Chapter 11
The Hopes, unsurprisingly, had mixed reactions to Peter’s arrival on the ranch.
Nico had been cold as ice, barely even acknowledging Fenton’s presence in the barn.
Subin had been polite, introducing herself to Fenton for the first time, and for all the ways he could be the most annoying creature on Earth, Peter could be equally charming when he wanted to be.
He had Subin giggling and blushing until her husband made a noise in the back of his throat.
After that, the couple excused themselves and went back to the house.
His interaction with Gabriel, in contrast, had been surprisingly awkward.
The Fenton I’d known, all confidence no matter the odds, vanished.
He became smaller, somehow, slipping backwards in time to a version of himself I’d never met.
Short, quiet answers, limited eye contact, slumped shoulders.
Gabriel was kind and welcoming as always, thanking Peter for watching over his family to make me feel better.
He told him to come by the garage any night if there was anything he needed.
Peter squeaked out a “Thank you, Mr. Hope,” and Gabriel left it at that, sending me one final, indecipherable look before he went back to his beloved garage.
The girls, however, could hardly contain themselves.
They’d been a whispering, giggling duo the moment Fenton arrived that evening, never taking their eyes off him.
Amanda Hope knew Fenton all those years ago as her older brother Derrick’s best friend, and so she’d come right out swinging with a familiar greeting and far too many questions.
Lily Hunter, my little sister who’d only been at the ranch for a few months, was shy and cautious around the supposedly friendly vampire.
She kept her eyes mostly on Amanda, who was bravely yapping at Fenton, going through the typical vampire questions.
Fenton, at least, was having fun with it.
“I get sick as a dog if I try to eat human food now, so it’s all blood for me. Every once in a while, I have to eat a fry, though.”
“What does human blood taste like?” Amanda asked, not the least bit disgusted.
I smiled at Fenton over my sisters’ heads and did another sweep around the barn, just in case there was anything I could do to make it homier for Fenton while he stayed.
Was there enough privacy? I looked up towards the railing from where I stood.
Maybe I could give him a sheet to hang over it, just to block out the sight line.
I’d already strung up a battery-operated set of fairy lights I’d pilfered from Amanda, who no longer appreciated the wire butterflies attached to each light.
I knew Fenton wouldn’t mind the girly details.
“Is it true you’ve been training with Fallon?” Lily’s excited little voice drew me back in.
“Oh, yeah, me and your big sis train every week, don’t we?” Fenton said.
“She said you’re a really good fighter,” Amanda added, and her tone gave me pause. Oh no. Please, Amanda, don’t develop a silly teenage crush on Peter Fenton of all people — no, of all vampires.
His eyes were shining at me. “She said that?”
“Can you teach us something?” Lily asked. “How to fight a vampire?”
Amanda gasped at the prospect, and suddenly there were three sets of eyes on me, like they were kids asking Mommy’s permission to go out and play.
“Please?” Amanda begged with her hands clasped in front of her.
That was how the four of us ended up on the front lawn in the rectangular patch of grass that Nico carefully curated, illuminated by the sharp front porch light.
My shoulder was still mending, so I sat on the steps to the porch, entertained enough that I could ignore the mosquitoes feasting on me.
Fenton gave the girls a basic lesson in fighting.
Proper foot placement, the loose lines to hold through bent knees and into the hips, positioning their hands to defend, how to make a fist and throw a punch.
The two girls listened with focus and mirrored his movements, only bursting into a pair of giggles a few times.
A shadow darkening the glow from the garage caught my eye.
Gabriel had come to the entrance to watch, too, and his smile was big enough to see even from where I was sitting.
“Alright, alright, you’ve got the perfect training dummy right here,” Fenton said, patting his own chest. “Try it out on me.”
Amanda stepped up first to face him. Her fists were up like he’d shown her, and she buzzed with enthusiasm she usually tried so hard to hide.
She punched at Fenton a few times, and he absorbed the hits, offering critiques all the while.
He ordered Lily to come up next, and I pressed my smile into my hand.
I’d seen the game she’d been playing, pretending this had been her first fighting lesson.
But no, Lily was a Hunter, training all her life to fight vampires.
Of course, that only got her as far as two surprise blows, one on Fenton’s jaw and one square in his chest, before he shored up his defenses.
Amanda threw her hands up in the air and cheered for my sister, though, and that had made it worth it for Lily.
Without asking, the two of them went after Fenton as a pair, and I laughed at the sight of him getting beaten up by two teenage girls and not quite knowing how to react besides taking the hits.
Their fists probably didn’t even sting his vampire body, but he tapped into his speed to get away and put a good ten feet of distance between them.
The girls shared a look and followed after him.
“You two are pretty good. Just don’t ever learn how to fight from big sis,” Fenton warned with a wink at me. I folded my arms. “She only knows how to be good and proper and honorable. When you’re a monster, you can cheat and break all the rules.”
His speech was interrupted by Amanda swinging her heavy boot aimed between his legs. He stopped it with a hand on her ankle and laughed.
“Try with the knee next time. Less distance to cover.” He shook her leg, making her wobble, before he dropped it and stepped backwards to put space between them, his lanky limbs moving like willow branches.
“But really, if you ever find yourself in a real fight, scratch the fuck out of their face. Go for their eyeballs. Try to shove their nose into their brain. Fight like you’re going to die. It’s how I do it.”
“Alright,” I said. “I think that’s enough for tonight. I gotta take Fenton back to his place for a supply run.”
“Awww,” the girls cried out in an ear-splitting chorus.
“Can we go, too?” Amanda asked.
“No.” I opened the front door to reach in and grab my purse. “I already know you’re going to pester him the entire time I’m gone. Let’s give him a break for now.” I ordered Fenton into my car with one look. I waved goodbye to Gabriel before I got in as well.
“Thanks for that,” I said once I was driving.
Fenton was having one of his rare moments of stunned silence, staring wide-eyed out the windshield.
I turned my head to hide my smile. Well, at least he knew what he’d gotten himself into, after the promises had already been made and he couldn’t back out.
* * *
There was movement inside Fenton’s apartment when he opened the door for me, and my instincts screamed. A stake was in my hand and primed to be jabbed into the lurking vampire’s chest as I crossed the distance to his body.
Lazaro Reyes.
His eyes went wide, then narrow, and he encircled my wrist when the stake was only a few inches from his ribs. Fenton wrapped both arms around my other bicep before my second stake could plunge towards Lazaro’s thigh.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Fenton shouted. “What the hell?”
He wedged himself between Lazaro and me, but I just threw even more of my weight onto the stake aimed at Lazaro’s chest, ignoring the tightening crush of his hand around my wrist and his heavy stare.
He wasn’t supposed to be here, in a place I’d thought of as safe, but increasingly, that didn’t seem to matter.
Lazaro was everywhere now, and I was no longer letting it surprise me.
“Still no powers, little Hunter?”
My effort failed, and I stepped back with a nudge from Fenton. He got in Lazaro’s face. “You can’t just come into my apartment, man. Don’t vamps need invites?”
“Peter, I own your apartment. I’m the one paying for it. Can you get control of your dog?” He pointed at me.
“Don’t you dare speak about her that way!”
Lazaro grabbed Peter’s fist in his palm before it was in any danger of meeting with his face.
“You invite a Hunter here, Peter?”
“I invite Fallon.”
“Are you following me?” I demanded of Lazaro, tucking my stake into my palm and pointing a finger at him. He rolled his eyes. “First the gala, now here?”
“You’re self-obsessed. You think because you have your impotent vampire boyfriend and Peter here chasing your tail that every vampire is in love with you? You’re far from the only vampire groupie there is,” Lazaro snorted.
“Stop that!” Fenton shouted, and his fists started flying. Lazaro’s arms came up even faster to block his face, and then he grabbed Fenton by the shoulder, jerking him to a stop.
“You arrogant little shit. You think you’re strong because you win fights against other vampires your age? You think I’m weak because I don’t fight?”
Fenton responded with a left-handed punch, so fast I could barely see it until Lazaro was twisting that wrist. I jumped at the unnatural pop and the roar of pain. Lazaro punched Fenton once in the face, sending him flat to the floor.
“Get down, you asshole. I’m not a prop for you to show off for your girl. Get rid of her. We have to go.” Lazaro’s eyes flashed, commanding me to leave.
“Fuck!” Fenton said, sitting up and slotting some joint in his arm back into place. He was practically breathing fire, and his shoulders were taut in preparation for another attack. The idiot wasn’t going to give up.