Page 15 of Reaper's Revenge
“What?”
“She’s a half breed, and your venom has initiated her turn.”
“What on earth? It can’t be, I thought half breeds or half-bloods were only a rumor made up to frighten the changed.” If it’s true, then the compulsion won’t work on her for much longer. Her blood will burn right through any control we attempt to exert over her.
He cuts his bloody steak, shaking his head. He takes a bite, chews, swallows, and says, “Possibly a long time ago it was meant to be a means of control, but we’ve long since moved past it. We have no reason to fear the half breeds, though some say their strength is more prominent compared to a changed, but there’s no proof. No one is willing to come forward and claim half breed status, which is ironic because it used to be touted as them being superior in a sense, being born with the genetic mutation already in place. It’s not something that’s talked about anymore; you wouldn’t hear about it unless you started digging around in our kind’s history.”
Machete leans forward as he takes a drink from his glass of ice water; his coffee cup is already drained of every bit of caffeine. “It’s true. There are whispers in the blood trade of half-bloods. A few are specifically searching for them and are willing to pay a pretty penny for them, too.”
My answering response is more growl than words spoken, “No one will ever touch Athena.”
His hands raise, his lips playing at a smirk. “Chill, brother, I have no interest in touching your woman. I’m only bringing it up to back up what Prez is saying. Also, to warn you that she could be valuable if the wrong people found out what she is.”
“Ugh,” I sigh, “We don’t even know for sure if she truly is a half breed, it’s merely an educated guess.”
King snickers, “Yeah, and Prez is wrong how often?”
I shoot him a glare, silently telling him to shut his mouth. I don’t need his opinions when I have so many of my own spinning in my mind at the moment. Bones is rarely wrong; everyone knows that fact. His uncanny ability to be correct is partially what makes him so good for his position in the club.
Mayhem clears his throat before meeting my gaze. “I didn’t think much of it before, but now, it may mean something. Reaper, did you catch the scent outside the café before we came in?”
“No,” I admit, setting my cup of coffee down. I’m keyed up enough as it is right now to add caffeine to the mix. “I parked and came inside, eager to see my woman. There are always several human scents around, I’m not about to pick them all up on my way in when Athena’s is the only one I actually want to smell.”
He nods. “Thought so. I was going to bring this up to Prez later, but it may be too important to wait. I caught the scent outside when I walked the perimeter. There’s been another vampire here. I’d say female, but I’m not certain. They somewhat covered their presence with dead crow’s blood.”
Dead crow’s blood? That screams sketchy and instantly has my interest piqued. “They were here, inside the diner?”
He shakes his head, “No. They were outside of that window.” He points to the largest pane of glass along the front of the restaurant, and I slowly take in every inch of the glass. Sure enough, there are remnants of the bird left behind in the very center. Either the bird ran into it on its own accord, or the crow was purposefully thrown there. The bird is gone, but there are smudges of its blood and dirt left behind.
I’m out of my seat in a blink and in front of the area. I peer outside, glancing all around, and then dip my head to take in the ground below. There’s blood from the crow left behind there as well, but no other evidence of anyone’s presence, at least none I can pick up on from in here. Mayhem’s a much better tracker than I am, though; it’s partly why he’s our enforcer.
I hurry back to the table, my body locked up with tension. “Do you have any idea of who it could’ve been? Any scent tracers left behind?”
Mayhem shakes his head, releasing a frustrated sigh. “Like I said, nothing strong. The most I could pick up was that it was possibly a female vampire.”
“Hm. Were they just stopping through for a brief moment, or were they out hunting? Is the real question.” Ice mutters, voicing my thoughts as well. He folds his arms over his chest, staring down at his plate as if it holds all the answers he’s seeking.
My instincts roar inside of me, taunting that someone knows about Athena. It’s either about her changing or her being involved with me. However, I’ll never know unless I can come across the person snooping around.
Our presence here is usually enough to scare off any vampires passing through in groups of fewer than five or ten. Us having such a large den of males is intimidating to smaller numbers because we could easily rip them to pieces if we wanted to. It’s not a guarantee, however, and we can’t ever think we’re untouchable or the only ones in this territory. Back in my time, when I was first turned, a group our size usually meant it was a war party, training to take out another den. Times have changed, though, and the silent wars we fought amongst ourselves aren’t as prominent now, thankfully.
Our existence would be found out in an instant with today’s technology in mind. One random cell phone video uploaded online would go viral in a heartbeat, then it’d only be a matter of time before another popped up. The spiral would continue until we were completely ousted and hunted. Humans fear what is different from them, so I doubt there’d be any negotiations. They’d jump straight into war where some of our kind would die, along with thousands of theirs. We’d forever be blamed for the brutal slayings of numerous humans and never be able to live a somewhat peaceful life again.
“Chaos, Vicious, I want you two out tonight, check around the other businesses and parks to see if you can catch the trail of who this could possibly be. I don’t like not knowing who the hell is in our area, you understand me?” Prez orders, the line between his brows prominent as he comes up with a plan.
“Yes, Prez,” They answer in unison, used to being tasked out. They’re crazy enough to hold their own if they come in contact with a threat. If anyone can root out a vampire slumming it around town, I have faith they can pull it off.
“Lucky, and King,” Bones orders next. “Once those two come back, I want a map drawn up of everywhere the vamp has been. Get with Mayhem so he can start cross-checking with any contacts we have in those areas. Let’s flush him out.”
“You got it, Bones,” Lucky tips his head in submission.
“We’ll have Church and discuss club business another night; this is too important. We need to know what this vamp is up to, if they’re going to start feeding in our territory, so we can prepare and act accordingly. I won’t have someone coming into our home and making a mess of things when we already have our lives in place here.”
I’m glad he’s being proactive about this, but I’m not surprised. He’s the President for a reason.
“What should I do with Athena?” I want to put her on my back and carry her around until we get everything figured out, but I know it’s not rational. I’m not crazy over the idea of leaving her at her house, but I have no idea how she’s going to react to anything.
Her becoming a vampire is an inconvenience to the club at most, while I get her through the transition, but discovering there could be more vampires in town affects us all in daunting ways. Each night we’ll wake up, not knowing what to expect, and living like that is dangerous.
