Ascension of the Hunters | 18+ ✔

Book 3⌇3. The Life of an Innocent

Chapter 3 ∣  The Life of an Innocent

-Lucca 

"Where's Evie?!" I yell at Annika and Kenzie. The attack from the hunters is sudden and swift. They didn't come to destroy our coven, as there only appear to be about fifteen of them. Kenzie has a hunter by the jaw and his shoulders, viciously snapping his neck. The hunter falls to the ground, Kenzie's eyes red with anger.

"She went inside, right after Janie finished," Kenzie yells back to me.

That's when I catch the hint of lavender as the sound of breaking glass meets my ears. My eyes scan the area, sprinting in the direction of the home Evie and I are residing in. I run around the back, the glass from our bedroom window littering the grass.

Evie...

Her body is held in the arms of a hunter, taking off north, toward Brewster. I can still catch the hunter. Closing in at about seven yards, the hunter pushes off the ground, spinning in mid-air.

Enock.

He withdraws a pistol with his free arm, aiming it directly at me before firing. I shift away just in time, the dart hitting the ground instead of my shoulder. I slow, smelling my own blood. A searing pain comes from my left side, right between two of my ribs. Looking down, I pull the silver dagger from my side, my eyes falling on the form of another hunter standing on a tree branch.

Enock is still within my reach. I kick off the ground, as I make another attempt to bring him down. The sound of something clicking into place draws my attention immediately. The hunter emerges from the tree, the arrow pulled back in their compound bow. Aiming directing at me, the arrow is loosed, crossing in front of my path.

I land on the grass, the arrow sticking out of the ground in front of me...a deadly warning shot?

"The fuck you think you're going?" I growl, throwing the dagger with all my strength and striking the hunter in their upper right back as they attempt to escape. The hunter hits the ground hard, struggling to get to their feet.

Huntress...

Her scream echoes out from under her hood as I appear behind her, gripping the handle of the dagger and twisting it hard. I can sense Locaine and Rynn approaching, along with Zak right at their heels.

The huntress' blood trickles down her back. I have my free hand wrapped around the front of her throat, slowly cutting off her airway.

"Wait!" Zak yells.

I narrow my eyes at him, "She was protecting that son of a bitch, Enock while he took Evie away. Why should I show her mercy?"

Zak halts just beside Locaine, panting hard after the hunters had descended. "C-check behind her ear."

"Are you serious right now? I don't give a fuck if she passed her challenge," I'm beginning to wonder if Zak really is on our side. She cries out again, trying desperately to pull away from me as I push the dagger in further.

"No! No!" Zak begs me, "Just do it. Please."

I rip the hood back from her head, her golden blonde hair falling free. I do exactly as he asks, tilting her head to the side and noticing a marking behind her right ear. It isn't a cross.

I state with a hint of confusion, "It's a target?"

"She's a ranger," Zak enlightens me.

"Then why was she protecting Enock?" I ask, not completely following him.

"He's my brother you asshole leech," she spits with venom at the way we're talking about Enock.

"So, she speaks," I throw her hard onto the ground in front of me, yanking the dagger from her back in the process. She immediately reaches for her fallen compound bow, swiftly nocking an arrow and pulling it back.