Every thought in Zachary’s brain spun out of control. His cousin, Rachael, had already declared her love for Adonis openly. She had to see her folly. “Rachael’s not safe with him,” he croaked out in a horrid whisper.
“There are some major changes coming to the family. Rachael would have married Adonis no matter what. They love one another. There’s nothing to be done about it. If we had killed Adonis, she would have destroyed her own life. There are too few huntresses born to a family as it is. We have to have children, or our kind will die out, and the vampires will win the race. Adonis told us he and Rachael killed Piaras. They’re married. Mated. It’s done.”
Not believing any of this, Zachary rubbed his forehead, trying to absorb the news. “But they’ll have vampire children, won’t they? Then how will that be good for our kind?”
“As long as we’re fighting on the same side, it won’t matter, will it? Good against evil?”
Zachary swallowed hard. There wasn’t any way that he wanted to be a hunter-turned vampire. Adonis was fortunate to have drawn Rachael’s love. But she was different. Always had been, having been marked by Piaras when he killed her parents when she was little. How would Zachary ever find a mate now?
He thought of Pasha, her warm skin on his hand, her concerned gaze touching his heart. What would she think of his being a vampire? After being a prisoner of the vampires for so long, he didn’t think she’d be happy about it.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to live.”
“You have no choice, Zachary.”
“What?” He thought it was a forgone conclusion. Hunters hunted vampires. He was now a vampire, though he didn’t feel any differently, just awful, but no more so than when he was involved in a fight where he had been badly injured. But that was the risk they took. They killed the rogue vampires, and his own kind died in an honorable way—as hunters fighting the evil ones.
“Gregory attempted to kill Adonis, furious he had won Rachael’s heart.”
Zachary’s mouth gaped. Hell, Adonis had killed the worst vampire in this region they’d ever known. He couldn’t believe Gregory would have tried to kill Adonis.
“Gregory swore Adonis was a vampire, which we learned was true after the fact. But Gregory’s hunter’s sword didn’t kill him.” His father motioned to Adonis. “As you can see, he’s still just like you and me.”
“Neither of us are like you, so it would seem,” Zachary growled, hating what he had become and wanting no part of it.
“Adonis has lived like this for longer than a month. He’s determined to be a hunter again. And has been. According to Rachael, he can live in the sunlight, eat like us, only he has some other...powers, that we don’t have.”
“Like?” Zachary asked, still frowning at his father. How could he accept him this way?
“She was reluctant to say.”
Zachary frowned. Maybe Adonis was man enough to be both, but Zachary had no desire to be a vampire, not when he’d made a life of killing the ones who turned the city upside down with their evil doings.
“What about Gregory? Surely, he’ll tell the rest of the hunters that we’re both vampires and the rest of the hunters will want our heads.”
His father patted Zachary’s shoulder. “Michael, Curt, and Brent are the only ones who are aware of this. Well, and Rachael. Adonis had to return to the clinic after he was with Rachael to recover further, but when he recovers more, he can speak to you about...well, about your changed life.”
“You’re saying I can’t die?”
“No, I’m not saying that. Only that you will not be hunted by our family.”
“Unless Gregory tells the rest of the hunter families.”
“He’s banished from the region.”
Zachary shook his head. “And therein lies the rub. A hunter tries to murder another hunter when the other has been perfectly heroic, and the murderous hunter would be put down. But the hunter victim is a vampire and so the murderous hunter is vindicated.”
“Gregory fought the vampire threat also. He’s banned. If he returns to the region or attacks Adonis, or you for that matter, he’ll be condemned to die.”
“When can I get out of here?”
“Dr. Stevens says you should be feeling well enough to join us at dinnertime.”
“That soon?” He felt like he’d had a bout of the flu with aches and pains streaking through his wound and other muscles and his throat as raw as when he’d been sick.
His father smiled. “You slept all afternoon after the clash with Piaras’s men, and all through the night. It’s now late afternoon. It’s time to get up and meet that pretty young sister of Adonis’s who has repeatedly asked us of your status.”
“Pasha?” His own voice sounded strange to his ears. She’d promised to marry him, but now he couldn’t marry her. Not knowing what he was. How would she feel about him being a hunter turned? Repulsed?
He humpfed under his breath. She’d been a prisoner of Piaras’s for a month. There wasn’t any way she’d want to be the mate of one of those vile creatures. And no way did he want to mate someone so lovely when she deserved a hunter mate. Not something as hideous as he now was.
“Very few marriageable huntresses are available to the hunters. Rachael’s disappointed suitors will chase after Pasha with fervor, Father.” More power to them, Zachary thought, with great regret.
“They already are. That’s why, my son, you need to rouse yourself from this sickbed and make a stand. It didn’t go unnoticed that you protected her with your life at Piaras’s estates, and in so doing you sacrificed, in a way, your hunter status.”
“She won’t want me.” How could his father even consider such a union?
“Adonis certainly knew how to woo Rachael. Perhaps that’s some of the abilities that Rachael alluded to but wouldn’t reveal.” A sad kind of smile touched his father’s lips. “The world is ever changing. I have no idea what will be in a hundred years from now. Perhaps Adonis and your kind will reign.” He sighed deeply and squeezed Zachary’s shoulder. “When you’re feeling well enough, ring the buzzer. Michael will help you get dressed.”
When his father retired from the room, Zachary turned to watch Adonis sleep. Memories flooded his mind as he recalled how Adonis had transported himself to the top of the crates in the warehouse two nights ago on the hunt. He hadn’t seen him do it, but all of a sudden he was there. Gregory swore he’d moved like a vampire, and that Michael had seen him do it. When questioned by the family, Michael had denied it. Why? Because Adonis had saved Michael’s life from the host sniper?
Zachary realized then Adonis had risked his own safety to save Michael’s life. He must not have wanted to use his vampiric abilities then but did so, risking all—his chance at having Rachael and of having the hunters turn on him.
Zachary shook his head, not being able to fully realize all that had happened in the past several days.
Had the rest of Adonis’s family been checked out? Maybe they’d all been turned. He groaned. Though he realized if Pasha was one, maybe together they could… He shook his head.