Seven
“Thank you for coming.”
“Always. I am here for whatever you need. We’re in this together.”
Ife led Cairine down to the beach where Jack waited, compelled. He looked up as Ife and another woman equally as stunning stopped in front of him.
“Jack, this is my friend, Cari. She’s come to help us protect Ben.”
Compelled, confused, Jack nodded, doing the best he could to smile, but he could feel the edge of his mouth tug downward, so he knew he failed. He just didn’t know what was going on.
Ife turned to the gorgeous redhead.
“Cari, I want to bring Jack into our confidence, without interference from compulsion. I may need your help to convince him of our nature and that we are only here to help him and his brother. I expect it to be a great challenge.”
“I expect you’re right. You realize you go against the training of a lifetime. How do you want to proceed?”
“Simply, I think. The truth, uncloaked, exhibited so he’ll understand what we are.”
“Whenever you are ready.”
“Thank you. After we make sure Ben is safe, I want us to all sit down and unwind the world Jack and he have been raised to believe.”
“Then let’s go get his brother.”
“It should be easy. Jack will introduce us to the other hunters as friends, we’ll smile, say hi, and freeze them all. Once that’s done, we’ll get Ben, purge memories, and release them. We’ll bring Ben and Jack back to the beach house and tell them both who and what we are. Ben has a new life to build.”
“Indeed he does. I have my lift-car, it will be quickest.”
Jack stood and tried to assert himself. “What is going on? I don’t feel right. Ife, did you give me something in that wine?”
“No. Jack, this will all make perfect sense to you soon. Right now, we need to go get Ben. He’s in danger as long as he’s with your hunting group. You told me you can’t trust that someone might try to kill him now that he’s vampire.”
“That’s true.”
“Then our priority is to get him out of hunter’s hands. You will guide us to your headquarters, lead us in to where Ben is being held, and if anyone sees us, just introduce us as friends. You must act normal, Jack, so that this goes well. And Jack, you’ll see things that will seem odd, but don’t let them bother you. I promise, we’ll explain everything later.”
“Okay.”
Ife took Jack’s hand and looked at Cairine. “Let’s do this. Let’s go bust a vampire out of hunter jail.”
At Hunter HQ
“Do you want to stay here? Elias, you don’t want to see this.”
“No. Even though he knows you, Barnaby, if you go down there without me, he’ll know something is wrong immediately and he’ll escape. I have to lead you there, but you’ll want to do it fast. If he suspects anything, it’s over.”
“I get that, you know I do. So does my team.”
He was going to throw up. Or pass out. As Elias walked into headquarters, and led the three men down the stairs, he knew he’d never be okay again. Not after doing this, even if it was critically necessary. A man didn’t survive this type of betrayal. He didn’t survive being responsible for choosing a death sentence for his son.
Forcing a smile, he stepped off the last step to look up at Ben. Standing at the back of the basement room, Ben was scrolling through programs on the vidscreen. He looked up to see Elias, smiled, then his eyes went to Barnaby, who they could see he recognized. Barnaby smiled and as Ben set the control dot on top of the vidscreen, he started forward to greet him.
Barnaby and the two men beside him opened fire, Barnaby going for the center of mass in Ben’s chest, his crew going for the head. Seconds later, the big new vampire lay on the concrete, dead.
Elias couldn’t stop himself, he moved close to drop down and pull Ben’s head into his lap, oozing blood be damned. This was his boy. The child he’d rescued and brought here to share in the family mission.
“I love you, son. Be at peace. Know that I did this for you,” he whispered.
Someone came up behind him.
“El, we need to get out of here. If Jack comes, he’ll stop us.”
“Yes, I realize that, Bar, but I needed to say goodbye.”
After moving his hand across Ben’s face and into his hair, Elias nodded. “All right. Take him.”
Cairine brought her car in for a smooth landing right in front of HQ, in spite of a dense copse of trees nearby.
Cutting off the engine, she smiled. “I’m that good.”
“I know you are. Jack, lead us in.”
With the briefest nod, he headed into the main entrance and toward the stairway that led to the basement level. Once inside, he saw his father some distance across the first floor in the room they called intel. Elias looked up and Jack could tell instantly something was wrong.
“Wait. I need to speak with my father.”
“I guess I should have told him no detours.” Ife followed him across the room where he burst through a doorway.
“Dad, what’s wrong.” He didn’t pose it as a question.
As he turned toward his son, Elias noticed the women behind him, but he didn’t care, his eyes moved back to Jack and still took several moments before he answered.
“He’s gone.” Elias’s voice broke when he stood and looked at Jack.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Ben’s gone, Jack. I did what we both know we had to do. I had to save you from the soul-sucking choice of having to put your own brother down.”
Jack grabbed his father, his grip brutal. “Did you kill him? Have you smoked him?”
“I didn’t do it, Barnaby did, but with my agreement. By now, yes, he’s probably been smoked. I’m so, so sorry, Jack. We did not have a choice.”
No one saw her move, but Ife had pushed Jack back and turned Elias toward her. She caught his eyes. “Where have they gone?”
Jack turned to her. “I know.”
“Tell me.”
“The crematorium on the county access road out past the old school. I can show you.”
“We’ll go now.” She turned to Elias. “Tell no one what you’ve done or that you’ve seen us.”
With no idea what was happening, a theme for the night, Jack felt himself moving through the building and out to the lift-car instantaneously. He had no idea how he’d gotten there.
“Sit back and relax,” Ife commanded as the car lifted off faster than he’d ever seen one rise before.
“I hope we’re not too late,” Cairine whispered.
“So do I. What a horrible tragedy if they kill Jack’s brother for no reason.”
Jack wanted to punch something, someone. He wanted to scream. All he could do was sit back on his seat and relax. Physically, he had, but mentally, he was furious and hurting inside. He couldn’t believe his father had set up Ben’s death. It didn’t fucking matter that he might be a vampire, they’d find a way to fix it, to change him back, to deal with it. But you don’t fucking kill family!
“There, there, that large white building.”
The car lowered in front of the main entrance and they were out and inside using the same split-second movement. Jack had already worked it out. It was vampire movement and he had to accept a fact he’d already been forming. Ife and this beautiful redhead were vampires.
“Which way?”
“Left, to the back.”
Head spinning for the third time, Jack headed straight to the oven that he himself had used so many times, terrified about what he would see.
As they’d flown over the top of the building, the smoking chimney showed the oven was fired up. Ben…
The pain that tore through him overrode Ife’s compulsion to remain relaxed.
“Here!”
Jack shoved the heavy door open, stumbling when the two vampire women burst past him, then stopped in front of three men laying Ben on the conveyer belt that led into the oven.
He watched the redhead wave a hand in the air. His eyes moved to Barnaby and the two hunters with him. They hadn’t moved since he first came into the room. Almost at a run, he joined Ife, now leaning over Ben, her fingers moving over his body. She sighed, smiled, and lifted her head.
“He’s fine, he’s just dead for now. If we had been only a few more moments, though…”
Her expression changed suddenly and she raced to face Barnaby, the oldest man in the group and obviously the one in charge.
Jack watched, shocked, that not one of the three men moved except their eyes.
“What is wrong with you people? I can’t…if you had…Gods!” Ife spat at him.
Cairine, a hand on Jack, who was at his limit tonight, caught his eyes. “Jack, look at me. Sleep.”
He fell into her arms and she lifted him onto the conveyer belt beside Ben. “Ife, let’s finish this and get both of these men to safety.”
Nodding, Ife turned back to Barnaby and his team.
“Look at me.” They did at once. “You will all go home and stay there. You will remember nothing that you have done today, and you will not kill one more vampire. Go.”
Ife looked up at Cari. “I’m sorry, my friend. I lost it for a moment. The brutality of what they do.”
“They think they are in the right.”
“I do know that, but we almost lost Jack’s brother tonight and that would not have been okay.”
“Your passion has always served you well. Let’s get these men back to the house. Your Jack needs some clarification before he is certain he’s lost his mind. There’s only so much he can take, even under compulsion.”
“It’s true. You get Ben, I’ll take Jack.”
“Of course.”
At the beach house, Cairine laid Ben in the spare bedroom downstairs, one with full vampire shielding. She watched his stilled breath and sighed in relief that they had arrived in time to save him. This entire situation was going to be much worse before it was ever better.
Joining Ife in the living room, she watched as Ife made sure Jack was comfortable on the sofa where she’d placed him. She positioned him thoughtfully so that his neck and head were supported by a pillow and no legs or arms were dangling.
“Just wake him up, Ife. You’re going to tell him anyway.”
“I thought I’d wait until tomorrow when we rise. After a good night’s rest.”
“You’re stalling. In this case, however, I agree. You need some rest too, this has been far too emotional for someone with your empathic skill. I assume you’re going to put him into your bed.”
“I think I will. It’s wise.”
“Yes,” Cairine said, her smile impish. “Wise, is why you’re doing it.”
“All right. I want him with me. After tomorrow, when I return his full free will, when I tell him the truth, when I trash my chances with him, I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”
“But his brother is coming with us, right? We can’t leave him without guidance.”
“He is.Tomorrow, we also find out exactly what we face as a race with this hunter situation. Tomorrow, we begin to deconstruct Jack and Ben’s world. I won’t blame him for hating me.”
“He couldn’t hate you. No one could.”
“Well, we’ll find out soon. Cari, thank you for being here for me. This is going to get hard and ugly when we bring in Xavier.”
“There’s no doubt. So, get some rest, hold your man, and I’ll see you when the sun dies, my sister.”
Close hugs later, the two vampires went into their rooms, locked them down, and spelled the entrances.
For long minutes, Ife sat on her bed watching Jack in induced sleep, stared at the face she’d come to love. Amazed that this simple thing of watching him made her heart pound, she had to admit that he’d become important to her.
Could you fall in love this quickly? The answer seemed to be yes.
“Jack, wake.”
While his eyes opened quickly, it took a few moments for him to come completely aware. His ready smile let her know he was pleased to see her too. She’d removed all compulsions, so she wasn’t certain what to expect.
“Hey,” he whispered. Pushing up, Jack slid closer to kiss Ife lightly. Looking around, he frowned, then glanced down to see he was still fully dressed. “How did I…”
Memory slammed back. “Ife, was I dreaming, or did you and a beautiful redhead rescue Ben?”
“No, you weren’t dreaming.”
She watched him access and try to process memories of the events that led him to this bed, a night so bizarre, he couldn’t make any sense of it.
“First, since I feel like everything I think I know is a dream, is Ben safe?”
“Ben is safe.”
“All right.” More insane memories came to him. His eyes shot to Ife’s unnaturally pale blues. “Tell me why I remember things that couldn’t have happened. Ife what are you? What is your friend? Tell me the truth.”
“I will. Jack, we haven’t known each other long, but what we do know, we both like. It’s nearly dawn now, and I ask you, can you trust me, today, while we rest, and then when we wake this coming night, Cari and I will tell you everything. You need to know and I need to tell you. So all I ask is that you give me this one day. I know a lot seems unexplained and I promise, you’ll understand it all when we talk next. Ben will be there too because he needs to know the truth as well.”
Trust. Something that came hard to those raised in the life of a hunter. Those raised by Elias Remington without doubt. He and Ben had been taught lies and manipulation, and the crazy snippets of memory he had of the past night, a memory that Ben had nearly been smoked, people he knew frozen, unable to move. A night when little made sense; this was a time to deny Ife that request.
Instead, he nodded.
Instinct was powerful, too, and he instinctively trusted this woman who he had to admit had his heart. Every element of his life right now seemed off the chain and beyond reality.
“I can do that. Tonight, then, no secrets, right?”
“No secrets. If we are to build a relationship, whatever it may end up being, there can be none. I will disclose myself fully.”
“It’s all I ask. Okay. Sleep then. Or maybe, something to eat first?”
“You’re hungry? Of course. I’ll be right back.”
“First. Where is Ben?”
“Here. He’s in a nearby room. It’s daylight and he’s injured. He’ll sleep until tonight.”
“Can I see him?”
She understood the need. Even if Jack was trying to trust her, he needed to see Ben with his own eyes. Taking his hand, she nodded.
Ben occupied a third bedroom on this second floor, fully shielded with impenetrable panels so UV could never get inside, still unconscious from fatal wounds. Jack would understand that the death wasn’t permanent, but it might be hard to see his brother “dead.”
“He’s going to be okay, but he’s been killed by gunshots to his chest and forehead. He looks bad, Jack, but he’ll be okay, I promise.”
“How do you know all this? Obviously you’re familiar with vampires, but how do you know?”
“Jack, that’s part of trusting me. There’s a lot to tell.”
He wanted to shove her against the wall and force her to tell him everything right now, but somewhere inside him, a reasonable voice told him that he wasn’t that kind of asshole. He’d give her a chance to explain and then decide if she was being straightforward or fucking with him. The more he tried to remember what he’d been through tonight, the fuzzier the details got. His head hurt and he was starving, so for now, he’d do what he had to and move forward.
“Just let me see Ben.”
“Here, safe and sound.”
Jack watched this mystery of a woman lift a hand in what seemed like a small gesture, then push the door open.
In a bed, uncovered, his clothing filthy, his hair worse, Ben lay unmoving, fatal holes torn through his body, an egregious one near the center of his forehead. Nearly point blank. He was lifeless as one would expect him to be in this condition. Tears sprung in Jack’s eyes, he couldn’t stop them, as he dropped onto the bed and ran his fingertips over Ben’s cold cheek.
“He’s dead.”
“Yes, but not forever. A vampire won’t die from these wounds. What I mean is, he won’t stay dead, but you know this.”
“I do, but it’s different seeing your brother with bullet holes in him.”
“Of course it is. Trust me, I understand. Jack, let me feed you and we’ll settle in for the day to get desperately needed sleep.”
“Sure.” With one last look at Ben, Jack followed Ife from the room, and after she repeated the strange movement with her hand, he grabbed it. Something had been playing through his mind since he woke up.
“You’re sleeping all day. I’ve never seen you except at night. I have odd memories that I can’t reconcile with anything that makes sense, and I think I saw you move faster than I could follow. I may be tired, fucked up, pissed, but I can figure things out. I don’t understand this, and I hope you’ll explain, but…”
Jack stopped, his eyes searching Ife, her face, so beyond beautiful, a body that could trap a man forever between her legs, something about her that intrigued him and wouldn’t let him go. Fingertips sliding up her arm, he touched her chin, and whispered, because he couldn’t believe he was saying it, “You’re a vampire.”
Ife didn’t answer immediately. He hoped like hell he was wrong and that she’d laugh and tell him no, that he was crazy. As the moments passed, his eyes met hers again and he watched a minute movement of her head, a barely noticeable nod.
“I am,” she finally said, quiet, but clearly. “But I’m not what you think I am. Please, we should wait until we’re all together and fully alert.”
Donovan had converted the entire house for safe vampire passage, so she continued toward the galley.
Following, Jack didn’t know what else to do, he sat at the bar height bench, and watched silently as Ife prepared and made him something to eat.
“Grilled cheese, my specialty,” she said, as she set a fat sandwich in front of him.
Carefully, Jack picked up the thick bread and bit into it.
After a second bite, he looked up at Ife. “Dear God. I’m either horribly hungry or this is the best grilled cheese on the planet.”
“Thank you. I learned how to make it from a friend who runs a first rate diner in Las Vegas. The bread is homemade focaccia, toasted with three different cheeses, thick honeyed bacon, and thin slices of jalapenos.”
“I doubt anything could compare.” Jack took another bite before he looked up. “Thank you for Ben.”
“Jack, I’d give you anything. When you are finished, join me in my chambers. You can’t leave this house now, it’s spelled to keep us in and others out. I hope you don’t want to.”
He didn’t answer, so she turned to head back into her room, took a moment to slip into a pale green lightweight tee shirt to sleep and crawled into her bed. Twenty minutes later, Jack entered and closed the door behind him before he walked over to the bed.
She leaned against plush pillows, her long white hair spread out, the tee shirt so thin it outlined her nipples, her long legs drawn up underneath her. He wanted her, now, before things changed tonight.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do know one thing. I want to get into this bed and hold you tonight. I want to feel you as close as I can because tomorrow, everything will be different, and I don’t know if we will be together. So I want one more night with you, in case.”
“That’s exactly how I felt when I brought you into my room tonight. Come to me.”
Jack didn’t bother with clothes at all, he took off everything, and standing in front of Ife, naked in every possible way, emotionally, intellectually, physically, he walked to the massive bed that he appreciated from the last time he was here.
Thick muscled thighs carried him to her for what might be their last time. Ife watched every nuance of his body, so incredible for a human male, as he moved onto the bed and straddled her. Bending toward her, he lifted the tee shirt, smiled when he saw that she wore nothing beneath, and slid down to push his tongue between her legs as he pushed them apart.
Sliding along the slit, his fingers pushing her legs wider, he suddenly lifted his head. “Do I remember…did you bite me?”
Defending herself, she lifted up onto her arms. “I fed, Jack, yes, but you must understand. Feeding is also sexual and I needed to taste you. It wasn’t just a blood meal, but a chance to develop a deeper connection with you.”
“I’m not accusing. I kind of remember something about that as well. Weird how some of it is coming back.”
“Memory bleeds through sometimes, even with compulsion.”
“So you have compelled me.”
“To protect you, yes, I have.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“Then, I want you to show me how you do a, what did you call it, a blood meal? Do it, Ife, show me how a vampire feeds.”
“I’ve wanted to, with you fully cognizant, and Jack, I guarantee you’ll love it. You did before, you just have fuzzy memories of it.”
“Tear me open, vampire,” he commanded.
This conversation had heightened her libido, sexual need and blood need rapidly rising. Ife grabbed Jack and plopped him onto his back, his arms out to the side as he sought balance. Moving down his body, she nipped and licked, her fingers wrapped around his cock, so tight, it was almost painful, but for Jack, it felt erotic.
“Many vampires go for the neck, I usually do, it’s easy access and a quick blood draw from the carotid, but with you, the neck simply won’t do.”
“Do what you need to do, I can handle anything you want.”
“Blank card, just as I like it. Well, then, we’ll start where I left off in my daydream.”
Ife moved down Jack’s leg, from his thigh, to the knee, to his ankle, biting, hard, not breaking the skin. She moved back to the upper thigh, her fingers on his cock again. “This is what I did the other night, and it was spectacular, but I couldn’t let you remember it. Now…it’ll be better, you’ll know what we do together.”
As she bit, pain surged, eroticism like he’d never felt, his cock harder than ever, already weeping, close to orgasm, his own hand sliding along the length, twisting, until Ife pushed him away and her fingers tightened to work him, her tongue gliding around the tip almost too much to bear until she stopped, her eyes on him. Were they glowing?
He felt her mouth against his leg, her fangs sinking back into him, the sucking motion as she drew his blood into her body, and nearly exploded at the thought.
Blood drinking erotic? Oh, fuck yeah!
When she started to pull her fangs, he felt them sliding out, her tongue sealing the punctures.
Crawling on top of him, Ife rode him hard, ferocious, and their orgasms exploded so fast, so suddenly, they both screamed out, Jack pumping into Ife while she spasmed and held him tight to her until she collapsed against his chest, her hair covering his face.
Later, he didn’t know how long, when he could move, when he could think, he spoke in low tones while he gathered her hair in his hand. “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Ife laughed, breathy, because she too had been rung out by the intensity of the orgasm. “No, Jack, I think you’re over the rainbow now.”
“That was…wow. I guess we do have a lot to learn about vampires.”
“That was your first official lesson. If you would like to sign on for the advanced class, I think I can fit you in.”
Minutes later, Jack’s answer was cryptic. “We’ll see how it goes with the flying monkeys.”
Ah, Ife thought, we’re back to the yellow brick road.
Rolling into Jack, exhausted, not only because of all the emotional trauma tonight, and the unexpected miraculous orgasm, but daylight had fully arrived, hopeful that she and Jack might be okay in the end, Ife fell asleep in his arms.
Lying with a woman he’d been surprised to find he was falling for, shocked to discover that she was the very thing he’d spent his life hunting and killing, a sick feeling in Jack’s gut kept him awake far after he heard her soft breathing when she fell into a deep sleep.
What had they been doing all these years? Had they been wrong? Was she a monster; clever, treacherous, telling him what he wanted to hear? Or was she going to reveal to him that they’d murdered innocent people for nearly a century. He felt like he was going to throw up that splendid sandwich she’d made him.
Getting out of the bed, he wandered around the room, pretty sure that whatever she’d done to the door would keep him inside. If it was true, if hunters had been wrong, how would they ever live with their legacy? They wouldn’t.
“Death by a thousand cuts,” he murmured.
Eventually, too tired to even think about what this new truth might mean, he slid back into bed beside Ife, prayed for forgiveness, and finally, finally rested.
In glorious colors, the Pacific sunset tonight held magentas and pinks overlaid with marmalade, magic from the setting sun painted on layered clouds.
Jack sipped coffee laced with whisky as he waited for Ife. Ben hadn’t wakened yet, but when he saw him twenty minutes earlier, the wounds were nearly gone. It was proof of a vampire’s inhumanly quick healing ability, further evidence that his brother was no longer human.
“He’ll waken soon,” Ife had assured him.
Jack took a healthy gulp of the Irish coffee.
“Good evening, Mr. Remington.”
He turned around to face the doorway. The beautiful friend, Cairine, from Colorado.
“Hi.” Jack’s simple go-to greeting. He’d never been good at socializing, and now, in the company of vampires, any attempt at social normality was irrelevant. The night held surprises he was sure he could never guess.
She walked up to the balcony railing and leaned over.
“I do love the ocean. I was raised by the sea in southern France, and although I can go back whenever I want, I rarely make it. So it’s really nice to linger by the ocean for a few weeks. Jack, how are you feeling this morning? Compulsion can leave a nasty headache.”
“Then I guess I’m feeling normal, because I certainly have one. Ife is making me some kind of hot toddy she says will help.”
“We can use our skills…”
“No. No vampire stuff. I can’t take that right now. For the moment, I don’t want anything supernatural or shit. Sorry, you understand.”
“I really do. Okay, well, I checked in on Ben and he’s beginning to rouse. Once you get your drink, we should go down and make sure he understands where he is and that he is with friends. He’s been through a great deal more than you have, and I’m not being insensitive, it’s just a fact.”
Jack nodded. He knew that Ben had been through hell, he had no idea what he faced, the future an unknown for both of them. “I’m there for him, no matter what. He’s my brother.”
“I know he is. I doubt Ife has had a chance to tell you this yet, but Ben will have a wonderful community to help him. Of course, he’ll be happier if you are supportive.”
“I’m supportive. I’ll be there for him.”
“Good. We weren’t certain of that, and again, I’m not judging, I just know that you were raised to distrust vampires.”
For fucking good reason!
“I know how I’ve been raised. I’m not incapable of adapting to changing realities.”
Cairine gave him a single nod of approval. “Great to hear. We’ll be testing that statement quite soon.”
“Here you go,” Ife announced, hurrying onto the balcony. She handed a tall slim glass to Jack. “Cari. Good evening. You and Jack getting along?”
“Famously. We’re going to go get Ben in a few minutes. Once he gets that toddy down. What did you put in it?”
“Several natural herbs from my gardens in Brazil. They work for either vampires or humans. You get a headache, let me know.”
“Luckily, never a problem. I don’t have time for headaches.”
“Things are going well with Yellowstone?”
“Better than expected. We’ve repaired most of the damage and will be ready to reopen the park within the month.”
“How’s Dani doing?”
“She’s bored. I think she got too much excitement in Brazil with you guys and the homicidal vampire. Now, I think normal geologic research is too dull for her.”
“Perhaps I can find something for her with the crystal caverns. We’re moving ahead with research there when I return.”
“That’s probably a good idea. She’s too powerful to sit around waiting for the latest geological numbers.”
“I’d love to have her. When we’re finished tonight, I’ll text her. How’s it taste, Jack?”
“Like sweat.”
“Oh. Well, it works. Get it down.”
Turning the glass up, Jack chugged the remainder of the chalky looking liquid and popped the glass onto a tabletop.
“Let’s go see how Ben is doing,” Ife said and led both Jack and Cairine toward Ben’s room.
He was naked. Standing in front of a wall-sized mirror, Ben looked over his body, fingers sliding across nearly closed holes in his chest, six of them, and then the one still apparent over his left eye. He remembered everything clearly.
His father, pain in his face, as bullets raced into him, the ones in his chest first, taking him to his knees, then the final one as it slammed into his forehead. The pain, knowing he was shutting down, that this body was dying, partially pissed, feeling betrayed, and partially relieved that it was all over.
From the moment Saul had started the conversion and he realized what was happening, knew nothing would change his fate, Ben had prayed for release from this world that had held so much death and pain. Over the past few months after he’d fallen in love with Polly, and knew he could never be with her, he’d wondered what it was all about anyway.
When Saul and his men ambushed him and Jack, when it appeared that they couldn’t be safe as hunters anymore, when he thought he might be free to live his life, he’d had hope.
It had died when vampire blood started to change his body.
Now, though, looking at wounds that should have killed him, his eyes truly taking in the physical changes for the first time, Ben felt grateful that he hadn’t died.
He just didn’t know where he went from here. And where the hell was he?
Clicks behind him drew him around to watch two stunning women enter the room with Jack behind them.
“Jack,” he said in surprise, thrilled to see his brother, to see anything familiar.
Sliding his pants back on, he moved to intercept Jack as he came forward to hug him. His arms around his brother, it didn’t escape him that he was now several inches taller than Jack, who had towered over him before.
“Hey, bro,” Jack said into Ben’s ear. As they pushed back, he watched to see his brother’s reaction to him, relieved when he seemed to be happy to see him alive.
“How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, bro, considering I think I just got shot to death by our father.”
Silence for a moment told Ben all he needed to know. Jack knew that and he hadn’t been part of it. Thank God.
“All that matters now is that you’re okay and you’re safe. These women helped rescue you.”
His gaze moved past Jack to one woman, who he didn’t recognize, and another who he did. “Ife. Hey.”
From the moment they’d come into the room, he’d felt an odd sensation, indescribable, but it seemed to emanate from the two of them.
“We’re vampire, Ben. You probably feel the unmistakable sense that we’re different.” Ife joined Jack beside him. “Do you feel any residual damage from your injuries?”
“I feel some pain, in my chest. My head hurts pretty much like someone shot me in it.”
“You need blood to help heal. You need to feed.”
“I know. I feel it.”
“Human blood is most helpful following injury and death, but vampire blood will do. Especially mine.”
Ife faced Jack. “You might not want to see this.”
Jack’s eyes went from Ben to Ife, remembering the intense sexual connection created when she fed from him last night.
“Yes, I do.” If his brother was going to take Ife’s blood, he was going to be here for it.
Cairine laughed. “I’ll get some towels. It can be messy at first, but he’ll get the hang of it. Ife, I can feed him if you want.”
“No, it’s okay.”
Jack thought that was a better idea. When his eyes shot to Ife, she put a hand on his chest. “It’ll be all right. We’ll all be here, and we’ll do it on the balcony. With Ben’s weakened state, there won’t be a sexual response. Well, there shouldn’t be. He is new.”
“So he might not be able to control it.”
“But I can. I can help him to do so as well. Jack, it’s fine. I’m going to change my dress.”
Both women gone now, Ben pitched his dirty shirt into a trash bin.
Ben had watched their interaction, Jack’s hand on Ife’s, his eyes burning into hers, Ife’s kind amusement that it might bother Jack if Ife turned him on while feeding him. He remembered that response as he’d fed from Saul.
Was Jack jealous? Wait, his brother had been dating a vampire. Had he known that? No, more than that. Jack was upset when she said she’d feed him. She was more than a date. Was he in love? With a vampire?
Ben couldn’t stop a smile sneaking onto his face.
Jack shook his head, then noticed the shit-eating grin on Ben’s face. He punched Ben in the arm, the resulting injury immediately apparent. None.
“What?” Jack barked.
“I just can’t believe what’s going on. I’m a vampire, and you’re in love with one.”
“Fuck, Ben, yeah, you’re a vampire, and me…hell I don’t know what’s going on with me. All I know right now is that I’m grateful we got to you before Barnaby and his goons fried you.”
“Dad.”
“Yeah. Dad.”
The unspoken betrayal.
“Ben. About Dad. He cares about us. He didn’t make that choice because he wanted to, you know that, right? He made it because he thought he had to. To Dad, he was saving your soul. I don’t know if I could ever use the word love when referring to Elias Remington, but if there’s one person he’s ever loved, it’s you.”
“I can’t believe that after today.”
“When he brought that skinny kid to me all those years ago, he said, ‘This is your brother. Protect him, because he doesn’t have anyone else to watch over him. He’s an innocent, a child that should have escaped all this. He’s your blood, boy, just as he is mine, so take care of him.’ I remember every word like it was yesterday. He told me that he wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself for bringing you here, but that he couldn’t leave you with your mother either. I really believe he loves his sons, he just never knew how to show it. I know that because I struggle with it too. Neither you or I, Ben, has ever learned how to show love. For us, it’s always been the fight. So you can be pissed, but don’t hate him.”
Quiet, Ben walked away from Jack. “Um, are you sure he wasn’t right to do what he did? I still don’t know what I am or what I’ll become.”
“I think I do.”
“What? How would you know?”
“Those women, the ones who saved your life. Do they seem like monsters to you?”
“No, they don’t.”
“Yet they’re vampires. Ife has promised to tell us who and what they are. So let’s get to it, get you well, and listen to what they have to say.”
“I want a shower, Jack. I smell awful and I look worse.”
Cairine poked her head around the corner, waving her hand. “After you feed. Come with me.”
Ben looked at Jack. Jack shrugged. “Let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later Jack sat on a cozy cushion on the elegantly decorated balcony where he’d sat with Ife days ago, and watched his brother drink blood from the throat of the woman he was pretty certain he had fallen in love with. How this night could have been more bizarre he didn’t know.
Ben had latched on hungrily, drawing on her hard while Ife kept her gaze on Jack.
“Is he hurting her?” Jack asked Cairine, who sat nearby.
“Not at all. Feeding is pleasant for both parties. Surely Ife has fed from you.”
Because it had been so sexual, Jack didn’t answer, but Cairine had already known she had.
“By that I mean, you understand that it isn’t necessary for a vampire to hurt anyone to feed. Ever. Remember that, it’s central to our message tonight. For all hunters.”
That, he was finally getting. Vampires were not the mindless creatures who drained human blood and left a corpse. It was time to shut down his training and listen to people who obviously knew far more than he did about the vampire world. The sick feeling in his gut welled up again, but he tamped it down. There would be a lot of blame to go around when all of this got sorted out in the future.
“That’s enough, Ben. Pull out. Slowly. Good. Now lick the wounds to close them. Perfect. Why don’t you go get your shower and we’ll have first meal when you get back. You have to be starving.”
“I am.” Ben had nearly left the balcony when he stopped and spun around. “Holy fuck I feel good.”
“Of course you do. Blood is life, for vampires more so. We maintain our health through it, we bond sexually through it, and it helps us to heal when we draw it into a damaged body. Hurry, Ben, we’re all hungry.”
Rushing off the deck, Ben went down to the room he’d awakened in and reveled in the most luxurious shower he’d ever used. Strong jets from all sides pulsated hard warm water against aching skin. He washed off dirt, soot, and blood.
But he felt it. The blood. The healing. It surged through his body, passing stiff joints, swollen from inactivity so long. He felt it move through him, as Ife told him, repairing that which had been broken and torn.
“I’m vampire,” he said into streaming water, pronouncing it the way Ife had. Stronger, faster, bigger, healthier, better. If he stopped long enough to let himself breathe and hear his inner voice, he knew he wasn’t evil or monstrous and he never would be.
His muscles were tight as he lifted arms to work them, amazed at the size of his body now. A vampire body was the penultimate. His penis, fuck, that too had benefited. His mind went right to where it should as he caressed the length. Polly. Good God, he’d love to show himself to Polly with this body. And because of what he was, he never could.
“The Lord giveth and he takes it the fuck away too.”
Finishing his shower, Ben slid on clean loose-fitting pants made from the modern material that reformed itself to the wearer’s size and a tee shirt made of the same fabric. It was comfortable, softer than anything he’d ever worn, and completely devoid of style.
But grateful to be clean, to be healing, to be alive and with people who could help him understand what he was, and that his brother stayed and accepted him, Ben bowed his head to say a little prayer to whatever powers might guide this crazy fucked-up mess of his life. A simple “Thank you” said aloud as he joined the others on the balcony where a table laden with masses of food waited.
Jack, looking up from a plate filled with a variety of breads and meats, smiled a welcome to Ben.
“Thank you,” he whispered again, and took the seat Ife offered him next to Jack.
The smorgasbord of food gone, Ben and Jack sat across from Ife and Cairine, perched on the identical bench to the one they sat on.
Relaxed, Ife pulled her feet up under her, a wine glass in her hand the size of three of any normal wine glass.
“All right. You two need an introduction to vampires, and when I say that, I mean I will hold nothing back. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Cairine and I discussed this, and we believe that both of you can be trusted with our secrets.”
Cairine nodded and lifted an unadorned, unmarked bottle. “Before we begin, would you two like to try a special wine? Ife is drinking something called MoonShine. It is made by her people in Zambia, unique only to her vampire clan and there is nothing on this world that compares to it.”
Both men agreed and settled back with normal-sized wine glasses as Cairine spoke.
“Okay, here goes. Jack, Ben, you have been raised to hunt vampires, and I assume it is because you think they are all monsters who kill people.”
Jack nodded after taking a large sip of the wine.
“They are, Cari, at least the ones we come into contact with. I don’t know if there are different types of vampires, but we’ve seen people literally torn apart at the neck by vampires. God this shit is incredible.”
“It’s special. Well, there aren’t exactly different types of vampires, not generally, but here are different types of people, and vampires are people, so if somebody is an asshole or creep, they’ll be assholes or creeps as a vampire. And if they are, then yes, they would be likely to hurt someone. Those vampires, though, are an aberration, and their behavior strictly a factor of their human personality. It is also against an unwritten vampire code.”
“Unwritten? So who polices it?”
Cairine grinned. “You’re going to find out. First, we need to make sure that you both understand all about us…”
“I’m getting a pretty good idea.”
Ife laughed and rose to kiss Jack lightly on the lips.
“Oh, my Jack, you don’t know what you don’t know. We’ve much to reveal.”
Cairine continued. “So true. You need to understand us and accept our race so that you are completely comfortable with helping us. We agree with you that if vampires are killing people, they must be caught. If they have to be destroyed, then we will do so within the vampire community without hesitation. But human hunters, for their sake and the safety of vampires who are innocent, must be stopped.”
Jack understood her point immediately. “You need us to find them. The hunters.”
Ife leaned in, capturing Jack’s eyes. “We do. But you’ll only do it because you understand that it is the right thing to do. You’ll be onboard and we’ll work together. Jack, I promised you that I will never use compulsion on you again, and I meant it. Once we tell you about our race, once you understand it, it will be your choice if you decide to help us. It won’t be as easy for us without your help, but it is something we have to do.”
“I’m open, Ife, so go ahead, educate us.”
Jack felt locked in to Ife, her eyes so mesmerizing, her voice so beautiful, he didn’t want to look anywhere else anyway.
“We are vampire, but we are different than those you’ve met all these years. Born vampire, not made like those who populate most of North America, we are called first bloods. All vampires from the beginning come from what would have originally been first blood. Our abilities, our powers, even magic, are unlike anything a normal vampire would have. Jack, Ben, this is our history.
Almost an hour later, Jack looked at his brother to see how he was taking the fantastical story unveiled by these two vampire women. Ben’s manner was relaxed, which surprised him. It appeared that he was adjusting well to his new world.
Jack still had a lot of questions.
“All right. Everything that you told us sounds textbook wonderful. Loving families, special people who protect the world, beautiful and young forever, immortal, peaceful. Yeah, perfect, except that nothing is perfect.”
Ife shot from her seat and dropped at Jack’s feet, his hands in hers.
“Perfect? Oh, hell no. Jack, we’ve told you what we are at our core, and it is all true. But in reality, in day to day living, year after year, century after century, of course our lives aren’t perfect. There’s pain and loss, betrayal and hate, murder, all the things typical in human lives too. Obviously, some humans who are changed, who become vampire, subvert everything we are. They thrive on the power and think themselves superior. I believe you that there is a growing cult of vampires who feed brutally and kill, who rape and abuse. They will never be tolerated. There is justice in our world, and we will stop the ones who do these things. Life isn’t perfect, even for vampires, my darling Jack. Why do you think I was here taking a rest from mine? It has been a difficult year, I needed a few weeks of uninterrupted bliss.”
Jack pulled her hands to his lips and kissed the palms.
“You didn’t get them, did you?”
“Part of it, yes.”
He kissed her palms again, but let his tongue linger.
“Anytime.”
Ben coughed. “Really?”
Reaching for the bottle of MoonShine, Cairine refilled Ben’s glass. “You’ll understand soon. Sex infiltrates a vampire’s life. We are very much about love, blood, and sex. Once you find your mate, you’ll be all over her too.”
“What if…never mind.”
“You can ask us anything.”
“What if a vampire falls in love with a human?”
Jack tilted his head, interested in the answer.
“That happens often. Mates are rare and not everyone is capable of being mate to a vampire. When it does, the human is apprised of what it entails to become vampire and makes the choice whether to convert. Of course, by the time that discussion happens, it’s already long been obvious that they are in love and that they wouldn’t be apart for anything.”
Ife noticed that both men hadn’t moved. Was all this too overwhelming?
“Jack, Ben, we are good people, most of us, and we just want to help fix this problem. It’s a vampire problem, guys. We understand the world you’ve been inculcated in, but it’s time to step back and let those who know what they face take care of the rogue vampires.”
“Who will do it? Are they as conscientious as you two?”
“Well…”
Cairine looked at Ife smiling. “Um, his name is Xavier, and he’s one of the best of our family. He’s loud, unorthodox, he can be aggressive and intractable, he’s accustomed to getting his way and usually does. But he’s fair and he won’t hurt anyone who doesn’t need to be hurt. The vampires who kill people, they’re going to get hurt.”
“What about me, Cari? Where do I fit into all this?”
“Ben, you are new. Ordinarily, your sire would be there to teach you how your new skills work, guide you into leaving behind your human life, which you have to do, and help you adjust to the new world you go to. Since your sire isn’t around, we’ll make sure you are well cared for. But Ben, you won’t be able to stay here and live as you have. You’ll join the vampire community far from here. You won’t be able to see old friends or family.”
“What? I won’t leave Jack.”
“Normally, you wouldn’t have a choice, but in this instance, Jack is already versed in our world. He’s a part of it. Trusted humans can inhabit both worlds. Carefully, of course.”
Sliding back onto her bench, Ife turned to Jack.
“We will need you to work directly with us, with Xavier and his team, so that we can begin to unravel this system of hunter’s networks. I hope you’ll consider it. If you thought that you were doing the right thing to protect your people before, you’ll be especially pleased to know that you really will be doing that along with our vampire teams.”
“Ife, what happens to the hunters?”
“We will use compulsion to purge their memories, allow them to retain their lives and families, but take away their knowledge of vampires and vampire kills. We’ll take good care of them. These are good people, that they cared enough to risk their lives to protect others, we’ll do right by them.”
“It’s going to take a while. This won’t happen overnight. I have to think about my involvement. You’ve made your case, and it’s valid, I believe you, I really do, but it’s a lot to take in.”
“It will be your choice, Jack, if you want to be part of this. I hope you will, it will go easier for everyone if you are.”
Jack hesitated before he asked, “Will you be staying?”
Ife hesitated before she answered. “I can’t. I’m needed back in Brazil. I’m sorry.”
“No, I just wondered. Um, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I would like to get to HQ and find out what is going on there. It has to be chaos.”
“Probably. Ben, you’ll stay with us.”
“Good with that. HQ is a deathtrap for me.”
“I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Jack stood. “Thanks for everything. If you hadn’t come to me, Ben would be dead now, and my life would likely have turned into a lifelong battle for vengeance. I would have continued to kill innocent people. You’ve saved all of us.”
He turned to Ife. “Will you walk me out?”
“Um, sure.”
Following Jack down the wood stairs to the sand, Ife realized she was so worried, she couldn’t focus enough to read how Jack was feeling. She was afraid this might be the last time she would see him.
After moving down the beach several yards, Jack purposefully caught her eyes. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to come back once I check things out. If you would like me to.”
Curling her arms around Jack’s neck, Ife nudged him.
“Please, yes, I would really like you to.”
Arms tight, Jack lowered his head to touch hers. Her hair smelled like peaches, her skin so soft to the touch, her lips against his throat.
“I was afraid I might never see you again,” Ife admitted.
“I don’t want that.”
“Neither do I. I know we hit you with world changing information tonight. It’s almost impossibly overwhelming.”
“I can handle a lot. My life has been anything but ordinary. That you two saved my brother, though, Ife, I could never thank you enough.”
“It’s what we do. Also, I wouldn’t let you suffer that loss. Ben is innocent. I want to find his sire and make him pay for forcing conversion. The vampire community does not condone that.”
“He’s long gone. Besides, now that I know what I know, we killed his family, it’s understandable he’d want revenge. He didn’t kill Ben, he expected that our own prejudices would, and he was nearly right.”
“So, you’ll come back?”
“By morning. I don’t know where we go after that. You have to return to Brazil and I am stuck here.”
“You’re going to help?”
“I have to, I know that. I owe it to the other hunters.”
“You could come with me. Your hunting days are over.”
“No. I need to be here. There isn’t anyone else who can protect my people, who has their trust, who can get your vampires in safely to do their compulsions. I know what they’ll need to do this right.”
“You do. It’s the right choice. Perhaps someday you can come to the Amazon and see how much we’ve done. I’d love to show it to you.”
“Maybe, if things go well. I guess we’ll see how the world changes after I do what I have to do.”
Kissing Ife’s hair, Jack backed up. “I’d better go. See what my father is doing. And the others, who are going to be freaking out.”
“I’ll come and help if you need it.”
“Maybe. Let me scope it out first.”
“All right. Good luck, Jack. I’ll see you in a few hours. Um, can you fly a lift-car?”
“Shit. No. I forgot I don’t have a vehicle here.”
“Take mine. It’s an old gas-powered classic land car. The keys are in it. You’ll find it in that garage over there.”
“Thank you.”
Jack started toward the garage, then turned abruptly to grab Ife. His mouth near her neck again, he bit, blunt human teeth, not feeding, no, but erotic as hell. Ife leaned back.
“Bite again.”
Half an hour later, Cairine handed a huge chocolate chip cookie to Ife as she joined her on the balcony again.
“He’s gone?”
“I hope not. He’s returned to HQ, but he asked if he could come back. He will, but I don’t know if it’s mostly for his brother.”
Ife bit into the cookie and snatched Cairine’s wine glass to take a healthy gulp before she sighed. “We do have a special connection, we both felt it from the first moment we touched, but I’m not sure it will survive this crazy development. Jack’s whole life, everything that ever meant anything to him, has been ripped away, and that’s a lot for anyone to handle.”
“It really is. Let’s hope he can. Are you ready to call Xavier?”
“We need to. Yes. You have his number?”
“Use my fone. I’m going to go and see how our houseguest is faring. He makes quite a handsome vampire.”
Cairine turned when she reached the doorway.
“So would Jack.”
Pitching a pillow at her friend, Ife touched the button that would connect her to Xavier.
A sleepy voice answered. “Aye?”
“Xavier, it’s Ife, Ahmose’s daughter. We need you. We have a huge vampire problem in the States.”
At Hunter HQ
“Jack! Oh, thank God! I’ve been trying to reach you for hours! Where the fuck have you been? Why didn’t you answer my calls or texts? Jack, Ben’s gone.”
Her head buried in the computer, Sanquinetta looked up when Jack entered the room. “I’m searching all available feeds in any direction he could have gone. Jack, where the hell have you been?”
“Had some things to take care of. San, don’t worry about Ben right now, how’s everyone else doing?”
“Huh?”
Pushing out of her chair, Sanquinetta confronted Jack, a hand on his chest. “First, you always answer when I call you, or at least send a message. I went to your house. No Jack. And now I tell you that Ben is missing, and you tell me to forget about him? What the fuck is going on?”
“Can I give you details later? Where’s my father?”
“He ain’t here either. I’m not even sure what to do now. Plato, Kurt, and Jimbo are out looking for Ben, but what do they do if they find him? Is he dangerous? Do we want to be hunting Ben?”
Her luminous eyes seared into Jack’s. “You are going to answer me, Jack, if I have to tear it out of you. Something is wrong, I can tell it. You’re buzzing like a Czach Power Tower.”
“San, I’m not sure how much to tell you, but I trust you. You’re smarter than most of us and unnaturally intuitive. No one else is here right now? Okay, listen, sit down. I need to tell you something that will change our lives.”
Suspicious but curious, Sanquinetta sat on the edge of a chair, uneasy. “What is it, Jack?”
“We hunt vampires because they’re dangerous, they all kill people, right?”
Confused, pissed, Sanquinetta nodded. “Yeah, we do. So? Oldest news on the planet.”
“Here’s the newest. Vampires are not our enemy and they are not evil. We hunt down vampires to protect innocent people who don’t even know the threat exists. We kill them, and yes, some do deserve it, but some don’t either.”
“I don’t get you, Jack. What do you mean?”
“Ben is with me. He was rescued by two vampires. They’re good people, just like us, and they’re going to take over our job of stopping the vampires who kill. It isn’t necessary to kill to feed, and most vampires don’t do that. Do you remember Ife? The woman I was dating?”
“Sure. The white-haired witch. I mean that in a nice way.”
“That’s a good thing, she’s a nice lady. And she’s also vampire.”
Sanquinetta stared at Jack, unmoving, while she processed what he said. Using her weird ability to touch someone’s lespri sen, their spirit, she reached for this man that, until now, she would trust with her life. Was he compelled? Had a vampire gotten to him?
“San, it’s really true that vampires are not monsters. They’re not the living dead. Ife says that the conversion does not involve dying.”
She had to admit to curiosity about what he was saying. How a vampire changed a human into a vampire was on her list of research topics.
“Then how do they change?”
“Vampire blood contains a virus. It’s ancient and powerful, and it literally rewrites a human’s DNA, making them something else. A vampire.”
“Interesting. I’m reading you, Jack, and you don’t seem to be under persuasion. I’m going to ask you straight out. Are you compelled by a vampire to say these things?”
“No. Ife has promised that she’ll never use control on me. I believe her.”
“Because you’re fucking her.”
“No. Well, yes, but I believe her because she’s an honest, kind woman.”
“Then you need to take me to meet her again. Convince me, Jack. Or I’m taking this strange information to the hunters. Let them sort it out.”
“It’s getting close to daylight, but I will. How about first thing tonight after the sun drops?”
“I can agree to that.”
“Now we need to rein in the guys, keep this all under wraps, and see where we go from here. San, I need you with me. I’m going to help the vampires stop the hunters, and protect them, and then go after rogue vampires who are killing. So, essentially, we’re still vampire hunters, but in more of an advisory capacity.”
Lifting the dagger that hung at her side nearly every minute of her night, Sanquinetta nodded. “I’d like to not have to kill anymore. So, yeah, I’ll meet the vampires.”
“Good. For now, let’s round up the rest of our team and have them stand down.”
Jack watched Sanquinetta release a hard breath, and look up at the ceiling, eyes closed, before she nodded again.
This wasn’t going to be easy for anyone.