Circle of Embers (Shadow Realms Series Book 2): A vampire hunter novel

  The Circle of Embers

  A vampire hunter novel

  Kelly Carrero

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Also by Kelly Carrero

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  1

  No matter how many times I told the hunters I wanted to bring in what was left of my family and friends, they refused to obey. And here I thought I was “the one” and they’d have to listen to what I said. What a load of bullshit that had turned out to be.

  Sure, they treated me as if I were royalty, but I didn’t have a say in what was going on in this place. Which didn’t help with my training. Because I was a vampire huntress, everyone was too afraid to touch me—all except one.

  Meet my new training buddy, strong, sexy, damaged beyond repair Max, aka the one who had wanted to kill me on more than one occasion. And with my abilities draining without the vampire blood running through my veins, I was like a drowning rat compared to him.

  “Keep your chin up. Back straight,” Max commanded, his distrustful eyes penetrating my soul as he waited for me to make my next move, probably fearing I was going to go all animalistic on him and aim for his jugular.

  Aching all over and ready to crawl into a hot bath, I glared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to me.

  The hate he had for me was real, but I couldn’t expect a little thing like me being the one that would save all humanity to change his feelings toward me.

  As soon as I had that thought, my gaze drifted to the heavy scarring covering the left side of his neck and torso from where the vampires had almost ripped him apart before he joined the Society.

  Yeah, I couldn’t blame him.

  Drawing in a deep breath, I pulled my shoulders back, held my head high, and readied myself for my next ass-whooping.

  Max came at me with ferocious speed, knocking his elbow into my jaw as he swept his leg under mine.

  The moment my back slammed against the wooden floor of the gym, his knee was on top of my chest, pushing down hard as he held me in place with an oh-so-snarky grin on his face and the blade of his dagger resting against my jugular.

  Frustration coursed through me. I was supposed to be the ultimate killing machine, yet I couldn’t hold my own for even a second without having vampire blood in my system. He completely dominated me on every level, and it wasn’t good for a girl’s ego.

  “Get off me,” I spat through gritted teeth.

  His grin grew wider. “What did you learn this time?”

  Lifting my head, I pushed against his blade and winced in pain as it sliced into my skin.

  Max’s eyes went wide, and he jumped off me, throwing his weapon to the side as if it were tainted, marked by the blood of the one. He held his hand out to me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

  Ignoring his offer to help me up, I pulled myself into a sitting position, swept my fingers across my neck, and held my hand out in front of me to stare at the blood smeared across my skin.

  Max kneeled down beside me, his eyes no longer haunted by what I did, reminding me of the way he’d looked at me when he figured out who I was. He gripped my chin, lifting it so he could get a better look at the slice across my neck.

  “How bad is it?”

  He breathed out harshly as he shook his head and stood. “I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to train you.” Max snatched his dagger off the ground and strode toward the wall of weapons.

  I scrambled to my feet and followed him as I clutched my hand over my wound. “You agreed to it because you know you’re the only one who doesn’t care if I get hurt.”

  He spun around to face me. “Is that what you think?”

  I frowned. “Well, yeah. It’s not as if we’re best buddies or even friends,” I said as I made my way up to the mirror and inspected the damage. It wasn’t that bad, all things considered. “And don’t pretend you don’t like handing my ass to me.”

  When he didn’t respond, I glanced at his reflection in the mirror and was surprised to see the hurt in his eyes. I raised a brow. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

  Stealing his gaze away from mine, he headed toward the exit. “You need to find yourself a new training partner.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “Run away. Palm your responsibilities off onto someone else.”

  He paused by the door. “You’re not my responsibility.”

  “No. But in a few months, you’ll be mine, and everyone else around here is too chicken shit to touch me. That’s why I asked you to train me. You’re the only one who despises me enough to help me. I need someone who can teach me without fearing they’ll hurt me.”

  “You don’t need training. You’ll turn eighteen, you’ll go through your awakening, and you’ll become the best hunter this world has ever seen. Just like you were when you saved my ass.”

  I curled my hands around my hips and breathed out harshly. “Yeah? And what about between now and then? What am I supposed to do? Expect everyone else to protect me because no one wants to give me some blood?”

  “You stay here where you’re safe.”

  I barked out a laugh. “I am not—” I jerked back in surprise as he raced toward me, stopping inches in front of me.

  His chest heaved with barely controlled anger. “I could’ve hurt you.” His gaze darted to the wound on my neck then drifted up to my lips, lingering on them for a moment before returning to my eyes.

  My stomach fluttered for a second before I squashed my thoughts. There was no way… And then they came sneaking back, determined to make a fool out of me.

  Max stepped back and rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I can’t.”

  Shaking away my deluded thoughts of his feelings toward me, I stepped closer to him. “But you didn’t. You didn’t hurt me.”

  He raised a brow. “Oh no? Because I’m pretty sure your brother, Lana, and every other person in this place will think otherwise.”

  “I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. I want you. No one else.” A light bulb moment flicked on in my mind. Was I talking about training or something else? Training. It had to be training.

  But as I stared at him standing before me, tormented by his actions, his desires, and his hatred toward me, my gut was telling me otherwise.

  I had a crush on the guy who hated the very sight of me.

  The door to the gym flung open, and Finn walked into the room with Mason in tow. Finn halted the moment he noticed the tension in the room. “What’s going on?” His gaze zeroed in on my wound, and he raced toward me. “What happened?” He glared at Max. “What did you do to her?”

  Max opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “Max didn’t do anything to me. I did this to myself.”

  Finn’s suspicious gaze returned to mine. “How does one cut their own throat?”


  I raised a brow. “Have you met me? You know, your little sister who you believed wasn’t hunter material?”

  Mason strode up to us, no longer holding the arrogant swagger to his step that he was renowned for prior to his abduction by the vampire faction. But he also didn’t seem upset like I thought he would’ve been. “You don’t believe she’s hunter material?” Mason asked. “I mean, you saw what she did when she saved our asses, right?”

  Finn frowned. “That was my opinion before we knew who she was.”

  “He hasn’t told you what’s going on, has he?” I asked. Since Mason’s return, he’d been holed up in the hospital wing with bags of blood and antibiotics flowing into him twenty-four seven, and I’d barely been able to get some time alone with him thanks to the whole commotion about being the one. Finn, on the other hand, had barely left his side. I wasn’t sure if it was because he missed his baby brother or if he was avoiding me. Either way, I was happy to get away from the overly protective bubble he’d wanted to place me in since our little family reunion.

  Finn crossed his arms over his chest and said, “I’ve told him everything he needs to know.”

  I barked out a laugh. “Yeah, we all know that means shit because you don’t think anyone needs to know anything except you hunters.” There was no way he’d told Mason that what was left of our family and our friends would be in danger, and according to the Society’s policy, we can’t connect with the outside world. Meaning, they were as good as dead if the Society had their way.

  “Well,” Mason said with a light in his eyes, “that’s what I’m hoping to be.” When I scrunched up my face in confusion, he clarified, “A hunter.”

  I frowned. “Good luck getting Finn to agree on that one.”

  “Actually,” Finn started.

  I glared at him, stopping him from saying any more. “You have got to be kidding. You’re really going to bring Mason in so easily when I had to fight to stay here every step of the way?” I shook my head. “You’re unbelievable!”

  I stormed off to the punching bag and took a few swings at it, wishing I still had the strength to knock the damn thing off the hook. Finn was infuriating.

  Max jogged over and wrapped his hands around the punching bag, holding it steady for me, and peered around the side. “You need to put on some gloves.”

  Smashing my fists into the bag, I tried to ignore his advice as well as the pain radiating through my hand.

  Max sighed as he released his grip on the bag and headed over to the rack against the side wall, where he grabbed a pair of gloves before returning to me. “We need to get you your own pair.” He held them out to me.

  Still ignoring him, I laid another couple of punches followed by a knee to the bag, visualizing my brother’s obnoxious head in its place.

  I knew Mason was probably made for this hunter thing, but it pissed me off that Finn was so supportive of him when he’d been a downright asshole to me. Plus, Mason was only fifteen years old. He should have been focused on school, friends, and his sports, not learning how to kill a vampire.

  The irony of my thoughts didn’t go unnoticed by me, but there was no way I was going to change my mind. Mason was in this mess because of me, and now I wanted to protect him every chance I could. Just the way Finn had with me.

  Freaking bastard.

  There was no way I was going to turn into my obnoxious, overprotective brother.

  “You know what?” I said, turning to my brothers. “It’s probably a good idea you learn to fight, Mason. Because even if you choose not to become a hunter or these people deem you’re not good enough, at least you’ll be able to protect yourself.”

  Mason smiled as he bent his leg at the knee and grabbed his ankle behind him. The haunted look coming back the moment I mentioned not being good enough. It was the look of someone who’d stared death in the face and lived to see another day. “Thanks—”

  “You are ‘these people,’” Finn said as he headed toward us. “Actually, that’s wrong, because you’re not just these people. You’re the one, which means more than ever we are your people.” He shook his head. “Even Max knows it. Why else would he train you?”

  I glanced at Max, my chest constricting when I saw the look in his eyes. Finn was right. Max still hated the very sight of me, yet he’d agreed to train me.

  Nodding slowly, I took a few steps back then spun around and retreated to the doors.

  “Kali,” Max called after me. “We haven’t finished,” he said after telling me he wasn’t going to train me anymore. Guess he’d changed his mind.

  Ignoring him, I opened the door and stormed into the hall, heading toward the stairs leading to the roof top track. The walls felt as if they were closing in on me, suffocating me with their rules and regulations.

  People were in danger, and all anyone around here cared about was keeping me safe until I turned eighteen. Screw whoever died in the meantime.

  Yeah, that didn’t bode well for me.

  Maybe it was because I was the one, or maybe it was because I was always so strongheaded. Either way, I didn’t plan on letting anyone I cared about die because these hunters were too focused on the bigger picture.

  I get why they wanted me safe. I was supposedly the one who would save them all, but that didn’t mean the other hunters needed to hide. They could still protect the innocent—especially the ones I cared about.

  They would become targets.

  They’d probably become bait.

  But that didn’t matter.

  I’d vowed I wasn’t going to let anyone else I cared about die, and I wasn’t about to break my promise. Even if it was to save my alcoholic father.

  I just needed to convince the others we could do both, and the dinner Lana’s parents were throwing tonight was the perfect opportunity for me to have my say.

  Throwing the door open at the top of the stairs, I stepped outside and breathed in the smell of damp earth as the rain pelted down on me, Mother Nature mimicking my mood of sorrow and mourning.

  It had been five days since we’d rescued Mason, and it hadn’t stopped raining. Dark clouds loomed above, covering the sky in their unholy presence and making me wonder if the demons had something to do with the strange weather pattern of late.

  I pulled my ponytail tighter and broke into a jog, rounding the track slower than I would’ve liked. I ached to feel the wind in my face like I did when I was hyped up on vampire juice.

  The door burst open, and Lana stepped onto the track, her frantic eyes searching for me. The moment she spotted me, I could see the relief ripple through her. She’d been this way ever since she’d learned of my true identity, and it was getting old—fast.

  She broke out into a sprint, catching up to me as if I were crawling on all fours, and proceeded to fall into step with me. “I thought we weren’t supposed to go for our run for another hour.”

  “I thought I’d get a few miles in first,” I said, stepping up my pace.

  “Good,” she said. “Because we should probably finish up here early so we can get prepared for tonight.”

  I rolled my eyes. “How much time do you think I need to clean up before dinner?”

  “You know this isn’t any old dinner, right?” She twisted around to face me and ran backward, still keeping her pace with mine. “There’s going to be a huge fuss between them and you.”

  I frowned at her. “I thought you said they can’t wait to meet me.”

  “My parents, yes. But having everyone together will make people go nuts, trying to prepare and making sure things go to plan.”

  I wanted to tell her that I couldn’t care less about this dinner, and the only reason I was prepared to participate was for a last-ditch effort to get the Society to come to their senses about keeping my family and friends safe. I was not going to let them become statistics, and it would be easier if I had an entourage of hunters willing to be at my beck and call, not just trying to keep me contained in this building where they deemed me sa
fe.

  Staying locked up in this old mental hospital for that long was doing my head in. I wanted—needed to be free.

  Focusing on the views from the rooftop, I tried my best to block out the constant stares Lana threw my way and pretend I was alone, the rain washing away the sins that stained my soul.

  Night was falling way too soon for this time of the year, and I couldn’t help but think the demons were responsible. That they were looming behind every shadow, watching, waiting to make their move.

  I knew I wasn’t their target. They had no idea I was more than a hunter. They were after Mason because the demons thought he could be the one. Yet every single person in this facility acted as if I were the one in danger. Sure, I had ripped through a sea of vampires as I searched for Mason, but none of them could’ve possibly known I was the one they were looking for. After all, according to their mandatory testing, my results were negative.

  Blue lightning spread across the sky, followed by a crack of thunder sounding in the distance.

  Lana pulled on my arm. “We should probably get inside before the storm gets too bad.”

  Slowing to a jog, I headed over to the stone wall and came to a stop as I looked out at the heavens above, half expecting to see the clouds take on a demonic form. But the seconds ticked by, and they remained dark clouds, void of any demonic influence. “We’ll be fine.” I turned to continue on the track when Lana grabbed my arm, stopping me.

  “We need to go inside,” she said a little too forcefully.

  I raised my brow as I studied her worried eyes. “What are you not telling me?”

  She cast a nervous glance toward the streets then bit her lip, something she never did. “Look, I don’t want you to get paranoid, but there’s something strange going on with the weather pattern, and I don’t think you should be outside on your own.”