“Your uncles.”
“Yes. Though I won’t acknowledge them. My uncles, and the hunter community that banned her, are dead to me.” Alex glanced at his arm.
Zachary shook his head. “Hunter families are close, but man, when you break their rules, you’re out on your own. I know it well. I just managed to keep from being kicked out of the family myself. I used to visit Michael when he had been kicked out of the family for butting heads with our father one time too many. That helped me to express my frustration and Michael kept me from doing anything too stupid. My duty was to watch over Rachael at the end, but Adonis was really keeping me from doing that too.”
Alex smiled. “Adonis adores her. That much is evident.”
“He does.”
“Do you ever worry about the baby she’ll have?” Alex asked.
“I think all of us do, to an extent. Probably Rachael, most of all. But she loves Adonis and she’s excited about the baby, just like any huntress mother would be. I think once this is all taken care of here, they’ll settle down, and be like any other hunter couple who are raising a family.”
“I think that’s the worst thing for me about being turned. I’d just broken up with a woman and now I’m damn glad I had. But dating now is out for me.”
“Maybe not. There are women who love the vampires. Even when they’re huntresses. Don’t sell yourself short. You just never know when the woman you can’t live without unexpectedly turns up in your life.”
“Like Pasha did for you?”
“Yeah. I knew if I wanted to find a huntress mate, I’d have to search some other location. Like Adonis had done with Rachael, though he’d been turned, the others thought he was an out-of-town hunter, which he was, looking for a mate. The local hunters don’t like it when an out-of-town hunter shows up to steal their females though.” Zachary shrugged. “If it’s to be, it will be. There’s nothing they can do about it.”
Alex nodded. “Because there’s a shortage of females. Which is why my mother was so ostracized. The other eligible hunter males were furious that she wasn’t available any longer. Are you glad now that you were turned since you have the additional powers to defeat the vampires, but you still got the girl?”
“No. I wouldn’t say that’s the right word. Glad. I’m just relieved that Pasha loves me. And I’m glad I don’t have the sunlight restriction that full vampires experience. But like you mentioned about being a human, part hunter for all those years, I feel the same way as a hunter. Being a newly turned vampire takes some getting used to.”
“You’re not just a hunter, but something more now.” Alex took a deep breath. “That’s how I have to look at it. Not just a human/hunter, but a man with even more abilities.”
“That’s a good way to look at it since we are what we are and there’s no going back.” Zachary really liked Alex, and again hoped he was truly on their side and not working for Rutherford, gaining their trust, and telling him all about them. Zachary could see Rutherford striking at them to try and win back what he’d lost since the arrival of all the hunters.
Alex looked at his arm again, but it was just as before. Maybe a tiny bit pink. He’d have a tan in the form of an irregular circle if he stayed out in the sun much longer. “I feel stronger in mind and body. I feel like I can set the world straight, and help fight against the rogue vampires, unlike how I used to feel. Meek and vulnerable. But I need more training.”
“We can all help you with that.” Zachary was even thinking that if everything was resolved here, he could help Alex eliminate the vampires who killed his parents. He glanced at the time. He wished he could telepathically communicate with Pasha already. He called her on his cell phone. “Let’s swap places. Alex is doing great. But I’m sure you need a break.”
“I think we might just have some business to attend to. There are five men headed to the front door of my parents’ house.”
“In broad daylight?”
“Yeah.”
Zachary didn’t say anything else but appeared next to his mate. He loved being able to think of her in that way now.
He didn’t expect Alex to leave his sun-tanning post, but he appeared right next to Zachary. “Who are they?” Alex asked.
Zachary shook his head. “The Van Helsing hunters. They’d better not be thinking of killing the Crichton vampires. Come on, Pasha. Alex, you stay—”
“No way.” Alex pulled off the tape and wash cloths, but he was still wearing his work gloves and the long sleeves.
Pasha found a hat for him in the closet. “If you get immediate sunstroke, don’t blame us because we warned you.”
Alex only smiled at her. “You’re the one who said—”
“To do this slowly.”
Then the three of them headed out of the house, and the men across the street all turned to see who was coming. Zachary couldn’t tell by their expressions what they were thinking. Surprised? Or did they realize they’d be faced with hunters if they came to Pasha’s family’s house?
“Hey,” the one man said. “We wanted to meet the Crichton vampires for ourselves.”
“At this hour? When they’re asleep?” Zachary asked, closing in on the human hunters.
“We wanted to see them so we wouldn’t mistake them for any other,” the man insisted.
“Again, I ask, at this hour?” Zachary eyed them with suspicion.
“We felt it would be, uh, safer for us if they were sleepier, not ready to fight us, if that was their intent.”
“We told you to leave them alone,” Zachary said.
“We want to see them so we can be sure not to harm them,” the man said again.
“All right.” Zachary telepathically told Daemon, “The Van Helsing hunters are here to see who the Crichton vampires are so they won’t kill them by mistake. Sorry for disturbing your sleep.”
“Come in. If they want a fight, they’re dead.”
Zachary opened the front door. “Come in.”
Pasha and Alex followed them in while Zachary led them to the living room where Gregory and his hunters were playing poker. They all looked up to see what was going on and Zachary wished he’d texted him to alert him to the situation also.
“Gregory and his hunters,” Zachary briefly said. “They’re here to protect the Crichton vampires. These are some of the Van Helsing hunters.”
Gregory bowed his head slightly to them in greeting. Most hunters didn’t care much for the human hunters, but if they could help, Zachary was willing to give them a chance to prove it.
Daemon appeared suddenly in the room.
The Van Helsing hunters instinctively reached for their swords.
“Prince Daemon of the Portland, Oregon vampires,” Zachary announced, ready to pounce on the first man who took a step toward Daemon, though he knew the vampire would be able to show the hunters what a mistake it was to threaten him.
Ephraim sauntered in, looking none too pleased to be awakened in the middle of the day.
“Lord Ephraim, our Highland lord from Maryland. Both of these men are ancient vampires, but the good guys.” At first, Zachary hadn’t thought having the Van Helsing hunters meet the vampires was a good idea, but when he saw the astonished looks on the hunters’ faces, he suspected this was a good educational lesson. Adonis had meant what he had said. The newly turned vampires were under their protection, both hunters’ and law-abiding vampires’.