“All right. I’ll pay you back.”
He truly didn’t seem to care one way or another.
Regulars
The kid was literally never going to shut up. He had a billion questions, all directed toward Mikar, which was hilarious because the stern vampire was obviously not used to dealing with children. In fact, he looked scared of the teenager. Listening from the back seat, Avani almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
“Are you guys sensitive to sunlight like in the movies?” the boy asked.
“Do I look like I’m turning to ashes?” Mikar grumbled.
“Hey, like, maybe you still don’t like sunlight. I don’t like math even though I still do my homework.”
“Good. Let’s put some music on.” Mikar turned a radio on the first station, cranking the volume up to drown out any attempt at conversation.
He underestimated the kid. The boy simply turned the volume down to a reasonable level and kept going with his questions.
“We don’t really see vampires during the day. I live in London, people say there’s loads of vampires there, but I’ve never seen one before.”
“Really?” Mikar asked dryly. “I wonder why. Vampires obviously should want to hang out with fifteen-year-olds.”
“Maybe not, but I should at least have seen one, right? Oh! Do you turn into bats?”
Avani attempted to hide her smile as Mikar grunted.
She finally took pity on him. “Vampires can’t turn—that’s what shifters do. They don’t have an animal inside them. They can, however, sync with their familiars. That means their mind and body inhabit the animals they’ve formed a bond with for a time. And while sunlight doesn’t tend to hurt most vampires, they prefer nighttime, like most sups, because your kind dominates the day. And while some people are fine with us, like you, there are plenty of others who love to make life difficult for us.”
Mikar shot her a quick grateful look in the rear-view mirror.
“That makes sense. People suck.”
“You’re wise beyond your years, kid. Hey, what’s your name?”
“Ben. You? Jeez, you saved my life and I didn’t ask for your name. Sorry.”
“No biggie. I’m Avani.” It was actually pretty incredible that the kid had bounced back so fast, without showing any sign of trauma. She would have bet he was more shaken than he let on, but all things considered, he was really doing well. “You seem interested in sups, Ben.”
“I am. I want to work at the Liaison Department,” he said proudly. “My uncle promised he can get me an internship there after high school.”
The Liaison Department was one of the many minor human institutions set up by governments to manage the relationship between regulars and sups. America had the PIA—before it was blown to pieces—but the Paranormal Investigation Agency was known to only react to violence. The European Liaison Department was supposed to be an institution meant to represent both human and sups in all sorts of matters; they organized festivals, financed schools, and mediated conflicts before they blew up enough to become a matter the court had to settle.
It sounded great in theory. The truth of the matter was, it was still entirely run by humans, and therefore, didn’t always have the best interests of sups in mind.
“Good on you, kid.”
She was impressed that last night’s events hadn’t changed his mind about working with her race.
Some people had one bad encounter and judged an entire group for it. Others, like Ben, put it down to the fact that some individuals sucked and moved on.
The rest of the journey was peppered with a bunch of questions she did her best to answer, though some were directed at their vampiric driver. Mikar didn’t seem to mind Ben quite so much now that he was focused on Avani and only had the occasional query for him.
Then he asked, “What does blood taste like?”
Avani disguised her laugh as a cough.
The kid really didn’t have a filter. A regular asking a vampire to speak about blood was like a turkey chatting about stuffing recipes before Thanksgiving.
Mikar shrugged indifferently. “Blood.”
So, the ancient was a smartass, apparently.
Ben grimaced. “But blood is gross.”
“Really?” The vampire rolled his eyes. “Then why do people eat boudin or tartare?”
“Because they’re French,” Ben replied reasonably without missing a beat.
She could only giggle.
They reached the city in a few hours. Mikar parked his car in an underground facility lot in the city center. His entire demeanor changed the moment they got out. He went from a sullen driver who wanted to be anywhere but here with them to a silent and deadly force to be reckoned with. Everything about his stance and intensity said protector. Avani could tell why he’d been the one who’d been sent out to meet the humans; he was a natural bodyguard. Levi would have seemed too intimidating; Luke, not intense enough; Chloe, too young and sweet. Though Avani didn’t know the other vampires well, she could see Mikar would make the humans feel safer than anyone else.
Except perhaps Alexius.
Since he couldn’t leave Oldcrest, the point was moot.
What was up with that, anyway? She had so many questions about the tall blond hottie, she might as well change her name to Ben.
“We’re meeting your parents at Starbucks.”
She wasn’t surprised that Mikar had picked a public place—again, to make them feel safe after their ordeal.
Avani wasn’t too inclined to think about their peace of mind and wellbeing. They’d left the campground without their son, for heaven’s sake. They deserved to worry.
She could have just left Mikar to it—she was just hitching a ride to buy some stuff in town—yet she followed them through the busy, noisy, polluted streets.
Avani loved the idea of a day out in the city when she was in Oldcrest, romanticizing everything about it, but now that she actually was here, she remembered just how stuffy the regular world was. Everyone walked in each other’s personal space, cars honked and stank, people were nosy…
“Coffee?” Mikar asked.
“Oh. Sure.”
Just like that, her mood improved considerably. She ordered something that had a dollop of coffee and plenty of cream and syrup.
At the first sip of the fluffy colorful drink, her shoulders loosened. “We so need a Starbucks in Oldcrest.”
Instead of pointing out that it might not be compatible with the whole “secret territory” thing, Mikar grunted in agreement, eagerly lapping at his cold brew.
Maybe they were going to get along.
The next moment, Ben jumped to his feet, practically knocking over his iced tea, and launched himself into the arms of a petite, pretty lady who cried, kissing the top of his head, his cheeks, and pulling him close.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she repeated over and over again in between kisses.
There was a tall man who bore some resemblance to the teen next to her, and a little girl in pigtails attached to his side. “We thought you were in the car. We wouldn’t have left otherwise.” His voice was thick with regret.
Jaded as she was, Avani still believed him. And people had a tendency to act pretty fast when fear and adrenaline took over. Just like that, she forgave the parents after all.
Perhaps because they really weren’t assholes, or simply because caffeine had hit her system, which considerably lowered her level of annoyance toward the universe.
“It’s all right. You got Tiffani out of there, that’s the main thing. And Avani saved me,” Ben said, pointing right at her.
Avani just had enough time to put her latte on the table when Ben’s surprisingly strong mother leaped at her and engulfed her in a bear hug, too. “You’re an angel sent from heaven,” she declared.
The man nodded. “We’re in your debt. Anything we can do for you, it’s yours.”
Meeting the parents explained why the son was so open, friendly, and void of prejudice. They must have known she was a shifter, but that didn’t matter one bit to them, even though they’d been chased the previous night.
“Don’t mention it,” she said. “And I can’t breathe.” Damn, the woman was strong for a small regular.
“Don’t mention it? You saved my son! We watched the news this morning; they said that some people from the camping ground were missing.”
Missing was another word for eaten. If they’d found any remains, the human authorities probably hadn’t had the time to identify the bones yet.
“He would have been among them if it wasn’t for you. If we have another girl, we’ll name her after you.”
“Yeah, well…glad I could help.” Avani didn’t feel comfortable with the gratitude. She should have gone her own way after all.
She cleared her throat, glancing at Mikar for support. He took the cue. “I’m afraid we’re on a schedule.”
“Of course. Don’t let us keep you. But let’s exchange contact information, all right?”
“Yes. And really. Anything you need, you call us,” the man reiterated, holding her gaze to let her know he meant it.
She acquiesced, rather than pointing out that it was unlikely she’d ever need anything from them.
They exchanged numbers, and after another hug—little Tiffani insisted on being carried and kissed on the cheek, too—they finally parted ways.
“You’re good with people,” Mikar noted.
Avani snorted. “Yeah, right. They were weird.” Too nice compared to anyone she associated with. And she wasn’t used to hearing thank you. In the pack, she’d done her part. It had been expected of her. No one bothered to say anything about it one way or the other.
“Sure, you might not have been comfortable with the gratitude, but you put them at ease, even the young ones. I’m just surprised, because I didn’t think you’d be used to humans. I mean, you lived in the woods.”
He had a point. “Kids are kids, people are people, whether they change into wolves or not. There were plenty of kids in the pack; I liked them well enough.” It was when they grew up and started to become arrogant alpha wannabes that she didn’t get along with guys. “Basically, if you smile, children generally chill. Unless your smile is creepy. Then, don’t.”