“You’re trying to save him,” he spat. His eyes dragged down to my neck, looking at the clean bites. His lips peeled from his teeth in disgust.
“What?” Ophelia asked in confusion.
“He wasn’t attacked,” Hackmann said to them. “What happened? He came to you after being turned?” I shook my head.
“He…” I licked my dry lips and steadied myself. “I buried him myself.” A ripple of shock went through the room. Someone sucked in a breath and Jack cursed. Hackmann looked at me with pure hatred.
“I thought maybe you were salvageable but now I see I was wrong. You were a rotten apple from the start.”
“Sir, he’s in shock. He was attacked. He doesn’t know what he’s saying,” Ophelia said, trying to defend me.
“I wasn’t attacked,” I said. “I fed him. I fucked him,” I said giving them a wide smile. “And I let him fuck me.” It was sunset now. He was safe. As I was peering at the color of the sky outside the bedroom window they flung themselves on me. I fought them, shooting bullets that didn’t land. They easily overpowered me.
They pushed me to the ground, zip-tying my hands behind me. I breathed out calmly and stopped talking. I’d done my final act, I’d saved Sebastian and now I knew what was coming. Pain then death.
15
It was idiotic and dangerous but I had to confirm with my own eyes that he was safe before I left the country. From the moment I woke up, something in my head was telling me Tate wasn’t okay. I wasn’t sure if that was my own anxious feelings or if it was something else. There was no knowing what I was capable of as a master, just legends passed down. One such legend was that a master could sense those they drank from.
I’d slept at the school. There were plenty of dark basements where I wouldn’t be bothered. When I made my way outside, foreboding bombarded me, and the sense that Tate wasn’t okay grew stronger. I grit my teeth and began to run in the direction of the house I’d left him in.
Had it been a mistake to leave him to the Brotherhood? I’d been so convinced that we wouldn’t be able to make this work but now I was questioning my reasoning.
A sudden sharp pain flashed in my mind and I gasped. Tate, no no no. He was hurt. It felt dire, panic burned inside me. I pushed myself faster, hurling myself towards my car but it still wasn’t fast enough.
Pain seared inside me again and I couldn’t take it. My body exploded into a furious colony of bats, flying with chaotic speed through the sky. In an instant, I saw the house below me. Cars were parked in the driveway and on the street. It was more than just Ophelia that was here now. They’d called in the big guns to deal with me.
I descended, a mass of bats barreling into the house. They swirled together, circling into a funnel, condensing back into me.
The living room was filled with the Brotherhood. Hackmann had Tate in his hands. I couldn’t tell if Tate was conscious, he’d been beaten. Hackmann’s knuckles were bloody.
I stood there, eyeing them with manic rage. I’d never seen so many shocked hunters in a room. Their mouths were agape, their eyes wide in shock as they had watched me go from bats to man.
“Let him go,” I said to Hackmann, my eyes boring into his. Immediately he dropped him. “Don’t fight me,” I commanded.
“Put your weapons away,” Hackmann said through gritted teeth.
“I’m taking him and then I’m leaving. You’ll never see us again.” I slid across the room, eyeing the others as I went to Tate.
“Fuck,” Hackmann hissed, straining to move towards his gun but unable to.
“What’s going on?” Someone asked. “Why aren’t we attacking? Hackmann?” I turned to the hunter and looked into his eyes. It worked well in my favor that masters were legends thought to be myths by most of the people here.
“You can’t beat me. You’ll all die if you try to fight me,” I said and he nodded, his eyes going wide.
“We’d all die,” he parroted back. I bent down, sliding my arms around Tate. He groaned and cracked an eye open.
“Sebastian?” He asked, his voice breaking.
“Shh, shh,” I hushed him, pulling him into me tightly. He felt more like a limp teddy bear than a strong man. “I’m so sorry.”
“Are we really just going to let him get away? Do nothing?” Someone else asked. We didn’t have much time. Hypnotizing a few could only do so much.
“Wrap your arms around me,” I whispered to Tate. He did, clutching to me as I picked him off the floor. When I turned around, Ophelia was staring at me in confusion. When I walked towards the exit, she stepped aside to let me go. Her hand shot out and gripped mine though.
“You aren’t going to kill him, are you?” She asked.
“Of course not,” I said. She frowned and removed her hand, letting me walk out. That burst the bubble though and the hunters leapt back into action, whatever hypnosis I’d mastered evaporating when I was out of the house.
