Her Brother, Her Mate

It’s been 2 days since the rogue vampire attack. 2 days of sweeping the city, looking for any clue as to who the 3rd vampire might be. Simone and Casey listed every vampire they knew, even the ones that weren’t formally invited, but every single one of them was accounted for at the coven the night of the attack. Lady Delilah, the vampire who rules over all the other vampires in the city, offered the young vampires the use of her personal sires, ancient humans who she formed b***d bonds with, and all you can drink from her b***d bank, so almost every young vampire in Miami was there.

The rogue woman we caught was allowed to recover enough so they could start interrogating her properly today. Her throat needed time to heal, and her pain was already beyond what she could handle, so torturing her would have done no good.

She is chained up with silver in the basement cells of our Guard Center, and finally able to talk. All she has done since her throat recovered enough to speak is hiss and scream, crying out for her mate who we apparently killed. Rogue vampires, because they feed on their own kind, who are essentially undead, don’t heal properly, so she still looks mangled and scared from what I did to her.

Once they turn rogue, feeding on the dead b***d of their own kind, the last living essence inside of them dies, making them infertile and cursed to the night. Regular vampires can consume regular food and drinks, and they can survive by only feeding on human b***d once a month. Rogues need a constant supply of living b***d to maintain their life, which is what makes them turn volatile and deadly. They turn animalistic, relying on their natural instincts to survive.

Beta Anthony and Alpha Jared are the ones in charge of interrogating her, which only irks me a little bit. I was told I had no business in the guard center. Prick. I still tagged along with my dad this morning to check out how she looked. It’s eerie how haunted and desolate she looks.

I’ve been helping my dad and Elena investigate outside of our pack in the supernatural community. Out of all the ranked wolves, the Childes are the friendliest and closest to other supernatural races. Alpha Jared is a snob, and won’t talk to other races unless it’s with top-ranked officials, and Beta Anthony’s father, the previous Beta, was well known for despising vampires.

Luna Grace, Parker’s grandmother, was working on bettering relations between us and other races, but my mom chose not to continue her work. Elena is great friends with Lady Delilah and on friendly terms with Queen Aisling, the fairy reigning over the Western world’s fae. Elena’s awesome, so of course they like her.

We haven’t uncovered anything useful. I spoke with Melody and her friends, but they didn’t see the first vampire until he was right up on them. They didn’t see the second one at all, let alone a 3rd vampire.

I’m sitting in the backseat of my dad’s sedan, texting Parker to tell him we didn’t find anything. We haven’t had much opportunity to talk face-to-face, but I’m not complaining because texting him is a thrill in itself. I’ve never been a big texter. I send messages to the point when needed and that’s it. There’s a thrill that comes over me, though, every time I hear my phone go off and I see it’s him. Butterflies flutter inside me and I’m giggling and smiling way more than I ever have in my life.

Good morning texts are my favorite. The past two mornings, Parker has sent me cheesy gifs and memes until I respond, and then tells me ‘good morning beautiful’. It’s so cheesy and slightly cringy, but I love it.

“What are you smiling about back there?” Elena asked me, smirking as she watched me type out a text.

“Nothing,” I smiled up at her and I could tell by her look she knew I was texting Parker, “Are we heading back now?”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“Might as well,” my dad tells me. “We’re not making any headway. Maybe Anthony has some good news for us. He was able to actually get her to talk today.”

“Do you think there are more rogue vamps out there?” I asked him.

“It’s hard to say. Most of the attacks from before were a single vampire attacking the victims. They all look alike, so the few witnesses we had all gave us the same description. These could be the only 2 rogues, or there could be an entire coven.”

***

When we get to the packhouse, Uncle Nathan and Courtney are out front with Casey. My uncle has been tagging along with the two of them everywhere they go. By the looks of it, they’re just getting back from fishing. Casey is carrying 2 foam coolers from his parent’s company. They put the fish in the coolers after they clean them for their clients. Uncle Nathan has his arm around a disgruntled Courtney, who is glaring up at him, and Casey is following obediently behind.

“Looks like we’re frying fish tonight,” Elena laughs.

“We can grill them instead. The lanai is usually empty on Mondays,” dad tells her.

“What do you want to do, Carli?” she asked me.

“Hmm. Swimming sounds fun after running around in the heat. I think Parker wanted to see me tonight though.”

“Invite him,” Elena smiled back at me.

“Or you could not,” my dad grumbles as he parks and we all get out of the car.

When we walk into the packhouse, Beta Anthony catches sight of us and runs over.

“I was just about to mind link you,” he says breathlessly, “We had a problem with the rogue.”

“What happened?” my dad asked him, putting his hand out in front of me and Elena as if to protect us from some invisible threat.

“She is demanding to only speak with Carli. She is saying she won’t talk to anyone but Gamma Childes’s daughter.”

“Me?” I ask in confusion. Was she out to get me because of her mate? Why would she ask for me specifically?

***

My dad and I leave Elena at the packhouse so she can help Uncle Nathan with the fish and we head over to the guard center.

“Why is she asking for me?” I asked Beta Anthony.

“I’m not sure. We tried to get her to speak about the other vampire with her, but the only thing out of her mouth was hissing for us to bring her the Gamma’s daughter. She didn’t break no matter what we tried.” He opens the heavy door leading to the basement and lets me pass through. “I got rid of most of the mess from the interrogation, but there is still b***d. Be careful where you step.”

I can smell the stench of rotten b***d and burned flesh as we rounded the corner from the stairs. 2 guards are stationed outside of the cell the vamp is being held in and Alpha Jared is sitting in a chair off to the side, cleaning the tarry b***d from under his nails.

“I brought them,” Beta Anthony calls over to Alpha Jared, making him look up, grimacing when his eyes land on me and my dad. I don’t let his sour look faze me, and I doubt my dad does either. They have been on particularly bad terms the last 2 days, but it seems Alpha Jared is the one holding onto negative feelings. My dad treats him with the same annoyed indifference as he always has.

“She just asked for her. No need to bring the gamma too,” Alpha Jared grumbles.

“I was not allowing my daughter down here without me,” my dad stated coldly.

Alpha Jared huffs but doesn’t argue further. The atmosphere is now awkward thanks to his pissy attitude, and Beta Anthony is shifting uncomfortably with the tension.

This is ridiculous. We need to get some kind of useful information out of this monster and Alpha Jared is more focused on the fact my real dad accompanied me down here.

“Am I going in there or are we just going to glare at each other out here?” I asked, looking between them.

“I’ll go in with you,” my dad says, breaking eye contact with Alpha Jared.

“As Alpha, I think it’s my place to go with her. You wait with Tony,” Alpha Jared orders my dad, who sneers but doesn’t argue with the petty man.

Inside the cell, the woman is strung up by her wrist, which looked mangled and burned from the silver cuffs. She had scorch marks all over her bare body and whip marks on her back oozing black, tarry b***d. Wooden stakes are still lodged in each of her feet, probably to prevent her from moving them too much, since they are not shackled like her hands. My uncle showed us how animalistic these creatures could be when provoked. Precautions like that should be taken.

I wait a few seconds to see if Alpha Jared was going to take the lead, but he just goes back to cleaning the b***d from his nails. I rolled my eyes, walked over to the table in the corner with all our instruments for torture, picked up the electric cattle rod, then strode over to our prisoner. She is currently in an agonized slumber; her face strained in a horrified expression as she sleeps.

I clicked on the cattle rod, then poked her side, forcing her to wake. She wakes with a tortured scream.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I smile at her sinister, loathful glare as she pants and wreaths in pain. “You asked for me?”