Chapter 7 - Khalid

What the HELL just happened?! We were having a rather serious conversation. I was trying to express the level of insanity to Daniela’s plan to take on the Ductus of the Sonora clan, and okay, so I might have crossed a line. I was crass by bringing up what those assholes intended to do to her.

So I’ll accept I earned that bitch slap. I tend to open my mouth and insert my foot. Being her nephew is the only reason Auntie Sarael didn’t do the same when I was in Oregon. And the only reason her Beta mate John didn’t hospitalize me. 

I should have seen the hit coming. I wouldn’t have hit my head on the coffee table if I had. And if I hadn’t hit my head, I wouldn’t have found myself on the floor bleeding with two vampires looking at me like I’m dinner. 

Maybe under other circumstances, I wouldn’t mind Daniela looking at me like she wants to eat me. But that’s a different kind of hunger. The whites of her eyes were going red with a thirst for blood. My blood specifically. Even Diana’s eyes had red, and while I appreciated her bringing me to a safe house, I’m not a blood bag.

And for a moment, after she chewed me out, I thought she would walk away. It was done, and I could tend my wound before either of these women decided I should pay room and board in blood. Once again, I miscalculated. And worse, I froze.

I froze like a deer in headlights, my heart racing as Daniela leaned down and licked… LICKED the blood from my temple. My breath caught in my throat as my entire body went as still as an opossum. She didn’t bite me, only licked my blood. 

Then it was over, and she walked out with a warning to me and instructed her friend as if I were some damn stray animal brought into her home. I wanted to shout back a witty remark, but I was still shocked by what happened.

“Khalid? Hello? Hola? Anybody home?” Diana giggled as she knocked on my skull.

I glared at her, swatting her hand away as I managed to get up. “Will you not do that? Is she always so…” I paused, looking for the right word as I watched the direction she’d just disappeared in.

“Sexy?” Diana offered.

I frowned at her.

“Hot?” She snickered.

Now I’m scowling at her.

“Erotic?” She offered.

“Please stop.” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing about what just transpired was any of those things.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. The pole trying to make a tent in your pants says otherwise.” Diana snickered, pointing at my crotch.

God, give me strength. I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. I don’t want to assume how old these women are; both look young. And I haven’t spent any time socializing with vampires, but Diana is very childish in her behavior at times. 

“Can you get your head out of the gutter? What I was asking is if she is always so volatile?” I sighed, rubbing my temples.

“Oh, well, not really. You get under Dani’s skin. She’s usually ice cold. This is going to be so entertaining. Now I want you two to behave.” Diana smiled, climbing off the coffee table and heading for the door.

“Whoa… wait a minute. Are you leaving? Do you honestly think that’s a good idea?” I questioned, trying to cut her off from the exit.

“I don’t live here, and there are only two rooms. And while I like Daniela, I’m not sharing a bed with her. Which reminds me, she sleeps naked. I learned that the hard way fifty years ago. So don’t go into her room.” Diana smiled, patting my cheek.

“You’ll be fine. If you’re scared of Dani, put your necklace back on.”With that final word of warning, Diana ducked my arm and was gone into the night.

Great, now I’ve been left alone with a vampire who wants to eat me or fuck me. For obvious reasons, I’d prefer the latter. And Diana didn’t help by telling me Daniela sleeps naked. 

Though rationally, it makes no sense. Wouldn’t a vampire want to sleep in long clothes during the day as even a minor way to protect themselves from the sun? It’s probably a trait she had before being turned. Some habits and behaviors remain and even become amplified when a human is embraced as a vampire. 

I wonder how long ago that was and who turned her. If I had to guess, it was the Sonora Clan’s Ductus. It was just based on the amount of deep hatred she has for him. But that is just a guess. She could hate him simply for killing the person she cared most for. Maybe it was a lover or someone from her family before she was embraced. 

Something tells me I’m never going to find out. Daniela may have been forthcoming on many things in our little sharing circle, but I felt she was holding back. There’s a lot more to her story than she told. And I don’t know if that omitted information will make all the difference in protecting her during the day and trusting her to protect me at night. 

I took the bag of groceries Diana had brought to the kitchen, putting items away quickly to keep myself busy. I glanced at the hall where Daniela’s room was curious about her. I’m a fool as I found myself wandering in the direction of her bedroom. My hand hovered on the handle. Do I dare tempt fate? I really shouldn’t. She did say she was going to take a shower. However, I don’t hear it running. 

Thinking better of just opening the door and possibly seeing her naked and having my eyes ripped out, I knocked. “Daniela? I wanted to let you know Diana has gone home. I will take a short nap to be awake during the day. I’ll be on the sofa if you need me.” I explained, speaking a little louder, not considering she could easily hear me.

“Fine. Just don’t bother me.” Daniela responded. While her voice was even, there was still an edge to it. I guess the shower didn’t cool her temper. 

Nothing more to say to that, so I walked away, stretching out on the sofa. It was comfortable enough but not enough that I’d want to spend eight hours sleeping on it. I set the alarm on my watch for two hours. It should be enough time for me to feel rested and awake at sunrise. 

I was back in Oregon, on the tarmac wrestling with my mother, trying to get the knife away from her. “Khalid! How could you!? How could you betray me! How could you choose that half-breed!? How could you KILL me!?” She shouted at me, shaking me with the knife plunged into her throat with her blood pouring down onto me.

“Wake up! Wake up, asshole!” My mother shouted, but it wasn’t her voice. Her lips moved as blood flowed like a fountain, but her voice was different.

I groaned as the shaking of my shoulders pulled me from the nightmare I was having. Gasping for air, I pushed Daniela back, sitting up, moving to put my head between my knees as I tried to control my breath, to calm myself. This is just what I needed, Daniela seeing me at my weakest. 

“Are you okay? Wait, I don’t care. Your alarm kept going off, and it was pissing me off.” Daniela scoffed.

“Thanks so much for your sincere concern.” I huffed, raising my head to see she was wearing a skimpy red silk robe. And given what I know about her sleeping habits, she is completely naked under that robe.

“Ouch.” I grumbled as she smacked the back of my head. “Stop staring at my thighs, you creep. Now I’m going back to bed. The sun is going to rise. See if you can prove to be useful.” She scoffed while walking away. 

I don’t know if it was intentional or just how she walks, but she gave me one hell of a view. That robe was not covering much as I caught a glimpse of her ass cheek as she turned the corner to the hall her room was in.

Rubbing my hand over my face, I pushed off the sofa, went to the kitchen, fixed myself a pot of coffee, and threw a microwavable breakfast sandwich in the microwave hood over the stove. I should count myself lucky Daniela even has a coffee maker. 

There wasn’t anything significant to report during the day—just people passing by the house but no activity out of the ordinary. Or so I thought until I noticed the same group of men pass by more than once during the day, constantly glancing casually at the house. They weren’t always together, but I saw their faces multiple times. 

It was apparent they were scoping the house out. Our safehouse isn’t all that safe. Given these men are out during the day, they must be humans working for the vampires. Either unknowingly or knowingly. You can’t imagine how many people want to become a vampire. 

I blame that dumbass book and movie trilogy Twilight. And to an extent, I’ll pass the blame to Vampire Diaries. It’s better but still perpetuates this fantasy of being a vampire. People should watch more Supernatural. Now that is a show getting things right. Though it’s also the show that got a lot of dumb American hunters into hunting with no real skill or clue, thinking they can be the nest Sam or Dean Winchester.

I kept waiting for them to make a move. If these guys are here because of Daniela, why not act now when she’s at her weakest? Or do they realize I am here? But for them to know I’m here would mean one of those fucks from last night survived. I’ll have to rectify that.

As the sun set, I grew more concerned about what they had planned. I checked my supplies to ensure I was ready to fight off vampires and humans. I had just started considering traps and binding magic when Daniela walked out, pulling her dark hair into a high ponytail and dressed in skin-tight black jeans and a black spaghetti strap tank. The one thing distracting from the very sexy look was her choice of black combat boots. At least they were practical?

“Get ready. They will be coming.” She started pulling a bag of weapons from the closet. 

“I already was. I have plenty of ammo and weapons. I was going to prepare some spellwork traps that can stop vampires.” I explained.

“Problem with your plan. I’m a vampire. What happens if I get forced into one of your traps? Think numbnuts.” She rolled her eyes and started to pick items up from my case. “And what is all this?” She frowned as I quickly snatched the canister from her.

“Look with your eyes, not your hands, woman.” I huffed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I touch your Hunter crap?” Daniela scoffed, continuing to rifle through my gear. As she reached for the canister of vervain, I smacked her hand. “Did you seriously just slap my hand?!” Daniela hissed, glaring at me.

“Yes. I said to look with your eyes, not your hands. That is a canister of concentrated vervain. Take the temporary sting of a smack to your hand instead of the unbearable searing pain on the vervain touching your skin.” I rolled my eyes.

“Ugh, Hunters.” Daniela grumbled, rolling her eyes to peer out the window. “It’s too quiet. Quiet isn’t the Ductus’s style.” She glared into the darkness.

If she’s right about this clan, it is far too quiet for them. Most vampire nests or even entire clans I’ve encountered prefer stealth. It seems this clan likes to be bold and go for the kill. So why change their methods now? Locking my gear and using the crossbody strap to keep it on my back, I moved to check the back.

“Oh, SHIT! GET DOWN!!” I shouted as I realized why they were quiet. I spotted one with a canister of gasoline pouring it from the foundation backing away from the house. Another was scaling the roof. This is not going to be good.

“What’s going on?” Daniela questioned, starting to come to me, but it was too late. The one in the yard lit the fuse, and the flames quickly made their way to the house. At the same time, a grenade was dropped down the chimney exploding in the living room, sending Daniela flying.

“THAT MOTHER FUCKER!” Daniela cursed, coughing as she shoved debris off herself. They want us to be trapped in her hitting the back of the house with fire and dropping that grenade in the front. I was covering my mouth with my sleeve getting low to avoid the smoke looking for a way out of here. 

“Daniela… we need to get out of here.” I coughed, trying to move in her general direction as the fire spread, and the smoke was only getting thicker as the gasoline burned. 

We need to get out. I inhale much more smoke, and I’m going to pass out. “Hey, can you hear me, Hunter? Are you still alive?” Daniela called out, and I saw her through the flames for a moment.

“O…over here.” I called out, coughing on the smoke. “Watch out!” I shouted, the smoke burning my lungs as the ceiling beam came crashing down, separating us. It was getting harder to breathe. And I swore before I lost consciousness that I saw Daniela looking at the hole in the ceiling the beam made, an escape path. Would she leave me here?