Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Monkshood

I shake my head slowly. "I don't know." And it's true. I don't know. Did John, Bri, and Gunner fly off the rails and decide to drain an entire fishing crew off the coast of Bolton County? No. There's no way. They wouldn't need eight bodies to curb their thirst and they would never feed so close to the city where witnesses could be around every corner.

"It was a stupid question." She waves me off. "I just... It's my home, you know? My home is being attacked and I feel so helpless." She sinks into the couch and hangs her head back.

I can't keep my eyes from her neck, the slow pulse under her jaw, the freckles trailing up her tan skin. "It's not stupid," I say, but my mind is somewhere else, wondering how it feels to be so reckless, if all blood suckers crave release more than companionship as they age. As the empathy is sucked from their bodies and they turn into statues rather than humans, like Leah or Leroy. I withhold a cringe at my inevitable future.

"Are you—" Before I can finish my sentence, there's a quick knock on the door and I haven't gotten off the couch before it opens.

A familiar deep voice shouts, "Aurora, it's John. You home?"

My heart stops and before I can think of a plan to get Jamie out of here, John, Bri, and Gunner are standing in the living room. I jump to my feet, but I'm frozen in place as John's eyes flick from me to Jamie.

"Guys?" My voice trembles.

John's hands clench into fists and I know what he's feeling. I know how hard it is to be around fresh blood. His pupils go large and his chest clenches.

I take a cautious step toward them as I realize the severity of the situation. Jamie is in a room with three vampires who have never had to control their thirst around a human before.

"Didn't mean to interrupt." John says but his voice sounds different, strained and high pitch undoubtedly from holding his breath in his chest.

Jamie's all smiles as she pushes to her feet and extends a hand to John. "You're Gwen's stepdad, right? She's told me so much about you. I'm Jamie." Leave it to Jamie to be cordial in a room of creatures who want to murder her.

His stare locks onto her hand, probably watching the micro-movement of her pulse in her wrist. He knows he won't be able to control his thirst if he feels the warmth of her blood against his palm.

"He has OCD," I say and throw in a chuckle to cut through the tension. "He doesn't handle germs and strangers very well."

"Oh." She withdraws her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No problem." John tries to force a smile, but it's strained. "Could we steal Gwen away for a moment?"

I'm nodding and positioning myself between them and Jamie before she can answer. "Let's go outside and talk," I order, keeping my eyes locked on Gunner. He's the youngest of the three of them and I can tell by the way he's looking at Jamie, he would fight John and Bri off for the chance to drain her. "Now."

My muscles are tight, ready for a fight, ready to protect Jamie at all costs when finally, Bri flashes a smile that's more authentic and starts toward the back door. John follows suit but Gunner doesn't move right away.

"Gunner." My tone is all acid, my eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Gun," Bri shouts from the doorway. "Remember that time Gwen threw your ass against the wall." She produces a fake laugh. "How embarrassing. Maybe you should listen to her before she does it again."

His nostrils flare and he rolls his eyes. He doesn't respond but slams his shoulder into mine as he passes.

"I'll be right back," I tell Jamie as I follow. "Sorry about this." I try to read her expression as I pass but if she's feeling awkward, she doesn't show it.

The air is lighter outside, the tension melting into the cool spring night.

"What the fuck, you guys!" I get closer and drop my voice. "You could have killed her."

John lifts his hands apologetically. "We didn't expect a human to be in Aurora's home."

"That's her?" Gunner interrupts. "That's the girl you were supposed to kill that night?"

A shiver runs through my body, and I pull my jacket tighter over me to keep the cool breeze out. I ignore him. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You need to come with us," John says. "We're getting as far from this town as possible."

I shake my head in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

John steps closer, his expression darkening. "There is something bad happening in this town, Gwen. Real bad."

Bri nods. "I saw something like this a couple decades back. There's an uncontrolled clan on the loose."

An uncontrolled clan? "You mean... Blood suckers killed the fisherman?"

John nods. "Leroy called me this morning. He's got an in at the police station. The bodies were drained. And the fuckers who did it didn't even bother to hide the evidence. This is going to get ugly fast." He scratches his beard. "Any educated hunter already knows what's going on and they're probably already on the hunt for the vampires who did this." He shakes his head. "I don't want you getting caught up in the middle of this."

My head is spinning. "I can't just leave," I argue. "The elders will have me executed for abandoning my job."

Gunner scoffs. "Bullshit." Everyone turns to Gunner. "What? I'm just saying what everyone's thinking. Gwen seemed awfully friendly with that human in there." He motions to the living room. He shrugs, crosses his arms over his chest. "Don't blame her. She's hot."

"Shut your mouth," John snaps. "Before you piss me off."

Gunner crosses his arms over his chest and pouts as John faces me.

"Call the elders tonight," he orders. "See if they'll let you leave. If they will, pack your things and I'll pick you up in the morning. Tell Aurora she needs to come with us. I'll go see about some land on the East Coast." He squeezes my shoulder. "Listen to me, Gwen. We need to get far from Bolton County... Before all hell breaks loose."

I nod but all I can think is: What about Jamie?