Chapter 30

Tessa’s POV

It was an average-looking woman that looked almost human. Except her eyes were very dark and her skin was so pale it looked like it’s never been touched by the sun before in her life. She wore casual clothing, but she was completely barefoot.

She was also very thin, and I knew she didn’t eat proper meals.

I definitely had never seen her around before, but I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell if she was a vampire or not.

Was she what a typical new vampire looked like?

I wanted to ask, but Joseph and Mulligan were so engrossed in the video, I don’t think they would pay attention to my question.

Not before long, she was joined by a male who appeared to look just as average. He was also pale, and he was built with huge muscles. He didn’t wear a shirt which revealed the collection of tattoos he had on his body.

I found myself holding my breath, even though I was nowhere near them.

They were both smelling the air like they smelled the most delicious thing in the world and a chill went down my spine as their dark gazes turned ravenous. Their mouths were practically watering.

Their fangs were revealed and envisioned them sinking into my flesh and draining me of every last drop of blood.

I shuddered at the very thought.

The girl finally looked around, wondering where I was hiding. They could smell my scent everywhere. Mulligan did a good job at hiding the camera, so they couldn’t see it.

Joseph had his lips pressed together firmly as he finally got a good look at the faces of the new vampires. I knew he was angry. They’ve been running and hiding from him for weeks. Now, he finally knew what they looked like. He just had to figure out how to capture and bring them to the academy to get domesticated.

I looked back at my phone, and I saw the male picking up my scarf and smelling it intently.

“It’s just this scarf,” he muttered, clearly annoyed in his tone.

“Do you think it’s a trap?” She asked.

“It’d be stupid when I have this,” he said as he pulled out what looked to be a gun.

I couldn’t help but gasp.

They were willing to kill Jospeh? A fellow vampire? Their own kind?

Joseph didn’t look surprised.

There was no doubt in my mind that the gun was filled with silver bullets. Joseph mentioned earlier that silver can kill the toughest creatures.

“We shouldn’t stick around,” she said in return. She took the scarf from him, holding it in her hands as she took a big whiff of it. “But I’m taking this with me,” she added.

Before any more words were exchanged, they were both gone, leaving the three of us silently staring at the empty park through the phone.

Joseph was the first to speak after what felt like a lifetime of silence.

“Now we know for certain…” he said.

“We should talk to the others of the Nightwalkers,” Mulligan suggested.

The others of the Nightwalkers? I was going to see the others of this secret organization?

I was still so shocked by what I had seen that I couldn’t find my voice. Joseph went with Mulligan out of his office, and I stayed behind. Joseph paused at the door and looked at me curiously.

“Are you coming?” He asked, raising his right brow.

I have vampires hunting me. I was in a completely numbed state. He understood this and I saw compassion in his eyes as he looked me over.

He soon reached his hand out for me to take. After another pause, I took his hand and allowed him to guide me out of Mulligan’s office and towards a much larger room.

I was overwhelmed by how many other people there were. It seemed to be a giant gym area where everyone was training with one another.

They were fighting like I had never seen before and using these insane weapons with such ease. I heard the firing of guns in the distance, echoing off the walls as some officers practiced on targets.

Then there were a couple of officers who just seemed to be working out. Running on treadmills and lifting weights type of stuff.

There were dozens of them though, maybe more.

Once Mulligan entered the gym, everyone’s attention seemed to be focused on him and the noise was silent.

“Well?” Lisa asked, dripping in sweat. I didn’t realize she also trained like this. “Is it her blood?”

Mulligan told them about the experiment already?

“The vampires took the bait,” Mulligan explained with a head nod. “So, yes. It’s her blood.”

The Nightwalker police force began muttering things under their breaths and talking to one another. They were all talking at once and I didn’t understand a thing they were saying. I wanted to scream for them to stop and talk with me directly, but I also didn’t want to interrupt them because I knew this was an ongoing investigation.

“Then, I was right the first time,” Jordan muttered. “She’s dangerous and can’t be trusted. Her blood is going to be the reason we all die. She’s going to lure them here.”

“It’s not her fault, Jordan,” Lisa argued in return, and I was grateful she had my back.

“And so what if she lures them here?” someone else asked. “I’m not afraid of them. We are the Nightwalkers for a reason.”

“They can’t be lured here, dumbasses,” another chimed in. “Nobody, not even a vampire, can find our headquarters. We don’t need to worry about that. But we do need to worry about those who are near her because they will soon meet the same fate as the others.”

I felt sick hearing those words.

He was right, everyone was in danger because of me.

Especially Ruby.

“We’ll have to figure out how to keep anyone else from dying when they are around her. It’s not like she can stay in hiding the rest of her life,” someone else said, staring directly at me with a timid frown.

I could see remorse in their eyes.

Joseph was oddly quiet though and that worried me.

Looking up at him, he seemed to be lost in his own mind and not at all paying attention to the conversations that were going on around us.

What was he thinking about?

“I might have something that can help,” Lisa said, bringing my attention back to her.

“Hold on one second,” she added just before she left the room.

Everyone looked around at one another curiously, each of us wondering what Lisa was up to.

She returned moments later with a small, pink, crystal glass bottle that looked to be a perfume bottle.

“It’s not much, but it’ll help. It’s designed to shield even the most potent scent. I’m thinking it could block some of the scents from you that’ll attract these new vampires.”

“Do you really think that could work?” I asked curiously, taking the bottle from her.

“It’s better than nothing,” she said in return. “But you still need to be cautious and maybe not hang around too many people. Or at least don’t touch them.”

I thought about Ruby again.

“My best friend…” I said, lowering my gaze. “I live with her currently. My scent is all over her apartment. I’m worried for her safety. They’ve already tried to break in once…If she died because of me, I couldn’t live with that.”

“Oh, yes. That’s quite a problem indeed,” Lisa said with a frown, glancing over at Mulligan. “I will expect them to break in again if her scent is still lingering there. Even with this perfume, if she’s still living in that apartment, they will eventually be able to smell her again.”

“Then she won’t stay there.”

That came from Joseph, and I looked up at him surprised. I didn’t think he was paying attention to this conversation.

“What are you proposing?” Mulligan asked. Everyone was now facing Joseph, including myself, curious about what he was going to say next.

“Until we can capture these new vampires, Tessa will just have to live with me.”