Chapter Two
Hudson
Hudson dashed past his brothers. Sylvain and Valen liked to think they were the toughest, the best warriors, but he’d been fighting long before they’d been a glimmer in their father’s eye.
It was time to remind them he was more than a professor. He was a general. A war-maker.
Hudson had tracked his brothers past Bunker Hill and across the Chelsea River before he let them know he was there.
A steel girder, rusted and holed, sat half in, half out of the water. Hudson hefted it into his arms, throwing it like a javelin to land in front of Sylvain. His brother spun, low to the ground, fingers curled into claws, but when he saw who it was, Sylvain straightened.
“Damn it, Hud!” he yelled. “What the fuck was that?”
“I’m glad not all your instincts have dulled. A ten foot long weapon still gets your attention.” Hudson crossed his arms. This was going to be more work than he’d thought. To keep himself from taking out his frustration, however well placed, on his brother, Hudson picked up a stone and crushed it in his hand. “I’ve been trailing you since you Back Bay, and you didn’t look back once.”
Valen frowned and shook his head. “Unacceptable.”
At least Valen got it; that was something.
“For fuck’s sake,” Sylvain argued. “We’re in the middle of Boston.”
“Exactly.” Hudson approached them. “We’re at war, and we’re acting as if we have no enemies. Asher attacked us twice. He had no qualms waylaying Briar on Commonwealth Ave. The only thing standing between Briar and Asher is us.”
“Asher won’t come after us in the open,” Sylvain replied angrily, yanking the girder from where it’d embedded itself in the ground. He tested the weight in his hand and eyed Hudson speculatively.
“Then you’re a fool. He’s already come after Briar three times. And he’s been silent for a month. What does that tell you?”
“He’s either planning, or he’s been at work and we haven’t seen it,” Valen replied. He strode to Sylvain and grasped his arms. “We’ve become complacent. There’s no shame in admitting it. But now we move forward. Cautiously. Aware.” The same words from Hudson meant nothing, and they would only enrage Sylvain. Hudson knew, and didn’t resent, that criticism sounded different coming from Valen. His brother could couch things in ways that Sylvain would actually hear.
“We’ve never fought a war like the one Asher is threatening.” Hudson pointed to a bridge in the distance. “Humans are everywhere. Cameras. At any time we risk exposure.”
Sylvain flung the steel away from him. It splashed into the water, raining freezing cold droplets over them. He dropped his hands to his hips and stared up at the sky. Chest heaving, he reached for his hair, raking his hands through it roughly. “Fuck!” he yelled and spun around. Fist cocked, he slammed it into the giant metal dumpster. The crack reverberated through the air along with his cry. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Doesn’t matter. If the choice is exposure or Briar, I’ll choose her.”
“Of course,” Valen soothed. Hudson would have given Sylvain space, but not his brother. He caught Sylvain in a bear hug and then released him as Sylvain calmed. “But he’ll count on us hesitating. Because it’s instinctive now. Hudson threw a fucking girder at you, Sylvain, and what did we do? Hiss at him?”
“Terrifying.” Hudson curled his lip.
“This whole time.” Sylvain pushed away from Valen to round on Hudson. “This whole time I’ve been going about thinking I was protecting her, and you were what, Hudson? Watching? Fucking judging? Leaving her at risk?”
Hudson squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. Part of him wondered at how easy it was to take up the mantle of leadership again after so long, but a larger part of him smothered the thought. He didn’t have the luxury of considering the ease with which he morphed from professor to general. But neither could he consider his brothers’ feelings right now.
They had work to do.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Hudson replied, making his voice as hard as possible. “But understand this: I never left Briar unprotected. Now we train.”
In a flash, Hudson grabbed the dagger he’d concealed under his jacket and flung it, end over end, at Valen.
Sylvain moved faster than Valen. Quicker than it took for a human to blink, he stepped aside and plucked the dagger from the air.
And whipped it back toward Hudson.
It took merely a shift of his shoulders to avoid the weapon, which landed with a dull thunk in the pavement. Hudson hid the smile he felt threatening. Good. They hadn’t forgotten everything.
Behind them, a warehouse sat at the edge of the ruined parking lot. It was abandoned, with broken windows and crumbling walls. It was perfect for the destruction Hudson had planned.
Valen turned, narrowing his eyes at their surroundings. As Hudson watched, his brother’s countenance changed, becoming thoughtful. There we go. Buried deep was the warrior Valen had been. It would take a while to bring him back to the surface, but Hudson would do it.
Valen breathed deeply. “Multiple humans. Most of the scents sick. Rotten. Drugs probably.” He spun slowly, gaze on the water and then the warehouses. “That one.” He pointed. “I’ll clear it out.”
He was gone before the sound of his voice had disappeared in the air. Without vampire sight, Hudson never would have discriminated the blur of gray as a person from a windstorm of dust and dirt.
In his arms, Valen held what appeared to be a pile of rags, but from the smell of piss and vomit, was a human. He brought the pile into the closest warehouse before disappearing and reappearing again, this time with an armload of garbage bags probably containing all the man’s worldly possessions. Taking his cue from his brother, Sylvain took off, removing another human.
In a matter of minutes, the warehouse was clear.
Without a backward glance, Hudson strode toward the building. As soon as he entered, he understood why Valen had chosen this place. While it was going to be destroyed at the end of the day, right now, it was perfect. The windows were covered with steel bars or plywood, and the humans who’d staked the place out hadn’t been here long. The scent was fresh, but there’d only been the three humans. The boards and bars had done the trick and kept out most of humanity.
Catwalks and grates hung from the ceiling, and the floor was full of machinery.
Sylvain reached for the hem of his shirt and dragged it over his head. He made as if to toss it but grimaced at the dirt and bird shit on the ground.
Yeah. They’d been too long in civilization if the caveman hesitated dirtying his shirt.
Sylvain tucked it into his back pocket and cracked his knuckles, fangs gleaming white as he smiled.
The rest of the day was spent fighting. It had been years since Valen or Sylvain had held a weapon in their hands, but as soon as Hudson handed them out, a fire lit in their eyes.
Perhaps it’d done something to them to stifle this part of who they were. After all, Valen and Sylvain had been hunters and warriors before they became vampires, unlike himself and Marcus, who had lived as farmers and shepherds respectively.
Something relaxed in Hudson as the day went on. He battled Valen hand-to-hand, and then Sylvain, under Valen’s direction. “Don’t expose your neck, Sylvain. Twist! For shit’s sake, man, all he’ll need to do is grab a hank of your hair and you’re dead. Fucking-A, Sylvain.”
By the end of the day, as the light streaming through the dirty windows dulled and threw the warehouse into darkness, the three of them were exhausted.
But Hudson was satisfied. He knew what they needed to do, where they needed to focus.
“I need to hunt,” Sylvain said. He retrieved his shirt from where Valen had tossed it on the ground after Sylvain had elbowed him in the nose.
Hudson needed to hunt as well. He was covered head to toe in filth, and he was starving. Valen’s fangs had dropped at Sylvain’s pronouncement.
As one, they ran out of the warehouse, north, to the less populated parts of Massachusetts. They hadn’t hunted together in decades, but they fell into rhythm immediately. Sylvain tracking, Valen and Hudson holding back.
Silently, Sylvain pointed to a trail. A muddy path snaked through the trees, and then, as they followed it toward an open meadow, the grass parted.
Sylvain stopped, and Hudson followed suit. Far off, a crow cawed, but it was the only sound save the wind. Except the branches weren’t moving as if there was a breeze. It was the tall grass ahead of them, swishing as an animal pushed through it.
The monster in Hudson took over, and he rocketed through the field. Flying through the grass to his prey. Valen and Sylvain were behind him, but they would be out of luck, because this was his hunt, his kill.
Red descended over his vision, and the next thing Hudson knew, Sylvain was tearing him away from the animal he cradled in his arms. “It’s time to go back.”
Hudson hissed at him, but the next words brought him back to his senses.
“Briar will be waiting for us.”
It was all Hudson, and the monster, needed to hear. It was dark now, but his vision sharpened. He could make out Sylvain and Valen as if they stood in daylight. Both were still covered in dirt, but… Hudson glanced down at his shirt. Spots of blood dotted his jacket. He pushed away from the dead deer.
He’d held it in his arms like he was embracing it. He glanced at it. The only sign of its demise were its brown eyes, sightless and open, and the puncture marks on its neck.
“When was the last time you hunted?” Valen asked.
God, when had he hunted? Since embedding himself in human society, he fed from blood banks, stole what he needed from the labs around Boston College. It had been years since he’d tracked and hunted.
Hudson wiped his hand on his jeans, hoping the dark wash would hide the blood until he could shower. Briar had seen the monster in him before, but she didn’t need a reminder of what he was capable of.
“Too long,” he answered. He’d been hiding who he was for too long. All of them had.
His brothers didn’t comment. Sylvain rocked side to side while Valen seemed content to let him gather his wits before they left.
“Ready?” Valen asked, and Hudson nodded. Thinking about Briar made him anxious to see her. He wanted to lay eyes on her.
The trip home took minutes. All of them were ready to see the human who’d tied them to her.
They hit the edges of the city and had to slow. Packed with humanity, they had to be careful about how they traveled. But Hudson had another goal.
Every night, he patrolled the area around Boston College and Back Bay. He knew Asher was out here, waiting for them to make mistakes.
And so Hudson watched for him and his soldiers. He followed the route Briar took to school, and looked for signs of Asher or places where she could be waylaid.
He and Marcus had been systematic in their plans. Between the two of them, they’d set traps waiting to be sprung, and they’d taken turns guarding Briar.
Purposefully, they hadn’t let Valen and Sylvain in on their plans.
It wasn’t because he and Marcus didn’t trust them, but Valen and Sylvain were like dogs on a leash. And once they were off the leash, they would attack.
They wouldn’t stop either. Hudson knew what would happen once he showed them how complacent they’d become.
They’d become more protective and careful. But they’d be angrier.
The focus Valen and Sylvain had put into controlling their vampires would lessen. They’d give into instincts they’d been fighting, the ones that told them to wrap Briar in bubble wrap and tear apart, piece-by-piece, anything that threatened her.
The lights from Marcus’s house shone from tiny gaps between the blackout curtains. Valen and Sylvain redoubled their speed and tore past Hudson.
God. He hoped Briar was ready for what was to come.
✽✽✽
The first thing Hudson saw when he walked inside was Briar’s bright blue eyes and smile. A smile which grew even wider when she saw him.
“Hey,” she said, her voice like a sigh. She had her head tucked against Sylvain’s chest, but as he shut the door behind him, she drew away and started toward him.
Had anyone ever been happy to see him before? Hudson didn’t think so. Even though she’d just been in his brother’s arms, she made him feel as if he was the only man in the world.
He met her halfway across the room before he even realized he’d been moving. She stopped an inch away and put one hand on her hip. “Where have you been?” she asked, accent rolling the vowels in a way that made him want to close his eyes.
“I was with Sylvain and Valen,” he answered. Her hair shown in the yellow light, and he touched it. It was smooth under his palm, but he paused as a spot of dried blood on the back of his hand caught his attention. Before he could withdraw it, however, she’d placed her hand on his to hold it in place.
“You stood me up, today.”
Hudson’s eyes widened, and Sylvain barked a laugh. Valen patted him on the shoulder as he walked by. “It happens to the best of us.”
“You’ve grown complacent,” Sylvain boomed, doing a horrible impression of his voice.
“I can’t believe I—” Hudson stared at Briar in horror. She’d been at college all day, unprotected. After he’d ripped Sylvain and Valen apart for doing the same thing.
“I was there,” Marcus said quickly. “Your car was missing from the parking lot, and I knew. You moved the timetable up, didn’t you?”
“The timetable?” Briar asked, head canting to the side as she studied him. “What timetable? What’s going on?”
Hudson sighed. Here he was, so full of himself, and he’d messed up.
General Hudson Nors. Full of his own self-righteousness, forgot the fucking center of his entire universe.
None of Hudson’s plans included filling Briar in on what they would face. Or what he planned. He wanted her to go about life in blissful ignorance.
She narrowed her eyes, an adorable crease forming between her light brows. He touched it with his thumb, an action he’d seen his brothers do as well. Her skin was smooth, and he continued to touch her, trailing his thumb along her eyebrows. “Can I take a shower first?” he asked. If he was going to do this, it had to be without the dried blood of his hunt on his body.
Hudson wanted to hold her close while he spoke. Her scent, her beautiful scent of heat and sunshine, turned, and a bitter ribbon of fear wafted from her.
Perhaps it was better if she was afraid. Just a little. Just enough to keep her safe.
“Okay,” she whispered, but he didn’t miss the way her voice trembled. “Okay, I’ll wait here.”
Hudson tried to force his body to step back, but the vampire inside him rejected the move. It wouldn’t let him release her when she stared at him with fear in her eyes. Protect her. Change her. She’ll be stronger if you do.
“I got this,” Valen said, sliding his arm around Briar’s shoulders. “Go.”
Briar allowed him to turn her and lead her to the couch, but her gaze remained on Hudson.
The vampire relaxed his hold, and Hudson dashed upstairs. He showered in seconds and rushed back to Briar, yanking his t-shirt over his damp chest.
She waited for him, hands clasped tightly in her lap. She twirled a thick strand of honey-brown hair around and around her finger, red scar bright against the paleness of her skin. It only served to remind him how injured she’d been at Asher’s command.
War was coming.
He might not hear the soldiers’ boots on the ground or see the smoke from their campfires, but he felt them on the horizon.