His to Rescue

The Vampire’s Past 3

Rosa Swann

His to Rescue (The Vampire’s Past 3)

Copyright © 2021 Rosa Swann

Copyright © Easily Distracted Media

Copyright © 2018 Rosa Swann

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the copyright holder. This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

Cover Design by Easily Distracted Media

ISBN: 9789493139404

NUR: 343

Edition: 20210531

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Blurb

When your present starts to look a lot like your past, and there is only one way to ever be free of it…

Sean

After telling me that he’s a vampire on the run from a vampire hunter, basically out of nowhere, Jules is once again running away. This time he’s hoping to find a way to be free of the hunter for good, while keeping us safe at the same time.

But he doesn’t know that we’re not safe here either, and with Liam in the hospital, I have no idea how I can protect anyone anymore…

Jules

I can’t believe that my twin brother Tyler is here, that he’s been following me, trying to find me, for as long as I’ve been running away. I thought that he was safely at home, but he’s been in danger the whole time.

And as I’m trying to find a way to definitively get rid of the hunter, my past crashes into my present when I find out that the hunter has taken Tyler, again…

With Sean’s help, I need to find Tyler and get rid of that hunter for good, or we’ll never have a happy future together…

1

Jules

I stare out the window of the bus. The fields are giving way to the fringes of a city. Large buildings, all dark at this time of the night, streets with only a few lights, and nobody walking around. It’s strange and a little creepy.

This is the last night bus in this direction. I was lucky to even make it.

The previous bus was running late, or I would have had to wait five hours until the next bus. I hadn’t been looking forward to spending the night at a bus station in the middle of nowhere.

But I made it and now I’m nearly at my destination.

It feels a little too familiar.

Travelling in the middle of the night, hiding on busses with just a bag and not much else.

Running away, again, from a hunter, again, trying to keep myself and others safe, again.

I’d hoped to get away from this life, not get back to it. Definitely not under these circumstances.

When the hunter went after Liam, I knew that there was no way I could stay any longer. And when we found Liam, hurt like that, his foot all mangled...

I knew that I had to protect them from more danger. I knew that I had to come up with a plan and the only way I could do that was by going away in the meantime. Get the hunter to follow me instead of staying around Sean, Tyler, Liam and Jace.

I hope they’re okay. I so hope that they’re okay. I wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to them while I was gone. Not anymore.

Liam was hurt enough, I can’t let anything else happen to them, to any of them.

The bus slows down as it turns onto a lane in front of a train station. One I recognise, even if it’s just barely.

It’s the same station I arrived at seven years ago.

The same station I arrived at when I went to meet Zoey for the first time, the night after I attacked Tyler.

And this time it’s because a hunter attacked someone close to me and I need him to stop. I need to stop the hunter, because I can’t keep doing this.

I stand up, pulling my bag onto my back, and then I go to the back door.

The bus stops and I hold up my hand to the driver as I swipe my card to check out and pay for the trip.

“Night.” The driver holds up his hand in greeting too and then starts packing his things. He’s probably done for the night too.

I step out of the bus and look around, trying to remember what Zoey told me about her meeting me here.

“Jules!” A female voice calls out for me, and I turn to the sound.

Zoey is standing under a partially covered path between the main buildings of the station and the bus stops. Her stance is strong and she has a slight smile on her face, though I can also see the worry in her eyes.

Next to her is a guy, about my height, though, even under his thick coat, I can see that he’s got a lot more muscle on him than I do. When he looks up to me, I realise that he’s not a vampire, like Zoey and me, but he’s also not human.

I go over to them and Zoey takes me in her arms, pulling me close.

“Good to see you again. And relatively unharmed too.” Zoey lets go of me, smiling more, then she turns to the guy next to her. “This is Kai. He’s a mage and with our coven. He’s going to help with taking that hunter down once and for all, focusing on the parts that vampires can’t handle as easily.”

I nod to Kai. “Thanks for helping out.”

“Of course.” He shrugs a little and then looks up at Zoey. “Least I can do after the way these guys have helped me out before.”

He pulls up a shoulder and the hood he was wearing falls back and reveals his black hair in dreads and pulled to the back. He looks strong and pretty intimidating, definitely more intimidating than me.

“Okay. Introductions done. Let’s get home.” Zoey starts walking and we follow her down the side of the building to a car park at the back. “Jules, anything new since we last spoke?”

I shrug. “Not really. I messaged Sean for a bit. He and Tyler found out I was gone pretty quickly. And I told Sean that he wouldn’t be able to reach me. That I had to do this on my own, for their safety.”

“Right.” Zoey’s voice is sombre. “Can’t be easy leaving your mate behind like that.”

“I had to.” I sigh, not liking to think about it. “I don’t want him all wrapped up in all this shit. It’s hard enough for him to really ‘get’ what me being a vampire means, but I don’t want to get him involved with the bad parts of it all. It’s just...” I shake my head.

“You left your mate behind? Near a hunter?” Kai sounds surprised, a little on edge.

“I had to. It’s safer if he’s not with me right now. And he’s in good hands. There are people there looking out for him. People I trust.”

Like Tyler and Jace and Liam, even though Liam isn’t much use right now, with his foot and all... Which is all my fault anyway.

Yay, me. I’m such a great friend.

Zoey opens the door of a car and then waits until we’re all inside. I’m sitting in the back as Zoey and Kai sit in the front.

As she drives off, I know I need to ask something else of her, something else I need to take care of. Because Liam getting attacked is still my responsibility, my fault. If I hadn’t been there and he hadn’t been around me all weekend, the hunter wouldn’t have gone after him.

“Zoey?” I look at her in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah?” She glances at me for a moment and then focuses on the road again.

“My friend, Liam, the hunter attacked him. I...” I stare at my hands. “I need to make sure he lives somewhere safe, somewhere people can protect him. Somewhere where hunters won’t come. It’s my fault he’s...” I shake my head, not sure how to go on with that sentence.

“It’s not your fault.” Zoey’s voice has an edge to it. “The hunter chose to attack him.”

“For being my friend.” I raise my voice. She’s doesn’t get it. Nobody gets it. If it wasn’t for me…

“Because the hunter wanted to.” Her voice has a tone of finality to it. “He attacked your friend because he wanted to. The hunter could have done a hundred things to get you to come after him, but he chose this. Like he chose to hurt you and Tyler seven years ago.”

Zoey navigates the streets easily, her voice softer now. “But we can probably figure something out for your friend. Just... I don’t think it’s a good idea to focus on that tonight. I think we all need sleep before we come up with a plan. No matter how much you want to get moving right now.”

I don’t know what to answer to that. I’m tired, but I also feel guilty when I’m not actively doing something to resolve this situation. So, instead, I stay quiet, looking out the window.

Zoey turns onto a small street down the side of a big building and parks in the parking lot at the back. “We’re here.”

“Jules.” Kai’s voice is careful as he looks my way. “I promise that we’ll help. In any way that we can.”

I nod. I just feel so useless and so stupid sitting around and not doing much.

We get out of the car, and I look up at the building. It reminds me of where Sean lives. Only, this place isn’t an old factory, but looks like an old school.

“Welcome to our coven house.” Zoey smiles a little at me. “We’ve got quite a few people all packed in here. All vampires or donors.”

She starts walking and we follow her to a door at the back of the building. It’s a heavy steel door and I’m not sure if that was originally there or if they put it in for a reason.

I eye Kai. If everyone living here are all donors or vampires, then why does he live here too?

“I’m also a donor.” He shrugs a little. “You want to crash in the living room or in my room?”

“I’d take him up on that offer,” Zoey calls out from in front of us. “The people here really come in at all hours of the day or night so I can’t promise anything about having a good night’s rest if you sleep on one of the couches in the living room.”

When we reach a large hallway, Zoey stops, looking at us.

“Okay, a very quick tour. Stairs up lead to the bedrooms.” She turns. “Kitchen and dining room on the right. Both pretty big. Living room and play area on the left. And there is a workout area in the basement.”

Like I thought, the inside of the building betrays that this used to be a school before.

The high ceilings, the way the rooms are all divided up, the layout of the hallways. There are even jackets on hooks down the wall in the hallway to the kitchen.

I can imagine that it’s easy to house a whole group of people in a building like this, giving everyone their own space while also keeping a community together.

“I’m on the first floor, first door on your right, room number 106. And I’m sorry to cut this short and everything, but I need to get to bed. I’ve got an early morning shift. I’ll be back early afternoon. But I think that Kai can help you out before then.” She walks onto the stairs. “Night.”

“Night.” I nod at her and then look around the place.

“Do you want to take a look at the kitchen or something? Or do you want to sleep?” Kai is standing next to me, patiently waiting.

“Some food, maybe?” I hadn’t actually had dinner before everything went down, and I’ve not had anything to eat since.

“Good. Let’s see who’s there and how much of a mess they’ve made.” He shrugs, smiling a little. “Follow me.”

I don’t know why, but being in this place feels good.

It’s calming, somehow, even though I’m totally wound too tightly on the inside.

I need to do things, I need to be places. But I also know that I need to take care of myself and others, and that means that I need to get something to eat and then sleep, because I need to be able to make decisions tomorrow.

A lot of decisions.

Kai’s room is on the top floor of the building.

It’s obvious that this didn’t used to be a classroom, with the sloped roof and the really low sides of the room and everything. But the big windows make it light, not oppressive, and it feels cosy.

Especially since Kai seems to have collected all sorts of things in his room. I didn’t realise mages were such slobs.

“Sorry about the mess.” Kai shrugs a little. “I didn’t expect company and I’ve been working really hard on a couple of projects.”

One of which was incense, as far as I can smell. “It’s okay. I’ve lived with a guy for a couple of weeks and he’s not very good at not dumping everything all over the place either.”

Kai stops in the middle of pulling something from a closet. “A guy. Your mate?”

“Yeah.” My voice is quieter than I expect it to be, suddenly so aware of Sean not being here with me.

It hurts. It hurts inside that I’m here and he isn’t. That I’m suddenly so far away from him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Kai comes over, his eyes sad. Then he dumps the blankets on his bed before bending over and pulling something from under his bed.

“It’s okay. It’s just... It’s strange not having him here. And we’ve only known each other for... just a few weeks, really.” I look out the window, at the dark sky.

There aren’t a lot of stars visible because of the lights from the city, but still enough of them to at least feel somewhat special.

“A few weeks is enough.” Kai comes to stand next to me. “Is he human?”

I nod, swallowing hard.

“He didn’t know about vampires before meeting you?”

I shake my head. “Told him...” I blink. “Two days ago.”

“Two days ago?” Kai’s surprised again.

“Yeah.” I turn around, looking over the room, not letting my eyes settle on anything. “Two days. And I’ve totally ruined his life in those days.”

“I can’t believe that, and I don’t believe that he would feel that way either.” Kai points to a mattress on the floor with some blankets. “Your bed for the night. There are towels in the linen closet in the hallway if you want to take a shower.”

I nod. “Thanks. Thanks so much for doing this.”

“No worries. Hunters are... Yeah. Scum.” He shrugs. “People choosing to hurt and torture others for the rest of their lives. Scum.”

Yeah. Maybe.

But what am I for putting others around me in danger?

I’m just as much scum, no matter what others want me to believe, it’s the truth.

I’m just as much scum.

2

Sean

I can’t believe this. I can’t believe what just happened.

This morning everything seemed fine but now everything is falling apart. Everything that I thought I knew is falling apart around me, and I can’t seem to get any grip anymore, I can’t make it stop falling apart even more.

“Young man, are you okay?” A woman’s voice sounds from not too far away.

I look up, barely aware of anything going on around me anymore. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” I push myself up, my hand on the wall.

“Do you need me to get you a doctor or something?” She comes a little closer now I probably don’t appear to be a dangerous guy or something anymore.

“No, thank you. Thank you for your concern.” I take my phone from my pocket, trying to force my brain into thoughts that actually make sense.

I need to do something. I don’t know what but I need to do something.

“You’re welcome, young man. Take care of yourself.” She eyes me a while longer, but then walks off. She doesn’t look like a doctor or a nurse, but maybe she was visiting someone at the hospital.

The hospital.

I look up at it. Jace and Liam are in there. And I’m all alone out here, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do from here on out. It all feels like a blur, it all feels so strange.

I open a message to Jules. I know that he told me that he couldn’t be in contact with me, but I need him to know. I need him to know about what happened. ‘Hunter took Tyler.’

My fingers shake as I type it, having to correct every word multiple times before it makes sense. ‘He said that he wants to exchange Tyler for you in one week time. I don’t know what to do.’

I stare at the messages I sent, and then send a final one. ‘I don’t know what to do. I miss you. I wish you were here.’

I can’t help this pained feeling in my chest that started ever since I realised that Jules left. I miss him so much. I don’t know how to ease the pain, especially since I can’t even talk to Jules now.

I want him here. My head is much too fuzzy to even function, filled with too many feelings, filled with so much pain...

Jules left and then the hunter took Tyler.

I have a feeling that whatever happened to these brothers seven years ago, it’s happening all over again, and I feel so powerless. Because seven years ago didn’t end so well. It ended really badly with Jules’ boyfriend at the time dying and Jules nearly dying too.

And I don’t want a repeat of that. I don’t want to lose Jules, or for Jules to lose Tyler... I’m maybe selfish, but I also don’t want to die...

I know that Jace and Liam were planning on going to sleep as we left, but I don’t feel right going home. Going home alone, to the place where I’m normally with Jules, to the place where him being gone is even more obvious.

I open a message to Jace. ‘Hey, are you asleep yet? I can’t go home. I can’t be alone right now.’ I hate feeling vulnerable, but I just have to be honest about this right now.

Jace and Liam also need to know what happened to Tyler and I really don’t feel like I can go home right now.

‘Where are you?’ The message from Jace doesn’t take long to arrive.

‘Still at the hospital. I’m coming inside.’ I slowly start walking, so relieved that Jace isn’t asleep yet.

‘Where is Tyler? Isn’t he with you?’

‘No. We need to talk about that.’ And maybe we shouldn’t actually do that in the middle of the hospital, but right now, I don’t know.

My head feels like it’s too filled with static, with noise, with fuzzy, and I can’t think.

Is it stupid that I feel a little safer right now? That I don’t feel as worried about Jace and Liam?

Tyler is in real danger from the hunter, but it also means that the hunter probably doesn’t come after us, at least for the next week.

It feels weird, strange, uncomfortable.

I shouldn’t feel safer now, but I still do, just a little.

As I almost stumble into the hallway of the hospital, exhaustion pulling me down and having slowed me down so much that the trip here took me more than double as long as it should have taken.

I wasn’t even that far away, just near the parking lot and the bus stops. It shouldn’t have been this far. But everything feels off now, including time and distance.

“Sean.” Jace is at my side in moments, anxiety in his voice. “What’s going on?”

I shake my head, going over to some benches. I need to sit down, I can’t do this standing up.

As we sit down, someone in hospital clothes comes over, a doctor or a nurse or something. “Are you okay? Do you need help?” The man hovers but I shake my head.

“Just tired and in shock.” My voice croaks as I look up at the man. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll call if we need help.” Jace’s voice is stronger, but his hand on my shoulder shakes a little. He’s scared too.

“We’re just over at the desk. Give us a signal and we’ll come right over.” The man in hospital clothes looks at us but then goes back to the desk. It must be a strange job, handling the front desk at a hospital at night. The people coming in here...

“Sean, where is Tyler?” Jace leans close, his voice quiet, pulling my wandering brain back to what’s going on.

“Gone.” The word spills from me before I mean to. “Hunter took him.”

“What?!” Jace’s voice spikes, then he leans even closer. “What do you mean, took him?”

“When we left, the hunter was waiting for us. He knew Jules wasn’t with us. He took Tyler, drugged him. He said that he wanted me to bring Jules over to the same spot in a week and he’d exchange Tyler for Jules.”

My voice breaks and tears slide down my cheeks. “I can’t do this. I really can’t do this. I know nothing of this world that you live in. I just want Jules and I want us to be safe. I don’t want all of this.”

My voice has gone to that squeaky sound, but I don’t know how to stop it. I feel weak, broken, exhausted.

“I know.” Jace’s voice is low but rough and he slides his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “God. I know.”

I reach up, putting my hands over his arm, holding him too. “I can’t go home. There is nothing there, nobody. I can’t.”

“Of course. Come on up. We’ll pull up an extra chair and you can sleep there. It’s not like we’re really sleeping either.” He slowly tugs me up, getting me on my feet.

I expected him to ask me a lot of questions, but I guess that between being a donor and knowing a lot about vampires and hunters, and everything that went on today, we’re all exhausted. I guess nobody is really thinking clearly anymore. Which is sad and scary at the same time.

But at least I’m not alone. No matter how selfish that sounds, I’m not alone, and that’s good.

For now.

When I open my eyes, they’re painful, like they’re filled with sand. My neck hurts from being in an uncomfortable position and my head is filled with heavy clouds.

I’m still at the hospital, asleep in a chair near the foot of Liam’s bed. Liam looks at least somewhat comfortable, the way he’s asleep, but that could be because of the painkillers... Jace is asleep on his crossed arms on the bed, while still sitting in a chair.

Last night, when we came back up, Liam didn’t ask anything. He just looked at us, his eyes darkening and he nodded. Yeah, me showing up here on my own was a bad sign, and I could understand him not wanting to ask or know anything more than that.

But it’s morning now, still early in the morning too, but definitely morning. The hospital is not as quiet anymore as it was when we fell asleep, and I can feel how it’s waking up around us.

A groan from the bed pulls my attention there, and Liam is moving a little, rolling his head side to side before he opens his eyes. First, he looks down at Jace, his eyes softening, and then he looks at me, frowning a little.

Yeah, good not-so-good morning to him too.

“How did you sleep?” I stand up, trying to stretch my stiff muscles.

“Funny. Probably the drugs.” His voice is gruff and I go over to the small kitchenette thingy near the door, making him a glass of water.

“Probably.” I hand him the glass. “They tend to do strange things to your head. Painkillers and the ones they used during the operation too.”

“Yeah.” He takes a couple of sips and then takes a deep breath, but it shudders as he releases it. “How bad is it?”

“Which it?” I sit down on a chair closer to the bed.

“All?” He looks at me.

“Bad. All of it.”

“Right. At least...” He eyes Jace, running his fingers through Jace’s hair slowly, carefully. “We need to come up with a plan, don’t we?”

“Yeah. But you’re not getting involved if it means that you won’t take your painkillers. You’re no use to us when you’re in pain either. You hear me?” I know that he’s been frustrated with the way the painkillers make him feel, but constant pain is bad for the brain too.

“I hear you” He finally smiles a little. “I’m not doing that. I’m not that stupid.”

“I just keep wondering. Why did the hunter find you yesterday? You didn’t go look for him, did you?” Liam wasn’t going to play hero, was he?

Liam shakes his head. “No. I just... I thought I was going to be safe. I forgot that spending the whole weekend with Jules would put a target on my back. I just had to get some stuff from a shop and... I felt it the moment he saw me. I felt it, and I knew it was bad.” He shudders. “Fucking hell. Those hunter types are evil, pure evil.”

“Yeah.” I’ve got to agree with him there. “But, what did you really want to know?”

“Tyler isn’t here. He didn’t come back in with you. The hunter took him, didn’t he?” Liam doesn’t even really pose it as a question, more as something he wants to confirm.

“Yeah. Right as we left.”

I can’t even think of it anymore, it just hurts.

“Down to three. All human, and none who have any experiences with hunters.” He pulls a face. “I’m going to have to search the forums about something we could maybe do, but I don’t know how much use it’s going to be. They don’t tend to post stuff that actually works on there... Anyway, maybe we can find someone who knows more there. Maybe. It would be a—” He stops, sighing, closing his eyes.

“And if not?”

“If not, I don’t know. What chance do we have? I’d say Jules’ idea is probably the best. Run away, and not look back.”

“We can’t leave Tyler. We can’t.” I wish my voice didn’t sound this frail. But I won’t leave him behind.

“I know. But would you give your life for him?” Liam eyes me.

I nod. “I’d try to fight the damn hunter until my own end. I’d try to get him down with me. At least hurt him as badly as I can. Even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Liam smiles a little, sadly. “I wish I had that energy and confidence.”

“You don’t have to. You’ve got a leg to hit him over the head with.” I smile a little too. “One hit with that, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be out cold.”

He lets out a soft snort. “If you can manage to get me up that high.”

“Nah, I just need to get him to the ground, makes it easier on all of us.”

Liam shakes his head, still smiling a little. “I like you and the way your brain works. You’re a good guy.”

Then he eyes Jace before looking back up at me. “Hey, if I give you the key to our place and ask you to get me some clean clothes and stuff and maybe something good to eat? The hospital stuff is... Eh.” He shrugs.

“I can do that.” I nod. “I should probably get changed myself. Want me to get something for Jace too?” I eye the still sleeping guy. I don’t know how he’s sleeping through all this, but he’s probably too exhausted to wake up.

He eyes Jace again too. “Yeah. Just some clean clothes should be fine. Though, if you could get him one of those salmon wraps or sandwiches? That would really make him feel a lot better.”

These guys are so close, they know each other so well, but I don’t have the feeling that they’re more than platonic friends. There is no sexual tension between them, just... love and comfort.

“And you?” I stand up, grabbing my jacket and making sure I’ve got all my things.

“Anything that isn’t white bread or strawberry jam or really cheap cheese.” He shrugs a little. “Something with greens and meat and mature cheese?”

I nod. “I’ll see what I can do.” I look around. “Key?”

I can do this.

This is having a purpose. This is not me just wandering around without knowing where I’m going or what I’m doing.

It may not be much, but if I can at least get us all a little bit more comfortable, maybe we can come up with a better plan on how to move forward.

And that starts with a shower, clean clothes, and some food into all of us. What happens after that, we’ll decide when we get there.

One step at a time.