Page 14

chapter thirteen

Michaela

I had a moment of weakness last night. It had nothing to do with the blood. Although the scent was horrible. The breakdown was more about seeing my sister hurt, knowing I’m the reason she’s going through all this. Despite Markis being insane, I’m still the reason we are where we are. Me and my secrets. I shouldn’t have kept looking for that fey key. No matter what my intentions were.

Shaking out my achy hands, I step up onto the sidewalk. I spent the entire night trying to get rid of the blood smell on the porch. It didn’t help, but I knew it wouldn’t. It’s going to require more than scrubbing.

However, I didn’t have time to worry about it. I was out in the town of Jonesville. I need to see those bodies.

Walking into a diner, the bell over the door rings. The folks look up at me, their suspicion written all over their face. I make my way over to the counter and take a seat. The smell of old grease and fried food hits me.

“Can I start you off with a coffee?” the server asks as she slides me a sticky menu.

“No thank you,” I say. I didn’t have time for food. Locking my gaze with the woman, I smile. “Tell me where to find the house of the slain family?”

Without her control, she answers my request. “Five miles past the post office. A ranch style white house with a red door in the middle of nowhere. Police tape is all over it. The bodies are over at the county morgue.”

Releasing the server from my web, I stand from my seat. “Thank you.” I pull a ten-dollar bill out of my pocket and place it down on the counter.

Climbing out of my car, I stand in front of the house. The immediate smell of blood hits me.

My phone goes off in my pocket, causing me to pull it out and answer. I know who it is without checking.

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all night.”

“I do have a social life outside of being your errand boy,” Tech sighs.

Lifting the yellow police tape, I make my way inside the home.

“Well, while you were disappointing some poor female, Markis may have found me.”

“What?” Rustling from his end of the call lets me know he’s moving.

“Three people were drained last night.” Stopping in front of the picture on the wall, I take in the smiling family. “One of those victims was a teenage boy.”

Tapping comes through the phone. It’s the sound of fingers moving quickly over a keyboard.

“It wasn’t your ex. He’s still in the city,” Tech says. “As far as I can tell, he still doesn’t know where you are and isn’t looking yet.”

Moving through the house, I stop at the first blood spot I see. Close to it, there is another one. From the scent of the first one, I can tell this was the mother. The father is the second one I see. I glance over at the broken glass at the patio door. Going to stand by the glass, I pick up a piece that contains a drop of dark black blood.

“Why the hell do I have two human-turned vampires in this town?” I muse out loud.

The dark color of the blood on the glass tells me what type of vampires they were. The proximity of the human attack sites indicates multiple attackers. Closing my eyes, I focus on the scents permeating the house. Yes, there were two here.

“Human-turned?” Tech repeats. “Well, we know it isn’t your ex. He’d never work with a human-turned.”

That was true. I guess I can rest assured knowing this isn’t Markis.

“Still doesn’t explain why the hell I have two vampires in my neck of the woods. This is a long way for human-turned to be. They rarely leave the city.”

I make my way up the stairs until I find the blood spot where the boy was killed.

“Maybe this has something to do with your furry friends. Unless you have another enemy I don’t know about.”

I chuckle as I head back down the stairs. “Trust me, I have too many enemies for you to count. But none would be as bold as to send human-turned after me.”

“Then your fur friends have some ambitious opponents.”

Seems like Chayton might need to look into his past for this problem.

“I still don’t need a vampire stalking around here. It brings too much attention. Attention I don’t need.”

I walk back out of the house. There is nothing else I need here. But I did need to stop at the morgue.

“Well, you know what you need to do. Find the vampires and deal with them before they can cause any more problems.”

“Yeah,” I say, sliding back into my car. “I just have to figure out how to do it without alerting the wolves.”

“Are you still playing the helpless victim?”

I laugh. “Of course. It’s the only way they’ll let me stay.”

“We will see how long that lasts,” Tech chuckles through the other end of the phone.

After saying goodbye to him, I speed away from the house and head for the morgue.

The townspeople were right; the family was drained of blood. Only human-turned and psychopaths would feed until they drained someone. Most vampires wouldn’t dare indulge that much. It’s like overeating. You’d feel sluggish and delirious for hours.

Human-turned vampires, those not bonded to their makers, tend to have unquenchable thirsts. They are often the reason vampires get such bad names. Not the only reason, though.

I make my way back through the woods toward our borrowed cabin. The dinner I picked up from the diner in my hands. After Marley’s close call yesterday, I wasn’t in a rush to have her around the wolves in the cafeteria any time soon.

I come out of the trees and pause. Standing on my porch are about six wolves, including Torak. They are painting my porch and front door.

“Make sure you get that spot beside the door,” the Beta says. He stands at the bottom step, his large arms over his chest, glaring at the wolves.

“Michaela is back,” Marley says.

The Beta turns to me, his gaze raking over me from head to toe. I’m not sure what he’s looking for, but he doesn’t seem to find it because his gaze goes back to the porch.

Marley walks over to the side of the railing to talk to me. “Do you see it? They replaced the wood that was soaked in the blood and they’re painting. The smell is gone.”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“This is so good. I didn’t think I could stand that smell any longer.”

Even though Marley is still talking, I keep my eyes on the Beta as I walk over toward him.

“Thank you,” I say.

He looks over at me, his arms still folded over his chest. “I can’t make any promises you won’t find a dead squirrel on the door again, but I told everyone not to toss any blood out.”

Not exactly a truce, but I’d take the dead animal over old blood any day.

“How generous of you all. In turn, I will promise not to kidnap any of your young and carry them off into the night.”

He turns to look at me.

“Yeah, I’ve heard the rumors.”

A grin spreads over his face. I take in his features. His almond-shaped golden eyes. Those thick dark brows with their natural arch that make him look so serious. His straight nose fit his face perfectly. And that thick full beard causes his full lips to stand out.

It has never skipped my attention that the wolf is attractive. He just had a shitty personality.

“We appreciate you sparing our youth,” he jokes as he turns back to the porch.

We both watch as Marley flitters around the working wolves, giving her two cents here and there.

“Do you think I should paint my bedroom?” she stops and ask Torak as if we hired him and he isn’t being forced. “The white is fine, but I’m more of a pastel girl.”

“Is she always this bubbly?” the Beta asks.

“Unfortunately. It’s a side effect of her ability. I always thought the gods sat down one day and thought how best to punish a family of heartless, emotionless assholes. She was their answer.”

“So, the gods know you’re a pain in the ass, too?”

I look over to find him smirking at me. I roll my eyes.

“Only to people that deserve it, wolf,” I say, but without animosity.

He chuckles. “If you say so, vamp.”

I leave the Beta there. Grabbing Marley out of their hair, I take her into the house. It takes the wolves another hour to finish the porch. However, the kind gesture stays with me all night.