Page 45 of Newly Undead in Dark River

“Sorry. Tex. IsTexadopted?”

Now it was my turn to be confused.

“No.”

“Yes.” My head whipped toward Tex again.

“Seriously? I had no idea.”

His jaw was tense, and I could hear his teeth grinding. “It was no one else's business. Mom and Dad are my parents in every way it matters.”

“Except in one way. They are humans, and you are not. Well, not entirely. And when you, uh, slept with Raine, Mika, whatever, you made her your mate. And then she went and became a vampire.”

I was somehow across the room and had my back against the wall before I even registered I’d moved.

“What?” Tex had gone so pale now I was worried he was going to pass out. My gaze ping-ponged between him and Brody.

“You’re a shifter, Kid. Probably only half from what I can tell. Your scent isn’t as strong as a normal shapeshifter, which is why the Sheriff over there is feeling a little inadequate in the nose department. Whoever your mama was, she did the best thing for you, because a blind kid in some of those US packs,” he shook his head. “You’d be dead before you were five, for sure. Not everyone has my family’s moral compass.”

I noticed Tex’s hands trembling, in shock or rage or fear, I couldn’t be sure, but as if he could feel my eyes on them, he curled his fingers into his fists. But he remained silent, and Brody didn’t elaborate further.

Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore and went to him, climbing into his lap and wrapping myself around him as if I could hold him together. I knew what it was like to have life-altering shit dropped on you by a random stranger. I’d been lucky, though.

Tex sat stiffly in my arms, but little by little, he thawed in my arms. Soon, his own arms slipped around mine, and he pressed his nose into my neck, a move so like Brody’s that I couldn’t refute what Brody was saying. Tex was a shifter.

We sat in silence for a long time, long enough for the sun to come up and the blinds to get pulled closed against the light. I led Tex to my bedroom, tucking him into my bed, and not resisting when he tugged me down beside him. I stared at his exhausted face and committed it to my memory. I clung to that little bit of home so tightly that I didn’t know how I was going to let him go. But he had to go. I knew that deep down.

Our families wouldn’t rest if they lost both of us to the Canadian wilds.

Brody crawled in later, wrapping his body around the back of mine, and stroking my hair. “Sleep, Raine. I’ll watch over you both.”

I think I might love Brody.

I wasn’tsure what the residents of Dark River did for entertainment before I was turned, but news of Tex was on everyone’s lips. Every single one of the Council rocked up to my door and were not impressed when I turned them away, except for Nico, who seemed to find the whole thing amusing. The fact I’d warded my apartment wasn’t earning me any brownie points either. Apparently it wasn’t only Walker that the Witch Miranda scared the pants off.

A backdrop to all this eventfulness was a low hum of dread that Judge hadn’t returned yet. It had been days. He normally never went this long without coming back to town. I was worried that my ultimatum had made him move on, but when I’d gone to the diner to pick up something that resembled a home-cooked meal for Tex, I’d asked Beatrice about it.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Lass. I don’t go into his apartment and invade his privacy, but his rent is still paid, and I haven’t seen him walking out of there with any boxes.”

I sighed, took the two giant lasagnas, and headed back to my apartment like my heart wasn’t hurting. I’d pushed, and deep down, I kind of expected this as a consequence. I’d hoped so hard that I was wrong, but I didn’t like my chances. At least Tex, who was a massive problem, kept my mind off the fact that Judge had rejected me. Cut and run. Gone for cigarettes and never returned.

I smiled, or maybe it was more of a grimace when Nico came out the front door of the Immortal Cupcake. I swear, I rarely ever saw any of the Councillors for months, and now Tex had turned up, they were everywhere. But I liked Nico the best. He seemed the most relaxed. The youngest, though I had a sneaking suspicion that it went the other way.

“Hello, Raine,” he said, giving me a fangy smile with too much teeth. “How is your pet human?”

From anyone else, I would take that as an insult against Tex. But Nico didn’t seem to be saying it in a derogatory way.

“He’s fine, thank you,” I said, keeping my voice neutral and pleasant. ‘Don’t fuck with old vamps’ should definitely be in the Vamps-For-Dummies guidebook. Nico turned and walked beside me toward the staircase at the back of the cafe.

“That is good. But he must leave your apartment sometime, and he presents a particular brand of trouble we have not had for quite a long time here in Dark River.” I stilled, cocking my head to the side. “The rules are finite, but we are the Council, no? Sometimes the rules need to be broken.”

A chill went down my spine at his pleasant words. The number one rule of Dark River was no turning humans, or was it killing humans? I mean, it is all the same in the end. Was Nico threatening Tex?

I looked at the young, tattooed vamp with eyes so old they made my bones ache. There was no malice, no vindictiveness on his face. His eyes challenged me, their amused light dancing in the darkness of the back alley. He was trying to tell me something.

“They are the unbreakable rules, but there are very few agreements that are actually that.” He raised his eyebrows at me and whisked away.

I stood there, shaking my head. He was...confusing. I took the stairs two at a time, balancing the trays and bread rolls, and the salad on top because sometimes you just needed a salad. I mean, I didn’t need vitamins, but both Brody and Tex were human-ish.

---