Anthony’s voice drifted back. “We eat blood, Riley. Well, we drink it. Human blood.”
“Right, okay. But how do yougetthe blood?”
“Nowadays we mostly use donors.” Elias sighed. “It’s a little underhanded, as they think they’re donating to humans in need of blood transfusions, but it’s forbidden to drink directly from a human. The majority of Supay agree with the law.”
“Mostly?Mostlyuse donors?Please clarify mostly.” The burning taste of bile rose in my throat.
“There are those among us that refuse to drink from donor bags,” Anthony explained. “They still draw in humans to drink from.”
“Don’t freak out, Riley!” Elias watched my eyes widen. “We have to be secretive. We aren't allowed to kill a human—if for no other reason than it draws too much attention. Vampires sometimes go rogue and kill, but they're hunted down rapidly.”
The scenery raced by as I contemplated the new information. “If it’s such a secret, how are you able to bite a human and drink their blood without them freaking out?”
Elias turned to talk directly to me. I went a little dumb as the sunlight hit his profile, lighting up his blond hair and making his eyes pop. I felt the urge to caress his cheek.Hah. Maybe caress it with a baseball bat.
“We don't really know. We’ve long been forbidden from studying the sciences. But most of us get the same education as your average human. We do a sort of homeschool program.” I began to ask another question, but Elias cut me off. “We aren't allowed to study the sciences because if any of us were scientists, we would be too tempted to study ourselves. And if we study ourselves, there's a chance the information could get out. We aren’t the only Unseen creatures that are hiding. There’s a high council for the Unseen called the Junta of the Tipua. They make final decisions, settle disputes between species and clans and are the final authority. They recently elected a young Fairy to be the new lead, and he’s making some positive changes for the Unseen across the world—but it'll take time.”
Quiet for most of his long explanation, I raised my eyebrows at the term Unseen. “The Unseen?”
“Yes, that’s how we refer to anyone in the supernatural world. That way we aren’t specifically saying the witches, or the shifters, or the merfolk.”
“Ah. Wow, I have a lot of information to process.” Themerfolk? “How long until we reach my boys?”
A sigh slipped past my lips when they told me half an hour. I was sure we’d been driving for hours, but we’d only been moving for about twenty minutes. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I realized my boys had been living less than an hour away from me the entire time.
I fought for control so I could continue siphoning information from them. “Where are we going?”
“We have a home base up in the mountains. The locals call it Thunderhead Mountain. We asked a witch to hide it years ago when we moved to this area. It’s the safest place for an Unseen for a good three hundred miles.”
“Are any Unseen welcome there?” I asked.
Anthony shifted in his seat. “Not anymore. That’s why we moved. We created a hidden fortress in the mountains, and the location is given to a select few. The story behind that move would take far more time than we have now.”
“To answer your earlier question,” Elias said, “when a Supay bites a human, the human feels like they’ve had an intense orgasm. Our venom heals the skin, so no wound remains—if done properly. It’s a bit like a sexual trance, and the human might think their partner had a bit of a biting kink. We don't know how or why it works.”
I glared at Elias in consternation and tried to control my rogue thoughts.As if I wasn’t already fighting sudden, strong desires. They’ve got an orgasm bite. Great.
Mountains as familiar to me as my own living room gave me a modicum of peace as we drove. I’d driven, hiked, and swam in the rivers of these mountains for as long as I could remember. “Elias, where exactly is this place? I’ve hiked from one end of Thunderhead Mountain to the other and haven’t seen any houses up there.”
“I mentioned we had a witch hide it. You would find the wood and brush impenetrable and have to walk around the border. If you tried to hack through the brush, you’d be transported straight through to the other side of the property.” He spoke about magic as if I would understand and be okay with it. I kept my cynical thoughts to myself since I was on my way to see my children. The snark could wait.
Halfway up the winding mountain road, Anthony slowed and parked at what we always called a pull-off: a spot to be able to get out and take pictures of the view. The river snaked in a ravine beside us.
“We have to walk from here, and there’s no trail. We’re going to sneak onto the property and let you see the boys. You won’t get to speak to them, and they won't see you. You must agree to this, or we won't take you, and you'll never find them on your own,” Anthony said.
“I agree.”I’ll do anything.
Elias put his arms around me from behind. I sank into him, appreciating the comfort of my best friend as I contemplated seeing my children again. Then I caught myself, remembering that the arms around me belonged to a lying traitor. I sprang forward, scooping up one of the packs we were carrying with us. “Let’s go.”
The only thing I disliked about hiking was the mosquitos. My blood must’ve tasted like sweet honey to a mosquito because they loved to bite me. I chuckled at the irony of slapping little blood suckers off of my skin as I climbed a mountain with two big blood suckers.
“What’s so funny?” asked Anthony.
“Mosquitos. It’s nothing,” I said. Elias shrugged. I continued to chuckle, elated to be heading toward David and Daniel.
I stopped abruptly; the bag full of weapons banging against my butt. They could’ve been leading me up into the densest part of the mountains to kill me. When did I get so comfortable with the two men that had essentially kidnapped me?
“What’s wrong? We don’t have much farther to go,” said Elias.
