Page 66 of The Huntress

He sniffed the air and growled, picking up Darius’s unique stench.

“Can you track his thoughts?” He tried to keep the hopeful note out of his voice, but he was unsuccessful.

Leo shot him an arrogant look and frowned, closing his eyes to focus. His frown deepened into a scowl, and he opened his blue eyes to shake his head.

“Damn it! Where would he go? He’s exiled from our Hold if I don’t kill him for this.” A buzzing sound interrupted Gabe, and he glanced around in surprise.

“I do believe that’s your cell phone,” Leo said.

Gabriel rushed to his living room, toward the bookshelf where he’d left his device, alongside the old text on Greek mythology. The sight of Callie’s arsenal pierced him…she was unarmed and vulnerable.

“What the fuck is going on?” Mike bellowed down the line as soon as he answered. “I’ve got Callie’s distress signal going off, and this had better not be a joke.”

“Someone took her,” Gabriel said, a fresh wave of hope hitting him, affecting his voice.

That she’d set off the signal made his chest swell. Although he trusted her, her sending the signal proved she’d gone unwillingly. Moreover, she thought on her feet and acted even when in distress.

That washiswoman. His brilliant, intelligent Callie.

“What do you mean? You’re fuckin’ immortal, supernatural beings. How could you let someone kidnap her?” Mike’s voice spiked as his anger rose.

“How the hell do you think I feel, Barrows? I left her asleep, and that Darius would dare to touch her…” Gabriel’s voice hitched on the sheer audacity warring with the fear gripping him.

“Darius? Hmm. Any idea what his intentions are? In other words, how much time does she have?”

Gabriel released a long breath. At least Mike didn’t think him incompetent. He knew who’d taken her, which was progress in the eyes of the detective.

“Worst case? To sire her and eventually claim her.” He shuddered. He’d kill the runt.

“Shit.” Mike paused. “Any idea where he’s headed? I tracked her northwest of your location until the signal stagnated.”

Hope shot through Gabriel like a beam of sunlight—hot, hard, and needed. “Northwest? All right, I’m heading in that direction now. If you’ve lost the signal, then he might have her underground. Where did it last pulse?”

“Dandelion Ridge. That ain’t a nice area, Gabe.”

“I’m not in a nice mood,” he growled. The burning urgency in him had determination solidifying his resolve. Hewouldkill for her. Violence and anger roiled through his body. “Send me the coordinates.”

“I’m heading there as well. Wait for me.” The line cut off.

“Humans lack the proper respect. My sire would’ve been most displeased,” Leo said as he shifted closer to stare at the phone clasped in Gabriel’s fingers.

His knuckles were white, and the device crackled under the force he applied, but he wouldn’t damage it. The phone was the only lifeline he had to recovering her. As soon as he received Mike’s text, he activated it and bolted outside to launch into the air.

“You go to the location. I’ll stop off at Dimitri’s,” Leo said from beside him, having taken to the air.

Gabriel grunted since he hadn’t given protocol a thought. A vamp couldn’t hunt in another Hold’s territory, no matter the lineage, no matter the reason. Despite Syl ruling the city’s vamps, Gabriel still had to show deference.

“Thank you. I don’t have it in me to be polite, Leo.” His words were the closest he’d come to offering his gratitude.

“I assumed as much.” A smirk played across Leo’s features. He veered to the left and abandoned Gabriel, who increased his speed.

As far as he was aware, the de Winter Hold didn’t own properties this far north. He wouldn’t put it past Darius to oust an unsuspecting family, or to feast on them as if they were chattel. Such behavior jeopardized the vampires’ position among the humans and shifters. Keeping the shifters at bay and the humans docile was a delicate balance. Nothing stopped them from nuking the Holds and Dens, and if more vampires behaved as Darius had done…Well, Gabriel wouldn’t blame the humans.

He would meditate on the possibilities at a later stage, with Callie lying next to him. He would also increase his security. Not once had he considered someone would dare to intrude. His seclusion had drawn forth complacency from his fellow vamps. Time to remind them who wasthepredator in their midst. He would deal with them old-school since violence was the only language they understood.

He descended to the house, landing with softness on the tiled roof. The temptation to storm in gripped him, desperate as he was to find her. Less than an hour had passed since Darius had taken her, and it killed him he hadn’t found her yet.

Drawing in a deep breath, he focused his mind, calmed his thoughts, letting nothing ripple the surface. With a slow exhale, he misted, catching a passing breeze as a diver would the dorsal fin of a dolphin. He allowed the zephyr to carry his form along the roof and down. Sliding under the door, he paused, taking stock of the interior. A fire burned in the hearth, and a poor but hopeful family sat around a dinner table. He wouldn’t let the idyllic scene distract him. They might not be aware of the vamp in their home.

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