Chapter 12
I lost myself in the pages, and it wasn’t long before I heard the bustle of life from the front of the bar. For a second, I closed the book and considered going out to help. I got as far as the office door before I paused and took a deep breath. James told me he had it, and I needed to learn to trust him. He’d never hesitated to ask for my help before, and tonight would be no different.
So, I reclaimed my spot and reopened my book. Though all I did for the next hour was try—and fail—to reread the same page. I needed to call Kian. It’d been days since we met, and I was sure that keeping quiet was killing him as much as it was killing me. But the idea of spilling everything brought a pang of protectiveness for James. I’d just gotten comfortable with the idea of a lifelong bond with him. Well, as comfortable as I could be.
I was trying, okay?
Telling Kian the truth would throw a wrench in all of that. James would be exposed, again. And God, I’d been hard on them when I caught them creeping outside the bar last year. I’d been certai n that he and Hannah were out of their minds, that no such thing as a vampire could ever exist.
Oh, how quickly that changed.
If I decided not to tell him the truth, what would I say?
When I was about to give up on reading and throw the book across the room, there was a soft knock at the door before it crept open. I was expecting to see James or Shiloh, and my heart started racing when Kian poked his head inside the room—with a nasty bruise on his forehead.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, closing Dracula and setting it aside.
“I ran into a door.” At my narrowed eyes, he laughed. “I promise that’s actually what happened. It was dark, I was drunk on cold medicine. Teaches me to turn a light on when I use the bathroom at night. James told me where to find you. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all.” James had given me space to figure out what I was going to do, and now I was out of time. I dropped my feet to the floor and offered Kian the seat next to me. “Is it busy out there?”
“James said you’d ask that,” he snickered as he perched on the edge of the couch. “He said to tell you it’s fine. Nothing those two can’t handle.”
“I thought you’d be working today.”
“Called out sick again.”
“Still not feeling any better?”
He shrugged. “Physically I feel fine, but I… haven’t been focusing very well, and since Hannah has a busy day, I thought I’d see if you found anything.” He wrung his hands in his lap. “I’ve, uh, been going a little stir crazy.”
I blew out a breath. “I understand the feeling. I discovered a lot, Kian, but it’s not going to be an easy conversation.”
His eyes met mine, and he nodded. “Okay. ”
“I’m going to tell you everything I know. I need you to hear me out, and I need you to remember you’re not alone.”
He nodded nervously. Going to James’s desk, I retrieved the folder and returned to the couch with it.
“The papers you found were legit. You were born Kian Parker. Luke wasn’t lying either: your parents died in a fire when you were five years old.”
Kian accepted the folder and opened it, landing on the lone surviving article about the fire. “Where does Luke come into this? How did I end up with him?”
I let out a deep, shaky breath. “That’s where things start to get a little strange. And I need you to stick with me.”
“Okay.” He set the file aside and gave me his undivided attention.
“I did some digging, and the fire that killed your parents wasn’t an accident.”
Kian sucked in a breath. “Arson?”
I nodded grimly. “But it wasn’t intended for them. Someone made a mistake.”
“How did you find out about it? Was there an investigation?”
“No. There are people who didn’t want a paper trail.”
Kian paled. “You know who it was.”
“I do. And I owe you an apology.” I cleared my throat. “Last year when you said Luke was a vampire hunter, I called you ridiculous and sent you home.”
Kian relaxed. “Because it was ridiculous. Luke’s side hobby wasn’t?—”
“A hobby at all,” I finished for him.
The only sound was my heartbeat in my ears. I couldn’t look at Kian while I waited for his reply. Instead, I stared across the room at the bookshelf, at the empty space where Dracula belonged.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly .
“Luke did hunt vampires—because he thought they were monsters.”
“ What ?”
I held up my hand, and he let me continue. “There’s a whole group of hunters; Dani was a member too.” My throat tightened around her name. I’d wanted her to stop hurting James—I’d never wanted her dead. I shook off the memory. “Dani tried to kill me last year. She was trying to lure James here so they could slay him. James is a vampire, and this group that Luke and Dani worked for has been hunting him for years. Dani’s the one who set fire to the bar last year.”
Kian’s mouth worked, but no sound came out.
“I know this is a lot,” I said gently. I leaned forward, hoping he took the action as comfort. “If you need to talk with anyone about all of this, we told Hannah about James yesterday.”
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Kian muttered. “The fire at Liz’s. The news said?—”
“That it was electrical, yeah. All the reports were doctored. Dani wanted to take James down and would have done anything to make that happen, including taking me out with him. She drugged me and tied me up. Luke didn’t agree with any of that. Before he ran out of the building, he loosened my ties and made me promise to look after you.”
Kian was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face. His glossy eyes blinked, hands frozen in his lap where he’d been tugging on his fingers. “Are you drunk?”
I choked out a nervous laugh. “I wish I was, but I respect you too much to lie to you.”
Kian shook his head and dropped his face into his hands. “Let me get this straight. Your boyfriend is a vampire. The man I believed my whole life to be my big brother isn’t my brother at all and has been hunting your boyfriend. ”
“ Was hunting,” I corrected. “I think he made it clear when he fled that he was done with that life.”
“Right. What does this have to do with my birth family? Are you saying my parents were vampires?”
“No, your parents were killed in an accident.” I fought against a wave of nausea as I prepared myself for my next words. “And I think Luke was responsible.”
“ What ?” Kian shot to his feet. From where I sat, he towered over me. “Luke killed my parents, and then decided to adopt me? As what? Some form of atonement?”
“Maybe. I know it’s a lot, but if that’s true, he also saved your life.”
“How do we know for sure?”
“We don’t,” I said, looking up at him. “Not unless we talk to Luke.”
“You were the last person to see him.” It wasn’t a question.
“I guess I was.”
“And he told you to take care of me.”
“He did.”
“Did he tell you where he was going? Has he reached out to you since?”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m sorry. If I knew, I’d tell you.”
Kian slumped as the fight left his body and he collapsed back onto the couch next to me. “I don’t know what to think.”
“I’d say you’ve earned a little time to figure that out.”
“I feel like I’m in a fever dream.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I trained my eyes on the floor, unsure where things would go from there. I expected Kian to be angry, to lash out. I expected screaming, maybe a punch or two. I did not expect the odd, choking sobs that came from next to me.
“Okay, didn’t see that coming.”
I jumped up and grabbed a box of tissues on James’s desk. Crouch ing in front of Kian, I squeezed his knee in comfort and offered them to him.
“I’m sorry,” he garbled through a wet laugh. “I’m so tired, I don’t know how to react.”
“I was worried you’d choose violence. I might have, if I were in your shoes. Thank you for not doing so, by the way.”
“My pleasure.” A genuine laugh broke through the sobs, Kian wiping his nose with a tissue. “So I’m adopted. The guy I thought was my brother is also a monster hunter who’s been hunting your vampire boyfriend. Am I missing anything?”
“Fuck, I hope not. I don’t think I can take much more.”
“Thank you, Ryder.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had someone thank me for ruining— ew !” Kian had pelted me with his gross, snotty tissue, making me fall back onto my ass. I pinched it in my fingers and tossed it back at him. “And here I was feeling lucky to have missed this part of parenthood.”
“I mean for telling the truth, and for not sugarcoating it. Ever since Luke took off, it’s almost like I can feel everyone tiptoeing around me. I can’t stand it.” Then he sighed. “God, what am I supposed to tell Hannah?”
I shrugged. “Tell her whatever you need to. She already knows about James, but the rest of it is your story to tell.”
“How did she take the news about James?”
“Better than I thought,” I admitted.
“I’m surprised she didn’t figure it out herself,” Kian continued. “I just wish I had more time to process this before I told her. It’s so much to take in.”
“Does she know you came to see me?”
“Yeah, she’s been so supportive. She’d never pry, but?—”
“You don’t want to keep things from her. I get it.”
Kian let out a sigh, then glanced around the office, seeming to take in the space for the first time. He was back to twi sting his fingers again, going over each one on the left hand before switching to the right, taking on that childlike vulnerability again.
“You don’t want to leave yet, do you?” I asked. The only answer I got was a shake of his head. I pushed myself to my feet. “Stay here as long as you need. James won’t mind. Call her, Kian. Let her help you.”
With that, I was on my feet and out the door.