The Rogue's Obsession

No Way

James

I clench my teeth as Anton’s blade sinks into my flesh. I feel like he’s digging all the way down to my bones. Chris passes me a bottle of whisky, but I shake my head.

“Are you sure you are okay with staying here?”

I ask Chris and he grins,

“Like heck I am. I am waiting to make sure all your drops of blood have been cleaned if you collapse. “

I snort and Anton gives him a poisonous look.

Anton is a vampire, just like Chris, but he doesn’t even joke about it when one of us gets injured. Anton is the vampire with the impossible ability to control himself in a way no one else does.

I assume it’s because he is a doctor- yes. We all laugh at the irony of it sometimes.

“Where’s Kaimil?” I ask.

“He is coming, just sent me a message. He made sure the kid came back safe.” ‘

“Okay. “ I nod and Anton sinks another scalpel, or whatever he’s using, in me.

We live secretly from people- as in we walk among them but they don’t know about us. And sometimes some wolves and vampires disrupt the peace we’ve established with people.

We go after those. Let's say we are “the good bad guys. “ In a way. Because we don’t really fit in a normal society either. But not all wolves and vampires go on killing sprees. Some are rich and take government positions. Some - like Kamil, work for the police, or like Anotn who is a surgeon in a huge hospital. Gabriel was an officer too but he quit- he never told us why and we never asked.

“You look like s**t, “ Chris continues, pressing the wound he has on his shoulder- we all got injured but I was the closest.

I search for something to throw at him.

“Stop moving, “ Anton scolds me and moves to my other side, busying himself with the stitching.

Gabriel comes in shortly and closes the door patiently. His shirt’s front is covered in blood. My blood because he literally dragged me here.

“You were too careless. “ he says evenly and Chris and I exchange a look.

“But the job’s done. That's what matters. “ Chris says.

“Not at the expense of risking your lives. “

The Gariel’s eyes flutter to me.

“How are you? ”

“I've been better. “

“You’re skipping college tomorrow, right?”

Chris grins again and I exhale deeply. Then I remembered we had an assignment and that made Chris laugh.

“I told you there’s no point in trying to be normal, man. But you don’t listen. “

Maybe he is right. But I promised myself I would try. I left my old life in the past and I'm never going back to it and to everyone in it. I will live with the memory of what happened but I will try to live among people too.

It’s obvious neither of us can have a normal life but I will try to have the closest to it.

Anton cleans my last wound and gestures to Chris to take his T-shirt off. Chris is pretty badly injured too. I knew it before I saw it because whenever he is blabbering he does it to distract himself.

Kamil comes in later. He is bigger than most of us- he is big even for a shifter and whenever he comes in he fills the room.

“All settled?” Gabriel asks and Kamil nods.

Then he turns to me and Chris.

“You guys, “ he shakes his head “You did great but can you try to... I don’t know, make it less messy?“

“No, “Chris shakes his head and grins. There has been a gang in the neighboring town that was causing problems not only to humans but to shifters too. It took us a while to track them down but we had a plan - which worked- and we went after them tonight. Gabriel was with us at first but then I lost track of him. I later learned where he had gone to. And thinking of where he had gone to...

Gabriel pulls a chair and sits opposite me. He leans in it and folds his arms. I know what’s coming. He hasn’t mentioned it since he came in here and that’s only because he will want to have an entire conversation about it. And here it comes.

“James?” He asks.

“Yes?”

“Why did my niece recognize you?”

“What?” Kamil exclaims and Anton's hand on Chris freezes.

“She didn’t. “ I say and Gabriel holds my eyes, while the others start asking over each other.

“She is here?!“

“What? Where?!”

“When did she come?”

“Is this why you left so abruptly?”

“I was sure I smelled someone unfamiliar.”

Gabriel is still looking at me. My wolf keeps chanting. I should tell him.

“I got confused with the rooms,” I lie, “So I ended up in the wrong part of the house. “

“That’s okay, “ he says, “I am asking why she recognized you. “

“She didn’t. “

Gabriel leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

“Did Hannah notice you when I sent you to check on her in New Jersey?”

“You mean when we went to her place in the middle of the night and almost kissed her?”

My wolf says in my head and I close my eyes.

“No,” I say.

“Okay, “ Gabriel says shortly and I open my eyes. He doesn't ask further. He never does. If you lied, you lied. No matter how many more questions he asks he knows I will say the same.

“We just went, checked she was okay and left just as instructed, “ Chris says and Gabriel gets up.

“Make sure she doesn’t see you from now on. “

“You know that's not possible,” Kamil jumps in, “You will have to eventually tell her. If she is going to live here from now on she has to know. Tonight was not even a big deal and we are constantly involved in something. “

Gabriel doesn’t respond and looks at Anton.

“He is right. “ Anton says, wiping his hands, “She is human, but not knowing what’s going on doesn’t prevent bad things from happening to her. “

“They have so far. “ Gabriel argues.

“But things are different now, Gab. " Kamil goes on, “She is no longer away from all of this. She is in the middle of it. I know her mother tried to protect her by going there, but…”

“But my sister is dead, yeah…” Gabriel leans against the table behind him. “I had no other choice but to bring her here. My sister refused any contact with me all those years, she returned all the money I wanted to send but she is gone now. I don’t care about social services but if Hannah hadn't come here, I wouldn’t know what was happening to her. “

Then he decided.

“I will tell her. But not right now. I want her to get used to things here first. “

Fucking hell…

While Gabriel speaks all I can think of is how screwed I am. Having her here all the time? No way I am dealing with this s**t and my wolf is going crazy around her on a daily basis.