Chapter 12 #2
And then there’s the fourth vampire of the group who stands at the back.
His hands sink deep into his hoodie pockets and his eyes never seem to focus on much at all.
Instead of clear, blemish free skin like all the others, this man drags large dark circles under his eyes as well as a slightly unkept beard that needs a good oil and a cut.
Xander slowly turns to look at me. “Sweetheart, would you like to meet my family?”
“Family! Sweetheart!” The short man claps excitedly and speeds inside. His movements are so fast that even Xander doesn’t manage to capture him in time before he’s standing before me with a wide, toothy grin.
“I’m Harlan! And you are?” Harlan grasps my hands and shakes them a little too excitedly as his eyes gleam with happiness.
“I-I’m Noah. Nice to meet you, Harlan.” I can't stop my lips from tilting upwards. This vampire's energy is contagious.
Harlan coos at me, “Aren’t you the most gorgeous thing! Xander is lucky to have…” He pauses and sniffs in my direction before his eyes grow wide with surprise. “A MATE! EVERYONE! XANDER FOUND A MATE!”
“Say it, don't spray it, Harlan,” the vampire with white hair grumbles before treading past Xander and flops onto the couch with a bored sigh. “Hello, Noah. Nice to meet you.”
I giggle and so does Harlan. “You too?”
“That grumpy one is Ambrose. Just ignore his attitude.” Harlan fills in the blanks for me. I nod in thanks, only realizing now that he’s still holding my hand. His skin is silky soft and clearly unaged.
“Is it rude of me to ask if you’re a teenager?” I whisper.
The response is far from what I expect as Harlan bounces excitedly and squeals, “I’m only eighteen! But thank you for asking.”
Eighteen? Christ, that makes me, at twenty-four, feel old.
“Don’t buy into his innocent act.” The burly man steps over the threshold, and the wooden boards beneath him creak and groan. “Harlan is actually the oldest here. He’s 600.”
Harlan rolls his eyes. “And that’s Cassius, our leader. But he’s a sweetheart.”
My eyes fall over Harlan's shoulder to find Cassius giving me a gentle nod before passing us and opening the fridge.
“Milo.” Xander reaches for the quiet vamp and pulls him into a hug.
For a moment, Milo tenses under Xander’s arms but eventually wraps his around Xander’s waist. They exchange a few words too quiet for me to hear, but Harlan snatches my attention.
“So, Noah. Tell me everything. How did you two meet? When did he tell you his secret? And explain that absolutely massive love bite.” He points to my neck and I clap a hand over the site.
A growl permeates through the house from behind Harlan. Peeking over his shoulder, I find Xander’s gaze locked onto the little vampire before me. “Treat my mate with respect.”
Harlan rolls his eyes and smirks, “Treat your elders with respect, child.”
I can’t wipe the grin from my face as the two bicker like an old couple. It’s nice to see how alive the house becomes with more people. With Xander’s people.
I watch as each vamp makes themselves at home. Ambrose shuts his eyes and throws his legs over the arm of the couch while Cassius pulls apart the kitchen searching for something to eat. Yet, as my boyfriend and Harlan keep bickering, my gaze meets Milo’s.
He’s about the same height as I am, maybe an inch or two shorter. But as we watch each other, I notice the way his shoulders rise and he slowly backs away to the front door. A striking resemblance of fear washes over his face as his boot scrapes the threshold and the floorboards creak.
“Milo,” Cassius calls from behind me. “Noah won't bite. Come, say hi.”
Milo tenses and he’s speeding out the front door before I can even get up from my seat.
The house grows quiet, and Xander sighs. “He’s still skittish?”
“Does he not like me?” I ask as Xander reaches me and grasps my shoulder while giving me a gentle smile.
“It’s not that he doesn’t like you,” Cassius replies. “Milo just doesn’t trust humans.”
He doesn’t trust humans? What vampire doesn’t trust its own food source?
Seeing my confusion, Xander supplies, “We don’t know what happened to him. He doesn’t talk much about anything. But over the years we’ve pieced together his fear for humans and water.”
“He’s just sensitive, ignore him,” Ambrose’s angelic voice carries through the air like a hymn.
“No compassion,” Harlan tuts, and takes a seat on the stool beside me, his legs swinging back and forth like an excited child.
“So, besides introducing us to your mate, why have you called us here, Xander?” Cassius asks, shutting the fridge door with a look of disappointment on his face. “And where is your blood?”
The air in the house grows heavy, and a drop of dread seeps into my splendid bubble of happiness. Despite the pleasures of last night, and meeting Xander’s family, my mind has managed to distract itself from the real-life problems.
Like the fact that I'm still cursed to die a gruesome death and something attacked Xander yesterday. Something that’s clearly stronger than a vampire.
“My mate is in danger,” Xander begins. “A creature has broken through the wards and has killed two civilians and is hunting Noah. It’s scent-bound to him.”
Ambrose sits up, his attention now captured. “A creature?”
Xander nods and mindlessly massages my shoulders. “Part hound, part human. But it’s rotting and can manipulate its own body and bones. I barely managed to fend it off…”
“But you did.” I look up at him, feeling the way my stomach churns uncomfortably.
The look that crosses Xander’s face has me gasping as his head drops and his features turn grim. “If it wasn’t for Nyx, I'd still be in the forest.”
All eyes, including my own, turn to the large ball of fluff that sits at Ambrose’s feet. She licks at her paw while Pumpkin grooms the side of her face.
“The Hellcat fought the creature?” Cassius asks.
“Yes,” Xander responds. “I have no clue how she did it. Or what the creature is, but we need to kill it. It’s hunting Noah. His scent is imbued into its soul.”
“It’s a Soultracker,” Harlan whispers. “I’ve seen one before. Only in passing, but the person it was after didn’t survive.”
“What do you mean?” Xander beats me to the question.
My entire body tenses, and suddenly nothing else matters beyond the walls of this house.
Even the cats perk up as Harlan pulls together his response.
Behind biting his lip and fidgeting with the hem of his black shirt, he responds.
“It was summoned. By a witch. Someone had a bounty on their head, and a king bought a witch to conjure it to this dimension.” He swallows, clearly uncomfortable, but continues, “The Soultracker covered half of Europe before it found its target. There was nothing that could be done to stop it.”
My heart sinks. Nothing could be done.
“But there’s been a premonition. Tyler Lane from the coven has seen Noah’s death. Does that make a difference?” Xander’s fingers press into my knotted muscles as he fights against my growing unease.
Harlan’s eyes snap upwards, and they shine with hope. “Yes! A lot, actually.”
“Spit it out,” Ambrose grumbles from the couch. “We don’t have all day.”
“We just have eternity,” Cassius supplies while crossing his shoulder over his thick chest and leaning against the counter.
“If a witch has seen you die in their vision, then it means someone very close to you is directly linked to the Soultracker,” Harlan explains. “Souls act like magnets. Not just to these creatures but to other souls. Is there anyone close to you who might want you dead?”
My mind stumbles to keep up with Harlan, who manages to speak at a million miles an hour and has zero filter. I’ve never met someone so… open, like him before.
I feel my skin heat as eyes land on me, and I bite the inside of my cheek.
But as I comb through everyone I've ever met, no one stands out. My family wants nothing to do with me. I have no friends thanks to Richard pushing them away, and even he has no way of ever finding me. At least not when I’m in Moonfell.
Wait.
“Could it be Richard?” I look up at Xander.
His brows furrow, and he looks more perplexed than before. “I doubt it.” He turns to Harlan. “You said a king paid a witch to conjure the Soultracker. Could it still be done today?”
Harlan nods. “It’s unusual because it's so illegal, but it's not a particularly hard spell from what I've learned over the years. However, you said Tyler saw Noah, so it’s probably best we get him to create some wards around this house with that vision in mind. Who knows how strong this thing is if it manages to get inside.”
A shiver scrapes down my spine and Nyx pops her head up, her red eyes dancing across the room and her ears twitching violently. She lets out a quaint sigh before turning back to Pumpkin and gives him a few kisses.
“Is Nyx stronger than the… Soultracker?” I can barely get my mouth around the creature's name. The creature that's destined to kill me.
A few moments pass, but Xander is the one to reply, “She’s from hell. I believe the monsters she faces down there are far worse.”
I can’t help but smile towards where Nyx sits comfortably with Pumpkin.
Besides her large size, red gaze, and ability to walk through walls, she’s just a normal cat.
Despite her strengths and abilities to travel to literal hell, I can't put her up against the creature. She might have saved Xander’s life once, but I'm not ready to watch that luck run out on someone like me. A simple, slightly boring human.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Xander crowds me in a protective air, his lungs filling as he scents me. His wide chest blocks out the rest of the house, and my body fills with warmth.
“It’s just…” I bite at my lip. “You called your colony to come here to help me? No one has ever done something like this for me before. And I can't repay you. I don’t have friends or people to rely on.”
“You have us now,” Cassius replies from behind me. “You are Xander’s mate, and will one day become a part of this colony. We protect those whom we love.”
My cheeks heat and I fall into Xander’s chest, hiding away from Cassius’s kind words.
Vibrations roll through Xander as he speaks, his hand stroking the back of my head. “Never think for a second you’re alone in this, Noah. You will always have someone who cares about you.”