Lovely readers, this will most likely be the last chapter in Eve's story. Hopefully it's the best one yet.
***
Eve left that night, like she had been planning to for longer than she wanted to admit.
The council had been deliberating all day, muffled shouting and disagreement rising and falling like tidal waves before the great oak doors. Any other trial would have been concluded by now, but hers has ramifications for the entire structure of the academy. She didn't expect a conclusion until the early hours of the morning. By then, it would be too late.
She couldn't bring herself to face Luke, couldn't bear the look on his face or the inevitable offer to come with her. It was easier this way.
She scrawled a note on a stray piece of parchment, not bothering to sign it. He would recognize her handwriting from a mile away: You know where I've gone. Don't follow me. I love you.
She bit her lip as she reread the last line. It didn't matter. She didn't even know if it was true, but she wouldn't be here to find out. She couldn't bear the idea of disappearing and leaving him wondering for the rest of his life. He had to know she loved him, whether it was in the way he wanted, she didn't know.
As she went to slip it into his room, she saw the door was ajar. Golden light flowed out from the bedside lamp. A book was lying face down with the pages rumpled on the floor, Luke's sleeping form prone with one hand hung over the side of the bed as if he had just dropped it.
Against her better judgment, Eve slipped inside and tucked the note onto the bedside table. She picked up the book and smoothed out the creased pages, placing it on the table as well. Hiram's 8th Anthology of Higher Vampires. After all of this, he was still a good hunter, doing his due diligence.
She glanced once more at his messy curls and twitching eyelashes. His uncomfortable looking sleeping position. The soft rise and fall of his chest, warm and human. Then she was out the door, down the stairs, and away.
***
"You can't be here, miss. Entrance is on the Southside, 30th and Cypress."
The bouncer looked down at Eve, stony faced. She hoped that she looked like a charming mess and not just a sad one, her cloak wet from a gentle drift of snow and her face flushed from the cold. The tips of her hair were curled from the moisture.
She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster. "Please, my boyfriend is inside. We had a fight and--" She brushed a hand through her hair, combing out the wavy strands.
As she did so, her cloak opened slightly. Something in the bouncer's eyes hardened, his gaze catching on the flicker of metal strapped to her thigh. Only a vampire, their precise vision enhanced by the darkness, could have caught something so minute. She let the curtain of fabric flit closed, but it was too late. Fuck, she thought.
He reached out to grab her arm, but Eve was faster. Her fingers curled around the hilt of the blade. She cut his throat in a swift motion. The man's hand fell from her arm as he clutched at his neck, trying desperately to stem the blood flow. She shoved his heavy body to the ground and pushed through the door to the Mad Hatter. This was already going badly.
The back entrance opened into a dimly lit hallway. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, and then the familiar scent washed over her. Blood and sex. The hallway was empty, but she could hear the distant sound of the crowd and music. She moved through the corridor quickly, her dagger drawn and ready.
The door beside her burst open and a man stumbled out. His shirt was unbuttoned and a lazy smile curved across his face. He leaned against the wall, movements sluggish and heavy.
She took in his state with immediate understanding, her thoughts confirmed as she assessed the points of blood welling on his neck. A moment later, a woman appeared in the doorway. Her red lips were pursed and a frown marred her beautiful features. She noticed Eve standing across the hall and her eyes widened.
Eve didn't waste a second. The woman was a vampire, and her senses were much sharper than her human companion. Before the vampire could register her, much less attack, Eve was crossing the hall. Her blade seated itself in the vampire's chest and pierced her heart. As she pulled the dagger free, the woman crumpled to the ground unceremoniously.
The man didn't even notice. He was muttering to himself, lost in a haze. Eve stepped in front of him, trying to meet his gaze. "Can you hear me?"
"Mmm," was the only reply she received. She didn't have time for this.
She put one hand over his mouth and touched the other to his arm, feeling energy well up through her. A burst of white light flickered up his arm from where they touched. He gave a muffled yelp.
His eyes cleared for a moment and he blinked at her, confused. "Go home," she said. "Don't come back here."
He stared at her, and a moment later nodded. She released him, and he stumbled away down the hall, tripping over his feet. Hopefully, he would make it home.
She took a moment to wipe off her knife. Her hands were shaking. This was all going to shit. The smell of elm oil hung thick in the air, mixed with the iron tang of blood. It wouldn't be long before the coven realized there was a threat.
She pushed through to the doors at the end of the hallway and was hit with a wave of sound as she entered the dance floor. All around her was a mass of moving bodies, writhing in time to the music. The room was lit only by lasers and strobe lights, mesmerizing and surreal. Her head swam. There was no way she was going to be able to find Ari like this.
If she was going to go out tonight, she may as well do it with a flair.
Eve cast her cloak from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. Then she took a knife in each hand.
Her tattoos glowed dark and sinister completely visible now even in the strange lights. The dark blue of her wards tangled into the black of her hunter tattoos, weaving up both arms. Instead of her usual uniform, she wore only a protective leather halter top and a pair of black training pants, daggers strapped to each leg.
The amount of exposed skin she had was unthinkable for any hunter worth their salt. Eve had chosen her outfit carefully, a final fuck-you to this coven which had caused her so much grief. She hoped it said 'I don't need armor. I don't even need a weapon to kill you.'
Someone bumped into her and stumbled back. He turned to look at her, mouth open and eyes wide. "Fuck!" the man shouted.
She had expected the noise. Hoped for it, even.
As Eve began walking into the crowd, her eyes scanning the second-floor balcony, the panic began to fester. People parted to give her a wide berth, looking at her with confusion or fear. Even the humans, who didn't recognize her hunter's markings, knew the danger they were in.
A vampire pushed his way through the crowd. Upon sight of her, he didn't hesitate; he came at her, claws outstretched. She caught his wrist as he swung at her, turning and kicking him in the ribs. She brought her elbow down on the back of his neck, driving him to his knees. She stood over him, making him look up at her against the bright lights. "Today's your lucky day, you can still get out of this alive. Find Ari, tell him it's time to end this."
