Chapter Twenty-Six

As a Heart Attack

Sunshine beamed down from the sky with implacable cheerfulness as I left the Parker’s house the next morning. My mint green bug, practically incandescent in the light, was a vivid contrast to the dark nerves that licked along my spine. I wanted to tell myself to relax, but I knew I was right to be nervous.

It seemed that even when he wasn’t anywhere near me, Ira just had a way of making me break my rules. I was about to violate the hunter’s number one, unbreakable taboo: tell no one. Oh, I’d broken it before—obviously Milly knew, but this was different. Revealing my secret to a vampire I didn’t intend to kill. Please, God, let my father never, ever find out about this.

When I’d called Ira last night, he’d wanted to meet up right away, but I resisted. It had been almost full dark when I’d arrived back at Milly’s house, and nighttime plus angry vampire wasn’t exactly a winning brew. We’d arranged to talk in the park this morning, instead, and hopefully the happier memories of our last little walk in the park would keep tempers in check when I dropped my big news. Right, I’d just keep telling myself that.

But I didn’t see any other way. My ‘oh-look-how-mature-I-am-I-can-fuck-a-vampire-and-not-freak-out’ routine had blown up in my face, and it was time to deal. I didn’t want to do this. I had to. Because of my unwillingness to turn away from all the great sex I was having with Ira, Zo had caught my scent—and possibly Milly’s as well, which worried me more.

Like any best friend, Milly had tried to talk me out of this potentially lethal situation, but in the end she’d understood. I had avoided mentioning I was doing it for her, though. I doubted she would appreciate that. Just call me Mr. Caveman.

A small, petty part of me wanted to blame Ira, but I couldn’t. It was my fault. I’d known what I was getting into, and he hadn’t. That meant it was up to me to fix. I couldn’t just off Zo and sail out of town. The situation had moved beyond that. It was time to come clean. In accordance with all-new, all-grown-up me I owed him that much.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t freaking out about it, of course. Because I was. I really, really was. It was only through applied force of will that my hands remained steady and calm on the steering wheel.

If I was honest with myself, and I mostly tried to be, I could admit that telling Ira I was a vampire hunter was only part of the reason I was a wreck this morning. Oh, I looked great. I had on my best graphic tee in a deep blue that brought out the gold in my hair, my dark jeans made my butt look slightly bigger and hugged my hips, and my thick leather wristbands not only spiced up the outfit, but would provide some buffer if I had to exchange some hand-to-hand. I looked, to put it bluntly, perfect.

No, my disarray was entirely mental. How I had I let things with Ira get so far in the first place? Why did I continue to let him sway me into things I knew were wrong? Or at least, not smart? A less self-aware young gay hunter might have claimed mind-tricks, but I knew better. During my meditations my mind was whole. He had no hold on me...well, not a psychic one, anyway.

“Regan, over here!” I turned to the voice, and headed into the park. Ira got up from where he’d been sitting on a bench, and came to me.

As always he was a sight to behold. His muscles were shown off by a nice t-shirt, which he rounded off with jeans and flip-flops. Very college student. He hadn’t used much hair gel today, and part of it was already starting to curl slightly. It was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.

He got in close, his eyes intense, but also wary. “Are you all right? I figured if it was something with Zo you’d’ve met up quicker—”

“No, no, it’s not her,” I shook my head. “Not exactly.”

God, he smelled so good. I don’t know how it was possible but the icy sent of him just got to me, made me relax despite myself. Deliberately, I abandoned that line of thinking and took a step backwards.

“We have to—I have some things to tell you,” I said.

“Okay,” he said slowly.

I’d chosen the park so if he flipped his shit he wouldn’t kill me in public, but now that we were here I was wishing for some place more private. There was a limit to stupid decisions, however, even for me. We’d stay here.

He was waiting for me to begin, and I gestured to the walking path. “Let’s walk.”

It took me a minute to decide on an approach, and I finally decided the direct way would be better. We were walking side by side, so maybe that made it easier.

“Like I said, I need to tell you some stuff, and I doubt you’re gonna like, well, any of it,” I began.

“Regan—”

“No,” I said. “Just let me.”

He nodded, his face tight. God, why was this so hard? My gut was churning for no reason. I thought to myself, Just tell him, already.

“I, okay, I’m just gonna say it.” I resisted the urge to rub my hands on pants nervously. “I’m a hunter.”

He stopped, looking me, face almost comically quizzical. “I—you—what?”

Apparently, that’s not what he had been expecting me to say. Shaking my head, I said, “I know you’re a vampire, and I’m a hunter.”

His eyes ping-ponged around to the people in the park in alarm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ira, give it up, I know.” It surprised me, how weary my voice sounded. “It’s kinda my job.”

And then it seemed to really hit him, what I’d said. His face snapped back to me, and his eyes narrowed. “You can’t be,” he declared. “You don’t have—”

“This?” I reached up with my left hand to pull the collar of my t-shirt down towards my armpit. There, in the hollow on the underside of my clavicle was the mark of my hunting family, a St. James cross—a cross with the three short arms ending in a fleur-de-lis, tattooed into my flesh.

It hit him like a slap. He fell backwards a step, his eyes going wide.

“Oh, my God,” he whispered, horrified. I could see the knowledge filling his face, why I’d kept my shirt on that night at his house, the towel around my neck, what I’d told him about moving around for work. And then the anger followed. “You lied to me.”

“No,” I protested. “No, I never did. You just never asked.”

He laughed bitterly. “Well, gee. Guess it didn’t occur to me.”

My chest ached for reasons I couldn’t even put into words, and I stepped forward. “Ira—”

Jerking away from me, he spat, “So, what? Was this some kind of sick game to you? This how hunters get their rocks off?”

“God, no,” I said, a little hurt despite myself. “Nothing about this was a game.”

“Oh, I see,” he growled. “It was recon, get to know your enemy and lower my defenses all at once.”

“Ira, no, it wasn’t like that,” I said. “When I met you at the bar that night I didn’t know.”

“When did you know?” he shot back.

“The next day,” I admitted. “When I saw your eyes.”

He nodded, faced pained. “So you’ve been playing me for a fool all weekend, and you expect me not to think you’re out for me? Hell, you expect me to believe you at all after you’ve lied to me for days?”

“I didn’t lie to you. Everything I told you was true, I just left out some details.” A little anger of my own started to seep in. “And, look, maybe I should have ‘fessed up earlier, but don’t play some big martyr act. You didn’t tell me the truth, either.”

That brought him up short. “That’s different,” he snapped.

I snorted. “Why, because it’s you?”

“Because I would have told you eventually,” he insisted. “If this thing of ours turned into anything serious, I was going to tell you.”

“Wanting to tell someone and actually doing it are two different things,” I fired back. “I knew it had passed the point of waiting it out, so I grew a pair and called you. I don’t see you rushing to spill your guts, so get off my case. You kept just as many secrets as I did.”

An angry silence bubbled between us.

“What’s the other thing?” he asked shortly.

I blinked at him. “What?”

“You said you had ‘things’ to tell me. Plural.” He stared down at me, dark eyes still angry. “What’s the other thing?”

Meeting his gaze, I said calmly, “I’m going to kill Zo.”

“You are unbelievable!” he erupted. He turned away from and then stomped back, face furious. “You drop this thing on me, expect me to be instantly fine with it, then tell me you’re gonna kill my ex without missing a beat!”

“I don’t expect you to be instantly fine with it—”

“Did you not say ‘get off my case’ like two seconds ago?”

My face turned red. “All I meant was that you kept secrets too. I know you’re going to be angry about me not telling you, but don’t act like it was just me.”

Throwing his arms out, he cried, “Fine! We’re both big fat liars.”

“Keep your voice down,” I hissed.

Dropping his arms, his hands clenched at his side. “You’re going to kill Zo? Just like that?”

“Don’t forget that she’s already attacked me twice,” I said. “It’s her or me, and I pick me.”

He laughed, no humor in the sound. “You think highly of yourself, don’t you?”

I tilted up my chin. “Not without reason.”

“Zo’s won every match she’s had.”

“So have I.”

Ira shook his head. “It’s not as easy to kill a vampire as you might think. I’ve heard how hunters operate, but those kind of covert ops won’t work with the house right here.”

“I’ll figure something out.” I made sure my voice was breezy and confident. “I always do. Besides, killing a vampire is easy, it’s getting to that point that might be tricky”

“Oh, yeah?” he challenged. “How do you kill you a vampire?”

“Head or heart,” I said instantly. “Completely off, completely out.”

“With what?”

Without missing a beat, I replied “Anything strong and/or sharp enough. Also, fire.”

He was giving me an appraising look, and I rolled my eyes. “This is grade-school stuff, Ira. I do this every day. I kill vampires, it won’t be a problem.”

“You’re really convinced you can kill Zo, aren’t you?” He asked.

“You’ve never seen me fight, or you wouldn’t ask that question.”

“And if I decide not to let you?”

Oh, like hell. I took a step forward. “Try and stop me.”

“Maybe I will.” He drew himself upright, sort of like his mother had done in the diner. Suddenly there was a presence and authority to him that hadn’t been there before, a feral edge of power. Ira the unassuming college student had fallen away. Ira the monster stood before me now. “You want to know what it’s like to take on a vampire in a direct fight? Then fight me.”

My body was loose and ready, muscles coursing with energy. The hunter was ready. “Name the place.”

“The ridge by my cabin.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Name the time.”

I tossed my head back, staring him straight in the eye. “I’m free now.”

“Now it is.”