And the pull to her only grew.
The hunger.
“We’re at a critical time.” I cleared my throat, annoyed I even had to be going over this. “You know better. We can’t cause waves now. We need to stick to the plan.”
“The team’s exhausted. They’re not used to going from town to town. It’s never ending. I didn’t think letting off a little steam would hurt.”
Fire rolled through my veins. “You thought wrong. If you don’t show better judgment, I’ll find someone who can.”
Decker gave a quick nod. “Yes, sir.”
A few seconds of silence hung in the air. Rarely did Decker make mistakes, but this was unacceptable.
We’d been living in peace with the humans for decades. We’d made many concessions. We’d followed the rules—their rules.
We’d been patient.
Things were going to change in our favor soon.
If the prophecies were true.
We had to do our part, though.
“This is the last town before we go home to Seattle. Let the others know that we’ll be headed back there soon . . . and let them know if they screw up one more time, they won’t be joining us.”
Decker nodded. “Sorry about everything, Carter. I take full responsibility.”
I stood as Decker made his way to the door. “Was it that woman? Was it Ivy who lured you?”
Decker turned and looked at me. “I don’t know. I wasn’t in my right mind. I don’t know what made me act like an animal. Still no excuse. I’ll do better.”
I gave a quick nod and sat back down as he shut the door.
Had she cast a spell? Was she even capable?
The whole thing reminded me of something that would have happened in the Nightfall Realm, which was one of the reasons I avoided it. I preferred living with the mundanes.
I looked around the dark study with rows of shelves stacked with books. Over the years, I’d managed to read every single one of them. Some were nonfiction, some were fiction, and others read like fiction but were our history. Another sigh rolled off my lips.
This life was getting tiring, exhausting, wearing.
Immortality.
It had been so long since I’d been back in this house, one of our safe homes. We had several in each state, but this one always felt . . . I don’t know, like home. I almost dreaded heading back to Seattle.
Bigger city.
Bigger problems.
Bigger hive.
More reminders that this is my life.
I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, imagining what it would be like to live in a small town. I’d done it decades before, but it was a different time, a different era.
As I sat in the silence of the room, my thoughts began shifting and the hunger only grew.
I walked over to the window and watched the rain pound the concrete, droplets breaking into smaller beads and rolling down the sidewalk. The trees bent in submission to the wind as my mind drifted back to Ivy and her pale blue eyes, auburn hair, and bright red lips.
A human, unafraid.
I shook my head, feeling a smile touch my lips at the thought.
Someone knocked on my door, and before I had a chance to ask, she stepped in.
Alyssa.
There was nothing harmonious about her other than that she seemed to offer her services every single night even though I’d turned her down each and every time.
“Hey, Carter. Thought you could use some company this evening.” Tonight, her blonde hair was slicked back in a ponytail and her top was cut so low, it left little to the imagination.
I laughed and shook my head, thinking back to Ivy. She looked so pure and very bundled up for a woman at a bar. Her tight jeans didn’t leave much to the imagination, but her bulky pink sweater did.
Alyssa looked confused at my reaction.
“Thank you, Alyssa, but I have a lot of work tonight.”
The disappointment slid over Alyssa’s face as it had every other night.
I motioned for her to shut the door right when screams rattled the windows.
Her eyes widened. “What was that?”
“I don’t know, but it wasn’t the wind. Get Decker.” I scanned the darkness as if it were daylight and saw absolutely nothing.
Decker came running in with Mark and a few of the others.
“Did you hear that?” I asked, and Decker nodded.
“We all did.” Decker motioned down the hall toward the front door, and Mark followed his instruction. “We’ll go check it out.”
I nodded, watching them dart out of the house.
Another blood-curdling scream echoed into the night, and I quickly followed them.
The moment I ran outside, I felt the coolness of the rain against my skin as a woman’s screams rang through the air.
Nothing had been right about tonight.
In seconds, I’d found crimson blood rolling down the cement, mixing with the rain into a pink ensemble of horror.
I looked at my crew. They were hungry. They were being taunted.
The woman was gone.
She wanted a chase.
“Go back to the house,” I yelled.
Decker repeated my command until they finally moved.
“That goes for you too.” I pointed up the driveway as Decker’s eyes glazed over with hunger. “Now.”
As the pink turned clear, I scanned the woods around me.
The problem with vampires and humans living together in harmony was that there were always some who wanted to be like us, to be us. They’d do anything it took to be changed.
But it wasn’t that simple, and it never would be.
My only hope was that the woman didn’t bleed to death in the forest. I debated chasing after her. If she were too far gone and I was caught with her in my arms, it wouldn’t be good. If there were a shot at saving her, it would be one less thing on my conscience, and with my track record, that wasn’t a terrible thing.
Annoyance crept through me as I thought about what this woman was willing to sacrifice to become one of us.
Immortal.
But it was a fallacy. There were things that could kill us.
We just protected that knowledge as if our existence depended on it because it did.
I focused on the forest in front of me and took off in the direction of this stranger. If there were a chance at helping her, I would.
Cracked limbs, dangling branches, and torn leaves gave away her trail, and within seconds, I’d found her collapsed on the forest floor, clutching a stone.
Her brown eyes were glassy with death lingering only a fingertip away as her naked body lay glistening from the pounding rain.
“Change me,” she whispered, bringing her arm toward me.
I knelt down and checked her vitals. She’d lost a lot of blood.
“I can’t.”
I searched her body for wounds, seeing the slashes she’d inflicted on herself.
“I’ll die.” Her trembling hand rose toward me.
“Hopefully not.” I grabbed my phone and dialed the one person who’d believe me.
The moment Christy picked up the phone, I knew I’d woken her up.
One of the many luxuries that most other creatures have, sleep. Sure, I went through the ritual of sleep. I’d lie down and close my eyes, but I never truly fell asleep.
“Carter?” Her fuzzy voice sounded a little more alert. “You in town?”
“I am, and there’s a bit of a predicament.”
She let out a sigh. “Another one?”
“Yes, and she’s in bad shape.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll call it in. I should be there before the ambulance arrives.”
“Thanks. I’ll stay with her until you get here.”
“Not a problem.” She paused. “I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to do that.”
“I can’t fathom it either.”
“Be there soon.”
She hung up as th
e woman coughed and brought her arm down to her stomach. I pulled off my sweater and laid it over her.
This wasn’t what I’d planned for the night. I’d imagined popping open an ale from a local micro-brewery, sitting back in my study, and thinking about our next steps.
“Why won’t you change me?” she asked, her voice hoarse and breathless.
“It would be your dream turned nightmare.” I stared at the woman’s vacant stare, the smell of her blood filling the forest around me.
The scent would be too much for a lot of my crew. Their rations weren’t always satisfying.
I wouldn’t let myself go there.
“It should be my choice,” she whispered.
I shook my head and touched her hair. “It’s not as simple as that, I’m afraid, or we’d have far greater numbers.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s not your choice. It’s not your destiny.”
The woman closed her eyes as her breathing slowed. I wasn’t sure this was going to turn out how I’d hoped.
A branch snapped off in the distance, and Christy’s friendly face appeared with the glow of her flashlight. Even though she had a tough job, she always had a kind expression.
“Ooh.” She puckered her lips and knelt down with a medic bag. “The ambulance will be here any second. I’d get out of here now. I’ve got it covered.”
I stood and gave a quick nod. “Thanks.”
Christy had already started applying pressure to some of the woman’s wounds.
“No. Thank you for being decent.”
I frowned, knowing I wasn’t decent at all.
I was merely following orders.
Chapter Three
Ivy
I stared at the gigantic aloe plant in the living room, wondering why two of the spears were shriveling. The soil didn’t seem like I’d overwatered it, but it certainly didn’t seem like I’d underwatered it either. I used to have a knack for growing things, and now I wasn’t so sure. I had whipped up a little concoction to revive it, and still . . . nothing.
I let out a sigh and smiled. I supposed I could ask Lydia and Gary for help. They lived in the back yard and looked over the two small greenhouses, but those two little sprites hated me on a good day, and I didn’t really feel like more rejection at the moment.
Grammy had always made things look effortless. She’d tend to her plants, see patients, whip up tinctures for neighbors, and watch after us all in a day’s work.
Then there was me. Sitting in bars, waiting for my sister to get whatever she needed to get out of her system, and wishing for something more.
And afraid to use my magic.
I didn’t know what it was I craved, but I knew there was something more out there for me. My fingers ran along the healthy aloe vera leaves, and I let out a heavy sigh.
Maybe, this was the more—keeping my Grammy’s legacy going. I’d always had a knack, at least until recently, with gardening.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I batted them away as soon as I heard Violet come down the stairs behind me.
We’d both inherited the house, but she wanted nothing to do with it other than as an escape from the city now and again. The only issue with that scenario was that my sister didn’t have a car, and I wound up picking her up and dropping her off.
Sudden Valley was two hours north of Seattle, but it felt worlds away. The small mountain town was tucked along Lake Whatcom. It was where we’d grown up.
Technically, I was born in Seattle, but my parents died before my first birthday.
Before our first birthday.
Violet crashed on the blue sofa near the front window, barely disrupting Glinda’s sleep other than a soft snore. My sheltie was a deep sleeper unless there was stormy weather or a delivery driver at the door.
Violet groaned. “That was a little too crazy last night.”
My brows arched. “You’re telling me.”
“Why didn’t you just . . .” She shrugged. “Wipe them out?”
I laughed and shook my head. “You have a lot more confidence in my abilities than I do. Just because I can make it a little stormy outside doesn’t mean I can wipe out a mob of vampires.”
She flashed a wicked grin. “I know it’s in you. I’ve seen what Grammy’s taught you over the years.”
“If only it were that easy.” I winked at my sister and wandered to the kitchen to fill up my small watering can.
“It is that easy, Ivy,” my sister called out. “You’re just afraid.”
I carried my watering can back into the living room and smiled at my sister. “I’ll grant you, I studied a lot more than you did with Grammy, but I’m not like Superwoman. Before taking a leave of absence, I was a receptionist. Besides, you should have the same abilities.”
“I obviously don’t, and you were a receptionist for the Bureau of Magical Affairs, not some dentist.” Violet shrugged and glanced around the room. “Are you really going to stay up here?”
“I don’t see why not.” I looked around the space and warmth spread through me. “It’s comforting, seeing all of Grammy’s things.”
Violet pursed her lips together and ran her fingers through her tangled auburn hair. “It’s . . . old.”
“I’ll freshen it up a bit. Put my stamp on it. But I think the home is beautiful.” I glanced at the paisley wallpaper along the staircase. “I even like the wallpaper.”
Violet threw a pillow at me. “You’re twenty-nine going on ninety.”
“And you’re twenty-nine going on twelve.”
My sister flashed a wicked grin in my direction and touched her half of a locket.
I’d been wearing the other half since Grammy’s death. She used to wear both pieces, which made a heart. The piece of jewelry was actually from our mother.
I twisted my lips into a scowl. “Seriously. What was all that about last night? Why would you provoke them?”
My sister stretched her arms toward the ceiling. “I don’t know. It’s kinda thrilling.”
“Which part? The vampire thing or just being with random guys?”
My sister’s gaze narrowed on me. “Have you ever . . .”
I put the watering can down and stared at my twin. “Ever what?”
“You know, been with a . . .”
My eyes widened. “Never. I’d never even consider it.”
“Not even that hottie last night?” Violet smirked. “I saw the way you changed when you saw him. The storm even lessened.”
I laughed and shook my head. “With a vampire? Never. I tolerate them at best.” I cocked my head slightly. “Why? Have you?”
Violet bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Plenty.”
“Are you serious?”
She nodded. “It’s amazing. I’d never go mortal again.”
“I wouldn’t know one way or the other.” I grinned and shook my head. “The last time I slept with someone was ten years ago, and we didn’t actually do it.”
My sister looked horrified.
“With that skinny kid? The lifeguard down at the lake here?”
At the time, he looked buff to me, but my sister was right. He was really puny.
I rolled my eyes, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks. “And it wasn’t great, so let’s just leave it at that.”
My sister sighed and shook her head, looking like I’d just blown her world.
“It’s like a drug.” My sister stood from the couch and wandered toward the kitchen. “Once you start, you can’t stop.”
“In general, or just vampires?”
She opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. “Vampires.” Violet looked around the kitchen with the tiny floral wallpaper. “What about this print? You gonna keep this wallpaper too?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it.”
Truthfully, I’d thought about it a lot, and I loved the wallpaper with the crisp white kitchen cabinets and bright white ceramic tile my Grammy had installed as countertops years ago.
“Well, I’d be willing to bet if you wanted to give it a whirl with the fanged variety, that one from last night would be more than willing.”
My cheeks ignited with heat, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “What makes you say that?”
“He looked like he wanted to eat you on the spot.”
I chuckled nervously. “Is that a good thing?”
“Oh, yeah.” My sister took a sip of milk. “A very good thing.”
“Doesn’t that scare you, though? Like last night. What if the guy hadn’t stepped in? What if I weren’t there?”
She flashed a wry grin, and I didn’t know if it was all bravado or whether she genuinely felt that way. “Could be worse ways to go out.”
My spine stiffened. “How could you say that?”
She giggled. “I’m kidding.”
“Has that ever happened before?” My hand flew to my hip, realizing I’d need to do a better job of protecting Violet.
“No. Never. They’re usually more well-behaved.”
It was true. I didn’t recognize many of them from the local squad, and I knew the one who came at the end certainly wasn’t from around here. I’d never actually seen one, let alone many, circle one of us like vultures. It reminded me all too well of why I hated them.
They scared me.
For the most part, you couldn’t even tell vampires apart from the rest of us. It’s not like they had a tattoo on their forehead or fangs that dripped from their mouth. Their eyes became a natural pale color, almost silver once they’d turned, but all it took was a pair of contacts to throw us off.
“I’m gonna head upstairs for a shower.” Violet slid her empty glass toward the sink just as the doorbell rang. “Do you mind taking me back to Seattle later?”
I was actually looking forward to the peace and quiet, and the thought of taking her back to Seattle thrilled me.
“I’ll miss you.” I smiled, knowing I never excelled at lying. We both wandered toward the front door before my sister sprang up the stairs. “But no problem. Just stop with the vampire lust.”
I opened the door to see Christy looking back at me like she’d never gotten to bed last night.
She gave a quick wave. “Hey.”
“You look like hell.” I laughed. “You okay?”
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