In the Dark by Lila Rose (27 page)

"Isaac," I said wearily. "You're right. I don't know anything about them, which is why I'll find out everything I need to from their boss before I even consider it."

"They're hunters, Leila.
Hunters
."

My eyes widened. Hunters hunted supernaturals to kill them. They saw us as pests.

"Ty?"

"It's true. We are. Then again, we're not. We don't hunt anyone who doesn't deserve it. Otherwise, Isaac and his family would be dead already."

The vampires hissed their complaint.

Holding up a hand to silence them, I asked, "Was I supposed to be hunted?"

"No. Never. Like I said, my team and I were here to watch you. Protect you."

"Who ordered you to do it?" I asked.

"I did," came from the kitchen.

People parted and my eyes landed on… What the fuck?

Uncle Jack.

He gave me a smirk as he stalked forward. In my shocked state, he was able to take me into his arms and hug me before he whispered into my ear, "Glad you're okay, kid."

Frozen in place, I struggled to comprehend everything I discovered. Uncle Jack was there. In a room full of paranormals, and
he
was the one who ordered Ty and his team to protect me.

What the actual fuck?

Pulling back, I looked up into his tired face. My heart beat irregularly, thumping hard and fast in my chest.

"What, you're, so you, you're not an actual bounty hunter?" I shook my head.

"Just a hunter. Like your dad used to be."

My dad had been one also. It explained so much, how he didn't freak out when I shifted my first time. Why he would send my uncle to look out for me.

My mind was about to overload with all the shock.

"Leila," was whispered behind my uncle. Glancing over his shoulder, I gasped.

Stepping back, my hand went to my mouth. My eyes teared and my stomach twisted in nerves.

Reaching out with my other hand, I cried out behind my fingers, "Dad?" Right before blackness swirled in my vision.

"Catch her," Jezanna yelled as everything blinked out.

* * * *

Darkness surrounds me. Every way I turn, I see nothing but black. My heart beats hard in my chest. My hands tremble along with my legs. I want to run, to scream, but I don't.

Because I know I'm waiting.

It isn't until I see two small red dots in the distance that I relax somewhat.

"Yes," I whisper. "That's what I'm waiting for."

The dots drift closer and closer.

And in a blink of an eye, which always makes me jump, they're right in front of me, so close I can reach out and touch them… No, touch the face that belongs to those red eyes.

I want to.

I need to.

Even though a small amount of fright fills me, I still know I'm safe.

The red eyes study me.

"You're mine," the voice growls…

Sun shining in through the window warmed me. I stretched lazily, my body twinging, my muscles sore. Voices woke me more, my mind already knowing I'd want to listen in.

"She's been sleeping for the last twelve hours. Let me in to check on her," Isaac demanded.

"She's fine. Exhausted from the fight and shocked from seeing her father," Uncle Jack said.

Dad.
Springing from the bed, I tangled myself in the sheets, tripped and fell flat on my face. My dad
was
back. He was there in the living room. I hadn't dreamed him up.

My bedroom door came flying off its hinges and Isaac appeared, fangs out, hands up as if he were ready to kill someone.

Fighting myself, I stayed where I was instead of reaching out to him.

Looking up through my hair, I puffed out, "You really have to stop breaking my doors."

"Leila," he whispered, a small smile ghosting his lips.

"Get out!" Jack yelled. Glancing through Isaac's legs, I watched my uncle slowly climbing to his feet. "If you throw me like that again, I'll damage you."

Isaac threw my uncle to get to me. My body drummed with a tingling feeling. Why did he drive my senses wild still when he'd hurt me so much?

It was like my body acknowledged something in Isaac I didn't understand.

If I did, it would be easier to detest him for what he'd done.

Isaac slowly approached me, ignoring Jack who was still threatening him. He bent to help me up, but before he could touch me, I moved backwards and was
on my feet.

He let out a pained groan. Which was when I looked down at myself dressed in only panties and a camisole.

"Jesus, kid," Jack grumbled, covering his eyes and reaching out blindly to grab Isaac. Only he moved out of my uncle's reach.

"Leila, please let me talk to you," Isaac asked.

"Now's not the bloody time," Jack yelled.

Isaac's hand cupped my cheek as he stepped forward. I felt like backing up, but the grief in his eyes had me halting my movements.

Behind him, Jack curled blindly with his hand, still trying to find Isaac, while cursing him as well.

"Isaac—"

"You're right," he started, stepping closer still, until his front pressed to mine. I raised a brow at him. My hands itched to touch him, but I left them hanging uselessly at my sides. "I do need to take charge, to work with the help around me so I can be a better person to lead my people how I should. I was blinded with worry to protect, when I should have asked for help from the ones I trust the most. All I wanted was your safety. If I lost you…" He shook his head. "She was never anything to me. You have to believe me. I may have touched her hand or even kissed her, but I never slept with her."

"Isaac, I don't want to hear—"

"Me either. Just get the hell out." Jack lunged, but Isaac stepped us aside before Jack reached him.

"You must know, Leila, I
will
fight for you. I will do everything in my power to gain your trust back. I will do anything to make you mine again."

Shaking my head, I groaned. "I can't—"

"That's it." Uncle Jack removed his hand covering his eyes. I quickly moved to pick up the sheet and wrapped it around me before Isaac sped to the door.

He looked back to me. "I
will
prove myself to you, Leila," he said and then disappeared from my view.

"Fucking vampire," Jack barked, his eyes also on the door as my dad stepped in.

"Not sure I like him for you, sweetheart." Dad smiled. My eyes stung as I held back my tears. My dad looked the same, except for a few grey hairs at the sides of his dark hair. His eyes were still the same, only sadder. He gave me a chin lift before adding, "Get dressed, honey, and then we'll talk. Yeah?"

Nodding, I waited for Jack and Dad to leave before moving to my drawers. I took a quick shower to wake me up more and to think over what Isaac had said.

However, before anything could run through my head, a certain name popped into it.

Kalvin.

He was a werecat. He was like me and he was… mouth-watering. I wanted to talk to him, get to know him. To see if he knew his family, if they were still around. A blush rose to my cheeks at the thought of us in our cat form rolling, playing and enjoying each other. Only to slip back into our human form to finish the fun in a different way.

No.

The image fled my mind and another appeared. Of Isaac naked on top of me in bed. This picture was powerful. A fierce bolt of desire shot through me. Always for Isaac. I moaned, my hand running lower on my stomach as I pictured him entering me slowly.

"Leila," Jezanna called with an urgent tone. I shut off the shower, wrapped a towel around me and went over to open the bathroom door.

"Is everything okay?"

She blushed. "I'm not sure, um, what it is you're doing, but you need to stop. Both Isaac and the werecat can…" She coughed. "Can feel your arousal and they're ready to kill each other because they sense it's over both of them."

Now it was my face to flush beet-red. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I slowly died of embarrassment.

"Are you serious?"

She giggled. "Quite."

"Oh, my God, Jezza. Get them out of the house. How in the hell did they know I was thinking of them both?" I whispered.

She bit her bottom lip before answering, "It seems you somehow projected some thoughts into their minds."

"No," I gasped, shaking my head. Slamming an extra shield into place in my mind, I prayed everything in there was locked tight. The only answer I had was because I'd passed out my shields weren't working and I'd let them slip after I'd woke. "Won't happen again," I said. I couldn't be thinking of them that way anyway. I had enough to sort out with my uncle and dad.

Stupid sexy men and crazy hormones.

"Can you get rid of everyone? I want to talk to my uncle and dad alone." She nodded. I reached out to grab her wrist. "I don't want you to go though. Please, don't ever think that."

"I'm always here for you." She smiled.

After she walked down the hall, I ran across it to my bedroom. My door wasn't fixed, so I dressed quickly, pulling on my jeans and a tee. My temperature seemed to be running hotter than normal.

By the time I walked down the hall and into the living room, there was no one there. Voices came from the kitchen, so I headed there and found my uncle, Dad, Jezanna and Jeremiah sitting around the table.

Glancing to the back door, I saw it was fixed. I went to take a seat next to Jack when Dad suddenly stood.

"Don't I get a hug?" His arms went wide. For a second, I paused. I didn't really know the man any longer. He didn't know me. He'd left me.

His smile faltered. He nodded to himself. "I understand," he whispered. "I'll regret the day for the rest of my life for leaving you, Leila," he said to the floor.

I hated he was hurting. I had to understand, like another man in my life, he'd left me to protect me in some way.

No matter how much it had hurt.

Taking the distance, I stepped in front of him and buried my face into his shoulder, my arms looping around his waist. He uttered a noise in the back of his throat as his arm wound around my shoulders. "You've grown so much and into such a beautiful woman," he whispered.

"Dad," I choked.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. So very sorry for leaving you."

Pulling back, I offered him a small smile. "I wasn't alone, not really. I had my boof-head, annoying uncle with me."

He chuckled.

"Hey," Jack snapped and then gave me a wink. "Come on, kid. Sit, we have so much to talk about."

Giving Dad one last squeeze, I went and sat next to Jeremiah. He bumped my shoulder with his, offering his support in his own way.

"You smell different," he whispered. My head jerked back at his statement. I hadn't done anything different. Therefore, I sniffed my underarm. Nope, I wasn't stinky. I shrugged it off and focused on Jack who'd just cleared his throat.

"I should be angry with you," I said before he had the chance to talk.

"What? Why?"

"For hiding things from me."

He snorted. "I could say the same thing to you. Your dad didn't even tell me you're a werecat. I found out the hard way when you were sixteen and I caught you leaving the house with a blanket wrapped around you. I nearly freaked when I saw you on your hands and knees and then from under the blanket crawled a bloody large cat." He whistled low. "That was when I called your dad to confirm it. Always knew you were different, didn't know how though." He reached over and shoved my shoulder. "Shoulda told me, kid."

Biting my quivering bottom lip, I nodded, shrugged and then admitted, "I was worried you'd leave if you knew."

He nodded solemnly. "I guessed that, which was why I didn't confront you about it. Wished I had though, 'cause then I could have shown you I,"—he cleared his throat—"I care for ya no matter. Work got in the way for you to really see it though."

"Things will be different now."

"They will, kid, for the better too."

The emotional words shared were getting to me, so I sniffed and then asked, "Did you know who Isaac was before you saw him here?"

"It's my job to know what shows up in these parts of town."

"Why didn't you tell me you were a hunter?" I knew it was selfish in asking it, because I hadn't also shared. Regret singed my mind.

"I hinted in a roundabout way I was a hunter." He shrugged.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "A bounty hunter."

"What was I thinking leaving you two together?" Dad sighed. "You're both as bad as each other with all the bickering."

He was right and I realised I liked arguing with my uncle; it was our way of showing we cared.

"What was the real reason you left?" I asked my father, deferring my questions to him instead of Jack.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to protect you."

Groaning loudly, I stood, anger boiled once again. "Protect me?" I threw my hands up in the air. "Jesus Christ."

"Kid," Jack scolded.

"No. That's all everyone wants to do is protect me, but none of you get it. All it's ever done is hurt me in the end. For God's sake, I'm more than capable of protecting myself. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to save Isaac's family by tearing out a throat and getting the jump on Mervin. I wouldn't have been able to kill those rogue vampires if I can't fucking protect myself," I yelled. "You all need to learn to work with me, instead of trying to stuff me in cotton wool. Does anyone consider I want to help to protect you
all
?" I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.

Every single one of them had hurt me. Dad leaving. Jack never being around, and Isaac… All of it, because they thought they were protecting me.

I'd had enough.

"You all need to decide now to either stand at my side while we fight what's coming or leave me to it. I'm not running and I'm not standing back while everyone else joins the battle. I'm sick and tired of people trying to protect me," I snapped. My chest heaved, my hands screwing up into fists. I wanted to punch someone.

Jack stood with his hands on his hips. "What do you mean you goddamn tore out a throat and killed rogue vampires? Why haven't I been told this? What in the hell were you thinking?"