Mom smiled down at where her daughter was hiding. “Good morning, Nika.” She laughed after she said it, which I thought was a good sign. She’d shaken off a bit of her melancholy since this morning.
The family dog was waddling down the stairs as Mom walked up them. She reached down and stroked his grey muzzle as he inched his way past her. Spike gave her a quick lick, then continued on his journey to Dad. His nails clicked on the hardwood floors, and his long tail made a slow swish back and forth. It was about as excited as the ancient collie got nowadays.
Dad sank to his knees as Spike trudged over to him. Wrapping his arms around his neck, he rustled his fur. “Hey, boy, you didn’t need to come all this way to greet me. I know those stairs are tough for you.” Dad placed both of his palms on Spike’s right hip; he often limped on that leg. Maybe it was my imagination, but I swear Spike smiled as Dad’s chilled skin soothed his aches. Sometimes being really cold came in handy.
As I watched the labored way Spike breathed, the way his back dipped, and the way his body lightly shook with fatigue, a sad thought hit me. I unknowingly said it out loud. “He’s not going to be around much longer.”
Dad looked up at me with a forlorn expression. “I know. I figure two or three more months is all he’s got left in him.” Dad shifted his eyes back to Spike. “I can smell it. But it’s a miracle he’s lasted this long. I swear he’s set a record.” Dad smirked and rubbed Spike’s back.
Spike had been a part of the family longer than I had. The thought of him not being in the house anymore was hard to imagine. “Maybe Nika can turn him?” I suggested, only half-joking.
Dad raised an eyebrow in classic Dad-fashion. “We’re not making the dog a vampire.”
I heard Nika snort downstairs as I shrugged at Dad. “Has anyone ever turned a pet? Maybe we should ask Gabriel what would happen.”
Standing, Dad clapped my shoulder. “We’d have a rabid dog biting the neighbors, and that’s way too much cleanup work for Nika and Great-Gran.”
“And Hunter,” Nika added. He was a pureblood vampire too.
Dad sighed as he looked at where Nika was below him. “And Hunter.” Raising his eyes to Spike, who was now lying on the floor with his head on his paws, Dad murmured, “Spike will live and die a natural life…as he was meant to.” From the way he said it, I got the feeling he was talking about more than just the dog. None of us were going to live and die naturally. Well, I supposed I still had that option, if I took Gabriel’s shot that would keep me alive. I really hadn’t decided yet though, and I had plenty of time to do that. My future was still wide open to me. Unlike my sister. Dad and I glanced at each other, then back at the floor, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing: she’d died too young.
At hearing Dad say his name, Spike thumped his tail twice, but didn’t get up. I didn’t blame him. He was about a bazillion years old in human years. Hoping Dad had forgotten about the garage, I started inching my way toward the living room. Dad cleared his throat and smiled. “It’s this way.”
I started to groan in protest, but then I stopped myself. I wanted to appear like an adult so Dad would take me seriously. Whining wasn’t very adult-like. Although, I’d seen more than my fair share of adult temper tantrums. I slapped on a smile as I rubbed my hands together. “Okay, let’s do this!”
Dad narrowed his eyes at me. “Whatever you’re up to, I hope it’s worth it.”
I rolled my eyes at Dad like he was ridiculous, but on the inside my emotions were doing jumping jacks. Yes, she’s worth it, Dad. She’s worth all of this and so much more.
TRYING TO IGNORE the internal sensor in my body that told me the sun was still up, I sat on the end of my bed in my musty room and listened to my family. Dad and Julian were in the garage. Organizing the Christmas decorations from what I could tell. Dad was asking Julian to unpack all the lights and check them, then reroll the strands so they weren’t such a knotted mess when he pulled them out again in six months.
With clearly forced patience, Julian said, “Really? We need to do this now?” But then I heard him get to work on his project.
Julian wanted this party so badly that he would agree to do just about anything at the moment. I almost wanted to take advantage of the fact and give him something to do, but I’d never actually do that to him. And besides, I was partly responsible for what had happened between him and Arianna. If she hadn’t seen me dead…well, I was positive she wouldn’t have flipped out and broken it off with him, then Halina wouldn’t have wiped her memory and Julian wouldn’t be desperately trying to start over. Yeah, I was the one who should be in the garage helping Dad clean up. But I couldn’t. I was stuck down here for a few more hours. It was so boring here, I almost wanted to cry. It was how I imagined prison, expect for the amenities, of course. I mean, I did have a TV, fridge and computer at my disposal. I think it was the lack of a view that made it seem so cramped. And the smell. That didn’t help either.
I just wanted space. I wanted to be able to walk around. I wanted to see people, carry on conversations with them, and not just through the walls. But mostly, I wanted Hunter. I wanted to be near him more than I wanted anything else, even blood. It was a nagging sensation in the back of my head that I couldn’t turn off no matter how hard I tried. Everything about being at my parents’ house felt wrong. I was too far away from Hunter, from my sire. I needed him so much closer. I needed his arms around me, his lips on mine. But even then I would still feel too far from him.
My parents were being ridiculous about not allowing me to move to the ranch. They figured if they said yes and I started staying with Hunter, then I’d start sleeping with him too. They were actually right about that concern, but I wasn’t about to tell them that. My body ached for him so much it was painful at times, and I’d gone to sleep restless on more occasions than I cared to count. And it was only getting worse as time went by. I’d had him once, and I wanted him again. Especially now that we were bonded. But Hunter was being Hunter, and refusing to sleep with me under my father’s roof. He said it was disrespectful. I said it was annoying. My dad kept a sharp vigilance on the two of us, never closing his soundproof door anymore, but he couldn’t stay up as long as we could, and we had plenty of time every evening to fool around. But Dad had told Hunter no, and Hunter was honoring him by telling me no.
And because Dad had told us not to leave the house after everyone went to bed, and Hunter was obeying that request as well, we couldn’t even be together under somebody else’s roof. I’d even take the open air at this point. I wanted my boyfriend. Desperately. But now that he was fully fed, he had this superhuman-like resolve. Our bond drove us both to the brink of passionate madness, but he always pulled back in time. I was dying, again, and Hunter was killing me, again, just in a completely different way this time. But I would have him. Eventually this impasse would end, and I was going to get my way, and we were going to make love. He couldn’t hold out forever.
I tuned out Dad and Julian and shifted to Mom. She was in her bedroom, shuffling around and talking on the phone. She was probably changing out of her work clothes into something more comfortable. She was talking to Tracey while she moved around. From what I could hear, Tracey was having a mini panic attack.
“He wants me to go to the next group meeting, Em. Me!”
Mom sighed and there was a thump like she’d thrown her shoe across the room. “You should go. It will be good for you to see what he does.”
“But…there are going to be vampires there. And vampire hunters. And who knows what else! Probably a werewolf or two.”
Mom laughed and her bed squeaked as she sat down. “Werewolves aren’t real, Trace.”
“Oh? Just like vampires aren’t real, Em? Because I seem to remember hearing that before too!”
Tracey’s voice was on the shrill side. Mom answered her in a calm, soothing tone. “Okay, that’s a valid point. Well, I have yet to see or hear anything about werewolves, and none are scheduled to be at the meeting. It
will only be humans and vampires.”
“Only,” Tracey scoffed.
Mom continued, unfazed. “All of the vampires there are friendly, and all of the hunters there are in on the cause. We’re trying to forge peace between the two species, create justice, end unnecessary killing, on both sides. This is a big deal, and you should see it, so you can understand it, and not be so afraid of it.”
Tracey took a moment before she answered Mom. “I never said I was afraid.”
I smiled at the stubbornness in her voice, and I imagined Mom was doing the same. “Of course you’re not. You should still go though. It will help you understand, and you’ll be perfectly safe. No one at the meeting will hurt you. We’re all just trying to make the world safe for our children—human and vampire, Trace. For Olivia, Julian…Nika.” Mom sighed, sadness in the sound. She was still really affected by what had happened to me. We all were. Continuing, she told Tracey, “That’s all everyone in the group wants. Just keep that thought in your mind and you’ll do fine.”
Tracey sighed, and even I could hear the concession in the sigh. “Are you going? This would be a lot less…strange for me, if you and Teren were going to be there too.”
Mom let out a small laugh, her mood lifting with the sound. “We can be there if you want, if that would make things easier for you.”
“Um, well, yeah…it would.” Tracey laughed a little now too. “You two don’t scare me as much as…some of the others.”
I knew she meant my boyfriend and the other purebloods. Probably me too, since I was now in that category. Mom and Tracey went on to talk about other things, and I let my mind drift to other things. Namely Hunter and the cursed sun keeping us apart. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing right at this very moment. I knew he was at the ranch, I could feel him, but he was too far away for me to gauge whether he was moving around or not. He had to be awake, or maybe just waking up. He was probably with Halina, since the two of them were so close. I tried not to let that bother me, they were bonded after all, just like he was with me. Jealousy wasn’t always something that could be controlled though, and sometimes, like now, their closeness to each other was grating. I understood though. And besides, Hunter could be with Gabriel in his lab. Or with Imogen, Alanna, or anyone at the ranch who might be visiting the spacious underground levels. He wasn’t necessarily with his sire.
There were still a few repairs that needed to be done on the ranch, especially in the living room and the lower levels. The attack a couple months ago had been bad, really bad. I was a little glad I’d missed it. Julian had told me stories though—running away, trying to keep everyone safe, having to leave people that he was sure he’d never see again. He’d been terrified…that I’d known. Up until I’d died, I’d been able to feel his fear. I’d shared it with him while I’d faced my own scary situation.
But that was then and this was now, and we were all steadily picking up the pieces of our somewhat altered lives.
My cell phone rang while images of Hunter swam before my eyes. I shook my head to clear the image of his deep, piercing gaze, his stubbled jaw. I needed to get control over this bond, not let it have such a hold on me. I wanted him, yes, but I wanted to be my own person too. And if Mom had maintained her identity with her bond to Dad, then surely I could maintain mine too. Taylor women were strong that way.
Seeing the screen of my cell phone once I picked it up off my dresser, I couldn’t help but grin. Speaking of strong Taylor women. Pressing the answer button, I brought the phone to my ear, “Hi, Aunt Ashley.”
Ashley was my mom’s completely human sister. She still lived in California with her husband, but she called whenever she could. She’d flown up for a couple of weeks once she’d heard the news about me. I think it had really helped Mom to have her close again, but Ash had missed her home, her husband, and her job, so she’d reluctantly returned to San Francisco after her too-short visit. She called me at least three times a week though.
“Is this too early? I’m still not sure when I should call?” she asked, her voice warm and familiar.
“This is fine. I get up pretty early,” I answered, happy to have someone to help pass the time with, and a distraction from thinking of Hunter. Although he was always in my thoughts.
“It’s still strange to hear you say that,” Ashley murmured.
I laughed. “Yeah, sometimes it’s still strange to say it. It feels natural though.” That was certainly true. My body had acclimated to my new routine almost instantly. The vampire in me craved the night, and while I missed the sun, I wasn’t overcome with grief by its absence.
“Well, that’s good. It makes me happy that you’re happy.” I assured her that I was great and she let out a soft sigh. “I miss you guys. I want to come visit again. I think Christian and I are going to head up for your birthday. Stay a few days, if not longer.”
Even though she was still having a conversation with Tracey, Mom overheard Ashley and exclaimed, “Tell her that’s great! And I can’t wait to see her. And she should stay here instead of the ranch this time.”
I frowned up at my mom. That was one annoying thing about living with vampires; everybody eavesdropped on everyone else’s conversations. With our hearing, it was unavoidable, but it was still irritating at times. “Mom says she can’t wait, and she wants you to stay at the house with us.”
Ashley chuckled. “Wow, vampire ears are amazing.”
I laughed with her. “Tell me about it. Mom’s got better reception than my phone.” I glanced at the screen indicating I was getting one bar, and I’d only keep that one bar if I didn’t move from this specific section of the room. An unfortunate side effect of being surrounded by so much cement.
Ashley and I stayed on the phone for a while. She kept me occupied by telling me all about her work at the hospital. Ash had been horribly burned as a kid, and most of her body was scarred. She worked in the burn unit at a hospital in San Francisco with her husband. He was a doctor there who specialized in skin regeneration, specifically skin that grew hair. Thanks to his work, Ashley had a full head of hair again. Mom said she was a hundred times spunkier now that she could pull all of it into a ponytail. It was still pretty thin hair, and patchy in places, but Ashley was happy as a clam to have it.
When we hung up the phone, I only had to wait an hour or so for the sun to go down. It still seemed to take forever, as it did every night, but I managed to make it through with only a mild case of restlessness. As soon as I felt the sun was safely below the horizon, and all of its poisonous rays were doused for the day, I zipped from my hallway, into the “safety” room, and jumped into the closet. I bound from the enclosed space like I was erupting for air. Closing the door behind me, I leaned against the wood and inhaled the flowery scent of the main floor of the house—so much better than my dank, dark hole in the ground.
Mom stepped out of the kitchen to give me a swift hug. She was usually the first one to hug me when I emerged. Julian was on the couch in the living room, looking dirty and exhausted. He raised his head to glance at me when I entered the room, then dropped it back to the cushions. Dad must have worked him hard with his belated spring-cleaning project. Sweeping my eyes around the immaculate living room, I could see why my parents had been suspicious. Our house was never really dirty, but there was usually some form of clutter here and there. Julian had straightened everything. He’d even vacuumed.
Dad walked around the corner from the kitchen, giving me a hug. “Good morning, Nika,” he told me, squeezing my shoulder.
When he released me, his pale eyes searched mine, like he was analyzing me. I knew what he was looking for, some sign that my bond with Hunter had kicked into overdrive. It hadn’t yet, Hunter was still at the ranch, probably being detained by Halina or Gabriel. The minute he started surging toward me though, it would activate.
Feeling uncomfortable, I broke eye contact. “Please stop that,” I muttered.
His face was both apologetic and unapologetic. Without a wo
rd, I could tell he was thinking, I don’t want to be this protective, but I’m your father and it’s my job. “Just…checking,” he finally said.
I could feel his eyes on me still, but I ignored it. Mom indicated the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat.”
The heavenly smell of fresh blood wafted over and a small growl of delight escaped me. The bloody scent was laced with other things that didn’t smell nearly as good—leftover turkey, crepes, bacon, tuna casserole, potato salad and ice tea from what I could make out. Once upon a time, that would have delighted me more than the plasma, but not anymore. Not since my conversion.
Ignoring the revulsion of the human food I was smelling, I walked into the kitchen and took my traditional spot at the table. Julian looked starving when he plopped down beside me. I felt bad that he’d had to wait so long to eat, just for me. That was an unnecessary nicety. I could eat by myself once the sun went down. I was a big girl.
As Mom filled up a huge plate for Julian, I told her, “You guys shouldn’t wait to eat until I’m up, especially during the summer.” Mom set the heavy plate in front of Julian, where it landed with a hearty thud. Smirking, I added, “Julie’s likely to starve to death.”
Julian edged me in the ribs. “Fat chance of that,” he sighed, looking at the amount of food on his plate.
As Dad poured steaming blood into tall glasses, he told me, “As long as we’re able, we’ll eat as a family.”
I didn’t object any further as Dad began setting the glasses on the table. While he set the stainless-steel carafe in the center of the table, Julian nudged my side and gave me a questioning glance. Even without the bond between us, I knew he wanted me to bring up the topic of our birthday, so he could ask his huge favor. I wanted to help him out, I really did—I missed my friend just as much as he missed his girlfriend—but I had no idea how to frame our request in such a way that our parents would have no choice but to say yes. I just couldn’t fathom them saying anything other than no. Well, except maybe hell no.