Sterling Silver: (Sterling Hunter 1)

by Melody Personette

  Derrick and her mother’s faces paled, and they shared knowing looks with one another. Tabitha scowled and folded her arms. “So, you going to explain or what?”

  “Honey,” her mom started, reaching out and touching her arm. “I know it’s hard to understand, but we thought it was for the best. You have enough to worry about as it is. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”

  “I’m not worried,” Tabitha shouted in exasperation throwing her hands up and making her mom pull her hand away. “I’m not some fragile little girl. I can handle these things.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s also classified information,” Derrick added, mirroring her stance by folding his arms too. “Only the inner circle know. The Carters, Russo’s, Sterling’s and the Leblanc.”

  “Well guess what? I’m in the inner circle. Or at least I thought I was. More so than you, who turned your back on all this to begin with,” Tabitha snapped, gesturing at him.

  Derrick scowled. “It’s not like that. Not even all of the members of those families know about the Loup Garou and the Soothsayers either. Just a select few.”

  “Why? What’s so special about them?”

  “They aren’t like vampires. They don’t pose a huge threat against society. Loup Garou keep to themselves in their packs. Most of them either live somewhere in Louisiana, high up in the mountains or they try to live normal lives in small towns. The few how draw attention to themselves are taken care of by their own people. The Moirai only get involved with them if they ask or if a situation is out of control,” Derrick explained. “As for the Soothsayers. They’re completely human. They just… are more intuitive than others. They have odd abilities that are usually internal which means they also do not draw attention to themselves and pose no threat to anyone. If they do or if they need help, we will come in but other than that we leave them be. That’s why so few know about them. Because they’ve been mistreated in the past and because of that we’ve given them as much anonymity and autonomy as possible.”

  “In other words, you shouldn’t feel so out of the loop,” her mom interjected. “Not a lot of people know about them. We try not to get involved in their business at all.”

  Tabitha absorbed their information. She supposed it made sense… Loup Garou and Soothsayers didn’t go around sucking the life out of people and as far as she knew – which apparently was not a lot – they weren’t immortal. The Moirai had made a good choice in focusing on the vampires more than the others. But that still didn’t excuse them from keeping this from her. “I still don’t get why I couldn’t know this stuff.”

  Derrick shrugged, sharing another look with mom. “We thought it was for the best. No one who wasn’t explicitly a part of the Moirai could know. The only reason I know is because Dad slipped up one time in front of me and had to explain. Suffice to say, the Carters were not happy about that, but they got over it.”

  “Are they going to be mad when they find out I know?” Tabitha asked, glancing between the two of them.

  Her mom grimaced, scratching her head. “Well… we were thinking of keeping this to ourselves. Everyone’s already on edge, I’m not sure it would be a good idea to stir the pot.”

  She had a point. Who knew how the others would react…? And what was one more lie? They didn’t know that Tabitha knew about her lineage… Right now, she figured that was for the best. Just until she figured out what to actually do with all this new information. “Sure,” she said at last, glancing between her brother and mom. “Why not? I don’t mind lying to everyone I know, but I guess neither do you guys… Or Sebastian for that matter. I guess I should just get used to it.”

  Her mom gave her a look. “Tabitha. That’s not fair.”

  “It sort of is. Alistair also told me something else… He knows who killed Dad.”

  Derrick’s eyes widened and her mom’s hand went to her mouth.

  “How could he know that?” Derrick asked.

  Tabitha frowned. “Because he was the one who had the kill ordered. He had Emmeline do it.”

  “Sebastian’s sister?” her mother gasped.

  Tabitha’s eyes narrowed. So she did know about Emmeline. What else did she know about that she hadn’t told Tabitha? “Yeah… her. Sebastian said he would take care of it, but we’ll see. He also said that he used to know Dad. That they used to be friends until he moved us here. Is that true?”

  This time Derrick looked as shocked as Tabitha must have when Alistair told her. They both rounded on their mother who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

  “Mom?” Derrick asked, his voice quiet. “Is it true?”

  She glanced between the two of them, her hand sliding from her mouth and folding her arms. “It… it’s complicated but yes… For a short time, they did know each other. But then your father realized what a psychopath he was, and he had us move here, as far away from Alistair as we could get. He was never supposed to find us.”

  “Well he did. I guess Dad didn’t do as good of a job as he thought he did at hiding us,” Tabitha snapped.

  Her mom scowled. “That’s not true. He did the best he could to protect this family.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Derrick asked, hurt flashing in his eyes.

  Tabitha stared at her mom waiting for an answer. Her mom’s attention slid to Derrick. “You had no idea who he was, and I didn’t think we would ever see him again. I didn’t think it was necessary.”

  “Well you were wrong,” Derrick growled. Without another word he turned and stalked away to go sulk somewhere.

  Tabitha’s mom let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead as she turned to face her daughter. “Thank you for that Tabitha.”

  Tabitha shrugged. “He deserved to know the truth too. I’ve had a long day. I’m tired and have a lot to think about so I think I’m just going to go take a shower and I’ll figure out what to do with all this in the morning. See ya.”

  Before her mother could say anything back, Tabitha turned on her heels and bounded up the stairs. She showered and changed and slumped onto her bed, grabbing her laptop to see what she could find out about the Loup Garou. They sounded familiar… She was pretty sure they were werewolves and when she searched the name and found a bunch of half human half wolf beasts on her screen, she found her assumption was correct. Soothsayers on the other hand… A little less clear cut. She had planned to search them when she’d first learned about them from her mother but had never gotten around to it. Now, though she almost wished she hadn’t. Soothsayer wasn’t so clear cut.

  By definition, a soothsayer was someone who could see the future. But the more she looked into synonyms for the word and scrolled through Google the weirder things got. Psychics, ghosts, fortune tellers and other bizarre things showed up. Everyone who had talked about Soothsayers so far said that they were odd, had different abilities and kept to themselves.

  After an hour of mind-numbing research trying to find a concrete answer on them, Tabitha decided the definitions that had been given to her by others was good enough for her. If she did any more research on them, her head would explode. She set her laptop aside, and her eyes shut the instant her head hit the pillow. Tabitha fell asleep with Loup Garou and Soothsayers filling her thoughts churning around with everything Alistair had told her today.

  Chapter Thirty

  Tabitha rolled over, pulling her blanket up over her head to hide the rays of sun from her face. Just a few more minutes of peace and quiet before she had to go downstairs and deal with her mom and brother.

  The sound of voices filtered up to her room through the vents. Her room was right over the kitchen, so she could hear everything that went on down there. The clatter of dishes and feet shuffling through their morning routines. But then a laugh made Tabitha jolt up in bed. Sebastian's laugh. What was he doing here so early in the morning?

  Her heart skipped a beat at the chance to see Sebastian as she kicked off her blankets and grabbed a pair of clothes from her drawer and headed into the faste
st shower of her life. She scrubbed her teeth, threw her towel dried hair up into a ponytail and pulled on some clothes. A pair of black skinny jeans, a neon blue oversized t-shirt with white flowers down the shoulder and a pair of matching neon blue socks. She practically ran down the stairs and stopped short at the threshold to the kitchen.

  Too late. Sebastian sat at the table, smiling politely, if a little amused, at Derrick. Her mom moved around the kitchen cooking up breakfast. Tabitha could tell from her constant talking that she was trying to keep the peace between the two boys.

  Well hopefully, Tabitha could get rid of Sebastian before a brawl broke out and Derrick got hurt. She knocked on the wall and all eyes turned to her.

  A smile upturned Sebastian’s lip. His eyes took her in and stopped at her feet. “Nice socks,” he teased.

  Tabitha rolled her eyes, folding her arms. He wore a pair of jeans and a neon yellow tank top. She had a feeling this change in wardrobe was just for her. He looked good in it, but she preferred him in his regular clothes.

  Tabitha sauntered over, ignoring the disapproving gaze of Derrick.

  She sat down next to him but made sure to keep some space between them. “Did you bring my phone? I'm sure Chelsea's freaking out.”

  Sebastian nodded, fishing it out of his pocket and setting it on the table. “Your gym bag is by the door too.”

  Tabitha flashed him a grin before turning on her phone and scanning over all of Chelsea's worried texts. Her grin quickly turned in a frown as she typed out a text. Sorry Chels! I forgot my phone at Sebastian's last night. I didn't mean to scare you, she wrote and pushed send.

  No doubt Chelsea would demand more of an answer than that but for now that was all Tabitha could think to say. She set her phone down on the table and gave Sebastian a smile.

  “Sooo,” Derrick dragged out the word, giving her a meaningful look.

  Tabitha scowled, trying to convey through her eyes that he should shut up and not get in the middle of her and Sebastian.

  “Sebastian,” Derrick's penetrating eyes turned to Sebastian who sat up and faced him with a cocky smirk. “You found my sister last night, huh?” His voice was dangerously calm.

  Tabitha flinched. This was not going to end well.

  Sebastian clasped his hands on the table and nodded. “Yes, I did, but turns out your sister can take care of herself. Which I suppose is a good thing.”

  Tabitha raised her eyebrows. Derrick shifted in his seat, his eyes narrowing. Derrick looked about ready to break up a fight at any moment.

  Was Sebastian really trying to intimidate Derrick? He may not be the best vampire hunter, but Derrick still knew how to use a stake and how to hunt. Tabitha could practically see the tension roiling in the air between the two of them as Derrick painted on a smirk. A tense smirk. “And why is that a good thing?”

  Sebastian opened his big mouth but not before her mom stepped in and set down plates of bacon and eggs on the table. “Boys, if you two are going to get into a fight, why don't you settle it outside. Your father always said no fighting at the table.”

  Tabitha stood up, her chair screeching against the ground and planted her palms on the table. Thank goodness for her mom. “Good idea. Besides I was going to... do some self-defense with Derrick anyways. Maybe Sebastian can help. He's pretty good at that stuff.”

  Sebastian got to his feet, ever the picture of grace and looped an arm around her waist. She stiffened but didn't stop him even as everyone in the room stared openly.

  He smiled down at her, his voice calm and smooth. “What a marvelous idea Tabitha. I'll go get my... stuff and I believe there's a field behind your house we can train in.”

  Letting go of her he swept out of the room and disappeared. The door shut, and Derrick turned to glower at Tabitha. “Can I talk to you in private?”

  She nodded and grabbed a piece of toast off the table, following him out. Derrick grabbed her wrist as the back door shut behind them and led her off the porch and toward the thin tree line. They stopped out of earshot of the house, and he turned on her, his eyes flashing with anger. “When you told me you had feelings for a vampire, I didn't actually think you were stupid enough to go through with them,” he shout-whispered.

  She folded her arms and glared at him. “You don't have any say in who I spend my time with. It's not like you'll stick around anyways and besides it's none of your business.”

  Derrick pointed at her, his face flushing red. A trait he got from their father. Thankfully Tabitha didn't inherit that particularly unflattering trait. “Is that what you would say to Dad if he were here? That it's none of his business.”

  Tabitha choked on a laugh, snorting instead. She shook her head a bitter smile on her face. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Sebastian approaching at a slow pace. Giving them time to fight it out. “Wow, do you really think that after leaving for two years and me and mom barely seeing you that you're the man of the house? That you have any sort of authority over me? Of course I would respect Dad's opinion,” she spat back.

  He nodded slowly, simmering. “But not mine?”

  Tabitha glared up at him, keeping her ground. “No. Not yours. You're my big brother, not my dad. I know what I'm doing.”

  He laughed bitterly, his smirk becoming condescending as if he knew what was best for her. “Really? You know what you're doing? You just got kidnapped. You’re drowning in this craziness. Your only seventeen.”

  “And who's fault is that?” she shot back, jabbing a finger into his chest.

  His mouth shut, and Tabitha nodded. “That's what I thought. You left and I stayed behind. This is what I want to do with my life. love hunting. It's what I was born to do. You don’t get to tell me what to do or have a commentary on my life.”

  Derrick opened his mouth, but Tabitha held up a hand. She needed to get this out. Needed him to understand what he had done to her. “Before Dad died, I wanted to be just like you. Off to college, fall in love, get married and live the life dad lived. Having a family and being a hunter. But after he died, I realized that my life just got a whole lot more complicated. Boyfriend? I have to lie to him. Husband?” she shook her head, a bitter smile on her face. “Well, what kind of guy would be willing to settle with a vampire huntress for a wife that could die at any moment? As for a career, well, I stopped thinking about that a long time ago because I just figured I'd pick up where Dad left off. But now I learn that everyone’s been lying to me. Everyone’s secretly scared of me, been watching me like I might explode or something.”

  She shrugged and waved a hand at him. “But you know by all means live your dream life. You're free now and you were never as good as me. Actually, Rosewood is better off with me as the hunter of the family. You go ahead and live a happy life while I stay here and do the job you couldn’t.”

  Tabitha shut her mouth before she could say anything else that might destroy her relationship with her brother and squeezed her eyes shut, her arms folded over her chest. Silence passed between them and she didn't care if Derrick turned and left and never came back. Actually... she cared a lot. She didn't want to lose her brother. Their dad wouldn't have wanted this. Though he wouldn't have wanted her to fill in his shoes and feel so miserable about it either.

  Someone cleared their throat, and Tabitha opened her eyes, finding her gaze settled on a pair of understanding green eyes. No doubt Sebastian had just had a difficult discussion with his own sister.

  Sebastian held a large black gym bag out in front of him, toward the two of them as if it were a peace offering. “Well I think the best way to finish that conversation is to let off some steam. Care to join Tabitha as she beats me up?” he directed the question at Derrick who glared down at the black bag.

  “You got stakes in there?” he asked gruffly.

  Sebastian nodded, and Derrick grabbed the bag from him. “As long as I get to try and kill you, I'm good. Let's go.” And with that he walked away into the woods.

  Tabitha let out a breath as Sebas
tian curled an arm around her waist and led her into the forest behind her brother. “Don't worry. You two will be good by the end of the day, I promise,” he whispered in her ear, his head dipped down to her height.

  Tabitha stared straight ahead, blinking the tears away. She hoped so. “Do you really think so?”

  Sebastian chuckled more to himself than anyone else and squeezed her close to him, almost making her trip over her own feet. “I’m sure of it.”

  She snorted and glared at her brother's back. “Good. So, did you bring the swords too?”

  He grinned and winked at her, slipping his hand through hers. “Of course I did. I know how fond you are of them. So, are you ready to reconcile with your brother and try to kill me?”

  Tabitha flashed him a wicked grin and nudged him. She was definitely ready to attack Sebastian. Derrick on the other hand? Not so much.

  “Let's do this.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Tabitha gripped her stake, glancing over her shoulder at Derrick. He stood a distance away, watching with narrowed eyes with his arms folded and a stake in hand. Sebastian stood in front of her, arms spread out wide in invitation.

  Tabitha took a deep breath and turned around to face Sebastian, letting her instincts take over. She really did need to let off some steam. Without warning, she attacked, rushing forward and taking the straightforward approach. Sebastian managed to side step her but not before she turned on her heels, slashing at him. Her stake cut his stomach, and he sucked in a breath but vamped a few feet away, grinning and touching the bloody and torn part of his shirt.

  Tabitha grimaced as she stalked toward him. She did feel a little bad for ruining his shirt, but she had a feeling that that neon one wasn't his favorite. Probably why he wore it. To make her happy and let her ruin it so he would have an excuse to not wear it again.

  Glancing at her brother, she saw Derrick's lips form a ghost of a smile as he took in the sight. She couldn't remember the last time her brother had picked up a stake or fought at all. How did someone live like that? Going for days, months, years at a time without killing a vampire, without hunting or feeling of wood in your hands?