I shook my head, speech not possible through the lump in my throat.
Hunter sighed, putting the stake back in his pocket. “Yeah, I see that now. I’m sorry it worked out this way, Nika. I really am.”
I felt something then that alarmed me, terrified me for multiple reasons. My dad had been patrolling the edge of the school yard, but he’d apparently caught on to what was happening up here. He was rushing our way, streaking to protect me. He was going to expose himself so he could get the jump on Hunter. He was going to kill my boyfriend. I couldn’t handle either event happening. Snapping my head to where I could sense Dad coming, I yelled, “No! Stop!”
Hunter tilted his head at me, confused…but only for a second. Realizing that I wasn’t speaking to him, he backed away from the stairs while he reached into his pocket. I thought he’d pull out another stake, but he didn’t. He pulled out a gun. I wanted to scream and cover my eyes, but I was too terrified to do either.
Dad’s blurry form paused at the top of the stairs. His concerned pale eyes took half a heartbeat to lock onto Julian and me, making sure we were safe, then he continued blurring toward the man who was threatening his family. Hunter only had a fraction of a second to react, and he couldn’t have seen much more than a streaking trick of light coming toward him, but he fired anyway. I screamed as the gun went off, the sound reverberating off the once-quiet hallway walls, hurting my sensitive ears.
Dad’s form phased back into solidness right before my eyes, just as Julian tore away from me. As Dad collided into the wall behind Hunter, sliding to the ground and staying there, Julian slammed himself into Hunter, holding none of his strength back as he tackled him. Hunter’s head smacked onto the concrete floor, and the gun in his hand clattered to the ground. I kicked the vile thing away, but it was too late, the barrel was smoking from its recent discharge.
Julian growled as he held Hunter down, his fangs bared, poised to strike. I couldn’t believe how just a few seconds had changed everything. Hunter had seen the abilities of mixed vampires…we were exposed, and my dad was injured. God, I hope he’d only been injured.
I heard every chair in every classroom squeak simultaneously, as the students inside realized something horrible was happening. They were probably all standing and crowding around the doors, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening in the hallway; a gunshot going off inside school grounds would not go unnoticed.
Hunter’s pale face twisted to me. His beautiful skin was a sickly green color, his dark eyes dazed. “What are you?” he whispered, awestruck. He seemed completely thrown, like everything he’d known had just shifted on him. And I supposed it had. He now knew that vampires could walk around free during the day. He now knew that some vampires were very much alive. He now knew for a fact that I had vampires close to me, very close to me. And he now knew that his original suspicion was correct—my brother was a vampire. And he was about to know that I was one too.
Not having time to answer him, I grabbed my brother, and pulled him off Hunter. We needed to get away. We couldn’t be seen by the students timidly starting to come out of their classrooms. We couldn’t be linked to a weapon being fired inside a school. That was too big for Halina to cover up…assuming she pulled through what Hunter had done to her.
Needing to get all our family away, Julian and I blurred over to Dad. He was still slumped on the ground, his shirt covered in blood. He lifted his head as we approached, and I could see pain flashing across his features. Knowing I was doing something superhuman for my size, I reached down and pulled Dad’s unyielding body to his feet. Holding most of his weight in my arms, I looked back at Hunter. Shock couldn’t even begin to describe his face.
Julian ducked under Dad’s other arm, and, as one, we blurred him to safety. We didn’t stop until we reached the first-floor landing. His momentary weakness past, Dad righted himself when we let him go. The pain on his face instantly shifted to anger. His eyes roved over our bodies before shifting to the stairs we’d just streaked down.
“Are you hurt?” he whispered, inhaling our scent for blood as his eyes remained locked on the staircase, like he was waiting for Hunter to jog down them.
Needing to get away, I pulled on his arm. “No…are you?”
Seeing that the stairs were clear, Dad let me pull him to the main doors. “I’m fine. He missed my heart.” He swung his eyes to mine. “But getting shot did not feel good…and your mother is going to have to dig out the bullet. The wound healed.”
He sighed and cringed simultaneously. Removing the bullet was probably going to hurt worse than getting shot. He couldn’t leave it in there though. It could rattle loose from wherever it was lodged, travel through his veins, and puncture his dormant heart…killing him.
Hearing the students and teachers finally milling about the halls, wondering what had just happened, the three of us dashed across campus. Ben met us near the perimeter, his eyes wide as he locked onto Dad’s bloody shirt. “What happened? Did you see him? Did he sneak past us?”
Dad shook his head, trying to cover the blood all over his shirt by zipping up his jacket. “No, he was already there…waiting.”
Dad and Ben scanned the grounds as Dad said, “Why didn’t you two call for me the moment you spotted him?”
Guilt went through me as the scent of Dad’s blood filled my nose. “I’m sorry, Dad. I just wanted to talk to him…convince him he was wrong about us.”
Irritated, but trying to be understanding, Dad asked, “Why did you warn him I was coming, Nika?”
More guilt pummeled me as I caught sight of the hem of Dad’s shirt peeking out beneath his jacket. It was damp with blood, but not dripping. “I’m sorry,” I repeated. “I just didn’t want anybody to get hurt.”
Julian grabbed my hand, supporting me through my misery. Changing the focus, he told Dad, “He knows about all of us now, Dad. He saw us blur and he saw my fangs.”
Dad looked over at Julian and nodded; his face was grim. He looked about to scold the both of us further, but the sound of sirens filled the air. Wanting to be far away from problems with police, we quickly hurried off to the car. It was definitely time to leave.
“Do you think he got away?” I asked Julian, once we were safe inside the vehicle.
Julian shrugged, his face impassive. Julian didn’t much care if Hunter had escaped, or if the sirens in the distance were on their way for him. I knew I shouldn’t care either—Hunter had made an attempt on two members of my family now—but, a small part of me did care. He’d been brainwashed to hate my kind since birth. Were his actions really his fault? I knew him to be a good, caring person…to humans. In fact, in his eyes, he was doing all of this to save humanity. He considered himself an unsung hero. If his actions weren’t in such contradiction to how I’d been raised, and I wasn’t the target of his lifelong mission, I would have thought him a hero too.
We saw the cops pull up to the school as we turned a corner. Sighing, I laid my head back on the seat. “They’re going to notice we aren’t at school. Maybe they’ll connect us to the incident?”
Dad met my eyes in the mirror. “When I get you safely to the ranch, I’ll have Starla call the school and tell them you were both sick and she kept you home. The school won’t even realize that you’d set foot on campus this morning.”
I lifted my head. “Trey and Arianna saw all of us this morning, remember? They could say something.”
“When she’s feeling better, I’ll send Great-Gran to erase them seeing you, just in case.” Dad shook his head, maybe not wanting to dwell on Halina’s condition. “But I think it will be fine. There were no witnesses, no victims…no bullet even. And if Hunter got away with the weapon, then they won’t even have a gunman. The entire mystery will be written off as something explainable—a car backfiring nearby, or…bad pipes in the walls. Something that will make everyone feel better, so they can sleep tonight.”
Wishing I could be made to feel better, I whispered, “Will we be able to sleep tonight
? Or…ever? Now that Hunter knows what we are?”
Dad exchanged glances with Ben, then his hand came around to touch my knee. “We’ll take care of this, Nika. You’ll be safe. I promise.”
As if to openly oppose Dad’s statement, my phone buzzed. My heart heavy, I reached into my pocket. It could have been Arianna asking where I was, if I knew what was going on. It could have been my mom, checking up on me. It even could have been Raquel, asking if Julian was safe, since there were probably a million rumors going around the school. But, no, it was none of those people. It was Hunter.
I sighed as I stared at the screen, unsure if I should read his message or not. Julian leaned over my shoulder and growled, “What’s he want?”
Dad and Ben focused on my phone. Ben murmured, “We don’t know how tech-savvy the hunters are. We should disable the phone so he can’t follow us.”
Ignoring them, I read Hunter’s message. ‘You’re one of them, aren’t you? That’s why you love them?’
I closed my eyes, hoping Hunter had gotten away, even though I should have been hoping for him to be caught. Typing faster than any human, since Ben looked about ready to chuck my phone out the window, I responded, ‘Yes…and no. It’s complicated.’
‘Enlighten me.’
“What’s he want, Nika?” Dad asked, while he rubbed his thumbs over the steering wheel. He seemed to be leaning toward Ben’s idea of getting rid of a phone that Hunter could track. I knew I’d lose this connection to Hunter by the time I reached the ranch.
“He just wants to know what I am. He’s…confused.” I started typing a reply while the men in the car all gave me various suggestions about what I could tell Hunter—most being about where I could tell him to go. I had just enough time to press send before Dad reached back and jerked my phone out of my hands.
Dad read my message, sighing as he did. I’d told Hunter, ‘I’m of mixed blood, human and vampire, but it’s so diluted in me that I’m basically human. My family is not a threat to you. To anyone.’
Dad handed the phone to Ben to disable it, right as it buzzed with Hunter’s reply. Ben glanced at it, but turned the phone over to take out the battery. I leaned forward in the seat. “What’s it say?”
Sighing, Ben flipped it around. “It says, ‘All vampires are threats, your family included, and it’s my job to get rid of threats. I’m sorry.’” Ben glanced up at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes apologetic. “I’m sorry, Nika, but he’s not going to come around on this one.”
I nodded, my eyes watering as Ben took the battery out of the phone. So that was it. I’d confessed my secret…and Hunter was going to kill me anyway. He couldn’t see past the prejudices. He couldn’t see the shades of gray that cloaked my life. And if he couldn’t, then there really was no hope for the two of us. Some small, romantic part of me died a little as truth wrapped around me. I’d known it. I’d said it a thousand times, but now I knew. We really were over. I wanted to sob.
I managed to contain my feelings while we drove to the ranch, merely sniffling as I watched the cold, dead earth passing by outside our window. The season was starting to turn—days were shorter, nights were longer. It was getting colder outside, and soon, everything would be frozen over. It seemed fitting, since my insides were already weighed down with solid ice. If all of this had happened during the hot, lazy days of summer, it would have felt wrong, surreal. All it felt now was real—bone-numbingly real.
I didn’t say anything as Dad parked the car behind our massive ranch home. There was nothing I could say anyway, except that I was sorry, which I’d already said. It seemed too paltry a word at this point. Julian came over to stand beside me when we exited the car, and I grabbed his hand, needing his support. Mom was in front of us on the cobblestone driveway before Ben had even opened his door.
Grabbing our faces, she looked us over. “Why aren’t you at school? What happened?”
Dad walked over to her, scratching his chest. Mom inhaled, then blurred over to him. She had his jacket open in a flash. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped at the sight of blood on his shirt. Dad sighed and pulled her fingers down. Eyes watering, Mom shook her head. “What happened, Teren?”
Mouth in a hard line, Dad told her, “Hunter was lying in wait for the kids. I tried to get the drop on him,” Dad tossed a quick glance at me, “but he heard me coming, pulled a gun on me.”
Mom’s hands went to Dad’s chest, examining the hole in his shirt that was too close to his heart for comfort. “He shot you?” Her eyes flashed up to Dad’s. “He shot you!”
Dad smiled at the anger in her eyes, and smoothed back her hair. “He missed, Em.” His smile withered into a frown. “But the bullet is still in there. I’ll need you to take it out.”
Even though it wasn’t possible, I swear all the color drained from Mom’s face. “You want me to…what?”
Grandma Alanna was by Dad’s side a split-second later, examining her injured son. Dad sighed and patted her back. “I’m fine, Mom.”
Alanna gave him a derisive snort. “No, you’re not.” She grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward the house. Her long black hair flowed behind her in the slight breeze, almost touching Dad as he reluctantly shuffled after her. “You need that bullet removed, Teren. Mom and I will do it.”
Shaking his head, I heard Dad mutter, “This is going to suck.”
Mom was close on Dad’s heels, still looking a little green around the edges, but supporting her husband nonetheless. Ben nodded at Julian and me, then headed into a house that was brimming with people, mostly undead people. Julian squeezed my hand, pulling me after them. I raised my chin as I walked beside him; all of this was sort of my fault, but I had to face the music sooner or later.
Alanna and Imogen had Dad’s shirt off when we walked into the kitchen a few moments later. Dad was wincing as he stared at the sharp paring knife in Alanna’s hands. Mom was squeezing Dad’s hand tight, steadfastly looking up at his face. Noticing her attention, Dad grinned down at her. “Still squeamish around blood? After everything we’ve been through?”
A small grin crept onto Mom’s lips, then she frowned. “It’s not the blood, it’s the pain. I don’t like seeing you in pain.”
Dad nodded. “That makes two of us.”
Imogen directed Dad to sit on a stool while Alanna tried to figure out where he’d been shot. His chest was perfect. You’d never know anything bad had happened to him. She was using the hole on his shirt as a guide, so she didn’t have to dig around too much to find the stray bullet.
Just as my stomach started to roil, Ben smirked at his friend. “You know, Teren, I’ve never really seen you work out…other than riding your bike. How the heck do you still have a six-pack after all these years? Don’t vampires ever get flabby?”
Dad chuckled and shrugged, while a cocky, half-smile touched his mouth. It fell off his face the minute Alanna poked the knife into his skin. He sucked in a deep breath, biting his lip to not make a word. Mom sniffled, caressing his arm. Julian stared at the operation going on in Grandma’s kitchen, but I couldn’t. Instead, I watched Mom and Dad’s faces. They were staring at each other as Alanna caused Dad more and more pain. His eyes watered and his body shook, but he still kept his gaze on Mom.
Mom stroked his cheek, soothing him as much as she could. It made my heart ache to watch them. Maybe Hunter and I hadn’t been connected like my parents were, but we could have been…maybe. A tear rolled down my cheek while I watched the love and sacrifice playing out before my eyes.
Grandpa Jack put a comforting hand on my shoulder right when Alanna made a noise of exclamation. I wasn’t watching her operate, but I could tell she’d found the bullet and was digging in to get it. I could mainly tell by Dad’s reaction. He swore and closed his eyes, his face contorting in intense pain. His hand, holding the edge of the marble countertop, snapped a piece of it off. He held the remnant in his hand, pulverizing it into dust.
Alanna muttered something about almost having it, and a wa
ve of disgust and curiosity rolled into me from Julian, still intently watching. Dad cried out as Alanna dug in a bit too far. Surprising me, he dropped his fangs and snarled a warning at his mother. Alanna wasn’t fazed by his reaction; she simply pulled her fingers out of his chest, and showed him the bullet she’d retrieved. Dad blinked and stopped the growl emanating from deep inside him.
“Sorry, Mom,” he muttered sheepishly.
Alanna patted his cheek. “Don’t worry about it, dear. Drink up.” She handed him a steaming cup of blood that Imogen had been preparing during the surgery. Dad grasped it with both hands, downing it as quickly as he could. I looked down at Dad’s chest just in time to see the ragged hole Alanna had created sealing shut.
Just as Ben murmured that watching that had been almost as bad as watching a heart being cut out of a dead body, Starla and Jacen strolled into the room. Our school-mom must have been given orders by Gabriel to hide out with us here at the ranch, for her own protection, and by the scowl on her perfectly arranged face, she wasn’t too happy about it. She did grin, however, when she spotted my dad covered in blood and Alanna holding the bloody knife.
“Ooooh, I had no idea we’d be having vampire boy for lunch.” Walking up to Dad, she ran a finger down the blood on his chest and then licked it off, like Alanna had just made a cake and she’d been given the beater to taste. “Yummy.”
Mom growled and took a step toward Starla, but Dad held her back. Looking around Starla and Jacen to Gabriel standing in the doorway, Dad asked, “How is Great-Gran?”
Concern swept through me as I felt Halina’s presence in the rooms below the earth. She was still, unmoving, most likely sleeping, since it was early morning.
Gabriel ran a hand through his light hair. His eyes were a faded shade of green this morning, exhausted from worrying about the woman he deeply loved. “I believe she will be fine in a few days. She’s…recovering right now.”