Strength in Darkness

Chapter Seven

“You better be sure they’re not going to try and approach me. I swear if they do—”

“They’re not gonna say anything, Max. Besides, it’s not exactly like they don’t have their own stuff to hide.”

Max and James drove all night to get Ethan back to this werewolf territory. She thought it was interesting that a dragon would try to get a sorcerer to a werewolf pack, but she wasn’t going to pry. It wasn’t any of her business. Instead, James put Ethan in her back seat and navigated her while confirming with the Alpha the vampire’s conditions.

“If you need blood, we do have some we can give you until he can get to you,” James offered.

Max stared ahead with one hand on the wheel. He noticed she drove with one foot down by the pedals and the other leg rested with her knee on the driver side door. He also saw how serious she was in everything she would say or do. She seemed to prefer the silence, which was fine, but he still found himself wanting to know more about her and what all she had been through. She was hiding from the same people, and reminded him a lot of Kaiya.

“How long is he going to be out?” she asked.

“They said it could be a few days. I’m not sure how many to be exact, but we could give you some just to get you through that time.”

Max sighed, “sure. He didn’t give me much but I pulled away before the frenzy set in.”

“He gave you his own blood?”

“Yeah, he said he forgot to get me some this time.”

“So you never…feed…on fresh stuff?”

“Nope.”

“Are you two…together?”

“Excuse you?”

“Just wondering.”

“No.”

***

“Alright,” Darrin announced, “they’re getting close. Ace, can you get some bags of the blood for whoever this driver is?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Ace turned and went into the house to grab some of his supply. He was far from running low, but would soon need to go get some more from somewhere. Since he was trying to keep Loraina hidden, he wasn’t venturing out of the territory in case anyone caught her scent. Thankfully, Alex had been making the supply runs.

“Darrin, I don’t like the idea of someone coming in. We don’t know this Max, but they’re coming here, without giving us any information. All we know is she is a vampire and doesn’t want us to see her. That’s just suspicious.” 

“Brady, I get where you’re coming from, but we have no choice. We need Ethan on our side and James says we can trust her.”

Brady scoffed, “never thought I’d see the day I both knew and trusted a dragon.”

“Your daughter has established herself quite the unique circle of friends.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Everyone else staying inside?” 

“Ace is bringing the blood you asked for, and Alex is going to help set up Ethan. Everyone else should be inside.”

“Good.”

***

They pulled in closer to the middle of the development. James had said they crossed the border a few miles back, but Max didn’t notice high walls, gates, or anything. It looked like they just entered into a small town. 

“It’s just up ahead. The Alpha, Beta, and an angel will be assisting. They have some food for you and said, and I quote ‘will not interfere with the conditions.’”

“Okay.”

“But if you wanted to stay, to watch over him, they wouldn’t say anything.”

“I just…I can’t. Okay?”

“Fine, but I’m giving you my phone number in case you need anything. Please call me, okay? If you need anything, even to just find out how he’s doing, call me.”

“I’ve been on my own for a while. I’ll be fine.”

“Just do it. He would want you to.”

They pulled up in front of the house with three men standing in the road waiting. She pulled up beside the men, and watched James get out. He lowered his seat, and started picking up Ethan’s unconscious body from the back. She had been watching him throughout the drive, feeling calm, knowing he was safe. Now, she was leaving him with people she didn’t know, but he apparently did. People he supposedly trusted.

The younger man of the three helped James pull his body out, and eventually held him fully in his arms. 

“Where are you setting him up?” James asked. 

“Putting him in the Beta house. Kai wants to keep him close,” Alex said.

Max had heard enough about this Kai and hearing the fact that this girl wanted to keep Ethan close by, was enough to annoy Max. Ethan had taken care of her when she went through her transition, but in his time of need, she was leaving him with a group of strangers and some other girl. It weighed heavily on her dead heart. Watching the other guy walk Ethan up to the house, she felt her nerves acting up.

“Alright,” James kneeled down into the car, setting the bags of blood on the seat. “You have my number, and here is the blood. Like I said, call me, okay?”

She watched the other two men stand behind him, and then looked back at James. “You promis he will be okay? That he will be safe?”

“I promise, Max. Everything will be fine, he just needs to sleep.”

She didn’t notice the man move from behind James while she spoke to him. The knock on her window nearly sent her out of her seat.

“Miss, uh, Max, is it?” he asked.

“Yes?” she raised her brow at him.

“I understand you’re probably nervous for your friend. You don’t know us, it has to be difficult.” She didn’t respond, just waited for him to make his point. “I have a daughter, and I know I wouldn’t want to leave her in a situation where I didn’t know who was with her. Actually,” he rubbed his hand on the stubble of his chin, “I’ve been in the situation. If it would make you more comfortable, you could come in and see where he’s going to be for the time being. Then, when you’re comfortable, you could leave knowing he is alright.”

“Umm…”

“Max, that might help you,” James suggested.

She took in a few cleansing breaths, contemplating her decision. She could no longer see Ethan, as the third man had taken him inside to this…Kaiya…to watch over.

“Fine.”

They led Kai into the house to show her where Ethan would be staying. When she entered the house, there were many people in the house she wasn’t prepared to meet. As it was, she hadn’t really spoken to anyone outside of Ethan since she awoke as a vampire. In the last two days she had spoken directly to two other inhumans, and was now facing several. She noticed Ethan set up on a sofa in a living room with others standing and sitting around him. 

Their eyes all set on Max, making her nervous, but she refused to show how she felt. “Max,” James held his hand on her shoulder and gestured toward everyone in the room, “this is everyone.” He pointed to each person individually as he spoke their names. She mentally noted Kaiya and Loraina. Kai sat the closest to Ethan, while Loraina stood in the back of the room with another’s arms wrapped around her. 

“Loraina,” she said quietly, “you and I were supposed to meet at the safe house, but apparently that’s no more.” She walked up to Loraina and held out her hand to shake. “I feel as though I know you already, but don’t actually know you.”

Loraina gave her a small smile and shook her hand. “I’m sorry he never mentioned you.”

“I try to keep things that way. Personal reasons. He was protecting me.” She looked over at Ethan’s body. It was going to be hard not knowing if he was going to wake up. She had never known him to drain his own powers before and be in such a weak state. Truthfully, she never really cared about anyone else but herself in the past few years, except now she knew she truly cared about Ethan, regardless of her constant bickering with him over his control over her food supply. 

“Max,” the girl called Kaiya walked up to her with her hand held out, “I’m Kai. I want you to know he will be safe with us. I’ll keep my eyes on him.” 

Max looked down at the hand held out for her. She refused to meet her halfway. Kai has no business watching over him. Kai is a stranger. Kai is a werewolf. Kai is his newest toy under Ethan’s wings of protection. Kai is a girl. Kai is beautiful and will probably steal him away.

A moment of awkward silence, Kai retreated her hand. Clearing her throat, “we umm, I work in the office with Ethan.”

“You know John, then.”

“Yes, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Oh,” Kai looked at her for a moment. “He came here looking for Ethan yesterday. Said he hasn’t heard from him. I went into his phone and texted that he would be out a few days—”

“You went through his things?”

“Just to cover for him.”

“Why? It’s not your stuff.”

“Max,” Darrin interceded, “we can’t let them know why he is weak. It will raise questions we don’t need The Council asking.”

“What questions are those, exactly?” she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m entrusting my only family member with you and you’ve already made excuses for his absence at work and are clearly hiding things.”

“Ethan was helping us with something—”

“Well, that’s always been his problem. Finds a pretty girl and can’t help but try to be her knight in shining armor. Only, it seems helping you all has landed him here.”

“It’s my fault,” Kai spoke up. “He was helping me—”

“Of course he was,” Max eyed her up and down, “he can’t help but try to be the savior for all the pretty girls. It’s his weakness.”

Cal growled in the corner, drawing Max’s attention to the young alpha leaning against the wall. She couldn’t remember the young man’s name since she didn’t care at the time. Now, she wish she had paid attention. “He knew what he was doing when he helped us. Are you his gate keeper or something?” he gritted out.

Max glared at the man in the corner. He was testing her limits. “I’m the one person who truly knows him and owe him my life. It would be stupid of me to leave him with people that easily take advantage of him.”

“Max,” Kai reached for Max’s hand which was abruptly yanked backward, “stay with us. See that he is okay. I promise you will be alright here. We have another vampire here,” she nodded over to James. “We also have James, who you already met, and Alex,” she held hands with the young man that walked up beside her, “Alex is an angel and can help with healing. We have room and this way, if you think we aren’t doing our job, you can take him whenever you want.”

As tempting as it sounded, it seemed like the biggest mistake. It sounded like a chance for this Kai to alert her employer of Max’s existence. But, if she left Ethan without any means to protect himself, she would regret it the moment anything happened to him. She needed to protect him, the way he had been doing for the past few years.