The Blood Rite

Talon

"Hey," a voice said from the doorway. Talon looked up and saw Marissa, one of the people who'd been attending to him as he healed. She carried a wooden tray with a bowl of soup and a cup of water. "How do you feel today?"

He nodded, pushing himself up to lie against the headrest, "I feel great."

"Good. Doc says you can go home as soon as tomorrow."

"Okay."

She set the tray next to him and then, surprising him, she sat beside his legs on the bed. When she looked up at him, doe eyes round and sincere as always, she said softly, "Or you can stay with us."

His brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "You can help us. Fight with us."

"Hunt down cult members for the rest of my life?"

Her chin rose and she watched him with a speculative gaze, "Is that what you think we do?"

"Yes."

She scoffed, "Talon, we do a lot more than that."

"Like what?"

She paused, her mouth twisting in a way Talon learned was her thinking over her words, "Do you know why that man bit you?"

His hand twitched with the urge to reach up and touch the spot, a mangaled scar, "I don't know. Because he was evil?"

"Because he was a vampire."

"Okay, Marissa, I get that you want me to help you guys but I'd rather you not treat me like I'm dumb."

"I'm not," she said so seriously he had no choice but to believe it, "we hunt vampires, Talon. Vampires are real. Just like the man who had bitten you."

He shook his head, feeling as if it were about to explode, "If they were vampires, why did they cut me rather than bite me to get my blood."

"They were using your blood for their rituals, not to drink."

His blood went cold, "What rituals?"

Her shoulders lifted, "I don't know."

The room fell silent. She watched him while he stared off, trying to make sense of what she was telling him. The man could have simply had his teeth sawed so he could bite people. Or he could have had fangs. Many of them.

It couldn't be true. Talon had never seen nor head a vampire before now. So why now? Maybe Marissa was making it up. But she'd never lied to him before. And then there were the wooden weapons, how they'd shoved them through the cult members' hearts.

Slowly, everything began to make more sense. Talon's heart dropped. If those vampires caught him, whose to say they aren't the monsters who stole Ruby? She had been at RedZone. An area where people were reported to go missing under misterious circumstances. And they had known her.

Talon felt a wave of clarity hit him. Ruby was with vampires. And here he was, in the middle of the vampire hunters headquarters. It was all falling into place to find her. He would find her.

"I'll do it," he said, so sudden and sharp that Marissa jumped a little.

She nodded, at first very slowly and then rapidly, "Good, good. Okay. I'll go tell Doc and Rufus!" He watched her jump up from the bed and rush out of the room.

Hope was once again returning to him. He was with the one people who's jobs were to hunt vampires. He'd find Ruby and he'd save her from those monsters. As if in answer, the torn tissue at his neck throbbed. He clenched his fists, breathing hard as the fire rose within him once more.

He destroy any and all bloodsuckers who touched her.

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Who's going to tell him?

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