Typhoon

by Wylder, Jasmine

  Just as Roxy had opened her mouth, Mia’s phone rang. She flinched at the sound since it had heralded nothing but intense work, exhaustion, and confusion these past few days. When Mia checked it, she saw that it was Typhoon calling her. The air whooshed from her lungs, and she stared uncertainly at the phone.

  “Did Typhoon do something?” Roxy asked, glaring at the phone.

  Mia stood. “I don’t know. I…I have to take this.”

  She hurriedly left the room, knowing that Roxy’s sharp ears would pick up the conversation even if Mia wore earbuds. She managed to answer just before it went to voicemail, and took a deep breath before putting the phone to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey.” Typhoon sounded cautious and uncertain. “I wasn’t sure you'd answer.”

  “I wasn’t sure either.”

  There was a beat of silence. “Can we talk? In person? There’s just a lot…I don’t think going over it all on the phone is going to really work.”

  He had a point there. There was no telling who might hear the conversation while they were on the phone. Besides that, she needed to see his face to know if he was telling the truth. In any case, she needed answers. Even if the thought of going to Typhoon and finding out he was in league with the vampires was terrifying, she needed answers. Not just to know what he was, but for Jasper. She had a responsibility to her son, and she had to know if she was going to handle this properly.

  “We can meet,” she said slowly. “I’ll see you back at the clinic.”

  “Thank you,” Typhoon breathed, and then he hung up.

  Chapter Ten

  Typhoon

  What was worse: ending up in a state where he could hurt Mia while she tried to help him, or relying on his father for protection? He didn’t remember much about drinking from her, only the hot blood on his tongue and the desperation to stop but the inability to do so. Typhoon had never before been at a point where he'd been too injured to control the vampire urges.

  “Is it always like that?” he rasped.

  His father stood nearby, staring at a blank wall while emotion warred on his face. “No. That was an extreme reaction.”

  Typhoon turned his face away, ashamed of his entire existence. What right did he have to live if he would one day end up like his father, killing the people closest to him?

  “It’s not your fault, Robby. You've never gone into bloodlust before. There are always measures that can be taken to prevent it in the future. I’m certain your mate will understand.”

  But Mia wasn’t his mate, was she? They'd been brought together through a series of random circumstances and nothing more. And yet the memory of her turning away from him made his stomach cramp. Maybe it was because out of everyone he knew, she was the only one with whom he could relax. She was the only person he knew for certain wouldn't turn around and stab him in the back. He knew that if Mia rejected him, there was nobody left to accept him.

  Well, maybe not nobody. He snuck a look at his father whose face was still blank. “How did you know where to find me?”

  “I didn’t. I heard a commotion and decided to check it out. When I saw those men beating on you…” Anger flashed over his father’s face. “Vampires aren’t the only ones who suffer from bloodlust.”

  “It’s not the same.” Typhoon glanced away. Shifters had their berserkers, people who ended up so deep in fighting mode, they could turn against their own mates. Thunder’s sister, Shadow, had seen such a condition, but nobody ever said she should be put down over it. “It’s not the same.”

  His father turned to him, face resolute but also full of grief. “I know that it’s different for you, but you have to know, Robby: I love you. I will always be here for you, no matter what. Even if you can never forgive me, I understand, and I will be here whenever you need me.”

  Typhoon shook his head. This time he didn’t correct his father when he called him by the wrong name. His heart clenched when he thought about what it must have been like for him to awake from his hunger for blood to find the woman he loved, dead by his own hand.

  “Did you love her?” Typhoon asked hoarsely.

  His father didn’t hesitate to answer. “With all my heart. If it weren't for you, knowing I had to look after you the best I could, I would have ended myself after her death. Every day I think—”

  “She loved you.” Typhoon blinked back tears.

  “I know. I wish she hadn’t. Maybe then…”

  A car pulled into the clinic’s parking lot. It was Mia. Typhoon took a deep breath, trying to calm the clenching in his stomach. She got out of the car looking grim and determined, and Typhoon got to his feet. He’d never spent much time in waiting rooms before, but this past hour was almost more than he could take. He briefly wondered if she'd brought Jasper with her but dismissed it. She wouldn’t bring her baby into a situation where he might end up hurt.

  Mia marched into the clinic and stood by the door, her gaze sweeping from him to his father. Her jaw tightened, and he saw the faintest of stripes appearing on her skin; she was keeping her tiger close to the surface. For a moment, Typhoon was disappointed she'd come to the meeting expecting the worst, but he really couldn’t blame her. How was she supposed to trust them when it came to vampires?

  Typhoon turned to his father. “You should probably leave. Give the two of us a chance to talk on our own. Just stay out of sight and don’t go too far. If anybody finds you here—”

  “I know. I am well aware of the Brotherhood’s policies toward vampires.” There was no condemnation in his voice, but Typhoon flinched anyway.

  He wished Twister had been right, and not for the first time. If there was another way, then perhaps things could be better for everybody, but there wasn’t another way, was there? There were just too many vampires who didn’t want change. Those that did were just as likely to be murdered by the Brotherhood as they were by the zealots in their covens and kingdoms.

  The status quo was the status quo for a reason.

  Mia edged backward as Typhoon’s father headed for the door. He paused to look at her before glancing back at Typhoon and sighing.

  “You should know that he didn’t want to come here. He would have rather died than put you and your son in danger.”

  Mia flinched, but she didn’t speak until the vampire was gone. When she did, she turned an accusing glare on Typhoon. “So, who exactly was that, and why does he care about you?”

  Now, it was Typhoon’s turn to flinch. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. There was no easy way to say it. Any of it. “He’s my father.”

  Disbelief colored her face.

  “I know what it sounds like,” he hurried to say, “but it’s true: he’s my father. I’m a shifter, but I also have…vampire in me. I’m a hybrid. It’s why I’m…the way I am. Bigger. Stronger. I know it sounds impossible, but—”

  “There have been attempts to create vampire-shifter hybrids in the past. So what? You’re the result of some sort of…experiment?” Mia folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.

  “No, it's not like that.” His shoulders sagged and he slumped into a chair. He felt so very tired—who wouldn't after being beaten to within an inch of his life, his vampire side bursting out in full bloodlust, and all the time it took for him to heal. His gut still ached, even if he had healed faster than any regular shifter could. “My parents didn’t mean to have me. They didn’t know it could happen.”

  “Then what happened? How were you born?”

  Typhoon rubbed his neck. “My mother met my father when she was quite young. Something crazy, like eighteen. She used to say that she knew he was the one for her the moment she laid eyes on him. She chased him for years, apparently, while he tried to discourage her attention. Eventually, she ended up witnessing the Brotherhood attacking his coven. He managed to escape, and she hid him. Fed him her blood, though they were careful that he never actually bit her. She fell deeper in love and eventually, he returned the feelings.”
/>
  Mia inched forward, hesitant belief warring with distrust on her face. “And since she was feeding him her blood, he was more human than he otherwise would have been, allowing him to get her pregnant.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And then what?”

  “Mom never talked about those times. She said that her pregnancy accelerated faster than was normal—she was full-term in something like a month. Then I was born.

  "The vampire in me was clear.

  "My father took off. He couldn’t be with us, not when the Brotherhood was around. The few visits he made while growing up put us in danger. At least, that’s what he claimed. I know the Brotherhood would have killed all of us if they found us, but why stay in a city run by the Brotherhood if that was the case?”

  They both fell silent for a moment. Typhoon stared ahead, watching the sun dance patterns in the shadows coming through the tree leaves outside. There wasn’t much else he could tell her about the history between her parents. Well, there was the big part. He sucked in a deep breath, preparing to tell her about how his mother had died.

  “Your mother’s pregnancy only lasted a month, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So…how long did it take for you to grow to maturity?”

  Typhoon shifted, suddenly embarrassed. “Uh…well, it was only a year.”

  Mia turned disbelieving eyes on him. “So you’re what—ten years old?”

  Her tone, disgusted, brought his hackles up. “My chronological age is irrelevant. I am a full adult, both mentally and physically. I have been since I was one year old,” he added, hoping to lighten the mood a little. It fell flat, so he pushed ahead. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to leave the Savage Brotherhood.”

  She didn’t look uncertain, but she nodded slowly. Mia would accept it—at least for now.

  “My mother—”

  “When you drank my blood, you didn’t poison me.” She clasped her hands over her knees. Her gaze was steely.

  Typhoon hesitated a moment before nodding at her to continue. If she wanted to control how the conversation, he wasn’t going to stop her. Not in this case, at least. He needed her to stay and listen to him until he'd convinced her to keep his secret. If he pushed, she was bound to leave, and he’d have lost his chance. He’d have to go on the run, just to survive. Finding a place where the Savage Brotherhood didn’t yet have a chapter wasn't likely to be enough, either.

  He’d be hunted down.

  “So, even with your…full vampire side coming out, you don’t have any venom?”

  Typhoon shook his head. “No. I think it’s because I'm a hybrid. I guess you could say I’m sterile—at least, the vampire side of me is.”

  “Is that normal?” Her voice pitched, her eyes grew brighter, and her hands clasped tighter.

  Ah. So they were getting to the part with which she was most concerned. “I don’t know. I’m the only hybrid I know of.”

  “So, you don’t have any siblings?”

  “No. My mother…she died when I was in the equivalence of my teens.”

  Mia stared at him for a moment before she nodded. Her shoulders hitched as she took in a deep breath. Deeper than necessary, really. “So, what does that mean for Jasper?”

  Typhoon wanted to reassure her. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine and that she didn’t have anything to worry about. He wanted that fear in her eyes to disperse. He wanted her to smile at him again. He wanted her to be the self-assured, strong, stubborn woman he knew. He wanted to pull her into his arms and whisper that nothing was ever going to harm her baby—not as long as he was around.

  He wasn’t even certain where the desires had come from. Surely, it didn’t make that much of a difference to him whether she trusted him or not.

  “I don’t know. Like I said, I’m the only one I know of. Was your pregnancy normal?”

  Mia frowned at him, then shrugged. “Mostly, yeah. He was preterm. And he’s very small, even for his age. He's more developed in other ways, though. He seems…smarter. It’s not like he’s crawling or anything yet, but he does seem to be developing mentally much quicker than the average shifter-child.”

  Typhoon nodded. “But he’s not growing faster?”

  “Not that I've noticed.”

  “Good.” He leaned back and let out a deep sigh. “Maybe, since you’re a shifter and the vampire part of me is so repressed…Are there tests we can do? To see how much of that part he inherited? Maybe see if he inherited it at all?”

  Mia shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t had a lot of time to wrap my head around it, so I can’t say for certain.

  "What happened to you not wanting to be a father?”

  “It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?’ Typhoon hid his face in his hands for a moment, struggling to put his thoughts in order. “I’ve always been cautious. I never wanted this…whatever I am to be passed on to a child. I never thought it would be fair to them, and quite frankly, I don’t know if I ever had the chance to decide for myself if I even wanted to be a father, but the fact is: Jasper is mine…if you’re certain?”

  He looked up at her hopefully. Maybe she’d take it back.

  Mia stared at him, trembling. She nodded. “You’re the only one who could be his father, but that doesn’t make him yours.”

  Typhoon took a moment to accept that before continuing. “I am his father, and that means he may have inherited parts of me. I can’t just ignore that, but I also won’t force my presence on you if you don’t want me around. I just…I just ask that you not tell anybody, because if they knew—"

  “If they knew, Jasper’s life would be in danger.” Mia’s eyes flashed as she stood. “I’m not letting anything happen to my son, Typhoon…or should I start calling you Robby?”

  He blinked in surprise. The words and the tone just didn’t match up. He opened his mouth, closed it, then shook his head. “My name’s Typhoon. My mother used to call me Robby, but I haven’t been him for a long time.” He took a moment to study her. She'd begun to relax, which he took as a hopeful sign. "That leaves us," he said. It was, of course, the most difficult part of the conversation.

  “Us,” Mia repeated.

  “Yeah, us.”

  “Is there an us?”

  Typhoon shrugged. “Well, we are married. We do have a kid together. As crazy as all this is, it’s something we have to figure out, isn’t it?”

  “Is it?” Mia’s gaze closed off. “Or is it one of those things that would be better off ignored?

  "We had sex. I got pregnant. We got married because you were worried I'd been forced into the auction. Now we have this huge secret that could potentially ruin both of our lives. If you think we have to be together—”

  “Of course, I don’t think we have to be together.”

  “Then what are you—”

  The door opened, making them both jump. Typhoon turned and opened his mouth to yell at whomever it was, but his voice died on his tongue. Blake was standing there, his gun buried in Typhoon’s father’s side. There was a bandage taped to Blake’s neck. He sneered, and he jabbed the gun deeper into his father's side.

  “Tell me, Typhoon: why would a vampire help out the Savage Brotherhood's alpha?”

  Typhoon snarled, his muscles tense.

  Blake stared at him, hard fury in his eyes. “What are you, and what do you want from us?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Mia

  As if the situation wasn’t bad enough.

  Mia tensed, backing up a little from Blake and the vampire. While Blake looked almost unhinged, halfway between gleeful and hateful, the vampire was tense, his eyes locked on Typhoon as though trying to tell him something. What that was, Mia had no idea.

  A good ten men filed into the clinic behind Blake. Mia was very aware that it was just her and Typhoon there, alone. They’d been so engrossed in their conversation, they hadn’t noticed the guys until it was too late. If it came to a fight, would she be a target? Blake had a gun, fo
r that matter; a gun! What sort of shifter brought a weapon to a fight when he had perfectly good claws?

  A shifter who doesn’t think he’ll win any other way.

  Mia opened her mouth to demand that Blake and his cronies leave, but as she did, Blake’s gaze shot to her.

  “And you: harboring a vampire, are we? What other secrets do you hold? How will the others react once they hear about this? How many of them will jump to your defense then?”

  Maybe it would be better for her—and for Jasper—if she just fell back and didn’t get involved. Her heart beat rapidly. How could she do that, though? She was a doctor. She'd sworn an oath to save lives. If she turned her back on that oath, how could she keep practicing, even if was to save her own skin?

  You wanted to quit, a small voice whispered in the back of her head.

  But she didn't, she told it. She just wanted to take care of her son.

  Typhoon shifted positions, placing himself in front of her. He lifted his hands toward Blake as though trying to placate him, but it didn’t work. Blake tensed even more, and Typhoon’s father hissed as though he was suddenly in pain. He shook his head rapidly. Blake prodded him with the gun, and he was still again. There were fury and determination in his eyes that made him look more like Typhoon’s smaller brother.

  “That vampire,” Typhoon said slowly, “is an informant of mine. He has been keeping an eye on Cromwell for me and has provided the Brotherhood with a lot of necessary information that—”

  “Liar!”

  Blake shoved Typhoon’s father across the floor. He stumbled into Typhoon, and the shifter quickly steadied him and pushed him back. Typhoon stood there, protecting both Mia and his father from Blake. She clenched her hands. There had to be something she could do, right? If they could only stop this from turning into a fight…