Blood for blood Read online

  Tank dropped her and yelled. She must have burnt, but she didn’t fucking care. She ran. She ran like the world was ending. Fuck. Her world was ending. Her body was pulsing, her magick reaching out into the depths of the nest. Screaming. Screaming and roaring. She couldn’t feel him. She couldn’t find him. She felt her power erupt out of her. Burning. Blood burning. Black lightning. She could see it spewing forth from her body as the building exploded. Lupa was flung back on her ass completely drained of power.

  Shit. What the fuck just happened? Did… did she just blow him up?

  Tank scooped her up off the dirty street and held her again, this time gently cradled against him. Slasher was holding her hand as together they ran. Tank tossed her into the car and climbed in after. Slasher brought the car to life and they sped off. The car may have been racing, but her heart was racing faster. She was terrified… she was lost, so lost and empty. Lupa had felt it snap. He was dead. She knew it and they knew it. He was dead before she blew them up, but that didn’t make it any easier.

  Giant sobs wracked her body. Waves crashing in her head. She felt Tank pat her awkwardly. Karl was gone. And it was her fucking fault. It was Tank’s fault, and Slasher's. Her almost-fucking-mother had let Tank grab her. She could have saved him but Slasher didn’t let her. Devastated, she cried and sobbed. Her heart was breaking over and over, even as the world went black around her.

  ⃝

  Lupa cracked open a bloodshot eye. Where the hell was she? Gingerly, she sat up and looked around. Oh. She was in Slasher's spare room, the room that was once hers as a kid. What time was it? Why was she... oh. Her heart broke again. Karl was dead. Karl was fucking dead. She wept and curled into a ball.

  She heard the door creak open but ignored it. Sobbing into the pillow, trying to cry out all of the fucked up, suffocating pain she was drowning in, knowing it wouldn’t work. She’d known Karl almost ten years. Working together for seven… but bonded for almost ten fucking years. Now he was just fucking gone. Fresh sobs escaped her, turning into wails. She felt Slasher's hand rubbing small circles on her arm, the only mother she really knew.

  Lupa rolled over into Slasher's arms and violently cried. Slasher didn’t say a word, just held her tight. The way she had held her when the kids at school would beat her. The way she held her when she accidently burnt herself playing with magick. The way she held her when she tripped and skinned her knee. But never had it been so important to have her here. Holding her, letting her sob her broken heart out.

  She had no idea how long they held each other like that. But she felt the tears drying up. The sobs turning into hiccups. Slasher’s arms relaxed a little, letting her know she could move away if she wanted, but she wouldn’t be going anywhere. Lupa sat up, peering up at her surrogate mother with puffy eyes.

  “Why..?” her lip trembled, biting it hard as she held back the fresh set of tears.

  “We heard more were coming.” Slasher spoke softly, her hand on Lupa’s. “The lookouts were on the streets and a few of the roof tops, watching. You never know what will happen with purebloods. If the fight erupted onto the streets we wanted to be ready. On the furthest edge of Blackwater, we had a team. They called in. There was a fucking... there was a massive pack coming. Purebloods mostly. I didn’t even know there was that many fucking purebloods in Blackwater. Shit.” She shook her head. Lupa gulped back the blinding anger and waited for Slasher to continue. “When I got word-the closest lookout ran down to me-I told everyone to run. Fuck. I should have stayed. I’m so sorry, shit, I’m so fucking sorry.”

  Her arms tightened around Lupa. The only mother she needed. The one who’d loved her for twenty years. The mother that had fucked up. But shit, didn’t every mother? Hadn’t her biological mother fucking died? And abandoned her? To be with her fucking contaminated father? The tears flooded again. No. It wasn’t her fault. Shit, it wasn’t really any one’s fault, except the fucking wolfbloods. That was the risk they all took. When you joined The Organization, you knew the consequences of how dangerous the job was. But it didn’t stop the heartache. It didn’t stop the fucking tears. Her world was crashing around her, devastating and suffocating. Oh fuck.

  Chapter Three

  “In death and in life, never forget…”

  How long had it been? A week? She looked at the time, two pm. She should probably get out of bed. She could hardly bring herself to do it, but maybe she should. Yeah, she knew she should. Lupa dragged herself up. There were clean jeans and a shirt on the chair in the corner waiting for her. Slasher must have placed them there for when she was ready. She wasn’t ready, nowhere fucking near, but enough was enough. She couldn’t keep fucking moping. Karl wouldn’t have wanted it. The lump in her throat was choking her. Screw that. She swallowed hard as she pulled on the jeans, yanked on the shirt and made her way to the kitchen.

  Tank and Slasher turned, startled by her sudden appearance. Lupa was positive she looked like a mess. She ran her hands through her dark hair, realizing as her fingers got stuck that her almost mother had braided it. The plait caught under her shirt. She smiled a little, Slasher hadn’t done that since she was little….

  “Wanna drink?” Tank looked uncomfortable.

  She shrugged and gave a small nod, knowing his need to do something. He got up and started brewing coffee. She sat down across from Slasher, glad that she didn’t say anything, just smiling at her with all the love a mother could have.

  “So... umm...” Lupa looked around, avoiding Slasher’s gaze… she needed to know. “What happened to the... the bodies in the building?”

  Slasher cleared her throat and glanced over at Tank. Shit. “Little-Lupa. You... well, you really fucked that place up. I don’t know how you did it. Or what you did. But you did it. And I’m glad you did. Nothing survived.” She stopped, but Lupa nodded for her to continue. A small tear slid down her face, but that was ok. He had been dead already, right? “You got them, every last one of those fucking bastards. You got them. You avenged him, hun.” Her hand slid over to Lupa’s. “You made him so proud.”

  Lupa drew a deep breath and tried not to let her mind wander to… tried not to let the tears pour out of her again. Tank put the coffee in front of her and sat next to Slasher. She sipped the terrible tasting liquid and stared down at the table.

  “I dunno how you did that, Little Red,” Tank’s voice full of… pride? “Aint seen nothin’ like it before. Not even Blood Slayer could do shit like that.”

  She searched his face, he was proud of her…. Shit. She didn’t even know that she could do it, let alone how she did it. She looked back down at her hands. Could she do it again? If she could... well, they would be able to fuck a lot more of those bastards up. Shit, if she could figure out how, maybe they all could?

  “What do I do now?” she looked from one face to the other.

  “Well...” Slasher shifted uncomfortably. “If you want to keep... if you want to fight, you need another Protector...”

  Right. Of course she did. No one fought alone. But the thought of bonding with someone else made her stomach churn. How could she ever bond with someone else? No, that would not be ok with Karl. At least… not yet.

  “I’m... not ready for that.”

  “Oh, hun...” her pretty much mother stood up and encased her in a fierce hug. “You don’t have to, you don’t ever have to, if you’re not ready. But if you do... if you find that you are. That’s when we will... you know.” She kissed her forehead.

  Lupa closed her eyes and nodded. “What about his family?”

  Slasher sat down again. “They want to see you. But only if you’re ready. They don’t want to rush you, you know his Da. He loved you, and he wants to see you, but… he can wait.”

  Lupa’s eyes narrowed. Oh yes, his Da was wanting to see her. But his Ma? No. She’d probably want to kill her, she’d never liked Lupa, never liked that she wasn’t a rich bitch too.

  Slasher smiled, as though she knew what she was thinking. “Don’t worry about her
, we've already had words. She was mad, but not at you Little Red. She’s just angry and hurt. She won’t even speak to her husband, took off to her parents place in Central.”

  Lupa nodded. “Right. Well, aint no time like the present hey? I guess I better get over there. Especially if Mrs Penish isn’t there. And then... I’m going to go home.” She saw both of them about to protest and put her hand up. “No. I need this. I need to go home, I need to be busy. I’ll call, I promise. But I need... sometime that's not spent in bed,” she laughed in spite of herself.

  She’d been sleeping so shitty before losing her best friend, and now she's slept for almost a week. She needed to get the hell out of here, have a drink or five. They smiled, but it was fake as all hell. She didn’t care though. Lupa was going to do what she needed, and they knew they couldn’t stop her.

  ⃝

  Laying on her couch; smoking, staring vacantly up at the roof, Lupa was trying to process the meeting with Karl’s Da. He’d been so... nice. She hated going up to that part of town, hated going up those clean crisp streets. But Karl’s Da had always been nice to her, even if everyone else who saw her there glared at her. Knowing she didn’t belong there, she wondered if they knew she didn’t really belong anywhere...

  She took a long drag of her cigarette and sighed. Karl was gone. Her best damn friend, her only friend, stolen from her by those fucking beasts. Oh she’d fucking get them. She’d kill every last one of those fuckers if she could. But she was not ready to bond with anyone else. Not yet. But she’d do it… so that she could kill them. She would do it for Karl.

  Lupa sighed and rolled on her side, putting the cigarette out in her overflowing ashtray. Last one. Damn. She'd go out and get some more and go get a fucking drink too. Sighing again, she stood and ambled to her bedroom. She pulled on a black denim skirt and a ratty band shirt. Looking down at her legs, only a couple of bruises remained from the fight, the gouges on her thigh hadn’t been as deep as she thought. They were healed, barely a trace left on her skin. She looked at herself in the mirror. She quickly finger combed the braid out, noticing that her bangs were getting long, hanging near her eyes. Whatever. She put on some mascara and dark eyeliner. She almost looked normal. No one would notice, but she could see the sadness in her eyes. Fuck it, she grabbed her bag and slipped on her canvas shoes. Time to get fucked up.

  Lupa wandered down to Bar 28, but thought better of it. Been there with Karl... onwards she went, down to Demons. The drinks were cheap and nasty, the music loud and heavy. Just what she needed. Firstly, smokes. The machine spat out her cigarettes and she tore them open and lit one, The Organization allowed their members to smoke, but only clove cigarettes, and only because cloves and tobacco held protective properties. Humans weren’t supposed to smoke at all, but that wasn’t her problem, she couldn’t give a flying fuck what they did.

  Lupa stood looking down the street for a moment, people were gathered out the front, people who were happy and who had lives that weren’t falling apart at this moment. Well… not the way hers was anyhow. Fuck this. Lupa walked into Demons ready to drink the pain away. Or at the very least try to numb it.

  The place was packed. Hot bodies everywhere, the warmth felt good against her skin. She shoved her way to the bar and dug out a fiver, watching the crowd as she waited. People looking for a goodtime, people looking for a fight, people looking to fill the emptiness-

  “Whatcha want, Little Red?” She turned to see Toothy ginning at her.

  She smiled back at her. “The strongest shit you got for five!” She yelled over the music.

  Toothy nodded and started pouring. It looked like bourbon, but in this place, who fucking knew what it was. She handed the drink over and took her money, dropping some change in her hand as Lupa took a sip. Yep, cheap and nasty. But she could feel it warming her as she stepped away from the bar, swallowing another large mouthful. A big fucking cup of burning... something. When had she eaten last? She didn’t think it mattered, less food in her stomach meant the nasty liquid would do its job quicker.

  Pushing her way through the crowd she looked for a bit more space. Finding some near the stage where a band was playing, she glanced up at them but paid no real attention. Lupa took a big gulp of her drink. Fuck, it sure was nasty shit. She let her eyes wander around the crowd. People talking, yelling, in groups. Girls in barely any clothing batting their eyelashes at heavily tattooed men. She smiled. Just watching these people, all living and breathing and getting on with their fucking lives…

  “Hey, pretty girl, what you doing?”

  She turned to see a tall-very tall-man. His bare arms, covered in dark tattoos, his oh-so-casually ripped shirt was just too cool. He smiled at her, his dark eyes peeking out from the mass of black curls falling around his face. His very handsome face. He the kind of smile she bet got him pretty much anything he wanted, and she couldn’t help smiling back.

  “Drinking some nasty shit, hey.” She responded, lifting her glass and downing the rest of it.

  He laughed. “Aint all the drinks in here nasty? Though from the looks of that, you asked for some heavy shit.” His hand reached out and brushed against her arm. “Wanna go outside where I can hear ya a bit better?”

  Fuck it, why not? She could do with a male distraction. She’d get another drink first though. She nodded and held up her glass, indicating she’d go and grab another first. He waited for her to go ahead of him. Right. He wasn’t Karl, he wouldn’t be protecting her. She shoved through the crowd blinking hard. She sure fucking needed that drink. When Toothy spotted her she nodded. Same again.

  Outside was nice and cool. She pulled out a smoke and was surprised to find him lighting it. “Thanks,” she said, taking a big swig of that mean, warm drink. She glanced at him over her glass and saw him doing the same.

  “My name’s Grey” he said, smiling that big sexy grin at her.

  She smiled back, feeling pretty tickly from her drink. “Little Red,” she responded.

  Once, long ago she had hated the nickname Slasher had given her. But it was part of her, and she rarely ever told strangers her real name. The name her disgusting wolfblood father had given her. Not the time to be thinking about that.

  “Shiiiit,” he said, smiling wider, “You're that fucking Hunter who blew up a nest in Blackwater?”

  People knew about that? She was shocked, only for a moment though. Everyone knew about the Hunters, almost every one cheered them on. And when nests got fucked up, news travelled fast. And a Hunter blowing it up with her power? Fuck, course everyone would hear.

  “Yep, that’s me. What’s the news travelling? I’m sure it’s been pretty exaggerated by now.”

  He shrugged, taking a swig of his drink. “People are saying you blew it up with your mind, saying you're more powerful than Blood Slayer.” He looked down at her with curiosity, “They're saying that your lover died in there. Saying you killed thousands of wolfbloods. Saying you killed a queen and all her children.”

  She laughed, it was kind of funny. She supposed she better tell the real story. At least if she was going to continue talking to Grey, she didn’t really give a shit what everyone thought, but people liked to hear the real gossip right from the mouth of Hunters. That’s why she made ‘friends’ so easily, wasn’t it? A lot of people loved to feed off of a Hunter’s power, not that it was real power, just some sort of fucking popularity thing. It didn’t make sense to her, but it got her free drinks here and there and it had got her some pretty good other things too...

  “Not quite. My partner-my Protector- he was... he was killed. I flipped out. I dunno how I blew them up though. Anger is a pretty powerful weapon I suppose. Wasn’t thousands though. Maybe eighty or so, only about fifteen purebloods. I think one of the wolfbitches was a queen, but I was pulled out of there pretty quickly...so I couldn’t be sure.”

  She took a deep breath and gave a small, insecure smile. She felt like she wasn’t giving Karl the story he deserved, but she realised she didn’t really wa
nt to open up to someone she didn’t know. Not like that.

  “Sucks, hey. Sorry to hear.” He nodded, leaning against the wall and looking up at the smoke filled sky, “So... what’s it like then? Killing them beasts?” Lupa glanced at him, wondering whether he actually wanted to know, or if he just wanted something to say. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want.” He looked at her. Right at her.

  “It’s good.” She finally replied. “It’s terrifying, and exciting... It’s amazing to feel the power, to see them fuckers cower when you finally fuck them up. Most of them don’t look like beasts though. Most of them are weak, the bloodlines thin.” She glanced over to see if he was actually listening, he was facing her, watching her the way she watched people. He actually seemed interested. “Most of them just grow a bit bigger, a lot of them don’t even transform a little. They get a bit of the power from the blood, a bit stronger than your average human. But most of them are just thugs, using their limited power to push people around. But purebloods... they are... hideous. Cruel. Fucked up. Killing them feels good. Killing them feels... right.”

  She finished her drink. She felt good now. She felt powerful. Ok, maybe not, maybe she just felt drunk. Damn dirty drunk. She giggled. She didn’t mean to, what with talking about death, but it went and slipped out anyway.

  “Hitting the spot, hey?” he smiled, and then drained his drink too.

  “Yep.” She softly replied.

  He put his glass on the ground with the other empties littering the front of Demons and turned to face the dirty street again. “So killing them feels right, eh. I always wondered whether you Hunters ever felt guilty.” His eyes glanced over at her to gage her response. She gave none. “Not that I ever would. They took out most of my family. From what my Gran says, we had a bit of magick in our blood, she says they knew too. So they took us out.”