Hunter's Fall by Shiloh Walker Page A

sheer luck on the vampire’s part that he’d managed to bite her at all. They’d both been weakened by the battle, but the vampire had been running perilously low on blood. He had a gaping wound in his gut that wasn’t healing as it should and there’d been internal organs trying to slide out as he fought to pin her to the ground. She’d stopped fighting long enough to shove the vial of silver nitrate inside him, and that was when he’d bit her.
    Her blood had given his body the strength to start healing, but he had a slow, insidious poison inside his body. If the vampire hadn’t been as old as he was, if he hadn’t had her blood rushing through his veins, it would have already killed him.
    Now, she imagined he just wished it would. Silver nitrate would eat at him like he’d been injected with battery acid. He’d have to feed heavily to recover his strength and sunlight had kept him trapped all day. If she knew vampires, he’d send the two younger ones out as soon as dusk fell and whoever was brought to him wouldn’t live through it.
    There was little that Nessa cared about in life anymore, but she wasn’t going to let that monster kill another innocent soul.
    Somehow, Morgan was aware of Nessa’s thoughts and as Nessa stood there staring at the door, the bitch laughed. It was a ghostly echo that none save Nessa could hear and it chilled her, infuriated her. Let him just kill you, precious. That would make both of us happy.
    “Precious,” Nessa crooned aloud. “Please don’t be so ridiculous. What on earth made you think I’d even consider making you happy?”
    She reached out and closed her hand around the door. She concentrated a bit, using her magic to manipulate the elements on the other side of it. The air formed itself into a “hand” of sorts and turned the lock. It opened with a quiet snick and she pushed the door open.
    Darkness greeted her and when she took in a deep breath, she could smell him. Smell the silver that was poisoning him, smell the stink of burning flesh as it ate away at his body.
    As she stepped over the threshold, she felt a rush of wind behind her and she glanced back, smiling as Malachi materialized. She might as well have a homing beacon on her, she decided. He was just that good at tracking her.
    But Hunters always seemed damned good at sensing each other.
    “Crashing the party?” she asked. Some part of her, the part that had tried to chide her into resting, recovering, was glad to see him. That part of her, the part that wouldn’t give up, was glad to see him, glad that she wasn’t going to walk into a fight she couldn’t survive alone.
    “Bloody fool witch,” he growled. He stormed past her, sending her an icy look. “You might not give a damn if you live or die, but I do.”
    Nessa sighed. “I know.”

CHAPTER 4
     
    T UCKED inside a warm, soft bed, Nessa rolled onto her side and clutched a pillow to her chest.
    She was back at Excelsior.
    She’d been at the school for three days—something she hadn’t had much choice in. During the fight in Chicago, she’d collapsed. If it wasn’t for Malachi, she would have died there. Part of her couldn’t quite manage to be glad for that fact.
    Not just yet. Maybe not ever.
    Outside her rooms, she could hear the low murmur of voices, sense the rush of life. Her shields were shot, and everything just felt too intense. She couldn’t block a soul out to save her life.
    She was far too weak, far too vulnerable just yet.
    Closing her eyes, she reached up and touched the smooth skin where she’d been bitten. Kelsey had healed her, good and fast, but Nessa didn’t remember. According to the other witch, she’d spent the first forty-eight hours unconscious.
    She’d woken in this room to find herself healed, bathed and dressed in a long, cotton nightshirt. It resembled the chemises she’d worn for much of her life, gathered at the neck and hanging to her ankles. The first thing she’d done when she woke up was tear the