Page 101 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“This is what happens when you’re the baby of the family,” I said. “You expect everyone else to do everything for you.”
Lucia kept eating as if I hadn’t said anything.
I huffed. “And you don’t give a shit.”
Instead of acknowledging me, she asked, “When do we start?”
Man, was she eager to let a demon start munching on my boyfriend or what? I continued my former train of thought about the callousness of younger siblings. “Oh, and what’s more, you grew up to be reckless.”
Lucia finally acknowledged me by rolling her eyes and saying, “Give it a rest, will ya? I’m here to help you, so show some gratitude.”
I opened my mouth to argue but quickly clamped it shut. Lucia had a temper, and at the moment, it wasn’t in my best interest to get it going. Instead, I swallowed the biting words that perched on my tongue and replaced them with something nice.
“That’s right. You’re helping Jake and me, and I’m grateful for that.”
My sister raised an eyebrow and, looking satisfied, went back to her food.
Thirty minutes later, Jake was the next one up. I was glad he got to sleep a little longer since he was in for a rough day. I greeted him with a kiss, ordered him to sit, and served him breakfast.
“Thank you,” he said, looking surprised. “I feel like a king.”
“Today, you are one,” I said, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “But don’t let it get to your head.”
Eric walked in at that moment, made a disgusted sound, turned on his heel, and left. Thinking he might be joking, I waited for him to come right back around, but he didn’t.
“Seriously? That man is a grump!” I exclaimed. “Isn’t there a spell or something that could help him lighten up?”
“There isn’t,” this from Damien, who was strolling in, a huge smile stretching his mouth from ear to ear. “Trust me, I’ve tried.” He made a beeline toward Rosalina. “Good morning, beautiful.” He kissed her full on the lips, showing no hint of his previous reticence.
“Gah! I’m with Mr. Eric Grump,” Lucia put in. “Theambiancein this kitchen is getting more unbearable by the second.”
“One day, you’ll understand,” I said.
“I seriously doubt that. Unlesssyrupinesscomes with age.”
It was a truth universally acknowledged, that a teen girl with a bad attitude, must be in want of an ass whooping.
“Oh, I forgot we had a teen in the house,” Damien said. “When I was her age, I remember thinking that everyone who wasn’t a teen was positively geriatric.”
“You remember that far back?” Lucia asked.
“Dear, I remember everything. Even you in diapers and reaching in the back of them, proclaiming you’d gone number two. It wasn’t pretty when you took your hand out.”
I busted out laughing and so did Jake and Rosalina.
Lucia grew red but managed to keep her temper in check.
Damien gave me a quick wink. I couldn’t believe how much lighter his mood was. But I shouldn’t have been surprised. Love kind of has that effect on people. It makes everything so much better.
After we ate breakfast, we set out to make all the necessary preparations for the cleansing. Damien brushed away the old chalk pentagram and redrew it, while Eric and I moved a long table from an upstairs room into the garage. It was for Jake to lie on during the process. We attached a long stick to the head of the table from which we hung a blood bag. We had more in the small fridge and had bought them at a vampire bar, making sure the type was correct. We also had ropes to tie him down and make sure he stayed in place and didn’t hurt himself. It was all improvised since we didn’t have much time to prepare.
I wanted the preparations to last and last and last, but the moment came when we couldn’t put it off anymore. Jake had spent some time in solitude to center himself, and now, he glanced around at everyone, at the table, and the pentagram. His stance was firm and so was his expression. Nothing about him revealed uncertainty or fear. Slowly, he unbuttoned his shirt and set it aside. He hopped on the table and quickly lay down.
I picked up one of the ropes and began at his feet, coiling it around his ankles and tying the ends to the table legs. When I was done, I took his right hand and wrapped the rope around his wrist, then pulled his arm over his head.
“I think I like this,” he said under his breath.
“Shh!Hush, or you’ll send Eric into a tizzy.”
