Page 21 of Call of the Blood

Her wild scent was enough to piss me off.

“I hope there’s nothing wrong,” I said, smiling. “I’m Everly. You must be Lexi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she said, the word corrosive, acid through whatever pleasant mood had once been in the room. There was an edge of fear that shouldn’t hide. She hadn’t expected to walk into a small space with a vampire in it and certainly never in her boyfriend’s condo.

“Perfect. My two favorite women are meeting.” Declan, oblivious, grinned as he came back from locking up the front door and looked between us. His eyes settled on me, realizing I wasn’t acting human the way I was supposed to.

“Sis…”

“It’s fine, Declan,” I said, smiling brightly at him, then moving all too fast around them both to sit on the kitchen counter. “Lexi just took me by surprise.”

She made a noise that could have been a growl, but she bit it off.

“Um…” Declan was stunned by my movement and looked at Lexi, then back at me. “Everly, what are you doing?”

“Tell her,” I said softly.

“We’re not ready for that,” Declan snapped.

“Tell her,” I repeated.

“I’m not…” Something in my expression changed Declan’s mind as we stared at each other. He looked at Lexi, who was glaring daggers at me. “This is my sister, Everly. We grew up around vampires. She became one a year and a half ago.”

With each word, his eyes grew wider as he realized the magic wasn’t stopping him.

Lexi already knew about vampires.

“How?” he asked softly.

“How dare you?” Lexi growled at me. “You aren’t supposed to out other supernaturals.”

“Werewolves are public knowledge and are required to disclose in romantic relationships with humans, or any other dealings like business,” I retorted, curling a lip and revealing a fang. “He should have always known.”

“Werewolf?” Declan said softly, stepping away from Lexi. The panic that flashed across her face, the pain, the hurt, almost made me feel guilty.

Almost.

“I was planning on telling you this summer when you met my family,” she said, turning toward him. She didn’t follow him or reach to stop his retreat. “We’ve been serious, and I wanted you to fall in love with me, just normal me, before you ever knew about the rest.”

“How old are you?” I asked, still sitting on the counter. I had picked the kitchen for a reason. There was a small, ineffective, but visual barrier now with the island and bar between me and the werewolf. I needed to know if she was a threat to me. I needed to know if she was a threat to my brother, but I was fast enough to get between them if I had to. Really, I just needed to make sure I was out of her reach as I continued to expose her.

“Only twenty-nine,” she whispered. “True age. I was born a werewolf. I’m only now settling into my immortality. I stopped aging only a few years ago.”

Oh, I could easily take her.

“What I wasn’t expecting was that you have a vampire for a sister and you let her in your house!” Lexi said, her volume rising as she spoke. She pointed at me. “She could kill you!”

“So could you,” I pointed out.

“Who even are you?” Lexi snapped, turning on me, not appreciating my comments.

“His sister,” I answered, but I knew that wasn’t the point of her question. “Who are you?”

“His girlfriend,” she replied snidely, turnabout being fair play in the moment. “But the actual answer is that I am a member of the Los Angeles werewolf pack. My father ranks in the top fifteen of the pack and has direct access to the Alpha.”

“What?” Declan, poor Declan, looked like he’d been hit with a two-by-four.

“Now you,” Lexi growled at me.