I had to hand it to Dario; he knew where the weak spots were and chose areas to set up equipment for training that were behind high walls or on higher ground making it difficult for any roaming hunters to get a clean shot at him. I focused on the assault course knowing that my anger could be put to better use. It had been days since I’d trained.

Mackinley flexed his muscles trying to make me smile, but the mood I was in, it wasn’t likely to happen any time soon. I heard Dario and Arius making bets. Arius upped the ante, “Hunters are fast, but Mackinley will beat her. Two hundred says he whips her butt.”
Dario shook his head and said “Shyla will beat him; I’ve no doubt about that.”

I don’t know what happened, but before I could engage my brain I said “A grand says I can beat the three of you.”
What the hell was I thinking? I knew I would be faster than Mackinley and Arius, but Dario? I wanted to smack myself on the head and blame it on nerves, but I could see the challenge in their eyes and it called to a dark place inside of me that I didn’t know existed, it made adrenaline pump around my body and fuelled the need to prove myself to Dario and his men.

Word was spreading fast and more bets were being made. I shoved any doubt away and stood assessing the men, assessing the guards and Dario. I needed a plan.

Once the hand shakes were done and the bets made, I turned to Dario, melted into him and gave it my all at seducing him with my mouth and hands. His body responded to my demands, his tongue thrashed with mine, duelling for dominance and I felt his erection press against my stomach. I couldn’t help the mischievous grin that was forming in my mind and surely showed on my lips.

Quickly p
ulling away, before I got lost in the sensations of pure lust, I said, “Ready, set, go,” and ran at full tilt.

‘
You don’t play fair Shyla, how am I supposed to run like this?’

I sent a victorious giggle through the connection and said
,
‘
touché Dario, I can play games too!
’

Since becoming a vampire I had so much more speed. I was agile, nippy on my feet and could climb the side of building with little
or no problem, so long as there were small foot holes and places to grip hold of (and providing no alcohol was involved!)

I scurried under netting, jumped over ditches filled with muddy water, shimmied up metal poles and swung across monkey bars.
I climbed high walls, dropping to the ground and sprinting on to the next piece of equipment. I dodged in-between wooden poles, and faced guards that blocked my way, knocking them to the ground as they tried to stop me from making it to the finish line. I guess they had taken bets and were losing!

I cros
sed the line closely followed by Dario. The guards I noticed quickly scrambled to get out of his way.

Dario picked me up and spun me around before heading to the wa
ll threatening to throw me over, but I knew by the proud look that he was giving me, throwing me over the wall was the last thing on his mind. I loved this playful side to Dario and hoped that I would see it more often.

I could feel curios eyes watching us, or rather, watching Dario.

He was oblivious to them as he lowered me to the ground. “Do you fancy burning off some more energy sparring with me?” I’m not sure that ‘getting hot and sweaty’ because of sparing was the kind of ‘getting hot and sweaty’ I was looking for, but given that he seemed to have me on some sort of sex depravation programme, it would have to do. I nodded and Dario cupped my face, bent his head down and slowly brought his lips to mine, kissing me so softly. “Well done on winning the bet. I expect there will be a few challengers stepping forwards after that.”

We wandered back to the finish line hand in hand.
Arius and Mackinley got jeered by the guards and I took great pleasure in flexing my muscles at Mackinley. I grinned at Dario and said, “Brains and brawn, looks like you got the perfect package Dario.”

Mackinley and Dario shared a look, one that told me that Mackinley approved of me. He patted Dario on the shoulder and said
, “I will take care of things here my Prince.”

Arius gave me a small nod of his head and a slight smile before turning to Dario. “We will take a few men and patrol the area to ensure that there are no hunters. Security will be stepped up tomorrow ready for the arrival of our King.”

Surprise flitted through me. Dario instantly whispered into my mind
‘Relax my love, my brother wishes to meet my Consort.’
His hand gave mine a small squeeze and to Arius said, “Prepare the great room ready to receive our King.”

Dario led me through the castle; I made a mental note of the direction we were taking, objects, paintings etc so I could find my way around. I was drawing a map in my mind, it helped when you had to get in and out of a building that you wasn’t too familiar with. If you had a few objects on your mind and a sense of which way to go, you could find your way about pretty easily.

Concrete steps led us under the castle. I didn’t remember seeing it on the screens when they viewed the footage from the day light hours. My eyes adjusted to the small lights that lit up the stairwell. I felt a little uncomfortable as the walls seemed to close in around us as we took the spiral steps. Dario noticed my sudden hesitation as I put a little distance between us, letting him lead the way. I was beginning to wish I’d put my dagger in my waistband of my sweatpants and was mentally kicking myself for leaving it in my room.

“Why do I sense your fear sweet one? I thought you wanted to spar with me? Are you afraid that I will hurt you?”

“Should I fear that you would hurt me?”

Dario shook his head and held out a hand as we rounded the last few step and stood in a brightly lit corridor. I could smell chlorine strongly and knew that the pool must be down here.

“
There are a several who would tell you that I should be feared for I make quick judgements. I have never once acted without thinking of the consequences to our kind, but in answer to your question – no my love, you should never fear me.” Dario tugged me close and lifted my chin so he could see my face. His lovely eyes searched my face for a moment before his lips briefly touched mine.

I felt
my insides tingle. I went on the tips of my toes, reaching up and tangled my hands in the lengths of his black hair. My lips and teeth nipped at his jaw and along his neck. When I had his full attention I smiled and said, “Are you not interested to know if you should fear me?”

Dario looked
down at me and softly said, “If you wanted to strike me down, then I would let you. I couldn’t bear the thought that I had done something that would make you hate me. If anyone else were to try it – I would rip their hearts out before they got close.”

In that simple statement
, everything inside of me changed. That defining moment of clarity when you realise that you are capable of loving someone. My need to get him into bed was lust driven, yes I found him attractive and wanted him, but what I felt now was so much more powerful. Now I felt emotionally attached to him the same way he did me. Dario had given me the power to destroy him, and trusted me not to. Yet I had run, rather than let him show me how good we could be together. He’d pursued me, night after night talking to me in my mind, keeping me company when I was lonely, and staying quiet when I needed space. He’d been relentless in his pursuit of me because he believed in us.

I made up my mind there and then to give this relationship my best shot. It would be trial and error
, but we had years to get it right! Caring for someone was proving a little too easy and nothing this good was going to be this easy.

Sparring with a vampire was not something I had ever done. Standing in a room with my feet placed in a fighting stance and my arms ready to strike or defend was second nature, but starin
g at Dario, shirtless, wearing his oh-so-sexy cocky grin, made my insides ignite and butterflies dance about happily.

His broad frame, defined muscles and silky smooth skin warmed me in places that had no right reacting like this
, when I knew that he was going to put me through my paces. Oh, I knew that I was in no danger but I also knew that he was seeing what I was made of.

I had been
trained to kill. My trainers had inflicted injuries over my six months training that would prepare me for the cunning ways of the vampires. Yet I stood facing Dario and the instinct to fight waned a little.

Dario spread his arms wide and tilted his head to one side in a showmanship way.
“Are you ready?” I nodded and wiped my clammy palms down my sweat pants. “Then forget your hunter training, welcome to training – DeLuise style.” Dario moved fast knocking me to the ground. My head snapped back and hit the floor. I swear I saw stars for a moment. He bounced on the balls of his feet waiting for me to get up. “Come my Princess, there is much to learn.”

Several words t
hat were most unpleasant were on the tip of my tongue. I refrained from voicing them, but the wicked glint in ice-blue eyes told me he knew he had pissed me off. I rubbed the back of my head as I made it back to my feet. “You said I could ask for equipment, how about some padded mats if this is how you are going to treat me?”

He looked at the stone floor and then back at me. “Did you have mats on the floor when you trained? I seriously doubt that Carlos wanted hunters that were soft!”

Dario had a point; concrete floors had been the bane of my existence whilst I’d trained. I’d had grazes the size of dinner plates on my back, butt, shoulders – pretty much everywhere when I’d first started the programme. The worst was when one of the trainers had shoved me face first along the ground because I’d turned my back on him for the briefest of moments. I’d learnt pretty quickly never to turn away from those hell bent on causing you injury!

Before I had chance to recover
, Dario was on me again. This time, grabbing my arm, and doing a fancy move. I was sprawled on my back staring up at him. He made a tutting sound and walked away.

Slowly I got to my feet wondering what the hell had I gotten into. I’d agreed to spar with him, not get flung about like a sack of potatoes!

“You will discover that there is a difference between fighting as a vampire and killing your quarry. To kill – you hide, bide your time and strike. So far you have been lucky, you have maybe got into a tussle and suffered a few scrapes in the process, yet you lack any real qualities when it comes to a good old fashioned brawl.”

Dario knew nothing about the tussles I had gotten into when killing my target! I’d damn near had my throat ripped out several times and had received countless b
ite injuries! The difference was, this was supposed to be sparring, not fighting for your life. When my life was at serious risk of coming to an end, instinct took over.

I saw him move and counter stepped, getting in a good kick to send him on his way. Dario whirled back to face me.
The menacing look on his face told me that play time was over.

At vampire speed he launched into an attack, I was hit, punched and flung across the floor. My shoulder bled as the stone flooring bit into flesh as my top shredded from the f
orce of sliding across the ground. Anger and fear began to flood my senses. I sprung from my back to my feet in one swift action. Dario whirled around as I launched myself at him, landing my knee in his stomach making him double over. My fangs descended and my body shook with rage. “Is this what you want Dario, you want me so pissed off that I hurt you?”

His chuckle irked me to no end. “My dearest Shyla, you once asked me if you died if I would die to
o… the answer to that is simple, no. This is my way of ensuring that I get to keep you around for a very long time to come.” Really? From where I was standing it looked as though he wanted to kill me himself!

He slam du
nked me to the floor with the moves of a wrestler and straddled my mid section and bent down so his face was inches from mine. “This isn’t a game my little Diana, goddess of the hunt. Today you learn that playing with vampires can get you killed.”

I bucked quickly and twisted throwing Dario to one side, my knee came up and caught him in the groin and I took the opportunity to rise to my feet. Dario rolled to his knees and caught this breath. “My crown jewels are my most prized possession
Shyla; most wouldn’t want to damage the chance of me fathering a new Prince.”

“As romantic as that was –
today is the day you learn not to piss off a hunter!” I rolled my shoulders and bounced on my feet. If he wanted to play rough then rough was what he was going to get.

The need to prove to him that I wasn’t some defenceless female rose to the
forefront, and with a new purpose, I launched into an attack.

Dario deflected a few of my moves but I got in a few good hits, but it wasn’t time to do a victory dance yet. If anything
, it was time to up the ante as Dario went into full vampire mode. His teeth descended and his eyes had taken on a feral look, one that made me pause briefly before instinct took over, and things got crazy. From thinking that I loved this man to feeling as though I wanted to kill him was confusing. I found myself holding back, but as soon as one of his hits made it home and I saw stars, I soon forgot that I didn’t want to hurt him.

I had never unleashed so much fury, so much vengeance as I did when Dario came in for another attack. My ribs were killing me from the previous blows and there was no-way in hell that he was going to get more free shots at me.

Something inside of me snapped and I attacked him with everything that I had and everything that I was – and all that I was, was now vampire.

‘
Let go Shyla, let me see what you are made of. Let me see your vampire.’
At best, it was a taunt, one that worked!

Launching into a full on attack Dario became something so much worse than I had ever faced during my training, he turned into something far worse than I had ever faced on the
streets. His mouth became a weapon, teeth slashed my arm, and hands pummelled my body. He was right – my hunter training was useless in a good old fashioned brawl between vampires.

The attack went on an on, I tried to defend against his powerful blows; I dodged a few and even got in some more hits against this vampire. My teeth ached with a need to slash and tear him apart, yet I couldn’t get close enough to do any damage.

I lay sprawled on the ground after another failed attempt to best him. I found myself flinching away from him as he approached.
‘Shyla, don’t. I would never hurt you.’

Scrunching up into a ball I let the tears flow. I had been defeated and what’s more, it was by Dario. He brought me here to see what I was made of, I had given it my all and it wasn’t good enough, and now he was telling me that he would never hurt me?
He told me before we had started that he would never hurt me, yet here I lay, feeling broken at his hands. The guy was a jerk!

“Shyla, please, let me see to your wounds.” That said it all – my wounds!
He held out a hand to help me to my feet. Ignoring it, I forced myself to my feet and made my way to the stairs without giving him a second glance. Dario walked silently behind me. I could feel him trying to speak into my mind but forced him away. I couldn’t deal with him now. I had wounds to lick and whisky to drink.

Making my way to his private level, I turned to face him before going up the stairs. “Do you object to me using your lounge or would you prefer it if I went to my room?”

Dario’s hand lifted to stroke my face; I ducked out of the way and glared at him. “Shyla, you’re being unreasonable and I don’t know why…. Did you not train as a hunter?” Hunter yes! Punch bag, no!

I couldn’t help the derisive snort. “Dario, I’m trying really hard here
not to take this personally – but trust me when I say that right now – I hurt like a bitch, therefore I will act like one. I don’t want you to ‘see’ to my wounds. They will be a reminder and make me work harder to make sure that this never happens again.” I stomped to my room, slamming the door firmly into place.

Stripping out of my clothes and dropping them to the floor I checked over my wounds in the mirror
above the bathroom sink. The blood had dripped down my arms and dried into a crusty mess. I quickly showered, slipped on some clothes and flung myself onto the bed.

‘
Are you going to speak to me?’

I let my own silence be my reply. It w
asn’t like I had anything worth-while to say. For months Dario had spoken to me, supported me and made me feel special. The moment I’m in his castle, I’m in a separate bedroom and humiliated and confused beyond belief.

In front of the other vampires he’s affectionate towards me. I see the way they look at him; they’re as confused by his behaviour as I am. They are used to seeing a ruthless leader whereas I’m used to the confident, se
nsitive, supportive side to him. Oh, I knew he was arrogant in that sexy-as-hell kinda way, I also knew that I was attracted to him – but I was mad at him and more importantly, mad at myself. If I’d had sense at all, I wouldn’t have slept with him and put myself in this situation.

Grabbing my bags I shoved my dirty clothes
and daggers inside and crept towards the door opening it slightly. I listened for a few minutes trying to gauge where the vampires were. Locating them was easy. When I was sure that I was alone on this level, I made my way towards the stairs and made my way down them.

I didn’t have a plan, well not one that was thought out. My only thoughts were to get away and keep running. I still had about eight hours of the night left before I would have to find somewhere to stay. I couldn’t imagine Mrs Johnson letting me
stay at the bed and breakfast again, and it would probably be the first place that Dario and his goons would look for me.

Outside was still a hive of activity. I skirted around the edge of the castle hoping that the shadows would conceal me. Vampires would know I was there
, but if I walked as though I belonged and not as though I was hiding, I might be able to pull it off. I pictured in my mind where the cameras pointed and hoped that I blended in and no-one would question my whereabouts until it was too late.

To the east of the building were a set of steps that led to a secluded garden. I could only sense a couple of vampires and figured that going in that direction was my best bet
for getting away without being seen.

Walking
with as much confidence and courage as I could muster, I made my decent down the steps. I picked up my pace the further away from the castle I got.

The vampires were on the move, heading towards a wooded area. They were moving fast. Gripping my bags
tighter, I began to sprint in the opposite direction until I heard a gunshot and something heavy hit the ground.

My hands found my daggers as I ran at full tilt to where one of the guards lay on the ground with a hole in his chest. The other guard was giving chase and I went into full hunter mode.
I could hear Dario’s panic as he spoke into my mind, demanding for me to tell him where I was. I closed my mind to him; I needed to focus my attention on the hunter. I made a quick assessment of where the guard had been shot from, and quickly and silently made my way to where the hunter had taken his shot. This was no contract kill; this was the hunters with a new mission. This mindless killing was to let Dario know that they were coming for him and for me.

Now it was personal, it was time to send back my own message. One that told them not to mess with me and what was mine!

A twig snapped, I knew exactly where the guard was and knew that the hunter had heard it too, but this hunter was mine.

Putting on a burst of speed I caught a flash of metal in the moonlight just before another shot rang out. I heard the guard grunt, but
he kept advancing towards the hunter. The hunter was running, I imagined the fear he would be feeling knowing that the game was up. Another shot was fired. I saw the small glow from the end of his gun. As the guard didn’t make a sound, I assumed that the hunter was firing without taking aim, but it had enabled me to pin-point him. I was on him before he knew what had hit him. My dagger plunged deep into his chest. The smell of blood sent me into a blood crazed frenzy and instinct took over. I dropped my bags at my feet as my teeth became pointed fangs and sank them into his neck. His strangled screams exciting me further as I drew away his life force. I could hear Dario, he was really forcing himself into my mind, but I could also hear the relief in his voice when he said,
‘Nothing tastes sweeter than revenge.’

When the hunter’s
heart no longer beat, I dropped him to the ground and wiped his blood from my chin. Dario’s guard watched me with a wary look in his eyes. I fumbled in the hunters pocket and pulled out his phone. There would only be one number stored in it. I hit the dial button and waited for Hunter to answer.