IM02 - Hunters & Prey (18 page)

“And, what flows through her veins?” he asked.

“Blood.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest and leaned back into the seat.

“Can you deny craving her blood?”

“No.” I sighed. “But it’s not like that. I won’t feed from her.” My stomach knotted with worry.
He’s making me sound like a monster again.

Fallon remained quiet in the back seat. I turned around giving her a pleading look. “You know I would never hurt you, right?”

“You cannot be a real friend,” Lysander continued, “if you wish to do her harm. Your need for blood would be a constant threat to her. Good intentions aside, it is in your nature now to feed from humans.”

“But I don’t wish to harm her. I’ve already said I won’t feed from her. I didn’t do it back there when Quentin had bled me out.” I sighed in frustration, knowing nothing I was going to say would really change his opinion. I still had to try, though, futile as it might be. “Can’t you see I want to protect her?”

Lysander’s lip quirked. “And what will you protect her from? Death?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“She’s mortal. By definition, her death is assured. It does not matter if you save her today or tomorrow. Her life will eventually end. It is inevitable.”

“But she doesn’t have to die now.”

“No one knows when death will claim them. However, your foolish act of bringing her into our world has no doubt shortened her already limited lifespan.”

Fallon cleared her throat.

Lysander’s eyes shot up to the rear-view mirror. “Do not think that I don’t hold you partially accountable, Miss Fallon. You were too foolish to accept the gift I offered. You wouldn’t have to worry so much about death if you had let me turn you. I offered a way to remain friends with Alyssa.”

“She didn’t— ” I tried to say, but Fallon interrupted me.

“I don’t want to be a vampire. Quit fighting over my mortality. We’re friends, Lysander. Alyssa and I have been friends since we were kids. I’ve known her longer than you have. She’s just trying to help me.”

“I’m sorry, Fallon, but unless you wish to become one of us, you are beyond our help.”

“I won’t. I don’t want to be a vampire,” Fallon insisted.

“It’s really not that bad, Fallon,” I said in my most convincing voice. “We could be friends forever.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and fixed me with one of those ‘I-don’t-think-so’ glares that said quite plainly, “Drop it.”

I sighed, shaking my head.

“Both of you must accept the truth,” Lysander said. “When this threat has ended, so will your friendship. Our two worlds cannot co-exist.”

“Sure they can,” I said; though somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew Lysander had a point. I remembered the look on Fallon’s face, seeing me feed from Santino. She had looked at me like I was a monster.

“You are not mortal anymore,” Lysander said, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes. "You cannot live in the human world, just as she is not a vampire and could not survive in our world. It is too dangerous.”

“No one from our clan would hurt her,” I grumbled.

“That is not the point. There is more than just our clan out there. We don’t all follow the same… dietary restrictions that you do. Some of our kind do hunt beautiful blonde women. Do you think she is safe from them?”

I hadn’t given thought to others outside our clan. I looked out the window, hiding my face so Lysander wouldn’t see me struggle for an answer.

His words were cold and void of all emotion. “What are you going to do if she is fed on by our kind? Would you deny our race the only food we can consume, because you are friends? Would you condemn and fight your own kind over a meal?”

Turning around, I glanced back to Fallon. She covered her mouth with her hands, but her wide eyes still gave away her horror. I felt the fear she was trying to hide. No doubt Lysander did too.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, okay?”

Lysander’s tone softened slightly. “I’m sorry to have to be so blunt, but you must understand the differences here. Alyssa is no longer a human; she is no longer a mortal. She is a vampire. She belongs with us, not with humans.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. “She’s my friend. I won’t give her up. Haven’t you ever had friends, Lysander?”

“You fail to see the very basic point I am making here. Already you have caused problems by bringing a mortal into our world. If you had never said anything about us to Fallon, she would have never been in danger. Just the knowledge of our kind has threatened not only her life, but yours; and by extension, our clan’s lives.”

I didn’t know what to say. Lysander made some good points, but I couldn’t just let her go again. The damage had already been done.

Fallon remained silent in the back seat. I did the same, turning to look out the window into the silence of the night. The streetlights we passed and the other cars on the road held no answers, but they at least did not condemn me for the problems I had caused.

***

When we arrived at the house, Lysander curtly ordered us to get out of the car, then told us to wait in the living room while he called in the rest of the clan.

“We will have this human staying with us for a few days,” Lysander said with a hint of unease as the clan slowly began to congregate in the living room. “I want you all to promise not to harm her while she is a guest in this house.”

Animosity ran thick in the air. Heads shook and whispered voices mumbled their displeasure. I knew a few members of the clan would not be happy with this situation, but I hoped I might have at least a couple of people on my side.

Nicholas got up from his seat on the couch. “Weren’t we going to turn her?” His voice hinted at his annoyance.

Crystal’s smiling face appeared from behind us as she entered the room from the kitchen. “Is this the friend you told us about, Alyssa?” she asked, brushing the wild strands of hair away from her face. She tilted her head to the side as her eyes trailed from Fallon’s head down to her feet. A small grin turned the corners of Crystal’s mouth up and the tip of her fangs became visible.

Fallon gnawed on her bottom lip. Standing rigid, she folded her arms across her chest.

“No and yes,” I answered them both putting as much authority as I could in my tone. “Fallon doesn’t want to be turned, so she is to remain mortal.”

“Oh,” Crystal said with a pout. She turned and gracefully walked toward the couch.

“Why is she here, then?” Nicholas’s eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted from me to Fallon and back.

“The Saints know that she has knowledge about us.” Lysander answered. “She’s linked to us until we can take care of this issue.”

“What!”

“Get rid of her.”

“No!”

“She’s a danger to us.”

“She can’t stay here. They’ll use her against us.”

Everyone in the room had something to say.

“They already have.” Lysander’s voice boomed over the crowd. “That’s why Alyssa disappeared.” He turned and stared coldly at me. “She went to rescue Fallon.”

“Alyssa, that was very foolish. You had us all worried.” Rozaline walked into the room. Her long, multi-colored gypsy skirt flowed to the floor, hiding her tiny feet and making it appear as if she were walking on air. She took a spot next to her mate. “You should have come to us first. We might have been able to help you.” Her words were calm, but the serious expression on her face told me otherwise.

“How long are we going to have to babysit this little mortal?” Nicholas asked.

Rozaline smacked his arm. Her eyes narrowed, giving him a warning glance. “She’s fine to stay here if necessary.” She turned to smile at Fallon. “It’s okay, dear. No one here will harm you.”

“Thank you Roz,” I said loudly, hoping to make a point to the others. “I knew at least someone would be on my side.”

“It seems there is no choice. You’ve already left us once to go save her,” she said sternly. “We would end up losing you if we sent her away.” She leaned in close to my ear. “And Lysander will be a complete monster to deal with, if that happens.”

I tried to stifle a giggle.

“I’m not so sure about having a mortal around,” Drew said from the hallway. He walked into the living room to join the rest of us. “It’s dangerous, for her. We have needs that might put her in harm’s way.”

“We’ll go feed before sunrise, honey,” Crystal said. She walked to her mate and circled her arm around his waist.

Drew looked down at Crystal. His eyebrows pulled together and his lips pursed as if he were fighting to hold back what he really wanted to say.

Now more than ever, I wished I could read their minds. Drew was normally as easygoing as his mate.

“Well, we cannot watch her during the day,” Drew said in a whispered breath. “She’s going to have to fend for herself while we sleep.”

Crystal stood on tip toes, placing her lips next to his ear and whispered, “Don’t worry so much, love.”

“Drew is right. What about daytime?” Nicholas picked up on the opportunity to argue more.

“She’s not a child,” I snapped at him. “She’ll be fine here while we sleep.”

“She’s just as much a child as you are, little one,” Nicholas said with a sneer.

“That’s quite enough,” Rozaline cautioned, before I could respond. “Lysander has told her she can stay here. It is his home; we must honor his wishes.”

I gave Nicholas a spiteful look. “She’ll be fine here, okay?”

Fallon stood stiffly, almost trembling, next to me. I reached over and put my hand on her shoulder. “Really, Fallon. It’s okay. You’re safer here with these people than you are out on the street, or even in your own home. Even Nicholas, with all his barking and growling, is safe to be around.” I leaned in close whispering into her ear. “And his bark is worse than his bite.”

The corner of Fallon’s lip rose in a small grin. It was a tiny sign, but I could feel a hint of acceptance. “Thank you all,” she said meekly. “I don’t want to be a bother. I understand you guys are… different. I don’t want to cause any more problems.”

“Then let us turn you,” Nicholas said. “It’s easier to deal with a newbie here like Sparky—” He shot a menacing glance at me. “—than to deal with a mortal.”

Fallon’s eyebrow arched. She turned to me. “Why did he call you Sparky?”

Heat rushed to my face. I looked down at the ground. “Accidentally set his mate on fire,” I mumbled. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

Her hands fell from clutching her chest. She laced her fingers together in front of her. “Look, it’s not that I don’t appreciate what you are offering me.” She took a deep breath. “I just don’t want to become a… uh…”

“Go on, say it. You think we are monsters,” Nicholas said with a taunting smile.

“No.” Fallon jumped at the sight of Nicholas’ toothy grin. “Not monsters … just, well … I don’t want to have to drink blood. It’s fine for you, just, um, I don’t want to—”

“It’s okay, Fallon,” Rozaline said softly. She reached down and grabbed Nicholas’s hand and guided him behind her, a clear sign that she wanted Fallon to feel safe. Nicholas grumbled, but didn’t fight his mate’s pull. “No one here will force you into anything you do not wish.” Rozaline looked over her shoulder to her mate. “Right?”

The room agreed in unison.

Like Lysander, Rozaline carried a certain power in her words, and she was rarely opposed. Even her mate, who was much older than she, had never challenged her in public. It was a good sign to me that she was openly supportive of Fallon’s decision.

Fallon reacted well to Rozaline’s display of acceptance and protection. A faint smile crossed her face, and she let out a deep breath, dropping her shoulders.

“Good. Now that this business is finished, there is one more matter to discuss.” Lysander’s words grabbed the attention of the room. “Santino Vitale is alive.”

A collective gasp sounded in the room.

“And he needs our help.”

“What?”

“That has to be a joke.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

The room burst into chatter.

“Apparently,” Lysander’s voice rose over the others in the room, “Quentin has begun to experiment with our blood. He’s been working to create a serum that will enhance mortals long enough to send them after us...while we sleep.”

“Is the serum done?” Drew asked. “Is it already being used?”

“According to Santino, he’s close and has been running trials on humans. And these tests have had some interesting results. I’ve seen myself the effects of this new experiment. I’ve also spoken with Santino. He has told me of the problems he has encountered keeping these…‘things’ at bay.”

“Why doesn’t he just destroy them all?” Nicholas asked. “He’s a hunter. This makes no sense.”

Lysander nodded in agreement. “That was my question too. He seems to have no trouble killing these… things, these hybrid creatures. But, for some reason he cannot kill—”

“Refuses to kill,” I added.

“He claims he cannot kill Quentin because of his oath to the church.” Lysander shot me an angry glance. “Santino’s issues aside, these experiments are getting out of hand, and they threaten our way of life. If Quentin succeeds in his plan, we will have more than just hunters like Santino to worry about.”