Teren scowled, but didn’t comment on that. Perhaps he understood only too well how true that sentence was. Instead, he asked, “What can we do to help you? To help you both?”
I could hear the unhappiness in his voice. He knew exactly what I was going to ask. Or at least, he thought he did. I sighed just as unhappily. “The best thing to ease the bond would be for Nika to stay here at the ranch with me. It would prevent our impassioned nightly reunions. It would keep us mellower. She could finish high school here, being homeschooled by Alanna, Imogen, and Halina instead of the online courses you’ve been having her take. She’d have more room to spend her days. She’d have more people to talk to. In every way, it would be better for her.”
“I know,” Teren muttered before he looked away. I saw the debate in his eyes as he twisted his head to look at Emma. He must have had these thoughts himself, or else enough people had mentioned it to him that he’d considered the possibility. He didn’t like it though. I didn’t either.
“That’s not what I want to happen. That’s not the help I need from you.”
Teren and Emma both snapped their focus to me. “What?” Teren asked, dumbfounded.
I shrugged. “It’s true, not so long ago, that was exactly what I wanted…but things have changed.” I slid my eyes over to Jake. He was blatantly watching us now. “Life here isn’t as easy and carefree as it used to be. It’s not as…safe.” I returned my eyes to Teren’s.
He flicked a glance at Jake, his father, and Jake’s two bodyguards, then his gaze slowly returned to me. “I can understand why you feel that way,” he quietly said.
I knew he didn’t entirely agree on the level of danger Jake presented. He felt he was well guarded, and it was important to show Jake a normal and loving environment, one that included his children. But Nika was my entire world. I couldn’t risk even the slightest bad thing happening to her. “I don’t want Nika here, not right now, but I can’t stand being apart from her either, especially with the bond amplifying everything I feel for her. I’m stuck.”
Teren sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I see your dilemma. I…I could offer a room in my home to you.”
Emma’s eyes widened as she stared at her husband. I stared at him too. The only lightproof room in the house was downstairs…with Nika. He was essentially okaying me to share a bedroom with his daughter. I was tempted, sorely tempted, but being with Nika wasn’t the only thing I needed to be doing right now. “I appreciate the offer. More than you know. But…” I changed my stare to Jake. “I’m needed here.”
I saw Teren nodding out of the corner of my eye. “I thought you might say that. So, if you can’t go, and Nika can’t stay…what other option does that leave you with?”
I inhaled a breath and held it. He wasn’t going to like this. But his dislike was going to be mild compared to the two women in my life that this was going to affect the most. Luckily for me, neither one of those women were in the home right at the moment. With a sharp exhale, I told him, “Help me convince Halina and Nika that, for right now, the bond needs to be severed. I’ll take Gabriel’s shot. I’ll keep taking it, until I no longer need to.” I flicked a glance at Jake, silently blaming him with my eyes. But for him falling into our laps, I’d be asking Teren a much different question.
Teren and Emma both seemed equally stunned. Teren shook his head. “When you asked to talk without Nika here, I just assumed you’d be asking to marry her. I never imagined this conversation.”
A sad smile escaped me. Marrying Nika, making her my wife. That was a dream I’d had more than one time. It seemed like an impossibility at the moment, and she was still so young but maybe, someday…
“Ah, no…I don’t think we’re ready for that. Yet.”
Emma smiled at my word choice. Teren pursed his lips in a gesture that could have been pleasure or irritation. I wasn’t quite sure. Rubbing his hands, Teren exchanged a glance with his wife. “Hunter, we can’t…breaking the bond…Halina and Nika won’t accept that as a solution. There has to be something else.”
Teren looked over at Jake. Jake, no longer hiding that he was listening, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I got a real simple solution for you. Let me go, then your girl can move in, no problems,” he said.
Teren shook his head. “So you can tell all your hunter friends what we’re trying to do here? I don’t see how that’s going to help much.” He returned his eyes to mine. “We’ll all have bullseyes on our hearts for what we’ve done.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have done it,” Jake snapped. “You’re messing with people’s free will. You’re acting like gods.”
Letting out a weary sigh, I turned to regard Jake with tired eyes. I really needed to get more sleep. “We’re trying to forge peace between our species.”
Jake smirked. “Forge peace? Interesting choice of words. But appropriate considering that you’re shaping minds to your beliefs, just like a blacksmith shapes steel into a weapon of their choice. But tell me, vampire, who is shaping your species to not murder ours? Who fights for the humans in your negotiations?”
I turned away from him. I was getting really tired of his never-ending diatribe. And a tiny part of me agreed with him. “I don’t see another way with Nika right now. Gabriel has already perfected the shot, I just have to ask him to—”
“No.” A figure walked into the room, grabbing everyone’s attention. I looked up at Gabriel’s cool eyes as he stood a few feet away from me.
“No?” I blinked, surprised by his entrance. I’d assumed Gabriel was downstairs in his lab or outside with Halina. She was in the pastures, hunting some fresh meat before she went out to wait at the meeting site where more hunters would be converted tonight if they showed up. I should be going with her, but this took precedence.
Gabriel’s jade eyes regarded Jake before returning to me. “I will not participate in helping you break your bond with Halina. I angered her once by doing that, and I have no intention of doing so again.”
I clenched my jaw in frustration, but I understood Gabriel’s reluctance. He was already on thin ice with my creator. “I promise you I won’t be taking it without her consent and approval.” I shook my head. “I’m not running away this time. I’m not going anywhere. I just want to make things easier. For everyone.”
Gabriel frowned. “You will be hard-pressed to convince her. Nika as well. Breaking the bond between vampires is…uncomfortable for each vampire.”
My lip curved into a half smile. “Believe me, I know that. I just don’t see any other option.” I glared at Jake. “Any feasible ones.”
Jake only smiled at my comment. Gabriel’s dirty-blonde head turned to rest on the captive vampire hunter in the room. “I find you fascinating,” he plainly stated.
Jake looked mildly uncomfortable being the ancient vampire’s sole focus. “Well, that’s great. I find you a bit creepy.”
Gabriel tilted his head, like he didn’t understand why anyone would find him creepy. “Your blood is quite different from any mixed vampire’s blood that I’ve ever inspected. And I’ve inspected a lot of blood. It is sort of my specialty.”
Jake returned his eyes to the chessboard. He fingered the bishop, like he was debating a power play. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re a real expert on blood…but I’m no vampire.”
Gabriel blurred to Jake’s side, startling him. Jake jumped to his feet, making us jump to ours. Tensions rose. Jack slowly stood and backed up a couple of steps while Rory and Cleo jumped forward like they were going to tackle Jake. Gabriel held up his hand to stop them. “I am an expert. And your blood is not natural. That much I’m certain of.”
Jake sniffed and lifted his chin. “If I knew what that meant, I might be offended.”
Stepping toward them, I asked Gabriel, “What do you mean? How is he not natural?”
Gabriel twisted his head to look at me. “I think our friend here is right. He’s not a vampire, mixed or otherwise. The vampire blood in his syst
em was given to him, but not through birth.”
I didn’t know what the hell that meant, but I didn’t have time to worry about it either. Jake had a tempting target in front of him, a target who wasn’t paying him any attention, and he wasn’t about to let that opportunity go. Almost as fast as a vampire could move, he shoved the bishop clenched in his fingers into Gabriel’s exposed neck. The sharp, glass piece punctured Gabriel’s jugular, and fresh blood exploded into the room.
It only took me a split-second to react, but in that second, Jake made his move. He shoved Gabriel away from him and jumped over the table to get to Jack. Teren’s father was an old man, and not nearly as nimble as Jake. The vampire hunter pulled him in front of him like a shield, just as the wolves descended. Teren and I were in front of him in a flash, Rory and Cleo were tense and alert behind him. He was surrounded.
Still holding onto his bloody chess piece, Jake held it to Jack’s throat. “Nobody move.” He gestured toward Gabriel, still on the floor. “He may survive his neck being torn open, but I have a feeling this one won’t.”
Emma was hunched beside Gabriel. He was fine, his wound had already closed, but he was clearly shaken. Teren and I were nearly brushing against Jack we were so close. I was sure we could yank him out of harm’s way before Jake could do anything, but jerking him that hard and that fast might hurt him just as much as Jake stabbing him.
“You don’t want to do this,” Teren said in a low, cold voice.
Jake pressed the piece harder, so that Jack’s neck turn red and splotchy around the point of impact. “Don’t I?” he asked.
Teren shook his head. He had his hands out in front of him, but he was crouched for action. “You’re a guest here, and so long as you’re a guest, no one will harm you. But if you hurt anyone, all that changes. I’ll put you down myself.”
Jake smirked. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of your little vampire protection agency? Aren’t you opposed to vengeance killings, on both sides?” Teren clenched his jaw and Jake smiled even wider. “Now as your guest, I’m kindly asking to leave.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, Jake was rapped over the head with a frying pan. I blinked in shock as I watched him crumple to the floor. Alanna was standing next to him, a greasy pan from dinner still clutched in her fingers. She’d been listening to everything in the kitchen, and had blurred into the room behind him, between Rory and Cleo, and taken him unaware.
“No one threatens my husband in my house,” she seethed. Dropping the pan, she rushed over to Jack to make sure he was okay. He was shaken, but physically, he seemed all right.
Gabriel stood and looked down on Jake’s slumbering form. The crisp, white dress shirt Gabriel had been wearing was soaked with crimson now. So was a good chunk of the rug around him. Blood dripped off his wet shirt, staining his slacks. It dripped off his fingertips, splattering onto the floor, adding to the horror.
Concerned for the old vampire, I asked, “Are you okay?”
He looked back at me, nodded, then returned his eyes to Jake; Jake’s heartbeat was slow, but steady. He was fine. “The wound has healed. I will live.” He said it calmly, but I knew for a fact that he was in pain—getting hurt still hurt.
Reaching down, Gabriel picked up the unconscious vampire hunter. “What are you going to do with him?” I asked.
Gabriel swung his gaze to me. His cheek and jaw were covered with arterial spray. It was a distressing sight. “I’m going to make sure he’s all right, then I’m going to escort him back to his room where he’ll be closely guarded for the remainder of the evening.” He looked over at Rory and Cleo and the pair immediately nodded. With this lapse in security, they’d probably be even more dedicated to the task.
Gabriel and I didn’t have the warmest relationship, but I patted his shoulder as he walked by me. Surprisingly, there were tiny drops of blood on my hand. Gabriel’s wound had been messy. “I’m glad you weren’t seriously injured.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at me. “I am as well.”
While Gabriel walked away with Jake’s limp body, Teren made sure his father was okay. The unprovoked attack only strengthened my resolve. The ranch was no place for Nika. In truth, it was no place for any of the humans either. I’d never get Jack to leave without his wife, though, and Linda was equally reluctant to leave. Ashley and Christian weren’t going anywhere until their vacation was over. There were way too many potential targets in this nest for my liking.
I walked over to Teren with images of Jake stabbing Nika in my mind. It sickened my already twisting stomach. “Teren, it may be time to rethink the panel’s decision about keeping him here.”
Teren sighed as he patted his dad on the back. “It was my decision…and I know.” His eyes were worn when he looked at me. “Life in prison or execution didn’t sound like viable options either though. This is the only way…” His eyes drifted back to his parents, and I could clearly see how much putting his family in jeopardy bothered him.
“Well, at least reconsider your children being a part of this. Nika…” My words caught and I couldn’t continue.
Teren’s mouth hardened as he looked back at me. “You’re right. Right now, the risk is too great. Julian and Nika shouldn’t be here. I’ll help you break the bond with my daughter. I’ll help the two of you stay apart.”
It felt like my gut had been punched in with his words. The last thing I wanted was to be apart from Nika. I’d much rather be wrapped in her arms. I’d much rather be in her tiny little cement box under her parents’ home than here in this spacious, luxurious ranch without her. But, I had a duty to perform—keeping my nest safe—and it would never be safe so long as Jake believed we were soulless, bloodthirsty monsters.
My chin dropped to my chest as I bowed my head. “This isn’t what I really want, but…thank you.”
Teren pressed his palm to my shoulder. “I know. You’re a good man, Hunter.” I peeked up at him, surprised that he would admit that. He shook his head. “I may not like the fact that you’re my teenage daughter’s sire, but…I couldn’t have picked out a better boyfriend for her.”
A small smile lifted my lips. “Thank you. Your approval means a lot.”
Teren lifted his finger to my face. “That does not mean I’m okay with you sleeping with her.”
“Teren! Boundaries…” Emma snapped.
Teren ignored his wife as he stared at me. I immediately averted my eyes. “We’re not… We don’t…” Not sure what to say, but knowing I owed him the truth, I returned my eyes to his. “I’m not sleeping with her.”
The others in the room were studiously ignoring our conversation, which I had to assume was intentional. While Emma glared at her husband, Teren cocked his head. “Have you ever slept with her?” he asked.
Damn it. I wanted to be honest with him, but I was pretty sure he was going to stake me if I told him the truth. So much for being a great boyfriend. I opened my mouth to answer him and Emma slapped her hand over my lips. “Do not answer that,” she said. Then she smacked Teren’s shoulder. “You can’t ask your daughter’s boyfriend that question, Teren.”
Teren twisted to face her. “I just want to know if our daughter is still a virgin or not. Isn’t that my right, as her father?”
Lowering her hand from my mouth, Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “No, it’s not. If Nika wants to talk to you about it, then she will, but you have to let her come to you.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Remember how intrusive your family was when we first got together? And how annoying and frustrating that was? You can’t do the exact same thing to her.” She shook her head, looking very set on protecting her daughter’s privacy.
Teren pursed his lips, but didn’t argue. From behind him, his mother Alanna, muttered, “Even though it’s been said a hundred times…we’re very sorry about that.”
Teren’s expression eased as he laughed. The slight tension in the room dissolved with his sudden mirth. Looking over at me, he said, “All right, don??
?t tell me.” He raised his hands. “I really don’t want to know anyway. She’s my baby. I want her to stay that way.”
I nodded in understanding. Teren’s chuckles died with a sigh. “I suppose I should call Nika and explain that coming out tonight isn’t going to happen. She’s not going to like that.” Frowning, he twisted to Emma. “Maybe I should run home, talk to her in person?”
Emma was already nodding, and saying that was good idea when I suddenly remembered the secret party I was helping to cover up. “Um, actually, I think this is a conversation I should have with her. I mean, I am the one about to sever our bond. She’ll be even more upset over that.”
Teren considered that, then nodded. “We’ll all go. It should be a family conversation anyway, especially since it affects Julian as well as Nika.”
Teren took a step forward like he was heading for the doors, and I shot my hands out to stop him. “There’s no need for you guys to leave right now. There’s a pretty big mess to clean up here.” I indicated the bloody evidence of Gabriel’s attack, then looked over at Emma. “And I know you want to spend time with your sister. If you go all the way home, you know you’ll end up staying there and you’ll miss out on time with her.”
Emma glanced at Teren. “He’s right. You go, I’ll stay here with Ash.”
I wanted to groan in frustration. If I could only just order them to stay.
Teren nodded, gave her a kiss, then patted my shoulder. “Shall we race?” he asked me. “I might be mixed, but I think I can take you.”
I shook my head as I fumbled for a reason for him to stay. Any reason. “I can do this alone. You can stay with your wife. I’m sure she’d love to have some kid-free time with you.”
Teren laughed once. “We work together. In a private office. With a locked door. We get lots of kid-free time.”
Emma gasped and playfully pushed his shoulder. I wrinkled my nose, wondering what to say now. “Well, still. I’ve got this. You can stay here.”
Teren shook his head. “I should run into town anyway. Check out the meeting spot with Great-Gran. See if any hunters showed up tonight. It’s been a while since we’ve had any new arrivals, but…”