Chapter 25

Besides planning for their wedding that week, Jacqueline and Dane had their second therapy session, only this time Anne had a brand-new pot of coffee for them bubbling away. The meeting room still looked like it was part of an abandoned building, but the fresh coffee brewing sure smelled good. Adonis, Rachael, Michael, Pasha, Danai, and Zachary came too. But what really surprised them was that five more hunters turned showed up besides Anne, Stacey, Dane, and Jacqueline. They were the ones on the list who hadn’t shown up at the first meeting. Even the vampires, Reese and his girlfriend, Eleanor, were there.

Adonis got up to speak first and talked about his parents and sister being taken hostage, and his other sister and him being turned.

Danai talked about her and Adonis’s ordeal with having to turn Rachael over to the vampire Piaras. Zachary spoke about his issues with fighting the vampire when they were trying to free Adonis and Danai’s parents and younger sister. Rachael spoke about becoming a vampire to be able to fight Piaras because he had claimed her for his own.

Then the newcomers to the meeting began talking about their situations. Stacey mentioned her encounter with the vampire she had hooked up with. There were a couple of chuckles over that. No one expected anyone to be making love to one and being caught off-guard and turned. Fighting one and becoming overwhelmed, yes.

Dane was happy to announce that they had taken down Heskel, Jacqueline’s maker, and that he and Jacqueline were now a mated couple—having met at the first therapy session and just hit it off. His words, not Jacqueline’s. She remembered it quite a bit differently.

“We came to this meeting,” Stuart, one of the newcomers, said, “because we heard how hunters had set up Dane to be terminated by a rogue vampire and how all of you and your families helped to uncover the truth. Also, because you banded together to take down Jacqueline’s maker. We were reluctant to just come to a meeting and tell how much we had lost when we were turned. But you showed us that this group is something more. It’s a meeting of like-minded individuals who have shared a common experience that has turned our lives inside out. And we knew we needed to be here too, sharing our strengths and weaknesses, and showing how we’re dealing with all this on a daily basis.”

“And also,” Diane, another newcomer, said, “you proved we could visit hunters’ clubs and band together. That we could even go to vampire clubs, if we mind our manners.”

“And that Tobias and others on the council are trying to change the rules so that those of us who are hunters turned will have the same rules in taking down rogue hunters as hunters do,” Xenia said.

“Yes,” Anne said. “By meeting together, we can help each other out. I wanted to thank everyone for sharing their stories. We also have two special guests who want to share the age-old rules of vampires—protocols we need to follow while we’re among vampires. She welcomed Reese and Eleanor who explained how they had been turned during the Black Death and their rules had been very much different in the early days.

The newly turned vampires gained some appreciation on how much things had improved for vampires since then.

Finally, Anne said, “If anyone is interested, I plan to start painting this building, inside and out and refurbishing it as a safe haven for our kind. I would welcome anyone’s help to clean this place up and make it a meeting place that we’re proud of.”

“I think some family members might benefit from forming their own group to talk about how they feel about us being turned also,” Jacqueline said.

“That’s an excellent idea,” Anne said.

“My brothers will come,” Dane said.

“I think my brother will,” Jacqueline said.

“Mine might,” Stacey said.

Zachary said, “My father and uncles and cousins will come to show their support. They might not do it for every meeting, but just occasionally, to show solidarity.”

“Okay, that’s sounds good. If someone can oversee that, that will be great. Anyone who wants to paint, I’ll be here at eight in the morning to start it,” Anne said.

* * *

The next morning,everyone was there to paint, including the family members who were eager to have their family support group—even Tobias, who didn’t get a lot of painting done, but did a lot of supervising. But after that, they went to sword training—everyone who wanted to—and that meant all the hunters at the building, hunters turned, and even Zeke’s little band of Van Helsing hunters showed up. So did Jacqueline’s parents to both her and Dane’s surprise but they were both grateful to do this with everyone. Dane and Jacqueline had a great time and were creating even greater bonds. Between the hunters turned using their vampire skills to help hunters, and the humans honing their skills, the practice fighting was invaluable. After that, they had a big barbecue at Dane and Jacqueline’s house and a pool party for whoever wanted to swim.

Dane pulled Jacqueline onto his lap on one of the loungers as others enjoyed the pool and everyone was eating burgers, french fries, and corn-on-the-cob and enjoying margaritas. “Wow, who would have thought we would have bonded with other hunters and human hunters in such a way after being turned,” Dane said, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah, I thought we would be shunned forever.”

Dane’s brothers fixed more burgers and margaritas while Jacqueline’s brother was making batches of french fries. Zeke and his friends were swimming and had offered them backup anytime they needed it.

Even Danai, Pasha, and Rachael had become Jacqueline’s good friends. Van had dumped Lettie and wasn’t dating. But no way had they invited him to their training or party afterward.

“We should do this every other week, don’t you think?” Dane asked Jacqueline as they watched everyone having such a great time.

“Yeah, and don’t be surprised if our training and party afterward doesn’t grow.”

Dane smiled. “That works for me. Now about selling your house…”

“It’s done. So you’re stuck with me and Princess.”

He laughed. “A situation I’m thrilled with.”

“You better be. I sure am. I love you.”

“I love you!”