“Bay, are you listening?” she demanded. “I’m having a bit of a panic attack here.”
“Sorry,” her cousin said. “I was just talking to… Doesn’t matter. So if you’re not fucking him, then what other problem do you have? You didn’t do something crazy like confess you’re a vampire right off the bat, did you?”
Tressa squeezed her eyes shut. “Um…”
“Lilith damn it, you did, didn’t you?”
Tressa had to pull the phone away from her head, he was guffawing so loudly. Vampiric hearing was sensitive enough without her cousin braying like a donkey in her ear. “Baylin, would you stop for a second? No, I didn’t tell him I was a vampire.”
The laughing died down.
“I told him I was a vampire hunter.”
And now she really did have to set her phone down or risk blowing out an eardrum. Curling her legs up under her, she let her head fall back against the wall, then banged it a couple times to dislodge whatever insanity gremlin had taken up residence in her brain. It was the only explanation for why she’d claimed to be a hunter. The cadre was never going to let her hear the end of this.
“Okay, but you see how that’s worse, right?” Baylin wheezed several minutes later when he finally stopped laughing enough to resume their chat.
“No, I don’t see how it’s worse,” she all butsnarled into the cellphone.
Choose happiness, she reminded herself, attempting to reign in her temper before she started cursing at her less than helpful cousin.
“Telling him you were a vampire was at least the truth,” Baylin replied. “Even if he freaked out and fled the country to escape you, at least you were being open and honest. Telling him you’re a hunter? No offense, Tress, but have you ever hunted anything in your life?”
Images of her bruised, emaciated frame stalking down a dark alley flashed in Tressa’s brain, but she stuffed them down. “Yes, Baylin,” she replied quietly. “I have hunted before.”
“Aw, shit,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dredge up the past.”
“It’s fine,” she dismissed. Her family didn’t know much about her pre-vamp life, but they knew enough to leave it be. “Listen, you can make it up to me by helping out with the cadre. I’m going to try to get Ethan to stay here while you work on locating the rogue, but he’s so antsy, I doubt I can keep him in bed more than the rest of today. I need you to let everyone know about their new identities as members of an elite, secret vampire hunting organization.”
He snorted. “Okay, you know most of that is ninety-nine percent true, right? Aside from the fact that Saiden does most of the actual hunting these days since Marquin has all but retired and Derrick only joins in when the mood suits him.”
“In that case, easy peasy,” she replied, her optimism returning as she realized she might be able to pull off her lie. “Just make sure most of the rooms are locked up so he doesn’t stumble upon anyone’s blood cooler, and we should be good.”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it,” Baylin assured her. “Shouldn’t be a problem since the compound is kind of empty. Derrick’s back from the mountains, but he’s been moping in his room ever since he flew in. Not sure what’s going on there, but he’ll tell us eventually. Or not.You know Derrick. Cora’s pretty much holed up in her new studio day and night working remotely on her movie. And Raven… Well, she’s Raven. She comes and goes, and currently she’s gone. Liessa is also out of town still, but Saiden is heading your way. I’ll give him a call before I update everyone else.”
Tressa climbed to her feet when she noticed Ethan’s doctor strolling down the hall in her direction. “Why is Saiden coming back this way?” she asked, darting around a corner. “He just left San Jose yesterday.”
Baylin sighed. “There’s been another rogue sighting. Saiden is hoping to catch this one before they kill anyone.”
Tressa’s stomach plummeted. “Another one?” Normally they went weeks between attacks, not days.
“Yup.”
“Fuck.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Tressa watched Dr. Kim disappear into Ethan’s room, hopefully to talk some sense into her mate and convince him to stay in the hospital longer.
“What are we going to do, Bay?” she asked quietly. “Saiden’s only one guy. And a newly mated one at that. He can’t handle this increase in attacks.”
“I know,” Baylin replied, equally as somber. “Just keep a close eye on your own mate. With as brash as these rogues are getting, I’m not sure anywhere is safe. Right about now, I wish you really were a hunter.”
“Me too,” she replied, her mind drifting back to that night a few hundred years ago. The night she’d stood in the alley clutching a knife in her shaking hand, only to let it fall as she ran away, unable to kill even the one person who truly deserved it.
She might not be a hunter, but what happened after she’d ran awaystill reminded her that she was more than capable of taking a life if it came down to it. She wouldn’t hesitate to protect Ethan from any rogue that tried to hurt him.
Maybe in the end, she would become a hunter after all.
