Redson Read online

  “No. Should I be?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to hurt me?”

  “No.”

  “Then what’s to fear?”

  That baffled look on his face was worth the headache she hoped would fade quickly once her body adjusted to being upright again.

  “Me.”

  “You just said you wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “You’re human.” He sniffed. “Very much so. I’m not, and you know it.”

  “I was raised by a Vampire.” She frowned. “I’m kind of over the other thing. VampLycans have a reputation of being honorable. My grandfather trusted your kind without question. I trust him. Therefore, it’s not that much of a stretch to trust you. So no, I’m not afraid of you. You’d have let that woman make the call for someone to put me six feet under if you planned to take me out.”

  He grimaced. “We don’t really kill humans. She was messing with you. Your grandfather raised you? I’m sorry.”

  “He’s a great guy. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

  He gripped her chin with a big calloused hand, turning her head from side to side. “I don’t see the scars. I take it he was careful not to leave any.”

  “He rarely bit me.” She frowned. “Rarely as in, I can only remember three times. I wasn’t his food source. I’m his granddaughter.”

  “Three times too many.”

  Anger surged and she jerked away from his hold. She lifted her hand and held up a finger. “The first time was when we were on the run in the mountains and it was so cold all the animals were gone from the area. He needed enough blood to make sure we both survived. He carried me for a ton of miles, three nights in a row, by the way.” She added another finger. “The second time was when we lived in a city and some Vamps grew suspicious of us. He bit me so they could see the marks, to fool them into thinking I was a blood slave when they came for a visit. They don’t like humans and Vamps living together otherwise, and he sure couldn’t tell them we were related.” She lifted a third finger. “Then there was four days ago, when we were surrounded, and he did it again to fool them into thinking I was his slave. I’m not his food source. He loves me.”

  He arched one eyebrow. “Fine. He’s a saintly bloodsucker. That’s pretty rare. Why are they after you? Why do you need to be protected?”

  “My grandpa broke away from his own nest to save me. They’ve been searching for us ever since.”

  “What’s the whole story?” He crossed his arms. “I deserve to know what I’ve gotten into.”

  She hesitated. “My mother was like you…a VampLycan. My grandfather put her and a few others like her in safe locations after they left Alaska. Not everyone remained here when the Werewolves decided the first-generation VampLycans didn’t need them sticking around.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “What part?” She cocked her head, staring at him. “That Werewolves left after the first of your kind hit their teens and started taking over? Or that the packs felt unwelcome here?”

  “All VampLycans stayed.”

  “You’re wrong. My mother didn’t. And there were a few more like her who wanted to stick with their mothers in a pack, but that didn’t work out well. I guess within a year or so, they parted ways. It was a dominance thing, making the packs confused on who to follow. My grandfather found them what he thought would be a safe place in a tiny community outside of a much larger city. He looked out for them…until Vampires attacked one night.”

  The big guy in front of her scowled. “Why would he care?”

  “My mother was his daughter, and the others were VampLycans he’d known since their births. He wanted to protect them. He chose to save me rather than just allow me to die when the Vampires came after my mother and the other VampLycans. His nest went against his orders to leave us in peace, and they brought in another nest to overwhelm them with sheer numbers.”

  “What about your mother?”

  “She knew she couldn’t fight them all off with me in her arms. The risk was too great that I’d die. I was only four. She created a diversion instead that allowed my grandfather enough time to get me to safety. He was older than all the other Vampires and could outrun them with me in his arms. Plus, he wasn’t their target.”

  His features softened. “I’m sorry. I take it she didn’t make it?”

  “No.” The pain always existed for Emma when remembering her mother. “She and the other three VampLycans never showed up at the mountain retreat my grandfather owned. That was where they’d always planned to go if anything happened. We waited for two years, until his nest got too close searching for us, before we moved on. She’d have come if she’d survived. We had hope at first that she had escaped without me burdening her.”

  He sniffed again. “You smell completely human.”

  “My father was one, but I have a few special traits.”

  Skepticism widened his eyes. “What kind? You’re small and look very weak.”

  “Wow. That wasn’t insulting at all.” She scowled.

  He frowned back. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Emma wanted to snort but refrained, considering she needed his help. “I don’t transform or anything. I can see better than normal people do at night. My hearing is keener than average and I’m stronger than a typical human. I also heal way faster than a human does. It was hell hiding those things in school.”

  “You went to school?”

  “I needed an education. Grandpa sent me to school.”

  He gawked a little. “With humans?”

  “Who else? Ever heard of a special school that accepts someone like me? I was really young when I lost my mother.”

  His gaze lowered down her body. “What other traits did you inherit?” He suddenly bit his finger and grabbed her jaw with his other hand. He waved the bleeding digit beneath her nose. “Smell the blood? Open your damn mouth.”

  Shock over his actions made it fall open, more than his command. He bent, peered inside. “No fangs protruding.” He glanced up at the sky before studying her bare arms. He released her. “You’re not burning from the sun.”

  “I don’t have any Vampire traits, besides the quick healing. I could have gotten that from the Werewolf side though.”

  “Stop calling us that. We’re part Lycan.”

  Emma made a mental note. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. Grandpa said you guys like the older term for what you are. I’ll try to remember. Anyway, I heal faster. I broke my arm in two places when I was seven. The doctor said I’d be in a cast for months. Grandpa took me in for a checkup two weeks later and the doctor nearly had a fit when he discovered the breaks had completely healed. Grandpa had to order him to remove the cast, and then wipe his memory of ever meeting me.”

  “Do you grow fur at all?”

  “No. I said I don’t transform.”

  He caught her hand next, examining the tips of her fingers. She allowed it. She’d be staying with him and figured he had a right to know what he was getting into. It would be a good assumption he’d have to worry about his neck if she had Vampire traits. Most of them were horrible creatures who tended to bite into anything alive. Her grandfather was an exception. He was a powerful master, created by someone thousands of years old, and in control of his urges.

  “I don’t have claws.”

  He released her hand. “Do you have any more traits?”

  She hesitated. “I’m forty years old.”

  Shock paled his features. “You appear half that.”

  “I’m aging slower. It’s a bitch getting carded at bars, especially since fake IDs are getting more difficult to obtain with modern technology.”

  He made a soft growl sound. “I’m aware.”

  “You have that problem too? How old are you?” She didn’t notice any wrinkles on his face. He appeared about thirty at most but looks were deceiving with other beings. He could be pushing a hundred or two. Her grandfather was over four centuries old but he got carded b