Page 13 of The Enemy to the Living
“What is it then?”
“You were…” Grant screws up his expression as he tries to get the words out. “Before, I mean. You weren’t human like I was.”
I swallow hard. Only the Huntsman knows exactly what I was before he gave me his blessing. The others have never asked. I have never shared.
It is easier that way.
Why does Grant sound as though heknows?
“I wasn’t,” I say. My throat is tight.
“Everyone I knew before, they’re still alive,” Grant says. He’s not dwelling on me; what I might have been is not important. “You get that, right? I’ve seen all of you. You don’t have friends, not really. You’re barely friends with each other.”
“Grant…”
“I worry that it’s not enough.”
“You think we won’t protect this world? It’s ours, too.”
“It’s not enough.” Grant snaps his mouth shut and wraps his arms around his legs. His eyes are feverish and, above us, I hear the creak of Vlad’s bed as he gets up.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“It means that my family’s out there,” Grant says, voice hushed because now we can both hear Vlad coming down the stairs. “My friends. I haven’t seen them in fifteen years, but I know they’re still there, and I know they don’t know about any of this.”
“They’re the ones we’re protecting. They are the ones the Huntsman charged us to protect.”
They’re human. That’s what the Huntsman truly concerns us with. Not vampires. Certainly not wolves. Humans.
Grant’s frown only deepens—whatever he truly means, I feel I have not understood—but before he can speak again, Vlad pushes the door open and steps into the living room. He’s wearing a thin dressing gown over his pyjama bottoms and lets out a resigned sigh when he sees Grant is still fully dressed.
“The sun is high. You should be asleep.”
“I’m not a child.”
“It is not—” Vlad shakes his head. “You need to rest.”
“For what?” Grant gets to his feet, movements sharp and irritated. “So I cannotgo anywhere all night?”
He pushes past Vlad and thumps up the stairs. When his door slams shut, Vlad looks at me. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” I reply, bristling at his tone. “I don’t think it’s me he has a problem with.”
Vlad growls and turns on his heel, making his own way back upstairs. I lean against the cushions and scrub a hand over my face.
Well, fuck me very much, I suppose.
Chapter Six
Quinn
Drewisallsmileswhen I walk into Hallowed Grounds. He’s only got another fifteen minutes before his shift is over, but he makes me up a coffee all the same, though I’m not sure I should drink it.
The impromptu meeting with Asher has left me jittery, on edge. The café is pretty quiet, but I still startle when a human walks in and the door chimes. I need to get my shit together.My sense of smell might be getting weaker, but Drew’s certainly isn’t, and though he won’t go out of his way to scent me, he’ll notice if my emotions run too high.
Lark takes Drew’s place as Drew goes into the back to grab his jacket. He eyes me for too long, and I can’t see through his glamour, can’t scent anything, but I don’t try to.
He’s fae too, of course. High fae, I think, because he gives me the same kind of icy chill as the twins.
