Rebels [Blood Magic, Book 4]

Chapter 21: Home Sweet Hideout

I was alone in the church tower flipping through the pages of the bond magic grimoire when a knock sounded at the door. Boom boom boom. Heavy. Ominous. I froze mid page turn. I hadn't been expecting visitors. It took a moment to remember that we were in our home. Friendly territory. People should be allowed to drop by. There were no threats here. But all the rationalizing in the world couldn't completely stop my nerves from giving a little jangle.

I shut the book and forced my feet into motion. Ankor awaited me on the other side of the door. Nothing ominous at all.

"May I come in?" he asked. He was dressed casual in a pair of skinny jeans, a brown T-shirt, and a beanie. The red of his eyes hidden by a pair of contacts that nearly matched his shirt. He'd acquired some new clothes since the motel. They suited him. He still couldn't quite pass for human, but he looked more comfortable in his skin than I'd ever seen him.

"Sure." I stepped to the side.

"Looks like you got the nicest room in the place," he said, taking in our accommodations. "Certainly the biggest."

"Is that jealousy I'm hearing?" I teased.

"Maybe a little."

"Ephraim says it's because we can fly. The big windows afford us an extra escape route if we're attacked."

"Do you believe him?"

"It's not untrue, but I know it's only part of the story."

Ankor walked to the window and looked down at the street, not unlike I'd done when we arrived. Though I supposed he was doing it for entirely different reasons. "You're up here because without you and Keel there would be none of this, and while no one is saying it out loud, at least not that bluntly, we all know it. I've been talking to people, people who've been trying to broaden the lines of communication for years, and it always came to nothing, until now. Until you. You've done more for vampire relations than Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer combined."

I would have laughed, but I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor. "Someone's been doing some reading."

Ankor looked at me and shrugged. "I'm not going to apologize for that. It's amazing having such easy access to everything; nothing is contraband here."

"Well, I don't think most Nosferatu care for human works of fiction."

"No, but other supes do, especially younger ones. And to them, you and Keel are exactly like something out of a story - only real. And you're doing something really important; if they don't completely understand it, they feel it."

I stared at him. Listening to him talk and sound so animated, the transformation he'd undergone was that much more striking. But when he left the window and sat down on the couch facing me, his expression turned serious.

"You look unsettled," I said.

He shifted in his seat and said his next words to my knees. "Keel says you won't take blood from the weres."

I grimaced. "I can't. I don't want to see them, or touch them, or be anywhere near them, to be honest."

"Then why didn't you have them killed?"

"They were better used to buy us some were goodwill."

"As your husband's playthings? Are you sure that goodwill will hold?"

"I have to hope. I'm pretty sure Owen knew they weren't coming here to lead a life of luxury."

"Still, I wouldn't want to be the guy who did that to you." Ankor was looking at my chest. I glanced down to see that my V-neck shirt had drooped, revealing the angry edge of the scars. "I'm surprised he didn't tear all three of their hearts out right then and there, frankly."