Page 95 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

I could tell from the bond that he was more curious than alarmed. Somehow, Michael’s bald admission that his worldview had changed drastically since crossing paths with us had caused my mate to relax, believing for the very first time that there was a solid chance Michael truly didn’t intend on harming us.

Which meant… well, it meant that their offer really was serious.

And that they were now our allies. Sort of. Ish.

Heavy emphasis on the ish.

“It’s news articles and social media posts, usually,” Danny explained. “It’s how we find most of our cases. I wrote a computer program that alerts us whenever someone posts content containing certain combinations of keywords. Most of the time, it’s not real—just people being spooky on the internet or else it’s clickbait. But when it’s vampires, we look for patterns. Victims turning up with neck wounds. Bodies drained of blood. That sort of thing.” He paused. “Most vamps we’ve run across live in small nests with three or four others. And they’re nomadic. So we check for similar incidents in nearby cities, especially those along major interstates. Killing sprees, animal attacks, missing people, that sort of thing.”

“So, the only vampires you guys run across are the feral ones, then,” Tobias said, sounding satisfied. I could sense from his thoughts that Danny had just confirmed his suspicions.

Michael and Danny exchanged surprised glances.

“There are feral vampires?” Danny asked. “As opposed to… what? Vampires like Bryan?”

“Well, they’re not technically ‘feral,’ exactly,” Tobias explained. “No one really calls them that or anything. But when someone is first turned into a vampire, the time right after is especially delicate. If the newbie kills people in the first couple of months afterward, their vampiric instincts typically take over completely and suppress their humanity. They become psychopaths with an insatiable appetite for blood and violence. Thankfully, that’s not very common. Most vampires prevent that sort of thing from happening with the people they turn. You guys probably hunt the outliers who didn’t have the benefit of an experienced maker.”

“And it’s permanent?” Danny asked, seeming to want to reassure himself. “Is there any way to fix it, once someone loses their humanity?”

I figured it made sense, now that I considered it, that he and Michael really must have been questioning literally everything after meeting us. No wonder they wanted a sit-down with us. We’d probably sent them both into a tailspin. The fact that they cared one way or the other that the creatures they hunted were actually evil probably also meant that they were better people than we’d thought they were.

Danny confirmed that when he added, “So, uh, you’re saying is that the person they were before is just gone? There’s no fixing it? There’s no hope of the vampire ever regaining their humanity? They’re just… murderers?”

“There’s no hope, as far as I’m aware,” Tobias replied. “Not even with magic. Or, at least, no magic my coven knows how to do. We’ve tried before, but mostly it just drives the vampire crazy. Real Jekyll and Hyde type stuff. Once the darkest parts of the vampire’s nature take over, the person they were is just gone.”

Danny nodded, relaxing. But then his eyebrows drew together, and he shook his head a little. “Look, it’s pretty weird to me that we’re just now learning any of this. I’ve been a hunter all my life. And my dad and older brother were both hunters. They raised me to be one, too.”

The past-tense he used there definitely lingered for way longer than it should have.

I watched their expressions carefully. “I’m guessing you guys don’t usually hunt any vampires in big cities. Probably not many cases of vampire attacks in places like Los Angeles or Detroit.”

“Vamps avoid cities,” Danny said automatically. “Civilization, in general. They prefer small towns. Out of the way places.”

“We’ve never hunted a single vampire in a town with more than three Starbucks to its name,” Michael added. “We’ve always figured it was because there’s fewer witnesses in rural places.”

Tobias and I exchanged a knowing look. Wait until they find out that there are whole societies of civilized vampires. Should you tell them, or should I?

Go for it, babe. The look on their faces is going to be epic.

“That’s because the types of vampires you two hunt don’t last long in cities.” Tobias told them, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Hold on to your hatchets fellas, because I’m about to blow your fucking minds.”

*

Two hours and two more pitchers of beer later—the hunters were going to be a bad influence, I could tell—and Tobias and Michael were off happily playing a game of pool. Danny and I were still sitting at the table, nursing our drinks. Well, I was nursing my drink. Danny was packing it away like beer was on the verge disappearing for good. The hunter was looking increasingly glassy-eyed and happy, which was further evidence that he had begun to actually trust me. I strongly doubted that getting drunk with a potentially dangerous supernatural creature was in the hunter playbook.

They’d taken the news that they didn’t know nearly as much about the supernatural world as they thought they did with surprising grace.

In fact, Michael in particular seemed floored to find out that I wasn’t an outlier. And when Tobias started talking about the philanthropic efforts taking place in Seattle to end poverty and homelessness, run by all the factions of the supernatural community in the city, including the vampires, a strange sort of light had entered his face. I felt like I was watching years of hatred and fear being stripped away from him in a matter of minutes.

Danny, however, had seemed increasingly nervous by the direction our conversation had taken. Maybe the idea of Michael losing his hatred and fear of the supernatural frightened him. Maybe he was scared that, without it, Michael might leave and go off and do something besides kill monsters for a living. Or maybe it was about something more than just losing his partner.

“So,” I said, leaning forward and glancing over at Tobias and Michael, across the bar, to make sure they weren’t paying attention—and that they were still playing nice with each other, of course. “You said you were in love with Michael. In the factory.”

Danny’s expression darkened and his jaw tightened a little at my words. “Yeah, I did say that.”

“Was it just a heat of the moment thing, or…?”

“No.” He sighed, running his hands through his hair. He downed the rest of his beer, then refilled the glass from the pitcher between us on the table. How he was still sitting upright was beyond my comprehension. He must’ve caught my look, because he added, “And yeah, I’m going to need more beer if we’re going to have some real talk about this.”

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