Page 84 of Cooper’s Passion

Her father directed his gaze at Cooper. “Anita really shot you?”

“Yep, she did. One bullet hit my lung, the other lodged just below my right clavicle. She’s a pretty good shot, actually.”

“When did that happen?”

“Last night.”

“You don’t look like you’re injured.”

“My parents got the bullets out quickly. I’m already healed.” Cooper shrugged. “It’s a pretty neat trait to have.”

“Hmm.” He studied them in silence, before he added, “Your parents? Are you talking about Yvette and Haven? Are they the vampires who turned you?”

“Turned?” Cooper shook his head. “I was born a vampire. Yvette and Haven are my biological parents.

“So what, Yvette gave birth to you, and then Haven turned her into a vampire? Otherwise, she wouldn’t look that young.”

It was clear that her father had a hard time wrapping his head around these revelations. Anita stretched her hand out toward him once more.

“Dad, maybe we could sit down now?” She gestured to the sofa.

Finally, he nodded, and they all sat down.

“To answer your question, when my mother gave birth to me, she was already a vampire. And she was the one to turn my father to save his life, when he was mortally wounded.”

“Oh.” He glanced at Anita, then back at Cooper. “Is that what’s gonna happen to Anita? Are you planning to turn her into a…?” A visible shudder went through him, and it was evident that the thought disgusted him.

“If Anita wants to bond with me, she’ll remain human. But she won’t age.”

“How?” The word was more a bark than a question.

“She’ll occasionally drink my blood.”

Her father jumped up. “So you are turning her into a vampire!”

“No, I’m not. It’s an unbreakable bond between a vampire and a human, or between vampires.” Cooper squeezed her hand. “And if you must know, once Anita and I blood-bond, my life will be in her hands.”

Her father narrowed his eyes, looking more quizzical than suspicious now. “What do you mean?”

“Her blood will be the only one I’ll be able to drink. If she leaves me, I will starve.”

He gasped, but Cooper continued, “As you can see, I have every interest in your daughter being happy with me so she’ll never have a reason to leave me.”

Anita leaned closer to Cooper. He turned his face to her.

“And I know she’ll make me as happy as I’ll try to make her.”

Anita pressed a kiss to his lips, not caring that her father was watching. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

When she turned her head back to her father, she saw him sit down again, slumping against the backrest of the armchair.

“This is crazy. Absolutely crazy. How am I ever gonna explain that to anybody? Nobody will believe me. They’ll think I’m nuts.”

Cooper leaned forward. “Actually, I have to ask you to keep our secret. It’s better that way. For everybody’s safety. Scanguards can only work the way they do and help people, because nobody knows what we are. We can’t afford a bunch of wannabe vampire slayers descending onto San Francisco and distracting us from our task.”

“Which is?”