THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

twenty-five

"This is grotesque," Veronica sniffed, revulsion and loath for me clear in her voice.

Dinner had surprisingly been going smoothly, Caelan's parents being a lot more relaxed than the day I arrived. We exchanged casual conversation while eating a slightly burnt but somehow not terrible roast chicken. Well that was until Veronica arrived.

"Why are you pretending like any of this is normal?" She snarled.

"Vee," Caelan warned his sister.

She couldn't even last half an hour sitting at the same table as me. The look of disgust and hate she was giving me was making me both angry and- alone. Because she was right after all. None of it was normal. A human sharing a meal with vampires? Never in my wildest dream would I have thought that possible. And while the group was proving that everything I believed in was based on a lie, they also reminded me of my own family. Of Rick who was probably searching the Earth for me. My chest tightened at the thought of him. I couldn't hide the truth from him for much longer. He deserved to know I was alive at least, even though I was still furious he lied to me my whole life.

"You know I'm right!" Vee exclaimed. "She shouldn't be here. She's a Hunter! She hunts and kills our kind, she doesn't deserve our protection."

Goosebumps covered my skin as chills ran through me. I couldn't deny what she was saying. I had killed multiple vampires in the past. Vampires that threatened my life and the lives of others. Vampires that weren't nearly as civilized as the ones sitting at the table tonight. Before I met William and Caelan, I didn't even know vampires could be so– normal. Because all I knew were the blood-thirty creatures that attacked innocent people in dark alleys. Memories of the night I was almost killed by one of them flashed in my mind, and I shivered. If Rick hadn't been there that day... I forced myself not to think about it. It was pointless to relive the past.

"That's enough." The tone William used was enough to shut Veronica up and send shivers down my spine.

My attention shifted to him sitting in front of me. His eyes were locked on me, his jaw set. Time seemed to stop as we looked at each other. I wondered what was going through his mind, if he realized that what Veronica had said was true, and if the supposed "mating bond" between us was strong enough for him not to want to kill me for killing beings of his species. But as I looked at him, I couldn't see any hate in his eyes. Only vulnerability, somehow. The emotion was gone from his eyes in a flash and I realized I was holding my breath for some reason. I lowered my gaze and fixed it on the plate in front of me instead.

"Charlotte is my guest, and will have our protection until I decide otherwise," he said, emphasizing the word "our", making my eyebrows furrow. Did he have enough authority among Cealan's family to force them to protect me? I started to believe he did. Then, the second half of his sentence hit me. "Until I decide otherwise". Chills spread through me again at the idea of being entirely at his mercy. What if my rejection led him to decide not to offer me protection anymore? Would I be able to defend myself in a house full of vampires? I had fought nests of monsters before, but I had rarely done so alone. And vampires were different from any other species. They were fast, and had a strength that was far beyond what I was capable of. My chances to win a hypothetical fight were slim. I swallowed hard at the thought.

"But I doubt she'll need protection for much longer," William continued, and our gazes met again. The left corner of his lips was slightly lifted, unveiling the dimple I was trying hard to deny had any effect on me. "As soon as she embraces her– gifts," he said after pausing for a second, his eyes gleaming with- awe? "We'll be the ones needing protection."

My heart skipped a beat. I wondered again if he truly couldn't read my thoughts, or if I was that easy to read. Because his words quieted the worry and fear his first sentence had generated in me. Did he truly mean it? Although I had no idea how what he said could be true, the fact that he seemed to believe it was enough to shut my inner voice. He believed in me, more than I did myself.