Page 32 of Call of the Blood

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound great, does it?” I looked at the blood tissues and sighed, throwing them away. “He’s really nice. He’s made sure I’m protected at home in Savannah. He’s more forgiving of my mistakes than anyone else. He’s always teaching me something I need and trying to get me to be a better vampire. He changes his plans so they fit with my needs.”

“I don’t think you’ve really thought about how out of character this really sounds from you. And I guess I was just willfully in denial when you mentioned anything close to it on our calls. Because it’s… this isn’t just changed a bit, like it grew up or became more confident. This is like your body snatched, Everly.”

I remembered something Alexius had told me early on in my new life as a vampire. How it was well known that something about becoming a vampire really changed a person, whether it amplified something or revealed it about a person in a way that made them different. For me, it was pretty obvious it was my temper—something I used to hide, never indulge—could now pop off like a firecracker or go off like a bomb, and I was finally strong enough to do something about the evil that had destroyed my life. Other things that had changed about me were more from the trauma of it all than becoming a vampire.

But where Alexius barely had known the original human me and watched me struggle through trauma and death into this new life, my brother knew the old me perfectly well and had never dealt with this new version, not up close, not through the carefully crafted version of myself on calls.

“Ah.” I dropped what I was holding. “I see. I, um…” I didn’t have a proper response. “I think you’ll just have to get used to this version of me, Declan. This is who I am now. Alexius is the person I trust with my life. I work for powerful people and talk to powerful people. I could call Lexi’s Alpha, one of the two strongest werewolves in the world, on the phone to talk about her. I hunt vampires. My perspective has changed, and outside of you, there’s nothing left of my human life I care to keep.”

“You can’t deny it’s not a little terrifying to hear you talk about a mindless killing machine of a boss and then smiling like there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“He’s the one who got me out,” I snapped. “He did that, and he didn’t have to.”

“So, he could mold you into…” He waved his hand at me.

“That’s a fucked-up thing to say, Declan,” I said, glaring at him. “He’s not molding me. He’s helping me become what I want to be.”

“You haven’t really tried anything else, though,” he retorted. “Everly⁠—”

“So, for the second night in a row, this needs to be cut short. I think you need to really let it sink in that I’m not the sister you grew up with. I haven’t been since before the funeral. I just hadn’t realized it yet. It hadn’t sunk in with me how different it is either until right now. And you’re still you, just blemished a little with grief because we lost Mom, but it’s understandable that losing her would finally push you to figure out your own life.” I tapped my fingers on the kitchen counter, then started walking towards his front door.

“And this is how I survived it. Because without this, I wouldn’t have. You would have gone to a second funeral before the end of that year, and they would have told you that there had been a fire or something. The entire place was dismantled when all was said and done. I guess it’s preferable to the girl in front of you, though.”

“Now that is a fucked-up thing to say! Everly, wait, please!”

Ignoring his pleas, I left without saying goodbye, sick to my stomach. Body snatched, he’d said. As if I couldn’t possibly be me. As if I had been replaced against my will or something.

I was what circumstance needed me to be. I was finally happy and secure in my own skin. I was good at things finally. I could run without wanting to die. I could jump. I could hunt things from miles away. I was fast and powerful, and I loved it.

And he clearly didn’t. He liked the softer version. More confident was good, but anything past that was scary.

I didn’t want to go back to the house Maria had lent us. I got into my car and drove around for an hour, ignoring Declan’s calls until I parked and looked at the list Lexi gave me. Perhaps I could go find somewhere to sit quietly and enjoy the night, people watch without having to hide that I was people watching.

There was a café that seemed promising. I still had plenty of time in the evening, so the drive wasn’t a concern for me. I flew there, speeding on every open stretch of road I had and not looking back. I needed to get into a space where being a vampire was just okay. And I was going to make that happen. I was going to go back to my world where Declan wasn’t there to look at me like I wasn’t his sister.

I wondered what the café would have, but I didn’t get my hopes up on if they had blood on offer. I had a black card though, so if they did have it, I was willing to pay whatever they asked.

13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The café didn’t look like anything special, but its location was fantastic. Shoved between two bigger buildings, I had to recognize that it was certainly a magic situation. I could see the spell shimmer, revealing for a second what the humans with no magic or supernatural origin saw. Just a terrifying dark alleyway with a chain-link fence blocking it off on each end, and no access doors from the buildings. There was nothing too fantastical in Savannah outside of the tree that I had only recently seen, and the tree seemed… down to Earth.

This café didn’t.

I went inside, finally seeing who was inside, and my nose did the counting for me.

One fae sitting at the window, staring out with a drink in front of him. Two werewolves chatting at a side table, nearly in the corner. A couple of witches looking over books together, a hushed conversation going on. Two fae, in the back behind the counter. The main culprits. Three of the big five.

Multiple of the supernatural looked at me, and the witches seemed like they didn’t like me and couldn’t fix their faces in time.

I went to the counter, trying not to be weird.

“Hello. I’m visiting Los Angeles. Is there possibly anything for vampires on the menu? I know it’s a crazy ask.”

“Yeah, doesn’t your menu like… walk past all the time?” the closer fae replied, grinning.

“Sure, if I liked having to catch my meals,” I said, making a face. “And I don’t.”