Reckless Abandon - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 2

2: Knox

Much to Kaitlin's frustration, not long after Ellis left for the Island to begin his new task of restoring peace, her eldest, Knox, was called in by the elders. He was asked to look into a newly discovered problem that had been brought to their attention. Humans were once again being killed needlessly and turned, despite the efforts she and Damian had gone to, to prevent such travesties from occurring. Humans were just beginning to trust them and now someone had come along to ruin that.

Damian had set up a volunteer blood bank where people were paid to donate their blood to the vampire clans. It was a medical procedure and the blood was always fresh, but once again some vampires had taken it into their own hands and decided to get their food as fresh as possible. The local human police had kept it a secret for as long as they could, worried that it would start another war. But once Damian had found out about it, he was determined to do something to stop it. Even if it meant sending another of their children out to deal with it.

Only, this time, Knox was more prepared for the task ahead. For the past four years he had been leading a normal life out in the open, choosing to follow Yuri's example and become a Medical Examiner.

Kaitlin was proud of him for taking to the job so well. He had worked his way up the ranks and was now considered one of the best M.E.'s in the country. He was thorough, precise and could spot a vampire attack easily. It was his examination of a newly convicted ME from the next county that led him to discovering the numerous vampire attacks. At first, he believed that the ME, who had been convicted of covering up murders in his lab, was just another criminal. A vampire taking advantage of his job.

What he found was something surprising; the man in question was very much human and nothing more than senile. He had been reprieved because of Knox's findings and a full psychological evaluation found him to be mentally incapable of doing his job, rather than trying to cover up murders for profit.

However, nothing had come of his findings until a police officer, Alexis, had sent a letter to the vampire council asking for them to apprehend the culprit before it had to become an official matter. And that was when Damian felt he had to step in.

They now knew that the old ME had simply misinterpreted the vampire marks for other wounds due to his mental state and there was no cover up. It begged the question in Knox's mind however, as to why Alexis had never told him about the attacks before. He had always felt there was a chemistry between them that needed to be explored, but her hostile nature had prevented him from mentioning it. He was a little curious as to why she had neglected to mention the attacks to him. Was she afraid of admitting to her feelings for him? Or did she just think it would prevent them from becoming an item? Either way, he wanted to find out.

He got his chance that night, when Alexis visited his cellar apartment. She was one of the few people who knew what he was and didn't seem to care.

"Well hello, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Knox asked with a smile, after opening his front door to her. He was about to take a step back and invite her in when he realized that she was there on 'business' and it wasn't going to be a pleasure at all. She looked serious and almost angry with him. He couldn't understand it.

"You need to find out which of your things is causing all these deaths Knox. Or else the truce will be over and all of your kind that are known to the authorities will be brought in for questioning." Alexis mentioned. She was frustrated with him and his whole clan of vampires, who were screwing everything up again, all for their own bloodthirsty needs. She was getting fed up of it, but so was Knox.

Particularly with the way that she called his people 'things'.

If Alexis knew anything about him or his people she would realize that all they did was try to survive. Just like anyone else. At least they never killed for sport like humans did. At least not until the humans started interfering and creating wars. Knox folded his arms with a sigh, not wanting to validate anything she had said by responding to it. Besides, they both knew fine well she wasn't finished. She had that same smug look on her face that she had every time she told a suspect they knew they had committed a crime.