CLARA'S POV
"Never." He replied.
Wow. Annie was the geneticist in the family—she'd be fascinated by this. "So, somehow the word got out. About you guys, I mean." Someone somewhere had to have noticed their odd eyes and fangs.
A dull flush worked its way over his face. "There was another reason." he said as he spooned himself more stew from the pot in the middle of the table. "About a century and a half ago, we had a group of nut jobs who thought they lived to suck blood. You'd call them a cult. They interacted with your people and acted like the vampires of your legends. We took care of them. But, we're not proud of it." He narrated.
"My people? You mean the United States or all humans?" I asked. "And why didn't you reach out to us before? I mean, if you are so advanced and everything, why didn't you become allies with us earlier? Let all of us know about you?"
"You hadn't advanced to a point that made you beneficial to us, so we protected you from afar." He replied
"Beneficial? Weapon-wise?" I asked confused.
"No. Science-wise." He replied
"You need our scientists?" I asked again.
He took another bite of stew before shaking his head. "We don't. The Kurgans do."
"So you saw no reason to interact with us before now." I asked feeling irritated. Truly, it was a bit insulting.
"Nope." He shrugged. "Individual contact was one thing, but as a race, you didn't have anything we wanted. Until now." His gaze raked over my face, and I squirmed in my seat.
A braver woman might have asked what he wanted now. I accepted that I wasn't as brave as I hoped. "Amazing." I shook my head as the world changed around me. "Wait a minute. My daughter is with vampires? Right now?" I asked as soon as I remembered. My gaze darted to the door, nerve endings flaring to life along my skin.
"She's safe, Clara. My brother will protect her with his life." He said reassuringly.
I didn't think so, and my mind scrambled to keep up. "The Kurgans, evil vampires from somewhere I've never heard of, want my daughter." A red haze wavered across my vision. "Does that fucking sum it up? Vampire?" I said almost screaming.
"Pretty damn close." His eyes narrowed. "Though you probably have heard of it. They're based in Minnesota."
"Minnesota?" I breathed out in almost a laugh. This couldn't be happening.
"Yeah." He affirmed.
"How long have they been based there?" My mind reeled.
"I think they moved there maybe three hundred years ago," he said, as if discussing simple historical facts.
"Oh." Sarcasm came easy to me now. "And we humans didn't notice?"
"Nope. You humans don't notice anything you don't want to, Clara." He took another bite of stew.
"How have vampires lived among us for three centuries? Do they kill? Do I know any vampires? Do they pay taxes like everyone else?" I asked my questions in rapid fire.
After I calmed down, he answered. "We've lived among you to protect you from the Kurgus nation. Our treaty has protected you."
"And now they've broken it?" I guessed.
"Yes and they kill, or used to before the treaty. You might know vampires, but definitely not the Kurgans. They don't look like us and can't go out in the sun, which is where your science is coming in. And of course, everybody pays taxes. You don't mess with the IRS, no matter which race you belong to." He gave a wry grin.
"How many people know you exist?" I wanted to know.
"Not many. A couple of key people in your government, that's all." He replied unbothered.
"Are you immortal?" I don't know why, but I kept asking questions to feed my curiosity.
"Close enough." He sat back and studied me. "I've lived long enough to have lost loved ones." Rubbing a hand across his chin, he cleared his throat. "Your file mentioned Jane's father—I'm sorry you lost Paul. Is the wound still fresh?" He asked and successfully changed the topic.
My breath caught in my throat, and I shrugged. "I miss him. We were good friends, and I think Jane would've loved him." I replied while thinking about the good old days.
Taki cocked his head to the side. "You were mere friends?"
Smoothing my napkin on my lap, it nodded. "Yes. We dated for a bit, but I never expected love or marriage in my life." My mind scrambled for anything else to talk about. "You said earlier you were a protector for your kind." I said trying to change the topic.
"I am. As are my brothers." He crossed his arms across his chest, a thoughtful expression sliding across the strong planes of his face.
"What does that mean?" I needed to find Jane.
"I guess you'd call us the ruling family. My eldest brother Dage would be considered a king in many civilizations." He replied.
"If you're in the so-called royal family, how are you a protector?" I asked as I placed my napkin on my bowl. "I mean, if your title means what it implies?"
"It does. Even when protecting impossible humans." He snorted in amusement. "But as the royal family, we're the first to fight when necessary. The five of us have trained since childhood. It's our duty as the royal family to be the first to defend. The first to die, if need be." He explained.
I took in his solemn gaze with a puzzled frown and confusion written boldly on my face.
"I know." He agreed with my look. "Your people wouldn't fight with each other so often if the ones deciding to fight were the first ones to bleed. Your society has a ways to go, if you don't blow yourselves up first."
The superior look on his face rankled my temper. My baby was with the protectors. The first to die, if necessary. It was unacceptable. "And where are you based?"
I needed to know as I was already scared with of fact that my daughter was with someone like that
"You'll learn all about our home when we get there, Clara." He said obviously tired of the interrogation.
"Oh, I don't think so." The absurd reality hit me like a wrecking ball. The man before me was pure danger and every survival instinct I had screeched for me to run. "Get my daughter here, now." I rose to my feet, my eyes darting to the knife block on the counter and back.