First Bitten (9 page)

“
That’s putting it mildly,” Sol chuckles. “They hate one another,” he adds, looking at me.

“
Cross-breeding for them is deemed sacrilegious,” Jack says.

“
But I thought vampires are supposed to be dead? How could she get pregnant if he was ... dead?” My voice suddenly sounds really small and tinny.

“
The first family can procreate,” Nathan tells me, “but not ‘made’ vampires. They are ‘dead’. What happened with Demetrius and Grace should never have happened, but it did. They hid their relationship and her pregnancy from their families. Only Grace’s sister, Genevieve, knew. Grace had the twins in secret. They were planning to leave the country together, taking the twins with them, but somehow Demetrius’ family found out about their relationship, but not the twins. His father, Elijah, was furious. He put the order out for their capture. Grace and Demetrius tried to run but they were found and killed for their crime.”

“
He murdered his own son?” I say aghast.

“
They’re vampires, Alex.” Nathan says this with an almost mocking tone to his voice. “They’re not known for their kindness.”

“
But still, his own son.” I give him a look of contempt.

He shrugs. “Elijah’s not known for his weakness. He had to make an example of Demetrius and Grace. Obviously killing her didn’t help relations between vampires and the werewolves, not that Elijah would care either way.”

“
And the twins?” I ask tentatively, even though I know they survived. I wouldn’t be in this position right now if they hadn’t.

“
Fortunately for them, the twins were with Genevieve when Demetrius and Grace were captured. After Grace had been murdered, Genevieve revealed the twins’ existence to her parents. Matthias and Isaiah were all they had left of their daughter, so they raised them, keeping their existence a secret from the vampires who they knew would hunt them down and kill them if they ever discovered them. Matthias and Isaiah grew up and turned into what they still are today, the self-proclaimed Vârcolacs, half-breed, immortal blood drinkers like their father, with the ability to turn into a wolf just like their mother. But Isaiah was cocky and tired of living in the shadows. He had big plans to create an army so they’d be well protected and could kill the vampires that had murdered their parents, so he talked Matthias into coming out. Matthias, though reluctant, agreed and Isaiah outed their existence to the vampires in the midst of trying to build his army which obviously didn’t go exactly as he’d planned. You see, they can’t create any immortals like themselves, like vampires can. Isaiah hadn’t done his homework first. Any male who is changed will only live a human life with a slight extension, just like werewolves do. They’re not as strong as the Originals either who have a strength equal to vampires. So they’d exposed themselves to their enemy and were still as vulnerable as before.” Nathan leans back in his chair, stretching his long legs out under the table. “The vampires have been hunting them ever since. The Originals live in hiding but they still have a strong allegiance to their werewolf ‘family’ who help keep them hidden. The Originals believe the only viable way to ensure their long-term survival is to have more like them, more immortals, and then they can finally have what they’ve always dreamed of. They can eradicate all vampires and put themselves right at the top of the food chain.”

“
So how can having me as a Vârcolac help them get what they want?” My voice comes out scratchy and hoarse.

There’s an uncomfortable ripple of silence across the table. It sets my nerves on edge. I take a sip of whiskey.

“
Well, like Nathan said, the Originals want full-bloods, just like them,” Jack pauses, “and they believe the only way to do this is to breed them, and to be able to do this they need a … ”

“
Female Vârcolac?” I finish.

Jack looks at me with sorrowful eyes.

“
If they find out about you,” Nathan says in a tapered voice, “then you’ll become their baby breeding machine for the rest of your life.” He turns his head and looks me in the eye for a long moment and I can see it all there in his eyes reflecting back at me, like a flash-forward of my possible future.

Something crawls over my skin – fear, I think.

“
Don’t you worry though, Alex,” Jack says in a confident voice, giving the table a bang with his hand so hard it makes me jump, “you’ll be safe here with us.”

But I don’t feel confident or safe at all. I’m here with three men, one of whom is barely that, who happen to be able to change into animals when they feel like it.

“
We’ll make sure the Originals never know you exist,” Jack adds. “Think of this as your home, now and for the foreseeable future.” He waves his hand around, smiling through tight lips. “We’ll take real good care of you.”

I see the quick look that Nathan gives Jack, the one Jack chooses to ignore, and I know unequivocally that Nathan doesn’t fully agree with Jack’s statement. Nathan wants me here until he can find a suitable place to put me. He doesn’t want me here for good, confirming what I already knew.

I’m all alone.

I squeeze my eyes shut, wanting to block it all out, block all of them out.

“
You will be okay.” Nathan’s voice comes close to my ear.

You. Not we - you.

He touches my arm. I open my eyes, surprised. I yank my arm away from him. It’s his turn to look surprised. I don’t know why he’s pretending to be nice to me when he clearly doesn’t want me here.

And I’m about to say so when Nathan sighs loudly and leans back in his chair, raking a hand through his mussed up hair. “Great, just what we didn’t need,” he grumbles.

I stare at him, confused.

“
You ready.” Sol grins clearly amused. Nathan laughs. Jack mutters something unintelligible under his breath.

Okay, so I’m clearly left out of the party here.

Then I hear a car screech to a halt outside. A knot tightens in my stomach.

“
Five, four … ” Nathan starts to count down on his fingers. Sol joins in. Jack picks up his cigar from the ashtray and lights it back up.

“
Who’s that?” I ask none of them in particular, gesturing to the outside with my shaky hand.

“
Three … ”

“
Cal,” Jacks answers, his cigar perched precariously between his lips. A big puff of smoke emanates from out of his mouth.

“
Two … ” Nathan leans over, picks Sol’s glass up off the table and throws back the contents. “One.” He bangs the empty glass back down.

I’m just about to ask who Cal is, but before I get a chance, the back door flies open and standing there is a huge bloke.

And he doesn’t look happy or friendly in any way.

Chapter 8

Brothers

“
So you are all okay, then?” Cal marches into the house, leaving the back door wide open, letting the cold air in. “Because Dad tells me you’re all sick, dying from the bloody flu, and I’m not to come into work because you don’t want me to pass it onto Erin. But you’ve all been acting so shady when I’ve rung to check on you, and Sol is the worst liar in the world, so I know something’s going on, and then I walk in here and find you all fit as fiddles drinking bloody whiskey, and … ” He suddenly stops mid rant and appears to sniff the air. Then his eyes locate and lock onto me.

I shiver and it’s not from the cold. My brain instantly goes on high alert. I shift in my seat. Nathan reaches his hand back and puts it on my arm, firmly holding me in place like he thinks I am going to bolt.

Well, actually, he isn’t far wrong. Something about Cal has set me on nerves' edge and wanting out of here, now.

“
Vârcolac?” Cal’s eyes widen in disbelief. “But ... she’s a woman? How? What the fuck is going on here?” He’s aggressive demeanour is suddenly gone and he just looks kind of dumbstruck. He shakes his head roughly as though trying to clear his thoughts.

Seeing Cal’s reaction to me is a bit of a wake-up call. He’s looking at me with a mixture of horror, anger and mild panic. And even though Nathan, Jack and Sol have told me what the calamity of being me is, it is a little different when you see it actually being played out in front of you.

“
Does someone want to explain to me just how the hell she happens to be a Vârcolac?” Cal drags his hand down his face, removing with it his perplexed expression. He turns around, slamming the door firmly, like he’s worried someone might be out there and see me. Then he spins back on his heel and points at no one in particular. “And while we’re at it, can you explain why the bloody hell she’s here with you three?”

Nathan removes his hand from my arm and turns to Cal. “Just take it easy,” he says calmly.

Cal laughs, a sharp laugh. “I’ll take it easy when you tell me just exactly what the fuck’s been going on here.”

My hands start to shake. I can’t seem to control the tremor. I grip hold of my glass for something to do with them. It shatters in my hands.

I stare down at in shock as a sharp pain sears through my right hand. Blood trickles out down onto the table. I turn my hand over. There’s a deep cut in my palm. Blood continues to seep out, carelessly dripping on the table as the whiskey from my glass drips onto my jeans. But I don’t move because I can’t. I’m frozen to the spot and all I can do is stare down at the broken glass in front of me.

I just broke it with my bare hands. My eyes are brimming with tears. The room is eerily silent.

“
I’m so sorry,” I stammer, finding my voice.

“
It’s okay, love,” Jack says kindly.

Nathan takes hold of my arm by the wrist. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He guides me to my feet and leads me over to the sink. I hold my other hand beneath my bleeding one so I don’t drip any blood onto the floor.

Jack follows behind us and gets some kitchen roll and disinfectant spray out of the cupboard next to where I’m standing, presumably to clean up the mess I’ve just made.

“
Don’t worry about it, love,” Jack says quietly to me. “I’ve done much worse after a few glasses of whiskey.” He winks conspiratorially at me.

I try to smile but my lips are quivering and it just feels awkward.

Nathan runs the cold water tap and puts my hand under it. I wince at the sting. I can see my blood washing down the sink. I look away. Sol and Jack are already cleaning up the table. Cal is leaning up against the back door moodily, his arms folded across his chest.

Leaving my hand under the increasingly cold water, Nathan gets a first aid kit out from the cupboard under the sink. He turns the tap off and carefully dries my hand with a towel, wrapping it around and pressing firmly down onto my palm to dry the cut out.

“
How bad is it?” I ask warily as he examines the cut.

“
Not bad. It’ll be healed in a few minutes.”

“
What?” I look up at him alarmed.

“
I already told you, you heal quickly.” His tone is suddenly off.

I know he’s already told me but it’s just not something I can get easily used to hearing. And when he gets all antsy like this, it just makes me want to question him further.

“
How did I break that glass with my hands?” I ask in a lowered tone. This wasn’t a cheap, crappy glass. This was a thick whiskey glass, not that I can normally break any type of glass with my hands but, well, you know what I mean.

“
Because you’re bloody superwoman,” Cal says from across the room, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

Nathan turns to say something to him but Sol beats him to it. “Give it a rest, Cal.”

Cal opens his mouth to retaliate, then seemingly changes his mind. Sighing loudly, he pulls a chair out and sits down at the now clean table.

Nathan takes the towel off my hand. I see the bleeding has calmed. He rips open a large plaster. “You know how you did it,” he finally answers, staring straight into my eyes. His eyes are so green, so piercing, they’re intrusive, almost like he’s, for some reason, trying to extract information straight from out of my brain. Either that or he’s trying to leave some there.

He looks down at my hand and sticks the plaster over my cut. “Leave this on ‘til it heals.” But he doesn’t let go of my hand.

“
So I’m taking it this is what you’ve all been busy with?” Cal says, obvious impatience in his voice. Nathan lets go of my hand. “A female Vârcolac … ” Cal shakes his head, “ … so are you gonna explain what the hell happened, who the bloody hell she is, and why the hell you’re involved, or do I have to wait till Christmas?”

“
Alex, sorry, you haven’t been introduced properly. This is Cal, my obnoxious older brother,” Nathan says, gesturing towards him. “Cal, this is Alex, the only female Vârcolac in the world.” He thumbs in my direction.

Sol snorts out a laugh. Even I have to hold off a smile.

So Cal is Nathan’s older brother. He looks nothing like Nathan. He looks like Jack, except his features are sharp and uncharacteristic. The only similarity between him and Nathan is his size and, of course, his direct manner.

“
Funny,” Cal retorts, “are you gonna answer my fucking question or not?” His face is flushed with rage.

Nathan leans up against the sink and sighs loudly, folding his arms across his chest. “Why do you automatically assume this is my doing?”