Blackclaw was livid with anger. He had been having second thoughts about having them. After all, they were doing him a huge favor, at their own risk. But now, as the vamp head. No other thought could dominate his mind than for him to kill the girl. The werewolf’s and the witches can never be one.

If that ever happened he could kiss goodbye at his cushy life and hold out his hand to death. They would be unstoppable and Blackclaw had caused them many reasons to want him dead.

He looked at the last bounty hunter who had survived the attack in front of him. Streams of dark blood masked his disdainful head which he had to bow.

“Explain to me again how this happened, before you breathe your last.” Blackclaw fumed.

The bounty hunter sighed deeply and recounted the story of how they lost Divina.

Throughout his recount, Blackclaw couldn’t get his riled eyes off him.

“. . . and that was how I escaped. I went after her, but all I found was Daren’s lifeless body,” he finished.

Blackclaw shook his head. He should have known something like this would happen. The whiteclaw Lycans had joined the search for the girl and things were bound to get tight. Whatever this is, the werewolves and the witches were not only involved. This complicated things a bit. As the vamp head and the Wolves general, the Lycans were always a torn in the flesh. Not the whiteclaw ones. He had a contingency in place though. He would get to that shortly.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Nusku clearing his throat.

He arched an eyebrow, and the bounty failed hunter began.

“Well. I don’t mean to be rude, or insensitive to the situation here, but Sire, I barely escaped with my life. I would greatly appreciate a part of the reward money, as compensation for my fallen comrades and my personal injuries,” he finished, clearing his throat again.

White hot rage blinded Blackckaw and he retrieved his blade from the scabbard and in one clean swipe, sliced his head clean off.

Bending down, he wiped the blade on the fallen vampire’s chest and re-sheathed the sword

He would have to personally clean up the mess. But that was easy. A bigger mess was gradually brewing, and the sooner he took care of that, the better. He knew where she was last seen. At least, the idiot had a point of reference.

Blackclaw walked back to his chambers. He had been the vamp head for fifteen centuries and when the third apocalypse happened. He conquered the wolves and became their Lord too. The wolves addressed him as general, while the vamps called him Sire. He was the first to create a position like this and the only one to maintain it. He was known for ending any threat to his kingdom even before they began. But this was fate, it was destiny. Blackclaw was determined to outwit destiny herself.

***

DIVINA WOKE WITH A start. Her dream had felt so life-like. The pain still evident in her mind. What was going on? It was the same dream, only longer and more in depths. Was it possible to live two lives at once?

***

VANIR, STARED AT HIS laptop. His unblinking eyes were becoming watery from the horrible images. They were malnourished. He had never seen Bianca so slim that he thought maybe the vamps had chewed through her skin to her bones.

Oh, no they were feeding on them. He couldn’t expect anything less. And when he heard the Ultimatum he had, he was violent. Wrecked with anger he slammed his fist on the sleek piece of technology, which had brought him the message.

How dare they lay a hand on his babies? He would make them pay if it was the last thing he did, he vowed to himself. First he had to find a way to free them.

He shouldn’t have trusted them to keep their end of the bargain. No killing, and they agreed.

He dug out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. After exchanging pleasantries with the receiver, Vanir’s tensed voice was just enough hint for the person answering his call to know that something was out of place.

“They have them, they got my daughters,” he lamented.

“Is the police involved?” the receiver asked innocently.

“Not that. The vamps have her, what can the police do?”

“Calm yourself, we’ll work things out,”

“They threatened to kill one of them in three days’ time, we need to act fast.”

“I am not ready for this anymore, I have my own cross to carry,”

“Let’s lift mine together, I will lift yours too.” Vanir was desperate. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take on Blackclaw himself.

“You don’t quite understand do you?”

“I just need your help, that’s all. You owe me one remember?” he pleaded.

“Yes, we will talk later. I don’t want to be late for my flight.”

“Where you headed to now?” Vanir asked as a sinking feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach.

“My family, I really need to see them. We will talk later.”

“Thanks Aiden,”

“It’s nothing, the receiver replied before Vanir hanged up.

***

DIVINA WAS ANGRY AT her Mom she had a feeling her mom was keeping things from her, but she needed a shower. All would have been well, if nothing had actually happened in the woods. The swim, the injury, Kane, Byrd and All that. It was all a jigsaw puzzle she needed to bring the tiny pieces together. Kane wasn’t just Kane. And if that proposition was true, then there could be a conclusion that Byrd was not just any human.

Damn him for being too handsome and so perfect.

Divina could recall that rugged look having a complete set of bulging muscles, tattoos and faded scars. She could recall the physique attested to an athletic lifestyle, his forearms which were marked by ropey muscles and lean lines of sinew. His dark body, big hands, herculean biceps beneath the transparent T-shirt. She had never had a feeling similar to her meeting with Byrd in her life. She had been wrong about Kane being the hottest.

Then there was her dream. What was it telling her?

The shower rivulet spilled down relieve. She couldn’t care for less. Closing her eyes to feel the warmth and soothing release, flashes of his body crept to her wandering mind.

Not now, I can’t be daydreaming. But she was already in the dream. His lips on hers, a kiss under the shower, her nipples kissing his chest, the feel of her hand on his biceps-Ferocious fangs having lips filled with blood and the most rile set of eyes destroyed her bliss. Divina was terrified to the bones, it had been so strong. Each strand of hair on her skin stood on its own. But it wasn’t Byrd’s face she saw but Kane’s. She needed answers and she needed them now.

***

THE NEXT DAY, IN THE airport. Aidan picked up his cell to receive a call.

“Hey, how is it going?”

“Just arrived at the airport to discover that my flight had been shifted an hour further-” he waited for the reply from the other end of the call.

“I have told you, all is going to be well.” He assured the caller.

“We have no choice. She can’t protect us and herself-” the caller had interrupted him again.

“Leave the witch hunters to me-” He paused, before he continued

“We will fix this together, I promise. I love you”

He placed the phone in his pocket. Aiden found somewhere to hang around before it was time for his flight. Sometimes boarding a plane could be a very traumatic and dramatic event.

Especially when his mind wasn’t settled. While he was in the plane, it sat idle on the tarmac while the flight attendants strolled lackadaisically, so casually up and down the aisle. They were putting the bags in the overhead compartments to make sure everything fit.

The pilots-leaning out of the cockpit, chatting with them as they passed, slowing down the process. This country is full of lazy people, are these going to fly? Aiden felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him to his seat.

“Hey there!”

Aiden turned to get the shock of his life. It was Manu the grocery operator from his local store in the city.

“Hello, Manu. How you doing?” He tried sounding casual to hide his surprise.

“It’s so nice to meet you here Aiden,” the grocery operator said.

“Yeah, definitely”

“You didn’t tell me you leaving,”

“I miss my family,” Aiden responded.

“I know how that feels, I visit my granny twice a month.”

“That’s really nice. Family is what we got,”

“Are you going on a vacation?” Aiden asked.

“Nah, but you could call it that. Vacation with my family,”

“That’s really nice,”

Aiden’s body was unsettled, he didn’t know why. He just couldn’t name a thing which must have caused that. At last the plane rolled lazily from the gate, it started to build speed with a gradual steadiness which was almost like a torture to him.

He loved planes when they were in the air, not landing and taking off. Aiden lifted the phone in the back of the seat which was up front. He wanted to make a call but he hesitated besides the stewardess eyes were already giving him-a sign of disapproval. But his expression stopped the stewardess from coming over to him to protest.

Maybe he was so handsome and she was admiring his beauty. A powerful contrast to hers. He heaved a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. He tried creating a soothing utopia in his mind where he could teleport his soul for some time. Although he wasn’t a wizard, he had some tricks up his sleeves and having a witch as a wife only made him exposed to some supernatural things and also made him into a supernatural bounty hunter. He was able to cheat nature for his selfish reasons just like his wife, vamps and other mythical humans. The thing about his utopia was that good memories relived itself once again. His mind would be able to feel what he had felt then.

Then he travelled to the past, when he was seven.

Young Aiden was coming home from school, his bag on his shoulders. For some reason, he never made use of the school bus. Walking briskly, he saw a young girl, she was making a left turn when he noticed a bus swerving.

The driver had lost control of the wheel and was doing nothing but make issues worst. A naughty girl of four years old, he started running towards her ball which she had let slip out of her hands, and was rolling lazily towards the road. It hit young Aiden that he needed to do something quick. Spontaneously, he found himself running towards the child, while the bus tried to stop. It unleashed a screeching sound from its tires against the asphalt. He was so fast, he didn’t know how he got there. He just got there. He picked the child with his right hand and dived to the other side of the road. The child was safe, but he sustained a mild scratch. The driver got down immediately after that contact. Passer’s by and concerned citizens crowded both of them. The mother of the child ran towards them and took the child in her arms. She smiled at Aiden, gave him a hug and did give him a bar of chocolate which was meant for her daughter. Aiden was lucky no-one witnessed the process it was beyond normalcy. He had super speed. Faster than any vampire or Lycan. Aiden grew up to realize that his descendants were Lycans but for some reason his Great grandfather stopped the lineage in his generation by using a witch to rid him of the lycan gene and then killing himself. Somehow, fate had given a blessing not a curse. He thought he ended it. But that wasn’t possible. Then his soul drifted again to two decades ago, when he met Amy. And became exposed to the world of the supernatural. His gift became very useful and he became a formidable force in the business of bounty hunting. He also remembered how his wife had moved from crude magic to something exceptional. Harnessing her inborn magic.

The Boeing 773ER touched down in the Airport at about four pm in the evening, right above, one could see that the airport had parallel runways, the terminal of this airport was large enough to be used as a stadium, two highways were connected to the terminal, vehicles-moving to and fro. Aiden’s consciousness had returned, and touching down had been horrible.