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CHAPTER SEVEN

HUNTER

Hunter flinched as the needle pierced Neri’s skin. He swallowed twice to keep from throwing up at the sight. Unable to deal with the needle or the blood filling up the first vial and then the second, he squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep, cleansing breath.

Liv, worried about Neri’s reaction to her lab despite the glass walls and ceiling, scurried downstairs when they all arrived back to grab the syringe and vials to draw Neri’s blood.

Ghost believed it was necessary to solve the mystery of Neri’s background and the reason her memories involved the same girl she grew up with in the orphanage.

It didn’t mean I had to like it.

“Hunter? You okay? I can’t flash to you right now if you pass out.”

Instead of growling aloud, he sent one through their mind link. When he opened his eyes and continued the sound, she almost jerked but caught herself, holding still as he could hear the liquid fill the glass.

“I’m… fine.”

Liv watched as the second vial filled before she uncorked it from the needle still sticking out of Neri’s arm. Hunter sucked in a breath and blew it out when Liv pressed a cotton ball against Neri’s skin, pulling out the needle, before holding the piece of white fluff there for a moment. When Liv pulled the cotton back, there wasn’t a trace of Neri’s blood on it.

“There, all done Hunter,” Liv giggled, “Do you want to help me analyze?”

Hunter shook his head before Liv finished the question. He didn’t want to leave Neri. Both shrugged as Liv gave them a wave before she raced downstairs, curious what she would find. Hunter didn’t care what Liv found as long as Neri was healthy. Nothing else mattered.

As he moved closer, intending to wrap her in his arms, he was beat out by a flash of white fur on a tiny body. Neri spotted Silas before Hunter and her arms were outstretched ready to catch the tiniest of the snow leopards and pressed him close to her chest as he nuzzled into her neck.

Neri! My new favorite vampire-shifter hybrid, how do you feel?

I’m the only vampire-shifter hybrid little man.

Yeah, that’s true. It’s why you smell so good.

Her chuckle made Hunter smile. Even before he’d gotten to know Neri in her own space, he understood how serious she was about every aspect of her life. The way she organized her life, her schedule, and keeping her word were more important than anything else so it shouldn’t surprise him the unknown threat worried her more than the thought of someone after her.

What do I smell like?

Huh… Well, like the earth after the first rain of spring and lilacs in full bloom.

Neri blinked and glanced at Hunter, who nodded at Silas’s description.

What about me?Silas’s curiosity pulsed out of him.

Well, bergamot, like your dad and vanilla, like Jade.

What’s berg… bergamot?

Well, it’s orange and lime, like citrus. It’s sweet, little man.

What’s Hunter’s scent?

Neri glanced up and smiled at him, making his heart beat harder in his chest.

Hunter is earthy with pine and lemon.

She integrated into his family with ease and although she’d spent most of her time with Silas and Jade; she spoke with the other assassins, bringing the conversation about them and their past. Although Drew was a jokester, he took a while to get comfortable with people, so he sat at the kitchen table on a tablet, and like clockwork glanced up and gazed around the room before settling down to read.

Thomas and Isaac hung back. Curious about Neri, but those two were the most patient immortals he’d ever met. Plus, Neri’s time with Silas made sense to them because everyone spent as much time with Silas as they could get.

Jade sat next to Neri, close enough their thighs were touching.