A Hunter's Challenge [The Hunters 3] (Siren Publishing Allure) Read online

“She did? It’s obvious how perfect she is for him. I’ve a feeling a person who wasn’t as strong as her would never have a chance in talking him out of walking into the sun.”

  His voice broke as he continued. “There...we have so much to thank her for. Without her he would be gone.”

  “I love her so much. Do you know she and Anthan have made several exchanges. She said she never wants to be apart from him.”

  “And I love her as well, Amy. She is...well she’ll now be considered as important as he is. I’m just amazed at how strong a psychic she is. Did you see how she ‘spoke’ to Ken tonight?”

  “She’s always been like that. She can even connect to animals.”

  “That’s amazing! Imagine what she will be capable of when she is immortal! Already she ‘talks’ to other Hunters.”

  They sat comfortably in silence. Amy was starting to feel tired. She glanced at Martin and took a breath.

  “I want to stay with you forever, too. I...I want to be like you, I don’t want you to live without me.”

  Martin pulled her close.

  “Nîcimos, I love you so much. If you’re sure. I would never force you to become immortal.”

  “I’m very sure.” She hooked her hand around his head and pulled his face to hers. “Very, very sure.”

  Her lips brushed across his then pressed against them. Martin responded, holding the back of her head to intensify the kiss. His heart was singing! She was his and now she had accepted his offer of immortality.

  The kiss broke and he looked into her eyes.

  “Nîcimos. You do me a wonderful honour. I promise I’ll never hurt you, never do anything to make you cry. I promise I will love you more and more with each passing day.”

  “I know you will,” she whispered then kissed him again.

  “I love you, my Cree warrior.”

  “Nîcimos!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Anthan and the others had helped the removalist get all of Erica’s furniture and boxes unloaded. They had put most of the furniture in the spare bedroom and most of the boxes were now stacked in the garage until Erica and Anthan decided where to put things. They had set Ken on a sun-lounge on the deck and told him to relax and enjoy the view.

  They had brought the microwave into the kitchen and swapped fridges. As well, Anthan had brought up the boxes containing all of Erica’s pots and pans, cooking gear and china.

  Anthan and Martin finally managed to get to sleep around 9:30.

  That day Erica spent trying to sort things out, working out what they would need to buy. She helped Ken back inside and set him in his bed to rest around lunchtime. She made him soup and told him to bang on the wall if he needed anything. She assured him Anthan would help him shower that evening.

  When Anthan woke that night, he told her that her Aunt and Uncle, Nicoleta and Dragoş Popescu, were coming to visit.

  Elisa had contacted Anthan and told him Viorel had tracked down the girls’ relations and their grandmother’s sister and her mate were on their way to the house. They would be arriving the next night.

  Amy and Erica were over the moon with excitement. Ken picked up on their joy and Erica explained to him why they were so thrilled.

  The past day of resting and eating had done him good. He was able to walk about albeit slowly and they could see his face was started to fill out just a tiny amount. He looked more human, more alive after Anthan had helped him shower. He told everyone that it felt as if he had washed away the filth from the vampire and sent it down the plughole.

  The next day the girls spent most of the time baking and the house smelt of biscuits and slices. Their guests were due to arrive around seven, Anthan told the girls that they would have already eaten a meal on the plane so drinks and nibblies were all that was required.

  Anthan woke around 4:30 and Martin about ten minutes later. He’d slept at Anthan’s knowing that Amy was helping with the preparations. Amy and Erica were on tenterhooks.

  They had made a light meal, knowing that the Hunters would fill up on the sweets later. The five of them sat and ate, Amy and Erica trying to maintain a conversation but both failing. Finally, it was close to seven.

  “Are you both ready?”

  The two girls nodded. There was so much nervous energy in the room. Ken was laughing at them, he looked so much better now. Even though it was only a couple of days since Anthan had woke him, he was eating well. His whole personality had changed. He seemed eager and excited by Hunters. The girls found his company enjoyable. He was quick to laugh and teased them mercilessly. He was still so thin and a little unsteady on his feet but he reassured them he felt great.

  He had more than fully accepted Hunters and all that entailed. Anthan had told Erica he was sure that would mean he was destined for a Hunter. Viorel had promised to start sending unattached Hunters out to the area.

  Erica and Amy were both dressed in their finest. Five minutes beforehand Anthan had “spoken” with their visitors and now everyone was awaiting their arrival.

  Everyone heard a car pull up.

  “A car? Why on earth are they coming in a car? I thought you all just popped in and out.”

  Anthan pulled Erica to him and kissed the top of her head.

  “Wait.”

  They heard a knock on the door and Anthan went to answer it. They all heard the tradition request for entry from a woman then a man. Even though it wasn’t necessary between Hunters it was still considered polite when first meeting someone new.

  “May I enter your home, my Lord? May you give me permission to enter?”

  They all heard a charming female voice followed by a deep male one asking the traditional request.

  “May I enter your home, my Lord? May you give me permission to enter?”

  Anthan led them inside. Nicoleta then gave a little curtsy and Dragoş bowed his head formally to Anthan.

  Both clasp Anthan’s arm and gave the Hunters’ formal greeting.

  “Live şi lupta cu onoarea, my Lord.”

  They then both greeted Martin formally.

  Amy and Erica were almost jumping out of the skin.

  To meet their relation!

  Their grandmother’s sister!

  It was threatening to overwhelm them both. Erica had resisted the temptation to search out with her mind and Anthan had been blocking the details of their visit from Erica.

  “Amy, Erica. This is your Aunt and Uncle. Nicoleta and Dragoş Popescu.”

  Both girls went forward, both were crying. Their Aunt and Uncle both bowed low to Erica. They greeted Amy then as soon as their Aunt touched their hands, Nicoleta, too, began to cry. The four were wrapped in a bear hug of tears and laughter. They parted and grinned at each other.

  Erica noticed another couple standing behind their Aunt and Uncle. They looked to be in their fifties and holding hands. Both had tears running down their faces. Erica looked at them.

  Suddenly she collapsed to her knees sobbing.

  Anthan quickly gathered her up. Amy was staring at her then at the couple. Anthan took Amy’s hand as he led both to the couple.

  “I thought...” Erica was choking on her sobs. “I thought you were both dead.”

  She flung herself into the woman’s arms. The man put his hand across her shoulder and held out his hand to Amy. Amy looked at them then at Erica. She started to cry again and shook her head before being enveloped in his arms.

  After a few minutes, the four broke apart. Amy and Erica couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Anthan took charge. He introduced the visitors to Ken, explaining what had happened to him.

  The two Hunters looked at him in amazement.

  “More than two weeks! That’s unbelievable. I’m so glad you’re okay now.”

  Ken looked embarrassed. Anthan looked around the room.

  “Come, sit and we can tell you everything.”

  Erica kept looking at her mother and father. She still couldn’t believe that they were both alive and both here! Th
e girls had hold of their parent’s hands as if they never intended to let them go. They all settled down on the couches, the two girls perched on the arms of their parent’s couch.

  “I just don’t understand!”

  “Where to start?”

  Her father looked at Anthan who spoke up.

  “You remember I told you both that Viorel was contacting your Aunt and Uncle?” The girls nodded. “And that he was going to try and find out what happened to your parents. Well the person he assigned, Elisa, she couldn’t find any reports of your mother’s death. She went back through the records and found the marriage certificate. Once she had that she could then look up your father to see if he had passed. When she couldn’t locate either, she did some digging.”

  “In the old police records there was a lot about a case where two girls had been taken by their grandmother. A Madeline and Arthur Collingswood were searching for them. The trail went cold when the children couldn’t be located anywhere and it was believed the grandmother had taken them out of the country. There were searches done in a few other countries but nothing was ever discovered.”

  Her father took up the story.

  “I guess you remember your mother being taken to hospital. Well, it was for acute appendicitis. Your grandmother was told and she turned up at the hospital. Against my good judgment, we let her take you both. She was going to look after you for the few days your mother was in hospital. Little did we know she would kidnap you both.”

  “What!”

  Erica looked at Amy stunned.

  Her father nodded. He started crying.

  “I never thought. I...she just disappeared. We searched. The police searched. It was as if you had dropped off the face of the earth. The police found where you had stayed overnight but that was all. There was no trace of you at your Grandmother’s house. Nothing!”

  “For the next few months the police did everything. I put adverts in papers, handed out flyers. But it was useless.”

  The girls’ mother wiped her tears and spoke softly.

  “I couldn’t, wouldn’t accept you were gone! All these years I prayed, I hoped. Neither of us gave up hope.”

  “But why? Why would Gram do that? I just don’t understand.”

  Erica sounded lost and confused. Anthan sent her a message of reassurance and she smiled through her tears at him.

  Her mother sighed.

  “You girls were too young to understand what was happening.” She shook her head. “Maybe I should start earlier.”

  “When I was a child, my mother filled my head with stories about Hunters and vampires—strigoi, she called them. Always she would warn me against them. It got so that I was terrified to be outside in the dark. She told me how they would come at night and lure me outside. I was afraid to sleep, afraid to go outdoors.”

  “On and on through the years, she kept at it. When I was old enough, I began working. Even then, even though I was a teenager, an adult, the fears were with me. Even though I thought it was just some sort of madness of my mother’s I was still afraid. Mother would still remind me every day. Then I met your father, I was seventeen.”

  She looked at him with such love and he took her hand and kissed it.

  “Mother didn’t want me to marry but I was determined. She told me I was too young, but I knew your father was the only man for me. So we did. It was hard, mother tried to interfere all the time. Then you came along Erica. Such a beautiful baby, so serious, so wise beyond your years. You would say strangest things. Tell us things. Mother began to fill your head with the same fears she filled mine.”

  “I told her to stop. Then we had Amy.”

  She looked at the two girls.

  “You two would talk to each other in a language no one else could understand. You were so funny. As you got older, it was obvious that you were both communicating to each other without words.

  “But, Erica, you would amaze us. The things you knew, the things you would say.”

  She shook her head wistfully as if recalling a happier time.

  “My mother was becoming unbearable. She insisted that Erica had to be hidden, told us that she would be a beacon for every vampire and Hunter because she was psychic. She warned us that Hunters would take her away. That vampires would destroy her. Even Amy wasn’t immune to her taunts of terror, even though she was only a baby.”

  She was having trouble speaking through her tears so the girls’ father took up the story.

  “I told her if she continued scaring you both then she was to leave us alone. She refused, said it was for the girls’ protection. So we broke contact with her. Already you were both terrified of the dark. As far as your mother and I were concerned it was all madness, we both believed your grandmother had some sort of mental delusion. All went well for a few years until your mother got appendicitis.”

  “I’m not sure why I contacted your grandmother. Maybe I was just trying to be polite. Anyway, I told her and she came to the hospital the next day. She seemed different, more sensible. There was no mention of vampires or any of the old madness and so when she offered to take you both overnight until your mother came out of hospital we agreed. I was so worried about your Mother, they said she had peritonitis. I was scared she would die. Anyway we thought it sensible.”

  “It was all a ruse.” He groaned and dropped his head to his hands. Sighing, he lifted he head and looked at the two girls. “It was obvious later that when I contacted her, she jumped at the chance to take you. She’d even packed her clothes. When the police went to the house, they were gone and anything of value that she could fit in her car.”

  “So that was it. You were both gone. It was all my fault for contacting her. We’ve...the years...we’ve searched and searched for you.”

  By now everyone was crying, even Ken. Nicoleta spoke up.

  “My sister was always a little strange. Then when Dragoş and I mated, she went crazy. When she left the second time, with you, Madalina, we lost contact with her. Maybe I should have tried to find her, maybe none of this would have happened.”

  “You can’t blame yourself my heart.” Dragoş held his mate tight. “It is in the past, we can’t change it.”

  Anthan looked at everyone.

  “Dragoş is right, we can’t change what has happened but now you have found each other. There is no reason for you to part. I offer you my home to stay in.”

  Erica looked at Anthan with such love, he felt his heart thump hard against his chest. Her father spoke.

  “We, well I guess we would love to be able to stay. I’m not sure how we could. We only arranged a visa to come here for a week’s visit.”

  “If you would like to stay here permanently we can arrange it. The girls are both Australian citizens and I can sponsor you both. If you wanted to stay, there would be no problem. Our Council would arrange everything.”

  The parents looked at each other, their faces filled with hope and excitement. The two girls held their breath.

  “I’m a chef by trade. We sold our restaurant recently and I’ve been wondering what to do. Madeline hasn’t needed work. We do have a home in rural England, in Rowlands. It’s about half an hour or so drive from Newcastle airport.” He looked at the girls. “Actually, you girls would love it. It is a very old farmhouse, parts date back to the 1700s. We’ve done the inside up. The outside is covered by heritage orders. It’s large and we love it. We never had any other children. But still there’s really nothing to keep us in England not now, now we’ve finally found you both.”

  Erica took her mother’s hand.

  “You’ll come, you’ll stay here?”

  “Well, firstly thank you, Anthan. I appreciate your offer to live here but we certainly could afford to buy something nearby, maybe we don’t have to sell the English property.”

  “You’ll stay?”

  He looked at his wife and she nodded.

  “We’ll stay.” He looked at Anthan hopefully. “You’ll really be able to arrange things?”


  “Certainly. You’ll have to go back to England at the end of your week. We can make all your arrangements to move. At the same time you can pack up things immediately, the Council will organise it all—transport, paperwork, the lot.”

  That started the girls and their mother crying again. Through her tears, she said, “I’ve missed so much, missed you growing up but at least we’ve found you. I got such a shock when Nicoleta and Dragoş turned up a week ago. I...we both couldn’t believe who they were.”

  “They had to prove it to us.” Arthur laughed. “You should have seen our faces! We realised all those stories that your grandmother told were all true. That none of it was madness. Anyway, once we believed their story they told us that you girls had been found. Your mother fainted.”

  “I couldn’t help it. All these years. All our searching.”

  “I have to admit I felt a little weak at the knees and found it hard to believe, too. Then they told us they could arrange immediate transport and visas. Well, we jumped at the chance.”

  “The rest was easy. We flew out yesterday morning and here we are!”

  Madeline was shaking her head in disbelief and looking at both girls.

  “So grown up. Silly I know, but I still thought of you both as little girls. Now look at you both! Nicoleta explained to us about Hunters and mates. How you are both with these men. I’m so happy!”

  Her father started to laugh. The girls looked quizzically at him.

  “You knew Erica.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You would always tell us you were going to live in another country and marry a man who was like a king with long hair.”

  “I did?”

  “That’s right. You even told us he would hunt bad monsters.”

  “Oh wow!” She grinned at her father and then Anthan. “I can remember dreaming about a man.”

  Her mother was looking over at Anthan.

  “She told us he could fly, that he would be very old. We used to laugh at the things she would say.” Her mother looked at Erica. “Then you’d get very angry at us, Erica, you’d stamp your feet and tell us it was all true.”

  Her father spoke again, looking over at Anthan. “She would get so serious and almost cry because we wouldn’t accept the things she would say as being true.”