Chapter 4
Fenton took a few steps back to the other end of his training room, then made a show of taking off his shirt. “You’re getting me worked up here, Fallon.”
I braced myself with two blunt wooden stakes and watched him, waiting for his next move. I’d been keeping him off the whole night, never letting him get close enough to my throat to victoriously declare me dead. I was getting better. I’d have something to show the Hunters when I went back home.
I could only gasp in half a breath by the time Fenton was back in my personal space again.
I hesitated, moving my right stake half an inch before trying for another opening to my left, but it was too late.
Fenton snatched both my wrists at the same time, then hooked his leg behind my own, dropping me to the mat below with his full weight keeping me down.
I groaned despite the padded floor, and I didn’t bother to try to wiggle out of his grip.
Fenton would like that too much anyway, and his smirk was already far too pleased.
“You’re too good, Fallon.” Fenton’s voice was gentle — or rough?
— as he admired my body from above. I tugged on my wrists, but he kept each one pinned down.
When my hips bucked to break free, he just squeezed his knees around them and chuckled.
“You’re never ready when I play dirty. And I’m one of the nice ones. ”
“Great. I’ll remember not to trust you. Get off.”
I steeled myself for what was coming. Fenton’s eyes gave the briefest warning, flicking to my lips before he kissed me, not demanding with arousal, but passionate with romantic desire. I groaned and twisted my face away, and he’d weakened his grip on me enough that I could push him off.
“Peter! I have a boyfriend.”
“I don’t care,” he laughed, then flopped back to lie spread out on the floor. “God, Fallon, I just can’t care about him.”
“You claim to care about me, don’t you?” I grabbed my stakes and pushed myself off the ground. When Fenton got this way, it was time to end the training session. “So don’t kiss me.”
“Ugh.”
I put my stakes back in my bag, and I thought he’d leave it at that, but it was Peter Fenton, and he had to run his mouth.
“You’re all pent up, though, Fallon. He’s not kissing you, so why can’t I?”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, just to rub away the lingering buzz. “He kisses me, Fenton.”
“But you haven’t fucked.” Fenton’s tongue darted out to lick his lips, a move that was oddly boastful.
“Can we not talk about this? Do you remember when I asked you to cut back on the sexual stuff? I get it, that’s all you think about, but that’s not how it is for everyone.”
“Bullshit.” He fixed his attitude once I glared at him. “Fine. No sexual stuff. I remember. It’s hard to remember human values sometimes. Especially now that you’ve gotten so uptight.”
I stood in place with my bag on my shoulder.
Peter still hadn’t gotten up from the floor.
This hadn’t been the way I’d imagined the conversation would progress.
Of course, I should have anticipated the jealous jabs at my relationship with Virgil, but now it was an awkward transition to ask him something so gravely important to me, as if he were already proving himself untrustworthy.
“What is it, Fallon?” He stood with impossible grace to peer into my eyes. It was easier now that he’d recognized the mood shift, but I was still annoyed.
“Peter, I need to ask you a favor.”
“I don’t know, Fallon,” he said, winding up a grin. “I’d only do anything you ever asked of me.”
“I’m going home to ask for my powers at the beginning of next month. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. Weeks, maybe months.”
His happiness imploded. “What? That long? Can I go with you?”
“You realize my home is a training ground for vampire hunters, right? And you’re a vampire? You’d be dead within ten seconds of being on the property.”
He groaned, implying this is so unfair. I fought my smile admirably to really convey how serious this was.
“I need you to do something for me, though. I need you to watch over my family while I’m away. Just in case Lazaro or any other insane vampires try something. Can you do that for me?”
“Would it earn me points? Build up from friend to boyfriend?” Sometimes his twisted view of the world got a smile out of me. He was almost cute and innocent about it.
“That’s not how it works, Fenton. And I’m seeing Virgil.”
“Still?” he grinned.
I rolled my eyes. “Should I just go ask him to do it?”
“No, no, no, I’ll do it!”
I felt a teensy bit bad about goading Fenton into agreeing by using Virgil against him, but then he opened his mouth again.
“Wait, why aren’t you asking the doofus? You trust me more, huh? You know, I bet he’s not even going to wait for you while you’re gone. Better break up with him before you go.”
“Shut up.” Virgil, of course, had a real job with real responsibilities. I couldn’t ask him to also watch over the Hopes. Fenton was less burdened in those areas.
“It’ll be an honor to protect your family, Fallon.”
I couldn’t bother to suss out whether he was being genuine or not. I just felt better knowing that even if he made half an effort of watching over the ranch, it was better than nothing.
“Thank you, Peter. This really does mean a lot. You know how important the Hopes are to me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good luck convincing them to let me step foot on their land, too. Might have better luck with your vampire hunter women.”
Peter followed me out of his training room. It was getting late, and I had one more visit I was planning for the night before I went back home.
“I already told Nico you’d be there.”
Peter raised his eyebrows.
“He wasn’t happy about it, but…” I shrugged.
“Men, be they mortal or immortal, are no match against the seductive influence of Fallon Marlow?” he offered dramatically.
“That’s really overselling my influence. I’ll fill you in on the details when we get closer to all that.” I still had a gala to get through. Somehow, that was more nerve-wracking than going back to the Hunter Land and facing the trials.
“You want me to be there tonight?” The puppy-dog tail I sometimes imagined Fenton having was wagging. “I can grab my stuff right now. Your bed is big enough for the both of us.”
“You’re not allowed in their home, Fenton.”
He growled loud enough for the whole building to hear. “Still the dirty pet vampire, huh?”
My hand rested on his front door knob. He was a manipulative bastard, but sometimes it was effective at pinching the right nerve in my heart. “I’m sorry.”
I tilted my head back to meet his gaze. He’d gotten taller as a vampire. He’d changed a lot from the human I once knew. The look in his eyes, for example…
I wasn’t sure how long had passed with him just reading me. I actually let him. His brows slowly came together like a storm cloud threatening to break. “You don't even really notice it. Not until it's gone,” he said before leaning forward.
My hand went up to protect my neck as he leaned in.
The flash of pained betrayal in his eyes was the last thing I saw before his head turned and his ear pressed to my chest. My breath caught as I surveyed his cool closeness.
His voice was a quiet rumble, like far-off thunder on a cozy summer evening.
“You feel it in those big moments when it's racing. When it's pounding so hard you think you might lose it. Well, I have lost it, and it's the quiet, steady beat I miss most.”
My heart certainly wasn't calm at the moment. He must have felt it kicking against his cheek. This was more intimate than even the kiss he’d planted on me earlier, but I struggled now to end it.
I should have shoved him away. I kept my hand at my side, no matter how my fingers itched to bury themselves into his mess of black hair.
“Peter. I have to go.”
I couldn’t meet his eyes once he straightened. I muttered something like a farewell before I slipped out the door. His hand trapped my wrist before I could close the barrier behind me, and we stood separated by the threshold.
“There’s something here, isn’t there? You feel something for me. I’m not crazy.”
“Peter, please don’t do this.” I’d taken on an uncomfortable begging tone.
“You’re attracted to me,” he said triumphantly, pointing in my face as if he’d caught me. I pulled on my arm, but he wouldn’t release his hold on me. I firmed up my own voice.
“Don’t get any ideas. I’m. With. Virgil.”
“You’re not denying the lust, then?” His fangs pressed into his bottom lip.
“I’m not letting lust guide any of my decisions. I’m not a vampire, remember? Now let me go, or I really will ask Virgil to watch my family instead of you.”
Fenton dropped my hand, but that pleased smirk remained.
“Good night, Fenton.” I pulled the door closed, even if it meant knocking him in the shoulder in the process. Even that didn’t dampen his delight in the slightest.
I barely had time to reflect on the conversation as I stomped across to the other side of the building. I really needed to reassess my relationship with lying. It would make my life so much easier.
* * *
It was a short walk to Diana Hunter’s apartment — if she was still living there. I didn’t have more than a few moments to calm down after Fenton’s aggravating observations. You’re not denying the lust. As if I wasn’t an adult in control of my actions. As if lust was what mattered.
I knocked a little too hard on Diana’s door.
If I hadn’t heard the movement inside the apartment, enough time would have passed for me to think she wasn’t home.
I waited, more awkward by the second, chiding myself for not just texting her a warning that I’d be there.
I’d talked myself out of it all week, part of me fearing it might drive her away.
The door creaked, and familiar eyes peeked out from the dark through the four-inch opening.
“Fallon.”
“Hi, Mom.” I sounded like that lost little twelve-year-old meeting her for the first time. “Is this a bad time?”
She studied me for a few moments, then flicked the light switch next to the door. “Come on in.”
I entered and left my bag on the hook at the entrance. Diana was dressed like she might go out, or maybe she’d just gotten in. I apologized for intruding, and she waved me off.
“You want a drink, kiddo? Cookie?”
“Just some water, if it’s not too much trouble.” I stood on the opposite side of her kitchen island and thanked her for the glass of water.
“Training with your friend again?” she asked, pulling a cookie from a crinkly plastic package, store-brand chocolate chip. “You look good. Strong. Glad to see you’re alive.”
“I’m glad to be alive,” I laughed. I cupped my hands around the glass of water and looked into it. “I’m leaving soon. I’m going to the Land to ask to receive my Blessing.”
“Ask for it?” Diana smirked. “There’s plenty of power to go around, especially for you. You’re thinking they won’t give it to you?”
“Just a feeling I have.”
“You need me to throw my name around over there, kiddo?”
I was so desperate, so lacking in confidence at my return, that I actually considered the offer. “When was the last time you were there?”
“I try to make it back once a year.” She popped the last quarter of the cookie in her mouth and looked to the ceiling in thought.
“Been about three, four years now?” I kept a steady gaze on my mother as I weighed my next question.
She guessed at what I was thinking. “It’s hard.
Being a Hunter. Being a sister. A mother.
The love will always be there, and I’d kill anyone who threatened any Hunter, but we’re all hard to like, aren’t we? ”
My natural inclination to argue against that point died pretty quickly. Maybe it was the truth. I’d probably come to learn it more than ever, considering what was ahead for me.
“I’m leaving the first of June.” It was the closest I could manage to get to asking for help. Anything more than that felt wrong. After a long pause, Diana grabbed another cookie, then closed up the package. Her eyes drifted off in thought. “Any advice for me?”
“You’re my daughter. You’ll do it.”
It was no comfort at all. Just the same pressure that I’d carried since I was a child. I was Diana Hunter’s daughter. Greatness was the expectation. I’d missed it by a long shot.
“I hope that’s true. I already quit my job.”
Diana laughed. “Well, if Josephine is going to be nasty about it all, I’ll see what I can do. I trust my sisters, though. And I believe in you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” My heart felt so small in my chest now. What would Fenton hear if he were still pressed against me?
“Hey, if you have time, come visit again before you go. We’ll have dinner.” She swiped her hands together to rid her fingers of crumbs. She was signaling for me to get out of her home.
“I’d really like that. I’ll call you.”
She nodded and sucked her teeth. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Are you heading out to hunt?” I took several long gulps to finish the water she’d given me, then set the glass on the counter. I’d have done more to take care of it, but she was already by the door.
“Something like that. Hey, there’s been no more trouble with your murderous vampire?”
I hadn’t told her about my fight with Lazaro, and I wasn’t going to now. She’d only be disappointed.
“No, no trouble. Haven’t seen him.”
Diana turned off the light and opened the door, so I grabbed my bag by the light coming in from outside. “Let me know if that changes. I’ll see you soon, kiddo.” She locked the door.
“Thanks, Mom.”
The conversation was over, though. I followed her down the stairs to the parking lot, and with one final wave, she lifted her small frame up into an old brown truck with a camper shell over the bed.
It roared to life and spewed out a black cloud of exhaust, and I watched with unbreaking attention as she drove away.