“Hunters aren’t human?” Ian questioned.Stefan and Brian had talked about the hunters before, but none ofthem had really asked much about them. None of his family werevicious killers; he’d believed their chances of ever encountering ahunter were slim to none. He’d been wrong.
“No,” Stefan answered flatly.
“What are they then?” Ethan demanded.
Stefan cracked his knuckles as he continuedto watch the road behind them. “Only they know for sure. I can tellyou the rumors I’ve heard about them, but their origin, existence,and capabilities are secrets they guard closely.”
Emma’s hazel eyes shimmered in the lights ofthe few other vehicles on the road when she turned in her seat toface him. “What are the rumors?”
“That they have the strength and ability ofvampires, but don’t require blood. Some vampires believe they wereconjured by witches during a time when magic used to be a centralpart of this world. The witches created them as a way to counteractthe evil of vampires.”
“Witches?” Ian snorted in disbelief.
“There are many who don’t believe vampireswalk this earth, but we are living proof that isn’t true. Why doyou doubt witches could walk this earth, or that they used to walkit?” Stefan asked.
Ian frowned at him. “Do you believe theydid?”
“No, I think it’s a lot of bull,” Stefansaid with a laugh. “I’ve been here for two hundred and sixty-nineyears, and I’ve never encountered a witch. But who knows, maybethey exist.”
Emma’s hand wrapped around the headrest ofher seat as she leaned closer to them, “What other rumors arethere?”
Stefan shrugged. “That hunters are strongerthan normal humans because they keep vampires and drink their bloodto gain strength. Others believe they were created by some forcefor good in the world, as a way to counteract the evil vampires canwreak upon this earth.”
“What do you believe?” Ethan asked.
“I tend to go with the theory of when demonsmated with humans and created vampires, they also created humanswho were stronger than normal humans and had some, but not all, ofthe traits of a vampire. They might not, and probably don’t have todrink blood. They aren’t as strong as we are, though they arepowerful. They don’t realize that not all vampires are killers.Hunters age; they’re stronger and faster than humans, but they’redifferent than us.”
Silence descended over the vehicle, Ianglanced down at the sleeping woman in his arms. Who andwhatwas she? She felt and looked entirely human, but the man she’d beenwith had definitely been a hunter. He’d been too fast with thatcrossbow to be entirely human; no human would have been able tocome close to nicking him with an arrow.
“Are they going to be able to find us?” Emmaasked nervously.
“No, if there’s no one following us now, weshould be fine,” Stefan replied.
“Can they find out where Ian lives?”
“I didn’t use my real address for anythingon my college forms,” Ian answered. “I used a lot of manipulation,and changed more than a few memories, to slide through. The fewfriends who came to visit me at our house don’t remember how to getthere.”
“You won’t be able to go back school,”Stefan said.
“I’d already figured that out,” he muttered.He’d been looking forward to his last couple of months with hisfriends, but after what had happened tonight, never seeing themagain was probably getting off easy. Both he and this woman couldbe dead right now.
“I still think the family should leave homeand go somewhere else, just in case,” Ethan said. “At least for alittle while. We can’t take any chances the hunter or vamp cansomehow track them.”
Stefan nodded his agreement. “You’reright.”
The woman’s mouth pursed, she stirred in hisarms before going still again. “How is she mixed up with thehunters?” he pondered aloud.
“Are you sure she’s not a hunter?” Emmaasked.
He stroked her cheek again and inhaled theheady scent of her blood. He’d never encountered human blood quitelike hers, but he didn’t get an inhuman or more than human vibefrom her. He hadn’t gotten one from the man she was with either,while they’d been in the bar. “I don’t sense anything superhuman orwitchy about her,” he said.
Stefan scowled at him before glancing ather. “Her blood smells different, but the blood of the hunter Ikilled didn’t smell like that.”
“It does,” Ian agreed. “What did the bloodof the hunter you killed smell like?”
“Like blood. I didn’t know it until I tastedit, but there was power in the hunter’s blood. That’s why I believethey were most likely created the same way we were.”
“Well, we won’t know what she is until shewakes up; we’ll get our answers then,” Emma said.
