Zachary didn’t give it another thought and said what was on his mind. “You have to kill me. I won’t live like this. Like…like…” He motioned across his body. “Like some hunter imposter.”
Adonis raised his brows. “I was just accepted into your hunter family. Killing Tobias’s youngest son wouldn’t be tolerated well. The rest of the family would hunt me down, and Rachael would be left with a child to raise on her own.”
“She’s—”
Adonis nodded. “You have your job cut out for you. Taming my little sister will be both the greatest challenge you’ve ever faced and the best thing you could do for our kind.”
Zachary’s face must have shown his incredulity.
“She hates vampires with a passion and thinks both Danai and I should have died. We’re abominations as far as she’s concerned. Your father sees us giving our side the advantage in the war against the rogues. We can infiltrate their lairs, when the hunters can’t. We can blend in, find out which are the bad ones, and eliminate only those.”
Zachary looked down at his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“I know how you feel, Zachary, but I didn’t have a choice. Both Danai and I had to free our family. Now that we’ve lived in our changed forms for over a month, we’ve grown more used to the idea. Even Danai is eating much better.”
Zachary’s mouth dropped open. He was just now getting a grip on the fact that Adonis was a vampire. Danai was one also? “She’s one too?” He climbed out of bed, stood, and he felt no more pain from his injury and was glad. “Michael, my brother…has he been told about Danai?”
“I thought you knew.” Adonis shook his head, his brow furrowed. “No, he hasn’t, but let them work out their own relationship. He’s been able to ease her out of the darkness she’s been living in since she was turned. You upset that, and you’ll be responsible for her death.”
“He doesn’t know!”
“Neither does Pasha know about you. Leave it be for the time being.” Adonis shook his head. “You never know. You might like some of the added benefits.”
“What…” Zachary meant to ask but the door was thrown open and he turned to see who had entered the room.
Rachael rushed inside and shut the door. When she saw Zachary standing in the hospital gown, she detoured to join him. Giving him a hug, she added a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t let Pasha see your new clothes.” Then she joined Adonis at his bed. “Are you never going to leave this bed again, old man? The doctor gave me grief when we made love and that put you back in the hospital bed.”
Smiling wickedly, Adonis pulled her down and kissed her forcefully against the mouth. His hands pressed against her denim-clothed buttocks. “Hmm, Rachael, does it feel like I’m too old? I still need to heal, but that won’t keep me from business.”
Zachary grabbed his change of clothes off a nearby chair and headed into an adjoining room. Just the sight of Adonis with Rachael kissing and hugging each other triggered the same kind of craving he had for Pasha. But he had seen the way Pasha hated Adonis and probably their sister for being vampires.
Zachary wasn’t feeling his usual self. Hell, as if he would ever feel his usual self again.
Damn. Michael. Somehow, Zachary had to warn Michael about Danai. Hell, he had to warn Pasha about himself too.
Then he had a thought as he pulled on a pair of jeans. If Adonis couldn’t/wouldn’t kill him, surely as much as Pasha hated rogue vampires and hunters who were turned, she would do the deed if given the opportunity, wouldn’t she? He’d solicit her help as soon as he had a chance to speak with her alone.
He yanked a navy turtleneck over his head, his mind made up and somewhat relieved he could find a solution to his horrible condition…near immortality as a cursed vampire.
He left the room, glancing briefly at the bodies rising and falling on the single bed buried beneath a blanket. Certainly, they’d found soul mates in one another, and his heart lifted some to see his cousin so happy with her new husband, despite what he was. Maybe there was some hope for them, but Zachary didn’t think most hunter families would welcome a hunter turned vampire into their midst, and what would their offspring be?
When Zachary exited the room, his father grabbed his arm and pulled him to the dining room. “The meal is ready. Is Adonis awake yet?”
“He’s busy at the moment with Rachael.”
His father paused, then raised his brows. “Looks like something you’ll have to get used to.”
“Father, did you know about Danai?”
He nodded.
“What about Michael? He needs to be told.”
“She’ll tell him in due time. For now, she’s beginning to eat and enjoy life again. So let them be.”
“But…”
His father gave him a silent glare. “Let them be. Not a word. If you say anything…”
Zachary nodded. He had his own demons to worry about.
“Zachary?” His father’s stern word was law as head of the local hunter families in Dallas. If Zachary went against him, he’d be kicked out without the family’s backing. Ostracized, until he mended his ways. Like Michael had done earlier.
“Yes, Father.”
His father straightened his shoulders. “Roman, Pasha’s father, wants to announce you are committed to her.”
“I can’t. Not without…well, I can’t.”
“She has chosen you above all the others. You should be honored. Don’t tell me the pretty filly doesn’t interest you.”
“Does her father know about me?”
“Yes, and he agrees with the union.”
“She’ll hate me.”
“Her father begs of you that you do not tell her until she’s gotten over this hatred she has for Adonis and Danai. The family is torn apart. And you know how important family is to hunters. Without each other’s support, we’d never be able to fight the rogue vampires successfully.”
“But—”
“Zachary, I’ve never asked anything of you or Michael, but to show me the respect I have earned as the head of this family. I’ve always done what I feel is best for the family. Is that not right?”
Zachary stifled a growl. “How long do I have to keep this charade up?”
“One month.”
“If she wants to marry before that?”
“If she insists…we’ll decide then what to do.” He glanced over Zachary’s shoulder. “Here she comes now. Remember what I’ve said.”
Why did Zachary have to solve everyone’s problems? He had plenty of his own.
Pasha slipped her hand in Zachary’s and smiled. “Come, sit with me. Show the other hunters we’re courting.”
Chapter 4
Pasha had learned all she could about Zachary Bremerton before she had proposed to her father that she desired to pursue him solely as a mate. She’d expected her father to disagree with her and want her to see several hunters before she committed to one. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d been surprisingly pleased. She attributed his unusual behavior to the fact that Tobias was the hunter leader and marrying one of his sons was preferable to marrying someone who was not.