Chapter Eleven
R eaper
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.
“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.
His stormy gaze meets mine as he grumbles out the words that make my stomach twist with dread. “Let her walk home tonight. See if anyone’s around. We need bait, and someone’s already out there looking for her, I’d guess.”
Fuck.