You Complete Me: Battle Scarred, #4

Chapter One

He was dead. Had to be. Hagan stared into the darkness surrounding him. He’d been out in the sunshine for too long—nasty business for a vampire. Sunlight ensured death. He shouldn’t have been in the daylight at all. He should’ve stayed in the cave...but he had to keep Ava alive. If she didn’t make it, then no one would know the true extent of what Maslow had done. Someone had to change the tide of the war.

He wondered if she’d made it out. He hadn’t seen her when he went back to the cave. He’d damn near burned to a crisp in the sun. His hands and arms were practically black and peeling. So much for trying to help. But when had he crawled back into the cave? The last he knew, he was still outside in the sunshine.

Hagan groaned. So this was what death felt like...a charred steak left in blackness. It wasn’t as if he was going to head to heaven. Nope. Vampires weren’t on par with angels. He’d be lucky if he received passage to hell. At least there he’d see his other vampire friends. He hadn’t done a thing to earn him an audience with the sources.

Do you know where you are? a soft male voice asked.

He froze, although he wasn’t sure if movement was possible in the vast vacuum of darkness.

I’m lost and confused, he confessed. Where am I?

You’ve been found. Sit, the male said.

Hagan still wasn’t sure who was talking or where to sit. He glanced around at nothingness. As he looked, the darkness faded and he noticed an outcropping of rocks. The stones were arranged almost like a chair. Huh. He’d seen rocks like that before, but only in one place and it was while he’d passed through... He’d heard about stones and darkness where the sources held court, but surely, they weren’t talking to him. Was he in the presence of the oldest beings in the world? The sources?

Yes, vampire. You are where you believe yourself to be. A light appeared, illuminating a figure clad in a crimson robe. Dust swirled in the light, obscuring the individual’s face.

Sir. Hagan dropped to his knees and bowed his head. He was really in the cave of the sources. No freaking way. He thought the sources only called the most important supers into their presence. He wasn’t important.

Speak the words on your mind, the male source said.

I don’t know why I’m here. Hagan didn’t look up. I should be dead. I was in the sunshine. Did I save Ava? Is she my mate? What’s going on with the war? Good Goddess, he had a lot of word vomit in his head.

Ah. The vampire of many questions.

Will you tell me? He had no right to be so demanding, but they had told him to speak.

You’ve been summoned.

And saved? Or am I dying?

Your journey is not at the end.

Hagan bit back a growl. Why did the source have to talk in a riddle? Then what am I to do?

Continue on.

How? he blurted. He didn’t even know where he was going or how he was supposed to get there.

Trust your heart and your calling. The war is still not won and can be lost on good intentions.

His calling? Lost on good intentions? Why in the name of the Goddess did they have to be so cryptic? I’m confused. He couldn’t see much more than the source’s robe. Why wouldn’t they reveal themselves to him? He hated not knowing what was going on or not seeing the face of the person talking to him.

As expected, you are confused. Your journey is long and hard. You will return to the earth. Find your mate and continue on your way. Trust. The being snapped his fingers. Go.

The source would have to sound like a mystical sci-fi character from the movies—all enigmatic and bizarre.

Before he could say anything in return, Hagan fell forward. A breeze whipped around him. Were they throwing him out of the cave of the sources? Pushed out for being too nosy sounded correct.

Something crackled, and a deep pain spread through his body. He couldn’t move. His arms and legs refused to cooperate. Everything ached. He finally managed to open his eyes. The scent of leaves and wood surrounded him. Leaves? Trees? Where in the heck was he? He’d been pitched out of the cave and into the woods? What woods? Where?

Footsteps crunched on the ground. Someone—whoever was out there—was coming. Shit.

There are vampires all over these woods. According to intelligence, one named Hagan was last seen running in here from the east, said a male voice.

He’d been seen running? The sources must’ve wanted to give him a good backstory or the guy was making up what he’d seen. Humans with the blood of the supers were like that—they lied to get what they wanted without any thought to what their words could do to the supers.

Hagan groaned. He needed to get away from the hunters. Streaks of sunlight—daylight or late-day sun, he wasn’t sure—charred his skin. Two tiny trails of smoke drifted from his forearm. Damn it. He crawled under a brush pile and hoped the leaves would cover him. He thought about what the male source said. His words were mysterious. Find a mate and a future? He’d be lucky to survive the night. As for finding a mate, well, he didn’t trust his luck. The vision of a blonde-haired woman came to mind. His mate was Ava, and her hair wasn’t blonde...unless she’d dyed it. Maybe she would come to the forest and save him. He hoped. If the hunters didn’t find him first and he burned to bits for the final time. Wasn’t being part of the undead a bitch?

HUNTING HELPLESS CREATURES seemed inhumane. Emily clutched her shotgun tighter and gritted her teeth.

We’ve got to search high and low for these creeps. They could be anywhere and dangerous as hell, Ben said and rushed in front of her.

She winced. Everything her partner said revolved around killing supers. She suppressed a groan. They could see the supers. She and Ben both possessed supernatural blood, allowing them to pursue their specific calling—hunting the supers as true hunters. The job description included killing supers in order to terminate those who went mad and were essentially dangerous to the rest of the population. They hunted the supers who’d gone rogue. No one said a word about killing the vampires, shifters, and faes—among others—simply for the sake of taking lives. According to Ben, they needed to eliminate all supers.

Emily trudged behind him. She could hold her own up front and defend herself from the attacks with ease, but she wanted distance from Ben. The negative vibe swirling around him unnerved her.

I see it, Ben shrieked. He bolted away, leaving her in the pitch-black woods. She gazed into the darkness and focused. She didn’t hear a sound, not even the critters creeping around, and that wasn’t right. There should’ve been something in the brush moving if he’d spotted anything. She crinkled her nose. The scent of a being came to her...dead? Decaying? Dead things left a definite gross smell behind, but this wasn’t the scent of decomposition. This particular pungent odor reminded her of a wet tiger or charred hair. What was it?

A round object caught her attention. Nothing in the woods was perfectly rounded...not like a shoe. She glanced over to where Ben had taken off to, and when she didn’t see him, she crouched to look at whatever it was in the brush. She figured she’d hear Ben coming when he returned. Unlike vampires, Ben wasn’t stealthy. Freight trains were quieter than her partner. She didn’t see him when she looked again. Thank God.

Emily crept up to the rounded thing and studied it closer. The thing was a shoe, connected to a foot. Were other hunters leaving their kills in the forest now? If the person was indeed a super, then the body wouldn’t be around—it would’ve disintegrated. A human body would decompose but still be evident. She moved the leaves aside. The leg led to a full body. The person was so still. She glanced around again and uncovered the face. The guy’s mouth was open, allowing her to see his teeth. Sharp, bright white teeth.

A vampire.

The super they were after was already dead? That couldn’t be. This super was still intact. She inspected his shoe and the exposed part of his leg. Burn marks. From the sun? He’d charred his skin, and she guessed he’d gone into the light long enough to get to the deeper darkness of the woods before he collapsed.

Hey! Emily! Where are you?

Shit. She didn’t want Ben to find the vampire. The poor super had been through enough without having her partner attack him. At least he