Read Online The Hunted by Heather McAlendin - Free Book Online

we, or at least I, had to concentrate on getting home. Once there, I was sure we could persuade one or two vampires to allow us to borrow their human hosts for a quick feed.
    “Can you stave off your hunger long enough to get to Andrew?” I asked quickly. I didn’t want to get into an argument and we were wasting time.
    “Yes, I suppose I can. We need to leave now or I may not be responsible as to what happens on the road.” Drake winced as he spoke and his face was pinched and a bit drawn. The blood bags we had consumed the day before had done very little to satiate his appetite. He needed a willing human host.
    After smoothing my hair and the wrinkles from my clothing, I motioned to Drake to follow me out of the tomb. The cemetery was dark and silent. We need to move as quickly as possible and remain undetected until I reached Andrew. In the state of hunger Drake was now in, I could not trust him to make rational decisions.
    “It will only take a quarter of an evening’s travel before we are deep in Clan Territory,” I said as I lead Drake out of Sacred Heart and toward the outskirts of the city. He remained silent but seemingly aware as we rushed down the narrow, dusty back roads.
    In short order, I was back in familiar territory. The air smelled sweeter the closer we got to the mark but I was ever aware that at any moment either the remainder of Hannah’s minions or Set himself could catch us if we were off our guard.
    Admittedly, I was worried about Drake and Andrew’s first meeting. The intimacies I shared with Drake had left me feeling guilty yet wondering why Andrew had pushed me subconsciously in this direction. Perhaps he was getting ready to let me go? Had he found another that I was unaware of?
    So many unanswered, yet selfish questions when the lifeblood of my beloved Clan was at stake. What had I become?
    “Sometimes the past is the past for a reason. Silver, you no longer have control or power over the Clan or Andrew. Concentrate on the now and what you need to accomplish. Concentrate on what you and I need to accomplish.”
    I thought for a brief moment on what Drake has just said. “Some of that is true. Right now, what you and I need to worry about is getting you fed and us safely to Andrew before Set returns. Enough talk! We are wasting time,” I replied forcefully, hoping it would quiet Drake. It did and we hurried together in an uneasy silence.
    Time passed, as did the rolling hills and dark shadows. When we finally arrived, I stopped suddenly.
    “What the hell?” Drake exclaimed as he crashed into me causing us both to tumble to the ground in a heap. He jumped to his feet and stood above me, glowering. His hair was dark and glistening like a halo against the midnight moon above him. He looked like some kind of dark angel. If I had been in any other frame of mind, I think he would have been broodingly handsome.
    “I’m sorry,” I said as I leapt up and backward, away from him and his burning eyes. “I need a moment to collect myself. We are here.”
    “Where?” Drake asked as he turned his head back and forth, squint eyed and trying to find any sign of a building or movement in the night. His skin was now waxy and pale. I could tell he would not be able to hold his senses together if he didn’t get fresh blood soon.
    “Not quite that obvious in order to survive without direct human contact for so many years. The Clans have lived hidden this way for centuries.” I answered sharply. My voice sounded more irritated than I would have liked but I too was hungry and dreading my reunion with Andrew.
    I led Drake to a densely wooded area and pointed toward a tight cluster of brush and trees.
    “Jump,” I said.
    A quizzical look came over Drake’s face, a look that quickly became amusement as he took a breath and leaped as gracefully as a vampire could over a thirty-six-foot wall of trees. I followed suit but not quite as gracefully as my legs were significantly shorter. It was liberating