Page 24 of Blood Taken (Blood Mafia 2)
"Ah, say no more. I'm Demi."
The brunette snorts. "We know. I'm Tyra." She proceeds to list off the guys' names, but I've officially reached my daily capacity for learning new names.
X bites her lip. "Are you going to remember any of this?"
I don't enjoy being so transparent, but she makes me grin. "Probably not."
"Don't worry, there's plenty of time for you to remember seeing as you'll be living here now."
I nod, not willing to voice the lie. "So how old are you guys?"
Tyra laughs. "Real smooth, Demi. I'm twenty-three. X is twenty-four like you. These guys are all over twenty-five so they have their magical Hunter powers."
"Was it that obvious?"
She shrugs. "Hey, I'd be curious too. You really didn’t know about us?"
I shake my head. "No. Did it hurt? Getting your powers, I mean?"
The guys all take a minute to think about my question.
"It doesn't hurt, well, not exactly, but it's not excruciating pain," one says.
"Speak for yourself, dude," one with sandy blond hair says. "That shit hurt like a motherfucker."
Well that's reassuring.
The other one scoffs. "That's because you're a little bitch."
His friend punches him in the arm. "Fuck you, dude."
X and Tyra exchange a look. One of the other guys digs his elbow into the other's back. The one with a mop of curly brown hair glares at his friend.
"I was going to ask, bro, chill."
My eyes narrow out of suspicion. The past month has not been kind to me. "Ask me what?"
"You, uh, you were with vampires before this? What were they like?"
The little hen hasn't left the nest. I sigh and roll my eyes. "Arrogant, beautiful, and condescending. Trust me, you're not missing out on anything."
My answer is a severe understatement. They're so much more than that, and they weren't all condescending, but I'm not about to tell a group of Hunters that I like Evelyn and Alissa.
He nods. "Figured they'd be cocky. Did you see any of the bad ones?"
"Bad ones?"
"You know," the sandy blond one says, "the ones we'll hunt."
I try not to let my confusion show but my forehead creases and Tyra takes pity on me.
"Once we're trained and Gerry lets us out into the world again, we'll only hunt down those who break the tenets." She holds up three fingers. "Don't kill humans, don't start wars with other supes, and don't keep slaves."
"That's it?" I ask. Three tenets seem a little low considering the power vampires and shifters hold.
She shrugs. "There are more, but those are the main ones we'll enforce."
Pushing my bowl to the side, I lean my elbows on the table. "What are you guys up to next?" I ask to change the subject. Talking about the vampires only makes me angry and confused all over again. Part of me hates them, and the other part. . . well, the other part is stupid.
