Shifting Truth Read online

  “Bethany you can’t just slam the door and leave! That’s not how this works anymore! We live together!”

  I grab my enchanted pocket knife and turn flinging it into the wall next to Brian’s head.

  “I can do whatever I damn well please and you won’t be stopping me anytime soon. Don’t assume because I'm still injured a little that I can’t or won’t kill you.”

  I turn and walk out the front door slamming it behind me as well. I tear off my clothes and turn into the first animal that comes to mind and take off towards the woods. I need to feel bones snap between my teeth and I am still rational enough to know if it is not some poor animal in the forest it will be Brian. I also know I don’t want it to be Brian. I take off, in wolf form, following the tracks of a deer, it smells like a buck. There is only room for one alpha in this forest.

  I sigh and grab her clothes. Why she puts them on just to tear them off I don’t know. The act of tearing them seems to satisfy some primal part of her, but she is quickly running out of clothes.

  Bethany is healed from her ordeal with the blood mage, physically, but mentally she is still tearing herself apart. More and more she is finding peace as an animal. As an animal, she is friendly, calm, almost centered. In human form she is on edge, violent. It is as if she is still being tortured to insanity. .

  I have tried to be patient. Tried to be understanding, but she will not let me help her. She is so used to doing everything on her own and doesn’t think anyone can help her now. I thought maybe her job would help her gain control again, help her feel like she can defend and take care of herself, but it is not working. She is getting worse every time she is injured and needs blood to heal. Feeding the beast makes it stronger and she never had great control to begin with.

  Still, she won’t listen to me. I am the geeky computer nerd she is dating. She won’t listen when I try to explain my worries. I want her to be well again. I want her to be herself again. She has always had a big attitude, but she hasn’t always been like this. I miss her. Missed the real her. I don’t know what to do. I can research, but I know nothing about blood or how certain drugs, especially ones that don’t technically exist, interfer with her ability to control her bloodlust and heal.

  I do the only thing I am good at. I turn on my computer, preparing for a long day of research, while texting Jason to tell him we had another fight and she is out running again. He won’t be shocked, but maybe if he is worried enough he will finally sneak into the shifter archive and look for information on how shifters react to medications and see if there is any way to help Bethany. We cannot risk losing her again.

  I turn human again and sit in the forest naked; ignoring the frostbite and wondering why this is happening to me. What had been in those drugs they gave me? What did they do to permanently alter me? I know Brian wants me to get tests and try to find a way to help, but if anyone knows I am losing control everyone would agree that putting me down is best. Still, it must be frustrating for him not knowing what to do or how to help.

  Ever since my kidnapping, my thirst has increased. Brian is a big help in alleviating that. He is fine with me drinking from him during sex. It increases the pleasure. He doesn't drink from me even though he wants to. Drinking from me would defeat the purpose of my taking blood from him. It is my fix. I still cannot always control it and he is good at diffusing a bad situation when that occurrs. But I am losing control now, unable to stop, sometimes taking too much or hurting him in the process.

  My mouth waters and my teeth elongate. I push the thought away. What the hell is the matter with me? I can’t control my own teeth and lust for blood I had never had much control which kept me from ever drinking blood, still it was far more control than I had now.

  I have other cravings too. These cravings I deny. I give them no foothold in my mind or body. The craving for drugs. I know it is an addiction. As much as the scientists [CB2]pumped into me it would be surprising if I hadn't developed an addiction. Though I know in my mind that I don't want them, that they do nothing good for me, I can’t stop the need inside me.

  I haven't told Brian or Jason. They would probably commit me. I am not giving in to the cravings so I figure I am holding my own, but right now, when I am close to snapping, craving blood and something to relax me, the need for drugs increases with my want for blood. In fact, it is overpowering my need for blood. That’s never happened before…I don't like that it is now either.

  I change back to the wolf, finding the river on our land to clean off in. I killed a buck before turning human again. It temporarily satisfied my need to kill, but it hasn’t completely satisfied my need for violence. Killing as an animal always makes it feel more like food and survival. I want to kill for the thrill of it. I don’t feel the same joy killing in animal form as I do in my normal vampire form.

  If I could stay animal I would. It is the only time I feel peace anymore. As much as Brian tries, he still can’t calm me the way he use to with sex and blood. I worry what I will do to him if I don’t get control soon. I know what I need and Brian won’t like it. I need to take another job.

  Chapter Two

  I sneak home and make no noise as I enter. Lucky for me Brian is in his office, an extra bedroom we turned into his office because I refused to let half of our bedroom be an office. I sneak into the bedroom and dress.

  I call the council. Turns out, in the end, I shouldn’t have called. I grab my gun and my knife out of the wall where it is still stuck after throwing it. I stuff my cell and Brian’s car keys into my pockets. He will wonder where I’ve gone and we will argue about me sneaking out, but hopefully I will be calm enough this time that I won’t throw a knife at his head.

  I find myself heading to my mother’s house. Not the place I want to be. Like this will help any. I called and asked for a quick job and this had been there waiting for me. What a crock, my undead gram is on the fritz and likely needs killing. Why would they even mention that job knowing we are related?

  The 'why' being that hunters are supposed to be non-biased. A danger to humanity is a danger to humanity. This is my job. My life. The reason I still live….a reason I am getting sick of, to be honest. I mean how much do I have to go through to prove I am not a danger to those around me? I haven't attacked anyone without provocation. Killing innocent humans because you are insane counts as reason enough to kill the offender in the eyes of the council, and even though I haven’t done it some have so everyone needs watching. Can’t let the crazies run around free.

  Now here I am on the doorstep of my mother’s house, well my undead Grandma’s actually, but if she is on the fritz my mom as eldest would take over until someone died. How weird does that sound?

  I sigh and lift my hand, knocking. She is going to freak I know it. Why shouldn’t she? I just volunteered to kill my grandmother for money….oh my God, I am such an ass.

  The door opens as I am contemplating that and my half-sister frowns down at me from her perch atop the steps. Geez, these people have superiority complexes.

  “Can I help you, Bethany?”

  Wow, she called me by my name. “I’m here about the help requested for gram.”

  She takes a second to understand then it dawns on her. She frowns and snubs her nose at me.

  “This way, mother is waiting to meet with the hunter now….although I doubt she expected you to be the one. I mean, I don’t know who would be willing to kill their own family for money. Especially gram as she has never been anything but nice to you. She has always considered you her granddaughter even if you are just a half-breed…”

  She goes on while leading me to the formal parlor. I try to ignore her, but the longer I try the more vocal she gets and the more I start to agree with her. Gram has always treated me as worthwhile. And here I am to kill her…yeah, I am a peach.

  “In here.”

  I walk in and she slams the door behind me. I turn to look, or glare I should say, at it briefly…if I am lucky I will still be alive the day she needs
to be whacked….ok that is mean, but she is an ass.

  “Bethany, what are you doing here? I don’t have time to deal with whatever it is. I'm waiting to meet with the hunter the vampire council is sending over to deal with mom.”

  I clear my throat and look down. Wait don’t show fear or guilt….it will only be worse if I do. I look back up meeting her piercing eyes. “I'm the hunter assigned to the job.”

  If she was not the type of person who always cares what she looks like her chin would have hit the floor. But then she would look like a fish out of the water and that is not for my mother. Her face does show some shock. A lift in the eyebrows. Her eyes widen and her lips thin in disapproval. Only my mother can register shock and disapproval at the same time. Especially while still looking perfect while doing it.

  I briefly try to decide whether to wish a pox or fatness on my mother… the fatness would probably bother her more, hence why it is in the options to begin with. The pox would be more fun for me to point and laugh about though. Except when she dies she’d be the big supreme…ok, fatness it is.

  “Well, I suppose you will have to do…”

  She lets the sentence trail off insinuating I am not good enough; like I am not the best hunter in the state, hell in half the country at least. I am and I will not let her and her bitchiness bother me. I am here to see Gram, if she hasn't run away yet, and see if she truly needs killing. After all, this could just be a power play…. I have seen it before and so has the council. Now they don't take any chances. They have the hunters talk to the soon to be a victim first. After all, doctors could be paid off, but hunters come from the council and they answer to no one.

  If it is a runaway we chase them. Bringing them back alive to the council earns us more money, but more often than not they are insane and need killing. I have brought one back alive before and I know the council tries to experiment on them to try and find a way to reverse the insanity. As far as I know they have not been successful yet. Unfortunate for the world, fortunate for us hunters as vampires bring in most of our income.

  Not that the Fae, werewolves, and shifters don't break laws….but the vampires seem to be the most trouble. Likely that superiority complex they have. Or thinking of people as food. Werewolves, Fae, and shifters can all fit in, but the vampires think everything lower than them on the evolutionary chain is food, hence the trouble. Plus, Fae usually police themselves. No one’s killed one but their own.

  “I don’t like this any more than you do, but it needs to be done and I'm the only one available to do it at the moment. Now, where is Gram so I can interview her?”

  “She’s upstairs. I feel I must warn you she is delusional and paranoid. She's been going on about conspiracies to take her out for months now, but lately she's started to turn violent if any of us even go near her.”

  I don't want to say out loud, but with a daughter like her, Gram has reason to fear being staked in the day when she is vulnerable and the others are not. They are the client though, and no matter the digs they throw at me I am here not as family but a professional and I need to act it.

  “Well if she attacks I’m prepared.”

  “I see no weapons.”

  I pull a gun out of the back of my jean’s before she can blink. She has balls I have to admit because she doesn't blink even when I point it at her face.

  “After I called the council I picked this baby up. The bullets are full of silver and holy water. They burst when they lodge themselves in the chest. It takes less than ten seconds for the water to get to the heart and when that happens no more vampires. Of course, I also have my blessed knife. It’s silver and blessed by the church. So I think I'm more prepared than you think. Gram cannot be as bad as many I have fought. Besides I don’t expect to have to use any of this.”

  By now I am fairly certain that someone really is trying to bump Gram off and she is not just going crazy. Paranoia in a vampire family is a survival skill, not a sign of insanity.

  If it is getting out of hand she could be nuts, but I am more apt to believe that Gram is right. She is old and wise and she always knows what is going on in her house. Not necessarily details, but she always knows.

  “You are a fool to underestimate her just because she is your grandmother.”

  “I do not underestimate her.”

  Her eyes pierce me and bear into my own as if searching my very soul. My mother is like a hawk. She can see her prey even from miles away. Her face scrunches into a beautiful insult.

  “You think she is not crazy. That we really are plotting to kill her off. My own mother.”

  None of it is actually a question, more statement, so I don’t nod. I should have though because it is exactly what I think, but she would probably call the vampire council and tell them I am bias and need replacing.

  “No, but I'm not making any assumptions. I go in with no bias and come out with the truth. That is my job.”

  She nods, but I can tell she isn't buying it. My mother is not stupid. I get my quick wit from her…what I have of it anyway. My stubbornness is from my father. The rest, what little there is, is all Jason and my own influence. Or perhaps I can blame circumstance for all my downfalls.

  I shake my head a bit, dispelling all thoughts as soon as my mother’s gaze falls away. I am not here to contemplate the unfairness of life, but to do a job. Going in with a clouded head will only get me killed.

  My mother rings a bell and a servant arrives. Another half-breed, some distant cousin or what not. With vampire hearing, a regular bell can be heard by all throughout the house. I follow the servant up the stairs to the family wing and toward the master suite. This master suite is not like most.

  This place is practically a castle so all the rooms are lush and overdone. The difference is my grandmother has not just a bedroom, sitting room, and bathroom, but a room for business and a servant’s room where her personal attendant sleeps. Think of her as the queen of England and all others as visiting nobility. Yeah, they live like that.

  She stops at the door to my gram’s room and opens the door. As it creaks open she jumps back and hastens down the hallway toward the common rooms. Maybe gram is getting a bit nuts; look at that girl run. As soon as she is out of sight I snort and go into the room. It is dark and all the lights are out. There are shutters over the windows since gram is an undead. Usually when awake she has the lights on.

  “They sent you. I knew they would.”

  Her sight is better than mine in the dark. I can see, but not as well as her. The undead have complete night vision. They need no light, it can be absolute dark and they can see as well as the rest of us do at noon. I get outlines and some vague detail. If I change into a creature of the night I can see more, but I can’t do that here.

  “Gram are you alright?”

  “They no doubt told you I was insane. Hired you to kill me.”

  “They called the council. I was sent to investigate. Can we turn on a light gram?”

  She complies and I see her sitting in a chair drinking tea. I sit on the couch across the table. I know a table wo’t stop her if she attacks, but this way I can see her better. However, the more I see the less I believe her so-called insanity. I have hunted many insane vampires and they have all been literally crazed. They attack anything that moves and have no recognition of anyone or anything they’ve ever known before. They also have no care for hygiene. Gram is not like that.

  “Mother tells me you are having trouble.”

  Gram smirks and snorts. I have always liked her more than my own mother. Our personalities are more alike.

  “She told you I am insane and paranoid and that I need to be killed. So what did you bring to do the job? I see no sword. Where is it? I paid for it the least you can do is kill me with it.”

  Her dry sarcastic humor makes me smile. “I did not bring the sword. I didn't believe I would need all my tools.”

  “You think I will not put up a fight?”

  I shake my head and drink the tea she
hands me. “Not at all. You are extremely healthy and so when you do go insane you will be a formidable opponent.”

  “When I go insane?”

  I nod. “I brought a gun. The bullets are hollow silver filled with holy water. If it’s any consolation they kill just as well as the sword.”

  She looks at me as a smile passes over her face. The corners of her lips rise and twitch. She throws her head back and laughs.

  “If only you were a pureblood I would name you my next heir. True it’s unusual at this time, but it can be done.”

  I incline my head in respect as I smile and drink more tea. “That is quite a compliment.”

  “This family needs new blood. You are what I always wished my daughter had been.”

  My gram is not like most royalty, which is how vampires see themselves. She isn't exactly laid back, she does rule an entire family line, but she is not a stuck up high society bitch like my mother and sister.

  “Indeed that makes for a very large compliment.” I put my empty cup down and lean back relaxing. “Gram, why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on here. I have seen a lot of insanity among the undead. I have done my share of hunting them. You are too rational. I know paranoia is indeed a big part of ruling a family, but I don’t understand what you could have done to make them think you have been pushed over the edge.”

  She sighs and puts her cup down.

  “You must speak of this to no one. Including the council.”

  I sigh and look down at my hands. I crack my knuckles one by one and sigh again. They employ me a lot. I can’t avoid telling them if it is important.

  “If I think it threatens humanity and the safety of our hiding from the world I will tell them gram. My duty is to protect and I take that seriously. I will not lie if it endangers the lives of others. I will keep what I can secret out of respect for you. You will have to trust me to use my own judgment.”