Page 13 of Hellfire

"Leona, baby," I said gently. "Why don't you come over here with me?"

Leona turned her back fully on the beast, not an ounce of fear. I pulled in a shaky breath, terrified he might hurt my baby girl.

“He won’t hurt us,” she said with absolute certainty.

“But how do you know?” I asked.

None of this makes any sense. How is she so calm right now?

“I can feel it mama,” she said. “In here.” She patted her chest, her blue eyes wide.

My brows furrowed as I tried to understand what she was telling me, but the look on her face was one of complete certainty.

“Come meet him, mama, trust me,” she said when I hesitated to come closer.

Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I took another step forward. One of the beasts eyed me curiously. Familiar dark chocolate eyes stared back at me. Tank’s eyes. I reached a tentative hand out in his direction and gently placed my fingertips on the side of his face. His dark chestnut fur was softer than I expected.

“This is crazy,” I murmured.

Tank let out a harsh breath that washed over me, then nestled into me and closed his eyes. I let out a shaky breath of my own. A nervous laugh escaped me at how upside down my life had become.

“Thank you for saving us,” I whispered, as I continued to stroke his fur. Grateful tears filled my eyes. “I don’t know what I would have done without you Tank.” My voice caught in my throat.

He saved us twice today and the guilt for running made hot tears fall down my cheeks. One of his beasts whimpered, and I tried to give him a watery smile.

Slowly, Tank backed away from us. Within a blink, a chiseled jaw covered in blood came into view. If someone told me the supernatural existed, I would’ve called them mentally insane.An unfamiliar warmth spread through me. A foreign feeling I had never experienced in all my life.

Hope.

Chapter Six

Tank

While on my patrol, I caught a whiff of Katrina’s scent. Vanilla. I instantly knew she was leaving. I never gave much thought to Katrina attempting to flee in the middle of the night, but a part of me wanted to let her go. Who was I to stop a mother from protecting her child? I would not make the same mistake my father did. My beast disagreed with me, though, as I found my feet already carried me in her direction.

She was on the edge of our property by the time I caught up, heading into the thick foliage of the swamp.

What did she think she was doing going through there? She would have been better off taking the road south than pushing deeper into the bayou.

I growled in frustration, contemplating what I should do.

“I’ll just follow her until she gets somewhere safe,” I told myself.

Walking through the murky swamp, I wondered why Katrina would take such a dangerous route. Was it the Dark Legion MC she was running from, or something else? Despite my concern, I couldn’t deny the thrill of the hunt that coursed through my veins.

Suddenly, a twig snapped, pulling me from my thoughts. I froze. Someone else was out here. I strained my senses and took in my surroundings. Other than the faint rustling of leaves and the call from the swamp birds, I heard little else outside of my racing heart. Inhaling deeply, the faint traces of old blood filled my lungs.

Vampires.

I braced myself for the fight I knew was to come. Two rushed out of the foliage, their vampire speed nothing but a blur of colors. My protective instincts took over as the first collided into me, teeth snapping in a feral frenzy. I dodged the attack, swiftly removing his heart from his chest. Two more rushed me, but I was too quick for their onslaught. Within seconds, I littered the ground with bodies.

Once the attacks had subsided, Venom appeared—the Hive’s president. I watched him wearily, panting from exertion, and waited for him to make the first move.

What was he doing out here?

Never in the last eight years had I seen him on the hunt himself. He had always had minions do his dirty work.

Venom approached calmly with confidence that made me hesitant to attack first. He stopped just outside the cover of trees, keeping his distance as he studied me. His eyes scanned the carnage briefly before they flicked back in my direction.

---