Page 30 of Call of the Blood

“That’s honestly impressive if I remember how often even the nest needed donors,” he said, surprised by the restraint I had.

“Most of them were in that nest because they had problems and Jacob ran vampire rehab,” I reminded him. “But Alexius doesn’t actively hunt, either, so there’s no temptation to try. Mostly training so he knows I’m safe to find blood and feed without incident if my life depended on it.”

“But that’s the point. See, Lexi? She knows all about how to control herself. If I cut myself, she’ll just leave. That’s the sort of stuff that was taught there. Alexius is related to Jacob; he’d know all these things. So, you don’t get to come in full of supernatural prejudice and insult my sister or look at her like she’s a demon lurking in the corner. She’s going to be the aunt and godmother of whatever children I have, no matter what. She’s good. She deserves to be treated as good. No threats about needing to hide in holes or beat the sunrise, okay?”

“Okay.” Lexi slumped into the plush couch, the cushions looking like they were going to consume her.

“You two don’t need to be friends, but you will be nice when you’re around each other. Or around me. I’m not going to listen to you two trash talk each other.” Declan glared at both of us. “Now, Lexi, you’ve gotten to hang out with me since work ended. It’s time for me to actually spend some time with my sister. Also, your father mentioned a recommendation for Everly, but he left, I think.”

“Yeah, he and Alexius both left,” I answered, waving my phone for emphasis.

“Oh, yeah. There are a few places here in Los Angeles that are supernatural only,” Lexi said, straightening up. “Since you’re here for a month, and you and Declan probably can’t hang out every night, my father thought it would be nice to give you the rundown. A sign of goodwill and faith in your ability to move through the L.A. community,” she said, putting on a professional tone toward the end that I knew fairly well. She didn’t like it, but this was beyond her or me now. The verbiage was such that I wondered if Callahan told Lucas to do it, or if Lucas regularly did this for supernaturals new to the area.

She pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from her purse on the coffee table between us. She held it out.

“If you planned on living here long term, I would tell you to burn that once you memorized them. In lieu of that, keep it close and don’t lose it. These places are magically protected from human interference, but we have to be careful not to leave the door open to a mortal falling into our spaces.” She released it to me once her speech was done. “With that…” She reached out and grabbed my brother’s shirt, laying a long kiss on him. “I will leave you with your sister. Text me?”

He looked all too pleased with the kiss, and it made me look away once again.

“I definitely will,” he promised, his heart racing in a way that made me want to leave. “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” she said, sultry, and I could hear the smile.

I didn’t look at my brother until I heard the door close, signaling that she was gone.

“You know I can hear heartbeats, right?” I asked when I looked back at him.

“You know I can’t control mine, right?” he retorted, smiling. “But yeah, that was probably uncomfortable for you,” he said, chuckling. “I know I never liked seeing you with a boyfriend.”

“I was never so…” I gestured at him. “Like that.”

“Fair.” He was still chuckling. “You know, when you got pissed off with her, I was actually surprised. In fact, I thought about you a lot today, too.”

“Oh, yeah?” I sat on the recliner again as he fell onto the couch.

“You’ve changed. I noticed it when we were gaming and catching up, but seeing it in person… You were never so confident in a room before, Everly. Or prone to being temperamental in any way. You were always… You always tried to be ignored in the corner. I like the new you.”

“Oh, that’s good. There’s no changing it at this point. I’m kind of stuck this way now,” I said with a chuckle. “And at some point this month, I’ll explain what happened in full, okay? Just not tonight.”

“Yeah, you have to warm up to it. I can tell. You went through some terrible things, and I had no idea.”

“More since I became a vampire,” I admitted. “There are people out there who don’t like me very much, Declan. That’s why one thing I want to tell you tonight is to keep working for the pack’s company. I talked to Callahan, right, the Alpha? He’s given you a layer of protection I didn’t think of, and I think you need to keep it.”

“Thanks for the warning. I was actually considering quitting,” he said, looking at his hands. “But you having enemies? I don’t⁠—”

“I work for Alexius the Hunter, that much I’ve told you, though I never said his full title in the world before, have I? Not to you… He hunts vampires. Other vampires. The ones Jacob couldn’t fix, the ones who didn’t think they needed to be fixed, the ones out of control, the ones who want to damage the culture and society of vampires for their own reasons. He hunts and kills them. And I work for him. I help him.” I met my brother’s gaze. “I have enemies. He has enemies.”

“Oh, shit. Why…” Declan was upset with me now.

“Because it was those types of vampires that killed Mom, that put me in the position of needing someone to make me a vampire. I figured… with a second chance at life, I’d make sure other people didn’t lose their families. And I woke up with a bone to pick with the vampire world, in the care of the vampire who could fulfill that need for me. So, I took the chance.”

“So, you support him with tech while he goes off and kills the vampires breaking the rules. Holy shit, sis.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, deciding not to tell him at this point that I killed a few vampires myself. He would need a bit of time before hearing the real horror stories, if he was ever really ready for them.

“Are you insane?” He got up and paced around his living room, giving me an incredulous expression, like I needed to be committed. “Really, Everly!”

And that was uncalled for. I hated it.