Ripper (Hunter #1)(13)

“I don’t think that’s what he wants.” Dave’s voice was quiet, but it filled the room. “Okay, I’m going to get back home. It’s getting late and my wife really will kick my ass for keeping baby girl out so long. We’re going into the dungeons on Sunday night. See you there?”

“I think I’m going to take a break for a while.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I thought you might say that. I wish you wouldn’t, but I understand the instinct to push people away. I hope you find someone who won’t let you. Good night.”

I sat up and watched the vampire turn and start out the door. “Dave?”

He turned with a sweet grin on his face. He had adorable dimples when he smiled. “It’s Dan, Kelsey.”

Dan. Daniel, right. “Sorry. It’ll bug me forever if you don’t tell me.” I was at least self-aware enough to know I had to ask. “How the hell does a vampire end up with three kids?”

Daniel’s smile was radiant and I knew he loved someone very much. “He opens himself up to possibilities.”

And then he was off. I let my head hit the soft cushion on the side of the couch and the world slipped away from me.





I woke up to the horrible urge to get to a toilet as soon as I possibly could. I threw back the covers, not bothering to wonder how I’d made it to bed, and stumbled to the bathroom, slammed the door, and made it to my knees just as everything in my stomach decided to make a repeat appearance.

After I’d finished the business of getting rid of the toxins left in my gut, I sat on the cold tile of the tiny bathroom listening to the argument going on in the living room. It didn’t help the shakes I had.

“Give her a f*cking break, man,” I heard Jamie say.

“How about you give me a break, Jamie,” Nathan shot back. “You’re not the one who has to scrape her off the floor and haul her ass home every time she pulls this crap. You don’t have to see her like that.”

My oldest brother’s voice was serious, and I wondered how long they’d been at this fight. “She hasn’t pulled anything like this in almost a year. What the hell happened?”

I could see Nathan’s hazel eyes roll. “She took a missing person case. The person is a shifter.”

“Damn it,” Jamie cursed. “Who the hell thought that was a good idea?”

“Me,” I whispered because they couldn’t hear me and probably wouldn’t listen even if they could.

“Probably Liv.” Nathan sounded exasperated and I wondered if he’d slept on the couch last night. “I already left a message on her cell giving her my opinion.”

“Maybe it’s a good idea.” Jamie sighed. “She can’t hide forever.”

“Why not?” Nate asked. “Ninety-five percent of the world is normal. Why can’t she ignore the five percent that’s weird? She can’t handle it.”

“What do you mean she can’t handle it? Trust me, Kelsey can handle just about anything out there. I would take her in as backup any day of the week. She’s a badass. The only reason I didn’t offer her a job with me was you talked me out of it. You were the one who thought she should come out here and bury her head in the suburbs.”

It was nice to know my brothers didn’t think I could make a single decision on my own. I’d worked damn hard, well, somewhat hard, to build my business, but for Jamie it came down to letting me bury my head in the sand. I turned on the cold water in my shower and thought about crawling back into bed. I could pull the covers over my head and let the boys fight it out. Instead, I shucked last night’s clothes and nearly screamed as the cold water hit my body. Crawling back into bed wasn’t going to help Joanne Taylor. It was Friday and I had a full day planned. I needed to talk to Professor Peter Hamilton and then tonight I was going to check out those addresses in her book. It wasn’t Joanne’s or Helen’s fault that I got my ass roasted last night and felt like shit.

After I was vaguely clean, I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around my body. I brushed my teeth and decided to let my hair dry on its own. I was thinking I could sneak out, stop by Sonic for breakfast, and be in Dallas before noon. Before I’d gone on my bender, I’d managed to check into Joanne’s e-mail accounts, with her mother’s help. I’d found nothing there. I’d also looked up her class schedule. There was only one that really interested me. Professor Peter Hamilton’s office hours were from one to three on Fridays. I just needed to get past the arguing boys. They didn’t need me to decide how my life should go. The truth was I was feeling a little better. No matter what Nathan said, I was trying to help someone and that felt good.

I swung the door open and ran into the middle of a hunk of nicely made masculine flesh. I caught my breath because I hadn’t sensed him there at all and that was definitely a different experience for me. Usually I could tell when someone or something was close to me. It was all a part of having great hunter instincts. I was aware of my surroundings. This guy had been completely off my radar. I looked up and into the most seriously blue eyes I’d ever seen. They were so dark they were almost purple.

Again, not human, but I couldn’t tell for the life of me what this man was besides gorgeous. He made my breath catch.

“If you’re done with the physical parts of your hangover, might I tempt you with some coffee?” His generous lips cracked into a lopsided smile. His Texas accent was slow, but there was nothing at all uneducated about it. If I had to place a bet on his voice and the way he carried himself, I would say he’d been raised by wealthy parents.