“Not without reason. Everything I’ve done is to protect you both and every other innocent person out there.”
I jutted out my hip. “That worked out well, didn’t it?”
Finn shook his head. “I don’t have time for this. I’m tired, and I’m covered in vermin.” He headed inside the walk-in closet, returning a few moments later with a pair of folded shorts in his hand. “I’m going to take a shower. Do you think you can manage to not do anything stupid for the next ten minutes?”
I rolled my eyes again. My brother was infuriating, and I had no plans of making it easy on him. “I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”
Heading into the bathroom, he said, “Real mature,” and closed the door behind him.
Letting out a harsh breath, I looked around his room, taking in the details for the first time since I’d entered. It was much like Kade’s, only Finn’s bed was on the opposite side… I trailed off when I spotted a picture frame beside his bedside table, displaying a photo of me he must’ve taken during one of his stalker moments.
I remembered the day it was taken. I’d been out with friends, seemingly happy.
Looks were deceiving.
That day, I had endured yet another demoralizing attack from one of my teachers, which was followed up after class by the other students who had witnessed my teacher comparing my behavior to that of Finn’s right before he supposedly joined the demonic creatures I now know he was actually fighting.
After school, I’d gone out with Ashley and a few of our friends, and I pretended not to be bothered by the constant reminder of how my older brother had succumbed to the dark side.
I was smiling in the picture, and Finn must’ve thought I was happy, but I sure as hell hadn’t been.
From the moment Finn left until the moment Mason disappeared, my life had been a lie.
I couldn’t live that way anymore.
Yet, that was the exact thing I was still doing. Going behind Finn’s back, learning from Lana, and hoping I would get my chance for redemption.
Curling my feet up on the couch, I laid my head on the cushion and closed my eyes, praying I would go to sleep and wake up in the morning to find out the last couple of days had been nothing but a bad dream.
That was never going to happen, but a girl had to hope.
Remembering I needed to meet Lana at four, I reached into my pocket for my phone, but of course, it wasn’t there.
Finn still had it.
Bastard.
Swinging myself up into a sitting position, I stood and went on a mission to find my phone. I scanned the shelves, desk, and any other flat surface to no avail. Frustration quickly creeping up, I moved onto the desk drawers, bedside drawers, under the bed, the couch, and behind the TV, but I came up empty.
Folding my hands behind my head, I turned around slowly, trying to think like Finn. “Where would an obnoxious, overbearing, power-tripping brother put his sister’s phone?” I said under my breath.
The shower turned off.
Shit.
Rummaging through his room would have to wait, and I had to hope he would hand it over the next time I asked.
With my impatience getting the better of me, I knocked on the bathroom door. “Where did you hide my phone?”
Finn’s muted chuckle sounded through the door. “You never were any good at finding things.”
Breathing out harshly, I refrained from letting out a slew of profanities. “Tell me where it is.”
“Not going to happen.”
I slammed my open hand against the door. “You can’t stop me from having a phone. I’ll just buy a new one.”
He opened the door. “With what money? You had no wallet on you when we picked you up, and you know the rules about going back.”
“Oh my God,” I said through gritted teeth. “You are infuriating.”
Finn pushed past me, wearing only a pair of shorts. He’d filled out into another person since the last time I’d seen him without his shirt on. The guy was ripped, not the average teenager he’d been. “I prefer charming, caring, and protective of my baby sister.”
“I’m not a freaking baby.”
“Then stop acting like one, and maybe I’ll stop treating you like one.”
Gesturing to the photo of me beside his bed, I said, “I thought you missed me, yet you still treat me like shit.”
Darkness filled his eyes as he looked at the photo. A moment later, the darkness was gone, as was his smug attitude, replaced with the kindness he’d shown me when I was stuck in jail. “I did miss you.”
“Then why are you fighting me on everything I do or want to do?”
His shoulders slumped in defeat. “Because you have no idea what you’re getting into, and I…”
“You what?” I prodded, hoping I was finally getting through to him.
Finn eased himself down on the foot of the bed. “I don’t want to lose you again just after I got you back.”
I wasn’t expecting that, and it cut deep to my heart.
Who knew my ass of a brother cared that much?
Releasing all the anger that had been twisting my muscles into knots, I sat next to him. “The only way you’ll lose me again is if you keep pushing me away, which if you need me to tell you, is exactly what you are doing by being such a jerk.”
He sighed. “I know I can be a tad overprotective—”
I barked out a laugh. “A tad? How about insanely overprotective?”
“We’ll agree to disagree on that one.”
My eyes widened. “I hate to think what you’ve been holding back on.” When he opened his mouth, I quickly added, “I don’t want to know. Can you just agree to stop sheltering me from the life you’ve brought me into? Tell me what I need to know about this place, who I need to watch out for, and for the love of God, give me a chance to do what I want.”
“Become a hunter?”
I nodded. “I know you think I don’t have it in me, but you haven’t even let me try. And I’m not saying I expect to go with you guys the next time you’re called out. I’m only asking you to give me a chance. For all you know, I could be the best damn hunter this world has ever seen.”
He barked out a laugh. “I highly doubt that.” He wobbled my nonexistent bicep that looked more like pins compared to his guns.
“Then what do you have to lose by letting me try? The worst case is that I waste my time and get fit in the process. Plus, it’ll help me to be able to protect myself from any human guys should they think to take advantage of me,” I said, trying to appeal to his protective instincts.
Finn thought about it for a few moments before nodding. “As long as you do it in your spare time and it doesn’t get in the way of your work.”
I frowned. “What work? You can’t seriously expect me to finish school via some online school.”
He laughed. “No, Kali. You start as a dish pig in the morning.”
I gulped. “What is that?”
“You’re going to be a kitchen hand.”
My eyes flared with anger, which garnered a laugh from Finn. “I am not doing some dumb kitchen job while Mason is out there.”
“Oh, come on,” he teased. “Feeding and cleaning up after the hunters is an integral part of the team.”
I glared at him. “I am not cooking or cleaning up after anyone.”
He smiled. “Good. Because you’re on inventory.”
15
I had no idea what inventory entailed, but it sure as hell sounded better than working in the kitchen away from all the intel.
No matter how much Finn reassured me we still had time to rescue Mason, I couldn’t suppress the niggling feeling that Mason was in danger. He had the markers of holding the cure, and there was no way that wouldn’t be without risk.
Lying on my back on the couch, I briefly wished I had taken Finn up on his offer of the bed and had to remind myself why I’d opted for the sofa where I was sure to end up with a crick in my neck or back. But it was the unco
mfortableness of the couch that was going to be my alarm clock. Finn still wouldn’t hand over my phone, and I needed to be able to sneak out at four in the morning without waking him.
Except, I wasn’t sure I was going to get any sleep at all.
After tossing and turning for what seemed like two hours, I ripped the blanket off me and decided to go for a walk to get my mind off things.
Despite the cool air conditioning, my skin was coated in a thin layer of sweat. I wasn’t sure if I were coming down with something or I had a serious case of the nerves about what I planned to do.
Maybe it was both.
Hoping Finn wouldn’t wake before I got back, I briefly checked to make sure he was sound asleep. Then I made my way into the hall, closing the door as quietly as I could behind me.
Having a pretty good idea of the basic layout of the place, I made my way down the stairs and headed into the kitchen to find something to drink. I still wasn’t hungry, which made me wonder if I really was coming down with something.
Pushing the doors open, I was glad to find I was alone. The last thing I needed was someone running back to Finn, telling him of my nightly escape. He had no idea of the sleepless nights I’d endured since he left. He still remembered me as the bratty twelve-year-old with nothing to worry about other than what I was going to wear that day or who was dating whom.
Times had changed.
Sneaking into the kitchen, I opened the industrial-size refrigerator, grabbed orange juice off the shelf, placing it on the pristine stone bench top, and went in search of a glass.
“What are you doing?” a voice said from behind me, almost giving me a heart attack.
Whipping my head around, I sucked in a sharp breath as Max stood a few yards away, leaning against the entrance to the kitchen, bare chested with a shirt hung over his shoulder, revealing just how far those scars of his went. Whatever had happened to him must have almost killed him. By the looks of it, he was lucky to have survived such butchery.
He took a couple of steps closer, his steely gaze remaining locked on me. “I asked, what are you doing?”
“Um…” I pointed out the juice, trying to stop my hands from shaking as my nerves threatened to get the better of me. “Just looking for a glass.”
“And you think you have the right to use these facilities as your own?” He took another step closer.
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, reminding me just how scared shitless I was of this guy. I could still feel his grip around my throat, prepared to squeeze the life out of me. But I couldn’t let him see how much he intimidated me.
Finding what little backbone I had left, I said, “What are you doing here if we shouldn’t be here?”
“There is no we, and there never will be. You shouldn’t be here. They should’ve killed you...” His gaze drifted over me in disgust. “Whatever the hell you are.”
He had absolutely no empathy and didn’t care that I had passed their vampire test. “You’ve already made up your mind about me, so there’s nothing I can say that wouldn’t end with you telling me to go die. Why don’t we do us both a favor and stay out of each other’s way?”
He folded his arms across his broad chest. “As long as you’re here, you’re in my way.”
I held my hands out to my sides. “Why don’t you kill me then?” I had no idea where that had come from, and I regretted it the second it left my lips.
With bated breath I waited for his response—or for his hands to wrap around my neck and snap it like a twig. There was no way I could fight back against this guy.
And he knew it.
He smirked. “Watch your back, because I might take you up on your offer, and you won’t have anyone there to save you.”
I drew my brows together, and a second later, Lana walked into the mess hall, completely oblivious to the threat she’d stopped.
Max turned and strode out of the kitchen, passing Lana. He gave her a brief greeting then continued on his way.
Spotting me, she stopped in her tracks. “What are you doing here? We’re not supposed to meet for another hour.”
“Getting some orange juice and looking for a glass,” I replied. “Am I not supposed to be in here?”
“You can be in here,” she said matter-of-factly. “I just pictured you’d be a late sleeper. Plus, finding you in here with Max after everything he’s been through and what you did is a little surprising.”
Drawing my brows together, I asked, “How so?”
Lana made her way over to the cupboards to the left of the fridge, pulled out a glass, and handed it to me. “Your brother didn’t tell you how Max got those scars?”
I shook my head as I poured the juice into the glass.
Lana opened the fridge, pulled out a container filled with various chopped fruits, and placed it on the bench next to the processor. “Your brother found Max being chomped on by the vamps, saved his ass, and brought him here. He was the offering to the fledglings and barely survived.”
My eyes widened, and my heart sunk as what she said sunk in. “Holy shit.”
“I’m not sure why no one told you that.”
“They said it wasn’t their place to tell.” I barely registered what I was saying. I was too caught up in the fact that I had been one of the fledglings and was not only prepared to drink from the offering, but I’d actually followed through.
I felt sick just thinking about what he must’ve gone through and how easily I’d been prepared to do the same to someone else. He must’ve been savagely drained of almost all of his life if the scars were anything to go by.
No wonder the guy hated me.
16
Guilt for what I’d done and the destruction I could’ve caused ate away at me as I leaned my ass against the kitchen bench, sipping on orange juice. Also, the fact that I still didn’t regret my actions didn’t help, which said something about my genetic makeup that I wasn’t sure I liked.
The woman who’d been offered to me just as easily could’ve been someone I knew or cared about, but I’d barely looked at her. I’d been too focused on the vampire woman and her alluring ways. She was evil, and as much as I hated to acknowledge it, I’d been drawn to her.
“You shouldn’t be drinking that before a workout,” Lana said, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Huh?” I looked up at her.
She was standing with one hand on top of the blender and the other hovering above the pulse button. “There’s too much sugar in oranges, and there are approximately four oranges in that glass, which means you’re consuming approximately thirty-six grams of sugar.” She cocked her hip to the side. “Whereas, if you drank that after our training, your body would easily process the sugars, thus helping to keep your body in premium form.”
I raised my brows, unsure of what to say to that.
“You’re looking at me weirdly,” she said, frowning.
“Umm…” I still had no idea what to say. “Okay,” I dragged.
Drawing her brows together, she studied me. “I’ve done it again, haven’t I?”
“Done what?”
She sighed. “I tend to overstep the lines of what is and isn’t my business. I don’t have a filter.”
“At least I’ll know what you’re really thinking.” In a place where everyone seemed to have so many secrets, having someone give it to me like it was, was a welcome change. I may not like everything that came out of her mouth, but I could count on her to tell me the truth.
She turned on the blender, drowning my thoughts in the noise as the ingredients turned into a green sloppy mess that looked as if a cow had thrown up in it.
A few seconds later, she stopped the blender and poured the vomit-inducing mixture into a glass. “Want some?”
I violently shook my head.
Lana laughed. “You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”
I wanted it to stay that way.
“That doesn’t go there,” Lana said as I placed the empty glass in the si
nk. “You need to put it into the washer, or Jacinta will have a fit.
“She runs the kitchen?” I asked, raising the glass out of the sink.
Lana nodded. “Jacinta runs it like a warden. You need to follow the rules or starve.”
“Good to know.” I gestured to the glass. “Where’s the dishwasher?”
Lana downed her glass and held her hand out for mine. “I’ll take it for you.”
“Thanks.” I handed it to her.
She put them both into the dishwasher then came back to the blender for the jug. “I know it’s earlier than planned, but did you want to get a head start on your training?” She rinsed the jug and popped it into the dishwasher.
“That would be great.”
We made our way out of the mess hall and headed toward the gym, guided by the night-lights softly illuminating the halls.
“You know, it’s nice to finally have someone around here who’s not intimidated by me or my family,” Lana said. “Or who doesn’t think I’m a judgmental weirdo.”
I wasn’t sure what I thought of Lana, and hearing her say those things made me wonder what I was getting myself into. Then again, I knew from personal experience that people regularly came to the wrong conclusion about people they knew nothing about.
I hoped that was applicable in Lana’s case as well. Otherwise, I was down to zero friends, a brother who didn’t want me here, his best friend who treated me like a little sister, and a guy who hated the very thought of me. But it was more than that.
Max loathed everything about me.
What I stood for.
The person I was.
The core of who I was.
A shiver ran up my spine as I once again thought about the way he looked at me.
I didn’t blame him. I couldn’t. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to change his mind about me.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Lana said.
Who says that these days? Hiding my reaction to her choice of words, I said, “Just thinking about how long it will take me to get up to hunter material.”
Lana placed her hand on the door to the gym. “If the others are anything to go by, you’ll be ready in about six months to a year.”
Shadow Realms Page 8
