Page 14 of Reaper's Revenge
I know she has to be curious about where all of our questions are coming from. I don’t know the right way to tell her everything I need to say. The entire situation is leaving me a bit speechless right now.
Bones’ hand lands on my arm a moment later, tugging me away from Athena until we’re out of earshot. He leans in, his angry voice garnering more on a hiss, “You turned her? I thought you were against turning another person.” He shakes his head, his glare pinned on my face as he folds his arms over his chest. “What the fuck were you thinking, Reaper? Does she know what we are?”
Chapter Eleven
Reaper
I shake my head. “No. I haven’t turned her.” I would never do that to her; he, above all others, should know this about me.
“Bullshit.”
“I swear it. I never bit her; I refused to drink from her because it’s hard enough not to turn her without drinking from her. You know I would never take a person’s choice away, hell, I want to make Veronica bleed out for stealing mine.” His questions are pissing me the fuck off, even though they’re valid. It irks me that he’s acting like he doesn’t know me, yet we’ve been around each other for my entire life, human and vampire.
“Does she know about us?” He repeats, flicking his glower over my shoulder, watching her drop off our plates of food at our table. “What we really are?”
I can smell the rare steaks, lightly cooked on each side as I’d instructed the last time we were here. I don’t need to see her to know where she is.
“No. She has no idea what we are. She knows nothing.”
“Then how in the fuck do you explain what’s going on with her? The change is happening right in front of us, and we have no answers as to how it started. Is she the Virgin Mary of vampirism?”
I raise my hands in surrender, worry clouding my mind. I’m just as lost as he is, probably even more so, because I know for a fact I didn’t turn her. I may’ve lost control a little when I was eating her out, but her blood tastes divine, so it couldn’t be helped. It’s so good, I’m sure that I’d remember every chance I had to sample it. “I have no idea, that’s why I called you over. She already means so much to me, I swear I haven’t bitten her. Of everyone here, you should be the one to believe me at face value, you know me. Or at least I thought you did.”
“Not even on accident? A little bite when fucking her too hard?”
I shake my head again. “I haven’t had sex with her yet. I’ve been trying not to push her. She’s sweet, and I haven’t wanted to mess that up to push her away before she’s had a chance to get comfortable with me.”
He leans back, brows in his hairline. “Seriously? Are you falling for her?”
I nod, glancing down before meeting his gaze. “I think she may be my mate.”
“Mate?”He repeats loud enough, tone filled with shock, to the point it’s gotten the attention of our brothers. He’s staring at me in disbelief as if this night only keeps getting wilder and wilder in his eyes, but it’s all been pretty simple until Athena showed signs of becoming a vampire.
“Wait…” I finally admit with a sigh, “There was one time when something happened. My fang scraped her skin just a touch too much, and I tasted a few drops of her blood, but no more. I made myself stop. I never fully bit her, sinking my fangs into her flesh to drink from her, I swear it on my miserable existence.”
“That’s it.” He sighs, then calls her over, “Athena, come here a moment.”
“Everything alright?” She’s so sweet in her concern. She has no idea that if we’re right, her entire world is about to change, and I’m going to have to be the one to break it to her. I’m not sure how she’ll take it or if she’ll even believe me. Most of us don’t until the blood lust stirs and we find ourselves draining a random person. It’s scary and overwhelming. I’ll never forget my first time, nor finding out Veronica must’ve compelled me to drink from her, and that’s how I was turned. There’s no way I would’ve willingly drunk her blood otherwise; I would’ve been turned off and probably grossed out.
Prez’s eyes dilate as the heaviness of compulsion weighs in his words, “Athena, has anyone bitten you hard enough to draw blood?”
She blinks a few times, dazed. “No, no one has ever bitten me for any reason.”
“Have you tasted anyone’s blood before?”
She has the same few blinks and then her dazed voice responds, “No, I’ve never drunk anyone’s blood before.”
“Athena, this is my last question, then you may return to your job. Have any vampires been to visit you recently? I want you to answer me and then forget this conversation.”
“No. No vampires have visited me. They aren’t real.” A moment later, she glances around, her nose scrunching up. She laughs and shakes her head, “Weird, I can’t remember why I came over here. Anyway, your food is going to get cold if y’all don’t go eat.” She flashes her sweet smile, and I just want to bring her to me, hold her, and keep her safe from the world she’s about to be thrust into. It can be even uglier than the one she knows.
“Thank you, my darling,” I murmur, bringing her knuckles to my lips and pressing a kiss on each before letting it go again. “We’ll eat in just a moment.”
Her smile is wider than a moment ago as she reaches for me again, squeezing my hand, “You sound like such a proper gentleman sometimes. I love how it goes against the biker exterior.”
I smirk, pressing a kiss to her forehead before she turns away, finishing up her side work she has each night. She has no idea how old I really am and why I speak the way I do. We became bikers so outsiders would leave us alone and not ask questions. Sure, we’ve grown a bit rough around the edges, being in the club and coming into contact with others, having to portray ourselves in a certain light, but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten everything from my time as well.
We move for the table together, sitting in our respective spots. “This can only mean one thing,” Bones comments once we’re alone at the table beside our brothers. No use keeping them out of it when I’m certain they have overheard everything already.
