The Hunters Saga #3: The Hawthorn Pearl

Chapter 8: Dear Grimoire

A/N: Hey, guys! Hope the wait wasn't too long, especially with last week's cliffhanger :P Ready for chapter 8? Of course you are! :D Enjoy and thanks for reading ;) <3

Chapter 8: Dear Grimoire

   Maria Day hadn't been careful enough. Sure, she'd set up precautions in order to keep away unwanted visitors, but there was no point in avoiding the Manhattan clan. Namely, Robert Drake and his personal minions and spies.

   Not that Maria didn't count herself as one, but she'd much rather stay out of vampire politics. Now that her mistress, Giselle, was no longer around, Maria found herself drifting far from the affairs of vampires. She held no such loyalty to any of them, after all. Loyalty belonged to her own damn kind, the magic-users.

   "So, why are you helping us, then?" a voice spoke from the shadows of the alley, and Maria spun around nervously. "Who-"

   "You believe loyalty belongs to kin and such? Henri Sinclair clearly goes against that," the voice continued dryly, drawing closer and closer. Maria could barely make out a figure standing just feet from her.

   "I don't support Henri Sinclair," the witch hissed at the intruder. "Now, leave me-"

   "Oh, but you do, Ms. Day. Darling Maria, it's been a while since we spoke to each other alone. My little witch."

   "I was Giselle's witch, not yours, leech."

   "Ouch. That hurt, Maria," the voice laughed with delight, and the vampire exited the shadows completely. "Your words are like knives, did you know that?"

   "What are you doing here, Gavin? What do you want?" she growled at the vamp who, indeed, turned out to be none other than Gavin Sinclair.

   "To discuss your loyalty," Gavin replied casually with a fanged smirk, inching ever closer. "Are our targets still in Chicago?"

   "I thought I was going to confront Robert, not you," she said with a sigh. "This doesn't change a thing I have to say."

   "Go on then," Gavin encouraged playfully, laughing softly as he leaned back to watch the witch cringe near that dumpster. Maria sighed. "I lost them as soon as they got off the plane."

   "What?!" the vampire exploded, moving quickly, his hand clenched as if to choke her. Maria shrunk back. "I'm sorry! They took the amulets off as soon as the plane reached the O'Hare International Airport. I think they figured out they were being tracked. I couldn't do anything about it."

   Gavin sighed heavily, clearly frustrated. "So... Your little trick failed? This is your fault?" He made it sound like a question, and Maria nodded meekly. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

    "Sorry won't cut it this time, Maria, you should know that. Robert will want to hear what you did, and I can guarantee that he won't be pleased."

***

   "You're leaving so soon?" Lydia questioned of Henri and I the next morning - sorry, sunset. The vampire at my side nodded. "We need to get back to New York."

   "We've got a lead now," I added confidently. Lydia's look of disappointment morphed into one of curiosity. "Really? Still searching for that grimoire?"

   I nodded just as Jeremy burst into the lobby, Todd the towering werewolf inches behind him. "While they search for the cure to vampirism, I'll search for my consort," he claimed, seemingly out of breath for some unknown reason.