Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

Nicoli winced with every step he took on the asphalt path. He sounded so loud and clumsy compared to the other two, which wasn’t hard since Felix simply floated in the air and Ethan made no sound at all.

“All right, I have to ask. Why are we meeting them in the park?” the boy inquired as he glanced around at their surroundings. They had made their way into Whixton Park. It was like any other park filled with lush grass to run across and tumble onto and sturdy trees to climb on. The big, colorful jungle gym smack dab in the middle of the park didn’t hurt either.

“Well, it’s open, quiet, and has good scenery. I thought it’d be a nice spot for a family reunion,” Ethan replied. “Don’t you think so?”

Nicoli shrugged. He didn’t know what to think. His nerves that had been soothed by the vampire’s words yesterday were as frazzled as could be. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and it took all of his will power to keep his feet moving step by step.

Ethan sensed his increasing unease, but he didn’t insult the boy by offering any words of reassurance. They were meaningless now at such a crucial hour. Instead the vampire simply patted the boy’s back and gave a comforting squeeze to his shoulder.

Nicoli tensed at the unexpected contact and glanced at Ethan out of the corner of his eye. The boy then gave a feeble smile, trying to be brave.

“Man,” Felix said, breaking the silence that had surrounded them. The ghost was floating on his back, gazing up at the stars. “To think we haven’t seen them in almost a year. I hadn’t realized till now how much I missed them.”

A smile appeared on Ethan’s face and he reached his hand up to stroke Felix’s hair. Once the strands morphed from intangible to solid the vampire ruffled the boy’s hair.

“I’ve missed them, too. They sound like they’ve been well, but I can’t wait to see them all the same.”

Nicoli watched the exchange of endearments in silence. Maybe he really didn’t have anything to worry about. If Ethan and Felix could talk about the family so fondly they couldn’t be all bad, right? And Nicoli had to remember that Felix hadn’t always been a ghost. At one point he had been alive and Nicoli was sure that he had known the vampires during that time. If the vampires liked Felix when he was a living human then they could tolerate Nicoli…or so he hoped.

“Okay, so here’s how it’s going to work,” Ethan said as they came to a stop in front of a park bench that was across from the playground. “You are going to stay here for now while Felix and I go meet and greet the family,” Ethan told him with a smile.

Nicoli’s brows furrowed and he crossed his arms.

“Wait, why would I stay here?” he asked and noticed how the vampire’s smile faltered considerably.

“Weeeelll, you know, so we can just ease them into meeting you and all that. We don’t really want to just spring you onto them,” Ethan explained as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

Nicoli stared at him for a moment before his eyes widened with a horrified thought. Just as quickly his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“You…didn’t tell them about me, did you?” he asked accusingly and the guilty look on the vampire’s face was proof enough, but the next words out of Felix’s mouth drove the nail into the proverbial coffin.

“I told you he wouldn’t be too keen on that idea.”

“Are you insane, you freaking prick!? Why wouldn’t you tell them about me!?” Nicoli snarled and landed a few angry hits on Ethan’s person, who tried to step out of the way of the boy’s attack.

“Nicoli, calm down, will you?” Ethan said and, finally having enough, grabbed the human’s wrists to try and still him. “All right, I may have…accidentally forgot to mention anything to Conrad about having you with us, but it’ll be okay, really.”

“Okay? Okay!?” Nicoli repeated through clenched teeth as he wrenched his wrists from Ethan’s grasp. “How is it going to be okay? You could have told him ahead of time so he’d cool off by now and get used to the idea, but now you’re just going to drop me on him without warning? Please explain to me how that’s a freakin’ good idea!”

Ethan could offer no reply that would sound reasonable to the human, but Felix, as always, had more than enough to say.

“That’s easy. It’s not,” the ghost said, receiving two sets of glares. “But, hell, it’s better to confront Conrad about this head on instead of having told him over the phone. Something tells me no amount of time would have cooled him off.”

Nicoli fumed, but said nothing more. If he tried to say anything he’d only end up screaming more at the stupid man standing in front of him.

“You’ll see, everything will be fine,” Ethan reassured him, but only received a dark look from the boy. “You won’t be mad at me forever.” The vampire sighed when Nicoli simply crossed his arms as if to say, “Oh yeah?”

“He’s always going to be pissed at you for something, so get used to it,” Felix said as he tugged on Ethan’s arm. “Come on, let’s just go meet them already.”

“All right, all right. Nicoli, just stay here and try to calm down. When we’re ready I’ll call you in with the mind link, okay?” Ethan wasn’t surprised when the boy didn’t answer and just continued to stare heatedly at him. “I’ll take that as a yes. All right, Felix, let’s go.”

Then, without another word, or so much as a backwards glance, the vampire and the ghost left and Nicoli found himself utterly alone.

After awhile of simply standing in place Nicoli began to pace back and forth furiously. Anger made every muscle in his body twitch and he was even less sure about meeting Ethan’s family now. It would have been one thing if they had known he was in the equation, but now the boy was going to be presented to them out of the blue and what if they didn’t like surprises?

Nicoli debated whether or not to just return home. It’d be easier to sneak back into his room and deal with his unaware parents, who just thought he had “turned in early.” It’d serve Ethan right if he just left. He didn’t need this kind of stress. Why should he stick around if the vampire treated him like a secret he needed to be ashamed of?

As he paced Nicoli began to mutter and as he muttered Ethan’s own words slipped from his lips in a very childish, mocking tone.

““No one can make me think differently about how important you are in this.” “No matter what they think or how they feel about you helping me, it’s not going to change anything, I promise you that.” “As far as I’m concerned you’re a vital part of this team now.””

With a vicious snarl Nicoli sent a rock that happened to by lying on the pathway flying with a swift kick.

“What a bunch of fucking bullshit!” Nicoli yelled as the rock shot off in the distance and into the darkness. “I can’t believe I bought into all that. If I’m such a vital part of the team shouldn’t he have mentioned me just a little? Augh!!!”

With one last cry of agitation Nicoli plopped down onto a nearby park bench and crossed his arms with a huff. Nicoli had never felt so angry at the vampire like he was now. He was livid and practically seeing red. As he tried to rope in his temper his hand unconsciously went to his lips and he grazed his fingertips lightly over them.

“And to think I let that bastard kiss me,” he grumbled. His fury boiled down to plain, severe annoyance. He felt thoroughly embarrassed by Ethan’s little kiss now. Strangely enough, he was more mortified by that one, soft kiss than by their ferocious encounter in the maze…and he wasn’t sure why.

“This is all so very fucked up,” Nicoli groaned as he leaned forward and buried his fingers in his hair while his elbows rested on his knees. He stayed like that for a long time, calmly taking in deep breaths to try and simmer down. He didn’t need to be pissy when first meeting the other vampires. That was just a disaster waiting to happen.

As Nicoli sat on the bench something brought him out of his thoughts. A noise. A noise so soft at first he wasn’t even sure he had heard it. Nicoli sat up straight and strained his ears. He was sure he had heard something. Blue eyes roamed around the area when he heard it again. It was the sound of crying. He was certain of it.

Slowly Nicoli rose from the bench and continued to look around, trying to find the source of the sounds. He walked a few feet out onto the path and looked up and down it. The soft light from the lamps that lined the pathway did little to help him find what he was looking for.

“Hello?” Nicoli called out tentatively. He received no answer and the crying continued. Once he listened long enough he determined that it was coming from the playground equipment right in front of him. Cautiously he made his way towards the towering slides and monkey bars, unsure of what he would find.

A part of him wanted to call out to Ethan, just in case, but, even at the mere thought anger boiled up and he detested the very idea and pressed on alone.

“Hello? Who’s there?” Nicoli tried again, but still the crying went on and his words went unheeded. The sobs grew louder and louder as he approached a small, plastic enclosure underneath the main slide that was used as a fort for the small children that would hide within its vibrant, blue walls. Nicoli crouched down when he reached it and looked inside.

Huddled in the very back of the enclosure was a little girl. She was curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried in her knees. The darkness was more pronounced inside the little fort so he couldn’t see what she looked like.

“Hey…what’s wrong?” Nicoli asked once he was over his initial surprise.

A watery gasp issued and the girl lifted her head to look at him. Even in the dark he knew she was scared.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you,” Nicoli told her, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. “What are you doing in there?”

“I-I lost my Daddy and-and I can’t find him,” the little girl told him between sobs and finished with a sniffle.

Nicoli raised an eyebrow. He wondered what kind of irresponsible parent took their child out this late at night then lost the child? A dark thought crept into his mind that the child could have possibly been abandoned and he hoped that wasn’t the case.

“I’m scared. I want Daddy!” the little girl sobbed before burying her head into her knees again and crying harder than before.

“Er, come on, don’t cry. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Nicoli told her, doing his best to calm the girl down, but no matter what he said nothing seemed to help. With a sigh he sat back on his heels and scratched his head. Nicoli was never great with kids, especially ones that were crying inconsolably.

“It’s going to be okay, really. Look, I’ll help you look for your dad, okay? I’m sure with both of us looking we can track him down, what do you say?”

A sense of relief filled Nicoli when the crying softened until it was reduced to nothing but whimpers. The girl slowly lifted her head to look at him.

“R-Really? You’ll help me find Daddy?” she asked then wiped at her face with her arm.

“Of course. I can’t just leave you out here. If you come out of there I’ll help get you back to your dad so you can go home, okay?” he said with a soft smile.

The smile didn’t last long. A chilling silence descended after his offer. The unending stillness unnerved Nicoli. There wasn’t even the sound of the girl crying anymore. Just when he was about to say something a new noise dashed the eerie silence. The woodchips that filled the playground shifted and crunched as something moved.

“Oof!”

Nicoli was thrown back and he landed painfully onto his rear end. The woodchips were of little relief. It would have bothered him, or maybe even irked him, if he hadn’t been distracted by the quivering child he found in his arms.

The girl had her arms wrapped around his chest and clung to him for dear life. She was crying again, but not as hard as before.

Nicoli slowly wrapped his arms around the girl comfortingly and began to stroke her head, mimicking how his mother used to comfort him when he was a child.

“Don’t cry. It’s all going to be okay. We’ll find your dad and you’ll be safe and sound, nothing’s going to hurt you,” he cooed softly.

After a few minutes the girl pulled away to look up at him. Now that she was out where there was light, no matter how minimal it was, Nicoli could see what she looked like. She couldn’t have been more than eight or ten years old. Long, blonde hair fell down around her, though it was an odd shade of blonde. It was as if it was discolored, almost fading into a light gray and she stared at him with big, pale green eyes. She was wearing a simple white dress with a black ribbon tied around her waist and black dress shoes adorned her feet. No one could argue that she was a very pretty little girl.

“Are you really going to find my daddy?” she asked him in a small, frightened voice.

“I’m going to try,” Nicoli said with a smile. “And if I can’t I’m sure we can find someone who can.” He grunted in surprise when the girl buried her face into his chest again.

“Thank you. Thank you,” she said over and over.

Nicoli smiled to himself and held her tighter. It felt good to him to be the one helping someone else for once.

“No problem. You’re going to be all right.”

If Nicoli had truly been paying attention when he studied the girl he would have noticed that her eyes had held no tears. Or maybe he would have realized her skin was far paler than was normal. Even as he held her he was unaware of the grin that stretched her lips, revealing lethal, ivory fangs and her fair green eyes began to glow with an unnatural light.

*****************************************************************************

Ethan stretched and he heard a joint or two pop. He looked around the small clearing that he had chosen for the meeting. It was open like he wanted, but trees surrounded the area so it was also secluded. Ethan’s pleasant revere was broken by his little specter.

“Nicoli suuuure was pissed,” Felix said with a pleasant grin dancing across his features.

“You don’t have to look so pleased about it,” the vampire muttered.

“Of course I do,” Felix retorted without hesitation. As the ghost flipped over so he was upside down a thoughtful look replaced his grin. “Do you really think you did the right thing by not telling Conrad and the others about him?”

“Yes, I did. He may not understand it now, and even you might think I messed up to the point of no return, but I know my sire better than either of you and, with how he is, I know telling him beforehand would have been disastrous. I’m doing this for Nicoli’s own good and he’ll come to realize that soon enough,” Ethan said and his voice held so much conviction it almost swayed the ghost. Almost.

“Whatever you say there, Big guy,” the young ghost mumbled instead.

Ethan was about to retort with a snarky comment when he shuddered and looked off into the distance. A wave of energy danced and crackled along his skin. It was a familiar sensation and one he had been dying to feel again because it meant one thing. Vampires were near.

At the end of the clearing four figures materialized from the very darkness and approached them. No sound uttered from their steps and they walked with such grace they seemed surreal and dream like instead of part of reality. The clearing was far from the reaches of the lamplight in the park, but Ethan’s advanced eyesight cut through the darkness and it was as if he was looking at the new comers in perfect daylight. There were three men and one women and each one of them held a certain beauty that no sane person could deny.

One of the men had thick, rich black hair that spilled down his shoulders and lightly touched his chest. His fair skin contrasted the dark locks that framed his oval face whose features looked playful and devious. He was almost as tall as Ethan and power radiated off his strong physique that was covered by a fine tailored black suit. The one thing that marred the man’s stunning appearance was an eye patch that covered his left eye, concealing whatever lay underneath.

The man beside him outdid them all in height and his poise and graceful movement spoke of a strong will and he looked very stoic and regal in his long strides. He stood out from the others greatly with his luscious dark skin given to him by an African heritage and even darker, ebony hair hung around his chin, enhancing his icy blue eyes. Eyes that could have been carved from an arctic glacier.

The only female was lovelier than any model could hope to be. Blond hair cascaded down her voluptuous body and was just shy of brushing her waist. Warm brown eyes gazed out from a fan of lashes and full red lips would be irresistible to all men and even a few from the female persuasion. A black and purple bell sleeved shirt hugged her torso and black pants hid her endlessly long legs.

The final man led the small group. Out of all of them he seemed the most impressive presence wise. There was something about him that commanded ones utmost attention. Dark blond hair lay across his broad shoulders and his strides were powerful with full determination to reach whatever the destination may be. Steel gray eyes could silence the most wild of people and were set into a face that said he was not to be taken lightly.

A smile upturned the side of Ethan’s mouth when the four stopped a few feet away from him. The seconds ticked by before the vampire could get his mouth to open and speak.

“It’s so great to see you, Father,” he said, his voice strangely soft.

Conrad, sire to Ethan and the leader of the vampire clan, smiled and held his arms open to Ethan.

“My son, I’ve missed you,” he said and his smile grew soft and affectionate when Ethan came into his arms and hugged him tightly. “You’ve been gone far too long.”

“I know, Father, I know.”

The two held each other tenderly and through their embrace told how much their separation had pained them and how blissful it was to finally be reunited.

“All right, Conrad, stop hogging him,” a voice disrupted them. “We all have missed him, you know.”

The two vampires pulled apart and Conrad was shooed away unceremoniously by the man with the eye patch. When in reach the black haired vampire cupped Ethan’s face with his hands and even squished his cheeks together a bit.

“Ethan, my dear little cousin, you know just how to make us worry, don’t you?” the man said with a flashy smile.

“I learned from the best, Andre,” Ethan teased with his own grin and was met with laughter for his words and enveloped in another hug. Ethan felt lips brush his ear and a whisper caressed the delicate flesh there.

“It’s good to have you back, Ethan.”

No sooner were Ethan’s arms empty of Andre they were once again filled with the blond woman. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she clung to him with great earnest.

“You are such a jerk, Ethan,” the woman muttered into his neck, but there was no anger behind her words. She leaned back just enough to be able to scowl at him. “You were gone for so long and you hardly ever called. You could have gone old school and at least written or something,” she huffed.

Ethan laughed as his arms loosely circled her waist.

“In order to satisfy you I would have had to call at least twenty times a day, Cora,” he told her.

“So?”

“Soooo…nothing. Next time I’ll call more,” Ethan said, knowing what she wanted to hear and he was rewarded by a radiant smile and a multitude of kisses.

“You’re damn straight you will, but there won’t be a next time. You’re back with your family and you’re going to stay with your family this time,” Cora said and her words were a firm statement, not a suggestion.

Ethan chuckled as the woman patted his cheek then playfully ruffled his hair. With her greeting over Ethan turned to the tall black man who stood silently by the others. Ethan smirked before strolling casually over the man. He studied the other for a moment before grinning fully and holding his arms out.

“Come on, Gavin, gimmie a hug. You know you want to. You’ve miiiisssed me and you want to huuuug me,” Ethan said with a teasing lit and a wiggle of his brows.

Gavin’s nostrils flared from a heavy sigh, but the faintest of smiles lit up his otherwise stony face.

“As incorrigible as ever, I see. You’ll never change, you little brat,” he said in a low, deep tone, but his voice was so smooth and rich it was like a caress to the ears to hear.

“And why would I when my bratiness is the only thing that can get even the barest smiles out of you?” Ethan asked and, without waiting for any sort of permission, pulled the larger man into a hug. Something only Ethan dared to do.

The other vampires watched the display with amused and approving smiles and laughs. While Ethan continued to hug a slightly uncomfortable looking Gavin, Andre turned his attention to the on looking specter, who had gone completely unnoticed until that moment.

“Ah and here is our little stray, who is skulking in the shadows as usual,” he said with a cheeky grin as he approached the spirit. “I must admit, I’ve missed having you haunt our halls these past months with your rattling chains and icy presence.”

Felix raised a brow and crossed his arms, finding the remark to be rather indignant.

“Oh, really? Well, I can say I haven’t missed your irritating way of spitting out nonsense and thinking you’re the king of poetry and charm,” the ghost said with a vapid air.

“Ooooooh, Kitten, you wound me so,” Andre said in mock hurt.

“Andre, leave Felix alone,” Cora chided him before addressing the spirit. “He’s just being him, Felix, he has missed you very much, more than he’d probably care to admit, but not as much as I have. The house is hardly the same without your energetic spirit to liven it up,” she cooed to the boy as she ran her fingers over the finicky particles of his cheek and hair that danced around the roaming digits until they were willed to still and imitate that of solid flesh.

In a rare moment a true, sincere smile appeared on Felix’s face and a transparent hand rested over the one cupping his cheek.

“I’ve missed you too, Cora. It’ll be nice to have some sane people around again,” the spirit said and his sweet smile turned into a grin. “And maybe we’ll finally have a voice of reason for Ethan.”

“Oh? Has Ethan been a bit naughty while you guys have been trekking across the country?” Cora asked curiously.

“You have noooo idea ,” Felix replied, knowing the “naughty” surprise that waited for the clan just a few yards away. But he put those thoughts away for the moment – he never cared to think much on the subject of Nicoli anyway – and focused on those he considered his loved ones as well as his only family. He continued his affectionate gestures towards Cora and even stopped his teasing long enough to give Andre a few kisses in welcome. The eye patch sporting man could be pompous and aggravating, but Felix loved him all the same.

When it came to Conrad, however, Felix knew his place and kept his distance from the head vampire and simply gave a respectable nod. All shows of love Conrad had shown for Ethan dissipated when it came to Felix and he responded to the ghost’s gesture with a curt nod of his own. None of the others thought much to the seemingly cold greeting between the two. It was normal.

As Ethan finished lavishing attention on Gavin he noticed something was amiss.

“Wait a minute,” he murmured as he looked around the group. “Why is someone missing? Where’s –”

Ethan was cut off as a piercing scream cut through the air. Everyone jumped in surprise and confusion as the scream ended, but continued to ring in their ears.

“What in the world was that?” Andre said as everyone else – with the exception of Ethan and Felix – went into a defensive stance. A second later a figure burst out from the tree line and into the clearing and headed toward them at full speed.

“Nicoli?” Ethan said under his breath in bewilderment while Felix covered his face with his hand.

“Oh no.”

Nicoli sprinted the distance in a matter of seconds and made a bee line for Ethan. When he reached the man he slammed into him and wrapped his arms around the vampire’s waist, but he had built up so much momentum the he resembled a horseshoe and skidded around the Ethan like he was a pole. Nicoli was only saved from being thrown by the tight grip he had with his arms. At full stop Nicoli was able to cling to Ethan’s back with all his might and the vampire could feel the boy shaking and smelled the fear coming from him.

“Nicoli? What’s the matter?” Ethan asked gently as he twisted his body around to face the boy, which was hard to do what with the tight grip the human had on him. Ethan tilted Nicoli’s face up with one hand and began smoothing back the dark strands of hair from his face.

“It’s okay, Nicoli, calm down. Just breathe,” Ethan coaxed after Nicoli sputtered over his words and could hardly talk over his harsh breathing. “What happened?”

Nicoli tried to take in deep breaths. One of his hands was tangled in a death grip in Ethan’s shirt as the other hand pointed in the direction he had just come from.

“There – d-demon – I.” Nicoli stopped to try and collect the words that were on his tongue and arrange them in the correct order.

“Some-Some kind of…demon girl attacked me!” he finally spat out and he did his best not to collapse right then and there.

“Demon girl?” Ethan muttered. He mulled over Nicoli’s words for a moment before he put two and two together. Then he did something unexpected. He laughed.

That snapped Nicoli right out of his fear induced terror and right into rage.

“Excuse me! I’m not finding anything funny. Why the hell are you laughing!?” he snarled. The sudden urge to punch the vampire in the face was appealing at the moment.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Ethan apologized as he put his hands on Nicoli’s shoulders. “I believe the “demon girl” you ran into was my sister Faith. She has her own…special sense of humor, but, unless provoked, she’s quite harmless,” he told the human.

“Harmless? Harmless!?” Nicoli yelled vehemently. “Does this look harmless to you!?” He raised his right arm and pulled up his sleeve just enough so his wrist showed. In the skin were two, deep puncture marks that were weeping blood.

Ethan examined the wound while biting back a grimace. Faith just had to prove him wrong.

“All right, she has her feisty side every so often, but I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t worry, you’re fine. Everything is going to be okay,” Ethan assured him and caressed Nicoli’s cheek soothingly, but the human was in no mood to be comforted and furiously smacked the hand away.

“It is not going to be okay,” he growled through clenched teeth. “And I wish you would stop saying that. It’s bad enough you’re treating me like I’m some kind of dirty secret, but now I get attacked by your supposed “sister” and you could hardly give a fuck! I don’t even know why I’m here if you’re going to be such an asshole.”

“Um, Nicoli,” Ethan murmured, glancing at his clan out of the corner of his eye. “I know you’re upset, but now is really not the time to be discussing this.”

“Oh, well I’m so sorry I’m inconveniencing the great Ethan. How dare I be upset when I feel like being upset. Whatever was I thinking? When would be a good time for you, oh mighty vampire of the night?”

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“Oh, am I? Am I really?”

“Yes, you are. I knew you were prone to your tantrums, but now you’re just being a Drama Queen.”

“Drama Queen!? Yes, I get attacked by a little vampire squirt and I’m the one that’s overreacting! I should be perfectly okay with getting bitten viciously by your sister. Silly me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then, please, by all means, tell me how you meant it.”

Felix stood by and was rubbing his temples with great force. Anxiety was building in his chest with each passing second. He nervously glanced at the family that was watching the escalating argument like it was a tennis match. He could tell most of them were extremely bewildered by the sudden appearance of the peculiar human and Andre looked amused to see his cousin being torn a new one by a young human boy.

Not everyone was watching in simple curiosity, though, and that was the source of Felix’s distress. A subtle tension was thickening the air and no one but the ghost was aware of it. He nervously glanced at Conrad and he winced when he saw the seething anger in the vampire’s eyes. It was an inner wrath that was further fueled by the confusion of the situation and it continued to boil up until it finally exploded.

“Enough!!!” Conrad shouted and utter silence followed in obedience.

Snapped out of his fury, it was the first time Nicoli noticed that he and Ethan weren’t alone and he was horrified to see all the other vampires. Then to be confronted by the suffocating presence of one of the vampires whose very being gave off the aura of command and power, Nicoli’s survival instincts switched immediately to fear and he did the first thing that came to mind. He hid behind Ethan.

“Ethan,” Conrad said, his voice much lower, but no less harsh, “I hope that you have a damn good explanation for this-this boy being here and who seems to know far more than he should.” His eyes slid over to said boy, who cowered behind Ethan further until he could hardly be seen., but his racing heart could clearly be heard.

“So, I’ll this only once,” Conrad continued. “What is the meaning of this?”

His iron clad voice could have made the bravest of men wet themselves, but Ethan didn’t so much as flinch and countered his father’s words with one of his wide grins.

“Father, don’t get yourself all worked up. I can explain.”

“Then do,” Conrad snapped.

“Yes, sir. Everyone, this is Nicoli, a new friend of mine,” Ethan said and practically yanked Nicoli out from behind him. He then had to hold the skittish human still by keeping a tight grip on his shoulders.

“The reason he is here tonight, and why he happens to know more than he probably should, is because he has been helping Felix and I in the search for the Crystal Hearts,” he said bluntly, getting straight to the point.

Nicoli wanted to shrink and wither away at the shocked looks the others gave him and the absolute rage he could practically feel coming from Conrad.

“Um…hi?” Nicoli said uncertainly, desperately wanting the unbearable tension to ease, but that seemed unlikely when his meager words caused Conrad’s eye to twitch.

“Oh boy, this night just turned interesting,” Andre said and Gavin sent him a disapproving look, hushing him silently.

Conrad’s eyes moved from Ethan to Nicoli to Felix then back. He licked his lips and seemed to be putting his thoughts together before he could form words.

“What do you mean this…human has been helping you in locating the Hearts?” Conrad growled.

“Just what it sounds like, Pops. Nicoli here has been trying to help us pinpoint the location of one of the Hearts, which all three of us are sure is somewhere here in Whixton.”

Beforehand the news of a possible confirmation of a Heart would have thrilled Conrad, but he could find no joy in it with the presence of an interloper in their midst.

“Ethan, do you have any idea of what you’ve done? Revealing yourself and your mission to some mortal? What were you thinking?”

“Er, Mr. Conrad, sir?” Nicoli squeaked out. He jumped when the vampire leaders head snapped down and he was met with a heated glare. The only thing he could do to stop himself from sprinting away was to push back into Ethan for some form of security.

“Whoo, hi. Okay, I know you’re really unhappy right now, but I just want to make one thing clear. This whole “me helping out” thing was completely his idea,” Nicoli said, pointing up at Ethan. He received a smack upside the head, but that didn’t deter him from who he thought deserved the full brunt of the blame. “Well, it’s true!”

“Actually, I can vouch for that,” Felix piped up for the first time since the argument began.

“Felix,” Ethan hissed.

“Oh what? You wanted this so don’t start gripping about it now. As they say, “You reap what you sow,” ” the ghost spat back

“That’s it, I’ve had enough,” Conrad interjected and unexpectedly moved toward Ethan and Nicoli with his hand outstretched.

For one wild moment, Nicoli thought the man was reaching for him with malicious intent and he screwed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t have to watch his impending doom. But the doom never came.

Instead of grabbing at Nicoli’s throat, which was his greatest fear at the moment, Conrad grasped the lapels of Ethan’s jacket.

“You and I need to have a conversation. Now,” Conrad said, leaving no room for argument.

Ethan offered no resistance as he was pulled by his Blood Father and lead away from the others.

Felix, as loyal as ever, made to follow, but he had hardly moved when he was stop dead by an icy glare cast by Conrad and the ghost didn’t dare argue with the next words that were uttered.

“I need to talk to him alone”

Panic filled Nicoli as he watched his only protector walk away. He nervously looked from the unfamiliar vampires he was going to be left with to the only vampire that was on his side and was currently leaving him.

His distress must have leaked through the mind link because a very distinct caress touched his mind before the vampire’s reassuring voice whispered to him,

“Don’t worry, Nicoli, everything will work out. Don’t fear my family. They won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Nicoli wanted to believe those words as Ethan’s presence trickled out of his mind. He had to believe in the vampire in order to keep his wits about him as Ethan and Conrad disappeared into the darkness to pass judgment on his fate.

====================================Ch. 22 End