Page 3 of Blood of a Huntsman

Sweat and Blood

Chloe’s hair seemed darker at the roots when wet, but, as always, it grew silver after an inch. Her eyes were currently brown, but Cat had seen them turn bright blue dozens of times—when Chloe was hungry, thirsty, concentrating, thinking too hard, or not thinking at all. The eyes of any vampire could change when they were using their power. But with Chloe, the change was so very natural, casual. She didn't even realize that everything about her embodied power.

Cat’s eyes hardly ever changed. She was nothing like the newly turned immortal.

A little white cat with bright orange pupils purred in Chloe’s arms. An adorable little monster who didn’t accept scratches from anyone but Chloe and Levi.

"Hey, Catherine!" Chloe said cheerfully, before cooing, "Ooooh! Fancy. Is that the sword?"

Cat looked from Levi to Chloe.

"Yes. I believe Catherine was about to decline it, however. No doubt she shares your belief that presents are somewhat cursed."

Chloe groaned. “You gave me a thousand-dollar coat before we even knew each other’s birthday, my immortal idiot. That’s not okay.” Then, she looked up to Cat, pouting. "Come on, you must take it. I thought so hard about how I could thank you for all the lessons. This is the least we can do."

The present came from Chloe? That was a very different matter.

Chloe was also a vampire, and Cat refused to believe that she didn't have a motive, scheme, or reason behind her actions. But while Cat feared Levi, like anyone in their right mind should, she had grown to view Chloe as a friend.

A novelty. Just six months ago, Levi had accused her of being friendless, and he'd been right.

She had two siblings that she loved, and one of them, she also trusted. She had family, a clan, allies.

And now, she also had…friends. Or something close to it. She couldn’t quite trust them, but they spent time together in peace and harmony for no other reason than to enjoy each other’s company. When she was with them, Cat didn’t feel the need to put up a front.

Well, much of a front. Their world was too merciless to mindlessly bare her throat to anyone.

It was strange. Not unpleasant, but unsettling nonetheless.

“I don't mind training you,” Cat told Chloe. “And if you want to thank me? Fine. You can buy me dinner. An ancient sword? That’s too much.”

Chloe pouted. “You immortals always make a big deal about owing people.”

Levi chuckled low and whispered, “Hypocrite.”

They heard him quite clearly—vampire senses and all that—but Chloe chose to ignore the insult. “Well,” she added, “if you don't let me thank you properly, I'll always owe you a debt for your lessons. That would suck. So, take the sword, please.”

Cat glanced at Levi. If Chloe had given her something she owned, it would have been different. But this was Levi's property.

"You will not be beholden to me, Stormhale," he said, seeming rather amused. "Trust me when I say that Chloe has paid for the blade many times over."

Given the way his eyes shone, Cat could guess how.

"Ew."

She grimaced. Neither her friend nor her boyfriend could even remotely be described by the term “ew,” but imagining them jumping each other was an unwelcome vision.

Mostly because Cat’s vagina hadn’t seen any action in a long time.

"All right, then. I’ll accept it. Thank you both. Now, I'd better earn that baby. Come on, Eirikrson. Let us see if you still bleed purple."

One of Chloe’s most unusual attributes was her blood. The first vampires ever turned, Eirikr and the rest of the seven, had blue blood. The human beings turned into immortals kept the vermillion pigmentation, and Cat, like all vampires born to one of the seven founding families, had black blood running in her veins. No one knew why Chloe's blood wasn’t black. Not the witches they'd asked, not the historians, not even Chloe's terrifying ancestor, the mighty and insane Eirikr himself. Chloe had mentioned she’d asked him during one of her visits to his prison.

It didn't matter much. At the end of the day, blood was blood. And Chloe's spilt like anyone else's.

Chloe winced as Cat's new blade sliced her left arm.

"Come on. I showed you how to anticipate that move." By the time Cat was done admonishing her, Chloe's wound had already healed, without so much as a bruise left.

---