The Beast Within

by S. C. Stephens

  Hunter sighed and looked my way. Dad’s concern spiked. “You knew them?” he asked.

  Hunter’s gaze drifted around the room, finally locking on Gabriel, for some reason. “It’s not that significant. Hunting is a small world. I’d say I probably know most of them.”

  I took a step forward. “Really? If that’s true, and you’re all so tight, then why didn’t you know about mixed vampires? Wouldn’t that have come up sometime?”

  Hunter seemed peeved by my question. Well, too bad. It was a valid one. “There aren’t that many of you, and you hide what you are…very well.”

  Dad studied Hunter carefully. “So many hunters in such a short period of time is concerning. I’ve been watching the ads closely, but I haven’t seen or heard anything about your father. Do you think he has something to do with this?”

  My eyes widened. I hadn’t considered that possibility. If Hunter’s dad was sending assassins out to kill him, then we were all in danger. A flash of mixed emotions went through Nika—guilt, fear, concern. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I was sure it meant something. Hunter kept his expression the same. “I haven’t seen or spoken with my father since I died, so how would I know if he had anything to do with this. If I had to guess, I’d say no.” Swallowing, he looked away. “If he wanted me dead, he’d do it himself. We clean up our own messes.”

  Nika frowned for a second before fixing her face. Her mood shifted to curiosity, confusion. She knew something Hunter wasn’t saying. Looking back at Dad, Hunter pointed to the kitchen and said, “I really can’t stand the smell of that anymore. Are we done here? Can I go back outside?”

  Dad nodded. “For now.” Hunter turned to leave, and Dad grabbed his elbow. Hunter tensed under his grip. “You might be a part of this family now, but I don’t trust you. Stay away from my daughter.”

  Hunter glanced over Dad’s shoulder at Nika. Pain flashed over his face again. “I’m not trying to start anything. I just needed help transitioning…and she was there for me. And I’ll be forever grateful for that.” He returned his eyes to Dad. “But if you really don’t want me around her, then I’ll stay as far away as I can.”

  “No!” Nika immediately interjected.

  Dad held his hand up to her. “Just…for now. I don’t want the two of you alone anymore.” He looked between Nika and Hunter. “Okay?”

  Hunter nodded. Nika fumed, then finally sputtered, “Fine. Whatever.”

  Hunter looked around the room. “I should go. Enjoy your…meal.”

  He left the same way he came in. Nika didn’t waste a minute to let her distaste be known. “Unbelievable. Thanks, Dad.”

  Dad sighed. “You’re sixteen, Nika. You’re too young for that…kind of intensity.”

  Nika raised her chin. “I know what I can handle. If you don’t trust him, that’s fine. But trust me.”

  Dad looked down, then peeked back up at her. “I do. I do trust you. I just…” He raised his hands. “You’re my little girl.”

  Nika tried to maintain her stubbornness, but she melted at the look on Dad’s face. Exhaling, she walked over to him and laced her arms around his neck. “I’ll always be your little girl, Dad. No matter what happens.”

  Mom sniffled, while Dad and Nika hugged. They both looked over at Mom as she wiped her eyes dry. “What?” she muttered. Dad laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  Nika headed upstairs to change into dry clothes, and the rest of us headed into the kitchen for dinner. All conversations about Hunter and Nika were momentarily dropped. They lingered with me though. Hunter had lied about something, I was sure of it. Nika knew the truth, and I was going to get it out of her. Later, after my girlfriend left.

  My sister was pensive during dinner, deep in her own troubled thoughts. My family took it as sullenness and gave her space. My curiosity grew even stronger, but Nika ignored me, wouldn’t even look at me. I stopped worrying about it when the blood arrived.

  Halina placed a glass in front of me, and I stared at it in contemplation. I’d never drank blood in front of Arianna before, but if she wanted to see all of me, this was a part I couldn’t leave out. I could feel her eyes burning into me as glasses were set in front of all the vampires. I figured it was just easier for her to focus on me, since I was the one she was the most comfortable with. Well, she was pretty comfortable with Nika too, but Nika was off in her own world at the moment.

  I glanced over at Arianna sitting beside me. She had her fork half-raised to her mouth as she stared at the steaming red glass in front of me. She was still ignoring the rest of the vampires in the room, and that was probably a good thing, since I could hear light growls filling the air as they reveled in their bloody cocktails.

  Me staring at her broke her focus, and she looked up at my eyes. She smiled half-heartedly, then she glanced around the table. She sucked in a quick breath, and I could smell the burst of fear. Halina raised her lip, exposing a fang tinged in red. “Problem, dear?”

  Arianna’s eyes widened, and she started trembling. I put my hand on her arm, and she jumped. “No, no problems,” she muttered, slipping her fork into her mouth.

  She chewed while my family sipped. Her heart raced a mile a minute. Eventually, even Nika noticed. “You sure you’re okay, Arianna?”

  Arianna swallowed a huge chunk of food; she had a little trouble getting it down. “Yep, this isn’t a big deal. It’s just what you need to live.” She looked over at me. “You can trust me with stuff like this. I’m not going to run.”

  My sharp ears caught Halina muttering to Imogen, “Too bad. I like it when they run.” Luckily, Arianna didn’t hear her.

  I smiled at Arianna, rubbing her arm encouragingly. She glanced at my still full cup. “Go ahead,” she whispered. “Don’t hold back because of me.”

  I looked back at my glass. I really did want some, but I didn’t want to freak her out before we’d even had a chance to talk. “It’s okay. I don’t need it like the others.”

  Arianna set down her fork. “This is you not letting me in again. Deciding for me what I need to know, what I need to be included in. Just take a drink, Julian.”

  Halina chuckled. In Russian, she said, “I like her, she’s feisty. She’ll give us good babies.”

  My dad lowered his glass and snapped, “Stop it. We talked about that.”

  Halina rolled her eyes. “I was kidding. Relax.” By her smile, it was obvious she wasn’t kidding.

  Arianna glanced between the two of them. “What are you guys talking about?”

  Distracting her, I grabbed my glass. “Okay, I’ll drink in front of you if you want. If you’re sure you’re okay with it?”

  Arianna turned away from my family and again focused on me. “I’m sure.” She was jittery with nerves; I hoped she was serious.

  Steeling myself for all sorts of different reactions, I brought the glass to my lips and tipped it back. My fangs dropped the instant the tangy treat hit my tongue, and a content noise escaped me as the warmth traveled down my throat. My eyes fluttered closed. God, this stuff was so good.

  When I was satisfied, I righted the glass. I’d probably downed about half of it in just a few gulps. A little afraid, I slowly opened my eyes. Arianna was staring at me with her mouth open. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, waiting for her to say something. When she didn’t, I got even more nervous. “Arianna?”

  She blinked, then twisted to her food. “Yeah, not a big deal. It’s fine.” Grabbing a knife, she started cutting her chicken into bite-sized pieces. I wanted to believe her, but her hand shook so much she could barely cut her food.

  “Here, let me help you,” I whispered.

  She held her knife up to me. “I got it. Just…let me do this. Please.”

  I nodded and left her alone. She needed to process this by herself.

  Arianna stuck it out for the rest of dinner. She seemed a lot less nervous by the end of it, like she was slowly getting used to the gory sight in front of her. After dinner, I felt real
ly good about telling her everything I’d been holding back. She’d handled so much already, and she hadn’t fled, so maybe she really could handle it all. I was still nervous about talking to her, though, and didn’t want to do it around my entire family.

  So, after a leisurely dinner, I indicated outside. “Want to go for a walk? We have a lot to talk about.” I couldn’t quite look her in the eye.

  Arianna sighed, the reluctance clear on her face. “Yeah, okay.”

  I looked up at Dad. “We’ll be back in a little bit. Okay?”

  Dad was preoccupied with watching Nika, but he looked my way to answer my question. “Stay close,” he warned. “And don’t be gone long. I need to take Arianna home soon.” He turned back to Nika. “And you’re coming with me this time.”

  Nika groaned, her face and mood exasperated. I needed to talk to Nika tonight, too, but now wasn’t the time. Now was for Arianna. Grabbing her warm hand, I led her out back. Her eyes darted all over the darkened landscape, maybe searching for other creatures of the night. “I want to show you something, and it’s a little on the far side. Do you mind if we go fast?”

  I held my arms out, like I was going to pick her up. She eyed me warily, then nodded. I scooped her into my arms, savoring the feel and smell of her. It had been far too long since I’d really held her. I didn’t like that fact. “Hang on,” I whispered. She obediently squeezed me, and I took off into the night.

  I didn’t have the glowing headlights that my family had, but I knew the terrain well enough that I didn’t stumble or fall. Thank God, that would have been really embarrassing. Within seconds, we were at a large pond. The water was pitch-black, but the light of the moon showed ripples where small creatures were breaking through the surface. Tall grasses lined the edges of the pond, and there was a long wooden dock jutting out into the water. Nika and I had learned to swim here, and had spent several summers jumping off the dock into the frigid water. We’d always challenged ourselves to see who could hold their breaths the longest. Nika had always won; being under the water made me too claustrophobic.

  Setting Arianna down, I walked to the end of the wooden walkway with her. We swung hands as the sounds of crickets and frogs filled the air. Sitting down on the edge with her, I quietly said, “I’m really glad you came out tonight. I’m glad you gave me a second chance.”

  Holding my hand with both of hers, she was silent for a moment. Then she asked, “Do you still have feelings for Raquel?”

  My head snapped up. “No. Not like that.” Arianna bit her lip. The moonlight reflected in her watery eyes. “Not like that, Arianna,” I repeated.

  She swallowed, then nodded. “Okay…so tell me what really happened that night. And why did you lie to me about it?”

  My eyes drifted to her small hands holding mine. “Nika didn’t want to frighten you, so she told you what we were telling everybody else. I went along with it, because I was scared. Scared you’d freak out and leave.” I looked up at her. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

  She squeezed my palm. “I won’t. Tell me what happened.”

  I looked out over the blackness around us. “Vampire hunters. They caught Raquel, drugged her, then slit her arms up and left her as bait. Vampire bait for Nika’s boyfriend, Hunter. Raquel was hurt because of my family, and then we had to make everyone believe she’d done it to herself. And now the whole school thinks she’s suicidal.” A weary sigh escaped me. “Everything that happened to her was my family’s fault. I owe her.”

  “Oh,” she whispered. “Well, now I feel like a jackass. You were just so obsessed with her…but I see why now.”

  I returned my eyes to hers. “I never wanted to hurt you, I just didn’t want you to worry or be scared. I didn’t want you to think that being with me was dangerous. Nika didn’t want that either.”

  She looked down. “I get it.” After a moment of reflection, she looked back up and asked, “Hunter found another one by your house. Are you in danger?”

  I pressed my lips together. I wanted to tell her no, to ease her mind, but I knew honesty was important right now. “I don’t know. I need to talk to my sister. Hunter’s hiding something, and I think she knows what it is.”

  Arianna looked back toward the direction of the house. “Maybe we should go back and ask her?”

  “I can’t ask yet. I have to wait until we’re alone.” Arianna looked back at me and I shrugged. “We don’t narc each other out to our parents, and if I ask her where they can overhear…”

  Arianna nodded. “I don’t like the idea of you in danger.”

  I ran my thumb over her cheek. “I don’t like the idea of you being mad at me. Do you forgive me?”

  Her cheek heated under my caress. My sensitive skin could feel it. “Yes, I guess so. But…I feel like there’s more. I feel like you’re keeping other things from me. And I want to know everything. Even if you think it’s going to make me mad.”

  I shifted to face her. “The children thing. My grandmother wants them. It’s important to her. I told her we might give her some one day…but I only said it so she wouldn’t wipe your memory…” My voice trailed off. I couldn’t tell her that a breakup between us would be permanent. I just…couldn’t say it. “Because I like that you know my secret. I like not having to hide who I am.”

  Her hand came up to cup my cheek. “Is that all you’ve been hiding? That you were attacked? That your family expects kids from us?”

  Her lips were so close to mine, my heart started surging. It had been even longer since I’d kissed her. I really had been ignoring her. God, I was a bastard. I nodded, and leaned in for her mouth. “Are you still mine?” I asked. “Are you still my girl?”

  Her eyes locked onto my mouth as her hand drew me closer. “I never stopped being your girl, Julian. I’ll always be your girl.”

  Her mouth found mine in the darkness and the sweetness of her kiss stole my breath. Our lips worked together soft and light at first, but the week of separation hit us, and we moved together with more intensity. The stillness in the air was punctuated with the sounds of our breath, our lips. After a few passionate minutes, Arianna pulled away from me. “We never got to have our moment on prom night. It’s so beautiful out here, so peaceful, so perfect…do you want to…” She gave me a shy shrug. My body instantly went into overdrive. Yes, yes, I did want to.

  In answer, I laid her back on the dock. Her breath increased when I moved over the top of her. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Thank God, I still had our prom night condom in my wallet. Thank God, I still had my wallet with me. My mouth lowered to hers as our bodies rocked together. It wasn’t long before I was ready for her, but I wasn’t sure if she was ready for me.

  “Oh God, Julian, I’ve missed you so much. I want you so much.”

  I groaned as I worked my mouth down her throat. “I want you too. Just you.” In the back of my mind, I could feel Nika’s disgust rising. I understood, as I’d felt the same way earlier, but like Nika when she’d been with Hunter, I couldn’t stop this. I wanted it too much. I pushed her feelings away and focused on the sensation of Arianna’s body under my fingertips.

  Our hips rocked together at a faster and faster pace. She moaned beneath me, squirming as her hands tangled in my hair. “Oh, Julian, I’m glad this is happening. I was so disappointed after prom.”

  I groaned as my ready body rubbed against hers. “I know, me too.”

  Her hands worked up my shirt, wanting it off. I helped her, pulling it up over my head and throwing it up the dock. Her mouth pressed against my pecs, and I shuddered. Her lips on a part of my body that was normally hidden sent a jolt of electricity through me. My shaking hands went up her shirt, needing to feel her soft curves. She groaned when I touched her bra. Adjusting herself, she ripped off her shirt and tossed it up by mine. She was panting when she grabbed my head and led me to her chest. I slipped the cup of her bra to the side, and nearly lost it at the sight of her bare breast. She was still pulling me into her, so I closed my lips
around her nipple. She cried out, and I didn’t think I was going to make it to the actual act of sex. She was soft, rigid, sweet. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I needed more. My hands went to her jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them. I ran my fingers down the inside, my heart nearly exploded. I just…needed to feel this.

  My fingers ran between her legs, over her underwear. “Oh my God, Julian,” she groaned. “That feels so good.” Grunting, I released her breast and removed my hand. Quick as a flash, I worked on pulling down her jeans. I needed her. I couldn’t wait any longer.

  Her hands stilled mine. “Wait. Before we…is there anything else I don’t know. I don’t want any secrets between us when we do this.”

  It thrilled me that she said when we do this. Nika’s mood simmered in the back of my head. She was flipping through annoyance, irritation, understanding, and nausea. Arianna’s hand came down to rest on my rock-hard body. I gasped, “Yes. There’s…” my train of thought left me.

  “What?” she asked, her hand running up and down the length of me through my jeans. “Um…I…Oh, God that feels good.”

  “I know,” she whispered. “It feels really good.”

  She unzipped my jeans, then slipped her hand inside. I sucked in a breath as I felt her touch the most sensitive part of me. “Oh God,” I panted. I ran my hand back inside her jeans, inside her underwear this time. When I reached her, she was wet, warm. She cried out again, clutching me tight. Then her hand slipped inside my underwear. It was incredible. I was going to explode.

  “Tell me,” she moaned. “Please tell me.”

  My head spun. What was I telling her? What did she want to know? I’d tell her anything. I’d tell her everything. “Oh God…it’s just…Nika and I share feelings.”

  She froze underneath me. Realizing what I‘d just said, I froze as well. “You…what?” she asked, removing her hand from my jeans. I ached with the loss of her touching me, but the shock of ice water running through my veins helped cool my fire; I hadn’t meant to tell her that. I slowly withdrew my finger from her underwear. “Nika and I…have a bond unique to us.” My breath was still fast with passion. I tried to temper it, but couldn’t. “We feel what the other person is feeling.”