Halina snorted, her good mood twisting into annoyance. I understood the reaction. Rory and Cleo were two vampire hunters who had been in the first batch that I’d compelled to join us. Maybe I’d gone a little overboard with that original group, because they were both diehard fighters for the cause. And they took the job of protecting vampires, mainly me, a little too seriously. In fact, they would stay at the ranch with us if they could. They would probably stay in my bedroom with me if they could. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were moments away from showing up for guard duty—actually, I was a little surprised they weren’t already here.
Passing me to open the front door, Teren said, “They were here an hour ago. They wanted to wait on the steps, but I made them go to the meeting place to wait for you.” He held the door open along with an eyebrow; he was just as annoyed with the pair as Halina.
Nika walked through the door, pulling me through it after her. Just her stretching away from me caused a brief flutter of anxiety to flash through my body. That feeling amplified to near-painful levels the farther apart we were. When I met up with her in the entryway, I subconsciously melded into her side. “I’ll talk to both of them. Have them ease up on the security detail.”
Halina walked into the home, immediately striding to the living room. “Just compel them to leave you alone.”
I glanced at Nika, then we followed Halina. Nika’s brother was in the living room with Halina, giving her a warm hug. Julian Adams wasn’t my biggest fan, so he merely flicked his eyes in my direction in acknowledgment of my arrival. Fair enough. I couldn’t really blame him for his dislike. His sister was dead because of me. His home had been attacked, his family threatened. And from what Nika had told me, his girlfriend’s memory had been erased. All because of me. I wouldn’t like me either.
“We might need their help at some point. I’m not going to get rid of them, simply because they’re slightly annoying.”
Halina frowned at my comment. “Slightly?”
Ignoring her, I looked down at Nika. “Let’s get you fed.”
She grabbed her stomach in response, and I knew she was starving. I probably should have given her time to eat before rushing over here, but I couldn’t stop myself. Finding it funny to watch me squirm, Halina had amused herself by keeping me occupied after the sun went down. I’d blurred away as quick as I’d been able to though. Nika was an irresistible pull.
I escorted her into the kitchen where I could see that the meal had been interrupted. Several glasses of blood were steaming, mostly untouched, and Julian’s plate of food was still heaping. The rest of the family followed us into the room, Halina included. I pulled out Nika’s chair for her, which made Teren’s lips twitch into a ghost of a smile. His face immediately returned to impassiveness as he sat down across from us. While he watched every move I made, his wife poured a glass of blood for me and then a glass of blood for Nika; by the slight bloody smears I could see on the table, it was clear Nika’s original glass hadn’t survived our reunion.
“Thank you,” I told Emma, as she set our glasses down. She gave me a polite nod in return.
Nika immediately began chugging back her blood, her face a picture of contentment. I brought my glass to my lips and took a sip. The taste of the blood as it washed over my tongue and down my eager throat was indescribable. I’d never get over how the sweet, tang of fresh blood eased the aching that radiated from my stomach, up to my mouth. I’d never felt such discomfort as a human, even at my hungriest. And I’d never felt such joy when I soothed my parched mouth. Just the fact that I could willingly drink was a testament to how far I’d come. It wasn’t so long ago that just the thought would have had me feeling sick to my stomach. Now all I felt was…satisfied.
Halina watched me just as intently as Teren did, but for different reasons. She was making sure I was okay. She was watching for any lingering signs of depression. I smiled at her, lifting my glass. “Sit. Drink with us.”
Her serious expression lightened. I was fine, and she knew it. Smirking, she pointed to my glass. “No, thanks. I feel like fresh food tonight.”
I stiffened a bit in my chair as I lowered the glass from my mouth. I knew what she meant by that. “Halina, we’ve made it clear that murder is no longer considered acceptable, on either side. The panel will try you if you take a human life, and if they find you guilty of an unjustified murder…your life will be forfeit.”
I set the glass down harder than I’d planned; the blood in the cup rippled with vibrations, but the glass thankfully remained intact. Halina knew the rules, she’d helped me set them in place. The only way to make it fair for everyone was to make it strict. No vigilante killings. No vengeance deaths. Anyone who had issue with anyone else could bring it before the panel to discuss, but handling it themselves was discouraged. It would just lead to more potential justice murders and never-ending fighting between the species if we let either side continue to kill the other with no consequences. For peace to happen, order needed to happen too.
Halina frowned at my statement while the rest of the family grew silent. “I know that, Hunter. I have no plans to kill anyone. Just a nibble will do.” She shrugged, then pursed her lips. “Am I still allowed that tiny luxury?”
I relaxed back into my chair and reached underneath the table to squeeze Nika’s hand. “Of course. So long as it’s a small amount and they have no memory of the incident, it’s fine.”
Halina rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m glad I have the Vampire Justice League’s permission to eat.”
Having heard this before, I sighed. “Halina, you know it’s for our protection—”
She cut me off with a swish of her hand. “I know, I know. This is all just very different for me. I’m not used to…rules and regulations. Aside from my own, of course.”
She gave me a wink and I could only shake my head at her. My sire was a complex person—playful and passionate, aloof and fiercely protective. She always kept me on my toes. But her trepidation, resistance, and rebellion to the rules was what we were going to face with the other pureblood vampires. No creature that powerful liked to be told what to do. And unlike with the hunters, we couldn’t compel vampires. They had to be convinced it was in their best interest to play along.
Halina walked around the room, placing a kiss on Teren’s head, then Julian’s, then Nika’s. When she got to me, she kissed my cheek. “Stay safe. I’ll see you at the meeting.”
I nodded at her. “You too.”
When she left the room, my gaze drifted back to Nika. Her large brown eyes were locked onto mine. I knew it had to be weird for her to see how close I was to another woman. I felt bad about it, but she swore to me that she understood, and she wasn’t jealous. I hoped that was the case. Both women were important to me, but Nika was my life.
Without further incident, we dug into our meals. Julian fidgeted the entire time he ate. He wasn’t eating very fast either. He was mainly pushing the food around his plate with a scowl on his lips. I had no idea what his problem was, but every gulp of blood I swallowed, I wished he’d get over it and finish his meal already. The smell of his turkey was stomach-churning.
When Julian started tapping his fork against his plate, his eyes locked on Nika, I couldn’t help but think I was missing something. Looking around Nika, I asked him, “Something on your mind, Julian?”
Nika’s hand was still holding mine. She suddenly squeezed me so hard, I knew she was silently conveying some sort of message to me. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to say, but Shut up seemed to be the most likely sentence.
I sat back in my chair and didn’t ask any more questions. Julian mumbled, “No,” and went back to his meal. Teren and Emma looked between their children with suspicious eyes. Nika gave them a disarming smile, and even I knew something was definitely up.
Emma set her glass of blood down. “Nika, before we were…” her dark eyes glanced at me, “…interrupted, you said something about Ashley and your birthday?”
Nika worrie
d her lip. For a second, how plump and inviting it was distracted me from the awkward look of uncertainty on her face. “Oh, yeah…I was just wondering—”
Interrupting her, Julian suddenly asked, “How come I never get to go to the meetings with you guys?”
Teren and Emma looked over at Julian. My eyes stayed on Nika, and I caught the brief moment of surprise on her face, followed by confusion, followed by blankness. It was pretty obvious to me that she was shocked Julian had changed the subject. So whatever was going on, it must revolve around Julian. She was trying to help him with something, and I had a pretty good idea of what—or who—he might want that Nika would do anything to help him with.
Teren scratched his jaw while he thought of how to answer his son. “Well, I guess because it’s potentially dangerous, and you’re still young.”
“Nika gets to go, so I don’t see why I can’t,” he muttered, jerking his thumb over at his sister.
Nika pursed her lips. “It’s not like it’s super exciting or anything. Just a group of people arguing about rules and regulations and the evils of compulsion.”
She rolled her eyes in annoyance and I had to agree with her. Bickering ran rampant at meetings. Every human there argued against the purebloods being allowed to compel people, but it was the only way to keep vampires hidden from society. Giving up the ability to trance people wasn’t an option. And besides, we’d never have persuaded the hunters to our side in the first place if we hadn’t “forced” them into cooperating with us, and the group recognized the importance of that step. Whether they liked it or not, they were already under the influence of our “evil” mind games.
Julian frowned at Nika while Teren told him, “She’s a pureblood now. She can take care of herself.” The expression on his face when he said it made me wonder if he was trying to make up for his earlier misstep about the female gender. I squeezed Nika’s fingers, torn by his comment. Sure, she was quite capable of taking care of herself, but I’d prefer it if she never had to.
A look of rebellious insolence crossed Julian’s young face. It reminded me of when Dad used to tell me something I didn’t want to hear. I smiled at the memory; we’d had some good showdowns over the years. The slight grin left me the minute I remembered that Dad was gone, and he was never coming back. He no longer knew me.
“I defended the ranch against a horde of hunters intent on killing every vampire they came across. I think I can handle a roomful of reformed hunters who have been compelled not to hurt me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin.
Teren sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Lifting a hand, he told him, “I really don’t have a good reason to keep you away. If it’s something you feel that strongly about, then yes, you can come. You can go tonight.”
A weird look passed over Julian’s face. It was a mixture of relief and reluctance, like he’d just won a battle he hadn’t actually wanted to fight. Very strange.
Later in the evening, the human warrior of the group, Ben, showed up with his wife, Tracey. Now that he was living in Salt Lake City, Ben usually attended the meetings. His wife had never been to one before, but she was going to check it out tonight. Tracey reminded me of a Chihuahua, but not because of her looks. The slender, blonde woman had bright blue eyes, a soft-looking smile, high cheekbones, and a perky nose that you wanted to press like a button. She still had a youthful attractiveness to her that made her seem younger than the age I knew her to be. The only similarity to the tiny dog was because of the way she slightly trembled whenever she was around me, the way the whites of her eyes doubled in size when she took me in. All I would have to do was drop my fangs with a mild look of interest on my face and she’d either pee her pants or bolt for the door. Maybe both.
She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of vampires. She trusted her friends, who were, in truth, only partial vampires, and she felt a little more comfortable around Nika, since she’d known her since birth. But me, a stranger to her, freaked her out. I made sure to move very slowly whenever she was around, so I wouldn’t spook her with any sudden movements.
With clocklike precision, I turned my head to face the middle-aged man who was Teren’s best friend. “As per usual, the meeting is at midnight.” Ben nodded, this wasn’t news to him. Midnight was decided as the official meet time, since that wasn’t too early for vampires or too late for humans. “The ex-hunters will go in first, and gather all the new hunters into the living room. Nika, Halina and I will enter the house next, and quickly subdue them. The rest of you can come in once it’s clear, then I’ll begin the process of converting them.” Ben nodded again. He really didn’t need me to tell him all of this, but I wasn’t really telling him for his benefit. I was speaking to Tracey, preparing her for what was to come, and speaking directly to her didn’t seem like the best idea.
Tracey whispered to Emma, “Subdue? Convert?”
I paused a moment to let Emma answer her friend. “Every time we convert a new hunter to our cause, we tell them to get as many of their friends here as they can, so they can be…persuaded. There used to be new hunters every night, but now it’s only a few times a week.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the horror on Tracey’s face. “You’re obliterating their free will.”
Clearly only wanting Emma to hear her, she spoke as softly as a gasp of breath. I heard her though, and couldn’t stop myself from replying. “We’re trying to stop murders, both human and vampire. We don’t have time to…convince...the age-old prejudice out of people.”
Tracey backed up a step when my eyes locked on hers. She bumped into Teren, startled, then took a sidestep to where no one was standing. Shaking like a leaf, her eyes swept the room. “So you’ve stopped the humans from killing…but what about the vampires? Have you compelled them?”
Her teeth rattled together and fear oozed from her like a heady perfume. I ignored her reaction to me, and spoke as softly and as gently as I could. “Vampires can’t be compelled. Actually, no one with vampire blood in their veins can be compelled.” I indicated Ben. “Your husband, for instance. And your daughter.”
Nika had told me about Ben’s distant vampire lineage. Ben had apparently never passed along the information though. Tracey’s jaw fell open as she stared at her husband. “You? You’re…? Olivia is…?”
Ben sighed and extended a hand to her. She didn’t take it. “I didn’t know. None of us knew. It’s something I just recently found out.” When Tracey still looked startled senseless, Ben added, “I don’t have any of the attributes. No fangs, no blood cravings. Nothing. I simply…can’t be tranced.” He shrugged, looking a little disappointed that he didn’t have any other special powers.
Teren smirked at him. “I still think your fighting skills are related to your blood. You’re not superhuman, but you’re better than most.”
Ben grinned at him. Tracey groaned. To complete my point, I told her, “Vampires aren’t inherently evil, and most don’t kill humans, same as most humans don’t kill humans. Hunters, on the other hand, kill. It’s in the job description.” A flash of melancholy went through me. I had innocent blood on my hands. A lot of innocent blood. It was just something I had to deal with. Like Nika could read my dark thoughts, she put her hand on my back, massaging away my emotional ache.
Tracey blinked then snapped her head to Emma, the one vampire she felt the most comfortable with. “I can’t do this, Em.”
Smiling, Emma calmly walked over and put an arm around her. “Yes, you can. You’re under my protection, no one will harm you.”
Tracey seemed minutely cheered by that fact. Ben frowned and twisted to Teren. “What am I? Chopped liver?” Teren laughed at his friend and clapped him on the back.
Still seeing that Tracey was bothered by me, I told Ben and Teren, “We’ll wait outside until it’s time to go.”
Teren glanced at me, then Nika beside me. His smile faded, but he nodded. “Don’t go far.”
I told him I wouldn’t, then clutched Nik
a’s hand and pulled her outside with me. Not surprisingly, Julian followed us. When we got to the porch, he sat on the step and twisted his hands in an obsessive-compulsive way. Curious, and feeling the need to chide him, I asked, “You, ah, don’t seem overly thrilled that you won the right to go to the meeting tonight. You do want to go, don’t you?”
Julian looked back at the window of his home, glowing with warmth. “Uh, sure, yeah, I want to go.” When he returned his eyes to mine, it was clear his answer was all for his parents’ ears, since they could hear everything we were saying.
Nika, not looking satisfied with his answer, grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet. Since she was so much stronger now, she ended up hurtling him down the steps. He stumbled on the sidewalk, but remained upright. He glared up at her. “What the hell, Nick?”
Nika put her finger against her lip, indicating silence, and then pointed down the street. Julian understood. Looking up at the front door, he informed his parents, “We’re going for a walk,” then blurred away before they could protest. Nika started to follow him, but stopped and held out her hand, waiting for me; our bond made going our separate ways difficult. Together, we sped off after Julian. I faintly heard Teren say, “Wait,” but we were gone before I heard the rest.
A couple of miles away, Nika shifted to a normal walk and I slowed down with her. I didn’t see Julian anywhere, but figured he was waiting nearby. I could picture him tapping his foot in irritation while he waited for us, but he’d have to wait. Nika seemed to want some alone time with me, and I wanted the same. The day had been too long. Wrapping my arm around her side, I inhaled her sweetness, then placed my lips upon her head. She sighed in contentment. We walked along for a few minutes in blessed silence, then the evening started replaying itself in my mind. Remembering Julian’s oddness, I murmured to Nika, “Your brother seems antsier than usual. He wants something. What is it?”