The Vampire Hunter's Daughter The Complete Collection (38 page)

It was utterly amazing.

Drew stood beside me, taking in the beauty of
this sacred place.

“This is where the community got its name.
Arcadia Falls.”

He took my hand and led me to a large rock
beside the water’s edge.

“It's amazing.” I sat on the rock and pulled
my knees up in front of me. “Does Arcadia mean anything?”

Drew nodded and climbed up onto the rock
beside me. “Of course it does. It means a place of simple pleasure
and quiet.”

“Well, this is definitely that.” I nodded in
agreement.

“Also, in history, Arcadia was a part of
Ancient Greece, in the Peloponnesus. This region of Greece was
known for its isolation and mountainous beauty.”

I laughed and slapped at him. “Sometimes I
think you know everything.”

He smiled and looked away. “Yeah, right.
Believe me, it’s far from everything. There are a few things I
wouldn’t mind knowing right now.”

I stared out at the waterfall. “Like
what?”

My question was met with silence.

“Come on, like what? Maybe I can help.” I
adjusted my hat on my head. “I know a few things.”

“Then tell me what you and I are going to
do.”

That was a question I hadn’t expected. I felt
blood rush into my cheeks and my whole body heated up a little bit.
“Um…”

Because of my slight hesitation, he shook his
head. “You don’t have to answer.”

“But…” I swallowed and decided to just go for
it. Nervously, I reached out and touched his shoulder. “But I do
have to answer. I’ve been waiting to talk to Gavin.”

He scoffed at the mention of Gavin.

“No wait,” I told him. “Hear me out. I’ve
been waiting until Gavin got better to talk to him, because… well,
I wanted to tell him that he and I should continue to be friends
only. That’s it.”

There was more silence. Oh, man, I should
have never said a word. I shifted, wanting to get up and run away.
Drew must have sensed the fight or flight in me and put a hand on
my leg.

“Don’t.”

My cheeks burned even more, and then I
blurted out, “And just for the record, we never really had a
relationship or anything. We just went out twice.”

“I know,” he whispered.

“And you said that you wouldn’t be second to
anyone, so I didn’t want you to be second to anyone. The moment I
saw you running toward me after I fell, I knew it was you. That was
when my decision was made. It was even before you kissed me, not
that that wasn’t a deal breaker or anything.”

Oh, my god, I was babbling like a crazy
woman.

“Stop. You don’t need to explain.”

“But I do need to explain. I need you to
understand that you are the one who came to rescue me. You knew
what my heart wanted, not what my lips said. I need you to
understand that I chose you. That I do choose you, and you are not
and never will be my second choice… ever.”

Good gracious, it was time to find out what
had I done.

Drew took his hand off my leg and got up off
the rock. I watched in horror as he walked away from me and stood
with his hands on his hips. The tears were threatening to break
free. I don’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t for him to just
walk away.

“Drew?”

I crawled carefully off the rock and crept
toward him.

“Drew?”

Suddenly, he spun around to face me. “You
waited all this time to tell me that?”

Shocked, I threw my hands out to the side. “I
didn’t know you wanted to know. I thought you would have wanted me
to talk to Gavin first.”

Again, he didn’t say anything. I met his
eyes, though, and I saw the answer I wanted to see.

“So… are we okay?”

He moved forward a couple of steps, closing
the gap between us. “I think we are more than just okay.”

He reached out and took my freezing cold
hands in his and pulled me close. I closed my eyes, hoping he would
kiss me again.

I was not disappointed. I felt his lips touch
mine, and my body literally sizzled. My hands were no longer cold,
and my cheeks were warmed by my own fire, not by embarrassment. The
waterfall coursed and crashed behind us while we kissed longer than
ever before.

Happy birthday to me!

Drew was the first to pull out of the kiss.
He still hugged me to him.

“Do you like it here?”

I leaned my head on his chest.

“Of course, I like it here. And now, this
place has a special meaning for me, too.”

“Oh, yeah, and what would that be?”

“The place you and I ended up together for
real?” It was a question, directed at him. I needed confirmation we
were on the same page.

“It will be that for me too, from now on,” he
told me softly.

I knew I shouldn’t say anything. I didn’t
want to ruin the moment, but I had to ask. “So, did you still want
me to talk to Gavin?”

He shook his head. “Not right away. He is
still recovering. Eventually, he will figure it out and you can
talk to him, or we can. Whatever you want.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He laughed and pulled away. “Why in the world
are you thanking me?”

“Because, you saved me, you train me, you
want me for… um, your girlfriend? I just wouldn’t be who I am
without you. I can thank you for that if I want to.”

He puffed up his chest and gave my hand a
squeeze.

“Well, you’re welcome, then.” He looked at
his watch. “We had better go. Luke will be wondering why we’re so
late.”

“Yeah, you’re right, but I’d rather stay
here.”

“We can come back soon. That is another
thing… Luke is going to bust his top when he finds out about
this.”

I stopped in my tracks. “You mean, he didn’t
tell you?”

Drew knitted his eyebrows together. “What do
you mean? Didn’t tell me what?”

I laughed. “Oh, he already knows. And he gave
me some long lecture about how I was supposed to be careful with
you. You know, like a dad warning the boyfriend. Only way different
than that.”

Drew burst out laughing. “He did not!”

“Oh, yes, he did. It was when I was still in
the hospital.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. I don’t know what I
would do without that guy.”

I took his hand again, and we walked away
from the beautiful waterfall, toward the trail.

“I feel the same way.”

Back at home, we found Luke, Oscar and Alice
sitting at the kitchen table eating bowls of cereal and talking
about what the future held for them.

“You are both welcome to stay here as long as
you need to,” Luke offered as Drew and I entered the kitchen and
made for the fridge and cold water bottles.

We both cracked one open and guzzled half our
water down.

“Hard work out?” Alice asked, raising her
eyebrows.

I raised mine back at her but didn’t answer
her sarcastic question. She directed her attention back at
Luke.

“Well, I’d like to stay longer, if you’ll
have me. Of course, now I can help pay rent or something. I just
need to figure out exactly what I want to do.”

Luke swallowed a bite of his cereal. “Of
course, that sort of decision takes time. And there is no need to
help with anything but groceries.”

Oscar nodded. “I hate to admit this, because
it’s not very manly, but I’m actually afraid to go home. I’m afraid
there might be vampires waiting there to kill me.” He rolled his
eyes. “God, that sounds so pathetic.”

“Perfectly understandable,” I said. “I would
feel the same way. I’m okay with you both staying here.”

Luke looked up at Drew with a question in his
eyes. “What about you?”

Drew shrugged his shoulders. “I’m okay with
it, I guess.” He looked around. “It’s kind of crowded, but
temporarily… it’s not so bad.”

“All right, then,” Luke addressed Oscar and
Alice, “you can both stay until you find other accommodations. If
you stay long enough in the community, perhaps become a part of it
somehow, the board will discuss you getting your own homes in the
community.”

Alice and Oscar agreed. So it looked like we
were going to be a full house for a while.

Luke scooted his chair out and got up to
deposit his cereal bowl into the sink. “Looks like we have a
birthday to celebrate today.”

I waved it off. “Nah, I have everything I
want. We don’t need to celebrate.”

Drew refilled his water bottle from the
faucet.

“Well, maybe we want to celebrate.”

He took swig off the water and capped it,
then walked out of the room.

“Where are you going?” I called after
him.

Alice, Oscar and Luke followed Drew out of
the room, so I had no choice but to follow. In the living room, I
had totally missed the huge stack of presents that sat on the
coffee table.

“Oh, you guys! You didn’t have to do
this.”

Although I was sixteen now, the child in me
rushed forward to rip into all my gifts. Alice gave me a pair of
boots that would be nice for school. Yeah, I had to go back to
school. Oscar gave me a leather-covered journal with a carved bow
and arrow on the front. Luke gave me a new gun, this one a pink and
black Glock, and it rocked! I was totally excited about having my
second gun, but nothing would ever compare to my first baby Drew
had given me.

My last present on the table was from Drew.
It was a tiny box. I opened the box and found a bullet dangling
from a silver chain.

“Drew,” I breathed. Normally, a girl would be
excited about a diamond or any other kind of necklace, but this
was, for sure, my kind of gift.

He cleared his throat when I handed it to him
and moved my hair aside so that he could help me put it on. “I
wanted to get the bullet that you were shot with, but that wouldn’t
look good on a necklace. So this is supposed to be symbolic of your
battle wound.”

“I love it!” I told him as he let my hair
fall back down. “It’s perfect.”

“I hoped you would like it.” He backed
away.

Suddenly, the room became very warm. “Is it
hot in here?” I asked.

Before anyone could answer, I got my final
birthday gift. A mist filtered into the living room and Sostrate
appeared in her jungle hunter outfit, only this time she held a
long wooden spear in her hand.

“Greetings, my children.”

Drew and I had seen her before, but Luke,
Alice and Oscar looked like they were going to pass out.

“I come today because Chloe has reached her
sixteenth year.” She eyed me with a loving look. “Soon, she will
reach the full potential of her gifts and must hone them to
perfection.”

Drew smirked. “I think she is doing a fine
job of that, so far.”

Sostrate shook her head and chastised Drew
with her eyes.

“Andrew, Chloe will need your help.” She
lifted her free hand and gestured to Alice, Oscar and Luke. “She
will need all of your help. Your paths have not crossed with this
young hunter’s for no reason. You all bear special gifts that will
help her to win the coming war.”