“Thank you. That’s what I wanted all along. Zane keeps topic hopping,” I teased, hoping to deflate the tension. It worked. In unison, the two older men inhaled and relaxed.
“If Zane doesn’t mind,” Mack said, head inclined, acknowledging his lesser status in the pack.
“Michael, feel free. Just don’t scare her,” Zane warned, refusing to meet my gaze.
“It’s not his fault if I’m scared. He’s not responsible for my reactions.” I tried to keep my voice steady. Zane’s overbearing manner was getting on my nerves.
“Michael’s storytelling skills are renowned,” said Zane.
“He’s trying to say I exaggerate,” Michael agreed sheepishly. “Anyway, first, let me ask you something.” He glanced at Zane for what I guessed was approval. Zane nodded. “What do you think exists?”
Surprised by the question, I thought back to several scary movies I’d seen, without my parents’ permission of course. “Vampires, witches, goblins …”
“You’re doing great,” Michael grinned. “Go on.”
“Since there are werewolves and mutants, I’m guessing there might be other creatures, oh, what are they called?” I tried to remember the creatures that I’d read about in my study of Indian legends. “Shape shifters!” I yelled out as if we were playing monster charades.
“Real,” Zane confirmed, at last relaxing.
“What about angels and demons?” I wondered, hoping my biblical training wasn’t based on myth.
“The Bible is real. Remember, there are a number of additional books the Bible either references or alludes to, like the Book of Jasher and the Book of Enoch. If uncovered by humans, these ancient texts would expose the supernatural communities. In fact, the Bible talks about fallen angels, or sons of God and human woman creating a new race of giants. Many of us are offspring of those ancient races.”
Still confused, I felt more relieved knowing the Bible was true. There just happened to be additional information that was dispersed on a need-to-know basis.
“Of course,” I fibbed, unwilling to halt the discussion because of Zane’s over protectiveness and my increasing squirminess. “Tell me about vampires,” I insisted.
“Let’s stick with vampire basics.” Michael glanced at Zane, who again nodded.
I was starting to see just how serious the werewolf hierarchy thing was. Zane held a powerful position in his pack. I assumed that Logan alone outranked him. Though, according to family history, Zane should be the alpha male. His grandfather, then his father had held those positions. Why not Zane? I understood those questions would have to wait until we were alone.
Noticing my companions’ stares, I agreed. “I’m ready for vampire 101.” All three werewolves chuckled. I wished my own species found me so amusing.
“The first vampires resulted from fallen angels copulating with human women. As I mentioned, they were just one of the many offspring from these illicit unions, often referred to as the Nephilim. For whatever reason, this finicky family line had no desire for traditional food sources. They craved blood. Human blood. This desire made them pretty unpopular with the others …”
“Short version,” Mack interrupted.
“I’m just trying to give a little background. Anyway, these blood drinkers formed their own clan and became nomads traveling from place to place in order to avoid detection. They hunted solely at night and stayed hidden during daylight hours. This pattern caused them to become what legends often refer to as children of the night.
Like most creatures, though, there are exceptions to the rule. Some vampires can survive during the day. They have to wear sunglasses to cover their light-sensitive eyes, but nowadays, they blend in. Sure, they’re paler than the normal person, but they are beautiful to look at.”
“Do they still drink human blood?” I was fascinated.
“There are different populations of vampires. Some have found a way to exist on animal blood. Others feed off criminals. And, yes, there are still vampires that thrive on seducing humans. A few have specialized powers like flying, mindreading, mind control, even the ability to teleport from one place to another.”
“Is that how you got here so fast?” I asked, reminded of their unconventional travel method.
Michael’s eyes darted to Mack, who turned to Zane.
“Well?” I looked toward Zane since he seemed to be my sole hope of an honest answer to this particular question.
“A vampire friend teleported them here. We work closely with some of the vampires,” Zane admitted with reluctance.
“The vegetarians and the ones who feed off the bad guys,” Michael explained, as if my knowing that little tidbit would make their partnership more tolerable.