The Vampire's Requiem [malexmale]

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen (Xed)

"Nice job."

I shot Hunter a glare, but he was one of the few people in the world that wasn't intimidated by me. I couldn't tell if it was stupidity or cockiness that made him unafraid, but it didn't matter because I didn't care about him.

I cared about Newell.

And I cared about the fact that I had just destroyed years of trust by confessing what had happened. I couldn't get the image of Newell's expression when I had told him. I had never seen that look on his face before. I could only name it as something between humiliation and rage. The color had drained from his face and his eyes widened. At first I was expecting him to accuse me of being a liar, but instead, he'd just stared at me before taking off back to the car.

I couldn't understand it. Had I hurt him? Was he angry? Embarrassed?

"I didn't mean to hurt him." I said at last, hoping Hunter would find some of his humanity to help. I expected too much because he scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"You didn't hurt him," Hunter replied drolly, "He's probably embarrassed as fuck. You just told him he kissed you as a drunken mistake. I don't think anyone would appreciate that." I frowned, glancing at him out the corner of my eye.

"But it was the truth. He did not mean to do it. He was drunk. Granted, it was a first, but--"

"Oh, please," Hunter groaned, "I may not be Nora Roberts or anything when it comes to romance, but man, seriously. Ain't nobody ever tell you that the truth comes out when you're drunk? Or ain't you ever been drunk?"

"I don't enjoy the flavor of alcohol."

"Dear God. You really are a monster," Hunter snorted, making me glare at him before he sighed, looking off into the woods with a frown, "Well, we ain't solvin' nothin' by standin' around. We need to catch up to your butt buddy before something else bad happens to him. In case you've forgotten, he's the most wanted fugitive in the world. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if aliens came out of outer space and abducted him for the reward, or just for anal probing. They do that, you know." I ignored his ranting and pulled myself out of the water. I dragged myself on shore, letting my fin crack, snap, and rip itself back into a pair of legs.

But the pain was nothing compared to the pain of not having Newell here, of having destroyed our trust, and what was left of our relationship. Surely he would not want me around now.

I kept asking myself what exactly had upset him. I mean, aside from the fact that I broke an important rule and sang to him, resulting in his short memory loss issue. Was he disgusted at the thought of kissing me? Or was he disgusted in himself? Even though he never told me out loud, I knew he was self-loathing. He purposely avoided his reflection and curled his lip when a human mistook him for a child and gushed about him.

My heart sank deeper as I tried to think of something that might reconcile to Newell, but I kept coming up empty handed and Hunter was hardly a help. We trudged back through the woods back to the car when an odd scent hit the air. I frowned, sniffing for a moment before Hunter caught me by the shoulder and whipped me back around so we were standing behind a cluster of large trees. I glared at him for touching me and he held a finger to his lips.

I frowned, confused as I watched him take out his gun. I narrowed my eyes at him, but then the scent in the air grew stronger and this time, I recognized it. It was the same scent we had picked up on when we passed through the toll booth on our way out of New York.

Werewolves.

And I was willing to bet that they were after Newell.

Him, or Hunter, who threatened the she-wolf at the toll booth.