Aric grimaced. “She definitely got that from you, Zoe,” he groused. “That’s why she’s using the word ‘barbaric.’ That’s what you said this morning when you realized the hotel didn’t provide a hair dryer.”
“I still maintain that’s true,” Zoe deadpanned. “It’s cruel and unusual punishment. Hair dryers are part of the deal now.”
I had to agree with her. “Total bummer. I might be able to track down an extra hair dryer if you need it.”
“Thanks, but I’ve found a work-around.”
“She used her magic to create a small tornado in the room and it dried our hair in two minutes,” Sami volunteered. “Dad’s still mad because it blew potato chips everywhere.”
“Dad is mad because you ate potato chips in bed,” Aric shot back. “If you’re going to sleep with us — you’re way too old for that, by the way — then you can’t eat potato chips in bed.”
Sami made a frustrated whiny sound. “Since when is that the rule?”
“Since the great Barbecue Chip Fiasco of 2019.”
“That was Mom!”
“She hardly ate three bags of chips herself.”
“She had PMS.”
“She wasn’t the only one.” Aric’s expression soured. “No more potato chips in bed. I’m going to have to tip the hell out of the maid thanks to you and your mother as it is.”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Sami shook her head back and forth, earning a fond smile from Rafael.
“Come here, junior mage,” he instructed, holding out his arm so Sami could scoot under it. He used the fingers of his free hand to comb through her hair. “You’re letting your emotions get the better of you. You must learn to maintain in the face of the enemy.”
“Since when are we the enemy?” I asked.
“I’m talking about her parents,” Rafael replied evenly.
“Oh.” The dynamics of this particular family continued to escape me. I was intrigued, almost enthralled, but I still couldn’t entirely wrap my head around everything. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Totally,” Sami said, her lower lip poking out. She rested her head against Rafael’s shoulder. “This is why I’m going to marry you when I’m older. You get me.”
Rather than chafe under the declaration, Rafael smirked. “I thought you’d moved on to Gunner.”
“He’s cute but he’s in love with her.” Sami jerked her thumb toward me. “It’s depressing because all the hot guys have girlfriends. Except you. That’s why we’re perfect for each other. You’re clearly waiting for me.”
Rafael dared a glance toward Aric and found him glaring. “I think we should table this discussion until you’re older.”
“How much older?”
“At least four years.”
Aric growled.
“At least ten years,” Rafael corrected automatically. “We’ll discuss your feelings again then.”
“You can do whatever you want,” Sami said. “I’m going to keep planning for our wedding. I plan to wear white. How do you feel about a purple tux?”
“As much as I’m enjoying this conversation, and I am because Aric has that vein going in his forehead,” Zoe said with amusement, “we have serious things to discuss.”
“I thought we’d already come to the conclusion that shifters were to blame,” Rafael said. “You said you found tracks.”
“We did,” Aric confirmed. “There are multiple tracks here.” He hesitated and then barreled forward. “Vampires were here, too.”
Rafael jerked his head. “How can you be sure?”
“The scent is obvious,” Gunner replied. “No offense, but you guys stink.”
“You told him to say that,” Rafael accused Aric, his lip curling. “The more time you spend with Zoe, the more you get off on torturing me.”
“You stunk long before I fell in love with Zoe.” Aric grinned. “I believe I told you that, too.”
“You were in love with the mage from the start,” Rafael muttered. “There was no before. You saw her and that was it. That’s why you threatened me with castration long before you two were an item. I’m not an idiot. Your intentions were obvious from the start.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you stink. I don’t know what to tell you. Vampires have a very distinctive smell. It is what it is.”
“You do,” Sami agreed. “It’s like chocolate and peanut butter.”
Aric shot her a look. “More like death and decay.”
“Um, no.” Sami gazed up at Rafael. “Chocolate and peanut butter.”
Aric beseeched Zoe for help. “Tell her.”
“I don’t smell anything when I’m around any of you,” she said to her husband. “I’m sorry to burst your bubble but it’s not the scent tipping me off. It’s this.” She waved her hand in the air, unleashing a short burst of magic that was both pretty and powerful. Various footprints were illuminated on the ground when she was finished. “The blue are vampires,” she explained, grim. “I’m counting at least three. If you look over there, it’s more like five or six.” She gestured toward a crop of trees. “The brown are shifters. There are at least three sets of shifter footprints.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Gunner said. “This area is thick with shifters. It could be pack members tracking the vampires. My father might’ve alerted others before tracking me down.”
“That’s entirely possible,” Zoe conceded. “It’s also possible the shifters and vampires were together.”
Gunner immediately started shaking his head. “No. Shifters and vampires don’t work together. Everybody knows that.”
I cleared my throat and moved my finger between Aric and Rafael, offering up a wry smile.
“That’s different,” he argued. “This vampire is obviously … different.”
“He is,” Zoe agreed. “He’s born. That doesn’t mean he’s the only different vampire out there.” She hesitated, her gaze boring into Rafael. “He has sources up here, after all. Odds are his sources are like him.”
It made sense. “I didn’t realize we had born vampires up here.”
“There are born vampires everywhere,” said Rafael, his dark gaze never moving from Zoe’s pointed features. “Our numbers are falling but we’re nowhere near extinct.”
“And born vampires are good?” I asked.
The sigh Rafael emitted was long and drawn out. “Black and white terms like that are hardly helpful. Vampires, like humans and shifters, can be
