“You’ll do great,” Arman said to Fiona, wanting to encourage her every step of the way.

  Llewellyn said to Fiona, “As hunters, we can show you how we fight, but we think it’s just as beneficial or even more so to train to fight against vampires, since that’s who will most likely target you as a hunter. If you have to protect yourself against a hunter, you’ll still learn enough by fighting the vampires. Though we’ll be happy to put you through your paces.”

  “We understand you have never been around hunters your entire life,” Cadfael said.

  “Correct. I didn’t even know hunters or vampires existed,” Fiona said.

  Justin was standing there listening to the whole conversation when Arman realized the mistake that was made. They’d been so careful not to discuss being vampires, or hunters, around him, but it was practically impossible. Earlier at the pool, Justin had been so far away and swimming laps so vigorously, he hadn’t heard their conversations about hunters. Arman had known this would happen!

  “Vampires?” Justin said. “Hunters? You mean like Van Helsing?”

  “No. Van Helsing was human,” Cadfael said. “And he’s only fictional. Some humans hunt vampires, sure. But mostly hunters hunt rogue vampires. Some hunters also take down rogue hunters.” He explained how hunters and vampires came to be during the time of the Black Death.

  It was too late to keep Justin in the dark any further.

  “No way.” Justin sounded like he thought they were just playing a game.

  “I was born to vampire parents,” Jasmine said. “The princes were turned.”

  “During the Black Death?” Justin smiled, like he knew they were joking.

  “Yeah,” Arman said. “We’ve been around for a while.” He suspected if Justin believed them and they weren’t just playing a joke on him or role playing or something, that he wouldn’t like that his sister was interested in Arman, just because of the age difference. Though Arman’s being a vampire too, that could be a real point of contention.

  “How come I’ve never seen any of your fangs?” Justin asked.

  “You don’t want to see them,” Fiona said.

  Arman didn’t know how she was feeling about her brother knowing. She’d come around pretty quickly to learning what they were, but she was a hunter with a special power. Her brother was only human with all the frailties of his kind.

  Fiona released her breath. “Alright, everyone who has them, show my brother your fangs. He needs to know what we’re potentially up against during the blood moon.”

  All the vampires showed their extended canines, but Caitlin, though Arman knew it was because she just couldn’t show them off whenever she wanted to unless she was angry. The display by all the vampires there was really impressive, Arman thought.

  Justin’s jaw dropped, but then he smiled. And like Fiona, Justin said, “You guys are really into this, aren’t you? Weird, but cool. Dental implants? They look real.”

  The vampires, except for Caitlin, all hid their fangs.

  Justin appeared to be a little puzzled at that. Implants couldn’t disappear.

  Then Arman nodded to the rest of his friends, and the vampires all just…vanished.

  “Now do you believe them?” Fiona asked. “Not that it didn’t take some convincing for me also.”

  “It’s…it’s some kind of trick,” Justin said.

  Arman didn’t blame Justin for not believing in it. Arman and his friends reappeared, but farther away. Then they flew back to where Justin and the hunters were standing. Even Caitlin had gone with the vampires that time. She had more trouble with her canines, but with vanishing and flying, she was getting to be a pro.

  Arman glanced over at Justin. He was sitting down on the ground, looking as though he’d fallen where he’d been standing, his mouth agape.

  “Are you okay?” Fiona asked, rushing over to help him up, but he was too wobbly, and he couldn’t stand. She sat down beside him.

  “If you’re a hunter and I’m a human, that means we’re not related?” Justin asked, tears in his eyes. He appeared really shaken by all this.

  “We’re brother and sister, but maybe not by blood,” Fiona said.

  Arman knew she had to tell him all of it at this point. When and if they had a fight with vampires while they were protecting her, they had to make sure that Justin knew what was going on and stayed safe if they were to keep him here.

  “Your parents aren’t the same as mine?” Justin asked.

  “No. I was given to your parents to raise, and I never knew my own.”

  “What about Uncle Nat and Aunt Bea?”

  “I believe they might have been my parents, and they were paying for a lot of our things over the years, treating us like we were sister and brother and their niece and nephew.”

  “Where are they now? If you knew about all this, did you know about that too?” Justin sounded upset with her.

  “I didn’t know about any of this. Not until Arman and his friends came into my life to rescue me. My parents are coming here.” Then Fiona explained about the dream business.

  “Do you believe any of this?” Justin asked.

  “I do. I have to. Not only are the others here to protect me, they’re here to protect you too.”

  “Is that why Michail and Shelly came to get me? I thought I had won a trip here. And to see you? None of that’s true? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, except about seeing me. They wanted you to be protected too.”

  Justin glanced at all the vampires and hunters there.

  “We’re here for you,” Cadfael said. “For you and your sister.”

  Arman was glad he had called Fiona Justin’s sister. Justin had already lost his own parents and even his sister in the deal, not to mention the world he knew had just been turned inside out.

  “Some of the vampires are willing to turn you so that you have more abilities and the longevity they have,” Fiona said, glad they had told her brother the truth, but she thought he was still having a hard time believing in all of it.

  “And the blood drinking need?” Justin asked.

  Fiona hugged him. “Yeah, that’s the biggest drawback.”

  “What about you? Wouldn’t it help for you to also be a vampire?” Justin asked.

  “They’ve suggested that also.”

  “I’ll do it if you do it,” Justin said.

  Fiona smiled. “I’m just getting used to being a hunter and having some kind of idea about the dreams.”

  “What can you do with them?” Justin asked.

  “I don’t know yet.” She still was not comfortable with Shelly and Michail listening in. She felt the others were truly behind her all the way. She just wasn’t sure about the two new vampires. She didn’t think that Arman or his friends were intent on anything but protecting her. She thought when her parents arrived, they could vouch for Shelly and Michail and she would feel better about it.

  “Let’s uhm, practice fighting then,” Justin said, “if we’re going to have a fight for our lives during the blood moon. Here I thought we were just going to celebrate your birthday.”

  “Oh, speaking of that, Arman, Caitlin, and I are making plans. If you want to come with us tomorrow before we are doing our sword practice,” Jasmine said to Justin, “you can let us know what Fiona likes.”

  Fiona knew they could have a real fight on their hands with other vampires on her birthday. She never thought of anyone throwing a birthday party for her!

  “Yeah, sure, I would love to do that,” Justin said, finally standing and helping Fiona up. Then he hugged her. “You’re right. We’re still brother and sister, though we might have another difference between us soon.”

  “Oh?” Being human and hunter was enough of a difference, Fiona thought.

  “Vampire and hunter. I can’t be turned into a hunter, can I?” Justin asked.

  Fiona hadn’t thought of that.

  “No. Only vampires can turn humans…or hunters. But hunters have to be born that way,” Levka said.

  Then they all paired up to fight each other—Cadfael, Llewellyn, and Gareth taking turns with Arman to give Fiona a workout, showing her the difference between hunters and vampires, and even between each of the hunters who had their own style of fighting.

  “Wow,” Fiona said. “I would never have realized how different you all fight. It really gives me the disadvantage. I think Cadfael will be the same as Llewellyn, and then I fight him, and he throws me off completely. The same with Gareth. And of course the vampires are the same way with their unique maneuvers.”

  “For being so new at this, you adapt really well,” Arman said. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had to train anyone in sword fighting who can learn and anticipate new moves so quickly.”

  “I agree,” Gareth said. “You would make a great vampire assassin.”

  “There’s good money in it too,” Jasmine said. “Next time we practice, you and I will have a go at it.”

  Fiona knew Jasmine would be just as hard on her as the guys had been. They couldn’t go easy on her, not with the dangers she faced.

  “Is everyone ready for dinner?” Levka finally asked.

  Everyone unanimously wanted to have dinner.

  They’d worked out for a couple of hours and were ready for the break, and everyone retired to the house.

  “We’re making dinner,” Levka said. “Guys on the grills. We’ll do it all.”

  “Wow, really?” Fiona asked.

  “Yeah. We’ll need to do our own laundry, keep our own rooms cleaned, look after ourselves,” Levka said.

  Arman asked, “You let the human staff go?”

  “Aye. They’re too easily influenced. They’ve been given two weeks’ vacation in the Cayman Islands. They’ll have a good time, and they won’t be hurt or eliminated if the wrong vampires show up here and they were to let them in,” Levka said.

  “Good idea,” Arman said.

  “We’re used to taking care of ourselves,” Ruric said, “though in the future, robots could do all of it. And they couldn’t be controlled by rogue vampires.”

  “But they could be controlled by a rogue vampire hacker,” Stasio said.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Have you had any further word from my parents?” Fiona asked Michail and his sister.

  Why wouldn’t her parents contact her, not the other vampires?

  “Not yet,” Shelly said. “They’ve been trying to stay off the grid in case Tobias wants to still take your dad as a hostage and control him. I’m sure they’ll be here in no time at all, especially before the day of the blood moon.”

  Then the guys all went out back where several grills were situated on a large stone patio and they began to grill hamburgers and corn on the cob.

  Jasmine said to Fiona, “I thought Justin took the business of us being vampires well, didn’t you?”

  “After he got over the initial shock, yes. It sounds like he wants to be turned, but he might have just been joking about it,” Fiona said. “I don’t want him turned just because someone thought he truly meant it when he didn’t.”

  “Right,” Caitlin said. “For me, it was a life or death matter, so an easy choice to make. But it was also forbidden by the League of Vampires, so Levka was in trouble for that.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that,” Fiona said.

  “Not here in Scotland because we overthrew the old rulers,” Jasmine said. “We have a new League of Vampire’s Bill of Rights, and turning someone in the case where it’s mutually agreeable is perfectly acceptable.”

  “Oh,” Fiona said. Here she’d thought that Arman’s offer of turning her was legal and he wouldn’t be in any conflict for it. But from the sounds of it, only Scotland allowed for it. So if they stayed in Scotland, they were fine, but if they left the country, that would be another story. She didn’t want Arman or any of the others to get into any issues over her. Then again, wasn’t that another reason they had been in trouble? For helping hunters or humans out when they should be left to fend for themselves?

  17

  After dinner, Justin was shown to his room next to Ruric’s and everyone retired to bed.

  Arman was staying with Fiona, and she was glad Justin hadn’t made an issue of it, though she suspected he was glad Arman was there to protect her.

  She had finally drifted off to sleep with Arman and thought she might be with him in her dreams.

  But then she found herself in a darkened area with dim streetlights and warehouse buildings when she saw Levka and the other princes telling some thugs to release a couple of teen girls they were hassling. Before she could fathom what was going on, one of the brutish guys aimed to shoot at the girl and Levka vanished and appeared between the gunman and the girl, taking three bullets to protect her.

  Ohmigod, this was too awful. Levka was in bad shape, but his friends quickly took care of the thugs and ferreted the girls to safety. Levka began dreaming of the nightmare again, as if he was in a continuous loop and he couldn’t stop reliving the terror. Fiona jumped in, making herself appear like a dragon, breathing fire and sending the thugs screaming off into night.

  Levka just stared at her. The girls fainted. She didn’t see any of his friends as if it was just Levka and her. Then he dreamed he was on a cruise ship meeting Caitlin, and worried about her because some teen guy was threatening her. But Levka had been wounded—and Fiona realized it was from being shot. Dang it. She had to change the scenario and she tossed the bully off the ship and smiled.

  Then Arman and the others soon joined them and before Fiona was ready for it, Levka was kissing Caitlin and Fiona smiled. She figured his nightmares, hopefully, were over for the night.

  She woke herself up and wrote the dream down so she could ask Arman about it tomorrow.

  But then she closed her eyes and tried to search for anyone else’s dreams she might find. Like Shelly and Michail’s. Dreams could be so crazy and mixed up. She wasn’t sure if they were really the truth or just something nonsensical. Yet she sensed the dreams her friends had were things that had actually happened to them and were reoccurring nightmares. What if she could learn something important about Shelly or her brother? Now that would be truly cool.

  The next thing Fiona knew was she was chasing after Arman and laughing hysterically. She couldn’t catch him until he suddenly stopped and turned, and she collided with him. He swept her up in his arms and kissed her. Now this was more like it!

  The next morning, Fiona woke and heard Arman in the bathroom showering. She dressed and called out, “I’ll see you downstairs.”

  The shower shut off and Arman came out of the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist, his skin glistening with water, his smile on the devilish side.

  She chuckled. “Good morning. I’ll save us a seat at the dining room table.”

  “Morning.” He smiled and pulled her into a hug and kissed her. And got her all wet!

  “You’re not worried that I’ll be out of your sight for a few minutes, are you?”

  “No. From the nightmare or the premonition that I had where you had disappeared, it was at night. So as long as you don’t slip away from me at night, I think we’re good. And as long as you’re with one of the others and not on your own.”

  She kissed him back. “You only hugged me so I could help dry you off.”

  He laughed. “You know me too well already. I’ll dress and be down in a minute.”

  “Was Levka shot helping a couple of teen girls?”

  Arman stared at Fiona for a moment. “Did you dream of it?”

  “Yeah, he was having a nightmare about it.”

  “Oh, yeah, and then we had to flee on a cruise ship.”

  “Right, and then he had to save Caitlin.”

  “Were you able to help Levka with his nightmare?”

  “Of course. I turned into a fire-breathing dragon.”

  Arman laughed. “Now that I would like to see. I’ll be downstairs in a jif.”

  Which she took to mean he would just appear there, no walking the distance. She thought that was really cool when they had to move quickly. He would have beat her there, if it hadn’t been that he had to dress first. No speed in dressing.

  Even so, by the time she reached the dining room, seconds later, there was Arman, her favorite vampire in the world. He clasped her hand and smiled down at her. His hair was still wet. She wanted to laugh at him for hurrying to join her so quickly.

  Of course everyone noticed. She wondered if her parents would even accept that she was dating him. Would they approve? Then again, they hadn’t raised her, they didn’t know her, it was her life to live. And Arman had come to her rescue.

  They took their seats at the table and waffles, porridge, haddock, and sausages were on the menu. Everyone was kind of quiet and Fiona suspected it was because tomorrow was her birthday, and the blood moon would appear in all its blood red glory.

  Fiona hoped her parents would arrive on time to help them in their time of need. She desperately wanted to see them and hoped that she could get to know them. But what if they weren't anything like she hoped for? What if they didn't feel the same need to be with her that she felt with them? Would they even treat her brother like one of their own, though he wasn't? She wasn't giving up on her brother and if they didn't accept him too, she didn't know how she would deal with that.

  She wondered how they would feel about Justin if he was turned into one of their kind now. Maybe they would feel a deeper connection to him, actually. Maybe she would be the one who wasn't like them. Or maybe they would even be saddened to think of what they had lost by no longer being hunters themselves.

  Everyone began to eat. They were all pretty quiet. Then Justin spoke up. “Okay, so are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or not?”

  “You better not be talking about me,” Fiona said.

  “I am. About your birthday, which should be the best time ever, but because of the blood moon…” Justin shook his head.

  Fiona figured she wasn’t going to sleep tonight, worried about tomorrow. But she also knew she needed to be well-rested if she was going to have to fight.