Page 49

“I will get to the bottom of this. Right now, I need you all to go back to your homes. That is a command from your Alpha.”

A few grumbles go up, but they can’t disobey Chayton. The crowd disbursed, leaving only me, Zyion, Chayton, Alarick, Torak, Miko, and Luna with the vamps.

We all turn our attention to the vampires. The youngest still hasn’t woken up yet.

“I’ll help you get her inside,” Alarick offers.

He walks around me, taking the youngest vamp out of the oldest hands. She doesn’t put up a fight. Part of me wonders whether she would have allowed me to carry the girl inside.

We all walk into the house. Alarick places the girl on the couch. The oldest immediately goes over to the youngest, kneeling at her head. Luna tries to go to her, but Chayton grabs her arm. Elizabeth snatches away from him and kneels beside her friend.

“What’s wrong with her?” Torak asks. He’s standing behind the couch, looking down at the youngest.

“She’s an empath,” the oldest says as she places a hand over the youngest chest. “She can manipulate and absorb emotions.”

“What the fuck?”Chayton shouts in my head.“Did you know they could do that?”

“It’s not uncommon for vampires to have abilities, just like wolves,”Alarick answers.“Although I’ve never heard of this one.”

“Should we be worried?”Zyion asks.

“I don’t think so.”Alarick replies.

“Why is she passed out?” I find myself asking out loud.

It takes a moment for the vamp to answer. She shuts her eyes. “Marley is young. An infant by vampire years. She doesn’t have control of her gift yet. Usually, it isn’t a problem. But being around so many people that hate and despise you can be a lot. It’s like a heavy weight pressing down on you constantly. She tries to block it out, but it requires a lot of energy. Energy that isn’t restored by animal blood.”

Oldest opens her eyes. I notice the difference in them immediately. They glow a light brown for a split second before going back to normal.

A soft gasp has me turning back to the youngest vampire. She’s up now. Her gaze bouncing around the room.

“What happened? Are they here to eat us?”

I’d laugh if it wasn’t her.

She looks over at her sister, her gaze narrowing. “Are you okay?”

“It’s fine,” the oldest answers.

I notice that even though the youngest is awake; she doesn’t look any better than she did before she passed out.

The youngest sits up slowly on the couch. Luna stands as well. I watch the oldest climb to her feet. She staggers slightly but covers it up quickly.

“What does she need?” Luna asks.

“She needs to feed.” She turns to Chayton after answering. “I’ve obeyed your rules. I did not feed on anyone in Jonesville. And I definitely wouldn’t have drained them.”

Chayton seems to take in what she says before replying. “I know.”

“If you don’t mind, I need to leave tonight again. She needs blood.”

“She can have mine,” Luna volunteers.

Disgust fills me.

“Hell no,” Chayton shouts.

“No,” I say at the same time.