The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(67)

I thought of Trevor. I wondered if I was supposed to feel any sadness for the father I’d known for less than a year.

I didn’t.

The only real emotion I could muster about Trevor’s death was happiness. I remembered not wanting Christina to stab him, and I wondered why I didn’t just let her. It was a weak moment. I didn’t want to be weak.

I knew we would still have to fight vampires. I knew that would always be an issue; we were vampire hunters, after all. With Trevor gone, we were safer, and that made me happy.

After Alice had dressed in a pair of my jeans and a sweatshirt, we tried to go downstairs.

“I could piggy back you,” Alice suggested.

I shook my head. “No, I’d be afraid you’d fall. I’m bigger than you.”

“How about if we just try to go down with you hanging your arm around my shoulders and using me like a crutch and the handrail for balance on the other.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I wished the vampire healing thing would hurry up and kick in. I didn’t like to worry about getting around. I figured it was taking longer because the wound was so deep.

We jostled comically down the stairs and into the kitchen where we found Luke making sandwiches.

“Hello, ladies. Did you rest well?”

“Yes, except for waking up a few times because of my leg. Otherwise, I slept great.”

Alice whispered, “Yes, thank you.” She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table for me to sit in, and then she pulled another out for herself.

“Where's Drew?” I asked.

“He went out for his run, and then he was going to get Oscar.”

“Oh good,” I said. “I was wondering how Oscar was doing.”

Luke put the sandwiches onto plates and cut them all in half. “He's doing well. The medics said he could leave the care center, but he's going to have to stay with us for a few days so we can monitor him. He had a lot of bites, and we just want to be certain he isn’t going to have any side effects of a partial turning.”

He handed us each a plate, and I asked him, “Don’t you have to drink blood after you’ve been bitten to complete the change?”

I’d read a lot of vampire stuff while I was at Trevor’s and thought that was the only way someone could become a vampire.

He nodded. “Yes, normally it would take drinking the victim’s blood until their heart almost stops, then they would have to drink blood, any blood, to begin the process of the change.”

Alice stared at the table, seemingly uninterested.

“But, an incident like this, with this many bites, the victim may not become a full vampire but could have side effects of vampirism, like sensitivity to sunlight and becoming exceptionally strong for no known reason.”

I took a huge bite of my sandwich. “Oh, I see.”

He sat down at the table with us, his own sandwich in front of him. “It’s just better to be safe than sorry, so Oscar is going to stay with us for a few days.”

Alice hadn’t touched her sandwich. She asked, “Is it even safe for him to go home at all? Won’t there be vampires who will want to want to avenge Trevor’s death?”

I looked at Luke and raised my eyebrows.

“Most likely, yes. They will probably look for him, considering the circumstances, but really, that will all depend on what he wants in the long run.”

Just then, we heard the door open and voices in the hallway. Drew and Oscar appeared in the kitchen.

“Hey!” I waved at them, smiling at Drew and then Oscar. “How are you feeling, Oscar?”

“A lot better than before, that’s for sure.” He shrugged. “But I’ve been better.”

He did look much better, except he was still quite pale. He had a hoodie on, one of Drew’s, so I couldn’t see his arms where he’d been bitten. The ones on his neck were visible, however, faintly scarred dots where he’d been punctured by fangs. It seemed they should only be scabbed rather than scarred already. Maybe vampire bites healed quickly because they came from a vampire.

“What about you?” He pulled out a chair at the table and sat, running one of his hands over his hair. “Are you doing okay? I heard you were shot.”

I stuck my leg out and pulled up my jeans to show him the bandage. “Yeah, it’s not so bad, compared to Gavin.”

Oscar glanced over at Alice. She still hadn’t touched her sandwich.

“You should eat that,” he told her.

“I’m not hungry.” She scooted it toward him, and he scooted right back to her.

“You should eat it,” he told her again. “I’m sure you need to eat something.”

Without any more argument, she picked up the sandwich and took a bite of it. I ignored the fact he was using his siren stuff on Alice because it was for her good.

I turned to Luke, deliberately ignoring Drew. “Will you take me to the hospital?”

Following my lead, Drew ignored me right back by opening the refrigerator and rummaging around inside.

“Yes, I’ll take you over there.” Luke ate the last bite of his sandwich and stood to put the plate into the sink. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” I looked at Oscar and Alice. “You guys going to be okay here while I’m gone?”