Page 87 of Slayer

“It was chaos on campus, and there wasn’t enough staff to look for her, so Asher and I went. We weren’t even really friends with her before that. She was kind of a snob.” He chuckled at that.

People changed. She didn’t seem snobby to me now. I guessed losing your parents young would do that.

“You found her?” I asked, imagining what I might do had I grown up in a loving home with parents who wanted me and then found out they were dead. I’d run away too.

“We searched the woods for three hours until we heard crying by the creek. Daphne was lying in a bed of leaves. I’ve never seen someone so broken in all my life.” He glanced over at her laughing and playing with Asher, a haunted look on his face as if remembering that moment.

I hadn’t expected this raw of a story. I felt emotion rise up inside me but pushed it down.

“Asher picked her up, carried her all the way back. We all slept in the living room of my nana’s house on the floor because we didn’t know what else to do. Our homes were empty of parents. We were alone in a way no eleven-year-old should be.”

Our homes were empty of parents. It was the most horrifying thing I’d ever heard.

“It sounds like a nightmare, Jax. I’m so sorry,” I told him, emotion clogging my throat.

He nodded. “It was. But Asher was our rock. He just kept going. He never broke down. He forced us up and out of bed the next day and to eat breakfast and go to school. Every time Daphne or I would fall into the darkness, he would pull us out. Usually with video games.”

“Video games?” I was surprised by that, still processing his story about Asher, who I most definitely was not falling for.

Asher was their rock.

They’d all trauma bonded.

“A vampire hunter game designed by a hunter. I have the highest score,” Jax bragged.

I laughed. “Oh, do you?” I was trying not to let his story affect me, but I kept imagining Daphne fleeing the school and sobbing in the woods and then Asher carrying her home. Their little trio made sense now. A bond that would never break.

“Hey, thanks for sharing that with me.” I leaned into him, nudging his shoulder.

He nodded. “I just want you to know why things are the way they are…with him and her…” He trailed off.

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

“Duel time!” James, one of the other guys, said. He had hunter marks, but the girl next to him didn’t. I recognized her from our trainings. Manda was her name.

I leapt up as Jax stood beside me. “I gotta get as much training as I can,” I told him.

“Tyson wants to go first!” Jax called out loudly.

I reached out and smacked him in the arm, and he laughed.

“I ain’t losing no ear,” James said, shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes, but Asher walked over and picked up a wooden practice sword. “I’ll go against you, Tyson.” He winked, and I knew I’d never live that nickname down.

I stepped over to where the practice swords were and picked one up.

“Have you learned about beheading a vampire yet?” Daphne asked me.

I shook my head. “Just the heart staking.”

She nodded. “That’s easier. But this”—she pointed to the sword Asher held—“can be faster and more efficient. The trick is to do it with enough force and power so you sever it cleanly.”

Right.

“But not him. I like his face.” She squeezed Asher’s cheeks, and again he bristled at her touch. She seemed to notice this time, frowning slightly.

“Okay, for practice, just a tap to the neck will do,” James announced.