My heart tightened like a noose was wrapped around it and being pulled. My mother was a good person. She used her skillsto help the world and she was a loving mother. She taught me to trust, she taught me I was loveable.
My father was stoic. To him, the world was black and white. Did my father know what we both were? Silence fell over the room and all I could hear were the questions pounding in my head. Karson’s hand slipped to the small of my back, his touch a comfort.
“Does my father know what I am?”
“I’m not sure, I’ve never spoken to him,” she said gently. “But I could find out.”
“Speaking of finding out.” Ethan stepped into her space. “If I find out you knew about what Amy went through and did nothing.” He grazed a bloody knuckle down her cheek and leaned in and whispered, “You better run.”
Caron slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”
“Actually, running isn’t the best idea with vampires.” Josh stalked across the room. “When people run, we struggle to contain the urge to kill. It’s a predatory thing.”
Caron’s eyes cut to him. If she had a match, she’d set him on fire. She dragged her gaze back to me. “How can you not see it, Amy? Witches are not the bad guys.”
“From my experience, I’d say they are.” Josh picked at a claw on his hand.A claw.I knew my friend well enough to know it was an act. His way of showing support for the vampires in the room. His family now. My family too.
Rodney straightened. “As both a witch and vampire, I’d suggest you get out, Caron, before I show you just how evil I can be.” The air became decidedly colder.
Caron knew when she was outnumbered and outmatched, invisibility cloak or not. “You know where to find us,” she said to me, then spun on her heel, her cloak floating behind her as she disappeared out of the door.
Chapter 63
We Feed Or We Die
“You’re an asshole, Ethan.” My voice didn’t quite come out the vinaigrette I’d intended. To my dismay, I sounded hurt.
“Yes, aren’t we all.”
I wanted to slap the smug look straight off his face. “What the fuck was that?”
“That was what we are, Amy. Vampires who feed on humans to survive, with some wild sex thrown in for good measure.”
“Ethan,” Karson warned. “Enough.”
“Oh sorry, My King.” Ethan gave an exaggerated bow. “I forgot you like to keep secrets from her.”
The vampire standing in front of me was not the Ethan I knew and loved. No, this vampire held a degree in bastardry.
“I suggest you go upstairs and shower. You reek of sex and blood and alcohol,” Karson said. “And sober up before your mouth gets the better of you, and my temper gets the better of me.”
I didn’t wait to hear Ethan’s response. I yanked open the front door and found a spot around the corner on the lawn. I lay on my back, uncaring that the grass was cold and damp. I ranmy hands over the tips, watching an orchestra of gray tumble silently through the sky.
“Don’t be upset by Ethan,” Michael said, sitting beside me, resting back on his palms. “He hides it well, but he is going through a tough time.”
I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest. “I don’t think he’s hiding it that well.”
“He blames himself for Sarah hurting you and Georgie. And struggles with your …” He didn’t finish whatever he was going to say. Then after a long moment, he said, “He is hurting, and I’m sure when he sobers up, he will regret his actions.”
“Are you all like that with the people you feed from and hide it when I’m around?”
“Some of us are less flamboyant in our feeding. Years ago, those girls would have never walked out.”
The weight of the brutality spread a cold blanket over my shoulders. I threw out a hand. “Oh, so now they get to live, it’s so much better?”
“We feed or we die.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and retreated a little. “And if I wasn’t here, girls would come around?”
