I Accidentally Hooked Up with a Vampire (Accidents Happen #2)

12. Hunters History

12

Hunters History

“ J ackie, I need you to take over.” Lena pulled the Jeep off the main road onto a side street. She checked the mirrors to make sure we weren’t being tailed. “You drive. I’ll cloak us so they can’t follow.”

I’d never seen my friends move so fast. Lena hopped out of the driver's seat as Jackie climbed over from the back seat to the front. It was like they’d practiced the move a hundred times. By the time Lena’s door closed, Jackie was already pulling off. I gripped the door handle for dear life, because even when we weren’t running for our lives, Jackie drove like a madwoman.

I looked to the back seat to see Lena pulling a small black case from under the seat and opening it to reveal a collection of magical charms and potions. It was a mobile apothecary.

“Since when do you keep that on you?” I gawked at the items. “I thought you weren’t a practicing witch.”

“Is this the time when I confess my secret?” Lena spoke while her hands worked effortlessly to craft the spell she needed to cast.

“Another one?” I narrowed my eyes, and she peered at me over her glasses with that ‘try me’ look.

“We’ve already established that we kept some things from you for your own good,” Lena said. “I think we can move past that point now. Just to save time.”

“And your magical practices had to be one of those things?” I asked. “I already knew you came from a family who practiced.”

“Yes, you knew, but you also think magic is leaving stones in the moonlight and writing repetitive manifestations. While that is a part of it, what I do is so much more intense. It’s dangerous work, Whitney.” Lena lit a match and tossed it into the bowl where she’d combined a slew of other ingredients. The concoction went up in flame, and a cool green smoke spread through the car. When it reached me, it caused a prickly sensation that stretched the length of my body.

As the tingles subsided on my skin, I looked at her with a new sense of wonder. “Okay. Tell me.”

“I’ve been using magic for a few years now,” Lena admitted. “It’s not like I didn’t know how. I just was always reluctant. Using magic makes me feel sick sometimes, and I thought it meant something bad about me, so I rebelled against it. However, a time came when I had to put that aside for the good of myself and my family. I could take a little nausea if it means protecting the people I love.”

“And Jackie knows all about this?” I glanced at our ass-kicking friend, who kept her eyes on the road ahead. Of course, she knew.

“Yes.” Lena peeked in on Maverick. “She was the one who convinced me it would be a good idea. Things are getting more tense in our world, and anyone who doesn’t take measures to defend themselves is going to be in big trouble.”

“And now I’m a part of that world.” I turned around and looked out the window. “I’m not supposed to be, but I am.”

“You are!” Jackie smacked the steering wheel, causing my head to snap back to her. “Isn’t it great!”

“Ask me when we’re not on the run from vampires.” I rolled my eyes and turned to look out the back window. I didn’t see anyone behind us.

“But that’s the exciting part of our world. The thrill. You don’t know how many times I wished I could tell you about our adventures.” Jackie sounded like she was ready to burst. “But now, I can tell you everything!”

“Your adventures?”

“Yes!” Jackie looked over her shoulder at Lena. “And now, you get to join us. I mean, there is no way you’re going back to pretending none of this exists. And if we can tap into whatever powers you inherited from your alien ancestors, we’ll be an ass-kicking trio!”

“Jackie, ease up.” Lena’s mothering voice came out.

“Yes, Jackie. Ease up.” I pointed to the road. “On the power thing and the gas pedal. I don’t want to die in a fiery car crash either.”

“Don’t be such a baby. I’m not going to kill you on the road.” She winked at me then frowned when Maverick fussed in his case on the back seat.

“I don’t think he wants you to slow down.” Lena laughed. “You know how much he hates being in this thing.”

“He’ll be fine.” I waved her concern off.

“Why do you act like that toward my baby?” Jackie snapped her fingers.

“Maybe because he beats on me.” I turned and pointed at the cat. “Little menace!”

“He would never!” Jackie shouted. “And ain’t nothing little about our boy. He barely fits in that carrier you got him stuffed into.”

Maverick hit the case with his tail in protest.

“It’s not my fault he grows so fast!” I laughed. “Besides, I have his abuse on my security camera. You want to see it?”

“It’s edited,” Jackie quickly dismissed me. “I don’t want to see your propaganda!”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and straightened in my seat. “Your baby? You can have him.”

“You know you’d be lost without Mav in your life!” Lena popped my shoulder. “Don’t be like that.”

After more talk of the life of my oversized cat who I’d just learned was actually a demon, I felt the weight of my body double. Exhausted from a sleepless night, I drifted off to sleep, lulled by the rumble of the car on the highway.

“We’re here.” Jackie tapped me on the shoulder to wake me.

“Oh.” I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pass out like that.”

“Girl, you needed the rest. Chill.” Jackie jumped out of the car. Lena was already unloading things from the back seat. She sat the cat carrier down and opened it. Maverick took off running.

I watched him like a shadow crossing the ground as he ran from the Jeep up the stairs to Jackie’s massive front doors.

Where Lena’s house was a quaint little fairy nook, Jackie’s was a fortress. She lived over an hour away from my beachside condo, closer to the hilly country. It was a home she inherited from her grandmother and, with the money from her father and her own business, she’d built it out. When she first got the home, it was a nice colonial-style mansion, bigger than anything I’d ever lived in. But over the years, she’d remodeled it with more contemporary finishes and even purchased more of the surrounding land to extend her perimeter.

I remember asking her what war she was preparing for when she told me about the stone barrier wall she was having installed. It wrapped around the acres of land and opened in the front, which was a five-minute drive from the nearest road.

“You know, this house makes a lot more sense now.” I scanned the massive front entrance.

“Does it?” Jackie asked and handed me one of my bags.

“You fight monsters for a living. Of course, you need a house built for battle.” I nodded. “You’ve made even more changes since I last came over.”

“Yeah, it’s a work in progress. Almost exactly how I want it.” Jackie grinned and headed for the entrance where Maverick still waited to be let inside.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I found a message from Domino.

Domino: Whitney, are you okay? Why aren’t you answering?

I glanced up at the notification bar and saw three missed calls from him.

Me: Yes. I’m okay. We just got to Jackie’s place. Are you okay?

Domino: Good. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m fine.

Me: Do you know how to get here?

Domino: Yes, because you’re there.

“Right.” I locked the phone screen and slipped it back into my pocket.

“Domino is good. He’s going to come here when he can,” I announced to the others.

“Oh, that’s right. The vampire is coming over.” Jackie pointed at me. “You better be glad I love your ass.”

“She’s never going to let you live this down, you know that, right?” Lena nudged my shoulder with hers.

“Seriously?” I threw my hand up. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“Well, while you two work that out, I’m going to start working on the guest house.” Lena pulled out her travel case full of spells and potions. “This is delicate work, and if I don’t do it right, your little vampire boo is going to go boom!”

“Only the guest house!” Jackie yelled. “I don’t want that thing roaming around my property!”

“He’ll have to come over the wall to get to it, but I’m sure he won’t have any trouble with that.” Lena turned to me. “You should probably tell him that.”

“You really want me to text him the secret vampire path to the property?” I frowned.

“No, don’t do that,” Jackie agreed. “He’s smart. He’ll figure it out. I don’t want him losing the damn phone and there being an open invite to vampires that gets out. We have enough to deal with!”

The contemporary touches to the house continued on the inside. Just in the entrance were large, white marble walls that reached up to a high ceiling. Soft wood flooring went throughout the home, with carpets in all shades of beige and wood tones. She had soft blue accents everywhere. Honestly, Jackie’s home felt like the two sides of her that those close to her knew best. The exterior was hard and imposing, but inside, she was soft, fluffy, and cozy. It was why I loved her so much.

Maverick turned into a different cat when he stepped inside. Where he was lord of terror at my place, he was a big silly fool at her place. He bounced around, swatting at the feathered plant, and then rushed to the kitchen, looking for food.

“So, we’ve agreed. That’s your cat now?” I pointed at his tail as it disappeared around the corner.

“Don’t be like that.” Jackie pet Maverick when he returned to her. “So, what do you want to know?”

“Everything you think I should know.” That was like Jackie, straight to the point.

“Right, start with the important stuff. Follow me.” She fluffed his head one more time then turned to head down the hall to the right of the entrance. This, as far as I knew, was her work wing. It was where she created content and built all the great plans for her business. I peeked inside the content room, which had at least four more cameras set up than the last time I’d been there.

“You know, it’s really impressive that you’ve managed to keep all this growing while dealing with the monster hunter stuff,” I complimented her.

“Thanks! It’s all about balance!” Jackie beamed. “Also, I’m not the only one out there doing this job, you know?”

“Of course, there are others.”

“Tony from college? She’s a total badass. I wish you could see her in action, but she sticks to Brazil these days. They have some wild creatures down there!”

“Have you ever gone?”

“Yeah, a couple times when they had to call in the reserves. But we can get into that later.” Her eyes widened when she looked back at me. “I have pictures!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the way she danced down the hall. It had been a long time since I saw her that excited. The image took my mind back to the first time she convinced me to go out with them at school. I was determined to be a bookworm, but Jackie had other plans. After a week of particularly grueling tests and learning that my crush had dicked-down damn near every freshman on campus, I caved. That was the night I learned how many shots it took to convince me to try a keg stand. The number wasn’t nearly high enough.

“Alright, this is where you learn all there is to know about me and a lot of the creatures you didn’t know existed.” Jackie stopped in front of an unassuming door. “Are you ready?”

“If I say no, does this all go away?” I asked with feigned hope.

“No.” She blew me a kiss and opened the door.

It led to the basement, a part of her house I’d never seen because, as far as I knew, it was a place for storage. That wasn’t too far off the mark, because the lights turned on to reveal a massive library. Soft lights illuminated rows of shelves full of books on one side of the basement, and on the other sat a more technical layout, with computers and massive monitors.

“When the hell did you put this in?” I looked around. “This is amazing.”

“It’s always been here. I’ve upgraded things, but this is my family’s history. It goes back for centuries,” Jackie said proudly. “There are other historical texts here as well. I’ve spent so many hours down here.”

“Are you human?” I asked. “I mean, if your family has been a part of this for so long, what makes you all so special?”

“I am human, for the most part. Like you, there is something that makes me special.” Jackie smiled. “There are some extra perks that come with my bloodline.”

“What does that mean?” I walked over to the first shelf and ran my fingers along the spine of a massive book with text I couldn’t read.

“My ancestors were one of the first human families to learn about the supernatural world. Unlike so many others, they didn’t tuck tail and run. They stood and fought and they were rewarded. A coven, thankful for the help of my family and two others, offered them a reward. They would make them, in a sense, superhuman in exchange for their help in policing the supernatural community.

“The spell would work not only on them, but their entire bloodline,” Jackie continued. “We’re human, but we live a little longer than average. I’ve recently hit the age where my aging will slow down. Where a normal human is expected to live around eighty to ninety years, I’ll last closer to two hundred and fifty. It’s not an eternity, but it's long enough to do some damage and train the next generation. My grandmother was closer to three hundred years old when she passed away.”

“Holy shit! You might as well be immortal.” I walked over to her and poked her cheek. “How old are you now?”

“You know how old I am. We went to school together.” She frowned and slapped my hand away. “Same age as you, fool!”

“Sorry, this is a lot to process.” I sucked my teeth. “Lena’s an actual witch and, apparently, a lot more powerful than I thought, and you’re a pseudo-immortal.”

“I get it. You know, we don’t have to do all this right now.” Jackie led me to sit at the large table in the center of the basement. It was covered in stacks of books and scribbled notes, all in Jackie’s writing. “You look exhausted, and I know those little catnaps you took weren’t enough. You should shower and rest.”

“I can’t yet.” I pulled out my phone and looked at the notification bar. Nothing new.

Jackie rolled her eyes. “The vampire?”

“Jackie.” I placed the phone down on the table. “Please.”

“I’m trying.” She flopped down in one of the chairs then kicked the one next to me out so I could sit down.

“Are you?” I tapped my nail against the white surface of the table. “Because it really doesn’t feel like it.”

“No, not really, but I will.” Jackie winked. “It’s hard to go from completely hating something to tolerating it in less than a day. My family didn’t have the best history with vampires. We were all taught to stay the hell away from them. It’s been ingrained in me since I was a kid, so you’re going to have to give me some time.”

“Thanks. I really do appreciate your trying and letting us stay here.” I reached over to touch her knee. “Can you forgive me for not taking your personal history into consideration?”

“Of course I can. I know this is all a lot for you, and besides, you’re not usually that selfish. I wouldn’t be friends with you if I thought you were.” Jackie blew me another kiss then cocked her head to the side. “What’s wrong?”

My shoulders dropped. “Nothing.”

“Whitney, be real with me.” She narrowed her eyes at me.

“I feel like I don’t know you or Lena. Not really. You’ve hidden so much from me. I get you had to, but all I can wonder now is how much about you don’t I know. How much have I missed out on? It’s hard to process that.”

“We’re still the same people,” she said softly. “Are you telling me you don’t have any secrets?”

“Of course I do, but they aren’t world-shattering ones.”

“World-shattering?” Jackie sighed. “Look, I’m sorry this happened like this, and had either of us had our way, you would have known in college. But we had rules to follow. And we had to protect you because we love you so much. You don’t know how hard it has been to do that.”

“I wish I did. I mean, thank you. But I wish all these years, I could have known.”

“You know now. That’s what matters. You get to be a part of all this!” She clapped and gestured at the stacks of books on the table. “I get to pull you into my world even more. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted!”

“You’re really excited about that.” I smirked. “What about your family’s secrets?”

“I am excited! And I know you can keep a secret!” She laughed. “Do you know the last trip we took together, to the islands? I had to dip off and pretend I was sick, but really, there was a damn vamp fight nearby. I had to step in and stop things from getting bloody.”

“You fought vampires in Honolulu?” I gasped.

“Yes, and I ruined my favorite swimsuit. I mean, I don’t even know what they were doing out there. It’s not like vamps to frequent the such sunny places, but like we said, things are changing.” She shrugged. “We have to adjust.”

“That was a cute suit.” I thought back on the black strappy number that took way too long to get into but was worth it just for how amazing she looked in it.

“Only wore it once and couldn’t even replace it because it was a limited edition!” Jackie slapped the table. “I thought about reaching out to the designer, but she’s a witch who would have me bargain my life away for some cute threads.”

“Found you.” Lena bounced down the stairs. “It’s done.”

“Will it work?” I turned to ask her.

“Yeah.” Lena shrugged. “I mean, we’ll know for sure when he gets here, but it should do the job. He can go to the guest house, that’s it.”

“Good.” Jackie nodded. “Damn well better be it.”

“Maybe I should go there and wait for him?” I grabbed my phone from the table. “Just in case.”

“You like him, don’t you?” Lena looked at me over her glasses, and her mouth dropped open. “That’s it!”

“What?” I felt my face flush with heat. “What are you talking about?”

“Come on, be real with us.” Lena leaned in. “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s different. You actually like him, like as a person. That’s new for you!”

“I don’t know.” I took a step back from her and hit the chair behind me. “It’s not like I’ve had the time to figure out what I think about him. So much has happened in just a few days. I mean, we haven’t even really had any time to really get to know each other.”

“Just enough time for passionate sex and blood sucking?” Lena gawked.

“Lena!” I reached out and smacked her shoulder. “Damn, girl.”

“Sorry,” Lena said. “Maybe you can get to know him now.”

“Ma’am. We’re supposed to be keeping her away from vampires,” Jackie said disapprovingly.

“Please, you know how this goes.” Lena waved her off. “That vampire is not about to leave her alone. Not after all this. As far as he’s concerned, she belongs to him, and I get a feeling it’s a mutual connection.”

“I’m sorry, what? I belong to him?” I shook my head, disagreeing with her comment. “Are you kidding me?”

“It’s not like that,” Lena explained. “Vampire pairing is an intense thing. They get real territorial and protective. He may not admit it, but I think Domino has given you his heart.”

“It’s been like four days, chill!” I laughed. “No one is giving anyone their heart!”

“That’s all it takes for them. For such gruesome creatures, they really buy into that romantic love at first sight thing. I think it has something to do with being alive for so long.” Lena tapped her chin. “You just learn how to spot it after a while.”

“Let’s not freak her out.” Jackie stood from her seat, placed her hands on my shoulders, and ushered me toward the steps leading out of the basement. “Whitney, go rest please. The vampire might not make it here tonight. You haven’t slept. If you’re going to deal with this shit, you need to be rested.”

The guest house was a miniature replica of the main house. It had modern finishes and airy décor that felt more like a vacation home. I’d spent many a drunken night in the place because it was easier to leave in the morning without disturbing Jackie. Lucky for us, it also had a mechanical blind system. I’d purchased mine after being spoiled by hers. Domino would be safe inside.

Jackie was right. As soon as I pulled the clothes from my body, the ache of exhaustion kicked in. I considered skipping the shower, but I knew it would make me feel much better in the morning if I didn’t. Besides, her shower came equipped with those head-to-toe pulsating shower heads. It was like getting a full body massage.

A half hour later, I was wrapped in the plushest of robes and stumbling to the massive bed. I checked my phone again to see if Domino had responded. Nothing.

“I hope he’s okay,” I muttered as I put my phone on the charger and climbed into bed.

My eyes closed to the flickering light from the lamp on the small nightstand and opened to the blood-covered face of a vampire.

“Aaaah!” I screamed and jumped from the bed.

“Whitney, it’s okay, it’s me.” Domino grabbed my arm just before I punched him in the face.

“Dammit! Don’t do that.” I smacked his arm then looked at the red liquid that transferred to my hand. “Why are you covered in blood?”

“You left me in the middle of a vampire fight. Those tend to get bloody.” He started unbuttoning his shirt. “I had to run and grab a few things before coming here, but I didn’t have much time to clean up. They knew where I was, and I had to get out of there before they could follow me here.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” I pointed to the door to the bathroom. “The shower is through there.”

“Thanks. Looks like your friend’s ward trick worked.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I frowned at the blood I could see glistening in his hair. “Shower, please. And be thorough.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Domino left me alone with his blood-covered shirt. I picked it up by the one spot that didn’t look to be soaked in blood and threw it in the trashcan.

When Domino returned to me, he was clean of the blood and wore a pair of red silk pajama pants.

“Whitney, are you okay? Really?” he asked when I stared at him.

“Yes, I think so.” I pointed at his pants. “Enough time to grab those but not to clean up?”

“It was a prepacked bag.” He chuckled and sat on the bed. When I flinched, he frowned. “You don’t sound certain. Are you afraid of me?”

“Yes,” I said honestly. “How can I not be?”

“I understand.” Domino smiled. “It will take you some time to adjust. I’ll wait for that.”

“You sound so sure.”

“I am. Oh, I drove your car here. I was careful not to get any blood on the inside.” He stood and walked to his pants before pulling out the envelope. “You left this in there.”

“Oh, your letter!” I pointed at the black envelope with the gold lettering.

“My letter?” His brow furrowed.

“Didn’t you send this?” I straightened. “It was in my car the morning you had it dropped off to me. With everything going on, I forgot about it.”

“No. I didn’t.” Domino tensed and flipped the letter open. His expression turned hard as he read the folded paper inside. “Damn it.”

“What is it?” I pulled the cover from my legs.

Domino let out a deep sigh. “It’s from Reddick.”

“Who the hell is Reddick?” I peered at the paper.

His words were clipped and tense as he said, "My brother."