Rebirth

Prologue

The little girl’s heartbreaking cries rang through the night. She helplessly shook her mother’s lifeless body, but refusing to let go. Her father lay a few feet away from her mother, covered in blood. Somewhere in the house, a fire had started and was spreading quickly. Tendrils of smoke rapidly snuck around the room and crept towards her threatening to cut off her air supply. The little girl felt the heat of the flames as they licked at her and wailed louder.
A man heard her coughing as he passed outside and rushed to her side. She thrashed and yelled as he carried her out to safety, her arms outstretched towards the two most important people in her life. Even though she was only five, she knew she would never see her parents again, that her life had changed forever and that tore a hole in her heart.

“Shh, it’s ok darling,” the man whispered to her trying to calm her down, “everything is going to be ok.”
She gradually stopped struggling but her sobs continued to tug at his heart. She watched through bleary eyes as her home burned to the ground. The orange flames brightened the night sky and extended upwards as though they had a life of its own. The little girl felt them reaching out for her, she knew they wanted to pull her in and engulf her, but as it was they were content to burn away every single memory she had ever created in that house.
There were a few people running around trying to stop the fire but she knew it was futile, even if they saved the house; it was no longer her home. She closed her eyes and hid her face in the stranger’s neck and let the heart-rending sobs shake her.

Dion Grant looked at the little girl curled up in his arms. The fire had been put out but the damage had already been done. She had finally calmed down enough to fall asleep but even then he could still see her struggling. He felt sorry for her losing her parents at such a young age; yet he admired her spirit.


Chapter 1

Theresa Martin jumped forward onto the next rooftop. Her long black hair flowed behind her with a little help from the wind while her nimble feet barely touched the ground as she gained on her prey. She was grateful for all the extra stamina training she had endured or she would have long given up on this chase.
On any regular day she would never have been able to walk through this area. This was her first time setting foot here and yet she ran forward, target locked on her prey.
She could hear very minute sounds coming from up ahead, indicating a battle. With a little help from the pale moonlight, she could identify several silhouettes in the distance.

It was difficult not to make any noises and to try and mute her heart beat while on the move but she knew it was her only shot at a surprise attack. The vampires seemed determined to take down their victim and she had no intentions of being added to their list. She snuck forward in a low crouch as she neared the fight scene. She could see four shadows, three against one. Her teeth ground watching the vampires fight dirty, but she was impressed by the victim’s ability to hold them off for so long.

Theresa knew she should have waited for back up, Dean wasn’t too far away and he had been doing this longer than she had; but her blood had boiled at the thought of another helpless victim being stolen away by those heartless monsters. As a member of the Vampire Hunter’s Association, she felt it was her duty to stop any and every vampire she came across.
She took a moment to observe the fight, all she needed was to identify the victim, and somehow take out the vampires without harming him. One or two casualties were normal but the victims were always grateful to walk away with their lives.

There was one man who seemed to be standing slightly on the sidelines while two others attacked the fourth man. Steadily, she withdrew her crossbow. The area was surprisingly quiet considering it wasn’t that late, but that was probably why the vamps had chosen to fight here. Relax, breathe, focus, and aim! The vampire never heard the deadly arrow until it was too late to dodge. She imagined his shocked face just before he poofed into a pile of dust. Not quite the fireworks she had expected, but hey, one down two to go.


Trent felt the energy flux the moment she had arrived. It was evident from the way his attackers didn’t break in stance that they were too immersed in the fight to notice. Her energy was familiar to him but he couldn’t place where he had met her before. He realised the moment the arrow was released that she was after the rogues. As far as he could tell though, she was a mere human, so why was she involved in a vampire fight; unless she was a hunter. He felt his hackles rise in warning. Most vampire hunters killed first and asked questions later, they didn’t realise that vampires were as individual as humans and it annoyed him. The two remaining rogues hesitated slightly before making their move. It was obvious from their decision they thought they could eliminate the lesser threat first. One went off towards her while the other remained to fight him.
“Do you really think you can beat me on your own? Think about it, there were eight of you remember?” Trent asked his assailants.
Trent was exhausted already and he tried to talk the remaining man out of the fight.
“Yes, this is exactly why you will be an easy fix.” The man replied in his heavily accented voice.
“But I wonder why you should rely on a pesky human to come to your aid?” the way he said 'pesky human' was indication enough of how he felt.

He spat at Trent’s feet before making a lunge for him. A little whelp in the direction of the woman caused Trent to falter slightly. The rogue took the opportunity to try and go for the kill. Trent dodged at the last second, swiftly maneuvering himself behind the other man and twisted his neck in one motion. Without any further pause he ran to the woman.


Theresa staggered backwards as the vampire slammed into her. She noted vaguely that the sounds from the other fight had stopped. Her heart sank at her failure and now she was probably going to have to fight them both off. She still had a knife in her leg sheath; she just needed an opportunity to get it out. Unfortunately that opportunity never came. The vampire pounced on her and sent her falling backwards, her head banging on the ground. She simultaneously struggled to stay concious and keep her assailant from reaching her neck, all the while replaying her argument with Dion earlier that night.

“Theresa I know you are ready for field work, but believe me, tonight’s assignment might be too risky for you.” Dion had said to her in his smooth calm voice.
“You always give me that same pathetic excuse. When are you ever going to let me have a go? Besides, it’s only surveillance; nothing much will happen anyway right? Please Dion, please let me go, I promise I won’t let you down.”

She had done her best puppy dog impression and had somehow managed to win him over. Unfortunately she had been stuck with Dean, who was just as overbearing as her father. At least she had been stuck with him until he got called away.
“If anything happens, call me back immediately do you understand?” Dean had told her in his most authoritative voice.
“Yes Dean. It’s only surveillance, what’s the worst that could happen?” she replied obediently.
“I’m serious Terry, No joking about this time! The only time you're ever this obedient is when you have something planned up your sleeve,” Dean said.
Dean had gone off mumbling to himself, without waiting for a response or saying anything further to her.

As the vampire’s bloody breath assailed her nose, she scolded herself for being so full of it. Her head was starting to pound and her vision was blurring. The moon blacked out as a shadow fell over her; I’m sorry Dion, I should’ve listened. As she surrendered to her fate, she felt the weight of her attacker lift off her. Is this what it feels like to die? She barely heard the voice that called out to her when her world was engulfed in darkness.

Trent carried the unconscious woman to a secure corner where the wind wouldn’t get to her. He knew it would be in his best interest to walk away from her now. As it was he still couldn’t think of a reasonable explanation for why he had come to her aid. The rogue vampires were after him; he could have just used her as bait and escaped while he had the chance. He knew someone would be keeping an eye on him and even though he had saved her now, he had probably just dragged her into his own war.
Lying there on the floor in the pale moonlight, she looked like a doll. Her skin was flawless porcelain and her lips just the right shade of strawberry pink. If not for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, she could easily have passed for a dead person. Before he could think better of it, Trent caressed her soft cheeks with the back of his fingers. His hand trailed down her face until his fingers were on her neck. The soft supple skin beneath her fingers was barely any protection for the pulsating vein. He struggled to gain control as his fangs lengthened in anticipation. A low growl escaped his throat and he forced himself away from her.

Her scent reminded him of something he had long forgotten and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to remember. He stood a few feet away from her and watched her sleep. Eventually she would wake up and maybe she would break whatever spell currently prevented him from leaving her side.

 
Theresa was acutely aware of the silence surrounding her as she slowly regained consciousness. Her heartbeat resounded loudly in her own ears and the only other sound was the blood rushing in her veins. She knew very well that this kind of silence was usually a signpost to danger, a warning for trouble ahead. It was difficult to get her eyes open with the insistent hammering going on in her head. She tried to ‘feel’ around her for any other life; expanding her own consciousness outwards and found she wasn’t alone. It had scared her the first time she had ever done it but not even Dion knew about this. Whoever was with her didn’t seem to mean her harm, or she wouldn’t be getting up right now. The hammering got worse as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Two strong arms were suddenly helping her up and an intoxicating masculine scent enveloped her just before a beautiful deep voice spoke.

“Easy does it.”
It wasn’t much but it was enough to send tremors down her spine and she wanted to see the owner of that beautiful voice. Theresa allowed the stranger to help her sit up and slowly opened her eyes. The moon was partly clouded over and made it difficult for her to see clearly. The silhouette of her stranger was before her and judging from the proportions, he was well built. She put one hand on his arm and it felt solid as a rock. She felt safe simply from that fact alone.
Her vision slowly began to clear up and she realised they were still on the rooftop. The realisation struck home and she rushed to her feet, causing her to lose her balance slightly.

“Whoa, calm down. They’re gone now, there’s no need to rush.” The stranger had caught her again just before she fell. Theresa had no time for this; so what if the man was built like a god?

“Whoever you are, thank you; but you need to get away from here,” she told him forcefully.
Her voice was slightly hoarse when she spoke. She didn’t wait for a response and immediately broke away from his grip. Dean and the others would be arriving soon enough and even though she had almost died, she didn’t want to be caught in a compromising position. Vampire hunters were never allowed to get attached to the people they save and they weren’t allowed to get them involved either. As it was she had allowed this man to risk his life for her, she wasn’t about to let him do anything else. Without turning back she made her way down.

Trent watched confounded as the little woman raced down the wall. If he hadn’t arrived when he did, he would be finding somewhere to hide her body. Why did it bother him so much what happened to her? All humans were the same, stupid, arrogant and vain; she was no exception. Still, as he watched her move lithe and expertly using her equipment to scale the wall, he couldn’t stop the feeling of wanting to stay close to her. Her body seemed too fragile and from the time he had spent with her, he knew she was the kind to get into trouble just to prove a point. He watched as she lowered herself onto the ground. The street was quiet but he could hear cars coming in the distance. It was obvious she was working with someone, and just maybe it would be the same person he was searching for. Trent jumped down.