Page 20 of Hunters and Prey

"Feel free to tell me to fuck off if it's a sour point."

"No, not really," Henry said carefully. "We just…when we're together, it feels like there's something missing. In the past, we always met when one of the family members asked us to. Being together without an Eirikrson was an unwelcome reminder, I guess."

"Except for Phillipe," Leah amended. "I don't like seeing him because he's an asshole."

They chuckled. Tom felt like he finally understood why they'd embraced him so quickly. Why they didn't make him feel like the fifth wheel to their centuries-old posse.

He wasn't a stranger. For what it was worth, the damnable blood in his veins made him part of them. The elastic band binding them together.

They weren't quite complete. Chloe's absence was everywhere. Every time they shared something about their ancestors, he felt like she should know, that she should be there and gape alongside him. But they were the start of a clan.

"Eight years," said Tom with a sigh.

Twenty-six was a random age, but it felt right. Who wanted to be frozen in time in a teenager's body anyway? And Chloe had always liked fairness, equality. If he'd had twenty-six years, she would too.

"You'll see her sooner than that," Viola assured him. "We all will and…" She cleared her throat.

Every time the topic of Chloe was broached, she seemed to want to say something before effectively changing the subject. She knew he was easy to distract, and it had worked every single time.

"Hey, did you say you spoke Italian?"

"Just a bit. I learned in high school…You did it again! What's the deal? ‘We all will and…?’"

Viola glanced away.

"Oh boy," said Henry. "Let me check our arrival time with the pilot."

"I'd better get more champagne," Leah said cheerfully.

Ayita became fascinated with her short nails. Kyo's eyes were fixed on his sword. Why were they all freaking out?

"All right. Might as well tell you now, rather than later, so you have time to process it."

The ominous announcement wasn't helping.

"What's the problem?"

"Tom, we were turned by a woman. Vampire societies are very often matriarchal. Not always; there are a few houses with patriarchs, of course. But feeling your dominance and your sister's…she'll be head of the Eirikrson, after she turns. Whispers tend to be at the top of the food chain, anyway."

For a time, he stared at Viola. Then he laughed.

"That's what you were freaking out about? The fact that my annoyingly clever, manipulative sister is stronger than me?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm aware. Thanks."

Did they think he'd be annoyed at his sister for wearing the pants? Jesus, these people were weird. He shouldn't have been surprised; all of them had been born and made in another time, but still.

"You don't mind?"

He shrugged. "I'm not power-hungry. I just want to not go insane, and not get attacked by random succubi in clubs. I want my sister to avoid both, too. The rest is details."

Kyo laughed. "Submissive all the way."

If that was an insult, Tom didn't mind it.

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