Page 53 of Protector Unmatched

Turning her head back to Pearce, she said, “I hope you’re not lying to me this time.”

In his eyes, a flicker of shame lit up. “I’ll never lie to you again, I promise. And I’ll explain everything. But let’s take care of your brother first.”

Slowly, she nodded.

Pearce told Ryder, “Heal Tim.”

“No problem.”

Daphne watched Ryder walk to the armchair and crouch down. He extended his fangs. A shiver ran down Daphne’s spine. As if he’d noticed it, Ryder turned his head fully to her. “Don’t worry. He’ll be okay.” The eyes of the vampire shone red now, like beacons in the night, but in his voice was a kindness, a tenderness that calmed her against all odds.

“We’re here. What’s going on?” came a familiar female voice from the door.

Daphne pivoted. Enya entered with a young man on her heels. As soon as her eyes fell on Ryder, she cursed. “Ryder! Pearce, what the fuck? In front of her?” She pointed to Daphne as if accusing her of something. “Are you out of your mind?”

Pearce lifted his hand. “She knows.”

“Yeah, of course she knows now!”

Enya pointed to Ryder, who held his wrist to Tim’s mouth to let him drink his blood. Tim’s eyes were closed, and Daphne hoped it meant that her brother didn’t really know what was happening. Perhaps it was better this way. He’d gone through enough.

“Enya, stop. She saw me,” Pearce said in a tight voice.

“Well, that’s just perfect,” the man next to Enya said.

Enya shook her head. “Ah, fuck!” Then she looked at Daphne. “Welcome to our world.”

What exactly their world was, Daphne didn’t know. A world of invisible vampires? The thought made her shudder. What had she gotten herself into?

“I wish I knew what that meant,” she said to Enya.

Enya exchanged a look with Pearce. “I thought she knew.”

Pearce sighed. “She saw everything, but I haven’t had a chance to explain to her what it means. We need to clean this place up. You and Grayson can take care of these two thugs. Search them for any weapons, and take them away from here. Make sure they realize that if they ever contact Tim again, we’ll be back. Then let them go.”

“You’re not killing them?” Daphne asked.

Pearce gave her a stunned look. “They are crooks, but they didn’t kill anybody, even though they threatened yours and Tim’s life. We don’t kill indiscriminately.”

The last word gave her pause. “But you do kill.”

He hesitated for a moment. “Yes, but only those who’re truly evil.”

She didn’t know what to do with this information.

“I’ll explain later,” Pearce promised, then looked to where her brother was slumped in the armchair. “Ryder, I want you to take Tim to the safe house and watch over him to make sure he’s healing. Call Leila, and see if she can look at him to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.”

Daphne listened to his instructions. He sounded like a leader, like a man who was used to dealing with situations like this. But with every word he said, more questions formed in her mind.

“A safe house?”

“The place we stayed at last night,” Pearce said without missing a beat. “Ryder will take your brother there. It’s best if he doesn’t stay here for a while, until we can be sure that there aren’t any other thugs coming after him.”

“It wasn’t your apartment,” she said, then looked to Enya. “You two don’t share an apartment, do you?”

“Not that one, anyway,” Enya said.

Daphne was sick of the vague replies. “What does that mean?”