Page 20 of Hunting for Redemption

CHAPTER TEN

AXEL

I laymy feet in Jeff’s lap, smiling to myself as his hand wraps around my ankle and squeezes. This has become a regular occurrence in this household. The gang's all here. Cooper is laying on the floor, a couple of books laid out in front of him. Ronny is on his laptop, typing away. Carlos and Jeff are playing a card game with Martin and I’m just here, taking everything in.

The search for the vampire that turned Jeff is still ongoing. Every time I think about it, my stomach sinks. She’s keeping low and I have this sinking feeling that she’s planning something.

Whatever it is, I have a feeling this team will be able to take care of it.

“Go fish,” Martin says with an annoyed huff and I notice the way Cooper smiles to himself. I wonder if they have something going on. There’s definitely something there, though they’d like everyone to believe they’re some sort of rivals, but I can see through that. I hope I get to be in the front row to see them get their shit together someday.

I wiggle my toes against Jeff before moving so I can stand up. “Does anyone need refills?”

“Oh, I’ll help you,” Carlos says, standing up and setting his cards down.

“You’re just mad you’re losing,” Jeff says with a warm chuckle.

“Oh yes,” Carlos teases, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “I’ll forever be devastated that I lost this game of go-fish.”

I grab everyone’s empty bottles on the way to the kitchen, dumping them into my recycling bin before heading to the fridge. “Do you want a soda or something?”

Carlos gives me a small smile, nodding his head. “Yeah, I’ll just take whatever you have. I’m not picky.”

I get to work pulling out new beers and a soda for Carlos, popping the tops off the beer bottles. I get one more for myself but Carlos clears his throat. I pause, looking over at him.

Carlos looks nervous, biting at his bottom lip and looking all sorts of unsure. I take a deep breath, trying to get a sense of what’s going on based on scent, something I’ve been taught to do as a child. There are so many perks to being a vampire and this happens to be one of them.

He smells nervous. And like wet dog. It’s a smell I noticed the very first time I met him but one I haven’t brought up. None of the team seem to really know there’s anything different about Carlos which isn’t surprising since they don’t have the heightened senses like I do, and if they do know, they don’t care.

“What’s up?”

He lets out a long sigh, touching his necklace. “I don’t think you should be drinking that.”

My stomach flips. I set the beer back into the fridge slowly, feeling embarrassed I’d even grabbed it. “It was more force of habit than anything. To fit in with the humans,” I admit with a self-deprecating smile. There’s something I’ve been ignoring for a couple weeks now, something I wasn’t quite prepared to admit to myself.

“I wasn’t sure if you knew or not,” he says, his face bright red. “I umm,” Carlos starts to say, cutting himself off with an awkward cough. “I may or may not have been able to hear the heartbeat.”

“Do the rest know that you’re not human?”

Carlos shrugs, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Honestly? I’m not entirely sure. Sometimes they say things that make me think they know, but I’ve never come out and said it before.”

“Are you planning on telling them?”

“If I ever needed to I wouldn’t lie. But I have no plans of renting a plane and putting it up in the sky.”

I snort in amusement. “No one’s asking you to do that.”

“I know. It’s just ironic, isn’t it? Someone like me being a hunter.”

“Isn’t it ironic? A baby vampire leading a group of hunters.”

Carlos finally cracks a smile. “Apparently Lady Fate knew exactly the type of mate Jeff would need to put up with all of us.”

My chest warms at the idea of me fitting in with Jeff’s team. To fit into the little family he’s created for himself. My hand goes to my stomach.

“How the fuck does a baby fit into a hunter’s life?”

Carlos takes a long moment to answer. “I’m not entirely sure. But I know a hunter’s hours are flexible, we can live anywhere, and we get to pick and choose which jobs we take. Jeff would never do anything to put you or the baby at risk, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

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