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

27. Day Walker

27

Day Walker

“ Y ep. That was worth the wait.” Domino strolled over and placed the drinks and food on the table. “Look at her. I think she might pass out.”

“She’s not the only one.” Lena stumbled back over to the table to sit down. “Damn near gave me a heart attack! How is this possible?”

“I gave him my blood.” I didn’t mean to blurt out the answer, but I panicked, and everyone looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“Your blood made him human?” Miguel asked, as if he’d heard the best news of his life. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. If he could, he’d have me hooked up to a mass production chamber, constantly pumping out blood to be used in their weapons.

“Human? No.” Domino side-eyed the hunter. “Though I’m sure you wish that was the case.”

“So you’re still a vampire, but you’re in the sun.” Lena stood again, this time moving closer to Domino to examine him. “They were right. It wasn’t just one of those legends that turns out to be a big pile of dookie.”

“They were right.” He frowned at her terminology. “Lucky for me, it didn’t go the other way.”

“What does this mean?” Jackie stood. “Is this permanent?”

“As far as I can tell, yes,” Domino answered with a big grin on his face as Jackie rolled her eyes at him.

“We can test it!” Miguel said. “I’ll just need a little of your blood.”

“You’re out of your mind, hunter.” Domino tensed. “I’m not giving you any of my blood!”

“Wait, hear him out,” Jackie said. “Miguel, how does that work? Exactly how much blood do you need? A bucket full?”

“Funny,” Domino muttered.

“You have lab equipment here, right?” Miguel answered. “I can look at his blood on a microscopic level. I didn’t get that medical degree for nothing. We’ve been studying vampire blood and its many mutations for years. If it’s not permanent, I’ll already be able to see it returning to its former state.”

“Has something like this happened before?” I asked. “Have you seen this?”

“Not exactly this,” Miguel narrowed his eyes and swung his finger at us, “but yeah. We’ve seen it before.”

“How?” I asked.

“Witches perform backward spells that temporarily allow vampires to bend the rules, but those spells are never permanent,” Domino summed up Jackie’s ‘everything is magic’ response. “But there are very few witches who would dare play with that kind of magic.”

“For good reason,” Lena added. “It's dark stuff, and it messes with the mind of the vampire they perform it on, as well as themselves. I’ve seen witches go crazy for a lot less.”

“Yeah, and typically, it’s a one-and-done kind of thing,” Miguel continued. “Their bodies don’t like to be toyed with. I saw a vampire try to use a spell to battle the sun twice, and it turned his blood into battery acid, ate him up from the inside out.”

“Damn.” Jackie looked at Domino, and I swore, it was like she hoped that would be the outcome for him as well.

Miguel continued. “All we need is a small amount, and we can find out.”

“Domino? Please,” I urged him to consider it.

“Whitney.” Domino wanted me to drop it, but I couldn’t.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him away so we could discuss it privately.

“We should know what to expect,” I said as soon as we were out of earshot. “I mean, you could accidentally get my blood on you and die. We can’t risk that! I did this to save you, not to make it impossible for you to be around me.”

“You’re going to panic about this if I don’t agree, aren’t you?” He looked at me like he’d already given up the fight.

“Yes. And you said you would do anything for me, remember?” I poked him in the shoulder.

He glanced over his shoulder at the three, who pretended like they weren’t trying to hear us. “Giving a hunter my blood wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Domino,” I said sternly. “Come on.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.” He leaned closer to me and whispered, “Because I love you.”

I froze.

“You know, your heart races and you turn beet red when I say that to you.” He smiled. “I love you, Whitney.”

“Seriously?” I whispered, and my fist landed against his shoulder. “Are you really messing with me right now?”

“I’m just having a little fun with you. Can’t I have that much when you’re asking me to willingly give a hunter my blood?” He kissed my cheek then turned to Miguel. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

Jackie took Miguel to retrieve the sterile materials he needed to collect Domino’s blood. She wouldn’t let Domino into the private areas of her house, no matter what.

“Bad enough there’s a vampire all up in my house to begin with!” she fussed.

“Wait, how is it possible that he’s in here?” I turned to Lena when I realized the point we’d all overlooked. “I thought you adjusted the barrier.”

“I did, but he’s not exactly a normal vampire anymore. You know as soon as this is over, she’s going to have me come up with a new ward for this place so you can’t come back in.” Lena laughed and picked through the provided pastries. She smiled when she saw her favorite blueberry scone in the mix.

“What makes you think I would want to come back here if not forced?” Domino looked offended.

“I don’t know. Jackie might grow on you like Maverick did.” I nudged him.

“Don’t remind me. The damn cat won’t leave my car.”

“What? Are you and Maverick buddies now?” Lena asked.

“Maverick has better taste than that!” Jackie returned with Miguel, who carried a tray of supplies.

“Let’s do this!” he said eagerly.

Domino sat down at the kitchen counter, where Miguel set up his tray. It was quick and easy. He cleaned the skin, plunged the needle into his vein, and walked away with a vial of Domino’s blood.

“I’ll be outside trying to get your cat out of my car.” Domino stood and walked over to me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving us. This was clearly a move to give me time to talk to my friends, and as soon as he was gone, they pounced!

Jackie jumped from her seat and slapped my arm. “Bitch! What the hell happened? You were supposed to keep your blood to yourself!”

“Exactly what I said. You were running late with your blood supply. Jackie, I was sitting there watching him wither away!” I explained to myself. “I get it. You don’t like him, but I do, and I need him to help me save my sister. There was no way I was going to just let him die, so I gave him my blood. I was afraid it would kill him, but I figured he was on his way out anyway, so I might as well try.”

“And now he’s a fucking day walker!” Jackie fussed. “That type of shit is supposed to stay in the comic books!”

“You mean alongside monster hunters, witches, and alien descendants?” I asked her.

“Yeah, and cats who shift into dragons!” Lena shouted. “Are we going to talk about that? Because that shit blew my mind!”

“Lena, you are not helping.” Jackie held a finger up to hush her.

“How did it feel?” Lena lowered her voice, and both our heads snapped toward her. We knew what that whisper meant: Lena’s gutter brain had slipped into the conversation.

“Excuse me?” Jackie asked.

“When he bit you.” Lena looked at me. “Did it feel good? Did you like it?”

“You’re a kinky bitch, I knew it!” Jackie gasped. “You have some kind of vamp fantasy, don’t you? It’s not just for the books!”

“I’m just curious.” Lena shrugged. “I’ve never known anyone who had a vampire bite them!”

“And you still don’t.” I laughed. “Domino didn’t bite me. I cut my arm and fed him the blood.”

“And even with your blood in his mouth, he didn’t bite?” Jackie squinted. “Swear!”

“I swear.” I thought back to the moment his eyes opened and he accepted my blood. “It felt like he wanted to, but no. He drank from me and then used his blood to heal the wound.”

“Damn. He does love her.” Lena swooned.

My face warmed at the sound of that word again. “Love? Wh-who said anything about love?”

“Uh-uh, why are you getting all fidgety?” Jackie pointed at me. “What’s that about?”

I took a deep breath and straightened myself. “I’m not.”

“What happened? Spill.” Lena grabbed my arm. “Tell us everything or I’ll pinch you!”

“Keep those claws off me.” I pulled away from her and took a deep breath. They were going to find out anyway. “Domino told me he loves me.”

“Shit!” Lena hopped up. “And what did you say? Did you tell him you love him? Did you two promise to be together forever?”

“Lena, what the hell is wrong with you?” Jackie snapped her fingers in her face. “I swear, we’ve lost you to the bubble head community. Why would she say all that?”

“I didn’t say anything,” I answered.

“Yes!” Jackie cheered. “Let him eat on that! My girl got some damn sense!”

“It wasn’t like that. He asked me not to say anything,” I corrected her.

“What would you have said?” Lena leaned in, and Jackie paused, clearly the same question on her mind. “Do you? Do you love him?”

“I-uh—,” I stared at my friends and decided to change the topic to avoid my building panic attack. “Jai. We need to find Jai. None of this is important.”

“Damnit, she’s right,” Jackie said. “We’re sitting here talking about a damn man when we need to be planning for this attack.”

“Fine,” Lena relented as well. “We’ll save your sister, but then you’re telling us the truth.”

“How are you not beat up?” I joined them at the table. It was only after we sat down I realized neither had a single bruise on them. “After what happened back there, I expected you to be wrapped up in bandages.”

“What did I tell you the answer to every how question was?” Jackie tapped her temple with her finger.

“Magic?” I frowned.

“Bingo!” she cheered.

“I have healing potions,” Lena clarified; magic wasn’t a good enough answer. “When we got back, I gave one to everyone.”

“Oh, that’s handy.” I nodded.

“We don’t all have a vampire in our back pockets,” Jackie teased.

“Oh, shut up.” Lena slapped her arm. “Drop it, girl.”

“My sister?” I redirected the conversation. “Domino said he talked to you about her. She’s safe and we’re buying time?”

“Yes. The good thing is, we know exactly where she is.” Jackie picked a pastry out of the bag Domino left on the table. “The bad thing is, Vance now has all of Reddick’s power and then some. It seems he was planning to snatch the throne for himself all along. This just allowed him to push up his timeline, and he took it.”

“So, he has all the resources of a king. That’s not good.” I wanted to be optimistic, but it was already sounding like the cards were stacked against us.

“King is just a political term they use in the vampire world. He’s more like a mayor or a governor. Yes, he does have resources, but so do we,” Jackie reminded me. “We’re not out here just winging it. There are systems in place to deal with this, systems we will tap into if we need to. Right now, the goal is to keep this away from the officials. We don’t want them finding out about you either.”

“And now we have a secret weapon,” Lena stated.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Domino!” Lena boasted. “None of the vampires know about him. They’re all sleeping now.”

“True.” Jackie sucked her teeth. It was like she hated that Domino could possibly be part of the solution.

“I say we wait to attack until it’s nearly dawn. Take the battle outside, and when the sun rises and the rest of them go running for cover, they’ll realize he’s not like them anymore,” Lena explained. “Maybe some of them will even get caught outside and burn to bits.”

“Are you sure she has a vampire fantasy?” I asked.

“Yes, but now I’m not so sure how twisted the fantasy gets.” Jackie laughed. “When this is done, we’re going to take you to see someone.”

“I don’t care what you two think.” Lena lifted her nose in the air. “It’s a brilliant idea.”

“What is?” Miguel asked, returning with the vial of blood in his hand.

“That was fast.” Jackie jumped from her seat.

“Yeah, and the results are in.” Miguel smiled widely.

“What are they?” Domino reappeared, his gaze immediately shifting from mine, the silence speaking volumes.

That man was listening to our conversation, I just knew it. He couldn’t read my mind, but I would tell him exactly what I thought about his eavesdropping later.

“Eager to find out if you’re going to explode next time you try to bite my bestie?” Jackie teased.

“Jackie,” Lena snapped at her like a parent scolding a child.

“Sorry.” Jackie shrugged.

“What are the results?” I asked.

“The change is permanent,” Miguel announced. “Domino’s a day walker for good now.”

“He is?” I looked at Domino, and the corner of his lips lifted just slightly. Even if he wouldn’t express it in front of them, he was happy about it.

“Yes. Whatever you did, it's here to stay,” Miguel said. “Not sure how I feel about that, but there it is.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Lena asked. “I mean, we don’t want Domino’s blood turning into battery acid.”

“Sure.” Jackie rolled her eyes. “We just have one vampire who can walk in the daylight. That’s not a problem until it’s two or even three. Just another problem the hunters will eventually have to take care of.”

“Jackie!” Lena slapped her arm and pointed at me. No, it wasn’t like I was the reason the problem existed.

“My bad.” Jackie rubbed my arm. “I’m sorry, it’s just…I’m struggling with this.”

“No, it’s fine.” I nodded. “I understand. I had the same thoughts when it first happened. The last thing I want is to be the reason someone gets hurt.”

“It won’t come to that,” Domino reassured me.

“Yeah, we can find a way to protect you and make sure no other vampire gets your blood. I mean, you already said they can’t bite you, right?” Lena offered.

“That’s true, but Domino didn’t bite me, remember?” I said. “There are other ways to get to my blood.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” Jackie interjected. “Jai is the focus now, and I think Lena’s plan, while freaky, is the best way for us to tackle this. We’ll wait until it’s close to daylight. Then, we’ll attack. The goal will be to draw them outside, where we now have the advantage. While we fight, Lena and Whitney will get Jai.”

“Okay,” Miguel said. “We should start prepping the hunters.”

“Right.” Jackie headed out with Miguel.

“Uh…” Lena looked at us. “I’m going to go make some more potions and craft more vamp powder. Best to be prepared.” She grabbed a cup of coffee and another scone before running out.

“They’re obviously trying to give us time alone,” Domino said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Maybe they think you should tell me you love me now,” he poked at me.

“Hey, one more time, and I’m going to blast you.” I brought sparks to my fingers and wiggled them in front of his face.

“I surrender!” A hearty laugh escaped his lips, and my phone started ringing.

My gaze darted from the screen to his face, my eyes widening in shock. “It’s Jai.”

His humor faded as he pointed at the phone in my hand. “Answer it.”

I hit the answer button and put the call on speaker. “Hello?”

“Whitney? Whitney, please. It’s me,” Jai’s frantic voice came over the phone. “They told me to tell you they won’t wait. You have one hour after the sun sets. If you’re not here, they will kill me.”

Then, the call ended.