Page 27 of Hunting My Vampire

Tina looked at me before answering. I had the feeling she was considering whether to tell me the truth. I had never realized that she knew so much about me.

“Your mother was from a tribe up north. The Wak’aha’a. They kept to themselves, didn’t mix with others. When she fell in love with your father the tribe didn’t like it. He was an outsider and she ran away to marry him.”

“They didn’t want her to go. They went to fetch her one time, against her will and brought her back. After that, Tommy decided he was going to go into the mountains to hide her.”

She leaned closer to me. “She was sho’qa’i.”

There was that word again.

“What does that mean?”

“It is the one who protects the tribe. Their instinct to keep safe and to guard is strong. When the tribe is under attack, the sho’qa’i receive special powers from the ancestors to defeat the enemy.”

This was the first I’d heard of it.

“Steph thought that maybe, you had inherited your mother’s powers. That you were sho’qa’i too.”

I felt my pulse quicken.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Small things. Things you said when you were asleep sometimes. The way you were so serious sometimes,so fierce. You were different from other children. I saw this when you came here too. My Pearl? Always going out, wanting to be with the boys? Not you!”

She laughed.

I knew what she meant; I had always felt a little apart from others my age.

“Why didn’t she talk to me about it?”

Tina shrugged. “She was afraid, I think. She hoped it wasn’t true, I think.”

She went on. “That is why she supported the sheriff’s idea for you to go into training to work for the State police. She didn’t want that life for you but she thought it would be good to get those skills in case you needed it.”

“I did like it,” I said.

The program had really suited me with the rigorous physical training, weapons instruction and hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t find any of it challenging. Others dropped out and gave up but I couldn’t get enough of it. I wanted more. When I was selected for the assassination special training, I couldn’t wait to get started. I wanted to get rid of enemies of the world, to punish all of those who had done wrong.

“Do you know if I have any family anywhere?”

Tina shook her head.

“I don’t know if Tommy had family. He was always a lone wolf but you could look up your mother’s people. I think there is a woman down by the supermarket, Tamara, I think? She once lived with the Wak’aha’a, and may be able to tell you more.”

I nodded.

“But, honey, you’ve got to be careful,” Tina said, taking my hand.

“All of this stuff, I worry it is going to make you ill again and pull you back into danger. You’re getting better now.”

I had a feeling she was trying to warn me off Jack. I knew she was looking out for me, though.

She was the closest thing I had to family now. The sheriff had had a heart attack a few years ago and there was nobody from my past. I could count my friends on one hand.

It wasn’t a great feeling.

That evening, I headed out to the castle.

I knew where it was and yet I was impressed by the large iron gates and manicured grounds. There was an intercom and I pressed the button announcing my arrival.

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