Volume 1.22: Under Attack

Type: Series

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: M

Characters: Luca, Samuel, Ava, Bjorn, Melissa and Olivia
Word Count: 2145

Glossary: 

Warning: language, craptastic shots

Swing as hard as you can swing

It will still mean nothing

Should've seen it coming

It had to happen sometime

But you went and brought a knife

To an all out gunfight...

This Means War-Nickelback

Luca was almost at the manor when the hunters emerged from the thicket. He wasn’t surprised to see them, he knew they were on their trail the whole time he was following Cadence.

“Luca!” Samuel nodded grimly at him.

“Samuel,” Luca bowed slightly. This was their first meeting in twenty years.  Meeting though was too polite a word.

“So it’s true, you’re back to free your brother,” Samuel continued. Neither man’s gaze faltered as they approached each other.

He didn’t owe them any explanations so Luca didn’t say anything as he silently weighed his options. Samuel and his hunters had gone after Cadence, but the only reason she was still breathing was because he’d foiled their plans. That didn’t sit well with him. He could kill them all now, or later. But either way they were dead.

“It won’t end well for your clan Luca. We are older now, stronger too. You’ll lose.” Samuel said. By now both men were standing dangerously close to each other. Luca could feel the other man’s warm breath on his face and it made him uncomfortable, he wanted to step back and put a little bit of distance between them, but he wouldn’t. He never wavered from an opponent, just like he never walked away from a fight.

“I’m okay with losing. But leave Cadence out of it. If you so much as look at her the wrong way, I will hunt you down and use your stakes and fucking garlic on you.” He told the hunter. His voice was low, and he thought the light wind had snatched his words before they’d even left his lips, but the petrified, wide eyed look in Ava’s eyes told him his message was well received.

“Well then it’s a good thing we don’t use garlic and stakes anymore,” Samuel smiled crudely.

Luca understood the meaning behind the hunter’s words. They were not going to back down on Cadence; they were prepared to do anything to make sure he didn’t get her blood. And he was willing to do everything to get it. They were at a stalemate, and only one of them would win, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be the hunters. He was certain of that much at least.

Without uttering another word, he brushed past Samuel. As far as he was concerned their talk was over.

Ava was an inconsolable mess. She couldn’t stop shaking, no matter how tightly Samuel held her to him to warm her up. They were now at their shed, going over their failed plan to get Cadence and their confrontation with Luca.

“I’m telling you, the only chance we have at getting Cadence is at school,” Ava cried harshly as she abruptly jumped to her feet.

“Let this business with Cadence go. Let it rest. Luca will kill all of us if we touch her. Don’t forget the witches; they’ll come at us with everything they have. Please, Ava, you have nothing to fear now, the Star’s been destroyed, so with or without Cadence’s blood Luca can’t break out his brother. He’s lost and he doesn’t know it.” Samuel tried to reason with her, but nothing he or the others said seemed to sink in.

Ava was adamant Luca was a step ahead of them, and she tried to convince them, drawing their attention to the Vampire’s confidence.

“He seems certain he’ll succeed. We may have destroyed the witches’ Star, but what if there are other Stars, what if there wasn’t just one? And what if Luca has it? He looked like a man whose plans are falling into place and all he needs is Cadence’s blood!” She cried harshly as she paced the room.

If it wasn’t for the wild, crazy look in her eyes, they would have seriously considered her argument. But at that moment, with her caramel colored hair flying everywhere, getting in her eyes and mouth, she looked like a raving lunatic. And no one trusts raving lunatics.

It broke Samuel’s heart to see her let her fears about Luca and his clan consume her to a point where he hardly recognized her anymore.

“Look. We have to calm down and act rationally on this. So far all we have is your unfounded suspicion. Until we know for sure Luca has another Star, we’re letting this thing with Cadence go!” Samuel told her firmly, his word was final and it brooked no argument.

“Okay,” Ava put up her hands and nodded.

Samuel felt a little uneasy as he watched her run up the stairs; she had given in too easily. And knowing her as well as he did, he hoped his suspicions were wrong…

_____

Note: This was supposed to be part of  Volume 1.21, but my game crashed before I could shoot the rest of the pics, so yeah, that's why both volumes were so short.