by E. J. King
Whatever he had been trying to say, I had ruined with my typical cavalier attitude. If I was going to get him to open up again, I needed to make an intimate gesture of my own.
“Look, Rafe. I’m not good at relationship stuff. You know that. I’m emotionally stunted.” I inched closer and rested my chin on his chest. “But I do love you, and I love these moments, too.”
“Why?”
“Because you see me, all of me, exactly as I am. And it doesn’t scare you, doesn’t chase you away. Even when I’m flippantly brushing aside your sweet comments, you just smile and call me out on my bullshit and you never leave.”
“You’re going to have to do a lot worse than make stupid jokes to get me to leave.” Rafe finally smiled. “Especially if you keep doing that other thing with your tongue.”
I poked him again. “Now who’s making stupid jokes to avoid a serious conversation?”
“What can I say, I got tired of being the female in this relationship.”
Rafe’s arms went around me, pulling me against him, and there was no denying that he was all male. I was so distracted by that thought, I missed the fact that he hadn’t even finished what he had really been trying to tell me.
It wasn’t until after round two, when Rafe had gone back downstairs to check on Hope, that I started to wonder about what he had been trying to say about me letting him inside. But by then I was too tired to give it much thought before I drifted off to sleep. A few hours later, I opened my eyes and Rafe was back, breathing deeply next to me. He didn’t even flinch when I climbed over him to get out of the bed.
The house was quiet as I snuck downstairs. Everyone must’ve been trying to get a few hours of sleep before the sun came up. At least that’s what I thought, but then I found Lincoln already making breakfast in the kitchen.
“Oh. You’re up.” I was busted.
“You, too.” He eyed me knowingly. “Hopefully you managed to get some sleep.”
“A little.” Coffee was a good distraction and I made myself busy filling a large mug. “How about you?”
Lincoln shrugged and turned back to the stove. “I slept for about an hour. Hope had a pretty rough night from the sounds of it.”
Right now, no noise came from Hope’s bedroom. She must’ve finally collapsed from exhaustion.
“What are we going to do about her, Link?” It was the thing no one wanted to mention around me, but we had to make a decision.
There was no cure once you were turned. If you were able to resist human blood during the transition, you could prevent yourself from becoming a Dark Soul. Rafe had successfully done that exact thing. But Hope had already attacked someone; she had completed the transition. In all the years my family had been hunting Souls, no one had ever found a cure. She was a lost cause.
“We have some time, Kale. She’s tied up for now.” Lincoln scooped some eggs and bacon on a plate and handed it to me. “I’ll call some of Mom and Dad’s old friends. Maybe someone will know something.”
I pulled a stool up to the kitchen island and ate hungrily. Lincoln was a surprisingly good cook.
“If there was a cure for vampirism, we would already know about it.” I was in a sour mood, but the bacon was helping.
“Would we? We didn’t know about the Lost Souls until recently. It seems like our parents kept things from us, so maybe there’s more that we don’t know.”
“Your parents,” I corrected him.
Lincoln’s head snapped back. “They were your parents, too, Kaylie. No matter what the blood test results might show.”
It was no use arguing with my brother. I knew that technically, he was right. Our mom and dad had raised me as their own from the very beginning. But now that I knew the truth, that my real father had been our dad’s brother, everything just seemed different.
“And at least now we know where you got that crazy red hair,” Lincoln added, doing his best to get me to smile. It worked.
“At least I didn’t get Mom’s scary looking troll feet.”
“My feet are perfect.” Lincoln’s face went from joking to serious in one second. “Hey.”
Somehow Rafe had managed to make an appearance yet again without me noticing. He nodded at Lincoln and reached around me to get the coffee pot. I noticed that Lincoln tensed, never taking his eyes away from Rafe.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked, ignoring the awkwardness of the moment.
“I’ve slept better,” he said. His hand moved over my thigh and he squeezed gently, sending a hot thrill through my body. “I’m going to check on Hope. Save me some bacon.”
“Not a chance.” I pointedly chomped on a piece while he glared at me.
Lincoln didn’t say a single word until Rafe was in Hope’s room with the door closed behind him.
“I still don’t like that guy.”
“I didn’t ask for your approval,” I reminded him.
He looked unconcerned. “One day you’ll learn that big brother knows best.”
“So then, what do we do about Hope?” I challenged.
Lincoln slipped his phone from his back pocket. “I think I know someone that might be able to help.”
“Who?”
“A friend.” He held up a hand to stop my inevitable remark. “Yes, I have friends. No, I didn’t pay her.”
“Her?” I waggled my eyebrows. “A girlfriend?”
“A female friend,” he corrected me. “She comes from a Moon family.”
In the Hunter world, there were two types of Hunters. One kind, like my family, hunted Souls and other monsters without discrimination. Another kind, Moon Hunters, specifically targeted monsters that spent at least part of their time as humans. These creatures became supernatural only during certain phases of the moon.
While both types of Hunters had a common goal- to fight evil and help humans- they did not always get along in the pursuit of that goal.
“How did you get involved with the Moon Hunters?”
Our parents had avoided interacting with their kind as much as possible. Dad claimed that one of them had almost gotten him killed during a hunt.
“It’s a long story. But we can trust her.” Lincoln’s cheeks flushed pink.
“She’s an ex-girlfriend, isn’t she?” I slapped a hand on the counter in front of me. “This is too good to be true. You dated a Mooner.”
Lincoln shook his head. “Don’t ever use that word again.”
“Tell me about her. What’s her name?”
“Not a chance, Kale.” He started to walk away.
“Did you looooove her?”
“Go bother your boyfriend,” he called over his shoulder. “I need to make a call.”
Laughing, I yelled, “A booty call?”
The slamming of my bedroom door was Lincoln’s answer.
CHAPTER TWO
Hope’s transition was painful to hear. She spent most of the day screaming in pain and begging Rafe for blood. After a couple of hours of listening from the other room, I finally couldn’t take it anymore. When I stepped onto the snow-covered porch, I found a despondent Ethan staring blankly at the falling powder.
“Are we having fun yet?” I asked dryly.
He looked at me in surprise, having just noticed my arrival. “I can’t imagine anything less fun than listening to Hope’s tortured cries.”
“Let’s take a walk.” I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of skidding around in the snow, but it seemed like a better option that sticking around the house.
“Alright.” Ethan got to his feet slowly, moving numbly.
“You don’t want a coat?” I had pulled on a leather jacket, hat, and gloves and I was still a little chilly. Ethan was only wearing a thin sweater.
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that would be good.”
Once he was properly attired, we started down the street. It had been snowing for hours, and it was accumulating by a magnitude. Most sane people were staying inside, taking a snow day. Nearly a foot of snow covered the sidewalk, so we
decided to walk down the middle of the plowed street instead. It wasn’t like we had to worry about traffic.
Ethan shuffled along next to me with his head down. I stole several sideways glances, wondering if I should push him to talk. Hope’s transition was hard enough for me to accept, but Ethan had been in love with her.
“Did she know?” I asked when I couldn’t take any more silence.
“Hmm?” He looked up at me in surprise, like he had forgotten I was even there.
“Did Hope know how you felt about her?”
Ethan’s jaw clenched and he looked at me with cold eyes. I had never seen him look so tortured. Usually he was quick to smile and his eyes were always warm.
“I don’t know,” he said without emotion. “We were… spending time together recently. Not quite like you and Rafe, but more than regular friendship. But neither of us talked much about what it meant.”
“Rafe used to think that you maybe had feelings for me,” I said, smiling at how wrong he had been. “He said that was why he didn’t want to tell you about us.”
This time he laughed dryly. “He was lying to you. That’s not to say I wasn’t attracted to you when we first met, but that’s only because you’re hot. It was instinct.”
“You sound like Rafe,” I said, slapping his arm. “Does this mean you aren’t crazy in love with me?”
“Sadly, no. It didn’t take a genius to see how Rafe felt about you. And how you felt about him. I quickly decided to bow out. My ego doesn’t handle rejection well.” Ethan stopped in the middle of the intersection. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s cut through campus and stop at the Lucky Lady for a drink.” I patted my pocket. “I have the key. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”
“Getting wasted actually sounds like a really good idea right now.” Ethan shoved his hands into his pocket and his breath puffed in front of him as he sighed. “Maybe the booze will help drown out the thoughts in my head.’
Campus was nearly deserted. Students were choosing to stay inside rather than battle the giant snowdrifts. Ethan and I walked arm-in-arm, helping each other trudge along without falling. Admittedly, it was more for my benefit than his.
As we slipped along, the snow continued to fall in large, soft flakes. Under other circumstances, I might have stopped to enjoy it. But Ethan had his eye on the prize and he was pulling me along at a steady clip.
The Lucky Lady parking lot was empty and the street in front had yet to be cleared. We didn’t have to worry about anyone interrupting our plans. My hands were shaking from the cold as I unlocked the door. Despite the thorough cleaning we gave the bar every night after close, it still smelled like stale beer.
“What’s on tap?” Ethan asked, pulling up a seat at the bar.
“Forget that.” I let myself behind the bar and reached for a bottle on the top shelf. “We’re drinking the good stuff today.”
After pouring two fingers into a couple of clean glasses, Ethan and I clinked them together in a silent toast.
“That’s intense,” Ethan said, coughing.
My throat was burning too badly for me to respond. After the fire faded, I laughed and wiped tears from the corners of my eyes. “Maybe we should’ve stuck with beer.”
“Nah. We’re too classy for that.” Ethan took another sip and successfully fought off another coughing fit. “So, how’s school?”
“Wonderful. I’m going to get straight A’s on my report card.” I immediately reached for the bottle of scotch.
The truth was that I’d barely thought about school at all in the past couple of weeks. With Rafe’s near-death situation, Lincoln’s back-from-the-dead return, and Hope’s new passion for human blood, a college degree was feeling less and less important.
“So. Ethan.” I studied the rusty liquid in my glass as I carefully chose my next words. “I didn’t bring you out here to get boozy for no reason.”
“I suspected as much.” Ethan’s jaw clenched, making him look very much like his brother. Most of the time I didn’t think they looked at all alike, but my opinion changed when either of them looked angry. “This is about Rafe, isn’t it?”
“He’s getting weaker, Ethan,” I said, having a hard time keeping my emotions in check. “He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell. He’s fading.”
“We knew this was coming, Kaylie,” he said gently. “We’re lucky if we have another month with him.”
What he said was true, but I wasn’t ready to accept it. I had just gotten used to having Rafe in my life and I wasn’t ready to let go. “I think I have a way to cure him.”
“I won’t let him drain you. Even if he agrees to do it, which he never will.” This time Ethan was the one to reach for the bottle. “I know you don’t want to think about it, but you really need to start finding a way to accept the inevitable.”
I knew he was saying it for my own good, but it still stung. “I’m not convinced it’s inevitable. I found something in my research.”
“Something?”
“A loophole of sorts.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he studied me, determining whether to encourage me. “Go on.”
“My blood cures him. We already know that. Other things that I learned by reading some Hunter journals- the blood has to come directly from my vein. Blood bags won’t work. It also can’t be just some of my blood. That would just turn him.”
“None of this sounds like a cure to me.” Ethan emptied his glass with a big swallow and filled it again.
“Soul blood has healing power, right?”
“I guess.” His brow furrowed. “Except that it also turns people as it heals. That’s kind of how it works- humans drink the blood and then they die. The blood brings them back.”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Soul blood can’t turn me, Ethan. I can’t become a Soul. I already have Soul blood in me, technically, so drinking more of it won’t do anything to me. But it would still heal me.”
I could tell that he was thinking fast, trying to guess where I might be going. But I wasn’t about to slow down for him to catch up.
“If Rafe drains my blood, he’ll be cured. Then, if I get Soul blood into my system before I die, I’ll be healed and brought back. That’s our loophole.”
I was feeling very proud of myself and I looked at Ethan expecting him to be pleased. Instead, he shook his head slowly. “This is all conjecture, Kaylie. You have no idea if that will actually work.”
“It will.”
“No. You think that, but you don’t know if for sure. How do we get the Soul blood in you before you die? If we miss by one second, you die.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” I said, sticking out my chin stubbornly.
Ethan glared. “I’m not.”
“It’s not your decision to make.” I hadn’t expected him to immediately get onboard with my plan, but I was annoyed that he didn’t even consider it.
“Yes, it is. Because you clearly aren’t thinking logically right now. You need someone else to do it for you.”
“I can think just fine.” My skin was flushed and I couldn’t tell if it was from the liquor or from anger. “This isn’t some wild idea I came up with on a whim. It’s our only option.”
“It’s not an option.”
“He’s going to die!” I surprised myself with the amount of emotion in my voice. “I will not let that happen, Ethan.”
His eyes softened. “We still have some time, Kaylie. Let’s keep our options open and try to find one that doesn’t involve you potentially dying.”
It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but it was the best I was going to get. I decided to change the subject. “Lincoln thinks he knows someone that might be able to help with the Hope situation.”
“No offense, but I’m not getting my hopes up.” Ethan pushed away his glass. “I think I’ve had about two too many.”
“You and me both.” I checked the time and s
aw that we had been away for over an hour. “We should get back soon.”
“Yeah.”
“You love Hope, right?” I don’t know what made me ask again, but the words were out of my mouth before I could take them back.”
“I do.”
“And you would do anything to help her? Risk everything to keep her alive?”
Ethan blinked hard. “I would.”
“And I would help you.” I needed him to understand how I felt, needed him to support me. “I feel the same way about Rafe. I’ll do anything to save him and I need you to help me.”
It was a long time before he spoke. “Okay. I won’t let you try it until we have no other options left. But if it really is the only way, I’ll help you.”
It was a victory, but I didn’t have time to enjoy it because my phone rang, echoing loudly in the empty bar.
Hope had experienced a moment of lucidity in her transition and had given Rafe some information that we needed to hear. I promised we would make our way home and hung up.
“I wonder how she’s able to tap into her humanity,” I said as I put the scotch bottle back on the shelf. “I’ve never seen a Soul do that.”
“Me neither.” Ethan held the door open for me and we stepped outside into a winter wonderland. “Is it just me, or is it strange we’re getting so much snow this early? Usually we make it until January before the heavy snowfalls happen.”
“It’s a little strange.” Now that I thought about it, even having lived all over the country as a kid, I couldn’t remember ever getting this much snow in November. “My father used to say that strange weather phenomena are usually tied to an increase in supernatural activity.”
“I’ve heard that, too.”
I had mostly been making idle conversation, but now I wondered whether there was any truth to that lore. It was only early afternoon, but it was already starting to get dark. The evil monsters would be coming out to play soon.
We had a monster of our own waiting for us at home. Only when we stepped inside, we weren’t greeted with screams and howling. The house was oddly quiet.
“Rafe?” I called hesitantly. If Hope was sleeping, I didn’t want to wake her up.
