In Plain Sight (A Hunted Rose)

Chapter Seventeen

Jason stood stock still in the kitchen as Liam looked at the two of us.  I moved forward and put myself between the two of them, just in case Jason decided to attack.  If push came to shove, I could either put myself in front of Liam or stop Jason from calling for backup.

“Rose, he’s over three hundred years old.  He literally cannot be your older brother.”  Jason’s face had a very slight greenish tint to it.

“Actually, boyo,” Liam cut in, “I’m only two hundred and ninety six.”

“Stop it, Liam.  You aren’t helping,” I said. 

Liam replied before I was able to get my next sentence out.  “I’m not trying to be helpful.”

“Jason, listen to me.” I captured his gaze with my own.  “Liam is like an honorary older brother.  He is the most important and closest thing to family I have now.  He’s the one who rescued me after my attack.  He saved my life.”

“But…” Jason said.  “Amanda said there was blood all over the street.”

“There was.” I confirmed.

“Then how did he manage?  He’s a vampire.  He drinks blood.”

Liam snorted and said, “Contrary to popular belief, some vampires do have self control.  If we’ve fed well enough, and are old enough, we can be doused in blood ourselves and not be tempted at all.”

“Did you take her to the hospital?  That would have raised questions, but I guess you could have used compulsion…”  Jason’s voice dwindled off, but at least he wasn’t totally freaking out and running around screaming “Rose knows a vampire!  Let’s kill them both!”

“No,” Liam said.  “I fed her my blood.  Fixed her right up.”

“You changed her into a vampire?” The way Jason flinched violently away from me hurt, but I understood it.  He had been raised his entire life being told vampires were evil. 

“No, he didn’t,” I said.  I technically wasn’t lying.  Liam wasn’t the one who changed me into a vampire.  I didn’t know who changed me into a vampire.

“In small amounts, vampire blood has healing properties for humans,” Liam stated.  “Didn’t you know that?”

“I guess you could say it wasn’t covered in Vampire 101.” Jason looked at me as I decided it was safe enough to get a water bottle from the fridge.  “Did you really think we wouldn’t notice he was a vampire if you introduced him?”

“Well,” I drawled out.  “I was hoping you wouldn’t meet him, but if you did he would just blend in too well as a human.  He’s pretty good at it.  Been doing it for over a hundred years.”

“He’s pale and unnaturally handsome.  It’s a dead giveaway,” Jason said as he stepped away from Liam and closer to me.

“Okay,” Liam said, “good to know.  I’ll get a spray tan.”

“Stop being a smartass,” I pinned him with a look, trying to get him to stop freaking Jason out.

“Couldn’t if I tried, Rosie-girl.”

“You guys act so normal.  Like you’re really siblings,” Jason said as he watched the two of us interact.

“In a way we are.  I lived with Liam for a little bit after my attack.  I needed to understand that he had saved me by giving me his blood.  I needed to deal with knowing about this stuff – I pretended not to know when you guys told me.  To be honest, I didn’t know about the hunters, but I knew the basics about vampires.”