She started to run down the stairs.
He imagined her throwing herself into his arms with tears of joy running down her face.
They would make up and everything would be great, but she stopped halfway down.
A frown drew her brows together as if she’d just remembered their last fight.
Vanessa said, “Jack is visiting.”
“Is that what they call it on this side of the pond?” Carver put in.
Vanessa glared at him, and he shut his mouth.
It was amazing.
The woman should bottle whatever it was she had inside of her that put the biggest, toughest men in their places.
She could make a fortune.
Her smile returned, and she rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder.
“It’s good to see you.
Come into the kitchen.
I’ll fix you a slice of homemade bread.”
She led the way, and the men reluctantly followed.
They sat at the kitchen table with Andrew and Vanessa close together.
Carver sat on the other end with Jack in the middle.
Silver took her time in joining them.
Jack didn’t think she would bother, since she was obviously still mad at him, but she did.
Vanessa gave him a thick slice of homemade bread, already buttered.
Andrew asked, “Why are you here, Jack?”
Silver stood in the doorway.
“Why don’t you tell him why Ian Carver is here first?”
Jack sat up straighter, his full attention on Silver’s parents.
“What difference does that make?” Andrew asked in a gruff voice.
“What difference does it make?”
Silver gawked at her dad as if he’d lost his mind.
She went on a rant, using her hands to emphasize her points like a mime on an acid trip.
“Are you kidding me?
We’ve been keeping a huge secret from Jack.
It’s ruined my relationship with him.
I could hardly even look at him.”
Her eyes settled on her dad.
“Maybe that was the whole point.
Was it?
You didn’t want me with him in the first place, so you get me to keep a family secret.
Was that the plan, Dad?”
Father, mother, and daughter started trying to talk over each other.
Andrew warned Silver to watch her tone with him.
Silver continued with her accusations.
Vanessa played peacemaker as usual.
During the whole noisy episode, Ian Carver sat in stone cold silence.
His eyes were on Jack like an eagle watching his prey.
Uncomfortable at first, Jack shifted in his chair.
Then he reminded himself that he used to be a vampire, afraid of nothing.
Why was he letting a high school teacher get under his skin?
Jack took matters into his own hands.
He pinned the teacher with an equally piercing gaze and asked, “Why are you here?
Who are you really?”
A hush fell over the entire table as they waited for Ian Carver to answer the question.
“I am a hunter, Jack.”
It wasn’t what Jack had expected to hear.
His money would have been on the obvious, another werewolf.
He shook his head in amazement.
“How many hunters does one small town need?”
“He’s here because of you,” Vanessa said in a soft, calm voice.
“He’s here because I called him.”
“You called him?”
Jack blinked.
“Why?”
Silver answered that one.
Standing beside his chair with her wide blue eyes fixed on his face, she said, “There were so many vampires and werewolves coming after you that we got scared.
You’re good in a fight, but all it takes is one mistake and you die.
So mom called Ian.
He’s been watching over you.”
“I’m sorry,” Vanessa said.
“We should have consulted you about it first.”
“But you would have said no,” Silver pointed out.
“We just wanted you to be safe.”
Her cheeks flushed hot pink.
“I wanted you to be safe.”
Why?
She’d admitted to being confused about her feelings for him.
She had told her best friend she wasn’t in love with him anymore.
Why did she care if he got killed?
Was it a friend thing?
Did she want to be friends now?
And why did Ian care if he got killed?
When the teacher had come to his house, he’d sensed there was something about him, some connection.
He’d seen real concern in the man’s eyes, but only for a brief second.
Then it was gone.
“They called me because I knew your father,” Carver explained.
“Did you hunt with him?
Were you partners?”
“Not exactly.”
Ian smiled.
“I am your uncle, Jack.
John Creed was my brother, my half-brother.
We had the same mother, different fathers.
It’s a long and sordid story.”
A thousand questions crossed Jack’s mind so fast that he didn’t know which one to ask first.
There was so much he didn’t know about the man who’d raised him.
He settled on, “What was my father like when you were kids?”
Ian chuckled.
“Always right.
Always on the move.
He was probably the best hunter this world has ever seen.”
“How good could he be?
He died.”
“It happens to the best of us eventually.”
Ian nodded at Silver.
“She was right.
It only takes one mistake.”
Jack turned to Vanessa.
“Why didn’t you tell me I had an uncle?
And what about Billy?
Does he know about this?”
“No.”
Regret filled Vanessa’s eyes.
“Ian was in another country when your parents died, so we took Billy in for a short time until he could take care of himself.
I didn’t tell Billy about Ian because John and Ian weren’t even speaking to each other.
I didn’t know if Ian would be willing to come here to help out, and I had lost contact with him.
He was tracking a group of vampires, but I had no idea where.”
Ian filled in the missing pieces.
“Your father and I didn’t actually meet until we were teenagers.
He was a hard man to get to know.
I developed a grudging respect for him over the years.
I think… hope… he felt the same.
We kept in touch for a while through the phone and mail, both snail and email.
Then something happened that drove a wedge between us.
“We fell in love with the same beautiful young woman.
In the end she chose your father.
Truth is I couldn’t get over it, no matter how hard I tried.
She was the love of my life, and John knew it.
He resented me.
We resented each other.”
Jack interrupted.
“Are you talking about my mother?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged it off.
“John and I hadn’t spoken in years.
In fact the last time we talked you were only six years old.
It doesn’t surprise me that he didn’t mention the bloody fact that I exist.
When Vanessa tracked me down, told me they had died and that you were in danger, I had to come.
Think what you will of me, but I’ve always had a strong sense of duty and honor.
Even though I didn’t personally know you, I knew I had to protect you… for your mother’s sake, one last tribute.
But it’s more than that now.
I have come to genuinely like you.”
Jack found that difficult to believe.
“If that’s true, then why do you look at me with such loathing then?”
“I apologize for that.
I didn’t realize I was even doing it.”
He shrugged.
“You remind me of my father sometimes.
You have the same eyes.
It’s disconcerting.”
“Why did you make it so difficult for me at school when I asked you to let me into your class?”
Ian sighed.
“I wasn’t trying to be difficult, son.
I wanted to help you.
I’m afraid Hardwick made his feelings known about you from day one.
He would have thrown a fit, and I couldn’t risk my position at school.”
Ian leaned over the table, and his eyes narrowed on Jack’s face.
“Speaking of Hardwick, do you have an idea who might have killed him?”
Honestly?
Jack had suspected Ian Carver.
The man had stepped into the principal’s shoes with ease.
He’d gained the most from Hardwick’s death.
Next on the list though was Isobel.
He hated to think of her doing something like that, and he wasn’t going to point a hunter in Isobel’s direction without proof, but she seemed a likely candidate.
He shook his head.
“No clue.”
“Well, let me know if that changes.”
“Sure.”
His thoughts turned to Billy.
He had to tell his brother about their brand new uncle.
Billy was going to freak.
Jack stood, scraping the wooden legs of the chair against the hardwood floor.
“I have to go.”
Ian stood too and shook Jack’s hand.
“You and I will get together soon.
We can talk about your father some more.
I am quite certain you must have a slew of questions.”
Jack agreed.
He said goodbye to
Silver’s
parents and walked out.
Silver followed him to the front porch, like he instinctively knew she would.
He had a few things still to clear up with her.
There were so many things to say.
She went first.
“I’m sorry I kept the truth about your uncle from you.
Mom and dad convinced me it was better to keep my mouth shut, but I should have known better.
I should have told you.
We promised not to keep any more secrets.”
“It’s okay.”
Forgiveness came easy for him because he had a huge list of secrets that he didn’t want her to know about.
“No, it isn’t.
I pushed you away because being around you got too hard.
I couldn’t keep up with the lie.
Every time I looked at you, I wanted to tell you.
Every time you talked about missing Jersey, how he reminds you of your father, I wanted to start yelling that you have an uncle.
I should have.
I should have told you a long time ago.”
Silver stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
For a moment he just stood there with his arms at his sides.
He forgot to breathe.
It didn’t seem real.
Slowly he raised his arms and embraced her warm body.
It felt like heaven when the side of her face rested against his chest.
They held each other for a long time.
Now it was his turn to clear the air.
“I don’t like Isobel, not like you think I do.
I’ve been using her to learn to suck souls.
Also, I’ve been hanging out with her to make you jealous.”
Silver stepped back.
“Well it worked.”
“I thought you’d betrayed me.”
Beware of Silver.
Her eyes dropped.
“Well I did, didn’t I?
I let my parents talk me into lying to you after we promised to be straight with each other.”
“We can’t blame your parents for what’s been going on with us.
Not totally anyway.
You told Trina you’re feelings had changed and that you were confused.
Do you know how you feel about me now?
Honestly, do you love me or are we just friends?”
He could take it no matter how much it hurt.
Silver opened her mouth to answer.
Jack caught sight of the werewolf from earlier.
It was watching them from behind the thick trunk of a tree.
Jack bent forward slightly and whispered in her ear.
He told her about the werewolf and advised her not to make any sudden movements.
She froze like a statue.
Using vampire-speed, Jack raced over to the werewolf.
He caught it by surprise and knocked it to the ground.
It was fast too.
It jumped up, back on its feet in a matter of seconds.
The werewolf had a knife in its hand, and Jack connected the dots.
He recognized the werewolf.