by E. J. King
Hugging my arms around my body, I turned in the direction of the house and jumped. Standing just a few feet away was a set of gold eyes and a snapping wolf mouth. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid. William had warned me not to wander off and not to go into the woods. Now, I was trapped. My only escape would be to go further into the woods which would no doubt lead me to more hungry weres.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said, not sure if weres could process human language when they were in wolf form. To myself, I grumbled, “Now would be a perfect time to be able to force William out here to help me.”
I thought about calling out to Cole, but that would likely only lead to him getting killed, also. Besides, he was probably already in the house by now. I tried looking for something to use to fight off the wolf, but could still barely see anything.
My last resort was to use my powers, but before I could tap into that energy, the wolf lunged at me. Even though I saw it coming, I fell sideways in a poor attempt to avoid the attack. My head smacked a large rock and I yelped as the wolf landed on top of me. I struggled to hold the wolf’s snout away from my neck, but with my head swimming, my strength was fading fast.
Just as the wolf pulled back, preparing for another lunge, the air whooshed and a blur of something solid crashing into the wolf. I gasped and struggled into a seated position.
“Get back to the house, Grace,” William commanded.
He was fully vamped out, eyes burning like fire and fangs completely exposed, and he had the wolf in a tight bear hug. I could see his muscles straining against the struggling animal.
“Go, Grace! I can’t hold him much longer.”
I scrambled to my feet and half ran, half stumbled back to the house. I tumbled through the open door and every supernatural creature instantly turned to me. It was only then that I remembered my head wound, which was bleeding profusely.
“Shit,” I muttered, wondering if I should take my chances outside with the wolf.
“Keep moving,” William said, suddenly appearing behind me. He pushed me down the hallway that led to our bedroom and once we were inside, he immediately started yanking at my shirt. “We need to burn these clothes. They reek of your blood.”
I nodded mutely and let him remove my shirt. When he had peeled away the bloody clothes, I stood frozen in the middle of the room, shaking uncontrollably.
“Get in the shower, Grace. You need to wash that blood away.” He hesitate for just a second to give me a concerned look and then he turned to the fireplace.
I somehow made it into the shower and turned the water on as hot as I could stand. I watched as the water turned pink when it made contact with my bloody scalp. If I hadn’t felt so numb, the pain would probably have been overwhelming. When the water ran clear again, I shuffled out of the shower and pulled on a big robe.
My body was no longer shaking, but my reflection in the mirror couldn’t hide my fear. I’d been seconds away from dying and if William hadn’t somehow come looking for me, a wolf would be chewing on my body right now.
It was a little surprising that William hadn’t come to check on me in the bathroom given that I had a pretty gnarly gash on my head. I examined the cut in the mirror, gently prodding it to make sure there was no debris from the woods infecting it. The cut was just at my hairline over my eye and the bleeding had mostly stopped. I found a first aid kit under the sink and set about cleaning and bandaging it before joining William in the bedroom.
He was standing guard at the door and a fire was raging in the fireplace. I could see the last few scraps of my clothes turning to ash.
“Are you alright?” William asked stiffly.
“I think so.” I noted how tensely he was holding his body. “Are you?”
“I will be fine. All that blood was a little…distracting.” He finally looked at me. “The scent is mostly gone now.”
That explained why William had been keeping his distance. I felt terrible that he had been suffering because of my stupid mistake. “I’m so sorry, William. I didn’t mean to go off on my own like that. Cole and I had an argument and I just needed to get away. I wasn’t thinking.”
He nodded. “Were you arguing about me?”
“How did you know?” I said with a wry smile.
“It’s pretty obvious Cole isn’t my biggest fan.” William’s shoulders relaxed a fraction of an inch, but his face was still pained. “You were defending my honor, I take it?”
“Cole told me that you visited Victoria this morning.” I tried not to sound accusatory, but I failed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
William ran a hand through his hair, surefire proof that he was annoyed. “I had no idea Cole was so interested in my affairs.”
“Affairs?” I said.
“Poor choice of words.” He grimaced. “I wanted to give Victoria notice about the accusations being made regarding her clan. I felt it was only fair that she be apprised of the situation. That’s all. It wasn’t a big deal and that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
“It had nothing to do with you thinking I might be jealous that you snuck away to see your ex-girlfriend?” I said, only joking a little.
“Considering I’d just left you with another guy, it’s safe to say I understand the tendency to feel jealous.” He finally took a step away from the door.
I took a deep breath, choosing my next words carefully. “I’m in love with you, William, not him. It will always be you.”
“I’m going to make sure the others have settled down. When I come back, I’ll check your wound.” William opened the door and then seemed to think better of leaving without acknowledging my words. “You are my forever, Grace. For all the days of my life, I will always be yours.”
He held my gaze several seconds longer and I could see the depth with which he meant those words. William had live 500 years and he understood better than anyone how long forever could be. When he said he would love me forever, it wasn’t meaningless. It was everything.
After he was gone, I sat on the edge of the bed and gently touched my bandaged cut. My head was really starting to hurt. I still couldn’t believe I’d lost my cool so easily with Cole and been so reckless even after William’s warning. I could vividly recall the collective thirst of the vampires when I had stood before them, bleeding. Even Kathryn and Alexander, two vampires that I considered to be friendly, had flashed their fangs.
“Everything is back to normal,” William said when he returned. He had caught me by surprise and I wasn’t able to pretend that nothing was wrong. “Is the pain bad?”
“It’s not great,” I said. I leaned back as he approached.
With deft fingers, he peeled away the bandage. “It’s deeper than I thought. It will take a couple weeks for it to heal and you’ll have a scar.”
“I’ll just have to hope that you’ll still love me now that I’m hideous,” I joked, wincing at another throb of pain.
“There is another option.” William sat next to me on the bed. “I almost suggested it after I fed from you, to heal your wrist. I could give you a little of my blood. It will speed up the healing process and close up the wound cleanly.”
“You want me to drink your blood?” I said. It was an old rumor that I had heard a few times before, that vampire blood could help humans heal. I’d never met any human that had actually tried it, though.
“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he corrected me. “But if you want to try, my blood is all yours.”
“Better than a diamond,” I said glibly. “What’s the catch? There has to be a downside to this or you would have already suggested it to me.”
William smiled faintly. “Nothing gets past you. The only caveat you need to consider is that if you somehow died with my blood in your system, you would transition.”
“I’d be a vampire?” I said, understanding his hesitancy. “How long would it take for your blood to leave my system?”
“You won’t need much, so just a few hours. It
should be gone by morning.” He studied me carefully. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you tonight, if that helps you make your decision.”
In all honesty, I’d already made my decision and it was less about the healing effects of the blood and more about wanting to feel connected to William in that way. He’d already had my blood and it had bonded him to me. I wanted to find out if the reverse would also be true.
“Okay, I want to do it,” I said.
“Okay.” He brought his finger to his lips and carefully pressed one fang into it. With a slight smirk he held it out to me and said, “Be gentle.”
I eyed the bloody tip of his finger, nearly changing my mind. William waited patiently until I took his hand and brought the finger to my lips. Tentatively, I gave one gentle suck and was surprised at the flavorful explosion that hit my tongue.
William laughed as my eyes widened and I said, with his finger still to my lips, “You taste amazing.”
“Welcome to my world, love,” he said, purposefully running a hand along my neck. “Take a little more.”
I did as he said and then pulled away. When I looked at his finger, there was no sign it had ever been bleeding. I could already feel the throbbing in my head fading to a mild discomfort. “That’s one fast-working drug,” I said, feeling a little lightheaded.
William moved closer, letting me lean against him. He put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. “How did you know I was in trouble earlier? I couldn’t use my powers to tell you.”
“I could sense it,” he said. “It’s part of the blood bond. Ever since I drank from you, I’ve been accurately aware of your emotions. Right now, for instance, you are tired and confused. And if I may be so bold, a little turned on.”
He was right. His blood was coursing through my body, making every inch of me tingle. William was adding to the sensation by gently stroking my arm. “Not just a little, boyfriend,” I said, wishing that my head wasn’t so foggy. At least the pain was gone now.
“You should get some rest,” he said reluctantly. “My blood will help with the injury, but it won’t do much for the exhaustion.”
“Will you stay with me?” I asked.
“I had no intention of leaving you.” He pulled away a little. “Just let me shower and change. I smell like wet dog.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but you do.” I wrinkled my nose. “What did you do with the wolf?”
William stood, heading toward the bathroom. “I set him free after you were safely inside. I doubt he’ll even remember attacking you once he transitions back into human form.”
While William showered, I checked my reflection in the mirror over the dresser and sure enough, the cut had completely healed. So had the old puncture marks on my arm. The power of vampire blood was remarkable, but it made sense that more people didn’t know about it. If that kind of information was widely available, vampires would be hunted like animals and caged for blood harvesting.
Someone knocked on the door and I flinched. There was no blood anywhere on me, but could it be possible one of the vampires was still under the blood lust?
“Grace, it’s me.”
I would recognize Cole’s voice anywhere, even through a thick, wood door. “Come on in, Cole,” I said, pulling my robe tighter around my body.
Cole cracked open the door slowly, eyes immediately scanning the room and lingering briefly on the bed. When he was satisfied that he wasn’t interrupting anything, he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.
“Where’s the vampire?” he asked.
I nodded toward the bathroom. “He’s showering.”
“Your head looks better,” Cole said suspiciously.
“I’m a fast healer.” I was anxiously waiting for him to say something that would infuriate me, or for him to accuse William of something horrible, but he didn’t do either of those things.
“I’m sorry about earlier, Grace,” he said abruptly. “I really wasn’t trying to start a fight with you and I never meant for you to end up getting hurt.”
I waved away his apology. “I know. I don’t blame you for what happened to me. I was an idiot. I never should’ve run off like that.”
“Yeah, that was pretty stupid.” Cole grinned in the adorable way that I remembered from our previous life. “I’m not used to having girls run away from me.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I said as William stepped into the room.
I’d been so focused on our conversation that I hadn’t even realized the water had stopped running. William didn’t look at all surprised to see Cole, probably because he’d been listening to us this entire time. That probably also explained why he had pulled on a pair of sweatpants.
“Sanders. Why are you in my bedroom?” William wasn’t going to pretend that he liked Cole. We all would have spotted the lie.
“I just came to apologize to Grace.” Cole added, “And to you. I made some assumptions about you that weren’t fair.”
William stepped closer to me, following a subconscious territorial instinct. “If my brother finds out you are here talking to me, it could cause problems for you.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Cole gestured a thumb in the direction of the door. “Can they hear us?”
“No.” William shook his head. “This room is too far from the main part of the house. Unless someone is listening in the hall, our conversation will be confidential.”
Cole nodded slowly. “Good. It is very important that no one else know what I am about to tell you.”
“Why the sudden willingness to trust me?” William asked, suspicious.
“I saw what you did for Grace. You not only saved her from that wolf, but you protected her from an entire house of hungry vampires, even as she was bleeding profusely. I’ve never seen a vampire exercise that amount of self-control.” Cole looked only at William, purposefully avoiding my stare.
“You say that like you’ve met a lot of vampires, not like someone that is new to this world.” William glanced at me.
“What’s the deal, Cole? Are you saying that you knew about vampires before you made that deal with Drake?” I had to admit, that would explain how easily he had adapted to life in the Darkness.
He turned to me, looking older and wiser than he had just a few seconds ago. For the first time, I noted the weariness in his eyes and the way he held his body like he was prepared for an attack. Even before he said the words, I knew the truth about Cole Sanders. “I’m a Hunter, Grace. Like you.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
COLE
I had wanted to tell Grace the truth about my past pretty much since the first time I met her. In the times when I had pictured how it would go down, I never expected her to nod as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, yet that was exactly how she responded.
“You don’t seem surprised,” I said, stating the obvious.
“I knew you were lying about how you made that deal with Drake. You being a Hunter makes a lot more sense than him just stumbling across you and being like, hey want to make a deal?” She gave me an exasperated look. “Did you really think I was that dumb?”
“Maybe,” I smiled. “Now that I’ve told you the truth, it’s your turn.”
“You just admitted that you already know I’m a Hunter.” Her eyes narrowed. “How, exactly, do you know that?”
I hesitated. William was glaring at me with his usual contempt and I knew he was going to lose it when I told them the truth. “I’m not just a regular Hunter,” I admitted.
“He’s with the Guardianship,” William finished for me.
“You know?” I gaped at him. “And you haven’t tried to kill me?”
“Yet,” he said without a hint of humor. “I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence that you showed up in the Darkness. I knew you were looking for Grace. No human would’ve made a deal like you did to get here and no regular Hunter would’ve been able to resist killing us.”
“So
you made a logical conclusion?” I had to give him credit for that. “Before either of you starts to panic, you need to know that I have no desire to help the Guardianship. When I was assigned to Grace, they never told me the truth about her past. All I really knew was that they thought she might be in danger.”
“Danger from what?” Grace asked.
“Him.” I nodded in William’s direction. “They led me to believe that the Darkness was a sham and this place was some evil breeding ground for vampires. The convinced me that you had turned Grace into your companion against her will.”
William’s jaw clenched and unclenched rapidly. “You no longer believe that?”
“I know that Grace can’t be compelled. Drake went on one of his rants back at the house and he mentioned that he’d tried to compel her and it didn’t work.” I looked at Grace. “Drake is more than a little obsessed with you.”
“It’s my blood,” Grace said quietly. “My blood is magical and Drake wants to use it to make himself stronger.”
A lot of things were becoming clearer now. “That’s why the Guardianship assigned you to me in the first place. They knew that vampires would be coming for you because of your blood.”
“Presumably so,” Grace said, “but also because they knew that William would reach out to me eventually, because of a promise he made to my parents. If the Guardianship waited until the right moment, they could learn how to find the Darkness.”
“Guess it’s a very good thing I never told them about my deal with Drake.” I looked back and forth between them. “Who else knows about this?”
“No one,” William said quickly. “Drake has his suspicions about Grace’s blood, but no one knows that the Guardianship is looking for her.”
“You brought Grace here to keep her safe,” I surmised. Grace was looking at William in such an adoring way that I had to believe she really did love him.
“Yes, that is why I brought her here.” William glanced at her and offered the tiniest of smiles when he caught her staring. “She ended up saving me.”