Jacob made some calls, and two other vampires came to his house as the sun started to set. I could tell they were vampires by how quickly they moved, but one seemed more human than the others.
That, and he had food. Normal, human food.
“I think I’ll leave you two for a while,” Jacob told me, touching my back before he left the kitchen. “I won’t be far.”
Good. I had no intention of letting him go far either. Not after the dream I’d had last night. I’d never had any prophetic tendencies, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still worried.
The man who’d told me about the clan in Silver Creek had spoken the worst about vampires. If he was a hunter, like Jacob thought, that meant he had to be dangerous. I couldn’t let anything happen to Jacob now that I’d finally found him.
Not after I’d lost my heart to him.
“I’m David,” the other man said, holding out his hand.
I joined him at the table. He slid a box in front of me. “Hawk Verity.”
He smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He sounded sincere. I opened the box and found a French dip sandwich and relaxed even more. So far, none of the vampires I’d encountered here had tried to hurt me. Why had the man who’d warned me of them seemed so certain they were dangerous?
“Jacob wanted me to talk to you because I was right where you are not too long ago,” David said.
“You mean…?”
“A human.” He nodded. “I work at the hospital. I came here to start over last year. I was just a regular guy. Until I died.”
I blinked, the sandwich freezing halfway to my mouth. “Excuse me?”
“I was driving out by the lake and I swerved to miss hitting a deer. I overcompensated and plunged straight into Silver Creek lake. Hypothermia, shock—” He waved his hand—“all that. And Jonathan saved me.”
The other guy he’d come in with. Pieces started falling into place.
“We were Fated,” David said. “I assume Jacob has talked to you about that.”
“Yes.” I chewed while he continued.
“The instant we were close enough to really see each other, to talk, we were linked. And once he saved my life, well…” His smile appeared again. “There was no going back.”
“Was it hard?” I asked. “Knowing you were…” I found it hard to say the words “in love,” even if I was starting to believe that was the exact emotion I was feeling. Love wasn’t a word I tossed around lightly… “meant to be with a vampire.”
“It was harder for Jonathan. He, like Jacob, had lived with the belief that it was better to keep his distance from humans. It is—was, I guess—the number one rule—no, the only rule—of their clan.”
“What rule?”
“To never tell a human who we are.”
I sat back in my seat, letting the words settle. “You mean, it’s against the rules for vampires to tell us the truth?”
“Not all vampires, not everywhere. But this clan here. Yes. The absolute most important rule.” David gave another soothing smile. “But I put two and two together from when Jonathan saved me and, well…you know how hard it is to stay away from someone when you’re Fated.”
I knew it painfully. Even having Jacob in the other room right now was difficult. I could feel his presence out there, somewhere in the house, like a soft tug, telling me to go to him. Willing him to come to me.
David grinned. “See? It’s hard. Trust me, I know how you feel. It’s really nice to talk about this with someone who understands.”
“What happened? If you were breaking the rules…”
“We were going to leave. Jonathan tried to keep our secret from Jacob, tried not to disturb the clan. We were going to run away, but things got a little…complicated.”
“Meaning?”
He grimaced. “Jacob found out.”
Unease settled over me. I still didn’t know Jacob well enough to know what he’d do in that situation. But he seemed to take his role as the leader of the clan seriously, which meant he wasn’t likely to have taken the situation lightly.
“I doubt he ever would have hurt me,” David said reassuringly, “but erase my memory? It was a possibility.”
My mouth dropped open. “Erase your memory? He can do that?”
“He can influence people to think whatever he wants. He’s one of the oldest vampires in the country. Maybe even beyond that. He’s very powerful.” David smiled again, always smiling. “But also one of the most understanding.”
I believed that. He had saved my mom. He’d shown compassion for her and done something that had probably gone against his beliefs—at least if he thought there was any possibility of him being caught or someone finding out his true identity.
“Regardless, he listened to the situation and found out we were Fated. Fate chose us, me and Jonathan, for this, and there wasn’t anything we could do but give in.” David glanced in the direction of the hallway, like he could sense his soulmate nearby. “We were meant for each other, and Jacob saw that. As a gesture of faith, to prove to the clan that I wouldn’t reveal their secret, I chose to become a vampire.”
I closed the box with the sandwich, forgetting all about the food and itching to write this down, to take notes or speak into my recorder. This was fascinating. But, like David, I had no intention of revealing this clan’s secret.
If I did, it might mean more than simply going back on my word. It could mean danger.
“Did it hurt?” I asked. “Becoming a vampire?”
“Jacob did it—and no, he wouldn’t allow for that. It was simple, seamless. And painless. The adjustment afterward is a little more unusual. For example, I used to love pasta. Not so much anymore.”
“Not even with red sauce?” I asked, attempting at a joke.
“Unfortunately, no.”
“Do you…I mean, I’m assuming you drink blood?”
“I do. And I thought I’d hate it, but that wasn’t the case. Now, it’s a craving, just like pasta.”
I leaned back in my seat. “Are you craving that…now?”
He laughed. “That’s not how it works. I mean, we crave blood, but it’s less specific than craving something like pasta. It’s more like I crave Italian food, and any kind will suffice. Meaning it doesn’t have to be human blood—or at least, it’s not a hunger strong enough that you’re in any kind of danger. When I discovered that, it was a big relief. And most of us in the clan are vegetarians so to speak, even though we don’t have to kill a human to feed off of them.”
“Are there a lot of you here in Silver Creek?”
He nodded. “You’ve met Chris and Maya and—”
“Chris and Maya?” I choked out.
“Right. And you met Jonathan and Maddox.”
“The owner of the B&B. Of course.” No wonder he’d been so friendly when I’d had breakfast with him. He’d been trying to figure out what I knew.
“There are a few others you haven’t met as well.”
“That’s a lot.”
He nodded. “And a little riskier the bigger our group grows.”
My stomach twisted slightly. Now, I wished more than anything that Jacob was sitting here with me. “You mean because of the vampire hunters?”
“Yes.”
“I had no idea who that man was who told me about you guys,” I started. “I didn’t come here to hurt anyone.”
“We know that. But someone out there does know that we’re here, which means we’re in danger. You might be, too.”
I shook my head. “That’s not…if someone comes here because of me…”
“Then we’ll fight,” David said simply. “We know the danger. We’ll do what we have to.”
“I’d fight with you. I know you aren’t dangerous. I’d stay and fight with you.”
David’s lips curved in a secretive kind of smile. “I know you would. But I don’t think Jacob would allow that. Sorry, but as a human, you’re too fragile.”
It only took me a moment to decide, but then I sat up straighter. “There’s a simple way to fix that. I become a vampire, too.”
“No.”
The one powerful word made me gasp and spin around. Jacob stood there, something akin to fury on his face.
“Jacob—” David started.
He shook his head. “There is no way he’s becoming a vampire and that’s final.”