Hunter Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #2 (7 page)

I so wished there was something else I could
have done that night. But there wasn’t. I’d just have to learn to
live with it. I stood there, outside in the cold, lost in my
thoughts.

It was dumb. I should have been focused. In a
blur of movement something came at me. It was fast and strong. I
was thrown backwards. I looked at my attacker. Definitely not
human. It was a biped, shorter than me, and painfully thin.

That’s where all resemblance to a human
ended. Its head was bald except for a few wisps of fur. It held its
curved hands at an odd angle. And its face,
ew
, it was
covered in some kind of mucus. The facial features were totally
bat-like.

Vampire
. My Wolf snarled in my mind
and I knew she wanted me to change, but I had no time. Beady little
black eyes, large pointed ears, scrunched up pig-like nose, and
saliva dripping fangs, the beast screeched and lunged for me again.
I jumped up and out of the way.

Okay think Grazi, what do you know about
Vampires?
Um, they’re supposed to sparkle and be
gorgeous
.
Ooh, that is so not helpful
.

Okay, they need blood
.
This thing
is so not getting mine!

Sunlight?
Nope, it’s night.

Ooh, Vampires died when they were struck
through the heart with a wooden stake!
Check
.

I tried to get close to the yard waste bag
where I knew I’d find something suitable. I didn’t count on the
Vamp’s speed. It grabbed me with one of its three clawed hands and
spun me. It sliced open my arm in the process. I could smell my
blood and tried not to notice the sting of the cut. I growled and
got back on my feet.

This Vampire was fast and strong. I worried
about my grandmother and my uncle and his family, but the beast
seemed intent on me alone. The Vamp screeched again and picked up
the full garbage can and hurled it at me. I got out of the way
fast.

My heart was racing, the smell of my own fear
assaulted my nostrils. This creature was straight out of a horror
movie. Grotesque features, it smelled like death and it was hungry.
I could tell by the way it smacked its lips and stared at the blood
dripping from my arm.

This time when I vaulted past its grimy
hands, I used all my Wolf speed. I couldn’t let it cut me again.
Good girl.
My Wolf spoke to me. Suddenly, my fear
dissipated.

It’s like I remembered my Wolf and I were
one. I had all her strength, her cunning, and her instincts inside
of me. With that reassurance I felt a surge of power and a dose,
perhaps a tad too much
, of courage.

Sure I was afraid, but greater than my fear
was my desire to um, how about not die? Yeah, I’m good with that.
Living beats dying any day in my book.

I reached out with my hand. My fingers closed
around a thick branch from the yard waste bag. I did not take my
eyes off of the thing in front of me. It hissed and swiped. I
tightened my hold on my new weapon.

The bark was peeling off of the branch and it
scratched my palm. But I didn’t pay any attention to that. It was
sturdy and thick and had some weight to it. Uncle Vito must have
cut it that day. The fresh wood scent clung to it.

We had several varieties of tree lining the
perimeter of our yard. He often trimmed branches in preparation for
the coming winter. He did it about this time every year. Usually I
helped, but I had been kind of busy. You know, training for the
upcoming battle to save the world and all.
No pressure.

The branch was more than three feet long and
had a nice, sharp slanted tip. It was heavy too. Lucky for me I’m a
Werewolf and very strong. I held the branch like a baseball player
and waited for the Vampire to attack.
Batter up!

“Come on, ugly. Come and get me.” Sometimes I
had to talk to prepare myself for what I was about to do.
Like
now
.

“Eeeee.” Its high pitched cry was
animal-like. Nothing left of the human it had once been. I didn’t
know all that much about
real
Vampires. Something to ask
Uncle Sean. But this thing was far from the image in my mind.

The Vampire stretched its bent arms revealing
a thin membrane between its wrist and armpit, like a bat’s wing. I
could see thin veins through the almost translucent skin. I
shuddered. It opened its mouth revealing viciously long,
needle-like fangs. I cringed for a moment, but then I remembered. I
have fangs too
.

It advanced and I lunged forward, leaning
heavily on my right leg. I drove the branch right through its
heart, pointy end first. The Vampire stopped moving immediately.
Black eyes turned gray and went vacant. It hissed out an
unintelligible noise.

I had never even seen a Vampire before so I
guess I could forgive my own stupidity for what I did next. I bent
over to look at the creature’s corpse. As I leaned in a popping
sound occurred. It was almost like a firecracker. A scattered boom,
pop, boom.

I should have backed up then. There was
nothing normal about that sound. Nothing normal about my whole life
come to think of it. Anyway the explosion that followed threw me
backwards about eight feet. I landed hard on my butt in the cold
grass. I could smell the burnt ends of my own hair.
Great.

The Vampire had spontaneously combusted. All
that was left was some ash and a blackened patch of lawn. It wasn’t
long before I heard a commotion from next door. I knew who it was
so I ignored it and tried to straighten my clothing. I looked at my
legs, there was Vampire
stuff
on my pants.
Ugh
.

“Maria! Are you alright? What happened?”
Ronan swung me around and looked me over from head to toe. His eyes
met mine for an instant before he continued his scrutiny.

“I’m fine.” I was embarrassed to have been
caught on the ground.
Idiot.

“Like hell you are! You’re bleeding!” He
pulled me closer and lifted the arm of my shirt. I had a five inch
long gash. It was pretty deep. The Vampire had cut through skin and
layers of muscle. Blood was still dripping heavily. It stung. As
Ronan poked around more blood seeped from my wound and I grimaced.
He ripped my sleeve off my shirt and wrapped it around my arm as
Uncle Sean and Cara came running over.

“She alright?”

“Aye, she’s got a wound. I’ll clean it up for
her.”

“Sean, she killed a Vamp. Alone! Total ash
now, must have been a Hunter.” Cara spat the word, but I could hear
the shock in her voice beneath it. She probably thought I should be
dead. I knew how very little I measured up in her eyes anyway.

“Aye, we’ll talk about it later. Let’s clean
this up.” Cara set about bringing the yard waste and garbage cans
to the sidewalk and Uncle Sean stood over the scorch mark and
repeated the same ritual I had heard him perform once before.

“
In nomine patris…caelitus mihi
vires…purgo…
” A soft, ethereal light glowed from his hand and
the scorch mark and all evidence of my fight with the Vampire were
erased. He bowed to the patch of Earth and raised his eyes upward,
towards Heaven I guess. I realized then that he was saying thank
you.

Yeah, thanks for letting the Vamp attack
me in front of my own house!
Oh boy, I hope that was the pain
and shock talking. I sounded like such a brat, even to myself.

Ronan led me to the Kelly house. He marched
me straight towards the guest bathroom. Dimitri was in the kitchen
and dropped a large wooden spoon when we walked in. It smelled
heavenly and my stomach rumbled. I could eat so much more now than
before. I have to admit it was one of my favorite perks about being
a Werewolf.

“
Printzyessa
! How did this happen?”
The giant Russian bodyguard seemed more nursemaid when he spoke
like that. Still I was fond of him and his brother.

“Vampire. She’s hurt. Make her a bowl of
stew, Dimi. She’ll need the protein.”

“
Da.”

Once inside the bathroom Ronan tore off the
makeshift bandage and proceeded to clean out the wound. At first he
used soap and water. He stood between my legs and had my arm bent
wound side up over the sink. He watched me intently as he cleaned
it. I gritted my teeth and took the pain. It wasn’t until he took
out a glass bottle with a large gold cross etched into the outside
and opened it carefully that I got apprehensive. He looked at me,
undecided for a minute, then lifted the bottle with resolve.

“This is going to hurt.” He did not lie. He
poured the contents over my wound generously. It hissed and steamed
and I yowled in pain. Ronan kept on despite my struggle to sit
still. I grabbed onto his leg with my other hand and buried my head
into his stomach, my eyes closed tightly.

He murmured prayer after prayer in English
and Latin. When he was finished he opened his green eyes. They were
glowing. I could see his Wolf shining through and he was angry and
concerned. Tears rolled down my face as I looked up at him. He
wiped them away, bent his head and touched his forehead with mine.
It seemed to soothe both my pain and his agitation. He breathed
deeply.

“I’m sorry I have to hurt you, Maria. I’ve
got to purify the wound. So, it doesn’t fester and the Demon
doesn’t infect you.” I grunted in response. With my eyes closed, I
saw my Wolf taking the brunt of the pain. I thanked her mentally
then opened them again. Ronan’s eyes were turned down.
Werewolf
etiquette again.

“I’m helping. I promise.” He was talking to
her
, my Wolf. I realized she was showing through my eyes
also. When he was finished cleaning it out he lifted his head from
mine. I felt cold without him, but I sat silent as he took out
fresh cotton gauze and wrapped my arm carefully.

“This’ll take longer to heal because it is a
blood wound. Had the Vampire just bruised you it would be
different. You’d heal much quicker, but this, well, it’s not so
easy. There that should do it.” He pressed the tape firmly and made
sure it would hold.

“Um, sorry about your shirt.” He fingered the
ripped sleeve gently. I was always amazed by the gentleness within
him. I mean, hello, Werewolf here.

He was this giant, you know, tall and
muscular and capable of such physical force, yet he touched my poor
broken shirt as if it were precious. As if I were precious to him.
I had to stop myself from thinking these things. It was silly of
me. We were just friends. Right?

“My shirt? Forget it, I think you saved my
arm so I’ll call it even.”

“Right. There might be, a marking when it
heals. Like a scar or something-”

“A scar? Well, that’s alright. My arm wasn’t
much to look at to begin with.”

“I guess we’ll have to agree to
disagree.”

I was curious by that remark. Did he mean it
was something to look at? My arm, that is. He was making circles on
the bandage gently with his forefinger when I was just about to ask
him to clarify what he said. But we were interrupted,
thank you
very much,
by Uncle Sean. He opened the bathroom door and Ronan
started putting away the bandages and other stuff.

“Grazi, are you alright?”

“Yeah. Ronan fixed me up. I’m fine.” I wiped
my face with a tissue and stood up. I couldn’t help but brush past
Ronan in the tiny bathroom. I shivered all over.

“Come into the study, we’ve got some things
to discuss. You too Ronan.”

We both followed him into the study. Ronan
stepped back and let me go first. Dimitri, Sascha, and Cara were
already there. A bowl of stew sat on a tray for me and I sat down
and took a few bites. It was delicious.

The beef was so tender it shredded with
hardly a tap from my fork. Chunks of carrots, potatoes, onions,
tomatoes, and celery swam in a thick gravy that tasted like nothing
I ever had. I could make out salt, garlic, cayenne pepper, red
wine, fresh herbs and a touch of cinnamon. It was really, really
good. I finished quickly.

The other Wolves were spread out among the
room. They were arguing. Well, Cara was arguing, the rest were more
monotone. I was kind of sad my bowl was empty. I sat there with the
spoon in my mouth and watched.

“If Vampires are coming into the territory
then it’s not good. We have to alert the local packs. They’ve a
right to know.”

“They’re not Hounds. It’s not our place!”
Cara got into Dimitri’s face and he looked down, deferring to her
dominance, but still he managed to answer her.

“That’s bull and you know it, Cara. Vampires
are no good for anyone.”

“Enough. Now, Grazi, tell us what happened.”
I went over my tale of the fight with the Vamp in five short
minutes.

“That’s all?” Cara asked incredulously.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Unbelievable. You killed a hunter Vampire by
yourself and you didn’t even know what you were dealing with? Why
didn’t you howl?”

“What do you mean?”

“Howl, you know
call us
, we’d have
come. Hunter Vampires are trained to hunt down their victim by
scent. They are sent in the
in-between
. Between moons, that
is. They’re like a Witch’s attack dog. The Witch who controls ‘em
starves ‘em first. For a few weeks at least. Giving ‘em only the
scent of her target. Drives ‘em mad with hunger to the point where
the only thing that’ll satisfy the Demon is that particular target.
Then she releases ‘em.”

“And?”

“And they hunt their prey. Not many
fail.”

“Great. Now, I’m prey?” Cara shrugged and
took a seat. She ran her fingers through her short hair while
Dimitri and Sascha recalled Vampire kills of their own.

The older Werewolves were constantly in
motion. Cara tied and untied a piece of leather as they talked. I
noticed that about Ronan and myself too. We were always moving
around. Standing, walking, running, doing
things
.