Page 84 of Love Bites
"We loosely kept in touch," she confirmed. "I am so sorry for your loss, by the way. I only heard about his passing recently. That must have been hard."
So they must not have been close if she'd only heard recently. Still, I was intrigued to find out how exactly she'd known my dad. And what they wanted from me. "Thank you," I said. "It's okay, I've had time to process." I sat a little straighter. "How did you two know each other?"
"There's... something like a mailing list for those of us who are 'different.'"
"I've never heard of that."
"Your dad wasn't a big fan of it. It's understandable, considering the risk. If we share too much information between ourselves, one of us being discovered can lead to others being found as well..." Morgan shook her head sadly. "My friends and I have been working on creating a safer environment for all of us."
"A safer environment…" I shook my head. "If you've been watching us then where were you when my home was attacked?"
Morgan's face fell. "We realized what was going on too late, and then we couldn't find you anywhere in town to rectify our mistakes. I’m very sorry. We're a very small organization."
I studied her silently for a moment, trying to judge if she was telling the truth. I thought the sadness in her eyes was real as she apologized, but that wasn’t what convinced me. It was her aura. It seemed sopurein a way I couldn’t explain, unwavering. I didn’t have enough experience in reading auras to analyze exactly what I was seeing, but I got the distinct feeling that Morgan wasn’t lying to me.
"What kind of organization are you?"
“We’re part of WAFFER,” Caspar said proudly.
“Waffer?” I asked, thinking of candy.
“Witches and Friends for Equal Rights,” he explained as if it was totally obvious. “And we’d love it if you joined!”
“Me?”
"When we felt your magic earlier, we immediately knew what had happened" Caspar said. "You awakened. That hasn't happened in ages."
"I've been petitioning the council of witches to grant us protection," Morgan said. "Some witches, like Caspar, are sympathetic to our cause, but the council insists we're not truly witches, and so, none of their concern. We are not paranormals, and as such, not covered under the laws of the Paranormal Peace Treaty, which gives the vampires free rein to keep hunting us." She paused, looking at me intently. "You and your child could change that."
"I'd love to help, but I'm not really looking to be an ambassador," I said, a little overwhelmed by all of this.
"The job comes with a couple of perks," the witch called Puck said. "The high council might not be interested in protecting you and your family yet, but we are. There's going to be vampires out there who'll want to get revenge on you for what you did to their sire. We have the necessary spell-power to offer you a safe haven until we can get the government to pay attention."
"Why areyouso invested in this?" Talon spoke up, glaring at Puck. "If this is just a way for you to get at his blood—"
"You want my blood?" I cut in. "What do you want with my blood?" What Puck had been offering sounded great. There was little I wanted more than for my family to be safe, but Talon was right. We couldn't put our trust in just anyone. I understood why Morgan was interested in my case, but I wasn't sure what the witches planned to get out of it.
"Research." Puck's eyes lit up ever so slightly when he said that word. He looked a little bit like Luke did whenever he was talking aboutDungeons and Dragons. "Think of the wealth of spells I could create with your magic as a base!"
I had no idea how one went about creating new spells or researching them, but I could tell that Puck's enthusiasm was real. His purple aura flickered as he spoke, reflecting his excitement.
"Don't give him any blood," Talon advised. "There's a lot of things he could do with it other than create spells."
"Relax," Puck said before I could respond. "That's not what I'm here for. I've simply aligned myself to a worthy cause, is that too much to believe?"
Talon shot him a look that practically dripped with suspicion.
"Okay, fine," Puck relented. "The better protected you guys are, the more awakened dhampire descendants and dhampire babies there will be in the future, which heightens my chances of eventually getting what I want. So for now our goals are the same. I want you two to breed like bunnies. Happy?"
I laughed. "As long as you don't want to watch. I don't perform for an audience." Although I would be good at it if I did! I took another swig of the bottled blood, wondering if maybe my odd thoughts were brought on by a lack of blood. Or maybe I was just hungry and exhausted—and pregnant. I turned to Morgan again. "Tell me more about this safe haven you can offer. Would there be enough space for another person or two?"
"We can prepare a house big enough for you and your siblings if that was what you were worried about."
"I'll take it," I said before even consulting with Talon. My vampire shot me a look, but I only smiled at him. "Trust me," I whispered to him, taking his hand in mine. "We'll be fine." I understood that it was hard for him to relax after everything we'd been through, but we only had two options now. Linger on past horrors or move forward.
I intended to keep moving, and I would take Talon with me. Until the end of the world if I had to.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
