The Next Generation

by S. C. Stephens

  Still on edge, Halina snapped her head to Dad. “What of the hunter and his…son? Did you take care of them?”

  While Dad didn’t look away from Halina, it was clear by his expression that he didn’t want to answer her. He did, albeit very slowly. “I let him go.”

  Halina didn’t like Dad’s answer. Zipping over to him, she grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air with one hand. I glanced at the door, but a privacy curtain was in place and no one could see the super-human act. “He was not supposed to leave that church alive, Teren! I thought you understood that, or I wouldn’t have left you in charge!”

  Dad kicked his feet and tried to remove her fingers from his throat, but he couldn’t break free from the pissed-off pureblood. I was sure he couldn’t breathe…not that he needed to.

  “Halina! Knock it off! The children…”

  Mom indicated us watching Halina manhandle our father. Nika giggled, cooing in a sing-song voice, “Daddy’s in trouble…” Slightly buzzed by the painkillers flowing through my sister, I snorted.

  Halina reluctantly lowered our father to the floor. He backed away from her, massaging his neck. “I didn’t have a choice! He wasn’t going to let Nika go without some assurance that I would let him take his son!”

  Halina gave him a dry look. “Then you give him whatever assurance you need to…and you rip his heart out while he’s walking away.”

  Dad straightened his stance and raised his chin. “When I give my word, I keep it.”

  Halina stepped up to him. Voice low and menacing, she snapped, “Then whatever blood he spills from here on out is on your hands!”

  Dad’s jaw tightened. “I know,” he told her, a quaver in his voice.

  Halina looked over Dad’s stoic but tortured face. Her expression softening, she placed a hand on his cheek and spoke to him in her native language. “I’m sorry for the choice you had to make. I would not have made the same one…but that is why I love you so much. You’re a far better person than I’ll ever be.”

  Dad nodded, a slight smile touching his lips. Frowning, Halina dropped her hand and placed her fingers on her stomach. “I apologize for being…on edge. It’s this feeling. I can’t stop…worrying.”

  Putting a hand on her shoulder, Dad said, “It’s natural. Nika’s hurt, the hunters are still out there, and Ben’s…” His throat closed, and he swallowed.

  Halina shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m…” Blue eyes pale and wide, Halina grabbed both of Dad’s forearms. “I’m worried for the child.”

  Dad furrowed his brows, not following her. I didn’t either. Nika’s high was slowing down my brain, making it hard to concentrate. Did Halina mean Nika when she said child? Because aside from being pumped full of endorphins, Nika was fine. I was fairly certain the doctors would be able to remove the arrow shaft and seal her up. Or did Halina know something I didn’t about arrow injuries? Should I be more concerned about my sister’s health?

  Halina looked around the room, seemingly at a loss as to how to explain herself. Oddly, my drugged sister was the one who came up with the answer. “Ah, she’s worried about Hunter. How sweet.” She giggled again, and everyone shifted to stare at her, then Halina.

  “You’re worried about the…vampire?” Dad whispered.

  Halina bit her lip and nodded. Another figure blurred into the room, and Halina spun to face him. “I don’t understand, Gabriel. Why can’t I stop thinking about him? Why am I concerned? Why am I…scared?”

  Gabriel surveyed the room, assessing Nika’s condition and my pseudo-high with his scientific eyes as he casually answered my grandmother. “You sired him, dear.” His eyes returned to hers. “That creates a permanent bond between you.”

  Dad snapped his head to Mom. I watched them while my mind tried to hold onto Gabriel’s words. Halina was now bonded with my sister’s boyfriend. She’d be able to feel his presence, just like she could with our family…and I supposed, we’d be able to as well, since he had our family’s blood in him. But a sire bond was a little different than the familial bond we shared. When Dad had sired Mom, their bond had driven them to be together; even now, they got kind of a high when they came near each other. God, was Halina going to get buzzed by being around Hunter now? Nika wasn’t going to like this.

  Looking back at Gabriel, Dad shook his head. “But Starla told us the sire bond varied in strength. That it depended on the connection between the pairing pre-turning. It was strong for Emma and me in the beginning because we were married, deeply in love before Emma changed.” He pointed at Halina. “She doesn’t even know Hunter. She shouldn’t feel anything for him.”

  Gabriel shrugged, “While what Starla said is true, the strength of the bond is also dependent upon the individual.” Walking up to Halina, Gabriel grabbed her hand. “And you, my dear, have a deep place in your heart for children, for all children. And Hunter is now essentially your child. I could be wrong about this, but I believe your feelings for him will rival your feelings for your own daughter.”

  Halina’s mouth dropped open. “This was not supposed to happen.” She shook her head; her long, black locks swirled around her, enhancing her frustration. “I was going to turn him, then kill him!” She gasped, holding a hand to her heart. “I can’t, Gabriel. I can’t kill him.” Anger flooded her features. “And if his idiot father doesn’t take proper care of him, he’s going to die tomorrow night!” Her mouth set in a hard line, and her entire body stiffened with tension. “He should be with me! I can feed him. I care take care of him.” Her lip trembled. “I can’t lose him, Gabriel…”

  A bloody tear rolled down her cheek, and Gabriel wiped it away. Enfolding her in his arms, he rested his head on hers. “I know, love.”

  Our room was quiet after that. I could hear activity in the rooms beside me; another patient had been brought in, an orderly was complaining about mopping up vomit, and a nurse was cussing out a doctor for being too busy in the on-call room to remove an arrow from a poor teenage girl who’d been in a hunting accident. I flushed a little, remembering Halina’s earlier comment, then, still high off my sister, I chuckled to myself.

  When the doctor finally arrived, and Nika was whisked away (and the nurse’s memory was modified), our group shuffled off to wait for both of our hurt family members to recover…assuming they would. Halina paced while she waited, her anxiety over Hunter too great to contain.

  With Nika farther away from me, some clarity returned. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the change in my grandmother. Just hours ago, she’d been dead-set on ending Hunter’s life, and now she was more worried about his conversion than Ben’s surgery. Was Hunter really going to be as important to her as Imogen? That seemed bizarre to me. Those two were almost best friends more than mother and daughter…how would Hunter fit in? Would he feel the same way toward Halina?

  There were so many unknowns about this that it boggled me. I was having a hard time picturing anything but the man who’d fired a gun on my father. But, I supposed I needed to stop seeing him that way. Hunter wasn’t that person anymore. He was a vampire now, a pureblood vampire. Everything was different.

  We received news that Ben was stable and in recovery right as Starla and Jacen arrived at the hospital. Mom and Dad went to check on Ben, while I went downstairs to greet my “mother” so she could formally sign in Nika.

  Gabriel came down with me to see Starla, and her face lit up when she saw that he was all right. Turning from the nurses’ desk, she ran over to Gabriel and slung her arms around him. He held her back, his hand patting her reassuringly. “Father,” she gushed, “I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.”

  As her grip tightened, the smile on Gabriel’s face shifted to a frown. “No, I made it out unscathed, but others didn’t.” His blond head lifted to where Ben was unconsciously resting.

  Starla pulled back at hearing his tone. She nodded, her face, for once, remorseful. “I heard about Ben, I’m so sorry.”

  Gabriel nodded, then his smile returned and he
cupped her cheek. “Your face brings me joy, child.” He kissed her head. “I am glad to see you in one piece.” His emerald eyes swung over to Jacen. “Both of you.”

  Jacen smiled and nodded. The poor nurse on duty didn’t appear to know how to take in the dynamics of my expanded family. She kept looking between Starla and Jacen and Gabriel. She had to have noticed that Starla and Jacen were an item when they came in together. Even though the two were similar enough to be related, they were usually affectionate enough that it was clear they weren’t. But with how Gabriel was holding Starla, it must seem like they were together too. And the fact that both men looked twenty-something and Starla was creeping up on forty didn’t help. To the nurse’s eyes, Starla had two younger men wrapped around her finger. Considering both men’s actual ages, that was pretty laughable.

  When Starla finished with Gabriel, she walked over to me. “Hey, Julian. You all right, kid?”

  I nodded, then frowned. “Nika got hurt…” I knew she was already aware of that fact, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying it. From what I could tell of Nika’s emotions, she was still feeling no pain. They were keeping her pretty medicated while they worked on her shoulder; her exhaustion made me a little sleepy, or perhaps that was my own. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

  Starla’s face softened as she took in my expression. “Yeah…I heard.” Thinking of something, she said, “You can feel everything she feels, right?” I nodded, and she asked me a question that no one else had. “So, you felt her pain all night?” I nodded again, and she frowned. “God, that bond sucks. Father needs to do something about that soon.” She rubbed my arm in sympathy, and I smiled.

  It wasn’t too much later that Nika was all patched up. I carefully put my arms around her as she lay in her bed, recovering. Still a little groggy from the pain meds, she blinked up at me. “Ben?” she asked, her throat dry.

  Mom and Dad sat on the other side of her bed. Grabbing her hand, Dad reassuringly told her, “He’ll be fine, honey. Don’t worry.”

  I wanted to believe that, but there had been a touchy moment with Ben not too long ago. Alarms had gone off and nurses had rushed in. I’d been outside his room at the time, waiting while Starla and Jacen had checked on him. There had been so much chaos. His room had been cleared out, and a bunch of medical jargon had stung my ears while the frantic staff had tried to keep his heart going. Eventually, they got him back, but I was still on edge, waiting to hear those alarms again. The next time they went off…he might not come back.

  Mom and Dad were checking on Nika when it happened, but they knew about it; they’d been listening. None of that showed on Dad’s face as he patted his daughter’s hand. She weakly clenched his. If she were more alert, she might have caught the slight crease of Mom’s brow, but Nika was too tired and closed her eyes. Her peace flowed into me, and I tried to let the horrible evening slip from me. I yawned.

  Dad looked over at me, then up to Starla and Jacen standing with Halina and Gabriel. “Will you take him home? We’ll stay here with Nika.”

  Halina nodded, but I shook my head, wide awake now. Staring at my limp sister, a bandage over her neck, another around her arm, and a huge piece of white gauze on her shoulder, I knew I couldn’t leave her. She’d endured so much tonight. Our bond was stronger the closer together we were. I had to stay with her, to give her my strength. I’d promised her that we were together until the very end, and I wouldn’t leave her now. “No, Dad, I’m not—”

  Dad’s mouth set in a parental line of rigidness. “I’m not arguing this with you. You’re exhausted, you need rest, and your sister needs rest. You can return after school.”

  Shock hit me like a brick wall. “I have to go to school? Are you serious? What about…?” I flung my hands to the window, indicating the maniac who was still out there.

  Dad inhaled a deep, calming breath. “He’s…preoccupied with his situation. I don’t expect him to be a problem for a while.” His eye line returned to Gabriel’s, and his face asked a question while his tone gave an order. “Keep him safe.”

  Gabriel gave him one curt nod in answer, and Dad relaxed. Fury built in me. It was so unfair! I should be allowed to stay. She was my sister, my bonded twin. They couldn’t make me leave her side. They couldn’t make me do anything. I was sixteen years old, practically a man! Dad should understand that. I mean, he’d almost fathered a kid when he was my age!

  Exhaustion, anger, and fear all swirled within me. I wasn’t sure if I had a good argument, but I was going to start in on it. Especially when Dad looked back down to Nika, effectively dismissing me. I sat up straight on the bed and opened my mouth to start ranting. That was when Nika touched my face.

  I looked down at her instead. Her eyes begged me to relax as she sent calm feelings my way. “It’s okay, Julian. You’re on edge, you’re tired…go rest. I’ll be fine…” Her eyes fluttered closed, and her hand dropped from my skin.

  My anger melted away as I looked down on my brave, heartbroken sister. I couldn’t deny her request, not now. Glumly, I looked back at Dad. “Fine,” I sulked. I might have to leave, but I didn’t have to be peppy about it. Especially since I had to go to freaking school in a few hours. You would think being involved in a drive-by, getting shot at with arrows, being held hostage, and being awake for the past forty-eight hours would buy a person a few days off.

  I left with Halina and Gabriel not long after that. Starla and Jacen left, too, following behind Grandpa’s truck in Starla’s sporty car. It felt strange to leave my immediate family behind. After everything we’d been through tonight, their presence being stretched from me was unnerving. And Nika was right, I was on edge. Having multiple attempts made on your life did that to a person.

  It was getting close to dawn when we got back to the seedy motel. Arianna’s mom’s minivan was parked outside the door when we pulled up. Surprisingly, it looked exactly as it had pre-bullet holes. I marveled at how quickly and easily my grandmother’s compulsion had taken care of that little problem. I also wondered if Dad was correct—had the mechanic nearly worked himself to death to fix this thing?

  Everyone greeted me when I stepped out of the truck. Imogen and Alanna inspected me for injuries, but aside from the few grazes I received during the shoot-out, I was fine. As Grandpa Jack warmly enclosed me in a hug, I spotted Arianna. She was standing in the motel room doorframe, biting her lip. Her eyes were red, and she looked on the verge of losing it. I furrowed my brow, trying to understand why she looked so upset. Had something happened?

  When my family backed off, I took a step toward her. “Arianna? You oka—”

  I didn’t get a chance to finish my question. She barreled into me, tossing her arms around me like she was trying to prevent me from falling off a sheer cliff face. Burying her head into my neck, she exhaled, “Thank God…I was so worried about you.”

  Warmth burst through my chest, and as I protectively wrapped my arms around her, something else opened inside me. Feelings I’d been masking, blocking, all tumbled out. I couldn’t contain them anymore. I didn’t want to. I felt the fog lifting from me, and I suddenly understood everything I’d been confused about.

  I liked her. Truly, deeply, I wanted-to-be-with-her liked her.

  It was so painfully clear to me now that I didn’t understand how I’d missed it earlier. I guess I’d been holding onto Raquel for so long that I’d convinced myself I couldn’t like anyone else. But that was ridiculous. Of course I could. Especially since Raquel had never shown me more than the slightest glimmer of hope that she might care for me. Arianna had never tried to hide her feelings. And she’d never played games with me. She’d always cared about me, and even after learning what I really was, she still cared about me.

  I kissed her head and breathed in her comfort. “I was worried about you too,” I murmured.

  She pulled back to look at me, her eyes soft with warmth. “You were?”

  She looked about to ask me more, but Trey bounded up to us, clapping my shoulder and i
nadvertently breaking us apart. “So, you guys put down the baddies?” He looked around, his grin dropping. “Where’s Nika?”

  My head fell forward as I felt my sister. “She…”

  Arianna’s eyes watered, and I couldn’t finish telling her about her best friend’s injuries. She understood my expression. “Is she going to be okay?” I nodded, and she asked, “Did Hunter hurt her?”

  I shook my head to tell her no, right as Halina walked up to me. “Come, Julian. We’re taking everyone back to your house in the city.” Her pale eyes scanned the sky. “I can’t stay here, and Teren is right, we’ll be safe. Hunter’s father has too much to do to worry about us right now…” Her voice trailed off, and she chewed on her lip. It was clear by the look on her face that she would love to be with Hunter instead of leaving him with his father.

  I nodded at her, and her dark head twisted to my friends. “I suppose I should clean them now.”

  Trey looked down at himself, inspecting his clothes. Arianna looked back at me, a question in her eyes. With great sorrow, I supplied her with an answer. “Clean your mind of any knowledge of what happened tonight.”

  Clutching my hand, Arianna shook her head. “No, I want to remember.”

  Halina curled a corner of her lip in an expression that clearly said she didn’t really care what Arianna wanted…she had a job to do. I stepped in front of Arianna, blocking her from Halina. “She’s accepted us, and she won’t say anything. Please, Grandma…let her keep her memories. Let her know what I am.”

  Halina examined the dark clouds above us. “I don’t have time to argue this with you, Julian. You know the rules.”

  In Russian, I quickly told her, “But I want to be with her. You’ve always allowed people our family was dating to know…so long as it was going well. And, I want…to date her. I want to see if I could have a future…with her. Who knows…maybe we’ll give you children one day.” My cheeks felt red-hot, but now wasn’t the time to beat around the bush. I had to be blunt with her.