Page 43 of Huntress Unleashed

“They could come around and so you want to keep a civil tongue when you speak to them.”

Dane growled under his breath. Matt smiled.

A half hour later, they found her parents’ home on the north side of the city and parked in the circular drive, the landscaping featuring majestic old live oaks, green boxwood hedges, and a red rose garden, elegant and pristine.

“Are you ready?” Dane asked.

“They might not be home, you know,” Matt said. “Unless you made an appointment with them.”

“I’ll wait.”

Matt sighed. “All right.”

They both got out of Matt’s car and went to the front door of the house and Dane knocked a little harder than he needed to. Sure, he could have rung the doorbell, but knocking gave him more of a statement of power.

Then a young woman answered the door, but she looked too young to be Jacqueline’s mother.

“Yes?” she said.

“We’re here to see Mr. and Mrs. Anderson about Jacqueline,” Dane said.

“Jacqueline.”

“Yes, are they in?” Dane asked.

“Uh, Mrs. Anderson is. Who should I say is calling?” the girl asked.

“Dane and Matt Edmonson.” Dane hoped that Mrs. Anderson wouldn’t know that he had been turned.

“I’ll check and ask if she has time to meet with you.” Then the girl shut the door.

Dane said, “She had better.”

Matt smiled. “Keep it cool, brother.”

“I will.” Maybe. It depended on how her mother reacted.

A short while later, the front door opened and a redheaded woman who looked like Jacqueline, only about thirty years older, wearing a flowery dress like she planned to go to a luncheon with friends, frowned at them. “What’s this about? Is…is she all right?”

Did Jacqueline’s mother even care? “Maybe we should speak inside.” Dane wasn’t about to have this talk with her out here.

Mrs. Anderson hesitated. Then she said, “All right.” She sounded reluctant to speak to them. What if they had news that Jaqueline had been terminated herself? Dane thought she would have been more concerned. Then again, maybe not.

She led them into a formal living area and motioned to a couple of chairs to sit on. “I have a luncheon to attend so make this quick.”

“I’m here because of Jacqueline and the fact that she had been turned. This is my brother, Matt. When I was also turned against my will, my three brothers were right there, killing the vampire who had turned me, supporting me, having my back just like a decent hunter family would have should one of their own fall to the teeth of a rogue vampire.”

The woman’s face fell, and they all hesitated to take any seats. He felt empowered to tower over her, irritated that she had told him she had a luncheon to go to when he had news of her daughter.

“You might want to know, or maybe you don’t care, but we terminated the vampire who turned Jaqueline,” Dane said.

Matt said, “It was quite a battle. There were several vampires and several hunters. Jacqueline took out two on her own and successfully fought the vampire’s commands who had turned her until Dane eliminated him.”

“Uh…well, thanks.”

“Do you feel it would be better if she had died when she fought with the rogue instead of having been turned?” Dane asked.

The woman glowered at him, her eyes filling with tears.