They Rise at Dusk (Book #1) ✔️

Chapter 27: Revelations

"What kind?" Jax asked while reaching for the bottled water on the table.

My mouth was so terribly dry, but I feared water wasn't the kind of refreshment I needed right now. Somehow, even reaching for the water felt like too much movement for the confined space I found myself in. Jimmy's shoulder basically leaned against mine, and the Asian guy on my right kept staring at me like I was something to eat.

I was a goddamn vampire. I could snap their necks if something went wrong.

Except that was probably a lie. I haven't been feeding properly, and the weight of the rising sun began to sit heavily at my chest.

Jimmy lit another cigarette, even though he had just finished the previous one.

"Mikey, get the booze." He said in the middle of an inhale.

Mikey jumped out of the seat like he cherished each moment he could spend away from the table. Why would Jax bring this kid here? How old was he anyway, barely eighteen? How could he be involved in something like this? Mixed emotions churned in my stomach.

On the one hand, I appreciated the existence of vampire hunters. They were right – there were some nasty people among my kind that definitely needed someone to level their power high. On the other, these people were probably criminals. One did not go to college to become a vampire hunter. These were underground jobs and deals.

"Someone stepped forward." Jimmy said, finally exhaling the smoke. "A girl from Mott Haven. She's been attacked."

My mind began to scream random names at me: Ecaterina? Edmond? Dorian? Someone else? Then, my mind realized all of them were too capable to leave traces behind. We were trained from an early age how to cover our tracks.

"Attacked how?" Jax asked; his voice sounded different than when he was with me.

When he was with me, he sound cheerier, lighter, more relaxed. There was a tension and depth to his voice now, almost like he tried really hard not to let out emotion. I admired the ability, but I also wondered if he'd learned to hide his true self the hard way.

"When they found her, she was covered in bites." Jimmy answered, and his eyes slid to me.

I didn't have to fake the horror in my expression, and he seemed satisfied enough with my reaction.

"They thought she was dead." He continued. "But she survived. And by some miracle, her memory was intact, although everyone thought she was delusional."

My heart thudded away, the beats so loud against my chest and in my ears that I thought everyone could hear them. Someone fucked up. Someone attacked a girl and probably thought she was dead. But... we had measures in place if something like that happened, people who took care of it.

"What did she say?" Jax asked, his gaze jumping to me every once in a while, as if checking whether I was okay.

I wasn't.

"She kept telling them a bloodsucker did it." Jimmy inhaled a bunch of smoke, which made him cough. When he caught his breath, he continued. "The hospital staff didn't believe her, but fortunately, her brother's been doing some business for us, and he contacted me the moment she arrived to the hospital."

Oh, God.

Oh, fuck.

I swallowed the spit in my mouth, but it had suddenly turned too dry.

"You took her out of the hospital." Jax concluded the same thing I did. "They didn't reach her in time."

"And she managed to tell her story." Jimmy's lips spread into a first smile I've seen on him, and it heavily contrasted the expression on my face. "A bloodsucker attacked her."