by A C Warneke
“But you slept with him,” Malorie blurted, trying to understand.
A rough chuckle burst from Nadine’s lips at the same time that Hunter cringed, “Ew. I don’t ever want to hear about my mom’s sex life.”
“Then you should probably go to the other room, Hunter,” Malorie said in a firm voice, the voice she used on the men in her unit. She was just as startled as he was when he stood up and took a step away from the table.
He froze in place and looked at her as if he was looking at an alien. “Who the hell are you?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” she asked, knowing that he knew but he didn’t want to say the words out loud. He shook his head in denial so she sighed and turned her attention back to Nadine, who was confusing in her own way. “Well? Why would you sleep with him if you thought he was insane?”
“It’s not like he came out and started talking about vampires,” Nadine managed, her face a deep shade of scarlet. “It wasn’t until he was getting ready to go that he, I don’t know, had a flash of conscience or something and told me to be careful, that there were things that went bump in the night and if I ever heard of anything I should give him a call.
“By the time I realized he had been telling me the truth,” she continued, shrugging her shoulders. “The threat from the vampires seemed to have been neutralized and my son was ten years old. How do I call up the most mysterious and amazing man I had ever met and tell him that I had his son but I never told him because I thought he was too young for me and a little bit insane?”
“You have no idea how important it is for him to know,” Malorie said in a thick whisper. As she tried to figure out what to do, a flash of memory burst in her head and she frowned, “I remember you telling him you were on the Pill. Had that been a lie?”
A gasp of horror escaped before Nadine slammed a hand over her mouth. “You were there?”
“Very briefly and only the first time,” Malorie said, brushing it off. “But my dad was adamant about remaining celibate and he didn’t do anything until you said those words. Did you lie to him about being on the Pill?”
Frantically, Nadine shook her head no, “I was on the Pill but I was also forty-three years old and didn’t think I could get pregnant again.”
Malorie nodded her head in sympathy, though she couldn’t possibly understand what Nadine had gone through. Nadine was lost in her memories as she continued, “God, I still cringe when I think about my behavior when I met him, a man at least fifteen years younger than me. But it was like the moment he opened the door it was as if I had to have him, that all rational thought fled and I became this sensual creature.
“And then he was gone after some insane warning and a few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. It was one of the happiest days of my life.” Nadine shrugged her shoulders again and gave Malorie a guilty smile as she added, “As crazy as I thought your father was he gave me something infinitely precious so I named my son after him. Gustav Hunter was an amazing man, Malorie.”
“You’re my sister,” Hunter gasped, finally accepting the fact he had figured out long before.
Malorie’s gaze went to her brother, who was just as handsome as her father but without the discipline that had been installed in Gustav over four hundred years. He was sixteen years old, a mass of hormones, and too cocky and beautiful by half. She wanted to reassure him but the words that came out of her mouth were, “Please tell me you’re a virgin.”
Hunter’s face went beet red as he sputtered, “Why would you even ask me that?”
“It’s important,” she ground out. “Are you a virgin?”
“Yes, damn it,” he growled, turning away from her as if he were embarrassed by being a virgin and she couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “I’m a fucking virgin but it’s not for lack of opportunity. Plenty of girls offer themselves to me….”
“I don’t want to hear anymore!” Malorie interrupted. She giggled at his outburst because it was so weird seeing a male who looked so much like her father behaving in a very non-Gustav manner.
Hunter glared at her, “Hell, you’re probably a virgin, too. I mean, you can’t be more than nineteen years old.”
She made a sound in the back of her throat that was somewhere between a guffaw and a snort before she managed to retort, “I’m twenty-five and expecting my second child, junior.”
“Well, bully for you,” he shot back and she couldn’t prevent the laughter from spilling out. She had always wanted a brother and now she had one. Hopefully she didn’t destroy any chance of happiness he might have had but bringing him to the attention of the Aradians.
“Sit back down, junior,” she grinned. “We have a lot to discuss. But first… Nadine, do you still have the number my dad gave you?”
Without a word, the older woman nodded and stood up, going to the cupboard over the stove and pulling out a small recipe box. “I know it’s ridiculous and the number has probably been disconnected but I’ve kept it all of these years.”
Turning around, she handed the worn-out paper to Malorie, “Here you go. I guess I don’t need it anymore now that you know.”
Malorie felt the color seep into her cheeks as she looked at the unfamiliar number written down in her father’s precise script. Pulling out her cell phone, she punched the number in and saved it under her father’s name, figuring she’d call when she got to the motel, or wherever she spent the night. It was a conversation she didn’t want anyone else overhearing, especially Nadine. Handing the paper back, she murmured, “Thank you.”
Startled, Nadine took it and put it back in the box. “I thought you didn’t want me to have it anymore.”
“Why?” she asked with curiosity. “It’s always good to have his number on hand, especially if it still works.”
Her teasing words landed on the floor with a dull thump and she didn’t attempt any more levity. After a few minutes of stilted conversation, Nadine let out a yawn and Malorie took the opportunity to have some one on one time with her brother. “You should go to bed, Nadine. Do you mind if I talk to my brother?”
Cautiously, Nadine shook her head once, a troubled expression on her face as she kissed Hunter goodnight. Keeping her eyes on Malorie, she warned her son, “Don’t stay up too late. You have school tomorrow.”
Malorie watched as Nadine slowly made her way down the hall, turning back every step or so to make sure her son was still there. But as soon as the door to the bedroom closed, Mal faced her brother. Putting her hands on the table, she pressed down, as if she could keep her thoughts organized if she held the table in place. “Okay, here’s the deal, I’ve spent my entire life tracking down vampires and killing them. I grew up on the fringes of civilized society and for that I am grateful your mother kept you a secret from my father… from our father. But now, everything has changed and you’re a part of it whether you like it or not.”
He stared at her in incomprehension, for which she couldn’t blame him. It was late at night, she was a stranger even if she was his sister, and there was so much he didn’t know that was so important. When he remained stubbornly silent, she asked, “You do believe that vampires exist, that they are real, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he bit out without saying anything more.
“Don’t you ever wonder where they came from?”
“No,” he said without hesitation. At her dumbfounded look, he continued tersely, “They look like wax zombie mannequins. For all I care, some asshole created them in a lab.”
A slight smile curved her lips at his theory of vamp creation as she nodded her head, “But not everyone sees them the way we do.”
“I know that, too” he ground out, his lips pressed tightly together as his nostrils flared.
“Wait a minute,” she murmured, taking in his words and his obvious agitation and coming up with something she wished she hadn’t. “When did you see one?”
“I saw a whole horde,” he huffed, a cruel smile on his lips as he continued glaring at her.
&n
bsp; She sucked in a breath, slowly letting it out as she stared at her brother in shock. “You went to an Open Feed.” At his nod, she asked, “Willingly?”
“Is there any other option?” he sneered, his gray eyes bright with emotion. “They avoided me like the fucking plague, which didn’t bother me until they showed an interest in my girl… in my friend.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured for the things left unsaid. It was safe to assume that the girl in question was no longer his girlfriend thanks to their encounter with the vamps. Not wanting to step on any mines but needing him to understand, she lowered her voice and told him, “They were repelled because of what you are.”
“And what is that, Malorie?” he asked, mocking her name.
“Life.” Licking her lips, she knew the answer wasn’t enough even though it was the truth. “You see, vampires are repelled by the very thing they lack.”
“And yet they love humans.”
“We’re not human,” she said softly, keeping her eyes on his face as she let the words sink in. “Not entirely, at any rate.”
He huffed out an incredulous laugh and rolled his eyes, “You have got to be fucking kidding me. If your dad is just as much of a whack job as you it’s no wonder my mom kept me a secret.”
“I don’t know what our technical name is,” she continued, ignoring his outburst. “But we’re called Breeders and we have… longer than usual lifespans.”
“You should leave,” he growled, standing up stiffly. Anger radiated off him in waves but Malorie didn’t understand where the hostility was coming from. Did he think she was lying to him? “If you go now, I won’t tell my mom how fucked up you are.”
“Hunter,” she hissed. “Sit back down because your life could depend upon what I am going to tell you.”
“Fuck off.”
Standing up, she raised the hem of her shirt to expose her flat belly and the swirls that marked her. In the dimness, the mark emitted a subtle glow as the colors flowed together in an eternal dance. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he stared at the living tattoo and she thought she might have finally gotten through his thick skull. In a hushed voice, he rasped, “What is that?”
Letting the shirt fall back in place, she answered, “It’s the mark of my mate, an Aradian.”
Hunter fell back onto the chair with a solid thump, rattling the dishes. After a moment, he asked, “What’s an Aradian?”
She proceeded to tell him everything she knew, from the Aradians to vampire creation to what it was to be a Breeder, about her life as a hunter, about their father and the secrets she knew. As she talked, he became paler and paler and his hands became two white-knuckled fists. For some reason, she didn’t tell him anything about Toby to protect her child, which she knew was hypocritical since she was telling another mother’s son about the darkness that was out there.
“You have a choice,” she said as the morning sun crept into the kitchen. Hunter had glossy eyes and he was practically vibrating with tension but she didn’t let him say anything just yet. “Do you want to be a part of your heritage or would you prefer to live the life that you have now?”
He blinked his eyes but he was still digesting everything she had told him. Knowing that it had to be his choice, she leaned in closer as if someone was eaves dropping though she knew that wasn’t the case, and she whispered, “I can help keep you off the radar for a little while longer but I can’t guarantee they’ll never find you. After all, they found me.”
The smile died on her lips as the violence that burned in Hunter’s eyes.
“Sister or not, I fucking hate you.” Hunter spat with such venom, Malorie was surprised she hadn’t been mortally wounded. Glaring at her for all that he was worth, he hissed, “How dare you come into my home and lay all of this bullshit at my feet. Get out, you selfish bitch.”
She had been so excited to discover she had a brother that it pained her deeply to realize he completely despised her. Practically falling off the chair, she held her hands up as she stood before her furious brother. “Hold up, Hunter. Would you have rather remained in the dark?”
“Yes!” he bellowed, pushing his hands through his hair and clutching the back off his skull. “Jesus Christ, I’m sixteen years old. My biggest concern was figuring out a way to win back my girlfriend from a vampire and now you’re telling me that you and I are all that stand between more of the bastards that create vampires and their fucking extinction? I say let them die.”
“Have you not heard a single word I said?” she asked.
“I heard you,” he fumed, turning his back to her. “But I’ve got to get ready for school and a test I’m probably going to bomb because you kept me awake all night. So if you could fucking leave I’d appreciate it.”
Her brother was in shock and it was going to take some time for him to come to terms with everything she had told him. As much as she hated to leave him alone, she knew that he needed to figure it out on his own. Grabbing a scrap of paper, she wrote out her phone number and handed it to him, “If you have any questions or just need to talk, call me.”
She held her breath as he stuffed the number into his back pocket, “Whatever.”
“I’m serious, Hunter,” she implored. “Do not lose that number. It could make all the difference in the world when you need it.”
“Like I said, whatever.”
Watching him carefully, knowing that she had trampled on his limit a long time before, she nodded her head. Softly, she told him, “I still have to tell our father about you.”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “Do what you think you have to do, I don’t fucking care. Just go.”
“Okay,” she murmured, already considering ways she could help, including adding funds to their bank account in case he needed to make a quick getaway. Instead of taking the car back to the island, she could transfer the title over so he would have his own vehicle as well.
Maybe her father would have better luck getting through the stubborn boy’s thick head.
Dragging her exhausted ass into the cheap hotel room, Malorie threw her keys onto the nightstand and collapsed onto the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, trying not to replay the night with her brother, she dug out her cell phone and called the number her father left Nadine all of those years ago. Her eyes slid shut as the phone started to ring and for a brief moment she thought she found a way to get ahold of Gustav.
When the call was answered, her heart was in her throat. Until an automated voice boomed in a heavy Jersey accent, “You’ve reached Benny’s Sub Shop. Sorry we missed your call but feel free to leave a message and we’ll get back to you when we can.”
Taking a chance, she waited for the tone to beep and said, “Hey. If you get this, we need to talk. It’s life and death. Call me.”
Still holding the phone, her hand fell to the bed and she was out as she imagined falling asleep in Feryn’s arms.
God, she missed him.
Chapter 8
The ringing of the phone yanked her from a blissfully dreamless sleep. Maybe sheer exhaustion was the trick to getting a peaceful night’s rest. Glancing out the window at the bright sky, she amended that thought to a peaceful day’s rest. The clock said that it was just after three and she realized she had slept the day away and she wondered what had woken her up when the phone rang again.
Pulling the phone up to her ear, she hit answer as she mumbled, “’Lo?”
“Malorie.” A familiar, feminine voice came over the phone
She sat up, wishing she had remembered how stupid it was to sit up too abruptly when the baby made its displeasure known. Pressing a hand against her stomach, she asked, “Nadine? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” the woman said quickly then hesitated. “Well, it’s Hunter. I was wondering what you said to him.”
“I just explained a few things that he needed to know,” she said, swallowing the bile that threatened to choke her. Lying back down, she wished Feryn were there to comfort her when she suffered from ano
ther bout of morning sickness. Nadine made a sound as if to talk, but Mal spoke first, “Just give him a few days to let everything soak in and he should be okay.”
“Are you sure?” Nadine asked, the uncertainty and doubt apparent in her voice.
“Yes,” Malorie said with more conviction than she felt. Sitting up and shuffling towards the bathroom because she was going to throw up whether she was on the phone or not, Malorie hoped the words she spoke were true. Hunter had a lot of anger when she left and she really hoped he didn’t do anything stupid. As soon as she got into the bathroom, her stomach rebelled, rumbling its warning.
“Well, if you’re sure….”
“I’ve got to go,” she choked out, hanging up before losing everything that was in her stomach, which really wasn’t a lot. Sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, she tried to figure out what to do next, starting with getting some food into her system. She’d keep an eye on Hunter for a few days to make sure he was alright and then she’d go back to the island and regroup, try to figure out how another way to find her father.
Of course, she had to figure out how she was going to get back, since she had told Jiro she needed a few days and he had no way of knowing she had left New York. Was she going to have to drive back to New York in order to meet him at their prearranged time and place? God, she’d just buy a plane ticket and fly up.
Pushing herself to her feet, she rinsed her mouth out with some water and the small bottle of mouth wash that was on the counter. The dingy mirror reflected back a pale girl with too much to deal with but she’d soldier on because that’s what she did. It would be so easy to reach out to Feryn and beg him to come and get her but she still needed time to adjust to all of the changes in her life, to all of the changes in Feryn. It wasn’t long ago that he considered humans and Breeders disposable. The things he had done….
She knew that he wasn’t that man, that Aradian, anymore…. Well, he may be that passionate and sensually dominant but it was all directed towards her now and she could handle that. Taking her shirt off, she stared at the glimmering mark along her ribs in the reflection. Even in the grimy mirror, it still radiated light and a sense of peace washed over her. Being with Feryn was the right thing to do and she knew that she was exactly what he needed. Once she got everything sorted out, she’d finally be able to settle into her new life.