by C. J. Pinard
Looking at Evan, I said, “Does she feed from you?”
Karina said, “Yes,” at the exact same time Evan replied, “We feed on each other.”
My lips twitched in amusement, and I said, “Oh really?”
They looked at each other, and Karina nodded. “Only during... ah, certain times.” Both having the grace to look embarrassed, I realized what they meant.
My face fell. “Wait, back up. What did you say, Evan? You feed on her, too?” I asked, eyebrows raised.
“You...” He ran his hand along the back of his neck. “You don’t drink blood at all? Like ever?”
I made a face. “Yes, unfortunately, I have, but usually when I’m the wolf. You?”
“Yes, but only from Karina, since I don’t need—”
I shook my head and got up as I held up a hand. “I get it, no need to elaborate. Didn’t mean to get into your personal lives. I was just trying to prove that vampires don’t need to go around attacking randoms in the dead of night.”
“No, they most certainly don’t. He was probably newly made, if he hadn’t detected your scent before he attacked. No seasoned vampire would attack a fellow vamp, nor would they prey on one who smelled of wolf, even if only slightly,” Evan said.
I had reached my small kitchen and was filling an old teakettle with water. I looked lovingly at it. My mom had given it to me as a graduation present. It had been passed down through the generations—having belonged to a long line of witches, I could only assume. It was cornflower blue with a white floral pattern on it.
I switched on the burner and set the kettle down on it after wiping excess water from it rusty bottom. I busied myself by rummaging through my cabinets for some teabags.
“We’re proud of you,” Karina said, suddenly in my kitchen.
“Don’t do that,” I said, clamping my jaw shut and staring at her crystal-blue eyes.
“Do what?” she asked, smiling. “We really are proud of you. I’m not patronizing—”
I put my hand up. “No, not what you said, what you did. Don’t use vampire speed in my house. Please. I’m already on edge.”
Evan laughed, and I looked over him. Damn handsome devil he was. His dark hair had just been cut and he had his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants. His dark polo shirt fit him perfectly. “She didn’t use vampire speed. We just walked over here. It’s not like this place is gigantic.”
I found the box of tea and looked him. “Fuck you, Evan. I like this place.”
They both laughed. Karina grabbed the box from my hand and set it on the counter. She forced me to face her, and then wrapped me in a hug. Being a little bit taller than me, she rested the side of her jaw against my temple. “It’s okay to be upset. Just be happy you had the training to take out that stupid baby vamp. We are beaming with pride right now, Ayla. You can cry and scream if you need to. You’ve been victimized by vampires one too many times in your young life.” She squeezed me tighter as a small cry jerked out of my lips. She wasn’t warm, but she was comforting, and I was grateful. I nodded as she continued. “These experiences are going to make you a very powerful hunter. Evan and I saw something very unique in you—even before we met you.”
I pulled back and looked up at her with tears clouding my vision. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. How did you guys find me to begin with? Like, know who I was?”
Evan spoke first. “There is a member of your pack named Sam—”
The teakettle whistled that it was ready and I went over to it. Putting three teabags into three mugs, I poured the hot water into each and set the kettle back onto the stove after shutting off the burners.
I looked at Evan. “Continue.” I went to my fridge to pull out some milk. I splashed some into one cup.
He cleared his throat. “So Sam’s parents belong to my ‘pack’.” He put up air quotes with his fingers.
“You have a pack?” I asked as I stirred the milk around. “Milk?” I asked, pointing to the cup.
“Sure,” he said.
I looked at Karina and pointed. She nodded.
“I do have one,” Evan continued. “I just don’t shift with them. I mean, what’s the point?”
Chuckling without much humor, I handed a teacup to Karina, then to him, and said, “I can understand that. I think I’m done going to Wolfe Point with my brother and boyfriend. I mean, it’s a stupid waste of time. I can just stay in my apartment and be ugly.”
Evan laughed as I grabbed my own cup and joined them back in the living room.
“Wolfe Point?” he asked, grinning.
I lifted my chin, biting back a smile. “Austyn named it that. It just kind of stuck.”
He nodded. “So where is it?”
Waving a hand, I said, “Somewhere up by Golden Gate State Park. But don’t worry, we stay away from the campers and tourists.”
Evan grinned. “Of that, I have no doubt.”
I sipped my tea and then looked at Karina, who was just staring at me with curious eyes. Her steaming tea sat untouched on the coffee table. Indicating it with my chin, I said, “You can’t drink tea?”
She looked at it, then back to me. “I can, I just don’t want to right now. I just, ah, fed before we came here.”
I didn’t want to know how, especially if I had interrupted something between her and Evan, so I simply nodded and put my attention back to Evan.
“It’s good tea,” he said before I could ask him a question.
“I’m sure,” Karina said, winking at her husband.
I stared at him, envious of the way he looked at her. Ryder used to look at me like that. Now, I never see him. Shaking him from my thoughts, I said, “So, you just shift in the house at the full moon, and your vampire brothers don’t care?”
He put his gaze back to me and his lips twitched. “They used to lock me in a cage in the basement when we lived in Texas.”
My eyes widened temporarily and then I bit back a laugh. “Yeah?”
He nodded. “Yep. Now the basement’s mine. Full man-cave down there. I just chill down there three days a month. Fully stocked fridge, satellite TV, X-Box, and the best part, no clothes, and no vampires. Aside from the pain and the rage, I look forward to the full moon sometimes.”
Karina tinkled out a laugh, at the same I snorted.
“He’s exaggerating. He hates being separated from me for three days,” she said, amusement in her eyes.
I shrugged. “Sounds great to me. I’d invite myself to spend a full moon with you, but no thanks if you’re not wearing clothes.” I made a face.
“I can put on shorts.”
I laughed, then paused before asking, “Ever go out on Halloween when there’s a full moon?”
He furrowed his brow for a minute and said, “No, but that might be fun.”
“There’s not another full moon on Halloween for four years,” Karina commented.
“Damn. Well, we’ll have to remember that,” I said, winking at Evan.
“Mature,” Karina said, getting up and going to look out the bank of windows.
I chanced a glance at Evan and worried my lip. He looked at me too, and said, “Babe, we’re joking, I hope you know that. Isn’t that right, Ayla?”
I set my teacup down and went over to her. “Of course we are. I think it’s just because...” I was struggling to find the right words.
“Because you’re both hybrids. I am glad you two have found each other,” she said turning around to face us. “I really am. It’s been so hard on Evan.” She reached up and put her hand on his face, as he was staring down at her with that same look.
“Gag, you two,” I said, shaking my head.
I went to the table to grab my tea and saw it was almost empty. I made my way to the kitchen and set my cup down. “Oh hey, Evan, guess what?”
“What?” he asked, but I didn’t look up to see if they were still being gross.
“I had a psychic blackout about Linden,” I said casually, biting back a smile.
&n
bsp; I looked up and they were both in my space before I could blink. My eyes widened and Karina grinned. “I used vampire speed that time.”
“No, really?” I deadpanned.
“Well?” Evan asked eagerly.
I narrowed my eyes at him after pouring some more hot water into my cup. “You have vampire speed?”
He looked amused. “Yes, of course. You don’t?”
“No,” I replied, feeling envious.
“You sure?” Karina asked. “Actually, let’s finish up this tea party and go find out. You can tell us about your dream-vision on the way.”
“Fine,” I said, leaving the teacup full of tea and going to the living room to put on my boots.
Chapter 11
Evan looked at Karina, and his frustration matched mine. “I don’t know how to teach her,” he said.
She flicked her gaze briefly at her husband, and then gestured to the track stretched out in front of us, looking at me. “Just run, Ayla.”
I groaned. “You had to bring me back to my high school? I mean, I was more of a cheerleader type back then. I left the track-and-field shit to the real athletes.”
She laughed. “We know. Go ahead and just run. We’ve worked on fighting, but we’ve failed to see if you can blitz.”
I did a double-take at to her. “Blitz?”
“Yeah, what you refer to as ‘vampire speed’. We call it blitzing.”
“Okay, that’s laaame,” I murmured.
A hard shove from behind had me pin-wheeling my arms in order to keep from falling.
“Hey!” I yelled and then looked behind me.
Karina was smirking at me. “Go. Fucking. Run.”
That was the first time I’d heard her curse, so I figured she meant business. I laughed and took off in a sprint around the track. As I ran, I recalled the conversation I’d had with them on the way here in his G-Wagon.
“He sits on a big, red throne?” Evan asked, amused.
“Yes, at least that’s what it looked like. Was drinking something from a metal cup, very weird,” I replied.
“He thinks he’s a god, so that makes sense,” he replied.
“You know him at all?” I had asked.
He glanced at me in the rearview mirror, then put his eyes back on the road. “Yes, I know a lot about him like we told you at the bar. We just can’t seem to locate him.”
“I know a witch,” I said, suddenly remembering something I’d seen in a TV show a few years ago.
Karina turned and looked at me. “Don’t bother, we already tried a locator spell with one of Raf’s witch friends. He has his own witch, apparently, who’s put a block on locator spells to find him.”
“Raf?”
“My brother,” she replied.
I sighed. “Well, I’m gonna find him, and I’m gonna kill him.”
Evan chuckled as he turned the corner. “You better get in line, sister. He has a lot of enemies. But if you find him first, you get first crack. I just hope I’m there to give you a hand.”
I strange feeling of relief washed over me. “You’re gonna help me?”
Karina twisted around in the front seat and looked at me. “Of course we are. You’ll do the killing, and we’ll handle the cleanup.”
This made me smile. “Can Aden come?” I asked, feeling like I was twelve again and had been invited to a roller-skating party.
“Sure, the more, the merrier. We could use all the help we can get,” Evan said.
I hadn’t realized I’d reached the end of the track when Karina was suddenly in my face. I halted quickly and put my hands on my hips.
She looked down at a stopwatch in her hand. “Sixty-two seconds.” She made a tsking noise. “Not good enough.”
I turned and looked at the track, remembering, that, on a good day, Ryder had run that track in one minute, eighteen seconds. I pierced her with a serious stare. “You’re joking.”
She lifted her chin, her serious gaze drilling into mine. “I am not.”
I grew angry and was about to pop off a smartass comeback about her vampire speed when I suddenly realized something odd. “Huh... this is... weird. I’m not even winded.”
Evan joined us. “Not really.” He looked at his wife. “I think it’ll kick in when she’s scared.”
Karina turned her attention to him. “That’s the problem; she’s a fighter not a flighter, so we may never know.”
I huffed, my hands on my hips. “How is that a problem?”
Evan grinned and put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s not, my friend. Don’t worry.”
“Maybe I just don’t have vampire speed... er, I mean... ah, blitzing ability.”
“Can you hypnotize people? Evan suddenly asked. We call it allusion.”
My eyes went wide. “What? No?”
“I can,” he replied, amused.
“Well, I don’t think I can.”
“We’ll try it on your brother later,” he replied, chuckling. “I bet he has allusion abilities himself.”
“It’s a werewolf thing?”
“No,” Karina answered for him. “Both vamps and wolves have it. You have probably used it and not even known it.”
“Great,” I replied dryly. “I had this cool ability this whole time and didn’t know it?”
“Your brothers should have told you,” Evan said, a serious expression coloring his face.
“Well, they didn’t.” I shook my head and began walking away, getting irrationally angry. “You suck, Evan. You can ‘blitz’, and ‘allure’ people. You’re the more superior hybrid, we get it.” I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder at him. “What I don’t get is... I was born a wolf. By blood! You were just a human and now you get all the cool tricks.” I shook my head and walked away. “Why do the gods hate me?”
With his arms folded over his chest, he replied, “They don’t hate you, Ayla St. John. You are destined for something great. We just have to figure out what your secret weapon is.”
I stopped walking and pulled out my dagger from my waistband. I held it up and watched as the moonlight glinted off it. I craned my head around to face him. “This is my secret weapon.”
With an eyebrow cocked at me, Evan said, “It is, indeed, but you’ll need more than metal and muscle to take down an Old One like Linden.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Okay, wait. Firstly, ‘Old One’?” I asked, making air quotes with my fingers. “What the crap does that mean?”
Evan looked at Karina, and she answered for him. “Any vampire older than five hundred is an Old One. They’re stronger and faster, and a have a hell of a lot of followers willing to do anything for them.”
Twirling the dagger between my fingers, I looked down at it, then back to Evan. “Okaaayy, but why are these younger vampires so willing to do anything for an Old One? Fear?”
He looked at Karina, and she nodded. “And they have money. You live a long time, you accumulate a lot of it.”
The thought had never occurred to me before, but I guessed it made sense. Still, I was not gonna kiss anyone’s ass for anything. “Well, that’s just pathetic.”
Karina laughed. “Yeah, to you. Not to others. Especially those turned against their will and have lost everything human they once had for security.”
“I guess I could see that,” I said on a sigh, immediately feeling sympathetic toward those who were turned involuntarily. Although, on the flip side, I wasn’t sure why anyone would choose to be a vampire. I myself was turned against my will, so I could certainly relate.
Evan looked at his watch. “Let’s go to the gym for some training and then we’ll pay your attacker a visit at his suburban home.”
“Oh, about that,” I said. “He’s got a name. Alexander Von Brass.”
His gaze flicked up to mine. “Wow, you found out his name? That’s amazing.”
“Google is my friend,” I replied, winking at him.
A glance at the dash clock on the Mercedes read 3:11 a.m. We were parked in front
of the business building where we knew Alexander and other vamps hung out at this time of night. The problem was, this time, that scary female vampire creature was inside, and she and Alexander were having sex. We hadn’t seen her since the so-called orgy the first night we’d stalked his house. Something about her caused us all to shudder, and not in a good way.
Karina had her finger to her lip as she stared at the building, from the front seat. “Ya know, she could be an essential demon,” she said, almost to herself.
Evan looked over at her. “But we saw her feeding, like a vampire. I thought people couldn’t switch species.”
She shook her head. “They can’t, but demons can masquerade as any species they want. Remember we were talking about their powers of allusion? So much stronger than ours.”
I groaned. “Great. So how do we kill this demon? Because frankly, she’s in my way and her creepy factor is messing with my mojo.”
“Yeah,” Aden said from beside me in the backseat, “no way I’d hit that. Way too scary. She obviously has tricked him into it.”
I laughed. “Wow, Aden, I didn’t think you had standards. Good to know!”
“Fuck you, Ayla. You know I don’t mess with vampires anyway.” He shot a look at Karina. “No offense.”
She laughed, with a wave of her hand. “None taken. I’d never go near a wolf anyway, too much of a chance of getting scratched or bitten.”
She didn’t need to explain why she was with Evan, who was half wolf, but their situation was different.
“So, how do we kill it?” I asked, pointing at the building.
Karina’s brow furrowed. “You need a blessed dagger or weapon. Regular ones don’t work.”
“Even if I lop her head off with a machete or something?” Aden asked.
“I don’t know,” Karina said. “But I imagine they have some kind of protection against beheadings.”
“Blessed by whom?” I asked, curious.
“Any holy man will do. Catholic priests are the most common because they are most accessible.”
Note to self: Visit a church tomorrow.
“Think there are any open now? What if we stick it in holy water?” I asked.
“I already did that before I gave it to you, remember?” Aden reminded me.