"No," I said softly. "I guess it isn't. But I don't need to worry, because I promise to keep everything a secret. I'm not telling anyone."
"There are few that will mess with you anyway, with Zane protecting you," Madison added dryly, giving a wry smile. "Besides, you've got me, as well, Zane being my sire. The only ones you'll have to worry about-" She broke off. "Never mind. I've said too much to worry you already."
"What?" I asked weakly, pressing a hand to my forehead. "Who would I have to worry about?" These Supernatural dealings were reminding me faintly of the Mafia.
"You don't need to worry at all," Flora quickly assured me. "Not with the protection you'll be getting." But I could tell that she was lying. Of course I'd have to worry.
"I may talk too much, Flora," Madison snapped, narrowing her eyes. "But I'm not a liar." She turned to look at me, her cherubic face oddly serene. "The ones you'll have to worry about will be the dangerous ones. But only because the other ones won't be able to get to you." Opening her mouth, she flashed her fangs briefly.
I believed Madison. I'd seen Zane fight before, and despite the fact that she was so dainty-looking, Madison herself was clearly no pushover. And then there was Ty, who, according to Zane, had so much potential. Surely I would be OK, right?
Before I could think anymore on the subject, Zane reentered the room, breaking the atmosphere. His eyes flickered to each of us, as if he could sense what we'd been talking about before. After a moment, he spoke.
"Not too many could come. We have Lukas, Shelly, and Natalie—that's it." He gave a shrug, glancing at me. "It's better that Alex doesn't have to process so many Supernaturals at once, anyway." Before I could come up with a retort, he added, "Where's the Hunter, anyway?"
"How would I know?" I shot back. "I didn't even know he wanted to speed up the meeting!"
Right after I spoke, there was a knock at the door. Flora walked up to the door, pressing her ear against it for a moment.
"Once Flora's met a person, she can recognize their presence, unless it's beyond a barrier too difficult, such as a very thick wall, or a long distance," Madison said in explanation.
Satisfied, Flora answered the door. "Hello, Shelly."
In came a girl who had to be six feet tall. She was model thin, with nutmeg-colored skin and strawberry blond hair cut short, framing her face nicely. Bounding in, she nodded towards Zane, Madison, and Flora—then she came upon me. Her nose quivered as she sniffed the air (not again!).
"Who's the human? Or, more importantly, why is a human among us?" She gave the vampires an accusatory glance. "I thought we made it clear that donors aren't allowed to come to any meetings-" and this next word was under her breath "-Zane."
I arched one eyebrow at him. More mention of Zane's donor. Or donors. Whichever it was, he was not happy that what'shername was making jabs at them. Or she. (Since I'm pretty sure that Zane wouldn't be drinking from a male.)
"Alex," he began, clearly wanting to whack off what'shername's head. "This is Shelly Thomas. Shelly, this is Alex, a human girl-not my donor-who happens to know about us."
Shelly opened her mouth, but Zane beat her to it, his voice calm and measured.
"Why? Well, she has an inexperienced Hunter for a best friend. One of the Sanders, actually. And there's the fact that she smells different, but you werewolves aren't exactly attuned to blood-scent, are you? Anyway, I see something in her, Madison sees something in her, and we need a peacekeeper of some sort if we're going to work with the Hunters. Is that clear?"
In response, Shelly the werewolf rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. She gave a heavy sigh. "Fine. Welcome to the club, human girl."
"I have a name, you know." Something about Shelly just irked me, so I walked up to her. (Despite the fact that she could transform into a huge wolf at will. Yeah, I'm lookin' really smart, huh?) "I think Zane told you what it was. Alex. And if I'm going to call you by your first name, I think you should call me by mine."
Shelly gave a snort of amusement, taking a step closer to me. She gave a wide grin, abruptly revealing that she'd transfigured her teeth so that they all looked like they a complete set of wolf fangs. "Please, human. Don't toy with me."
"And don't toy with me."
Really, I don't know where it came from. The voice I was using. But it was so dead, so flat... Kind of like Zane's, sometimes. Maybe I was giving off some kind of vibe, or something, because Shelly was really quiet. In fact, she looked kind of shocked. So shocked, in fact, that her teeth went back to normal. Zane, Madison, and Flora seemed to have that same kind of expression.
Everything was quiet until there was another knock at the door. Flora cleared her throat, saying, "That would be Lukas."
"Lukas is Shelly's older brother," Zane explained as the female werewolf nodded. She still looked kind of confused—I sure was.
When Flora opened the door, a big, burly guy came in. He had dark brown hair in a buzz cut, but was clearly Shelly's brother. His eyes were just like hers, brown and wolf-shaped, and he had the same mouth and nose. He was actually her exact same height, as well.
"Human?" This time, the guy immediately caught my scent.
"I hate explaining this," Zane groaned, then closed his eyes and recited what was exactly what he told Shelly about me. Lukas actually seemed to accept this, and shook my hand.
"Humans have known about us before," he shrugged. "We've been able to deal with them when they leak info—they're breakable things."
A snarl from the other side of the room made us all jerk our heads around. However, that was unneeded. Zane was already facing Lukas, his fangs bared and his eyes darkened. Almost immediately, Madison was flanking him, showing off her sharp teeth as well. Not out of loyalty to me, I realized-she barely knew me-but out of loyalty to her sire.
"Alex is trustworthy," Zane growled. "She has been civil to you. She has been accepting of you. She has done absolutely nothing to deserve your threats. I will not have you acting like an immature pup in front of her."
I glanced from Madison to Flora. Madison didn't seem surprised at Zane's words, while Flora was smiling and nodding.
"All right," Lukas replied slowly, taking a step away from the vampires. "No need to jump on me. I just wanted to make it clear-"
"You've made it clear that you're an ignorant idiot, so please just shut up," Zane snapped.
Once again, someone knocked in the middle of a tense moment. This time, Zane gave a nod, and Flora didn't even have to use her senses. She opened the door, and in walked another vampire.
She was female, but different from Madison. Of course, she had the normal vampiric characteristics: snow white skin and unearthly beauty. She was tall, probably five feet, nine inches. Chocolate brown hair traveled straight down to her shoulderblades, and large green eyes stared out from an angular, almost catlike face. This one was younger-looking—she'd probably been turned at sixteen, I'd guess. Yes, younger-looking, and even more beautiful than Madison.
For a moment, she stood in the doorway. Her eyes were fixed on Zane's face, and she gave a small smile—it was clearly halfhearted. He gave a similar one back, and I could sense the strain. Quickly, the vampiress turned to look at me, and dipped her head in what seemed to be approval.
Cautiously-at least, that's how it looked to me-she held out her hand. "Natalie. Zane's told me about you."
Oh, thank goodness. Smiling, I shook her icy hand. "Alex—though I guess you'd know that. Nice to meet you."
"Vice versa," Natalie murmured. There was an intense shadow of sadness behind her beautiful face—I could feel it. Gosh, these stupid vampires and their tangled personal lives...
"Why isn't the Hunter here?" Now Natalie seemed more vampire-y. Her face was alert and ready, and she had one hand perched on her hip.
"We don't know," Zane muttered, rolling his eyes. "They're very unreliable, aren't they? Roxanne said she wouldn't kill so-and-so, so-and-so ends up with a silver dagger at his throat... But they always have an ex
cuse..."
"Not all Hunters are bad," I said defensively. "Ty's not evil! I swear, he's one of the most trustworthy guys I've ever met..." OK, that didn't really make sense.
"Yes," Zane replied sarcastically. "The most trustworthy guy who's been keeping a gigantic secret from you for—what is it? A decade? Of course, that's just a guess."
"He's more trustworthy than you," I retorted, glaring at him. Oh, shoot. Not the wisest thing to say...
"You're completely right," Zane nodded, his voice surprisingly sincere. "He probably is. But I have been pretty truthful with you. I told you a lot about we vampires, I was honest about holding you hostage... There haven't exactly been that many secrets between you and me, considering how much we've spoken. Which isn't much."
"I guess you've been honest," I admitted, tilting my head to one side. "But that doesn't mean you've been trustworthy. I mean, you did walk me to what was almost my death."
"But I saved you from it." Zane gave a slow smirk. "Which means you owe me... That's a very welcome epiphany there..."
"Don't even," I threatened. Then again, in a room with three vampires, two werewolves, and a witch, I don't think I looked very threatening.
The door suddenly burst open, revealing Ty.
Chapter 7
His appearance made me gasp in shock and fear. He had to lean on the frame of the doorway, and was panting hard. His shirt was wet and torn, with blackish splotches on it here and there. A thin ribbon of blood ran down his face from a gash on his forehead.
"Ty!" I cried, rushing up to him. Anxiously, I gripped his shoulders, just in case he was going to fall over. (Though I doubted I would be able to hold him up if he did.) To my relief, he seemed to be leaning mainly from exertion, not wounds. "What the heck happened to you?"
Looking around, I realized that I was the only one who'd come to help Ty. For the vampires, it made sense. They were leaning back, their faces drawn, eyes dark. The werewolves were much calmer, though it was clear that they were bothered a bit. After a second, Flora walked up to us, looking doubtful. None of the others even wanted to help a Hunter, I realized. And Ty didn't seem surprised; in fact, he seemed much more surprised that Flora had come over at all.
"Don't just stand there," the witch said, clearly trying to make her voice as kind as possible. "Come in."
"No." Ty stood still, still breathing hard. He stared at the vampire, his eyes wary. His blood was still running from the small wound, and that worried me. Didn't head wounds bleed a lot?
"Come on," I argued, taking his hand and trying to pull him forward. "You're going to get that stuff in your eyes. None of them are going to hurt you—right?" I gave the vampires the most threatening look I could manage.
"That's right," Zane finally agreed, nodding. His eyes flickered from Madison to Natalie, confirming his words with them. They each gave their own nods.
It took a moment, but finally, Ty locked eyes with me. He didn't seem to need my help in walking, but I still held his hands, and Flora was at his side, just in case.
"Flora Meadow?" He guessed, seeming to be unconcerned by her identity. Apparently, Flora wasn't known to be a big fighter.
"Yes," she admitted, meeting his eyes with her own solemn, hazel pair.
I wondered how Ty felt about that. Even though he was a Hunter and she was a witch, Flora was pretty. His eyes moved next to Madison and Natalie, unwillingly, though he absolutely refused to even glance at their eyes. Yes, even a Hunter was affected by the beauty of a vampire. Nice to feel equal for once...
"So, I repeat," I said, now trying to force Ty to sit down on Flora's sofa. "What happened to you? Are you OK?" Flora walked off to get something from her kitchen.
"I'm fine." Ty was trying to cover his wound with one hand. Madison and Natalie were already covering their noses and mouths up with one hand, looking away. Zane seemed a bit more calm; I think that, though he could drink male blood, he didn't want it.
"Now that I think about it, it was pointless to even ask if you were OK, because you clearly aren't." I pointed to the gash on his forehead. "That looks kinda bad."
"It isn't," he assured me. "It's just a cut."
"Can you get to the story, Hunter?" Shelly snapped, folding her arms over her chest. "It's getting quite boring, watching the human-Alex-play nurse."
Flora reentered the room, with a first-aid kit in her hand. She held it up, waving it a bit. "I'm always prepared. You have no idea how much trouble my sister gets herself into..." Rolling her eyes, she tilted her head towards Zane. "Not to mention him. But patching a vampire up is a bit more... complicated."
"What can I say?" Zane shrugged his broad shoulders. "I get curious, so I investigate. It's not my fault that the ones I'm investigating tend to be uptight." He threw Ty an accusing glare, and I swear I heard my friend give a growl.
"All right, now, calm down," Flora murmured, crouching a bit to be face to face with Ty. "The blood will just pump faster if you act nervous. How's his heart rate?" This question was clearly slung at the vampires.
"A bit fast," Madison reported, her voice muffled a bit by her hand. "But fine. He needs to calm down a bit more."
"That's kind of hard, what with the fact that I'm in a room filled with Supernaturals," Ty snapped as Flora dabbed at his wound with gauze. At this, she rolled her eyes.
"His breathing's also a bit fast for my liking, but that's not surprising," Natalie added as if he hadn't spoken, her voice a bit sharper and stronger than before. "And his blood's slowing up a bit. Oh, and to complete his stats, he's acting like a complete, ungrateful idiot. In other words, like a typical Hunter."
I couldn't help but smile at her words. She seemed to have brightened up a bit. Still, I laced my fingers through Ty's, trying to calm him down. His blood was slowing surprisingly quickly, considering the wound. Within seconds, it stopped. Satisfied, Flora removed the gauze. Ty's cut was still visible, but clean.
"Shouldn't that be stitched up?" I asked nervously.
"It'll be gone in an hour," Ty shrugged casually. "Like I said, we Hunters are pretty hardy." His eyes moved very briefly to Flora. "Thank-you."
"No problem," she said. "Now, let me have a look at you; we have to make sure that you don't have any more wounds."
"I'm fine," Ty insisted, shifting away from her. "I don't exactly want to have a check-up in front of some Supernaturals, all right?"
"I wouldn't say that until you're fully positive that you're uninjured," I told him, deciding to help Flora out. "Besides, they have names. You clearly know Flora and Zane-"
"I know the vampiresses," Ty finished. "And I'm guessing that the werewolves are Lukas and Shelly Thomas."
"Bingo, Hunter," Lukas said, his voice gravelly and wolfish. "You've done you're homework."
"He's one of the Sanders," Natalie acknowledged, half-grudging, half-admiring. "You know how they are."
At this, Ty gave a half smile. Now that he was a bit more relaxed, I pointed to the black stains on his shirt. "What are those?"
"Vampire blood," Ty said quietly, avoiding my eyes. "I was in a fight. Including me, four Hunters against two vampires. We won."
"Who were they?" Zane asked, voice aloof. "Are they both destroyed?"
"From what we could tell, the destroyed one was Valentina Martinez," Ty answered, his own voice still low. "The other was her mate, Marco."
"Well," Madison remarked, now lowering her hand. "I never liked them anyway, at least. Very snobbish and rich, right?"
There was a murmur of agreement between all the Supernaturals besides Flora, and I realized something about the vampires and werewolves. They didn't feign grief for someone they didn't care for or disliked, even if that someone was on their side. They were brutally honest about how they felt on the matter.
"Marco is being imprisoned and questioned," Ty muttered, guilt suddenly entering his voice. "He and Valentina were suspected of the murders."
There was a silence as everyone was glaring at him. Even I was doing it. He'd
said that he had doubts! He'd had doubts, and yet he went and helped out anyway.
"The Martinez's took multiple donors each, and didn't care for them romantically," Natalie informed everyone quietly. "But they wouldn't kill them, let alone any of their own kind."
"You never know," Ty retorted defensively. "People change. If Marco isn't convicted, he'll be let loose."
"Unless Roxanne intervenes and has him executed," Zane hissed, his eyes dark. "Don't act like you're innocent, Hunter. You know that the two were innocent. As much as I dislike Marco, I know this: even if he is set free, his existence is ruined. He and Valentina were true mates. She meant everything to him."
"You don't take us seriously with that kind of thing," Natalie suddenly spat, voice venomous. "You and the normal humans can love, but we can't. It's impossible for we Supernaturals to love. Especially we vampires. After all, we don't have souls, right? No souls, impossible to love."
Stunned by her outburst, I stared at Natalie. She looked down at the floor, a strange look on her face. Madison put a reassuring hand on the other vampire's shoulder.
"I never said that," Ty replied calmly—but I could detect an undercurrent of surprise in his voice. He hadn't been expecting Natalie's outburst, either. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't have helped with the Martinez's. How do you think it would look, for me to suddenly yell, 'Stop, they might be innocent!' It would ruin my career, and I'd be of no use to you."
"He has a point." Zane's voice was smooth, cold, and calculating. "Sacrifice the few to save the many. We may need Ty. But you'll have to pull your load, Hunter. Marco and Valentina's sacrifice cannot be in vain."
"I agree," Ty nodded. He was now standing up straight, looking at all the Supernaturals with a defiant look in his eyes. "So tell me... Do you have any suspects?"
"Vigilante humans?" Flora offered, sounding skeptical of her own words. "The ones who've discovered our existence?"
"No normal human could kill one a vampire," Natalie said, shaking her head. "But remember, we didn't really plan this first meeting for suspects... There aren't enough of us here. We want to know who the SCA suspects." She fixed her green eyes on Ty.
Meeting: Vampire Hunter Saga Book 1 Page 10