Free Hunted (The Tinder Chronicles) by Alexa Land Page B

biggest threats to the vampire race in California,
and made it clear that everyone it named should be exterminated with extreme
prejudice. I scrolled down, and revealed the photo of the person at the top of
the list. It was a picture of Bane.
    “Oh my God,” I
muttered, reading the physical description and the few facts about his known
whereabouts that followed. When I scrolled a little further, a picture of me
came up, the number ‘two’ beside it. It was actually my old driver’s license
photo. It had been taken about four years ago, but I hadn’t changed much. Since
I’d used a fake name and address, I really wondered how the vamps had
identified that as me. I read what little information they had on me, then
said, “I’m five-eleven, not five-ten.” Bane grinned, and I asked, “When did
this list come out?”
    “A couple weeks ago. I’m
not sure if it’s been very effective. Even with their photos and descriptions
out there, hunters tend to slip under the radar.”
    “But we’re not used to
being hunted, it caught me off guard when those vamps came after me. I need to
figure out how to contact the people on this list and warn them.” I had no idea
how I was going to do that, though.
    I went through the rest
of the document quickly. The list included thirty-six names, not all of which
had accompanying photos. I had either met, or at least heard of, almost all of
them. The people at the top of the list, except for Bane, were all full-blooded
hunters. Those farther down in the rankings were for the most part partially
sighted, like Lee. Fortunately, his photo was grainy and out of focus, and his
location was listed just as Southern California. “Now how on Earth do the vamps
know who has the sight, and who doesn’t?” I murmured.
    “They don’t. The people
on this list are ranked according to how big a threat they’re perceived to be.
That just happens to correlate with the second-sight gift that true hunters
have. A few people on that list aren’t natural-born hunters at all, just
amateurs that have gotten good at killing vampires.”
    “So, why are you at the
top of this list?”
    He said, “Because there’s
only one thing vampires hate more than hunters.”
    “Traitors?”
    “Exactly. When I turned
on my people, I signed my own death warrant. I knew that would happen.”
    “If you knew it would
happen, why did you turn on them?”
    “Do you really not know
the answer to that, Tinder?” Bane asked quietly, pivoting the computer toward
him.
    “No, not really. I
mean, you’re clearly some kind of vigilante, but I have no idea why you fight
other vamps.”
    He kept his eyes on the
screen as he said, “Once I fell in love with a hunter, I really had no choice.”
    “Do you mean me?”
    Now he turned his head
to look at me, brows knit. “Who the hell do you think I mean?”
    I stared at him,
totally dumbstruck. No one had ever told me they loved me, not once in my
entire life. Not my parents or grandparents, people that really should have.
Not any of my brothers and sisters. Certainly not friends or boyfriends, since
I never really had any of those. “You love me?” I said dumbly, and he nodded.
After a moment of letting that sink in, I asked quietly, “Will you say it to me?”
    “Seriously?”
    “Please?”
    He looked like he
wanted to protest, a sarcastic remark right on the tip of his tongue. But after
a moment, he released the tension in his shoulders and sighed. Then he said, “I
love you, Tyler. I absolutely, totally, unequivocally love you.”
     He seemed defeated
somehow. When he met my gaze, there was both sadness and raw vulnerability in
his beautiful green eyes. It dawned on me that he completely expected me to
reject him, that he was just waiting for me to throw his confession back in his
face.
    But no way would I do
that, not when those words meant so much to me. I climbed onto his lap and wrapped
my arms around his shoulders. I really didn’t know what to do, this was