Hunting Haven
Chapter Eleven

Gabriel

The sun had yet to sink completely beyond the horizon as Haven pulled into her driveway and parked the car. While she wasn’t the world’s worst driver, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to arrive at our destination in one piece. There were definitely a few instances on the highway where I said a little prayer for our safety.

I walked her to the door, listening to her finish up a story about a perm gone wrong her freshman year of high school. After hours of her mocking me for falling in cow shit as she mercilessly destroyed me in arcade games, she decided to take pity on me and share an embarrassing story of her own. Unfortunately, I was struggling to process her words.

I had always found Haven beautiful, but seeing her carefree side? It was impossible for me to focus on her story, yet I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from her either. She was full of this infectious joy that spilled over onto me, filling my chest with a lightness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. After spending the day trying to convince myself that we were just friends, that she was nothing more than a vampire’s mark that I was protecting, I finally had to admit that I was full of shit. I wanted Haven in a way that I hadn’t wanted another person. Even with my marriage to Julie, it had been more about hunter politics than love. Sure, I’d cared about her as a person and yes, it hurt like hell to catch her with my best friend, but honestly? I had been more upset with Ryan for betraying me than my wife.

With Haven, we hadn’t even been together, but I knew that I’d never be okay with her being with another man. I had gone through the motions for so long after losing my family and leaving the Hunters’ Association, but she made me feel alive again. Even when she intentionally baited me and worked my nerve for her own amusement, she made me feel and that was so rare.

“You do realize you don’t have to walk me to my door every time, right?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at me as she started up the front steps. A light breeze lifted her hair as she smiled softly back at me.

“I feel like we have this conversation every time we’re together.”

“And yet you still follow me.”

“Maybe I just want to spend as much time with you as I can,” I murmured in her ear as we reached the flat surface of the porch. There was no excuse for my actions. It was like as soon as I admitted my attraction, as soon as I acknowledged that I wanted her, I couldn’t put those friendship walls back up between us. Especially not when she looked at me with the desire-filled, hooded gaze she gave me now.

“Is that so?” she asked, her eyes drifting down to my lips. That was it. It was all I could take.

I reached out, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her against me slowly to give her time to stop me. The top of her head didn’t quite reach my chin, so I dipped down to reach her mouth. Each second it took for my lips to meet hers felt like an eternity, but I wanted to make sure she had no objections.

The restraint I exercised was almost painful. But when our lips were an inch apart, she surged up onto her tip-toes and kissed me first. Her arms curled around my neck, her fingers replaceing their way into my hair, as she pulled me closer. She was so much smaller than me, but it felt like she was everywhere in that moment, surrounding me.

The tenuous self-discipline I’d exercised snapped when placed up against her desire. I flexed the arm I had around her, pulling her tighter against me as she continued to take the lead. Her tongue teased my bottom lip before her teeth sunk into it. There was no stifling the groan that she elicited. After weeks of resisting her, giving in felt like Heaven.

The little gasps she let out, the way her fingers tugged at my hair, the way she pressed against me as if she was desperate to get as close as possible, it all drove me insane. My heart hammered like it was going to jump out of my chest. I felt like a teenager, kissing a girl for the first time. Except, even as a bumbling teen, I’d never been as nervous as I was with Haven.

She pulled away slowly and looked up at me through her lashes. “Come in?”

Seeing her chest heaving as she gasped for breath made me feel better. At least I wasn’t the only one who lost control. I was just the only one who knew she was being stalked by an ancient vampire. Guilt from keeping her in the dark warred with the lust that her kiss had filled me with. Before either emotion could win out over the other, my phone rang.

I closed my eyes, pressing my forehead against hers. “That’s the department’s ringtone.”

“I’m guessing it’d be very bad if you ignored that, even though it’s your day off?”

My forehead rubbed against hers as I nodded. I tilted my head up and pressed a kiss to her brow before I let her go. “Go inside. It’s getting dark. I’ll call you when they’re done with me.”

I took a step away from her, pulling my phone out of my back pocket, but her lips were on mine again before I could answer. This kiss was shorter and infinitely sweeter than the last. “Be safe,” she instructed before gesturing for me to accept the call.

“Macias,” I waited for her to enter her house and lock up before heading to my squad car.

“There’s another one,” Pete said by way of greeting. The Chief Deputy of Hennepin County calling me into work was never a good sign. Usual Denise or Mario, two of our dispatchers, would be the ones to call. All hands were on deck for this case, which came as no surprise. When you lived in an area as sparsely populated as ours, you didn’t see many murders let alone serial killers.

“Send me the details. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” He grunted in confirmation and hung up. I text Dane immediately after.

Me: You free? I need you to watch over her tonight. Got a case.

Dane: Be there in 15.

His response came rapidly, and some of the tension drained from my body. She’ll be safe.

I still had to replace a way to locate this blood sucker soon. As much as I hated the idea of reaching out to the association, I would have to shortly if I couldn’t end it myself. This was the sixth victim in three weeks. I couldn’t continue to let women be murdered for no reason other than simply looking like Haven just so I wouldn’t have to be involved with the organization anymore.

The sun had almost completely disappeared as I drove down the block, parking out of sight as I waited for Dane to confirm that he’d arrive. The case was urgent, but protecting Haven was my priority. Nothing in this world was important enough to make me leave her defenseless in the dark.

***

I didn’t even look to see who was calling. I just answered. That was my first mistake.

The sound of her hysterical cries filled me with a fear I hadn’t experienced in years. “He’s in my room.” The words were almost incomprehensible, both in meaning and dictation, but I grasped them.

“I’ll be right there, Haven. I’ll be right there. Keep talking to me. Where are you? What’s happening? Are you alright?”

My throat tightened with anxiety as I ran toward my squad car.

“Macias! Where are you going?” Pete hollered at my back as I fled the scene.

“Family Emergency,” I screamed my reply at him, not slowing for an instant.

“Haven? Answer me!” The words were a sharp command as I started my car and threw it in drive.

Gravel from the parking lot shot out wildly as my tires spun before gaining traction. I peeled away from the crime scene, flicking on my lights and siren as I desperately tried to get to her.

This couldn’t happen again. I couldn’t fail another person who depended on me to keep them safe. There was no way I was going to stand over her grave next, no way she was going to be the one I staked through the heart. I couldn’t be responsible for the death of another person who trusted me either.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I’m here. I locked myself in the bathroom. He... he’s talking to me through the door. He says he doesn’t want me to be scared and to let him in. Hurry, Gabe.”

The pleading tone as she said my name, her voice trembling with fear, was like a knife to my gut.

Where the fuck was Dane? Why hadn’t he kept her safe? A twisted part of me hoped the panther was dead, because if he wasn’t? I’d kill him for failing her.

That’s what I got for trusting a shifter. Hunters were raised to distrust and despise any creature that wasn’t human, and I had gone against my nature. I was just as much to blame for her being in danger.

“Keep talking to me. What’s he saying?” The fact that the vampire hadn’t pulled a smash and grab astounded me, but I was too busy thanking the God I hadn’t prayed to in years to ask questions.

“He keeps calling me Margaret and love and asking me to come with him. I’m scared. He was sitting on my bed while I slept.”

It was a miracle that I could understand her at all. Between her cries and the speed at which she was talking, her statements were damn near gibberish.

“I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

Less than three hundred seconds. That was all I needed to get to her, to save her, but it felt like for-fucking-ever.

She let out a scream and I could feel the blood drain from my face. “Haven! Talk to me, baby. What’s going on?”

“I don’t fucking know!” At least, there was a bite in her tone now opposed to the broken sobs she’d been issuing. “I’m locked in the goddamn bathroom.”

“I know, I know. Why did you scream?” I tried to keep my own frustration from seeping into my voice. It wasn’t like I was angry with her, I was just so fucking mad at myself for not being there when she needed me.

“He stopped talking to me. I can hear stuff breaking and growls and grunting. You can’t come here alone! You’re going to get hurt. Call for backup.”

“Hey. Hey. Hey. Relax. I’m almost there and I’m not going to get hurt. This is what I’m trained for.” She might not have understood that by trained I meant since I was in elementary school I’d been ending vampires since before I could legally buy a lottery ticket, for fucks’ sake.

I whipped around the corner of her block, slamming on the brakes and throwing the car in park immediately. The sickening smell of burnt rubber from my tires permeated the night air as I flicked the lights and sirens off and dashed toward her house. I took the stairs two at a time, desperate to get to Haven before it was too late.