Page 20 of Clash of Sin and Secret

“He never would’ve hurt me. He couldn’t.” But it’s a moot point to argue because we’ll never know.

“I know yer still arguin’ the point, so it best that ye see fer yerself.”

Da leans forward in the video and taped footage plays across the screen. It’s security footage of three college-aged girls being ravaged and drained by a vampire in the shadow of the?—

Ohmygod, it’s Zane…but it’s not.

The vampire overpowering the girls has so violently torn into the throat of a blonde, that her carotid artery is spilling down her shoulder, soaking his face and neck in blood.

Another girl lies lifeless and already drained. And when he drops the blonde, he dives on a brunette that was trapped in a dead end of the alley. Zane lunges like the apex predator he is and when she struggles, he sinks his fangs through her jeans and into her thigh.

I watch in horror as the boy I loved consumes not just one, but three girls without hesitation, before finally settling over his kills, sated and content, his fangs still in the third girl’s leg.

A conversation I had with Jack comes back to me…

“I was there when he slaughtered three UofT students…He drained them dry and didn’t remember doing it. His darkest impulses had a tight grip on him and didn’t let go for several years.”

Years. Zane was a monster lost to the cravings of his beast foryears?That hurts my heart. He will never forgive himself for taking those lives.

Vampires don’t live by the same moral code as humans, but Francesco always said loving me made Zane more compassionate toward our lives and frailties.

There’s no way he killed those girls and isn’t carrying that with him as a wound that will never heal.

The security video cuts off and my father’s face is back.“Forgive him, lass. Ye’ll need him…especially now.”

I click to exit the file, slap my laptop closed, and curl up in a sad little ball in front of the fireplace.

Even seeing the footage, I have a hard time believing Zane could hurt me. But what would it have done to him if he had? The look in Zane’s eyes when I woke up in his arms—first after dying and then after being taken by my nightmare—is seared into my soul.

I’ve never seen him so broken.

And Huntley…

He has every right to hate me for stealing his life, but he saved me. I rub at the pressured ache in my chest. Something about the way he stared at me last night broke my heart.

“This is such a mess.” I press my face into the cushion and let off a muffled scream.

The three of us have been dancing around each other for years. Me and Zane. Huntley was always there with us—thereforus. Zane and Huntley finding comfort in each other while pushing me away. We’re like a tragic triangle of idiots who can’t get our shit together.

And now I’ve got Tucker in the mix…sweet, wonderful Tucker who deserves better than to be caught in our drama.

I can only imagine what Da would say if he were here. Then again, if he were here, I wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

I groan and pull the blanket over my head. “Why did you do this to me, Da?”

But I know the answer—or at least part of it. His death would mean I was truly alone. If he didn’t gift me his powers and force my hand, I would never have stuck around long enough to wade through all our hurt feelings. He forgave Zane, and he wants me to move on and forgive him, too.

I can hear him now… “Pull up yer big girl panties, missy. It’s time ye start actin’ like a feckin’ McCullough.”

“I know it is, Da. I’m sorry. It’s long overdue.”

Tucker

I release the security latch and push the refrigerator out of my way to gain access to the small kitchen of my father’s barbershop. I sense him the moment I emerge and reseal the entrance. Pressing my forehead against the cool metal of the appliance, I draw a deep breath.

Isn’t it supposed to be the kid that makes the parent crazy?

My dad never got that memo.

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