JEOPARDY: Love in War

5. The Truth

Kayla watched Ryan's tall and broad figure stroll through the bustling Soleria crowd, and approach her car with apprehension.

Yes, she had deliberately held that meeting in the middle of the city, hoping it would tip the odds in her favor.

But as Ryan strode her way in sweats that accentuated the strength of his muscles, and a hoodie that stretched to accommodate his broad shoulders and chest, she imagined the ever-sweet Ryan turning deadly on her—just like his 'cousin' had. Except this time, he might succeed and kill her, right there in her car, in the middle of that same crowded city.

When he knocked on her window, she unlocked the door, but her gun was already trained on him. A silent but clear reminder of the nature of their interaction.

"The gun is absolutely unnecessary." Ryan stated nonchalantly as he slithered into the car, sat on the leather seat, and locked the door behind him. "I'm just here to clear the air."

"Are you a vampire?" She went straight to the point, still holding the gun to his head.

Ryan ignored the gun and looked into her eyes as he answered. "Yes."

"How long have you been a vampire?" 

Ryan's lips twitched. "109 years. I have been counting. I blow a candle every year."

"How old is Ivan?" She tried to hold her breath, to keep herself from quivering at the question, but failed. A trembling sigh betrayed her true state. But Ryan's expression remained the same. Calm, curious, and slightly amused.

"Very old. But I can't give you the exact number. He may suffocate me in my sleep. He gets sensitive when someone talks about him in his absence."

The picture of a pale faced and fanged Ivan suffocating Ryan in his sleep wasn't welcome in her mind. She still struggled to associate Ivan with anything but light and kindness. She had to learn that the image he had created in her mind was merely an illusion.

"Did he send you here?"

Ryan's lips twitched again. "No. And if -- actually, when -- he does find out, he'll knock me unconscious for a week on repeat. But the cause is worthy the sacrifice."

"And what is the cause, exactly?" To manipulate her further. Like he had that first time.

She remembered vividly—it was Ryan who had planted the seed of compromise when she'd been suspicious of Ivan . It was Ryan who had made her open herself to Ivan and become friends with him. If only she had trusted her instincts that first time...

'For future reference: I'm always right.'  Verina boasted within her.

"I want you to know the truth." Ryan spoke at the same time as Verina, making Kayla frown at him. "Not what you've been led to believe your entire life, not the things you've read about us, or the glimpses you've seen this past week. But the full truth about vampires."

"Why do you care what I know about your kind? And don't give me the same crap about how you think everyone is the same. Ivan didn't look like he didn't care when he saw what I was." 

Why do I sound so hurt by that?

'Maybe because you are?' Verina quipped in her I'm-on-a-mission-to-annoy-Kayla tone. 'Actually, we both know you are. It's the very reason we are here talking to this leech instead of reporting him to the pack. You're trying to find a reason to not hate him or report him... Well, here goes nothing.'

Kayla blinked the emotions Verina's words awakened away, and focused on Ryan who was looking at her with pity for the first time since he got in that car.