The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(31)

“Fine. Just get out of here.”

He turned to go and then stopped. Without turning around, he said in a softer voice, “Just because I’m not your brother or your father doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

I didn’t answer.

“We need to go see Luke today,” he told me in a tougher voice. “I’d like to do that as soon as possible."

I stayed in the tub as long as I could, just to spite him. I even ran more hot water into the tub when the water got too cold. By the time I got out, my fingers and toes were all pruned. I picked out a pair of jeans and a dark purple sweater to wear to the hospital. I hoped Luke got to come home soon. I hated seeing him all weak and vulnerable in his bed at the hospital. We went to visit him every day though, and so did a lot of the other hunters in the community. It would be really nice when we didn’t have to go to the hospital every single day though.

Downstairs, Drew was sitting at the charred kitchen table. It had been wiped clean of the extinguisher foam. One of Drew’s guns was in pieces and spread out all over the table. His cleaning kit was open, and it looked like he had finished cleaning and was putting it back together. My destroyed roses and the vase were nowhere in sight.

“You ready?” he asked as soon as I entered.

“Yup.”

“You need to bring your gun.”

“I know.” I patted the purse I carried when my outfit would make it obvious that I was packing or when I just didn’t feel like having a loaded gun stuck into the waistband of my pants.

He nodded and finished cleaning his gun while I grabbed a granola bar and a glass of water. I wandered into the living room with the intention of turning on the news and was surprised to hear my cell phone ringing. No one really called me since my mom died.

Caller ID said it was Gavin. I didn’t know if I wanted to answer. I was entirely tempted just to let the voice mail get it. I hoped he wasn’t mad at me for what Drew had done. Then again, I had sprayed him with the extinguisher and had run upstairs without saying goodbye or seeing if he was hurt, so he might be mad at me too. Wanting to talk to him overpowered the embarrassment.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Chloe.”

“Hey.”

“Are you doing okay this morning?”

I think I may have snorted a little. “I think the question is how are you doing this morning? I’m fine.”

“I’m fine too. I just wanted to call and apologize for everything last night. I really wasn’t trying to force myself on you.” He paused. “I hope you realize that.”

“Duh. I know that. Drew just walked in at the wrong time and freaked out.”

She could almost see him nodding.

“I just wanted to make sure that you absolutely know I would never try anything like that with you.”

“I know,” I told him. I really did know that even though I barely knew him, and Drew had said something about him not being an angel… or something like that.

“Let me make it up to you. Let’s go do something.”

I sat on the couch, relieved. He wasn’t mad. “Well, I’m going to the hospital right now, but I’ll be home later. Do you want to go to the ranges with me?”

“That sounds awesome. Archery or guns?”

“Both. How 'bout I call you when I get back?”

“Sounds good. Talk to you later.”

We both said goodbye and clicked off. Words could not express how happy I was that he wasn’t mad at me about the night before.

“You ready?”

I snapped out of my little bubble and looked up. Drew was in the doorway watching me with icy narrow eyes. I was sure he had heard the whole phone call. I hopped up off the couch.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I grabbed my coat off the hook and headed for the door.



At the hospital, Luke’s nurse spoke with us for a few minutes before we went into his room. She explained that he was doing well, but that he still needed to stay a few more weeks in the hospital. Apparently, because of his age, it was more of a risk to send him home with the portable chest tube. Plus, there were mobility issues with the casts.

Drew and I both told her that we understood and then opened the door to Luke’s room. My goodness, every time I entered that room I felt a million different emotions. I felt sad, because Luke was so messed up and had three casts on. I felt anger at the vampires who did this. I felt guilty because it wouldn’t have happened if they hadn't been after me.

I was going to fix it so none of them were hurt again. The only problem was that I wasn’t ready. I was barely trained to be a vampire hunter, not to mention the unreliability of my fire power. I didn’t want to go in unprepared, but I felt a sense of urgency to protect the only family I had left, and protecting my family was more important than protecting myself.

Where the heck was Sostrate now?

“Hi Luke!” I chirped, going directly to his bedside.

“Chloe!” He turned his head to look at me. Drew went to the counter, without saying a word, and began to organize the flowers, stuffed animals and treats that people had been sending and bringing him. One of the bears just had to have been made at one of those places where you build your own. It had on a camouflage shirt and hat, plus little black combat boots. A tiny little bandolier sat over its shoulder. I don’t know where they got it, but someone had stuck a tiny toy cross bow in the bear's hands. The card read, ‘It’s always vampire hunting season.’