The Fangs of Bloodhaven (4 page)

“It’s okay,” Everett told her. “We’re the monsters everyone is afraid to see in the shadows.”

She gave him a sharp look. Everett ducked into the tunnel.

Chapter Three

Though walking through the darkness wasn’t Everett’s favorite thing, he knew the tunnels well enough to bring them to the Neighborhoods without making any wrong turns. When they climbed the stairs back to the city streets, the sun had set and a few stars even peered through the light-polluted sky.

He heard Adrielle’s sigh of relief and fought back a smile. He had never met a werewolf before, but had heard plenty of rumors about the subspecies. Realizing that she wasn’t an instinct-driven rabid mongrel like the werewolves on the news was an eye-opener for him.

He caught the look of wonder on Adrielle’s face when he led her through the cul-de-sacs that made up the Neighborhoods.

“You grew up here?” she asked, unable to hide the shock in her tone.

Everett nodded. Families in the Neighborhoods were notoriously rich. Those families who had survived the Ending War with their wealth still intact had retreated as far from the crammed apartments and buildings of Nectaris as they could get and still be within the safety of the protected zones. He definitely understood her amazement that he had grown up within the Neighborhoods.

The Neighborhoods had been lucky to escape the worst of the wars, and the spacious luxury of the houses was a vast counterbalance to the space-conserving minimalist direction the rebuilding crews within the city had adopted. Everett always found it much easier to breathe away from the packed streets and dirty alleys.

The sound of chaos grew the closer they got to the house at the end of one of the furthest cul-de-sacs. Everett took a steeling breath and glanced at Adrielle.

“Ready?”

She shook her head, her eyes wide.

The bright moonlight reflected in her golden gaze, revealing the fear she couldn’t quite hide.

“It’s okay,” he said. “If it’s too much, you can always leave. I won’t hold it against you.”

She nodded without replying.

Everett set a foot on the bottom step.

“Evy, Evy!” Izzy shrieked. The little four year old blew through the door, slamming it open behind her. Everett dropped to one knee and caught her. She clung to him, her fists knotted tightly in his striped shirt. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”

Everett smoothed the little girl’s frizzy brown hair. “Of course I came back,” he reassured her. “I couldn’t leave my girl.”

He glanced at Adrielle. She gave him an amused smile.

Everett nodded at her. “Izzy, this is Adrielle. Adrielle, Izzy.”

The little girl jumped down and gave Adrielle a small, surprisingly skilled, curtsy. “Pleased to meet you.”

Everett stared at her. “Where did you learn that?”

Izzy shrugged. “I’ve been watching lots of princess movies. It’s the proper way to say hello.” She grinned at Adrielle. “I like your hair.” With that, she turned and dashed back inside as quickly as she had appeared. They heard her yell, “Evy’s home, Mommy! Evy’s home!”

“Get ready,” Everett said under his breath.

“For what?” Adrielle asked, her expression apprehensive.

The door burst open again and four kids ran out. Everett let two of them tackle him around the waist. He fell backwards on the grass and the other two landed on top of him. He tickled the boys, twins with floppy, curly blond hair, and pretended to let the other two win. Pinned beneath the four of them, he gave Adrielle a self-suffering smile.

“Adrielle, meet Finch, Gabe, Hadley, and Donavan.”

Finch and Gabe, the twins, smiled at her, revealing the fact that both of them were missing their front teeth. Hadley, the little five-year-old redhead, ducked behind Donavan at the realization that there was a stranger in their yard. Donavan stood and held out a hand.

“Pleased to meet you,” he said. He winked at Everett. “It’s not every day Rett brings home a girl.”

Everett rolled his eyes. The other boy grinned.

Adrielle glanced at Everett and shook Donavan’s hand.

“Pleased to meet you, too,” she replied, her tone uncertain.

Donavan lowered his voice. “As Rett’s older brother, it’s my duty to inform you that he’s a vampire.”

“Donny,” Everett said with exasperation.

Donavan shrugged. “What? She has a right to know.”

“It’s not exactly an opener,” Everett pointed out.

“And I do know,” Adrielle told him. “But thank you.”

Donovan nodded and gave Everett an I-told-you-so look.

Hadley, apparently over his shyness, tugged on the edge of Adrielle’s shirt. At his beseeching look, she crouched so that they were eye level. “What is it?” she asked, fighting back a smile at his solemnness.

He put his hands around her ear and whispered something Everett couldn’t hear.

“That’s good,” she said.

Hadley nodded again, his blue eyes filled with all the seriousness a five-year-old could muster.

“Dinner,” a voice called from inside the house.

“Dinner!” Hadley echoed.

The little boy grabbed Gabe and Finch’s hands and pulled the six year old twins toward the house. Donavan followed them inside. He paused at the top step and gave Everett a searching look.

“Mom was up all night worried about you. You gave her quite the scare.”

Guilt filled Everett. “Thanks for the head’s up,” he replied.

Donavan grinned. “Also, nice shirt.” He disappeared inside.

“Is that all of them?” Adrielle asked.

“Not by a long shot,” Everett told her. At her flustered look, he smiled and motioned to the front door. “Shall we?”

“If you say so,” she replied.

He went up the steps and crossed the wide porch. Pausing at the door, Everett glanced back at Adrielle.

“What did Hadley say to you?”

Adrielle smiled as if she couldn’t help herself. “He said you weren’t going to drink my blood, so I didn’t have to be afraid.”

Everett fought back a smile and pulled the door open so she could enter. “Welcome to the Masterson house.”

His mother was already waiting near the door to the dining room. Her blonde hair had been pulled back in a bun that was in the process of coming loose, and flour streaked the side of her face. The apron she had tied around her rotund middle was streaked with evidence that she had made Everett’s favorite cheesecake for dessert.

“Everett, I’m so glad you’re home,” she said. She gave him a tight hug. “I was worried sick!” She stepped back and looked him up and down. “Are you sure you’re alright? You were gone the whole night, and you forgot your vitamin drink, too. Celeste said she left it on the counter and it was still there at sunrise. I kept worrying that you were lost somewhere and your insides were shutting down...”

“Mom, I’m fine,” Everett said before she could get too detailed. “Really. You don’t have to worry.”

She set a hand on his cheek. “Of course I worry. I’m your mother, that’s what I do! And I worried that the blood you had left was congealing and you were losing your functions, lying in pain somewhere...”

Everett glanced at Adrielle, grateful for the distraction. “Mom, this is Adrielle, she’s the one I told you about.”

Caught in the middle of going on about all of the horrible things that could have happened to him, his mother paused with her mouth open. She closed it again and gave Adrielle a warm smile.

“Of course, dear. Happy to have you here.” She took Adrielle’s hand. “We have a place set for you next to Everett’s spot.” She glanced back at him with a meaningful look. “It was empty last night, which worried me all the more because Everett doesn’t often miss meals and especially his vitamin drink.”

“Mom,” Everett said imploringly.

“Okay, okay,” Mrs. Masterson replied. “You’re home and I’ll be grateful. It could have been so much worse.”

Everett shook his head with a glance at the ceiling, wondering how Adrielle would survive an evening with his overprotective family.

His mother led them around the packed table to the empty seats on the far side. Donavan tried to trip Everett, but he was prepared. He sidestepped the older boy’s foot and turned to avoid Finch and Gabe when the twins rushed by and dove into their own seats with the force of a herd of horses.

“Everett’s home,” Mrs. Masterson said, nudging her husband on her way past.

“Oh, um, yes,” Mr. Masterson replied. He glanced at Everett over the edge of the paper he was reading. The headlines proclaimed, ‘Fallout Zone Testing Reveals Lessened Contamination of Forests.’ “Glad to see you home, my boy,” Everett’s father told him.

Everett patted his father on the shoulder on their way by, not surprised the man had failed to notice the girl at his side. He was already deep into the article again, no doubt coming up with plans to include the forests in his studies.

“My dad’s a botanist, a plant scientist,” Everett whispered to Adrielle. “And he works on bees.”

“I work
with
bees,” Mr. Masterson corrected. “And we’re in the process of creating a bee-wasp hybrid that appears better suited to pollinating with the plants that have survived the fallout. Their genetic mutations have created some interesting challenges.” He paused, then said, “The bees, not the plants.”

Everett stared at his father, amazed he had heard them with his focus on the newspaper.

His dad winked. “The word ‘bees’ always catches my attention.” His gaze shifted to Adrielle. “And who is this?”

“Sorry, Dad,” Everett said. “This is Adrielle. Mom invited her for dinner.”

“I had nothing to do with it,” Mrs. Masterson protested. “Adrielle is Everett’s
friend
.” She stressed the last word meaningfully.

Mr. Masterson adjusted his glasses and gave both Everett and Adrielle a searching look. “Well, then I’m glad you came to meet us. Everett, you should give her a tour of the greenhouse after dinner.”

“Okay, Dad,” Everett replied.

Adrielle sat down next to Everett and glanced at him. He recognized the expression, her eyebrows pulled together and the darkness in the depths of her golden eyes.

“Don’t be overwhelmed,” he whispered. “When the food gets here, nobody will remember there’s a stranger in the house.”

The instant Mrs. Masterson set the huge pot of chili macaroni on the table, the truth to Everett’s words became evident. If it wasn’t for Everett’s intervention in scooping himself and Adrielle a bowl, they would have missed dinner entirely.

Arms wrapped around Everett from behind.

“Seriously, Rett. If you take off again without this, I’m going to get Mom to put a chain on you or something so you can’t go far,” Celeste said. His big sister set the purple cup on the table in front of him. “If it wasn’t for Annie and Bran, I would have come after you myself.”

Celeste glanced at Adrielle and her eyes widened. “Mom said you were bringing a girl home for dinner, but I didn’t believe it,” she exclaimed.

Everett sighed. “Can someone please act like I have a social life?” he pleaded. At Celeste’s answering apologetic smile, he gave in and nodded at Adrielle. “Adrielle, this is my big sis, Celeste.”

“Don’t let this crazy family scare you,” Celeste told her, squeezing Adrielle’s shoulder with a warm expression. “We’re always happy to have visitors.”

“I’m happy to be here,” Adrielle replied.

Everett’s sister caught a strand of Adrielle’s hair between her fingers. “Your hair is gorgeous. Let me know if you ever need a stylist.”

“I will,” Adrielle said with a surprised smile.

“Celeste is studying cosmetology,” Everett explained.

Celeste gestured to the container. “You drink that, Rett, or I’ll get the IV ready.” She disappeared from the room before he could reply.

Everett caught Adrielle’s bemused expression as she watched the family.

“Is that your vitamin drink?” she asked.

He nodded. “Pig’s blood. Ready to run?” he asked, turning the drink cup around and around in his hands.

To his surprise, she shook her head. “It’s nice.”

He smiled in relief. “Good. I’m glad you like it.” He lifted the cup to his lips.

“And the food’s good,” she said.

“Tastes like dog food,” Hadley replied, shoving another heaping spoonful into his mouth.

“Hadley wants to be a dog,” Donavan explained from across the table. “He says everything tastes like dog food.”

Everett paused in the middle of drinking from the cup. He gave Adrielle a wide-eyed look.

“Maybe that’s why I like it,” she said with a wink.

He sputtered the gulp he had taken, barely managing to avoid spitting blood across the table.

She laughed and handed him a napkin. “You’ve got blood on your chin.”

He grinned. “I’ll bet you say that to all your vampire friends.”

She grinned and took another bite of his mom’s chili macaroni.

Adrielle’s kindness to his family despite her trepidation made up his mind. “There are two other people I still want you to meet,” Everett said when they carried their plates to the sink.