CHAPTER FIVE
There was a dagger pointed at his throat. It was sharp and silver, and had he been a lesser man or not a vampire, he would have trembled on the spot.
But Raz wasn’t a lesser man, and he certainly wasn’t a coward. He stared at the dagger in fascination, noting that it looked quite ancient and must have been given to her by someone important at some point. Then he stared at her, taking her in now that he could finally see her up close.
Eva was as tiny as she looked from afar, but perhaps she wasn’t as helpless as he first thought. She certainly held the weapon with the ease and firmness that spoke of practice, and he knew without a doubt she would know where to slide it through his skin if she truly wanted him dead. There was a calm, almost fierce look in her moss-green eyes, one that spoke of a determination that he didn’t quite expect from her.
“You say you’re a friend, but I don’t know you,” the woman replied, her voice soft and just as calm as her expression.
“Not yours,” Raz replied just as calmly. “I’m a friend of your brother, Michael. He was with me during our last mission together, and I’m sorry about what happened.”
The statement didn’t change anything in Eva’s expression, but she did finally lower the dagger by a fraction. “You were his comrade?”
“I was one of his heads.”
She nodded her head as if that explained it. “Name is Eva. You should have protected him better.”
There was no point telling the woman that there was no protecting someone who would kill comrades like that, so Raz kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know her enough to let her in on the details, plus he wasn’t even sure how much Michael had told her.
“Do you know Lucinda?”
“I don’t know anything about your world,” she replied, indicating he didn’t need to tell her what type of creature he was. “But I do know I haven’t been in contact with Michael for years and now only want to protect his kids. Were you here to check on them, by any chance?”
Raz nodded. “Yes.”
“Then rest assured that there’s no need because I will protect them with my life,” she said firmly. Despite the calm, almost relaxed tone, she made it sound like a threat, surprising him. “And I’m sorry, but I can’t let you enter my house.”
She didn’t sound sorry at all.
Raz took it all in stride, not forcing himself to enter. They stared at each other for a long while before he finally told her that that was very good to hear. Then he backed off, knowing that the right time would come.
He could always observe them from outside.
Eva wished him a good night and closed the door firmly. Raz didn’t walk away, wanting to let her know that he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. He sat on the swing on the porch, keeping still while knowing she was watching from the window. He waited it out, also knowing she was confident in the house’s spell and he wouldn’t be coming in so long as he wasn’t invited.
After a while, he smelled it—the mixture of yeast and butter, then the gradual smell of the most wonderful thing baking. Unlike most vampires who didn’t appreciate food much anymore since they depended on blood, Raz never quite got over his fascination with actual food—the taste, the texture and everything in between. He had a particular taste for coffee and bread, and it looked like what she was baking now was indeed bread.
Pleased, Raz let the scent fill his nostrils and closed his eyes. He couldn’t detect anyone else with them, meaning whoever that man who entered her bakery was, he had not chosen tonight to stalk her.
But that didn’t mean the man wasn’t going to come back.
*****
He left at dawn, when everyone was asleep, and he needed to get some rest too, in the hotel he booked for himself in town. He came back during the weekend and found the kids playing in their backyard, with Eva watching over them on the patio. She had a blanket over her legs, which was weird considering it wasn’t the least bit cold.
Which meant her guard was still up and she was likely hiding some kind of weapon under it.
He was expecting her to look around but was surprised that her gaze was focused on the kids—particularly, on the girl named Ana. He found himself looking at the kid, too, watching how differently she acted from her younger brother. Peter was cheerful and looked like he had lots of energy to spare, running around and always finding new things to entertain him—whether it was some different-colored grass strand or a squirrel passing by, it never failed to catch his interest.
Ana was a different story. She had energy, yes—but it was almost like she was storing it within her and refusing to let it out, making for a contained ball of energy that vibrated every now and then. She didn’t necessarily look angry, but she looked like she was controlling something within her. Whether it was a secret or some emotion, he couldn’t really tell, but he had a feeling it would be dangerous once let out.
Coupled with that was a hunger that only blood could satisfy.
To Eva’s credit, she provided that blood to them in spades, coming home with bags of them without fail. But she obviously still fed the children actual food, and as he watched over them during the weekend, the smells permeated the air like a warm balm. From pumpkin pies to some kind of lamb stew, she cooked them all, and the pleased noises from the children meant that they liked it, too.
It had Raz wondering how different the thirst was for a half-vampire as compared to a full one. Would they come to a point that blood was all they could think about, consuming them completely? That happened to some vampires who didn’t know how to control themselves enough and ended up destroying whatever semblance of a conscience they had in the process. They lost their minds, and in turn became rogue, losing their human-like appearance in the long run and turning into monsters who attacked anyone and anything in sight.
Raz hated rogues because he was all about control. While being a vampire had not necessarily been a voluntary thing for him, he’d learned to live with it, and had risen up to power in a clean, fair way, which he was proud of. It made him remember previous first- and second-in-lines, as well as previous councils who cheated their way to the top and died because of their greed.
He wasn’t about to let that happen to himself.
Just before nine in the evening, the kids went out again, disappearing into the forest and not coming back until a full hour later. Raz could smell the blood on them, though they looked spotless and presentable. Michael had indeed taught them how to survive in this world without people noticing them.
But what other secrets did they hold?
That was a question yet to be answered, along with the other vampire’s presence in this town. He didn’t recognize that man, and further clarification from Vladimir through a phone call a few days ago confirmed that they didn’t dispatch anyone else, either. But he was told not to attack the man or approach him, as his job was only to observe and relate all his findings to Lucinda.
So Raz did just that.
Finally, the weekend was over, and the baking and cooking smells stopped. Raz thought he’d done enough observation for now, deciding to visit again some other day and try to get in Eva’s good graces. He was sure she wasn’t going to appreciate it now.
Before he went home, curiosity got the best of him, and Raz found himself entering the forest beyond the family’s backyard. It wasn’t necessarily big, but it extended to the very back and was thick with pine trees and tiny plants, making for a very good home for animals. He spotted a few squirrels scurrying around the branches, some birds chirping in the air, and tiny footsteps indicating some deer were nearby. They all smelled young and healthy, and he could detect no threat at all. It was a conducive place for the kids to run around—and while doing so, for them to get their fill of blood, too, without taking advantage or harming human beings in the process.
He was just about to slip back out when something caught his eye.
It was inconspicuous at first—a pile of leaves, nothing to be alarmed about. But the way they were piled told him that they were placed there on purpose, and he found himself wandering in that direction as he stared at the rather large pile. It was made up of dried leaves, as well as twigs carefully placed at the sides. Carefully, Raz nudged the pile, watching as it crumbled to the ground.
He froze.
Inside the stack of leaves was the dead body of a teenage human boy—probably a few days old, already decaying.
The boy was drained of all blood and missing chunks of his body.