The Rogue Pureblood Vampire | 18+✔

Book 4⌇16. A Trick or Two

Chapter 16 ∣  A Trick or Two

-Evicka

Maverick sits quietly on the tree branch.

Following the outburst last night, everyone had gone their separate ways and had cooled off, for the most part. I'm wearing dark combat boots tied up over the ebony cargo pants, the crimson belt around my waist holds them in place. Wearing a light gray and white shirt, the sleeveless leather vest covers most of it, my winter white hair flowing freely.

Zak walks with me, coming to stop next to me right before I open the backyard door. Narrowing my eyes, I hiss, "Why is a hunter watching my son? Let alone a child one at that?"

"She's a teenager," Zak replies, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Though hunters age slower than humans, I hadn't expected to see Zak change from the twenty-two-year-old that I had purchased from an auction to the almost thirty-year-old standing next to me, though he appears to be in his mid-twenties.

"That doesn't mean she's smart," I tilt my head to the side, catching his white irises and stating, "teenagers are not the brightest bulbs. They make rash decisions and don't stop to think of the consequences their actions bring."

Zak retorts, "She's a hunter...a ranger...raised by other hunters."

"And, still a hormonal, unpredictable teenager," I glance away from him, seeing Clover sitting on one of the fence posts, her Oneida strapped to her back as she gazes up at the night sky, "just like Maverick is a child, though he's a vampire, he still has the mindset of a child. Most children can get away with things adults can't...like their temper-tantrums," I see Zak flinch when I mention about his outburst, "but apparently, he's not allowed to be a child...neither is Arlynn."

Zak shake his head, "What are you going to do about him? Evie," he turns toward me, and I just sigh in frustration. Lucca is King, but I'm not sure exactly how far this feuding is going to escalate. Zak continues with, "He really is dangerous..."

"Zak, he's not-"

"Evie," he interrupts me, "you didn't hear what Enock said to me before he died. Hunters turn on hunters...very soon, vampires will turn on vampires. He said it would never be over. Even you, yourself told us what Erebus foretold about Maverick...that he would bring this world to its knees."

"We make our own destinies," I feel hurt, my heart aching for my son, "by those notions alone, Lucca and I should never have met, which is exactly what Erebus stated as well. Here we are though, and Maverick won't bring the world to its knees...I believe, he will change it for the better, if given the chance."

Zak remains silent as I grip the handle of the door, sliding it open and stepping out into cool air, the gentle breeze picking up the stray strands of my hair. Zak walks behind me, my footfalls drawing Clover's attention as she snaps her eyes in our direction. When she sees me, her eyes widen, gripping the fence post before she falls off it. It is when Zak motions for her, that she hops down and walks near him while he proceeds to the far wall of the mansion.

The soft sniffling brings a sting to the bridge of my nose, wanting to take away all of Maverick's tears, my own ready to fall at how much he is hurting. Walking up to the tree branch he is sitting on, his legs almost motionless. I lean my arms against the branch, startling him slightly as his hazel blue eyes, the ones that he got from his father, look down at me with tears in them.

I raise my hand, brushing the tears away with the pad of my thumb and whisper, "You've grown a lot in one-year, little man."

When I speak, fresh tears gather in his eyes and he chokes on a sob.