Chapter 17

Dane was angry that anyone would be foolish enough to break into his house and try to steal from him. His teeth immediately extended, and he hissed. Okay, so that had never happened to him since he’d been turned.

The two guys were intent on trying to find something of value, and then one found a sword under the bed and pulled it out. “Hey, Jimmy, look at this. Here’s one of them. What if this isn’t a collector’s sword though?”

“Shit, you mean what if that’s a?—”

“Hunter’s sword?” Dane asked. “Like these?” He showed his sword to the men.

The two men hadn’t even been watching the doorway where Dane and Jacqueline were standing and observing them. But as soon as Dane spoke, the two guys whipped around. He swore they nearly peed their pants as their eyes widened, their jaws dropped, and their skin drained of color. Their hearts were beating triple time.

“It doesn’t pay to break into homes when you don’t know who owns them. Just a clue. Many of the homes in this development are owned by hunters. And some are even vampires.” Dane showed off his canines.

Then the other two guys came out of the guest room. Dane figured they had heard what he had said, and they raced down the stairs. Forget helping out their friends. They were on their own.

The two in Dane’s bedroom were just standing there, frozen in place, smelling of fear. Dane and Jacqueline were blocking the doorway, until Jacqueline wasn’t. Damn, he wished she had stayed with him, even though he felt confident in her abilities. But he was worried now too.

“Okay…okay, we’ll…we’ll leave,” the one guy finally managed to say, his voice shaking, his knees knocking.

“You can’t turn us, or you’ll be a rogue and hunters can terminate you,” the other guy said, defiant, all knowing, threatening.

The nerve of the bastard! “We’re hunters. Sit on the floor.” He said it in a way that controlled a human’s actions. He’d never tried doing that before, but both men immediately sat down on the floor. “Stay.” He hoped this worked like that and then he vanished to see what had happened with Jacqueline with the other two men, wanting to provide backup for her.

She had the other two men lying on the floor in the living room with their hands behind their backs while she was making a call on Dane’s home line. “I’ve called the police. They’re on their way.”

He loved her and was glad she had the same thought of doing the same thing as he did. “Another ability we haven’t used, eh?”

She smiled at him. “I’ve used it before.”

Now that had surprised him. “Oh?” She was such an open book, but also such a mystery.

She kissed him. “Yeah, I told the driver of the big pickup truck following behind mine, hugging my bumper, to back off on the highway one day and he did it! I couldn’t believe it.”

Dane laughed. He was glad it wasn’t something that was, well, rather roguish. He had never thought of trying to do that with someone who was tailgating him.

“How did you get through the security gate?” Dane asked the two men.

“A guy gave us the code,” the one man said.

“What guy?”

“The guy who sent us to this house.”

“Who is he?” Dane had thought this was just a random robbery.

“I don’t know, man. He gave us each fifty dollars to steal all the swords in the house. He said that you’re a sword enthusiast and he was supposed to sell the swords. He was going to give us another two-hundred-dollars each after he sold the swords.”

“And you believed that he would really come through with the money? Was he a hunter or a vampire? You didn’t figure that maybe I am one or the other since I ‘collect’ swords?” Dane was skeptical, but these guys looked a little strung out on drugs so they might have believed about anything the guy told them.

“No. He said you just collect them. We figured he was going to resell them on the hunters’ market or maybe they’re collectables and rarer, worth a lot more.”

“And you were meeting him where?”

“We’re supposed to call him once we have the swords, and he would pick them up.”

“Call him then.”

The guy called the number he had, but no one answered.

“Give me your phone and the number,” Dane told him.

The man did both.

Then the police arrived, and Dane let them in. “There are two more upstairs. They’re sitting in the master bedroom on the floor.”

One of the officers, Murphy, had been at the scene where they had taken down Mabon and recognized them. “I can’t believe how compliant these guys are.”

“Yeah, once they realized whose house they were in, they came around pretty quickly. Uh, I might need to release the guys upstairs to go with your officers.” Not to freak the police out, Dane dashed up the stairs instead of disappearing and reappearing in the room. A couple of officers couldn’t get the two men to leave their sitting position on the bedroom floor as if they were staging a sit-in. “Go with the police officers,” Dane said.

They instantly stood up and the officers handcuffed them and took them into custody. They headed them downstairs.

“Are you going to file charges?” the officer downstairs asked.

“Yeah. If we don’t, they’ll just break into someone else’s home. At least we can have a clear conscious that we tried to do something about it,” Dane said.

“You do a lot for the community by taking down rogue vampires, and we really appreciate it. Taking in a bunch of would-be thieves is the least we can do for you,” Officer Murphy said.

Dane and Jacqueline gave their statements to the officer.

“Hey, we found a car filled with stolen merchandise just down the street,” another officer said, coming inside. “It belongs to one of these guys.”

The housebreakers looked like their gooses were cooked now. Good. Dane hoped they would serve some time for this.

“Oh, how did they get inside your house?” Murphy asked. “Were the doors all locked?”

“They were,” Dane said.

“We found where they had torn off a window screen on one of the windows on the back of the house. They broke the window and climbed in that way,” the other officer said.

“I’ll need to have that fixed.” Dane noticed that Jacqueline was talking to the four would-be thieves outside on the covered front porch before the officers carted them off to a holding cell and he wondered if she was telling them never to steal from anyone again. He hadn’t thought of it at the time, but he could have done that himself. That was one neat vampire trick—persuading humans to do something—he needed to use more often.

Then the officers put the would-be thieves in some patrol cars and Jacqueline walked inside the house. Dane closed the door and locked it.

“I’m glad the doors were all locked when they broke in,” she said.

“Yeah, so it proved they had actually broken in. I’m surprised we didn’t hear them.”

“That’s probably what alerted us, though we hadn’t known what it was.”

“Yeah, true. I guess that’s it for swimming. Do you want some lunch? After we get dressed.”

“Sure.”

They both vanished and appeared in his bedroom.

“So I told the men not to ask for lawyers and to confess everything illegal they’ve ever done, and where all the stolen merchandise is now,” Jacqueline said, peeling off her wet bikini and putting it in the bathroom over the tub to dry.

Dane laughed. “I’m sure the police appreciated that.” He set his swim trunks next to hers.

“Yeah, they began recording their confessions as soon as they got them into the vehicles because they were starting to list all the crimes they’d committed from when they were kids—stealing from stores and even their mom’s purses. It’s going to be a long list.” She started to fasten her bra and Dane quickly took over and fastened it for her. “Why thank you, sir.”

“You’re so welcome.” Then he began getting dressed too. “I thought you were going to tell them never to steal again.”

“Oh, I did that too. But I also wanted them to reveal all the crimes they had done in the past so that they might bring some closure to others that they had stolen from—crimes that they had gotten away with.”

He smiled. “Great thinking. I had never thought of using vampiric persuasion to get someone to do something. But it comes in handy.”

“I rarely think of it either. It’s just one of those things we need to practice at for it to come more naturally.”

“The next time we want a better table at a restaurant…”

“Oh, can you see us saying that to a hostess, and she makes someone who is in the middle of eating their meal move to another table?” she asked.

“We would be outed for sure,” Dane agreed.

“Yeah. We can only do it when it’s for the good of a situation.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his mouth, slowly, eagerly, passionately, and he matched her delicious moves. “We handled this matter well.”

“We did. I was thinking we would have to use our swords to intimidate them to hold still until we could get hold of the police and they arrived. I realized then that I could make them comply with a vampire’s persuasion and get the police there, but I have to admit as much as I know you are great at fighting, I still worried about you.”

“I had the same thing in mind and immediately scared them to pieces when I showed up in front of them before they could reach the front door. It looked like you were handling things fine, or I wouldn’t have left you.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Did you show them your fangs?”

“No, I just told them to lie down on their stomachs and put their hands being their backs until I released them. Then I called the police.”

“That worked great. I’ve got to get a hold of someone to replace the window.” Dane got on his phone and called the man he’d used for house repairs before, and he said he would come over to measure the window. “I’ve got someone coming over to take a look at the window frame.”

“That’s quick.”

“I killed a rogue vampire who was after his teenaged daughter. The vampire wanted her for his own, and I went after him right away. The girl was only fourteen. So Howard really appreciated my help and whenever I need some handywork done, he’s there for me get it done.”

“That’s great, especially since you need that window replaced as soon as you can.”

“Right. What appeals to you for lunch?” he asked.

“I could make grilled cheese sandwiches if you have cheese and bread,” she said.

“Yep, that would be great.”

They both transported downstairs. “You didn’t transport like that in front of the officers,” she said.

“No. I figured I would startle them too much if I suddenly appeared upstairs and the officers might have shot me.”

“Oh, true.”

He brought out the extra sharp cheddar cheese and the butter while she found a frying pan. Then he set the bread out for her. She started grilling the sandwiches and he brought out plates, dill pickles, and potato chips.

She glanced at the bag of chips. “Oh, sour cream and onion chips. My favorite.”

“Great. Mine too.”

Within a few minutes, she flipped the sandwiches over and grilled the other side. Then she served them up and he got glasses of water for them. “Do you need any more blood?”

“No, thanks, I’m good.”

They ate their sandwiches and pickles and then she sighed. “I’ll see you tonight then?” She glanced out the window. “If the rain settles down.”

“We can see each other anyway. We can do something different. Like watch a movie, or something.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll clean things up.”

“Okay, see you at…” She glanced at her phone. “Okay, rain is stopping soon. Five?”

“Yeah, see you then. And we can have dinner and then go for our walk.”

“Yeah, I would love to do that.”

Then the man came to replace Dane’s window, and she kissed Dane and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

He kissed her back. “See you too.”

Jacqueline went home while the handyman went into the back room to take measurements on the broken window. She had barely arrived home when someone knocked on the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so when she went to the door, she was surprised to see her brother. “Robert, what are you doing here?”

“Dad was furious that you and your hunter friends arrived at their house and gave Mom grief. And to make things worse, you and even more of your new friends showed up at the luncheon Mom and her friends were having at the restaurant.”

“Do you want to come in?” She wasn’t about to put up with her brother’s scolding, but she sure didn’t want to air their grievances on the front porch.

“Uh, yeah, of course.” Robert stepped into her house and shut and locked the door.

“So, do you want to ask me how I’m doing now that I’ve been turned? Or are you going to continue to act like nothing happened?” She got him a glass of ice water and they sat down in the living room. Princess immediately came to sit on her lap to be brushed. She picked up Princess’s brush and began working on her coat. Jacqueline was ready to clear the air with her brother. If he didn’t want to be part of her life any longer, or at least until he got over this, she was prepared for it.

“Yeah, okay, you’re right. I apologize to you for not coming to see you.”

“Or going after the vampire who had turned me.” She began brushing Princess’s tummy as she stretched out on her back on Jacqueline’s lap.

“I had a full load of cases to deal with.”

“All right, so a rogue vampire who could control me wasn’t as much of a priority to you or our parents as other vampire rogues on your list.”

Robert didn’t say anything in response. She figured he would try and talk his way out of feeling guilty about it, but then it seemed he thought better of it.

He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You are always so together. You fight and don’t need anyone. Even from a young age, you were like that.”

“You don’t think this whole business would have turned my world upside down? That I might have needed my family to act like they cared and not like I’m carrying a communicable disease?” At least she had gotten him off the topic of Dane and his brother seeing Mom at the house when Dad wasn’t there.

“Yeah, I…” Robert let out his breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Okay, you’re right. I didn’t know what to say to you. I felt bad that you’d been turned. Mom said to leave you alone for a while until you got over the newness.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“No. She said that we all know how you are when you’re faced with change in your life. You need time to sort out how you are feeling.”

“I needed my family to be there for me. A change like this is life altering. How would you feel if the roles had been reversed? If you had been turned and none of us had checked to see how you were feeling? If you needed anything? Not only had I been turned, but Van had dumped me, never asking how I was feeling, and he wouldn’t fight Heskel either.”

“And then he started courting your best friend. We all felt that was going too far. I’m sorry, really, Jacqueline. When I think about all the stuff you went through, I realize that we should have been there for you. I want you to know that I want what’s best for you. I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you and be the brother I’ve always been.”

“Or better.”

He raised his brows.

“An even better brother.”

Robert smiled. “Okay, that’s the sister I knew.”

She frowned at him. “Were you worried I would be a rogue? That I might attack you?”

He shook his head. “No. Even if Heskel had tried to convince you of it, we knew you wouldn’t. Truly, we know when you need your space. We really felt you needed some time after all that had happened, but we should have at least made sure, and I sincerely apologize for that.”

“At least I had Dane there for me.”

“Okay, so what’s the deal with him?” Robert asked.

“I met him at the therapy session for hunters turned, and you know what? Not only did he step in to be my hero and take down Heskel, his brothers stood by the both of us too.”

Robert lowered his eyes to the floor, and she knew he was feeling guilty about it. Then his blue eyes caught her gaze and he said, “I told you Van wasn’t the right one for you. As soon as he went hunting with you and then said he preferred fighting with his brothers but then here he is off hunting with Lettie now.”

“I know. I think that irritated me more than his dating her.”

“Knowing you, I’m not surprised.”

Then there was a knock at the door and Jacqueline wondered who that would be now. She set Princess on the couch and walked to the door, though if her brother hadn’t been here, she would have just used the vampire way to get there. Not that she was afraid to show what she was in front of her brother, but—she felt maybe it would be like showing off? She wasn’t sure why she was feeling that way.

“Are you expecting someone?” Robert sounded concerned.

“No, but I hadn’t been expecting you either.”