Page 19 of Peacemaker

Chapter Six

Too Big for Words

I really had no idea what was going on with the vampires. I was as clueless as the humans. But if they believed that Shane, the supernaturals, and I could control the bloodsuckers and protect the city, then the Red Valley supernaturals would be as safe as I could make them.

I caught sight of Rhys and Leo heading toward Rhys’s car, and I held up a finger to let them know I’d be following them soon.

Rhys blew me a kiss and then he and Leo trotted down the already empty street and disappeared behind an ambulance.

No one had wasted time getting off the streets, and the dead humans had been loaded up and carted away. The silence and emptiness after such chaos was disorienting.

Clayton stood over a couple of dead vampires. I touched his back, then slid my hand down his arm and gripped his hand. “Hey.”

He turned his head slowly and met my quizzical stare. His eyes were a little wide and full of something I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen in Clayton. Pure joy, I thought, mixed in with a little dose of disbelief.

He pointed at the dead vampires with the blade he held in his right hand. “I did that.” His voice was hoarse. “Trinity, I did that.”

I tightened my grip on his hand. “What? Does that mean…”

“I’m a hunter. I’m back. I didn’t lose it, it was just…”

“It was buried beneath the horror of Miriam,” I said softly. “You’re a hunter.” And as soon as I said it, I felt it. He did, as well. He shuddered, and something electric ran from his hand to mine.

“Mine,” I breathed. “My hunter.”

He slid his blade back into its sheath, then pulled me into his embrace. He buried his mouth against the side of my neck and said nothing.

It was too big for words.

When he released me, Shane was there, watching both of us.

The two hunters stared at each other, then Shane held out his hand. Clayton grasped it and they did an almost not awkward bro hug sort of thing, and I couldn’t help but laugh even as tears sprang to my eyes.

They grinned, and then, hunters all, we walked to our cars. We should have been grim—humans had died there that night.

I wasn’t sure what it said about us that we could laugh. I suppose that was what happened when you saw enough horror.

When we pulled into the way station driveway, Angus’s truck wasn’t there. He divided his time between the way station and his house. I wouldn’t get upset about that—he had children who needed him—but I missed him when he wasn’t with me.

Jin caught me when I walked into the house. “I have a message for you from Angus.”

I hung my vest on the coatrack. “What’s the message?”

“He said to call him if you need him, and that you should find the vampire master.”

I nodded. I’d already planned on discussing the attack with Amias. I studied the Jikininki. “Jin, will you be here forever?”

A spark of fear flared in his eyes. “I will try.”

“If it’s up to me,” I told him, “you’re welcome to stay for as long as you want. This is your home.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it and crept from the room.

Jin didn’t look like a man, exactly. It was as though several different parts had been sewn together to create a suit of flesh for a very strange creature. At times his body wavered and I could almost see through it, as though he were more ghost than solid, tangible being.

One moment he might show sharp, crowded, bloody teeth, and the next there would be a bottomless black hole where his face should have been. Sometimes he was bald, sometimes his hair hung dark and tangled to his waist.

There were even times when he looked like a man—sharp nose, somewhat thin lips, and quick blue eyes. He attempted to wear that particular look the most, probably because it was the most acceptable.