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"What do you mean?" I asked distractedly.
"You haven't been doing this for very long, have you?" she asked. I must've looked offended, because she added quickly, "I'm not insulting you. It’s just… you don't seem as cold as he is."
I snorted. "Even most seasoned hunters aren’t.”
"So you are new, then?" she pressed.
I grimaced, realizing I’d outed myself. "Yes. Why?"
"So am I," she said, her voice quivering slightly. "David turned me last week.”
I pursed my lips, trying to figure out what she was getting at. Was she trying to garner sympathy for the fact that we had both been recently drawn into a world we didn't fully understand?
If so, it was working more than I wanted to admit.
"That's rough," I said, trying to echo Castor's toneless voice that betrayed nothing. I just ended up sounding monotonous and lifeless.
"I still don't know why he turned me," she said quietly. "Why he didn't just kill me like the others I was with."
"The others?" I asked warily, against my better judgment.
"My sister, and our friends," she answered with a bitter smile. "We were at a bridal party."
"Guess that ruined the wedding," I muttered.
She laughed half-heartedly. "I think it's terrible, what he was going to do to that lady and her kid, for the record."
"Not so terrible you tried to stop it," I countered.
"I couldn't!" she cried. "What was I supposed to do when it was five on one?"
I frowned, not wanting to admit she had a point. And it wasn't like I had room to talk. My direct body count probably numbered in the dozens, if not more.
"It's not like I asked for this," she said, her voice breaking. "I was just a normal person a week ago, and now, I'm a monster who has to feed on blood. You have no idea what that's like."
"I do more than you think," I muttered.
She seemed like she was about to respond when the sound of muffled screams coming from inside the building told me Castor had found his prey. I waited for the others to try to run out of the building, but he must've sealed off the other escapes, too. I flinched, trying to stop myself from going in after him.
"What, is he your brother or something?" the vampire asked right when I was about to lose the battle.
"Or something," I said under my breath.
"If you're so worried about him, why don't you go in there?"
I looked down at her, narrowing my eyes. "I'm sure you'd like that."
"What does it matter if I escape?" she challenged. "I'm not a threat. There's no way he can take all those vampires on his own, no matter how strong he is."
It was like my subconscious mind had somehow taken marginally human form, because she was already echoing all the thoughts ricocheting through my brain. I was about to force her to come with me when I heard a strange crackling sound, followed by the smell of burning flesh.
Holy shit, the building was on fire.
I had no sooner taken a step to run toward it when I saw a figure moving in the shadows. Castor slipped out of them, completely unscathed. There didn't even seem to be a drop of blood on his clothes that hadn't already been there before he went into the building.
"Castor," I breathed.
My relief was palpable, but the girl’s face took on a familiar look of dread. An upstairs window burst and she cast a mournful glance up at the building as the flames began to lap at the outside brick. The combination of the screams and the noxious smell of burning flesh was making me queasy enough, and I didn't even know them.
