The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(3)

Eli’s goons rushed forward and more fighting began. Everyone was fighting everywhere and smashing up everything in our house. I could do nothing but watch and scream. I couldn’t even struggle any more because I was exhausted from trying to get away from James. I couldn’t fight any more, so I just let myself hang there in James’s grip.

The people who had burst through the door looked like average people, from what I could see, but the weapons they carried were extraordinary. I saw one of the rescuers drive what looked like a steel arrow into the belly of one of the men and upward under his ribs to meet the heart. One of the women rescuers had a whip. With one smooth flick, the tail of the whip found the neck of the woman on Eli’s side and wound around it. When the rescuer yanked it back, it sliced the other woman's head off.

“Ahhh,” I wailed and turned my head. The rescuers were winning. I felt newfound hope, just when I had wanted to give in. It suddenly occurred to me what exactly we were dealing with here: stakes to the heart, cut off heads, slayers… it all added up. I didn’t want to admit it. The fog continued to build in my head, and my arms were fully asleep from James’s grip. I couldn’t move them at all.

After what seemed like an eternity of blood and battle, Eli and James were the only bad guys left.

The rescuers all stood together before us.

“Give us the girl,” one of them said. He stepped forward. He was tall and extremely muscular. His hair was a dark blond, but it was his flashing green eyes that drew my attention. I just couldn’t seem to tear my gaze from his eyes.

“Get out of my way,” Eli told them in his smooth voice, which always sounded calm. “You know I could take all of you by myself if I wanted to.”

“Well,” the blond-haired guy spread his hands out, “it looks like that’s what you’re going to have to do.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m ready.”

Eli flew forward. Yes, he literally lifted himself off the ground and flew at the group of rescuers. The fighting was a blur of bodies, blood and the occasional cry of pain. I watched while the blond guy took one of those arrows and stuck it into Eli’s eye for distraction, while another rescuer slammed his long shining blade into Eli’s heart.

James and I cried out at the same time. Mine was a cry of triumph, while his sounded painful. He threw me to the ground and rushed to Eli's side, catching his body as it fell roughly to the ground.

I watched from my place on the floor. The fight James put up was nothing compared to what Eli had given them. He didn’t last long.

I lay there on the floor with my arms and legs dead. My vision blurred and my eyelids felt heavy. The blond guy stuck his face in front of mine.

“Come on, Chloe. We need to get you out of here and take you somewhere safe,” he said. He lifted me into his arms and carried me into my new life.



When I woke, all I could think about was water. My mouth felt like sandpaper, and my tongue was so dry I could barely move it. I didn’t try to sit up right away. I wanted to take in as much of my surroundings as I could before I let anyone know I was awake.

Yeah, I remembered everything. I didn’t think it was all a dream. I knew I was not in my own bed, and the room I was in was not mine. I turned my head slowly to the right and saw, with great joy, a large glass of water sitting on the nightstand beside a couple of pills. I also saw, with not as much joy, an old man sitting in a chair beside the nightstand. He appeared to be snoozing while he waited for me to wake.

Trying to be as quiet as I possibly could, I slowly sat up. My arms protested. When I looked down I could clearly see dark purple bruises in the shape of fingers where James had had his hands clamped down on me.

“Ugh,” I muttered and reached out for the water, clamping my teeth together to keep from crying out.

When I finally got that glass of water to my lips and was able to drink, it felt like what I imagined water would taste like in heaven. I guzzled it down so fast that I felt a little sloshy in my stomach by the time I set the glass back on the table. I left the pills alone. Exhausted from the simple act of getting a glass of water and drinking it, I fell back onto the pillows and shut my eyes again. I passed out within minutes.

I woke again later and the whole place was dark, so I assumed it was the middle of the night. The glass of water had been refilled, and the old man was still beside my bed. This time he was awake and had seen me open my eyes.

“Hello,” I greeted him. “Could you hand me that glass of water?”

I grimaced and pulled myself into a sitting position.

“Sure.” He handed me the water with a steady hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Chloe.”

By this time, I figured I could be okay with weird.

“What do you mean by 'finally'?” I asked him.

He cracked a grin, and his blue eyes lit up a little, even in the dark. “Why, child, I’m your grandfather.”

I choked on my water, even spit a little bit out on him, “You’re my… grandfather? Uh... I… okay.”

He took my water glass and set it on the nightstand. He took my hand and held it, patting the top.

“Chloe, it is time to explain your heritage to you. You are old enough now to understand these things.” He smiled at me. “So are you ready to hear it?”

I shrugged. I really didn’t have a choice. I really just wanted to lay in bed and be sad that I would never see my mother again. But his explanation was something I hoped would explain all that had happened last night. Maybe it would explain why they had killed my mother. I wanted to find out who I had to kill to avenge her.