Twelve

THE NEXT MORNING Gia stood at the window of the bedroom, watching the sun pop over the horizon. She had slept little since Layton left, and major exhaustion was seeping into her pores. Her ribs were still aching and burning, causing her to wince each time she moved too fast. In the past few days, a bombshell had been dropped on her and she was having a hard time with it. How could she have not known about her mother? Why didn’t her dad say something, so that Gia didn’t live most of her life in the dark about what she was? The way her dad acted toward Layton in the hospital made sense though. He didn’t want his daughter to go down the same dangerous path he had. In his own way, he was protecting her. There was now a mystery behind what happened to her mother and Gia was determined to find out what it was. Layton would expect her to stay at his house until he awoke that night, but she couldn’t stand there and lose time. As bad as her pain level was, she would power through it and hopefully get a few leads on what she was looking for. After taking a quick shower, dressing and grabbing her purse, Gia was out the door and in a cab. Her first stop was the police station. When she stepped into the musty interior, she cringed.

“Can I help you?” a tall, skinny officer behind the desk asked. Gia stepped forward.

“I’m looking for information about the death of my mom.”

 “Does this look like the public records department?” he chomped down on a piece of gum and pinned her with an annoyed stare.

“Of course not. But I was hoping…”

 “Lady, why don’t you go home and Google what happened to your mom. Unless you need to report a crime, you’re wasting my time.” He turned away from the desk and walked off.

“Looks like somebody’s late for their donut break.” She mumbled as she made her way to the exit. The one person who would know what happened was her father, but Gia knew it would be a mistake to ask him. He’d been closed off from the death of her mom ever since it happened. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he’d discuss it now. She would just have to find answers on her own. With the searing desert sun beating down on her, Gia walked away from the police precinct. She hadn’t gotten far when her phone rang. When she pulled it from her purse, Zach’s number scrolled across the screen. “Zach?” her hands shook and her stomach did a flip.

 “Hey, G,” Zach said.

“Oh my god, where are you?”

“I can’t say. But I need to see you.”

 “Just tell me where you are and I’ll come there.” Excitement peppered her voice.

“Listen, meet me at the Fill-Up-Mart on the corner of 2nd and Elm. Be there at seven p.m.”

“Okay, but Zach,” she began but was soon cut off by the line going dead. Disappointment wafted over her followed by curiosity. Was her brother in trouble? He hadn’t sounded like he was, but he could have been. There were just too many possibilities to name.

“Gia?” she heard a familiar voice behind her and spun around.

“What do you want, Micah?” her brow furrowed with anger.

“I wanted to apologize for the way I behaved the other night. I was drunk and did some things I regret.” Micah had his hands shoved in his pockets and a sad expression on his face.

“Fine,” Gia said, then walked away.

“Wait up.” He caught up to her. “I don’t want tension between us, Gia.”

 “Then don’t be a dipshit.”

 “You’re right.” He held his hands up as if he were surrendering to her. “Will you tell your vamp boyfriend that I’m sorry?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she laughed.

“Oh, I thought…”

“We’re friends, nothing more.” Gia knew that was one big fat lie. She had fallen for Layton Kyle and as she stood there in the daylight, she wanted to be next to him.

“Got it.”

 “I have to go.” She picked up her walking pace and continued down the sidewalk toward the local library. Micah didn’t follow and for that, she was grateful. It was hard for her to forgive people in her life. When she was hurt, she put up defenses so strong that the military would have a hard time breaking in. She didn’t give second chances.

***

“Where is she?” Layton searched every room in his house and Gia was nowhere to be found. It angered him to know that he told her to stay and yet again, she failed to listen. Her headstrong ways would get her hurt if she wasn’t careful.

“Hungry?” Astrid handed him a wine goblet half filled with blood.

“Is it fresh?” he asked as he took a whiff of the thick crimson liquid.

“A donor just got done giving it fifteen minutes ago. It’s still warm, just the way you like it.”

 Layton drank the blood and sat his glass in the kitchen sink. “I need you to run the club again tonight.”

“Again? I’m tired of fielding questions about why you’re gone.”

“Then don’t say anything, problem solved.”

“I know I fucked up, but I wanted you to see that she will get a stake driven through your heart one day. Why can’t you see that?”

 “Love is blind.”

“So you love her?” Astrid’s perfectly groomed eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Yes.”

“How do you expect to have a relationship with a Dahmpir?”

“I don’t know, Astrid. But right now I have to find her and make sure she’s safe.” He grabbed his car keys from the counter and walked to the front door. His sister could say what she wanted to and it wouldn’t change his mind about Gia. He’d waited years to feel something again and he would not let it slip away no matter what Gia was. They would have to keep things a secret for a while, but he hoped one day they could be a real couple. But the first thing he had to do was locate her and his instincts told him that she might be at her father’s house. Once he was in his car, Layton pulled onto the highway and headed in that direction. As he traveled, he thought about his undead life and how for the first time in forever, he didn’t regret his decision to become what he was. He now had a reason to walk the earth—even if it was only in darkness. Gia could give him the light he needed to carry on and be grateful for what he was. Pulling into the driveway at her father’s house, Layton shut the engine off and got out. The front door was closed and there were a few lights illuminating the interior of the house, meaning that someone was in there. He stepped up to the door and gave a few knocks. No one came to the door. With a deep sigh, he drove to Gia’s house. Maybe she would be there resting.

***

“What is going on?” Gia hopped out of the cab and threw her arms around Zach’s neck.

 “I can’t talk about it here. Come on,” he said, then motioned to his truck parked under a pole light. If she wanted to know where her brother had been, she needed to trust him and see where he was taking her. Climbing into the seat, she clicked her belt into place. “It’ll take thirty minutes before we get there,” he explained. “I found out some things about us.”

“I think I know what you’re talking about.”

“Our mom?” he looked across the bench seat and asked.

“Yes. How did we not know about her being a vampire?”

 “Dad was good at keeping secrets.” Zach chuckled.

“I’m so confused and angry. I don’t like being lied to. You know how I am about trust issues.”

“Yeah, I know all too well about that shit.” He grabbed her hand and wrapped his fingers around it. “I need you to trust me, G. I only have your best interest at heart here.”

“I trust you.” She smiled. With each mile that ticked by on the odometer, Gia’s stomach began a nervous flutter. She still had no clue where her brother was taking her.

“We’re almost there,” he said while turning onto a dusty one-lane road. It seemed to stretch for miles, the headlights barely cutting through the gathering dust up ahead. When the dirt cleared, she could see what looked like a large metal gate. Staying silent, Gia watched Zach punch four numbers into a keypad right before the gate. It swung open, with two guards standing post on the inside. Zach stopped as one man approached the driver’s side door. “Hey man, just bringing my sister in.”

“Okay,” the man said, then stepped away.

“What is this place?” Gia asked while looking around at the compound like place.

“This is The Haven. It’s a place where people like us meet.”

“There are more like us in Las Vegas?”

“Yep,” Zach said as he found a place to park the truck.

 The truck came to a stop in front of a larger sized home. There was nothing on the outside showing who might live in it or that they were so closely connected with both humans and vampires. Gia wasn’t sure how she felt about meeting more like her but she knew she felt safe because Zach was there. He wouldn’t let anything happen to his big sister.

 “Come on, I want you to meet Dahlia, she’s kind of the head of this place,” Zach said as he popped the handle to open his door. Gia did the same and slowly slid down from the cab of the truck. She continued to assess her surroundings as she walked behind her brother and up to the door of the house. When Zach pushed the door open, he led her in.

“It’s about time you got back. I was thinking you changed your mind,” A woman with salt and pepper hair approached Zach.

“Nah, I’m not going anywhere.” He gave the woman a quick hug. “I’d like you to meet my sister, Gia. Gia this is Dahlia.” Zach made the introductions.

Gia stepped forward and extended her hand. The older woman studied her from head to toe. “Zach has told us so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet.” Dahlia was in her sixties and by the looks of it, she loved turquoise jewelry.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Gia glanced around the living room, taking in the Native American motif.

“Could I use your ladies room?” Gia asked.

“Sure. Down the hall, second door on the right.” Dahlia instructed.

 “Thanks.” Gia made her way to the bathroom and shut herself in. When the lock was in place, she braced her spine against the wood and let out a sigh. Even though she’d trusted her brother, something didn’t feel right about Dahlia. She was nice enough—maybe too nice in fact. People like her were notorious for hiding things and Gia would wager that the woman had more than her fair share of secrets. Closing her eyes, Gia calmed herself. She couldn’t go back out and demand the woman open her closet and show all her skeletons. No, she would have to play it cool. After checking her phone for missed calls and texts, Gia took a steadying breath and found her brother once more.

“So, now that you know what you are, what do you plan to do?” Dahlia tossed a kernel of popcorn in her mouth and chewed.

“I’m not sure. Probably nothing.” Gia shrugged. With the way Dahlia acted, Gia would have thought she slapped her across the face with a side of beef.

“You weren’t put in your position to do nothing, child. We have an opportunity to make this world free of conflict.”

 “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” Gia tilted her head to the side.

“I don’t think you realize how many violent crimes are committed by vampires that go unreported. Humans are dying and we have the chance to remedy that.”

 “By doing what, killing vampires?” Gia’s voice raised.

“Exactly. Zach told me how smart you are, he didn’t lie did he?”

 “I don’t think I want to be part of this.” Gia shook her head and went for the door.

“G, wait.” Zach followed her outside. “You didn’t even stay to hear what all she had to say.”

 “I don’t have to. It’s all bullshit. Vamps aren’t out killing humans for the hell of it.” She defended the undead.

“How would you know that? You’ve never even been around one,” Zach placed his hands on his hips.

“That’s not true,” Gia whispered.

 “What are you talking about?”

“When you went missing, I went to that vampire sex club and talked to the owner. He was helping me try to find you.” She refused to make eye contact with her brother.

“Please don’t tell me you’re a fang fucker, G.”

“We have some sort of strange connection. Not to mention, our mom was the one who turned him and his sister. You can’t possibly want to kill someone who did that, could you?”

“I hate the mother fuckers. I hope they all burn.”

 “This isn’t you. The Zach I know doesn’t join some crazy ass cult and vow to make vamps extinct.”

“You don’t know me very well then do you?”

“Take me home, please.” Gia got back into the truck. After a few moments of waiting, her brother finally got in and drove away from the house. He didn’t say a word the entire drive and Gia felt hurt. She would never understand why he hated vampires if he did, but she hoped someday he would come around.

“Thanks,” she smiled at Zach as he dropped her off at her house. He said nothing in reply which was probably for the best. With screeching tires, he sped away in a puff of white smoke. She would have to table the issue with her brother until she had a few more hours of sleep. It was too damn late to convince him that he was wrong. Taking a cleansing breath, she extended her hand that held a house key and aimed it for the door knob. Gia startled when the door unlatched and swung open with a creak. She poked her head in and said, “Hello.” There was no answer. She thought back to when she was home last and had realized that in her sleep deprived state, she must not have pulled it closed. Shrugging it off, she walked in, dropped the key in the bowl by the door and tossed her purse on a nearby chair. She then went to the kitchen and flipped on the light. Her eyes went wide and chills covered her entire body, causing her to feel paralyzed.

 “Gia, this isn’t what it looks like,” Layton stood.

“No,” tears welled in her eyes as she saw the massive amounts of blood on his hands and around the body on the floor. She stepped closer to the corpse, then threw her hand over her mouth. “Dad,” she cried. “Why would you do this to me?” she fell to her knees—the slick blood painting her legs.

“I didn’t do this,” Layton said above her.

“His throat is ripped open,” she said while reaching toward her father, only to jerk her hand back.

“The police are on their way,” Layton said. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t think. She could only look at the man standing above her. The man that she had fallen for. The man that murdered her father in cold blood. She would never forgive him.