CHAPTER 17: THE HUNT

CHAPTER 17: THE HUNT

Amber’s POV

My eyes remained fixed on the window.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

But somehow, the room no longer felt empty.

Every instinct I had as a detective was screaming that someone was watching us.

"Steele," I whispered.

"I know."

He was already standing between me and the window, his entire body tense.

The faint glow on my neck slowly disappeared, leaving only the strange mark behind.

"What did they mean when they said they're coming for Anna?"

Steele didn't answer immediately.

"Steele."

"They shouldn't have been able to find you."

"Well, apparently they did."

He glanced at me.

"Did the vampire say anything else when he attacked you?"

"He called me Anna. He said he was a monster that would soon live inside me."

Steele's jaw tightened.

"Anything else?"

"No."

I studied his face.

He was hiding something again.

"You know what that means."

"It's not important."

"Everything is important right now."

I stepped around him and went closer to the window.

"Someone from the Black Shadow knows I'm alive. They attacked me at the residence. They marked me. Then someone called you and said they're coming for me."

I turned toward him.

"How is that not important?"

Steele stared at me.

"Because I don't know what they want."

"Then let's find out."

"You're treating this like another case."

"Because it is."

"No."

His voice was firmer this time.

"This is different."

I folded my arms.

"How?"

"Because this time, you're the target."

I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Steele, I've been the target since I was six."

He went silent.

The words seemed to hit something inside him.

I looked away.

"My parents died on that plane. Someone killed my mother in front of me. My father died protecting me. For twenty-two years, I've been trying to understand what happened."

I touched the scar on my neck.

"And now I finally have a lead."

Steele walked toward me.

"You have more than a lead."

"What?"

"You have a connection."

My brows furrowed.

"To what?"

"To Anna."

I stared at him.

"I'm not Anna."

"I know."

"Then stop saying that."

"I am not saying you are her."

"Then what are you saying?"

He hesitated.

"Whatever happened twenty-two years ago didn't end with the crash."

My heart skipped.

"What do you mean?"

"The people responsible disappeared. The bureau stopped looking for them. And now, after all these years, one of them appears in your path."

He looked at the mark.

"Then they mark you."

My mind raced.

"So you think the plane crash and this vampire are connected?"

"I think they're more connected than either of us understands."

"Then we need to go back to the residence."

"No."

I blinked.

"Why?"

"Because that's exactly what they want."

I frowned.

"How do you know?"

"Because Stan gave you the location."

"And?"

"Stan doesn't give people information without expecting something in return."

"He said he wanted to make trouble for you."

"That's what he said."

"So you think he set this up?"

"I don't know."

That answer surprised me.

"You don't know?"

"Stan may be reckless, arrogant, and impossible to tolerate, but he isn't stupid."

I smirked.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said about your brother."

"Don't get used to it."

I laughed softly.

For a brief moment, the tension disappeared.

Then something crashed outside.

We both turned.

My smile vanished.

Steele's eyes immediately turned gold.

"What was that?"

"Stay here."

"No."

He looked at me.

"Amber."

"I've followed criminals into abandoned warehouses with nothing but a flashlight. Don't expect me to sit here while you investigate something."

"This isn't a human criminal."

"I know."

"Exactly."

He approached me and lowered his voice.

"Stay behind me."

There was something in his tone that made me stop arguing.

We moved toward the door.

Steele opened it slowly.

The hallway was empty.

I stepped beside him.

"Do you see anything?"

"No."

"Can you hear anything?"

He closed his eyes.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

Then his eyes opened.

"Three."

"What?"

"Three heartbeats."

I swallowed.

"Where?"

"One outside the building."

He looked toward the stairwell.

"Two below us."

"Humans?"

"No."

My stomach tightened.

"Vampires?"

"I don't know."

Then the lights went out.

The entire hallway became black.

I heard a low growl beside me.

"Steele?"

"Don't move."

Something moved at the end of the corridor.

Fast.

Too fast.

Steele disappeared from my side.

A loud impact followed.

The wall shook.

I stepped backward, trying to see through the darkness.

"Steele!"

"I'm fine."

His voice came from somewhere ahead.

Then another sound.

A hiss.

A deep, animalistic growl.

Something slammed against the floor.

I reached for my firearm.

Before I could pull it out, the lights suddenly came back.

Steele stood at the end of the hallway.

His shirt was torn near his shoulder.

Blood trickled down his arm.

And in front of him was a man.

Pale skin.

Dark hair.

Red eyes.

Long black coat.

He smiled when he saw me.

"Anna."

Steele moved instantly, blocking his view.

"Don't call her that."

The vampire chuckled.

"You still haven't changed."

"Leave."

"I came here for her."

"You're not taking her."

The vampire tilted his head.

"You sound very protective."

Steele's eyes blazed.

"Last warning."

I stepped closer.

"Who are you?"

The vampire looked at me over Steele's shoulder.

"My name doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

His smile widened.

"You're exactly like her."

I felt anger rising inside me.

"I'm not Anna."

"No."

He stared at me.

"You're not."

For some reason, his words frightened me more than if he had insisted that I was.

"Then why are you here?"

He looked at my neck.

"Because you carry something she left behind."

My breathing stopped.

"What?"

Steele's expression changed.

"What did you say?"

The vampire smiled.

"You heard me."

"What did Anna leave behind?" I demanded.

"Ask your wolf."

I looked at Steele.

He didn't speak.

The vampire laughed.

"Still keeping secrets from her?"

Steele suddenly lunged.

The vampire vanished.

A second later, a window shattered.

Steele rushed toward it, but I grabbed his arm.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

The vampire was already gone.

I stared at the broken window.

Then I looked at Steele.

"What did he mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't."

I stepped in front of him.

"Don't you dare give me that answer again."

His face hardened.

"You don't understand what you're asking."

"Then explain it."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know enough."

I stared at him.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Then tell me what Anna left behind."

He looked at my neck.

"The mark."

I touched it.

"What's special about it?"

"I don't know."

"Steele."

"I don't."

For the first time, his voice sounded frustrated rather than cold.

"I have lived for centuries. I've seen things humans would consider impossible. But I've never seen that mark before."

I swallowed.

"Then maybe we should find someone who has."

He knew exactly what I meant.

"Raven."

He nodded.

"We need to find her."

Steele’s POV

I hated this.

Not the vampire.

Not the mark.

Her.

Amber.

Because every second she remained beside me, the fear I had buried for decades became harder to ignore.

She was not Anna.

I knew that.

I had known it from the moment I first saw her.

But the similarities were impossible to ignore.

The face.

The stubbornness.

The way she looked at danger without stepping backward.

Even the way she spoke when she was angry.

It was like watching a ghost walk among the living.

And now the Black Shadow had noticed her.

That was worse.

I drove through the city while Amber sat beside me, staring through the window.

Neither of us spoke.

Eventually, she broke the silence.

"Where are we going?"

"To Raven."

"Does she live with you?"

"No."

"Then where?"

"She moves often."

"Convenient."

"Raven doesn't like being found."

"Why?"

"Because she has enemies."

"Of course she does."

I glanced at her.

"You're taking this surprisingly well."

"What choice do I have?"

She shrugged.

"Twenty-two years ago, I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was losing my parents."

She looked down at her hands.

"Apparently, I was wrong."

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

"I should never have let you go to that residence."

"You didn't let me."

"What?"

"I went there without you."

"Exactly."

"Don't blame yourself."

"I am not."

She looked at me.

"You are."

I didn't answer.

She smiled slightly.

"You care."

"I don't."

"You do."

"Amber."

"Steele."

She laughed.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

Then my phone rang.

I answered.

"Hello?"

Raven's voice came through.

"Where are you?"

"On the way to you."

"Don't."

I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because they are already here."

My eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

"The Black Shadow."

Amber turned toward me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I found something."

"What?"

"Someone has been watching my residence."

"How many?"

"Four."

My grip tightened around the wheel.

"Vampires?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Raven's voice became quieter.

"Werewolves."

I looked at Amber.

Her eyes widened.

"Black Phoenix?"

"No."

Raven paused.

"Something else."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain when you get here."

The call ended.

Amber stared at me.

"What did she say?"

"We're not going to Raven's."

"Why?"

"They're waiting for us."

"Who?"

I looked at the road ahead.

"Other werewolves."

Her expression hardened.

"Then where are we going?"

I accelerated.

"Somewhere they won't expect."

"Where?"

I looked at her.

"Your old home."

She froze.

"My old home?"

"The orphanage."

Her face changed.

"I haven't been there in years."

"Exactly."

"Why would we go there?"

"Because if someone is hunting you because of Anna..."

I paused.

"...then we need to find out what happened to you before the plane crash."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You think there is something about my childhood that I don't remember?"

"I think someone made sure you wouldn't remember."

The car became silent.

Amber slowly touched the strange mark on her neck.

Then she whispered,

"Steele."

"What?"

"What if the vampire wasn't threatening me?"

I looked at her.

"What are you talking about?"

She stared straight ahead.

"What if he was warning me?"

I didn't answer.

Because deep inside, I had the same thought.

And if we were right, then the danger following Amber wasn't coming for her because she looked like Anna.

It was coming because she was connected to something Anna had left behind.

Something powerful enough to make both vampires and werewolves search for her.

Something that had been hidden for twenty-two years.

And now...

It was waking up.