Chapter 5

I barely entered my home. Justin received a bad look from me. He should not even be awake, but I knew it was impossible to control his protective instincts. They had to be around three in the morning and he had signs of having a good time awake.

Surely he was worried about my health. I should not have escaped to work. I did not want to put more weight on his shoulders, but it was too late to correct it.

“Who was that?” he asked.

“I do not know,” I admitted. “He’s not important.”

“He accompanied you here. Friend or enemy?”

That was the key question to know if we had just met a potentially dangerous person. We invented it so that children could tell us if someone dangerous had entered the house because of our father.

“Friend…”

Well, that thought at least.

I felt better when I woke up. I even managed to get up long before the snaps. I did the breakfast, moving my hips to the rhythm of a music that only lived in my head.

“Someone is in a good mood,” I listened to my father’s hoarse voice.

Immediately I stopped, frozen in my place. My breathing failed a second, I even was about to drop the dish that was cleaned.

My father…

He was not a bad man, or at least that I thought. The drink absorbed it, and our mother’s illness ended with it. He was neither the shadow of what was before.

The kind and attentive father of my childhood disappeared in front of my eyes. It was painful having to be me who supported the little ones who did not understand what was happening. The mother we saw every day was ill and now we should limit ourselves to seeing her once a week.

The money began to become scarce. We even had a couple of days of famine. Then the chief appeared, offering me a job in her library. However, the expenses of the clinic in which our mother lived increased and Ihad to find another job.

“You did not have to stop,” he murmured down. “I will not be here long.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

No, I did not tell my father too much since he gave himself to the drink. It could be said that I was resentful of him, but I had my reasons.

“I don’t have beer,” he just said.

No, the money I got did not go to him. At least that gave him some extra points. When the beers were over, he went to a tavern to work for a whole day. His friend was the owner and although he did not agree with his attitude, he did not get involved with a fight with him.

“It’s fine…”

Children got up with the smell of food. At least the day promised to be better than the previous one and that already encouraged me a little. I wanted to compensate them for the bad time that had made them pass the day before, so I made their favorite breakfast.

“You’re better.” Julia smiled, proud.

“Yes, I have the best nurses in the world.” I gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“You must take care of yourself,” Jake said, leaving me perplexed. “I do not like to see you badly.”

“Me neither!” Julia exclaimed.

Adorable, definitely adorable. They were children, but they did not seem like one. If I took care of them, they took care of me. So we worked together and were happy that it was that way.

“I’ll take care of myself,” I promise.

Justin looked at me sternly, watching me. Yes, my younger brother was the most protective. I was in charge of our material needs, but Justin tried to take care of our emotional needs. Sometimes I made fun of him, joking about his maternal instinct.

But nobody could imagine how grateful I was to him. If I worked all day away from home, someone should take care of children. And he fulfilled that role better than anyone could.

“It’s Friday!” I exclaimed.

When I was with my siblings, I’m trying to look more animated than I actually was. With them, a part of my personality gushed. And I could at least forget for a while the whole vampire thing.

I wanted nothing to do with anything related to him, at least not today. I was in a good mood and wanted to keep it.

As if he had read my mind, I saw the door opening and was the pale face of that brash vampire.

“Hello,” Donovan greeted, suddenly appearing in front of the door just when we were about to leave.

In fact, my siblings had not seen him yet because Julia had lost her favorite pen and our brothers are helping her look for it.

Immediately I frowned, confused.

“What are you doing here?” I spat.

“I’ve come to join you today.” He smiled mockingly.

“No. I don’t want you to get involved with my siblings,” I whispered menacingly.

“I will not do it. I just wanted to let you know that I will be here to protect you.”

“I do not need your protection.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Juliet? Is everything good?” Justin asked me.

When I turned to him, Donovan had disappeared. At the least he fulfilled his word. I did not know how I would end up dealing with a stalker vampire. Did he plan to follow me all day? What the hell happened to him?

I tried not to think about it for the rest of the day. I left my siblings in their respective classes.

“Now where are we going?” I’m not surprised to hear Donovan’s husky voice behind me.

For some unknown reason, I knew exactly where he was. He stood at a considerable distance while I was with my siblings, respecting my decision. However, when I started walking toward the library, he appeared beside me.

“Will you be a pain in the ass for a long time?”

He pretended to think for a moment and later outlined a sly smile.

There was something about him …

Enigmatic, that was an excellent word for it. He looked like quite a bad boy, dark glasses, dark clothes, and jacket. His features were sharp. He looks dangerous.

Everything about him screamed danger.

“I’m just trying to protect you.”

“About what?”

“Of my kind.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You happen to have the most delicious blood throughout the world, so it is possible that some rebels will try to drink it.”

“Like you did?” I spat bitterly.

No, I was not going to let that fact, even if I could barely remember exactly what had happened that night.

“I’m the only one who is entitled,” he spoke earnestly, leaving a disinterested look.

I knew it. I knew it was only a façade, a wall to keep people away.

I could easily recognize it, since I also had one.

“Nobody has the right to attack me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked with a smile. “It is not an attack if you enjoyed it so much.”

“What?”

“Yes, dear Juliet. Vampire bites are aphrodisiacs, even better than having an orgasm,” he confessed with a sly smile. “You and I had an interesting happy moment a few nights ago.”

What the hell?