Drantos Read online

  “You saw your brother? Is Bat okay?”

  “She’s fine. Kraven ran into trouble, too, and I found him first while I was searching for you. We took care of Decker’s men but more could be close by.”

  “Are you sure she’s okay?”

  “Your sister and my brother are fine. They’re nearby. They had to cross the river as well, and I just brought us closer to them.”

  “Where are they?” She stirred in his arms, blindly looking around. “I need to see Bat. I want to talk to her.”

  “She can’t hear you unless you yell out, which I don’t suggest. More enforcers could be out there.”

  “Why didn’t you take us right to them? I don’t think splitting up was such a good idea.” She worried about her sister far too much, especially if Bat had seen one of those creatures.

  “We’re sitting in a small dent in the ground space next to a tree that will shield us from the wind. There isn’t enough room for all four of us. Kraven found a hole not too far away. He’ll keep your sister warm and safe until the sun rises.”

  “Did she see what I did?”

  He hesitated. “I’m not certain what she saw or didn’t.”

  “She’ll be freaked-out and scared. I should check on her, Drantos. It’s not every day you see some creature that looks like it came right out of one of those hell-dog movies. She doesn’t even like horror flicks.”

  His arms tightened around her more and his head lowered to rest against the top of her head. “Kraven will deal with her if she saw one of us shifted. He’ll explain to her the same thing I am to you. We lost the ability to resemble wolves when we inherited our Vampire genes.” He drew in a deep breath. “Hell isn’t involved. It’s just genetic mutations from being half-breeds. Decker’s men could track us faster in animal form than they could if they’d remained in their skin.”

  An image of that terrifying beast flashed in Dusti’s memory. It had been huge and vicious looking. The claws… She trembled.

  “Easy,” Drantos urged. “I’d never hurt you. Feel my warm skin?” He brushed his fingertips over her arm. “No claws or fur, sweetheart.”

  “Stop calling me that. You’re doing it on purpose.”

  “I am. There’s no reason for you to ever wonder if I’d hurt you. That’s why I didn’t want to show you proof of what we are so soon. The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me.”

  “I’m not one of those beast things.”

  “No. Your father was pure human. Your blood is diluted enough that you’re unable to change forms. You took more after him than your mother.”

  Her mind wanted to resist believing what he said but she’d seen that thing as clear as day. She’d never forget it either. And Drantos could turn into one of them. She’d been intimate with him.

  “I told Bat that you were nuts,” she admitted. “I know you didn’t want me to say anything to her but I did. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about that now, Dusti.”

  “I thought you were like my friend Greg. He thinks aliens are after him when he doesn’t take his meds.”

  Drantos rubbed her back. “I’m not crazy and I don’t need medication.”

  “I think I’m going to lose my mind. Maybe I’m the one who needs meds.”

  “Please don’t fall apart on me. Call me names, insult me, but damn it, don’t cry. I can’t handle that. If it helps, remember that your mother was pure VampLycan. She could shift.”

  “You’re not helping.”

  “Sorry. I just wanted to remind you that we’re all not monsters. I got the impression you loved your mother and she was good to you.”

  “She was the best.”

  “She loved you and cared for you. Not all of us are bad.”

  “If that’s true, if she had to run away from her father, why didn’t she go to her own people to protect her from being given to some bad guy?”

  He shrugged against her. “Maybe she feared it would cause deaths in whatever clan that took her in, if her father tried to get her back. I don’t know, Dusti. No one could answer that but her. We would have tried to protect Antina and welcomed her if she’d sought sanctuary. Maybe she believed everything bad her father ever said about us. He feels we’re too soft and weak because we’re not as bloodthirsty as he is. That’s why he wants to rule all the clans. It’s possible she felt we couldn’t protect her. We like to live in peace but that doesn’t mean we’re not deadly when we’re on the defense. We are. Was she happy in the human world?”

  “Yes.” She fought tears. “My parents were really in love. You could see how much they meant to each other every time they touched. That was often. We were a happy family. She used to say meeting my father had been the best moment of her life, besides having her daughters. We had a lot of great times.” Memories of her childhood surfaced in her thoughts. “We laughed a lot.”

  “Didn’t you ever notice anything strange about her?”

  Dusti racked her brain. “She looked pretty young for her age. Everyone used to comment on it. Of course, it’s just in the genes. Bat and I get mistaken all the time for being in our early twenties.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-one, and Bat is thirty-three.”

  “You don’t look it.” He paused. “You may have inherited the very slow aging process we possess.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Vampires don’t age at all from the time they are turned. Lycans have a lifespan of about five hundred years.”

  She couldn’t imagine. “Are you kidding me? How is that possible?”

  “Vampires use blood to heal and survive. As long as they feed, it repairs most damage, including any from aging. Lycans heal much faster than humans. The same applies but they don’t need fresh blood. They just have to keep in good health by eating regularly and allowing the shift to happen from time to time. It would be as if a human refused to use their legs to stand and just sat around nonstop instead. Over time, it would make their bodies weaken.”

  She let that sink in. “What about what you are? How long do you live?”

  “We’re not sure.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “We’ve only been in existence for about two hundred years. We age slower than Lycans. “

  “How do you know that?”

  “Just meet a Lycan and a VampLycan born the same year. The Lycan will look a few years older than one of ours. It’s the best measure we’ve found so far. It’s estimated that we might live eight hundred years or so but that’s a guess. It would also depend on what traits are more dominant of the two. A mostly Vampire-blooded VampLycan will probably live longer than a mostly Lycan-blooded one.”

  “My grandfather had gray hair when he visited us.”

  “He probably dyed it and put on makeup to look aged before going into your world. He was playing a role for you and your sister. Some of us do that if we have dealings with the same humans long enough. We try to blend in and not raise suspicion.”

  “What kind of dealings?”

  He hesitated.

  “Is it a secret or something?”

  “No, I was thinking of a good example to use. There was a family who used to own some land by one of our borders. My father met them thirty years ago. They ended up moving away but kept ownership of the land. Two years ago they wanted to sell it, so they contacted my father and wanted him to meet them. He always makes it clear to surrounding human families that he’s interested if they’re ever willing to sell. He hasn’t aged in that time and they would have noticed. He had to pretend to be his own son.” Drantos chuckled lightly. “He didn’t want to wear makeup or dye his hair to appear older.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Yes. They sold the land to him and weren’t suspicious.”

  She let that sink in. “I’d ask you how old you are but I’m afraid to know the answer. I don’t want to be grossed out if you’re super old, considering where your mouth happened to be earlier. Just tell me you we