TREY WAS OBSESSED with my house. Once he had pulled me in the opposite direction of Arianna and my brother—a not-so-subtle attempt at giving those two privacy to make up—he dragged me through room after room. He gaped at all the fineries, mooned over all the toys. I didn’t care about any of it at the moment, but seeing his materialistic joy brought a smile to my face. For a second, anyway. My heart was still stuck on the situation, my mind still replaying the conversation my parents were having with Gabriel. Hunter was killing vampires. I already knew that, since he’d told me as much, but hearing details of just how he was killing them was chilling, and confusing. It didn’t match the image I had of him in my head—the charming gentleman who’d wanted to be open and honest with everyone about our relationship. The fact that he’d been hiding a secret almost as big as mine was mind-boggling.
In my head, I dissected every conversation we’d had, every smile he’d given me…every kiss we’d shared. It seemed so wrong to think of his confident swagger being involved in murder. Of course, he didn’t see it that way. He was ridding the world of horror stories. Horror stories like me.
As Trey and I stepped onto the third floor, Trey asked his millionth question about vampires. “So, why can you walk around in sunlight?”
Mentally, I sighed. “Because, like I said about ten times already, I’m mostly human. The side effects lessen with each generation. My eyes don’t even glow.”
Trey stopped and looked at me. “Vampires’ eyes glow? Weird.” He seemed about to say more, but over my shoulder he spotted something that made his face light up. “Dude, is that a sauna?”
I rolled my eyes at Trey’s lack of focus. That was when I felt my brother’s mood. He’d been hovering in a stable range of relief and worry, but he’d just darkened into grief and guilt. While Trey had hoped Arianna would sweep Julian into a bedroom and make a man out of him, I knew that wasn’t what was happening. Arianna was probably setting him straight about just how much he’d hurt her.
Leaving Trey alone in the steam room, I set off to find my brother. My feet were mere streaks of light across the cracks in the wooden floors as I raced his way. I felt where he was in this massive house, same as I could feel my other family members. He was trudging toward me, barely moving. It only took me a moment to realize why he was walking so slowly.
Arianna was steadfastly walking away from him. Altering my course, I grabbed her shoulders as I blurred to a stop. Arianna screamed when my fingers suddenly encircled her arms. She quieted as soon as she realized it was me holding her, but I cringed anyway. Screaming was super-loud to vampires. But I had just materialized out of thin air right in front of her, so I couldn’t really blame her for being startled.
“Hey, it’s just me.”
She hugged me tight, then gently pushed me away. “Please don’t ever do that again.”
I looked behind her, at where I could see Julian watching us near the stairs at the end of the hallway. “Is everything okay?”
Arianna glanced back at Julian, then back at me. “Everything’s fine,” she said, her voice sad.
Julian’s mood fell a little more, and I gave him a sympathetic smile before turning and walking away with Arianna. “So…what happened with Julian?”
Arianna mused on her feelings while we walked down the hallway I’d just come from. Giving me a look that spoke volumes about how hurt she was feeling, she leaned in and whispered, “I just don’t understand why he chose her over me. She’s with someone else, and she just keeps hurting him…why is he holding onto her?”
Not knowing what to say to her, since I’d often wondered those same things myself, I could only shrug in response. I heard Julian sigh as he fell into step behind us, and I hoped he was finally asking himself that question.
Arianna shook her head, and under her breath I heard her murmur, “Why am I holding onto him?” Knowing Arianna’s crush on my brother might end before Julian’s crush on Raquel made my heart break. He could have something here, if he opened his eyes in time.
Arianna walked along in silence after that. We found Trey where I’d left him; he stumbled out of the steam room a little damp. Julian caught up to our group as Trey was telling us that he was officially moving in once everything simmered down. It was a catch twenty-two for me. Even though I wanted everything to simmer down just as much as the rest of the vampires in my family, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Hunter. Right or wrong, I still cared about him, and for one side to win, one side had to lose.
As we headed to our bedrooms here at the ranch, Julian cocked his head toward the living room, where our family was still discussing tactics. I could hear them, too, but I tried to block them out. I didn’t want to hear about any plan that either put my family in danger, or put Hunter in danger.
Trey beside Julian seemed to notice his friend’s look of distraction. “Dude, can you hear them?” Julian glanced over at Trey and nodded. Trey’s impressed face turned inquisitive. “So, what are they saying?”
Arianna tuned in to hear Julian’s response, and I let out a weary exhale. Julian looked at me before answering Trey. “My dad is saying that he doesn’t want to wage an all-out assault on Hunter and his father. He doesn’t want to risk a direct fight.” Julian paused, listening. “He wants to catch them unaware, so the chance of anything going wrong is slimmer.” He locked eyes with me. “He wants to keep searching the ads, find the vampire who placed it, and then lie in wait with them when Hunter answers the ad.”
I tilted my head, listening to Dad’s argument. He seemed to think that once Hunter and his dad lost our trail, they’d resume vampire hunting in the way that had worked the best for them so far. They’d keep answering ads and slaying their victims while they were feeding. It was a plausible, if lengthy, plan. For one, Dad and the guys would have to decipher which ad belonged to a vampire, answer it, and hope the party on the other end hadn’t already been paid a visit by the hunters.
Just as I was beginning to believe that we might be in hiding for the rest of the year, Trey told Julian, “Why don’t they cut out the middle man? Why don’t they place the ad? You know, like a sting?”
Julian and I both stopped in our tracks to stare at Trey. Our parents had originally been more preoccupied with warning vampires of the potential threat when they’d started searching ads. Their goal hadn’t really been to kill the hunter in the area, although they certainly were interested in that outcome. But now that our family was the target, their priorities had shifted. We had to find Hunter, before he found us.
Surprise flowed through Julian as he responded to Trey. “Wow, you’re sort of brilliant when you’re sober.”
Trey smirked, then slung one arm around Arianna and the other around me. “I’m always brilliant, that’s why the girls dig me.”
Arianna and I scoffed at the same time, shrugging ourselves free from his embrace. I had to agree with Julian, though; it was a much better plan than aimlessly sifting through classifieds. Everyone downstairs seemed to think so too. The conversation shifted toward how to best conduct the trap. It broke my heart to listen. All I could think of was Hunter’s piercing eyes locking onto mine. The memory of what he’d done was fading as the memory of how he’d cared for me superseded it. I’d never had anyone look at me that way before, and I was doubtful anyone would ever look at me that way again. I couldn’t imagine Hunter’s eyes dead and lifeless, but the conversations drifting up to me weren’t about how to subdue him and wipe his memory. No, they were discussing the best way to get rid of him. And almost everyone’s answer was the same—kill him.
While Trey and Julian headed off to his bedroom to discuss vampire lore, I trudged to mine with Arianna. I didn’t want to talk about what I was and how amazing my gifts were. I wanted to wallow in the fact that the only man who had moved my soul was now out to get me. Arianna seemed to understand my grief. Either that, or she was dealing with her own, and she remained by my side as my silent, supportive companion.
Neither of us said much as we laid on my bed and waited for the sun to go down. For a long time, the only conversation in my room had been between Arianna and her mom. She’d called her, telling her where she was and that she’d borrowed the car. Even if I hadn’t been supernatural, I think I would have heard her mom’s concerned reply—there had been a pretty big scare at the school after all. But by Arianna’s mom’s response, the incident with Hunter had been explained away as nothing. Aside from an early release, nothing in the world of academia was any different. How I wished I could say the same for my world.
After being berated for taking the car without permission, Arianna skillfully manipulated the conversation, and got her mom to agree to let her stay at my house for dinner, although, she had to bring the car home immediately after our meal was done. Once Arianna got off the phone with her mom, I congratulated her on her deception. She could lie almost as seamlessly as I could. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
About twenty minutes before the sun extinguished for the day, I felt Halina emerging from her rooms. I sat up, curious if she was okay.
“What is it?” Arianna asked.
“Grandma Halina is up.” I looked over to her. “I want to go see if she’s all right.”
Arianna looked pale as she sat up on the bed. “Halina…the full vampire?”
I nodded, blurring to my feet. Arianna blinked at my rapid change in position. “Yeah, Hunter sort of…poisoned her. I need to know that she’s okay.”
Arianna got to her feet. “Okay, let’s go see.”
Happiness welled in me at my friend’s show of courage. I’d thought before that she might be okay with what we were. Well, I’d hoped she would be, at any rate, but she seemed to be handling things fairly well. Grabbing her hand, I hurried with her to the hallway. I could blur downstairs in a second, but I didn’t want to leave her behind, and I didn’t think she’d be cool with me carrying her.
Julian and Trey met us in the hallway. Trey had an eager look on his face, like he was about to learn how to fly or something. I was sure he was just excited to meet a pureblood until Julian bumped my elbow and murmured, “Hey, Trey wants to know if you’ll run him downstairs.” I knew by the way Julian said “run” that he meant blur.
My mouth fell open as I looked over at the tall, spindly boy bouncing up and down on his heels. “What? Why me?” I poked Julian’s chest. “You do it.”
Julian glanced over at Arianna. “I thought I’d take her down.”
We all looked at Arianna. Not having heard our conversation, she flushed at the sudden attention. “What?”
A small scowl was on my lips as I looked back at Julian. “Fine, but you owe me.”
Catching the gist of our conversation, Trey giggled and held his arms open for me. “Come here, love.”
I rolled my eyes, but effortlessly scooped him up. Arianna gasped, seeing my unnatural strength. Then she snapped her head to Julian. He approached her slowly, hands raised like he thought she might run. “If you want, I can get you downstairs really fast.”
Arianna’s face went a little paler as she realized what was happening, but with Julian approaching her, arms out, she didn’t seem capable of saying no. Her heart beat a little harder when Julian slowly bent down to pick her up. When he lifted her to his chest, she laced her arms around his neck. Their eyes never left each other, and again, I thought my brother was an idiot for not seeing what was right in front of him.
“Hang on,” he whispered, right before taking off.
Trey whistled as they vanished before our eyes. Then he tried to kick me with the heel of his shoe. “Get a move on, little doggie. They’re beating us.” I nearly dropped him to the floor right there, but then I’d have to hear him complain all the way down the stairs, so I didn’t.
We were back in the living room a split-second later. When I got there with Trey, Julian was tenderly placing Arianna on her feet; his arm remained around her waist, supporting her. I simply let go of Trey. He crashed to the floor with a noisy grunt, and everyone twisted to look at him. Julian frowned at me, but Trey hopped right back to his feet, not looking any worse for wear. He clapped Julian on the shoulder. “Dude! That was freaking awesome!”
Arianna was a little unsteady on her feet after the rapid movement, and she clung to Julian’s side. Trey glanced over at her, then whispered into Julian’s ear, “You know, whatever freaky thing you are, I think you still got a shot with her.”
Julian opened his mouth to respond, but Halina stepped out of her secret door and stole everyone’s attention. Dad was right by her side, to help her if she needed him, and for once, she actually looked like she did need his help. She moved slowly, her face wan. She looked a lot better than when I’d last seen her—anything other than throwing up blood was a vast improvement—but she still seemed a little out of sorts.
Imogen stepped to Halina’s side, supporting her mother, while Gabriel hovered behind her, ready to assist. The teenage vampire looked really frail with everyone nearby on full alert. The sight set me back; Halina was never frail.
She seemed to agree. After another moment of people asking her if she was okay, asking her if she needed anything, Halina shrugged off her supporters and stepped forward on her own. “Stop that this instant. I am not an invalid who needs to be coddled.”
The last of the setting sun’s rays stroked Halina’s skin, softening the paleness. Gabriel laid a hand on her arm. “Remnants of the silver are still with you, my dear. It will take a while for you to be at full strength again.”
Halina lifted her chin as she stared down her boyfriend. “Even still, I do not need to be treated like I’m going to break apart at any moment.” She glanced over to the new arrivals in her midst—Arianna and Trey. “Now, who are these two, and why are they here?”
Trey stepped forward, hand extended. Arianna remained glued to Julian’s side. Julian held her close and rubbed her arm in a show of sympathy. Halina seemed amused by Trey’s boldness as he approached her. “Name’s Trey.”
A faint smile on her lips, Halina took his hand. “You know what I am?”
Trey’s eyes widened as Halina squeezed his hand. I wasn’t sure if he was just reacting to her chill or if she was hurting him a little. I knew Halina well enough to know that she wouldn’t cause him serious pain, but she would try and intimidate him. It worked too. The color drained from Trey’s face as I watched. A protective surge flared in Julian, but he stayed by Arianna’s side, watching as well.
Trey nodded at Halina’s question, and she asked another one. “And tell me how you feel about that.”
I could tell from the way she’d said it, that she’d “forced” him to answer. Whatever he said to her now would be the God’s honest truth. His face a little blank, he replied, “I think it’s…freaking awesome.”
Exhaling in an irritated way, Halina dropped his hand and twisted to Gabriel. “There was a time when being a vampire meant something. Just hearing the word invoked fear in the hearts of men. But now…?” She grunted, exasperated. “Damn pop culture has completely wussified our race.”
Gabriel smirked at Halina, happy to see a bit of her spunk returning. Dad cast a nervous glance at the windows as he stepped closer to Gabriel. “As soon as it’s fully dark, we should go.”
Halina twisted to Dad. “Where are we going?”
Trey raised his hand like an eager school boy who had all the answers. “My house!”
Halina flicked her eyes to him, then back to Dad. “And why are we staying with a human who shouldn’t know anything about us to begin with?”
Maybe seeing an argument brewing, Dad crossed his arms over his chest. The sight of him like that—strong, defiant—made me proud to be his daughter, made me want a future that would someday have a man I loved looking as strong and confident as my father. I thought I’d found that in Hunter’s confidence…but I was wrong.
“Hunter showed up at school, pieced together what the children really are. He…attacked.” Dad tapped his chest. “He shot me.” Halina hissed and stared at Dad’s chest. There was nothing to see of course, but Halina looked ready to tear someone’s head off at just the thought of her grandchild being injured. Dad held out a hand. “I’m fine…he missed my heart. But he knows the truth about our family heritage. It won’t take him long to find this place.” He circled his finger to indicate the ranch.
Her stance as defiant as my father’s, Halina told the room, “I am not afraid of a pair of humans playing at being slayers.”
Julian growled his approval of her sentiment. His mood still bristled with the desire to defend his home, but I knew better. Hunter and his dad weren’t wannabes, and engaging them head-on wouldn’t end well for either side. “He’s not playing, Grandma. He showed me. His family has been hunting vampires for generations. They know what they’re doing.”
Halina analyzed my comment for a moment before answering. “Even still, we vastly outnumber them.”
Dad shook his head. “And how many will get hurt in the process?” He pointed over to Julian and me. “Do we risk my children?” He moved his hand to indicate Imogen and Alanna. “Your children?” Halina looked about to argue with his question, but Dad steamrolled over her objection. “And you may have the bravado of someone who can take on the world, but you’re struggling to stand up straight. You’re not up to a fight yet. And we don’t need to fight them so directly. We have another idea.”
Trey nudged Julian’s elbow. “My idea.”
Halina heard him. Voice droll, she said, “Great, now we’re letting a teenage human who reeks of pot plan our battles?”
Trey’s prideful smile fell. “Hey, I’m sober…today.”
Ignoring him, Halina focused on Dad. “What’s next, Teren? We let Olivia handle our finances?”
Starla snorted and popped a bubble with her gum. The apple scent floated past me, along with her chuckles. Dad shot her a glance, but looked back at Halina with determination in his eyes. “It’s a decent plan. We’ll discuss it on the way.”
Halina grumbled and complained while she waited for the sun to set, but she didn’t offer any alternative plan and didn’t object when it was time to leave. She gave my friends meaningful looks on the drive there as she sat next to Julian and me in Arianna’s Mom’s minivan. I could tell she was determining just how long our friends would know all our secrets. Now that it was out there, I hated the fact that it would all be taken away. Our friends would never get to remember this moment.
Running a hand through her long, dark locks, Halina finally locked gazes with me. In Russian, she confirmed what I’d been thinking. “Your friends cannot be allowed to remember this.”
Hating the thought of going back to lying all the time, I countered, “They’re fine with what we are. They won’t say a word.” I’d replied to her in Russian, and never having heard me talk that way before, Trey twisted in the front seat to stare at me, wide-eyed.
“It does not matter,” Halina said. “They know a secret that we share with very few. They are young…and youth talk.”
Julian leaned around me. His emotion was simmering at the same level of desperation mine was—he wanted our friends to remember. He wanted a small piece of normalcy, wanted a friend in this world that he didn’t have to lie to. “They care about our safety, they won’t say a word.” Eyes imploring, he added, “We can trust them.”
Halina stared us both down. “The only humans we allow to know are those who have gone above and beyond to protect us…or those we chose as our mates, those who might continue the line.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Is either of them going to breed with you? Give us offspring?”
I was already shaking my head, but Julian turned his eyes to Arianna as she drove. Arianna was watching our conversation in the mirror. By the confusion on her face, she understood Russian just about as well as Trey did. And like Trey, she also seemed surprised that we spoke it.
Before Julian could answer, Dad, sitting behind us, leaned over the seat. His voice was heated as he addressed Halina. “Stop it with the breeding talk. My children are under no obligation to continue the line. You know this. We’ve discussed it at length.”
I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment and was instantly grateful that the two humans in the car had no idea what the vampires were talking about. Julian’s mood mirrored mine. I looked back at Mom beside Dad. She was concentrating hard on the conversation—trying to keep up with the low and fast foreign language—but she was nodding in agreement with Dad. Gabriel seemed impassive about the entire thing. He probably didn’t care either way if a couple of teenagers knew the truth.
Halina’s eyes got a little fiery as she held Dad’s gaze. “I’m aware of your feelings on the matter. I was simply making a point.” Her eyes returned to mine. “If you have no romantic interest in them, then the children will be wiped clean when this is over. End of discussion.”
I felt my eyes sting as I faced front, ignoring her. I knew it was pointless to argue with Halina, but I still wanted to. Julian did, too, I could tell by his mood and the antsy way he kept changing his position. I thought he’d wear a hole in his jeans with all his shifting. Julian’s gaze stayed locked on Arianna the entire car ride. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Julian wasn’t sure either—all I felt coming from him was confusion.
Things were still quiet in the car when we got back into Salt Lake City. We drove past the numerous monolithic churches, our vehicle as solemn as those sacred places. Contrary to the jokes that ran throughout the countryside, not everyone in Utah was Mormon. In fact, I didn’t think anyone currently riding in the car was. My own family had a more scientific view of things—an appreciation of nature and the circle of life, and the understanding that there was probably something bigger behind it all. Since my future was potentially infinite, I’d never really dwelled on religion, but as I passed by church after church, I started to wonder if maybe I should say a quick prayer for my family.
The car stopped at a red light as I was staring at a temple about the size of the ranch. The glow from the signal cast an eerie red sheen on everyone’s faces. It made the car seemed filled with blood. I was anxious for the light to turn to a cheerier color when a car pulled into the turn lane next to us. It stopped level with the middle of Arianna’s minivan, well before the white line painted on the cement, since we weren’t the first car at the intersection. The window slowly lowered, and I steadfastly watched it descend. Anything that could shift my thoughts from the darkness I’d been swirling in was a welcome distraction.
There was no one in the passenger’s side of the car, so I leaned forward to see what the driver wanted. That was when a flash of light erupted from the vehicle. The window Halina was sitting beside shattered a microsecond later. Shock filled me first, but it was quickly followed by panic. We were boxed into an intersection, a car in front of us, Grandpa’s truck behind us, and Starla’s car behind him, and some maniac was firing bullets into our minivan! What the hell?
Bullets whizzed through the air. Using a gun was a hard way to kill a vampire, unless you were a really good shot. The person beside us was good, but they were hampered by the bulk of the vehicles separating us, and only a few shots were making it into the car. Even though Halina was protecting Julian and me the best she could, one of those shots nicked my arm, tearing through my jacket and biting into my skin. Crying out in pain and fear, I clamped my hand over the wound. Killing an undead vampire was difficult, but I was still alive…and a much easier target.
As screams filled the air, Dad yelled, “Drive, Arianna! Go up the sidewalk!” Watching blood ooze between my fingers, staining my jacket, Arianna looked too freaked out to do anything.
As Halina blurred to the shell-shocked Arianna, Dad climbed over the seat to take Halina’s spot in shielding Julian and me from the wild, blazing bullets that were still being fired. I smelled blood in the air, and not just mine. Halina looked about ready to toss Arianna outside if she didn’t do something soon. Thankfully, she merely tossed my friend onto Trey’s lap.
Dad snarled, holding back a pain-filled cry as a couple of bullets hit him in the back. I did pray then, prayed that none of the bullets streaking into the car would hit his heart. That was all it would take to shatter my family forever.
Just as Halina stepped on the gas, smacking our car into the oblivious car in front of us, Grandpa behind us shifted his truck and rammed into the shooter’s car. The shooter took off, peeling away as he squealed around a corner. Halina turned the wheel to follow him.
Dad lunged forward. “No! Let him go! Nika’s hurt.”
That was when I remembered that I’d been shot. I looked at the blood flowing down the back of my hand in utter shock; there was so much. I instinctively removed my hand to look at the wound, and a well of dark-red blood permanently ruined my jacket. The site where the bullet had gouged out my skin burned worse than any injury I’d ever received, and I thought I might be sick. My vision hazed in and out, and I heard voices asking me if I was okay. I couldn’t answer…my world went dark.
When I came to a few seconds later, I was lying down on the seat with Mom sitting beside me, on the very edge of the cushion. My jacket was half off me, and Gabriel was crouched on the floor near my head, inspecting my injury. Tiny shards of glass were everywhere, and an icy wind tore through the car. It whipped Mom’s hair around her face as she watched over me. Pain burst through my arm as Gabriel cinched a piece of fabric around my wounded bicep, staunching the flowing blood. I bit my lip to be strong, to not cry out, but what I really wanted to do was cry like a little girl and let Mom comfort me. There wasn’t time for that though.
I tried to sit up, but I was dizzy from the blood loss; my head swam and my eyesight darkened. Mom shushed me, and Gabriel made me lie back down. Mom wasn’t crying now, but wet tracks were down her cheeks from recently spilled tears. The van was speeding under street lamps, and the alternating lightness and darkness made Mom’s face look ill, like she was about to lose her stomach.
“You okay?” I croaked out.
Mom bit back a chuckle. “You’ve just been shot, and you’re asking if I’m okay?” She leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I’m fine, Nika. Not a scratch.”
Concerned for everyone else in the car, I looked around with just my eyes. Julian, Trey, and Arianna were all in the very back now, leaning over the seat to see how I was doing. The very back window was shot out, as well, and Arianna’s hair blew across her face. Fearing for them, I asked, “Are you guys okay? Did he get you?”
Trey and Arianna both shook their heads. Julian shrugged. “A couple grazed me, but I’m fine, Nick.” Wading past the concern he felt for me, I tapped into the tiny amount of pain he felt for himself. It was nowhere near the inferno raging in my arm, but it was there; he’d been hurt. Fury boiled in my belly that another family member had been hurt by my maniac ex-boyfriend.
Sensing my anger, Julian leaned over and ran his hand through my hair. “I’m fine, Nick,” he reiterated. Images of my father taking bullet after bullet seared my brain. I looked past Mom, to the front of the vehicle. Dad was in the passenger’s side now, debating with Halina on where she should drive us. Face grim, he looked back at me. There was pain in his expression, as surely as it must have been on mine. Hunter had hit him a few times, but thankfully he’d missed the one crucial area. Dad was still alive…or, still undead.
I could feel the rest of my family following closely in the vehicles right behind us, but I didn’t know if Hunter had turned his gun on them in the melee. I had no idea if they were all right or not. Trying to will my body to super-heal, like the rest of my family could, I asked, “How did he know where we were?”
Gabriel, his face stormy, but seeming uninjured, shook his head. “He must have staked out the ranch…followed us when we left.” His cold fingers circled around my arm, feeling heavenly against my heated skin. “Perhaps he thought his odds would be better if he attacked us while we were trapped.”
Mom’s face darkened. “Like fish in a barrel.”
Gabriel nodded, then added, “His choice of weapon was not the best, however. He should have used a much larger caliber, something strong enough to penetrate the body of the car. It would have been noisier than his silenced weapon, but the odds of him killing one of us would have vastly improved. I dare say he would have succeeded if he hadn’t acted so rashly.”
None of us knew how to respond to that, so the car continued in silence. The sound of glass being crunched beneath shoes on the floorboards was all I heard for a while. Then Arianna murmured, “My mom is going to kill me when she sees the van.”