Heart of the Hunted (Infernal Hearts Book 1) Read online

  CHAPTER TWO

  Natalia

  "We can stay one more night, but that's it," Amberly said.

  "Yeah, I know," Natalia told her.

  Amberly had been Natalia's best friend since they were young children. Natalia couldn't remember which one of them joined their group first, but she was glad they met. Being the same age, they’d grown up more like sisters.

  As much fun as it was to spend all day every day with your best friend, being on the run constantly was no way to live life. Moving from one shitty bunker to the next. Natalia was fed up of never being able to stay in one place longer than a few nights, but that had been every Humans way of life since before she was born, ever since the Great War.

  Unless she was able to build a time machine, like the ones she had read about in some of the books she found occasionally when she was out scavenging for supplies, it was likely to be that way for the rest of her life.

  When Natalia was younger, she used to dream she was one of the characters she’d read about. The dreams never lasted long though. Real life would always come crashing down on her before too long.

  If only she had been born before the Great War, when life was simple and easy. Back then, nobody knew that the monsters they read about in books were actually real. They soon found out differently when the Great War started.

  Everything from Demons to Shapeshifters and Vampires to Fae, it was all real. What was worse, they were all out for blood…Human blood.

  From what Natalia had been told about the time of the Great War, more than half of the Human population were killed in less than a week. The rest of Humanity scattered, trying to stay out of the way of a war that had nothing to do with them. Some succeeded, otherwise she wouldn't be here today, but most weren't so lucky.

  Within a year, the majority of Humanity had been wiped from the face of the planet. It wasn't any better once the war was over either, as those that survived were then hunted down and killed mercilessly.

  Nowadays, the last few remaining Humans alive travelled in small groups. Not only was it safer to travel with others, but the groups were kept small so they weren't as easily seen. The smaller the group the better, but it needed to be more than four to be on the safe side.

  Natalia remembered a time when there was over thirty people in their group, now there was less than half left. Over the years the numbers had dwindled drastically in their group. So much so that if their luck didn't change soon, then there would be none of them left.

  "Donovan's cooking dinner tonight," Amberly told her.

  "It should be edible then," Natalia said.

  Not everyone they travelled with could cook. Many a times Natalia and Amberly had come down with food poisoning. It was that bad at one point, Natalia had refused to eat anything that was cooked by anyone other than herself, Amberly, or Donovan. At least they knew how to cook properly, unlike nearly everyone else.

  Not long after the last bout of food poisoning... which lasted nearly a week... Amberly took it upon herself to teach everyone who couldn’t cook how to. Now most of them could cook at least simple meals, with the exception of Rafe. It didn't matter how much time Amberly spent teaching him, he didn't seem to get it. So, whenever it was his turn, Natalia went without.

  "Has everyone returned?" Natalia asked.

  "All but two," Amberly said.

  "Shit! It's nearly dark,” Natalia said worriedly. “They should have been back by now."

  "Rafe wants to go looking for them," Amberly said.

  Natalia's head snapped up at the news. "I hope someone stopped him? It's not safe at night."

  "You don't need to tell me,” Amberly said, raising her eyebrows. “I know just how dangerous it is."

  "Did the others at least come back with anything?" she asked.

  The whole point in them going out in the first place was to scavenge whatever they could, whether it was for food, clothing, weapons, or whatever else they needed to survive. If they came back empty handed, then they would have lost another two people for nothing. Not that they should be losing people full stop, but there was nothing she could do to change that, and at the end of the day they needed the supplies. So they had no choice but to risk lives.

  "Yeah, they managed to pick up a few bits. Not nearly enough though," Amberly said.

  The problem was, they had to venture close to the creatures that were trying to kill them in order to stock up on supplies. There was nothing else left from their own kind, it had all been looted long before she was born.

  "Fingers crossed the others will be back soon," Natalia said.

  "If they don't, we're going to be down another two people," Amberly sighed.

  Grimacing, Natalia said "I know, it's not great, but we'll manage... somehow."

  "What we need to do, is find more people," Amberly said.

  It was easier said than done nowadays. The Human race was rapidly dwindling, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Well, it would help if they weren’t being hunted down and killed, but she didn’t think the monsters…as she liked to call them…were going to stop until there wasn’t any of them left.

  "I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. How long has it been since we last came across anyone?" Natalia asked.

  "At least three years," Amberly told her.

  Natalia hadn't thought it had been that long, but thinking about it, it must have been.

  "Maybe we need to move further away. Didn't the last group say they were heading up north?" Amberly asked.

  "Something like that. We need a plan though,” Natalia said. “I don't think just heading north is a good idea. I don't think anyone here has been up there before."

  "I think you're right,” Amberly agreed. “I haven't heard any of the others talking about it."

  Natalia, Amberly, and Donovan were the only ones left from their original group. Everyone else had joined up with them later on along the way. Most of them came from the same group, which was why so many of them couldn’t cook when they first joined.

  It made Natalia wonder about the other group. How any of them survived this far without knowing basic survival skills such as cooking was beyond her. Did any of their previous group know how to cook? If so, why didn't they teach everyone else?

  It was one of the first things they were taught growing up... that and how to stay hidden. There was no point learning how to fight when the creatures you were up against had magic, razor sharp claws and teeth, or the ability to transform into anything they could imagine. Not to mention they were all incredibly stronger than Humans, no matter what race they were.

  It would be like an ant fighting against a Human. Hands down, the Human would win every time, which was exactly the same as fighting against the creatures. Even the seemingly weak among them could easily over power a Human without much effort.

  "We'll talk about what to do next over dinner. Let the others know that it's time to move on tomorrow," Natalia said.

  "I've done it already,” Amberly said. “They're waiting to hear what the plan is."

  "Dinner's in five minutes," Donovan said, sticking his head around the corner.

  "Great, we'll be there in a minute," Amberly told him.

  Donovan nodded before leaving as quickly as he entered.

  "Well, they won't have to wait long," Natalia pointed out.

  "I must admit, I'll be glad to finally be out of this bunker," Amberly said after a moment.

  "You could have gone with the others today," Natalia told her.

  "I know,” she said. “But it's not the same with them."

  "I know what you mean," Natalia agreed.

  Natalia and Amberly worked well together. They could easily read each other’s body language and hand gestures, which was essential when on a supply run. You couldn't always count on being able to communicate verbally. So, working with people who couldn't read you and you couldn't read them was not the best of ideas.

  It was also an extremely bad idea to go it alone. Yo
u needed someone to watch your back and vice-versa.

  "Are you feeling better at least?" Amberly asked.

  "Yeah, my head's finally stopped pounding,” Natalia said, relieved it had gone. “That remedy we found the other week worked wonders."

  "That's good. Make sure to write it down in the book," Amberly said.

  "I will do."

  Their book was currently just a few folded pieces of paper slid between the pages of a medicine book they found. The medicine book was from before the great war. Most of it they didn't understand, but it gave them the idea to start their own book. So now they were on the lookout for an empty book to fill themselves.

  It wasn't something they shared with the rest of the group though. Donovan knew about it, but he was the only person other than Natalia and Amberly.

  "Anyway, let’s go and eat before Donovan shouts at us for letting it go cold," Amberly said.

  "You go ahead,” Natalia told her. “I'll be through in a minute."

  "Okay, see you in there," she said on her way out.

  Once Natalia was alone again, she opened her satchel and pulled out the book in question. She wanted to write it down before she forgot. They were fast running out of space on the paper, it wouldn't be long before they needed a new one.

  The problem with that, was it's not something they come across often. All three of them looked for a book to use whenever they were scavenging, but so far nothing. They couldn't ask the others to keep an eye out for one without telling them why, which none of them were prepared to do.

  It wasn't that they didn't trust the others, they wouldn't be traveling with them if it was a matter of trust. You couldn't survive this life if you didn't have any trust in the people you were with. It wasn't even that they wanted to keep the remedies to themselves, either. They were more than happy to share the information, they just didn't want the others touching their book.

  None of them wanted to lose it or for it to get ruined in any way, but the more people who had access to it, the more likely something like that was going to happen. Not only that, but the three of them started it together long before they met up with the others in the group, and they wanted to keep it between just the three of them.

  A pencil was their only means to write. It wasn't the most reliable way, since it often faded from overuse and disappeared completely when the paper was wet, but it was all they had. Natalia knew people used to use things called pens, but none of the ones they found had worked.

  Natalia copied word for word onto the paper, before returning it to the book. Natalia put it all back in her satchel when she was finished. Leaving the satchel on the pile of blankets she was using as a bed, Natalia stood and stretched before joining the others for dinner.

  "What took you so long?" Donovan asked as she sat down. "Your dinner is nearly cold."

  "Sorry, I was just packing up ready for tomorrow," she lied. Later she'll tell him what she was doing, but for now, that was all she was going to say.

  "Amberly said we're moving on tomorrow," Rafe said.

  "What if the others aren't back by then?" Bella asked.

  "Then we'll leave them," Natalia told her.

  "Why can't we wait? Or better yet, go looking for them?" Bella asked.

  "You know why. If we wait, we stand more chance of being caught, and you know we don't go looking for missing people. If we did and they’ve been caught, then we would likely be caught as well. It's this way so the majority of the group stays safe," Natalia reminded her, "Which is why whenever we go out, we go in pairs and not as a whole group. It's bad enough moving between camps when we're all together."

  "Yeah, I know. It just doesn't seem right to leave without them," Bella said.

  "I know. I wish there was more we could do, but there isn't," Natalia said, shaking her head. "So, we have to go on without them."

  "So, where are we going next?" Rafe asked.

  "Amberly mentioned heading north. We don't know what's up there, but after thinking about it, I agree with her," Natalia said. When they all moaned, she added, "Does anyone have a better idea? If so, I'd like to hear it."

  When nobody piped up with a better idea, Natalia said: "That's settled then. We'll leave at first light, so get plenty of rest after dinner, if you can."

  Natalia hoped she was making the right decision in heading north, but only time would tell. For now, she was going to try to follow her own advice, and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Taredd

  Taredd wasn't surprised to find that Arun had left early the next morning. For someone who wanted time off, he was awfully eager to get going with the hunt. Taredd wondered if there was more to it than Arun just wanting to win a bet, but he wasn’t about to pry into Arun’s private life. Arun was welcome to his secrets. He knew if he ever needed them, Taredd and Dain would be there, no matter what.

  Dain was more than likely still fast asleep at this hour. He probably only turned in an hour or so ago, so it'll be closer to lunch time before he finally crawled out of his pit. Either way, it didn't matter to Taredd. Neither he nor Arun would accept any help from the Shapeshifter. After all, that would be cheating.

  Taredd packed up his few belongings, then headed out. The sooner he found a Human, the sooner the bet would be over with and they could all get back to work. Yes, technically he was still working, but they were much more efficient when they were all on the same team, working together rather than against each other.

  Stepping outside, Taredd took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. This was the best time of day to start a hunt. Humans seemed to think they had nothing to worry about in the day, especially first thing in the morning. They thought it was more dangerous at night, so they let their guard down in the day. Which was a huge mistake on their part. In fact, it was more dangerous during the day. Taredd wasn't about to enlighten them to the fact though, because it made his job a hell of a lot easier.

  Without a destination in mind, Taredd decided to head north. He didn't know why he picked that direction, as it wasn't very popular with the Humans because of the colder climates. Only a few had been caught up there over the last ten or so years. But for some reason, Taredd had a feeling it was the right place to begin his search.

  The cold weather didn't bother him. Like many of the other species, he could regulate his body temperature using magic. The Shapeshifters were the only kind unable to do that, but then they could transform into an animal that could withstand the cold so they didn't need the ability.

  The weather wasn't all that great where he was at the moment either. It was prone to rain an awful lot, and the wind could pick up without a moment’s notice. But a couple of miles up the road, it was even worse. At this time of the year it snowed regularly.

  The mountains didn't help either. More often than not they were covered with snow, just like they were today. From where Taredd had been staying, to travel north meant he would have to pass through the mountains first.

  This is where it would be handy to transform into another creature, but unfortunately his kind couldn't transform into anything else like some of the other species could. If he had possessed that ability, he would have turned into a bird and covered the distance in a third of the time. But since he couldn't, he was stuck with walking on two legs. At least he was faster on his feet than Arun.

  Taredd wondered how Arun was getting on with his search. Which direction had he taken? Knowing Arun, he was more than likely heading back down south. Even though he could regulate his temperature the same as Taredd, he still preferred the warmer climates. So Taredd wouldn't put it passed him to head in that direction. Whether or not he came across any Humans was a different matter.

  Before they came to the little village at the bottom of the mountains, they had been searching the south. There weren't many Humans left down there now. The few that were left were becoming increasingly harder to find, which was why they had travelled this way in the first place
.

  Taredd didn't care where Arun was going. If he was heading back down south, then good luck to him. It wasn't going to be easy for either of them anyway. So north or south, they both stood the same chance in winning the bet.

  It didn't take long for Taredd to reach the beginning of the pass that would take him through the mountains. It should only take him a couple of days to reach the other side of the mountains from here. Taredd planned on walking through the night as well, so he could save time instead of wasting it.

  Being a Demon had many perks, being able to see clearly in the dark was definitely one of the best. That, along with being able to regulate his body temperature, meant it was going to be more like a walk in the park instead of a freezing cold mountain pass.

  "Are you following me?"

  Taredd jumped at the sound of Arun's voice behind him.

  "What the fuck are you doing here?" Taredd asked him. "I thought you had gone south again."

  "I was thinking about it, but then I thought I would try my luck in the north instead," Arun said. "I take it you thought the same thing?"

  "Yeah."

  "Well, since we're heading in the same direction,” Arun said. “We might as well walk together."

  "What? Then split up on the other side of the mountains?" Taredd asked.

  "Might as well,” Arun said. “Unless you think you're going to find any along the pass?"

  Shrugging one shoulder, Taredd said: "Nah, I can't see any of the Humans hiding out in the mountains. It's far too cold and the weather too unpredictable for them."

  "True," Arun agreed. "So, how about it? Start the bet when we've reached the other side?"

  "Okay then. We'll start the bet on the other side," Taredd agreed.

  "Let’s get going then," Arun said.

  "What's the rush?" Taredd asked.

  Not that he wanted to drag this bet out longer than needed, but Arun seemed extremely eager to get going... even more so than usual.