And that was when I got one…sort of.
Examining the smooth polish of the granite container, I noticed that the front of it wasn’t quite as smooth as the rest. It was clever, it was subtle, but to my eyes, it was plain as day, especially now that I was paying such close attention. Two upside down triangles were etched into the top of the stone, near the rim. Their long points ended halfway down the urn, with small circles falling off the points. Staring at it, I knew, without a doubt, that the image was meant to represent vampire fangs…dripping with blood.
I didn’t know what it all meant, but it was enough to scare the shit out of me. I wanted to go home. I wanted my family. I wanted to run, but fear froze my body solid.
I was startled from my stare down with the etched fangs when a body popped up beside me. I jumped a foot in the air when Hunter touched my shoulder. “Nika? I’ve been calling your name. We need you to break the tie on what to have for dinner.” Examining my expression, Hunter slowly asked, “Are you okay? What were you doing in here?”
I stifled a scream with my hand as I stepped away from him. His face turned both puzzled and alarmed as he reached out for me. I wasn’t sure what to do, wasn’t sure how I’d gotten myself into this situation. And to make it worse, I wasn’t even sure if I was in danger or not…but I’d never wanted to hiss at a person more in my life. Caution tempering my animal instinct, I shifted my hand to warn him away from me. “Why are there bloody fangs on your sister’s urn, and what happens to innocent girls around you?”
My voice warbled as it came out, but that was nothing compared to the look of shock on Hunter’s face. “You heard…?” His eyes drifted to his sister’s urn, then snapped back to mine. “How did you recognize what those were? We made them abstract for a reason.”
Stepping closer to me, he grabbed my arm. I flinched and clenched my jaw to stop myself from baring my fangs at him. Leaning into me, his eyes and voice intent, he whispered, “What do you know, Nika?”
It was childish, it showed my age, but my only response was to glare and ask, “What do you know, Hunter?”
Hunter searched my face, then sighed. Glancing into the kitchen, he whispered, “I know that there are things on this Earth that look like people, that act like people, but they aren’t really people. I know you’re going to think I’m crazy…but…” he eyed his sister’s urn, then he pulled his gaze back to mine, “…some monsters are real, Nika.”
Fear traveled up and down my body in waves. Still shaking, I raised my chin. I’d wanted to know what he knew, but I’d never expected it to happen quite like this. I thought I’d confess what I was to him and he’d take me in his arms and love me anyway…like Mom had with Dad. But by the steel in his eyes and the cold way he’d said monster, I was certain he didn’t have a romantic view of my species, if we were indeed the monster in question. And I was pretty positive we were.
Wishing I could teleport, turn into fog, or melt into the floor, I quietly asked, “What monsters?”
Hunter eyed me like he was gauging whether to be honest with me. After a moment, he let go of me and crossed his arms over his chest. He stood a little taller, and the air of danger around him returned. I wanted him to smile. I wanted him to tell me he was joking. I wanted him to relax his stance and tell me with stars in his eyes that he loved me no matter what. But he didn’t. Instead, he confirmed what I’d been afraid of him confirming.
“Vampires, Nika. Vampires are real.” He walked over to his sister’s urn and opened a hidden drawer in the base. Turning back to me, he held up a silver stake. “And so long as they exist, we’re all in danger.”
Knowing I shouldn’t, I bolted for the door.
“JULIAN? YOU GOT something on your mind?”
I stopped pacing the entryway and looked back at Dad watching me from the living room. Keeping my smile light and breezy, even though my insides were a mess, I told him, “Just restless.” Wondering if he’d agree to a request, since I was on probation, I immediately asked, “Can I go for a run?”
He narrowed his eyes, and I added, “A human run…just to still my head.”
And my emotions. They were spinning faster and faster as I felt Nika’s nerves increasing. I’d been keeping track of her emotions ever since Hunter had picked her up from school. Earlier this afternoon she’d been running in the normal gambit of excitement and nervousness that was typical when she was around him. At one point her mood had changed to a passion so intense my stomach had roiled, but I’d managed to push it to the back of my head as I’d started on the to-do list Dad had left for me. It was amazing how washing dozens of windows could distract my mind from my sister’s raging hormones.
Thankfully, Nika’s desire had simmered down. I didn’t want to think about what that meant, but I knew my sister well enough to know she hadn’t slept with Hunter. Made out, most definitely…but I was pretty sure she hadn’t gone all the way with him. I hoped not at least. There was just something about the guy I didn’t trust. And that was why I was starting to panic as I aimlessly loitered around our front door.
Sometime in the last twenty minutes or so, Nika’s natural nervousness had shifted into genuine concern. A concern that was ratcheting higher and higher as Dad mulled over my question. Feeling her anxiety sharpen, I held very still so as not to alarm my father. But if Nika’s emotions leapt any higher, I was going to get her, grounded or not.
Examining me closely, Dad said, “Dinner’s soon. Can you wait until after?”
My nerves made me boisterous, and I bounced on my feet. “I’ll be back before then. I just…need to move.”
Dad smirked. “Well, I can find things for you to do, if you’re that energetic.”
“Teren…” Ben lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the stack of papers he wouldn’t ever let me see.
Dad followed his friend’s gaze then looked back up at me. “Yeah, all right…just be home before dinner.” He grinned. “Your mom’s cooking.”
He started to chuckle, and Mom tossed out, “Bite your tongue, Mr. Adams. There is nothing wrong with my cooking.”
His sky-blue eyes still locked on mine, Dad answered, “Yes, dear.”
I waved some feeble goodbye to my family, and then fled into the darkening night. I would have loved to stay and chat with Ben and Dad, maybe try to eavesdrop on whatever secret they were always discussing, but I had to get to Nika. In the last five seconds, her nerves had shot to full-fledged panic. Even though I knew Dad would be irritated at me for running so fast, I shotgun-blasted away from the house. Getting to Nika was all I cared about. I was a mere streak, a blur of motion, a trick of the eye, as I locked onto my sister’s location and sped to Hunter’s home. Whatever he was doing to terrify her, was going to stop. Right now.
From inside the modest house, I heard Hunter saying, “Wait, Nika…” My fangs dropped as I zipped up his front steps and tore open his door.
Nika was right there, and I grabbed her, pulling her behind me. A low growl escaped my throat as I protectively crouched low in front of her. She immediately tugged on my arm. “No, Julian. No exposure.”
I stopped my rumble and slipped my fangs up, caution overriding my fear. Hunter stopped as he saw me in the doorway. Luckily, he’d been so focused on Nika, he hadn’t noticed my teeth. But as his girlfriend was securely behind me, he couldn’t help but notice me now. “Julian? What are you doing here?”
Slowly backing Nika away from him, I shrugged. “Mom changed her mind. She wants Nika to come home. Now.”
Hunter nodded, and slid something silver into his back pocket. His face fell as he looked at Nika. I could feel my sister shaking, but her mood was leveling now that I was with her. Looking back into his house, Hunter bit his lip, grabbed Nika’s coat from a rack by the door, then came outside with us. Hunter closed the door behind himself while I backed Nika up another foot, forcing her down the front porch steps.
His face confused, Hunter locked eyes with Nika as he handed me her jacket. “Can I call you, Nika? I think??
?I think we should talk about this.”
I had no idea what they needed to discuss, but Nika stiffened and clutched my arm. Her voice was shaky when she spoke. “I should go. I don’t want to make my mom mad.”
Hunter reached out for her, but I shielded her body with my own. Whatever this was about, Hunter had just lost the right to touch my sister. I’d rip a hole in his throat before I let him hurt her. Nika tugged on my arm again as Hunter implored, “I’m not crazy, Nika. Please, I didn’t want to freak you out. I just…” He sighed, lifting his hands into the air. “I like you, and I wanted to be honest with you. But I’m not crazy…or dangerous. You don’t need to be scared of me.”
Hunter looked like a man on the verge of desperation, and Nika stopped pulling on me. Her mood slowly trickled from fear to sympathy. Seeing her pause, Hunter again reiterated, “I’m not crazy. Vampires are real, Nika. I’ve seen them.”
Puzzle pieces started clicking into place, and Nika’s earlier fear started washing into me. He did know. He really did know about us. God, what the hell did we do now? As Hunter took a step forward, I put my hand up to stop him. His face turned frustrated as he glared at me. “I’m not gonna hurt her, Julian. I just want to talk to her. Would you mind giving me a minute to talk to my girlfriend?”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you right now. She said she wants to go home.” My voice was surprisingly calm, considering the icy terror that was flashing through me.
It didn’t get any better when Hunter showed me what was in his back pocket. A stake. He actually had a freaking stake in his pocket! A silver one, no less. I wanted to hiss, but instead, I shoved Nika down the rest of the steps, away from the threat before us. Hunter furrowed his brows as he followed us down to the sidewalk. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”
I flashed my eyes up to his and did what I did every day of my life—I pretended I was a normal, human boy. “Dude, you’re talking about vampires and holding a weapon in my face, and you’re asking what the matter is with us? You sure about that not being crazy bit, Hunter?”
Hunter glanced at his stake, then tossed it to me. “Here, you take it then.” I caught it without even looking at it. Hunter flicked his eyes between Nika and me. “I wasn’t threatening you. I was just making a point. Don’t walk away thinking I’m crazy, Nika. That’s all I ask.” He slumped over as he focused on my sister. “If you’re going to leave me, don’t do it for that reason. Because I’m not crazy, and I’m not dangerous, and I would never hurt you. I promise.”
He shrugged, looking lost. “I don’t hurt anyone. I help people. I’ve dedicated my entire life to helping people…people just like you and your brother.”
I relaxed a little as I realized that Hunter might know about pure vampires, but he didn’t know what we were; he didn’t know about mixed vampires. He was talking as if we were all on the same team: humans against the vampires. As if it were that simple. I wanted to scoff at his naivety.
Nika’s feelings softened, and she stepped out from behind me. “I don’t think you’re crazy, but what you’re doing…it isn’t right.”
Even while Hunter looked happy that Nika didn’t think he was looney, he seemed upset by her response. “Not right? How is protecting good people from soulless, bloodsucking nightmares not right? I can’t think of anything more right.”
Nika and I both closed our eyes at his description of our race. A shiver went through Nika that matched my own. “Vampires aren’t necessarily evil,” she whispered. I shot her a glance, reminding her to shut the hell up, but Hunter ignored my reaction.
His face disbelieving, Hunter told Nika, “Don’t tell me you believe the current craze running through pop culture—that vampires are warm and loving romantics who only want to find their eternal soul mates? Don’t tell me you believe that the little inconvenient part about them draining people dry is an endearing character flaw?”
Nika raised her chin, and stupidly began defending our kind when she should have been redirecting the conversation. “No, I’m not saying that either. All I’m saying is that no race is entirely good or entirely bad. You’re generalizing. You’re oversimplifying.” She eyed him up and down. “You’re committing genocide.”
Hunter’s mouth dropped wide open. “Oh my God. You’re freaked out because I’m destroying them…not because you doubt they exist.” His eyes widened as he began to understand. “So, you must know a vampire. You’re protecting a vampire.” He shook his head. “How could you protect one? How could you betray your own people?”
Confusion and pain rang through Nika. I understood. Our people…were both races. Choosing a side wasn’t possible for us. We loved both equally. Tears in her eyes, Nika told him, “I didn’t say that either. I just know that nothing is cut and dry, nothing is black and white. There are always shades of gray…always.”
Hunter crossed his arms over his chest. “Not with me. Not after everything I’ve seen.” Glowering at my sister, he added, “And if you actually knew a vampire—a real one, not a fantasy from a book—then you’d understand. I’m doing the world a service.”
My sister stared at him, crestfallen. Her heart and soul were shattering; I could feel it. It tore me, but her safety was more important than her relationship problems. I started to pull her away from him, but Hunter stopped me.
“Before you run off…can I have my stake back?” He held out his hand as he avoided meeting my sniffling sister’s eyes.
Pushing Nika toward home, I shook my head. “No. No way, man.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t try to physically restrain me. As we walked away from him, he called out, “I’ll find out who you’re protecting, Nika. I’ll find out, and my dad and I will take care of it. Because that’s what we do—we take care of them. They’re not people, Nika!”
Turning from him, she muttered, “Yes, we are.”
She locked gazes with me as we both heard Hunter’s front door slam shut. “We need to tell Mom and Dad now, Nika.” I lifted the stake in my hands for emphasis.
She nodded. “I know.” Her heart cracked as she slipped on her jacket.
At a human pace, Nika and I ran back home. Dad opened the front door as we approached the porch. He was confused and concerned to see Nika with me. He’d felt her nearby, same as I had, but he’d assumed she was safe and sound, having dinner with her friend from school. If only studying had been what my sister had been up to recently.
Without pausing, Nika and I jogged into the house. Our expressions must have alarmed the remaining adults—Ben and Mom swarmed into the entryway. Mom eyed us from head to toe as Nika and I clasped hands, drawing strength from each other.
“What’s going on?” Mom asked, looking between Dad and us, like somehow Dad had all the answers.
He didn’t though. I did.
“I think we might have a problem…”
Bringing my free hand up, I unfurled my fingers from the object that was so reviled in my family. The silver shaft gleamed in the bright lights of our home, throwing prisms of light around the group huddled around it. Mom gasped and backed up a step. Ben clenched his jaw, his face darkening. Dad let out a low rumble that sent a shiver down my spine.
Dad’s light eyes snapped up to mine. “Where did you get that?”
I was about to answer him when Nika sniffed and hung her head. “He took it…from my boyfriend.” Her emotions were blazing with pain. It made me ache to be so close to her, but I wasn’t about to pull away. Releasing her hand, I threw my arm around her shoulder, pulling her pain in tight.
“Boyfriend?”
Mom and Dad both said that at the same time, and Nika raised her eyes to them. Embarrassment and guilt washed over her, but she met their gazes as steadily as she could. “I’ve been seeing Hunter Evans for the last month or so. He’s our…” She looked back at the front door, staring through the heavy wood like she wished she could see through it. “He’s our neighbor.”
“You’re seeing…the neighbor boy?” Dad’s
entire body went rigid with tension. As calmly as he could, he asked Nika, “And what was he doing with a stake, Nika? Was he messing around, or does he know vampires exist?”
Shaking, Nika nodded and whispered, “He knows.”
Dad exhaled a quick breath that did nothing to ease the tightness in his body. “And is he…okay…with us?” He nodded his dark head at the hated stake in my palm. “Or does he want to plunge that through our hearts?”
Nika met his eyes, torn. Even though she was scared and shocked and hurt…she still cared for Hunter, deeply. She knew as much as I did that what she said right now was going to determine Hunter’s fate. Even though I wanted to answer Dad, I bit my tongue. This needed to come from my sister.
A tear dropped to her cheek as she stared at our father. “Dad…please…don’t hurt him.”
Dad closed his eyes, his fears confirmed. Ben snapped to attention. “You have a hunter in your neighborhood, Teren. I’ll call Halina.”
He twisted away from us as he dug into his pocket for his phone. Nika sprang into action, grabbing Ben’s arm with her super-human strength. “Wait! No, please…don’t call her yet.”
Mom pried Nika off Ben. “Nika…honey…”
Ben glanced at our family, his mouth in a hard line, then he walked into the living room, phone in hand. He was calling our grandmother seconds later. Nika started to panic. Gripping Mom’s arms, she shook her head and tried to speak over the knot in her throat. “No, please, Mom. She’ll kill him.”
Mom tried to pull Nika into a comforting hug, her worried eyes flashing to Dad’s. Nika saw the exchange and broke away from Mom. She started pleading again, but with Dad this time. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she flung her arms around him. “Please, Daddy…please. She won’t wipe him, she’ll kill him. You know she will.”
Dad closed his eyes and swallowed. “Nika…she has to know.”
His tone did nothing to calm my sister’s panic attack. Her pain sent ripples through me, and my eyes misted over as I watched her begin to lose it. I couldn’t imagine being in her place right now. I couldn’t imagine condemning someone I loved to death. It tore me just to think about it. And Nika was right. Halina would never let Hunter and his dad live. Not if they were actively exterminating our kind. And with the rigid look on Hunter’s face when he’d talked about “saving” humanity from the soulless, bloodsucking nightmares…I had to believe that the stake in my palm had been used a time or two. I immediately dropped it.