would be this guy. Pale, tall. He had brown hair, but I couldn't see his eyes from the sidewalk. The only thing about him that I wouldn't say was typical of a vampire was the dude was freaking huge.
As we approached the walkway, the other people sitting around, seeming to be enjoying the moon, jumped to their feet. One woman, a sort of dumpy-looking guy, and a gorgeous man. They approached with the hot one in the front and the other two flanking him.
The lawn mower dude stopped pushing the manual lawn mower and walked over as I waved. “Hello,” I called. “I’m Ava. We wanted to come over and introduce ourselves.”
The one who seemed like he was in charge stepped forward. “I’m Jax. These are my brothers and sisters, Paige—” Jax inclined his head to the woman slightly behind him on his left.
The woman, who was black, yet somehow also pale, nodded her head once. Maybe they were brothers and sisters in the sense that Owen was my brother.
Jax nodded toward the lawn mower. “Ransom.”
The big dude grunted and moved to stand behind Paige. Jax nodded his head to his right. “And this is Leo.”
Leo didn’t look happy to see us. He snarled his lip slightly as he blinked.
“These are my kids, Zoey and Wallie.”
There. Now everybody nodded at everybody else. “We’re actually here to move out,” I explained. “You’ll meet a new neighbor in a week or two, Hailey.”
Trickling out my magic, I tried to see if any of them noticed me feeling my way.
They didn’t give any outward sign, but Zoey shifted behind me as the breeze picked up. Leo stiffened and his gaze flashed to Zo on my right.
All of the vampires shifted, where they’d been still—unnaturally still—moments before. They might not have realized Wallie and I were witches, but they’d smelled Zoey now. “Well,” I said brightly. “Nice meeting you. If you need any sugar… Don’t ask because we barely have anything in the house.”
We laughed, but it even sounded forced to my ears. Jax grinned, as did the lady whose name I’d forgotten and the big dude, whose name I’d also forgotten. Leo, the freaky-looking one, just bared his teeth.
“Oh, I noticed something, and I’m just far too nosy for my own good.” I tittered a little giggle. “It seemed like you guys were sunbathing the other night… At night.”
Jax nodded. “We have an allergy to sunlight.”
“Ahh.” I nodded as if that made all the sense in the world. “Right, right. Have a good evening.”
“You as well,” Jax said.
We turned back with Wallie and Zoey walking in front of me.
“Ava,” Jax said in a soft voice.
I turned with my eyebrows up. “Yes?”
He stepped forward, but I didn’t feel any sense of danger. He wasn’t out to hurt me. “Don’t worry about the moonbathing. Or anything else you might notice from this house.”
The man was looking me in the eye, like, seriously eyeballing me. “Uh, okay?”
“There’s nothing going on here that doesn’t go on at every other human household.”
He’d used the word human. I furrowed my brow at him. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say. Night, night.”
I joined the kids on the sidewalk, and we went back to the house together.
That man, that vampire, had just tried to compel me.
And now all I wanted to do was hide behind the curtains and watch the vampires.
Chapter Eight
I taped up another box just as the doorbell rang. We’d been making great time with the packing, sorting, and donating. Straightening slowly with one hand on my lower back, I glared at the door. I wasn't expecting anyone, and it was daylight, so I didn't have to worry about the vampy neighbors paying me a visit. At least I hoped not. What did I know about what vampires could or could not do? Maybe sunscreen would help them walk in the sun?
Wallie stuck his head out from the hallway and gave me a raised brow. “Ma?” He and Zoey had been packing up the bedrooms. All except mine. I’d done most of it, but I wanted to go through Clay's stuff alone. I wasn't ready for that yet, so I’d saved it for last and didn’t look forward to it.
As I crossed the living room to answer the door, Clay appeared beside me. "We have visitors." His brow was furrowed and lips set in a line.
What was up his...I snorted. "I have visitors. No one else can see you besides me, Wallie, and Zoey."
And for that reason, I wasn't worried about