by Martha Woods
“Well then…” Michael pushed up onto his elbows, staring down at her with every ounce of intensity he could muster. “I love you Hayley. So, so much.”
Cupping his cheeks, she pressed another kiss to his lips, lingering softly and smiling to herself. “And I you Michael, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“How do you think our groups are going to react to it? We haven’t exactly… Been that open about everything.”
She laughed, “Michael they’re not blind, they know exactly what’s going on between us. They probably realized how we felt before we did.”
“Really?” He tilted his head in thought. “Actually, now that you say that it does explain a few things, especially some of the looks I’ve been getting from the pack.”
“Oh? Nothing bad I hope.”
“No, more like… I don’t want to say envy but… Well, envy I guess.”
“Well, lucky you then,” She said, “It’s not like I was the only available witch in the coven, they can get their own.”
“I’m sure it’s already happened, by the time we left I’m almost certain they couldn’t control themselves any longer. I’ll be shocked if they’re actually guarding each other like Liam said and not underneath the covers.”
The mood abruptly sobered, the reminder of the potential danger their groups were in putting frowns on their faces and a cloud over their good moods. “Do you think they’ll be ok?” Michael asked, “Without us to be there for them I mean.”
“We might be important to them, but they’re far from defenseless. Anyone who thinks that they’ll be an easy target just because we’re away is in for a very rude surprise.” Hayley placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping her touch would calm his nerves. “What we’re doing is important, everyone knows that. They wouldn’t want to let us down by losing a fight, would they?”
“I suppose not.” He pulled her in, chuckling against her hair, “Sorry about that, it’s just hard not to worry about them.”
“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, and nothing to worry about.” Hayley ran a hand through his hair, scratching behind his ears and laughing at his shuddering moan. “Wasn’t it you who told me that our groups were joined together now? That a link like that would make them almost unbeatable? Don’t tell me that you lost that confidence all of a sudden.”
“I guess I did say that huh? Don’t know how I could forget that, I’m usually right when it comes to how strong we are.”
“Exactly, so don’t worry.” She fisted her hand in his hair, pulling him back up and looking into his eyes. “Now, instead of worrying about this anymore, what do you say we find some… Other way to work out stress?”
He growled hungrily, hand already trailing back down her body. “I think you just read my mind...”
* * *
Leila however was in the middle of grumbling to Skylar, having been woken up from her sleep by Cassandra and Leah, saying that her daughter had something that she wanted to show her. “I don’t know what it is that couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning,” She said, “You know how rarely it is that I sleep.”
“I just realized something really important,” Skylar whispered while she pushed the door to her room open. “Even though we’ve been here for a week now, I never introduced you to one of the most important people in my life.”
She pointed across the room to the chair in the corner, where Liam was sitting cradling Abigail in his arms. He looked up, putting his finger to his lips and shushing gently, beckoning them over softly. “She’s still asleep...”
Skylar and Leila approached him slowly, footsteps light against the carpet as they stepped closer. Little by little, her face was revealed, soft in sleep and breathing gently, her tiny legs kicking from her dreams. Leila marveled at the sight, having seen her around the group but never being formally introduced, never seeing her in a moment of complete peace like this before.
“She’s beautiful…” Leila reached out, pulling her hand back at the last moment. “Can… Can I touch her?”
“Of course,” Skylar said, “She’s your granddaughter after all.”
“My granddaughter…” She said the words with sheer revenance, reaching out gently to take her in her hands. Abigail weighed so little, yet she was the most precious thing she had ever held in her life. She wasn’t disturbed at all when she was handed from Liam’s arms to Leila’s, her tiny chest rising and falling softly with gentle breaths.
“My god…” Leila smiled, speaking quietly, “I can’t believe you made something so precious… I can’t believe I’m here to see it.”
“But you are.” Skylar stepped closer to her, wrapping an arm around her side and holding her close. “Despite everything, despite what you’ve faced and what you’ve done, you’re here with your daughter holding the next generation of your family. That’s amazing, don’t you think?”
“It is. I’m not sure that I deserve this if I’m being honest, not after the life I’ve led.” Leila chuckled, “But I’m not going to say no to a chance like this, I always wondered how long my family would last. It’s nice to see a generation with parents that aren’t criminals.”
“Well, I’m not sure what we’re doing now is completely legal…” Liam shrugged. “Actually, you know what? I’m not going to ruin the moment.”
“I guess we’re destined to not be upstanding citizens then,” Leila cooed, rubbing Abigail’s nose. “That doesn’t make us bad parents though, does it?”
“No, no it doesn’t.”
Liam and Skylar held Leila close, looking down at their daughter together. “Welcome to the family Leila.”
* * *
After a few days of being unconscious, Claire just couldn’t find it in herself to sleep any longer. Not for lack of trying of course, but every time she closed her eyes she found herself opening them again a few minutes later, the stitches in her stomach the only thing stopping her from tossing restlessly.
Well, that and the vampire that had spent hours watching over her without so much as blinking.
“You know,” She said, “This would probably be a lot more bearable for the both of us if you decided to get some sleep as well.”
“I don’t need sleep. Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you, just in case.”
“I am laying here with a hole in my stomach, in my shoulder, probably three cracked ribs and the after effects of a concussion. Oh, and despite the food that your friends gave me before, I’m still half starved.” She let her head fall back against the pillow, groaning to herself, “What the fuck will it take for you to trust me? You want me to give you my blood or something?”
“I wouldn’t say no to that, but it probably wouldn’t help you.” The vampire shrugged, looking off to the side. “I already gave people the benefit of the doubt before, and it got someone I cared about killed. I don’t want to make that mistake again, regardless of how much the others trust you.”
“You lost someone?” Iggy looked back at her, only seeing genuine curiosity on her face. “Would… Would you mind telling me about them?”
“Why? What benefit is there to doing that?”
“They were obviously important to you, if their loss is still affecting you now. I figure they deserve to be remembered by more people if they mattered that much to you.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, searching for any ulterior motive before sighing, deciding that she was being genuine in her interest. “Fine, if you’ll drop that puppy dog look you have in your eyes.”
“I do not have a puppy dog look!” She put a hand to her face, scowling at him. “I’m sorry you can’t understand someone wanting to know more about their prison guard.”
“I’m not-” He stopped, taking a few seconds to think before conceding the point. “Alright, I suppose I’m acting that way yeah. So, what did you want to know about them?”
“Well, what was their name? That’s always an important step, don’t you think?”
“Heh, suppose I deserved that.” Iggy settled back in his cha
ir, ready to delve into his past once more. “His name was Reggie, he was about… Thirtyish, I mean he looked that old, he was waaaaaaay older than that.”
“What do you me-” Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh, you mean he was a vampire like you?”
He snapped his fingers. “Look at you, I can see why you were one of Christian’s top people.”
“You know just because I’m injured doesn’t mean I won’t leap out of this bed and kick your ass. Just try and test me.”
That got a genuine laugh from him, Claire’s face lighting up in response. “There you go, it’s not that hard to drop the tough guy act around me, is it?”
He nodded, not quite able to wipe the smile from his lips. “I’ll give you a few minutes, then I’m going back to acting tough, how about that?”
“That’s acceptable.” She scooted herself up the bed, wincing when she tugged on her stitches but wanting to be in a comfortable position to listen. “So come on, keep going. I want to know more about Reggie.”
“Alright, alright. Well I’ve told Sky this before, but I was going from town to town, making my own way across the country to find somewhere I belonged, which meant that I came across a lot of hippies and bohemians. They were definitely my kind of people.”
“Yeah…” She looked him up and down, mismatched clothing that varied in fit and color combining into a look that couldn’t really be described as anything other than ‘Iggy’. “I can definitely see you getting along with those groups.”
“Anyway, I joined in a lot of parties, bonfires, things like that. Met a lot of people, hookups, party favors, things like that, just a good connection to make with someone before I moved onto the next town and the next group of people.”
“That sounds kind of lonely.” She frowned. “Not sure I could do that, spend all that time alone.”
“You don’t have to be alone to be lonely, I get the feeling that you know that pretty well.”
Claire didn’t answer, but it didn’t much matter, her silence spoke volumes. For as many empty hookups she had after missions, all the nights of wild drinking and camaraderie, she couldn’t recall a genuine moment companionship that she shared with any of the other hunters. The closest she had was her sister and Christian, and those had soured just like all the others. Maybe she was more similar to Iggy than she thought.
“I met him at one of the last parties that I would actually go to, hanging out in the back trying to avoid everyone’s gaze. Don’t know how he wasn’t surrounded by people, he just had one of those presences you know?” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Anyway, we got to talking and got out of there, I figured something interesting could happen with a guy like that. And it did, I woke up the next morning… Like this, and the rest is history.”
“And you weren’t… I dunno, angry about that? I feel like I’d be a little annoyed at someone taking me and morphing me into something completely different.”
“Well yeah, I mean I freaked out at first, he was too, but eventually I just thought, ‘Hey, things could be worse.’”
“Things could be worse?” She raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly, “You wake up with fangs and a need to drink blood, and you think that things could be worse?”
“I’m an optimist, don’t judge me. Anyway, after that I’m sure you know how it goes with vampires, he was my master so I couldn’t just abandon him, not without at least making sure that we would both be alright.”
“And how did that work out?”
“Good, at first. We went from town to town, cruising the roads and seeing the sights, doing the whole tourist bit. It was nice to not have to do it alone anymore…” His grin died, that emptiness returning to his eyes as his voice softened. “Then we made the wrong stop.”
Claire leaned forward, sensing that something very wrong was about to happen in the story, stopping just short of taking his hand as she said, “If it’s too painful you don’t have to say anything, I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“No, it’s… It’s fine. I’ve just been trying not to think about it, that’s all.” He cleared his throat, “We stopped in some Podunk town for a night to get our energy back, we’d been driving nonstop for a few days by that point. What we didn’t know was that we had passed right by a hunter outpost, and they had our number from the moment we entered town.”
“Oh no…” She closed her eyes, bowing her head in anticipation.
“Yeah, they grabbed us while we weren’t looking, they really were pretty good. Christian trained them well. When we woke up we were chained up in the outpost, and they spent the next few weeks working us both over.”
Iggy reached over to the side table, taking a drink of water to soothe his throat. He didn’t mind admitting to himself that he was stalling to prepare himself for the next part of the story.
“Eventually it was too much for Reggie and he just… Didn’t wake up. They kept him with me for a few days before they dumped him somewhere, I don’t know where. Eventually Liam and Cayden found me and that was that, I was free. But Reggie was gone, and there was nothing I could do about that.”
Claire sniffled, wiping at her eyes and brushing tears away that she hadn’t realized she had started to shed. “And you… You hadn’t even done anything? They just… Grabbed you out of nowhere for no reason at all?”
He shook his head sadly. “Nope. We were just two paranormals passing through, that was all the reason they needed. Since you left them so dramatically a few days ago, I’m guessing you found that out for yourself.”
“I just… How many people must there have been like you? How many people were just so callously killed by the people I knew, by… By me?”
“Hundreds, thousands even. I don’t know how much your group did this, but you were far from the only ones. It’s not like you knew.”
“But that’s no excuse.” She trailed off, looking up at him through bleary eyes. “Not even you think it is, do you?”
“No. No I don’t. Not knowing what something is isn’t an excuse to destroy it.” He shrugged. “Maybe I was just trying to make you feel better.”
“I don’t know why you’d do that, I’m one of the people who spent my life killing people like you, Jesus how can you even stand to look at me?” She stared at him with wide eyes. “No wonder you hate me so much, I took what was one of the worst things to happen to you and I made it my job.”
He put his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back lightly against the mattress and rolling his eyes. “Oh stop that, come on. There’s a reason that my fangs aren’t in your neck and your heart isn’t in my hands.”
“Really? What is that?”
“You’re doing something about it, you’ve realized what you were a part of and you’ve decided not to be a part of it anymore. There’s a pile of bodies out in the forest that can confess to that.” He slid his hand down her arm, ending on her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “So maybe I was being a bit too aggressive before, but I can actually see you trying to change. That means something, trust me.”
“You really think so? I just… If I had of done something sooner…”
“If you had of done something sooner maybe things would be better. Maybe if I’d been faster Reggie would still be here, but I wasn’t. There’s no point thinking about how you can change the past, only how you can change the present.”
She smiled, eyes still red but crinkling with humor. “How’d you learn to say something like that?”
“It must have been all the hippies that I was partying with, they got philosophical.” He grinned. “My point is stop beating yourself up so much, even just talking with you for twenty minutes has shown me how genuine you are about all this. If someone like me can see that then you should be able to as well.”
“Wow, you really know how to break down my world view and then put it back up again huh?” She laughed, cutting herself off when she glanced down and saw their interlinked hands. “Uh…”
Iggy blushed, quickly removing his hand from hers
and placing it in his lap. He wasn’t sure what to say either, other than meaningless stammering and murmured apologies. “I’m… sorry about that, didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything…”
“Oh no! No you didn’t I… I’m just being weird, don’t worry about me.” Claire laughed nervously, laying back down in bed and pulling the covers up. “You know I think I’m going to give sleep another go, nothing heals you better than that.”
“Yeah, yeah that’s true. I can… I can go over there if you need to sleep.” Iggy stood, freezing when she grabbed his wrist again.
“No, don’t worry. You’re… You’re fine sitting there, it doesn’t bother me.”
Slowly, he nodded, sitting back down and resuming his watch. “For the record, I don’t think you’re going to betray us anymore.”
Under the covers, Claire smiled to herself, turning over and facing the wall. “Good night Iggy.”
“Yeah… Good night Claire…”
* * *
“Idiots… Each one of them is an idiot of the highest order,” Christian muttered to himself, hands crossed behind his back as he watched the recruits training, their work ethic increasing tenfold ever since he executed their old trainer and installed a new one, but their abilities still left something to be desired.
As annoying as it was, he had to admit that fear only did so much as a teaching agent.
“You can kill someone for losing in chess, but if they didn’t know the rules to begin with all you’ve done is wasted time and a bullet.” He clicked his tongue, walking towards the nearest recruit and extending his hands. “You, you haven’t managed to hit the target yet. Give it here.”
Handing off the gun with shaking hands, the recruit bowed his head and waited for the shot. After Christian’s public execution of the instructor, he quite understandably assumed that his ticket had come up as well. What he didn’t expect was a scarred hand to strike him across the cheek and an annoyed voice to bark, “Don’t close your eyes, watch.”
Christian shouldered the rifle, firing one rapid shot after another, keeping the gun steady and the bullets slamming into the center of the target until it clicked empty. He looked at the recruit with a raised eyebrow, shoving the gun back into his arms and saying, “You need to keep a good hold on it, and stop flinching. If you flinch with every shot you’ll never hit what you were aiming at. If all of you were doing that it’s no wonder Claire managed to get away.”
