Ripper (Hunter #1)(110)

My eyes started to well with tears and my hands started to shake. Marcus cursed impatiently and crossed to me. His hand slid beneath my hair and rubbed the back of my neck gently. It was like someone had turned down the volume. I sighed and leaned against his hand.

“I do not leave her alone for more than half an hour and one of you is in here again, riling her up,” Marcus said, looking at the queen.

She frowned. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I just wanted to meet her. She’s Lee’s daughter. I was curious.”

“Don’t you think your family has done enough to her for one day?”

“Marcus, you have to know I had nothing to do with this,” the queen protested. “This is one of those things Danny and Dev don’t bother to tell me about. If I’d known, I would have stopped it. I understand she has to be trained, but it could have been handled differently.” She stood up and paced as she thought. “I certainly would have brought her in before she got involved with that demon. That’s what makes me crazy. Daniel knew, but he let it go on. She should have been brought in the minute he got that DNA test back.”

“I believe he would tell you he wasn’t sure she was a Hunter,” Marcus explained. “She could be Lee’s daughter and still have merely been human. According to Daniel, she’s shown nothing of a Hunter’s skills in the past few years.”

“What’s different?” Without really thinking about it, I leaned toward the vampire.

“I believe this case you have worked on pushed you over the edge. It triggered the instinct to burst forth. Meeting Lieutenant Sloane was also an emotional experience. The two combined have forced the beast into the open. Have you ever felt it before?”

I told him about the night with my father. I didn’t candy coat it the way I had with Gray. I told him about running afterward and how I survived the cold. He took it all in with an academic nod.

“The killing of the wolves would have been a trigger,” Marcus explained. “I’m surprised you managed to contain yourself then. It could have been much worse, Kelsey. You could have stood your ground and tried to kill any wolf who entered your territory.”

“Yes, my territory. That’s why I attacked Quinn. He came into my territory.” I hadn’t liked it.

Marcus brought my hand into his lap and rubbed it gently. “I can teach you to control that beast. I can train you to integrate the wolf into your personality. She’s a part of you that you can learn to tap into and use for protection. Right now, the wolf is close to the surface because you’re emotional. We need to keep you calm until I’ve taught you to control your instincts.”

“You’ve trained a Hunter before?” the queen asked. Her eyes were on the place where Marcus held my hand. He’d taken one of my hands in both of his and was rubbing long strokes up and down my arm. It was a little like petting, and I knew I should stop him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It felt too good.

Marcus nodded. “I have, Your Highness. The Council trained Hunters long before I walked the night, and always it is an academic who handles the Hunter in the beginning. Hunters and academics have a long history of partnership.”

“Because of the persuasion powers of the academic?” the queen continued her questions.

“This and the fact that academics are able to bond to females in ways the other classes cannot.” Marcus’s fingers almost absently tangled in mine. “Though we sleep, we do not go into a fugue state the way other vampires do. If a Hunter needs her mentor during the day, only an academic can be there for her, but it goes far beyond that. I can go into her dreams, as you very well know. I can sense her emotional state. If we…got close, I would be able to taste the food on her tongue, to sense when she’s in trouble. An academic can have a very intimate relationship with a female. It helps the Hunter to bond with her trainer. It helps her trust him and allows her to form other relationships later on. Without training, Kelsey would more than likely be alone the rest of her life. She would push people away and never truly understand why.”

“By close, I suppose you mean sleeping with her,” the queen deduced with a wry smile.

His hand squeezed mine while he spoke to the queen. “It’s where the relationship usually goes. It’s difficult to stay apart when properly training a Hunter. You have to know her inside and out. Unless the female is simply ugly on the inside, you discover her true beauty. A certain affection will always spring from that.” He looked down at me. “I would never force you into anything, cara mia. I doubt I will be allowed to train you. Please remember whoever the king chooses must respect your wishes concerning your own body. You do not have to share yourself with anyone.”

“He’s talking about Henri,” the queen offered.

Marcus huffed and cursed under his breath. “You must talk sense into him, Zoey. Henri has never trained a Hunter before. He should allow Hugo Wells to try. Hugo is older than Henri and he’s unmarried. For the first three months, she should not be allowed out of his sight, and that includes during sleep. She needs to remain in the room with him.”

“I doubt Kim is going to like that.” Zoey’s eyes widened. I thought she wouldn’t much like that.

I pulled my hand out of Marcus’s. I better get used to trying to calm myself down. I wasn’t letting some other vampire do that to me. Marcus was different. I’d felt a connection to him even before we’d met, but I wouldn’t let some vampire I’d never seen before touch me and keep me like a pet he was trying to train.