Page 32 of Blood of a Huntsman

The Return

End of May, Bash's phone buzzed around noon, a text from Chloe waking him up.

"Can you meet me at Levi's? I thought you'd be here."

He chuckled. He'd definitely spent way too much time on the hill.

"I'm at the dorm. Give me five minutes."

He brushed his teeth and took a quick shower before dashing up Night Hill. Chloe was in front of the mansion, her tall frame hidden behind piles of boxes.

"Moving in? Levi will be happy."

She snorted. "He wishes. That's just decorative stuff I ordered a while back for Cosnoc."

Bash whistled. "For Eirikr, you mean?"

As a huntsman, he'd always been fascinated by the elder vampire. Not only because he was the very first of their kind; he'd also created the huntsmen. Training humans and then spelling the strongest among them to become stronger, better, with a witch's brew colored with a drop of his blood. Back in his days, vampires had met no resistance, killing as they pleased. Eirikr had been the only one who wanted to do something about it. If not for him, the history of humanity might have been a lot different.

"I can run back and forth, but I figured I'd ask you to carry stuff with me, if you don't mind," she said carefully.

Bash was surprised. "Didn't Levi offer?"

Chloe chuckled. "He did. But I'm not ready to introduce those two. It'd be like my boyfriend meeting my father. Except my actual father is in prison, and this one is a psychotic elder vamp stuck in a cave. Anyway. I'll delay that for a little longer, if possible. But Eirikr asked about you. A huntsman turned vampire? He's interested."

Bash had to admit he was a little anxious, but he hid it well.

He grabbed three of the five large boxes and followed Chloe down Night Hill, through the path leading to the Institute, and then up Cosnoc, following the path to Eirikr's cave.

Bash had been on this hill several times. Jack organized races there, the occasional campfire, but they'd never gone anywhere near the caves.

As he approached, he felt a strange energy telling him to pull back. Leave.

"Ah, it hit you," said Chloe, turning to him. "Ignore it. It goes away with time. The witches who set up the spells around this place did a little bit to deter people from going in there, but they mostly concentrated on shields preventing Eirikr from coming out."

That made sense.

But as they walked farther down the dark path lined with overgrown trees, bushes, and long grass, Bash felt weak, lethargic. He started to pant. Every step seemed to cost him, making it harder to breathe. Then, the thirst started to distract him again.

He wasn't sure he would have been able to go that far before the change.

"Chloe? I don't think I can go much further."

He hated admitting weakness.

She frowned. "Really? We're not very far."

"It's…" He paused. "I could be wrong, but perhaps you're not affected because of your blood. Princess of the seven, Eirikrson, with divine nanocytes helping. You know. One of those things might make you less sensitive than the rest of us."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. Shame. Let me get those boxes down, then I'll come back for the rest."

She returned less than a minute later, grinning.

"How's the psycho?"

"In good spirits. Although he would have liked to see you. Thanks for accompanying me, Bash."

"Don't mention it."

---