Family Is Forever by S. C. Stephens
Not wanting to become sidetracked with a situation that was Nika’s fight, not mine, I immediately changed the subject. “The man who attacked Hunter…I want to be a part of the panel that decides what happens to him.”
Dad started shaking his head before I was even finished. “You’re too young, Julian.”
I held his gaze. “I might only be sixteen, almost seventeen now, but I’ve seen things that men twice my age haven’t seen. And I’ve been through experiences that most grown men haven’t been in. That man tried to kill my sister, her sire, and my grandmother. I want a say in what happens to him.” I looked down, my mood contemplative. “This is my family, and I want to do my part.” I returned my eyes to my father. “Let me help.”
A strange look crossed Dad’s face. It was a mixture of pride and resignation. “Okay,” he whispered. “A group of us are going to be meeting in a few days. I’ll let you join in.”
“And let me have a voice?” I asked, a little disbelieving that he was actually going to let me be a part of this.
Dad sighed and looked at Mom. She nodded, and his eyes returned to mine. “Yes. You’ll have a voice that’s equal to everyone else there. But remember,” he warned, “just because you have a say, doesn’t mean you’ll get your way. And…you might not like what happens to him.”
I swallowed. Dad meant he might die, and I might have to condemn him to it. Could I do that? I nodded. “I understand what it means. I accept the responsibility.”
Dad beamed at me, then leaned over and kissed my head. “I’m very proud of the man you’re becoming, Julian. You’re more of a man than I was at your age.” Remembering the secret party I was planning on having behind his back made my cheeks fill with color. Luckily, Dad mistook it for humbleness. Still smiling, his gaze swept around my bedroom. “Now that you’re a bone fide panel member, maybe you can start keeping your room this clean from now on? Girlfriend or no girlfriend.”
Mom sniggered and I pursed my lips at the both of them. Suddenly I didn’t feel so guilty about the party. “Sure, Dad,” I murmured.
Dad laughed and clapped my shoulder, then he and Mom left for their bedroom. I laid back on my pillows and tried to fall asleep, but all I could think about was that man blowing silver dust into Nika’s face. What was I going to do with him? What was fair, what was just, what was moral? What could I live with for the rest of my life? And what in the world possessed me to want to be a part of deciding his fate?
I instantly knew the answer to that though. I was an Adams. The last living member of the line. And there were certain responsibilities that came along with being an Adams. It was time for me to start living up to the name my father had given me. I could do this. I knew I could.
IT WAS LATE afternoon when I woke up. I vaguely remembered the drive home; Teren and Emma talked, while Halina and I rested in the back seat. Rory, Cleo, Ben, and the captive had followed behind us in Cleo’s car. Halina hadn’t been thrilled that Rory and Cleo were coming to the ranch with us. She trusted them as much as she could trust compelled ex-hunters, but she didn’t like the thought of them knowing the main location of our nest. As I’d reminded her though, they already knew it. They were a part of the horde of hunters who’d attacked the ranch at my father’s request a couple months ago.
But they wouldn’t hurt us anymore. It was no longer in their programming. And besides, we’d needed them to keep an eye on our attacker last night. Halina and I just weren’t a match for him then. Other than being a little sore, I felt fine now though. I could take him out by myself if necessary. I was sure of it.
Looking around the room, I could see that it wasn’t my bedroom. I immediately recognized it as Halina’s. Nearly every piece of art, from the pair of curving metal sconces, to the numerous richly detailed paintings, were odes to the sun. Since Halina couldn’t stand in its glory anymore, she surrounded herself in various interpretations of it.
A heavy, down-filled comforter rested over my chest. Beneath me, an electric blanket fitted over the mattress radiated heat; I could feel each thin coil against my back as it twisted and turned inside the fabric. The warmth it generated was contained by the thick blankets on top of me, and my entire body felt warm for a change. It was undeniably pleasant, and I made a mental note to get a heater like this for my bed.
Turning my head, I saw that my raven-haired creator was sharing the space and the heat with me. Both of us were fully clothed under the covers, and from my hazy recollection of last night, I knew we’d remained that way all morning long. The thought of being undressed with her was unnerving for me to think about. I just didn’t see Halina in any sort of sexual way. She was like a sister to me, or maybe a mother. I loved her, but she was family, and my heart firmly belonged to Nika. I would never do anything to betray her.
Thinking of Nika brought an ache of loneliness to the surface. She was so far away from me. Too far. But as it was still daylight outside, there was nothing I could do about our separation, except endure it. Like I did every day until the sun sank below the earth, I’d push that pain down and try to think about something else. Usually that was a challenge, but not today. No, today I had plenty to think about.
Halina was still asleep when I sat up and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. Inhaling silver had done a number on my system. I could recall using that same tactic while fighting vampires, but I’d never fully comprehended just how much it hurt. I might have used it more often if I’d known. But it was messy, cumbersome, and didn’t completely stop vampires, just slowed them down, so I hadn’t relied on it too much back then. Now I kind of felt like the entire substance should be banned. My throat felt like it had fifteen-thousand tiny paper cuts along it. I wasn’t looking forward to swallowing. Or talking.
When I pulled back the covers to get up, I let out some of the heat. Halina grabbed the blanket and pulled it tighter around her shoulders. “The sun is still up, child. Why are you?” she mumbled, her voice gravely.
“I’m not tired.” Cringing, I swallowed. Yep, talking sucked just as much as I’d feared it would. I couldn’t stop now though. I had too much I needed to do today. Looking toward the door, I told her as much. “And there are things I want to do.” Like talk to Gabriel, and see what he found out about the man I couldn’t compel.
Like she could read my thoughts, Halina twisted to face me. “You leave that man alone. I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
Frowning, I looked down at her concerned, motherly face. “My dad taught me how to hunt vampires before he taught me how to drive a car. I went on my first solo mission when I was eighteen. I think I can handle a human being, especially now, since I’m not one of them anymore.”
She sat up, her worried expression not lessoning. “Your father also got you killed.”
I bristled at the memory, but made myself relax. I was fine with my fate. I’d made peace with my history. “You keep calling me a child, but I’m not. I’m healthy now, and strong…thanks to you. You’ve done your job, so you need to let me go. Trust me a little.”
I gave her an encouraging smile. She smirked at seeing it. “Trust me, says the boy who not too long ago, conspired with my boyfriend to run away from me.”
Even though humor showed on her face, pain at my recent betrayal flashed through her eyes. The residual guilt from hurting her was one of the reasons why I still let her baby me. It was why I hadn’t fought too hard against her last night when she’d insisted that I stay with her because her rooms were closer, safer, and warmer. Besides the warmer part, none of what she’d said was really true, but she’d protested that she wanted me near her for my benefit. I knew the truth of it though. She’d almost lost me to that hunter, and she was scared. Like a child frightened from a storm, she’d needed me near her last night for her benefit. Just like she needed me away from that man now…so she wouldn’t worry, so she wouldn’t be scared.
Sliding out of bed, I reiterated, “Agree with it or not, I’m an adult, and I’m capable of making my own de
Halina rolled her eyes at me. “I really hate it when kids start thinking for themselves.” She blurred to her feet an instant later. “Fine. Let’s go talk to the creaton.”
I smiled, grateful that she wasn’t trying to stop me anymore. “The hunter? Or Gabriel?” I asked. Gabriel and Halina’s relationship was still a bit rocky since he’d given me the drug that had temporarily broken our bond and allowed me to escape from her. Halina had accepted him back after he’d valiantly defended the family, but it wasn’t exactly flowers and sunshine at the moment.
Her lips compressed into a thin line. “Both,” she murmured.
I wanted to laugh, but I knew it wouldn’t feel good with my raw throat, so I contained it. Walking over to her dresser, Halina quickly combed the sleeping snarls out of her hair. I couldn’t help but shake my head at her outfit.
Halina typically dressed like she was heading out to a club. I’d been trying to get her to tone it down a bit. Maybe try wearing pants for a change, instead of thigh-baring, micro-mini dresses. Her compromise to my suggestion was a pair of skintight, bright-red leather pants. All I could say about them was that it was a good thing she no longer needed to breathe. They seemed uncomfortable to me, but she swore they were as cozy as flannel pajamas. I wasn’t about to wear leather pants, so I’d have to take her word on that.
“I still can’t believe you slept in those all morning.”
She glanced at my jeans. “I can almost guarantee that I was more comfortable than you. And anyway, these were your suggestion, and a mighty fine one at that.” She examined herself in the mirror, twisting so she could inspect her ass. “These were practically made for me.”
I smiled, but didn’t argue. Growing up with my sister had taught me that trying to convince a woman not to wear something she really wanted to wear was futile at best, hazardous at most. Evangeline had once pierced me with an eyebrow pencil when I told her that her favorite jacket made her look like she was wearing a dead squirrel on her shoulders. She hadn’t even apologized for drawing blood. Man, I missed her.
Halina pointed at me as she set down her brush. “I’m going to change and freshen up. You, stay put.” As an afterthought, she added, “Please.” Somehow, she made that word sound like a command, same as the others.
I was eager to go, but willing to compromise. “Be quick about it?”
With an amused grin, she blurred away. She was back before I could count to twenty. Wearing a new shirt, but the same pants, and looking as fresh-faced as if she’d taken a shower, she mockingly asked, “Quick enough?” Shaking my head, I turned toward the door. My sire was such a smart ass.
We headed down the hallway in silence, resting our aching throats. A nice, steaming cup of blood sounded fabulous right now, but I wanted to try and get some answers first if I could. The man who’d attacked us was being held in a room right next to my bedroom, which might have also been one of the reasons why Halina hadn’t wanted me to sleep there last night. A chain lock had been installed on the outside of his door. Those were typically used on the insides of doors, but it was the best the family could do on such short notice. One of my tasks today was to fortify the captive’s cell. At least until he could be properly dealt with. In the meantime, he was being guarded twenty-four-seven. Cleo was standing outside the door now. Rory was presumably somewhere nearby, resting so the pair could alternate shifts. I wondered if they’d let anyone else guard the man, or if he’d somehow become their sole responsibility.
Cleo snapped to attention when she saw me. “How are you?” she asked.
Massaging my throat, I nodded. “Better, thank you.” I pointed toward the door. “How is he?”
She puckered her full lips in displeasure. “I haven’t gone in there, but I’m sure he’s fine.”
The fact that she hadn’t tried to interrogate him surprised me. “You haven’t been in there to check on him since we put him in there? Really?”
Cleo looked across the hall, to the doors that lead to Gabriel’s laboratory. “He forbade it. He seems to think the man won’t survive an encounter with me.” Her sour expression softened into a knowing smile, like she thought the same thing.
My gaze followed hers. “Is Gabriel in there? I’d like to speak with him.”
Cleo nodded. “He hasn’t left since we brought the hunter in.”
I nodded at her answer, and then twisted toward Gabriel’s lab. Questioning the hunter might give me answers, eventually, but questioning Gabriel would most definitely get me some sort of an answer. He had to know something about the man by now.
Halina let out a long sigh, but followed me toward the lab. She and Gabriel were still working out their differences. Well, she was working hers out. Gabriel didn’t have any issues with Halina; he treated her like a queen.
The edge of my lip curled up as I held my hand on the door handle. “You know, it was just as much my fault for what happened as it was Gabriel’s, and you seem to have completely forgiven me.”
Halina’s annoyed expression turned derisive. “You were out of your mind with hunger.” Her finger traced a line down the heavy wood in front of us. “Not a centuries old vampire who knew better. Your decision was foolish. His was…cruel. And it is easier for me to forgive stupidity than cruelty.”
I reflected on that for a second before telling her, “But you did take him back, so if the two of you are going to work, you’ll eventually need to let it go.”
She let out an amused snort. “Since when did you become so interested in my love life?”
Twisting the handle on the knob, I laughed back, “I just don’t want to see my parents get divorced, is all.”
Gabriel looked up as the pair of us entered the room. He smiled at hearing Halina laughing. She didn’t often do that around him anymore. In fact, she stopped the minute she noticed him watching her. Gabriel took it all in stride, inclining his head with a polite, “My love.” His jade-green eyes shifted to me. “Hunter. To what do I owe the honor of your visit? Our esteemed guest in the next room perhaps?”
I shut the door behind us. Most of the rooms down here were soundproof, so the volume in the room didn’t change much, but closing the door did block out the faint beating of Cleo’s heart. That was probably a good thing too, since the thumping reminded me how hungry I was. Halina began examining some of Gabriel’s nearby experiments. She watched a glass beaker bubbling with some sort of reddish-pink liquid inside, like it was the most fascinating object in the world. But I could tell it was all for show. She wanted Gabriel to know, without a doubt, that she was angry with him.
Ignoring her immature pouting, I strode over to where Gabriel was holding a vial of deep red blood in the air. “Please tell me you know how he was able to block being tranced.”
Gabriel’s eyes flicked to Halina before settling on me. Like most of the mixed vampires I’d encountered, Gabriel looked young. He could probably even pass for my age. His youthful face void of emotion, he said, “I believe I do know, although, I do not yet understand.”
I frowned at his answer. There wasn’t much Gabriel didn’t understand. “What do you mean? How did he do it?”
Gabriel shrugged. “He did nothing. What is inside him saved him.”
More intrigued than irritated now, Halina stepped up to Gabriel’s work table. “He is a vampire then?”
Gabriel frowned. “Yes…and no.”
He held the blood out to me. I grabbed it, but didn’t see anything overly remarkable with the vial, other than the overwhelming urge I had to drink it, of course. While I stared at the
“Disconcerting how?” I slowly asked, not liking Gabriel saying something as ominous as that word.
He tilted his golden head of blonde hair as he answered me. “Things I do not properly understand are disconcerting to me. I like to know what I’m dealing with.” His eyes shifted over to Halina, and for a split second, I felt like he was talking about her, and not about the mysterious man next door.
Halina narrowed her eyes. I was pretty sure she’d picked up on that too. “How is he different? And does it really matter?” She tossed her hands out to her sides. “Either way, he’s a mixed vampire. He’ll be thrilled with that.” A wry smile touched her lips.
Gabriel gave her a soft smile, but directed his answer to me. “Ben has a minute amount of vampire blood cells running in harmony with his human blood cells. He was born this way, so his body accepts the foreignness as his own. This man though, his blood is…attached…to the human blood cells, almost forced together…unnaturally.” He shrugged, clearly unhappy with his lack of knowledge. “But like I said, I don’t know what I’m dealing with yet, other than he somehow has our blood in his system and it is providing him protection.”
Setting the blood on the table, I wondered just what to do with that information. “Born with it or not, the blood is part of his system now, so it’s not going to wear off.” I locked eyes with Halina. “And that means we have a compulsion proof vampire hunter to deal with.”