“Is there something I should know?” I asked.
“No, but you should be warned,” he said and even in the dark his blue eyes glowed.
“Warned about what?”
“Vampires,” he whispered the word like he was letting me in on a little secret.
I laughed.
“Come on Isaac. Be serious,” I giggled.
“I am,” he said glaring at me.
“Okay, I’ll humor you,” I said sobering.
“That’s all I ask. Before I waste my time talking about those filthy bloodsuckers let me tell you about the Coven.” He cleared his throat, winced, and then continued. “The Coven was formed centuries ago. Maybe even millennia ago the exact date was never recorded. We are the decedents of the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar was formed to hunt and kill them. They aren’t our friends, Ky. We are trained to kill vampires not work with them. This will be a new experience for us. Especially for someone like me, Tyson, Colton, and Wayland, young, untrained warriors. We haven’t perfected our skills yet. We are only beginning to learn how to control our senses and refine our skills. Every nerve in my body is screaming ‘kill’ when I’m around a vampire.”
“Can I ask a question?” He nodded his ascent. “Do you have to be a part of this Coven? Is it a choice?”
“There is no choice for us. We are raised knowing what we will become. On our eighteenth birthday we are inducted into the Coven for life. There is no getting out of it, except death, and there is no deciding to join. You’re born into it and trained by your parents at a young age. I’m a lethal weapon. If the military knew about us we’d become some kind of super weapon. Humans that aren’t quite human, with deadly skills like no other, sounds like a horror movie or a sci fi novel, eh?”
“Kind of. Is that what your tattoo is for?” I asked pointing to his arm which was now covered.
“Yes. It’s the Coven’s symbol. That way if we are in a different country other Coven members will recognize us. Each tattoo is the same in essence but each Coven has a slight difference to differentiate between countries.”
“I guess I have to respect it, now,” I said sadly.
He laughed. “Yeah, it’s not like I wanted it.”
“So, you don’t want to be a part of the Coven?” I asked.
He bowed his head. “No,” he sighed, “I don’t. I just want to play in my band, write songs, and act like any other typical teenager about to finish high school. But instead my dream is on hold and I’m training during all of my free time. But I guess it’s worth it to save you.”
It was my turn to look down. My curls hid my eyes from his gaze.
“I don’t want any of this. I don’t want anybody, especially you, risking your life for me. It’s bad enough having Jonathon risk his life I don’t you risking your neck too. I just want this to end but it’s never going to stop. At least not until she’s dead. Wh
y does everything in my life have to be so messed up?” I said putting my head in my hands and shaking my head back in forth. I groaned into my hands.
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, Ky. It’s my duty to protect you. I will die to protect you,” he said pulling my hands away from my face so that my green eyes could meet his blue one.
“I don’t want you to protect me,” I whispered.
“It’s my job, Ky,” he said. “It’s what we do and we’re glad to do it. It’s an honor.”
“But a job you don’t want to do,” I said.
“I do if it means saving you,” he said and I could tell that he was serious.
“Maybe I don’t want to be saved. You can only save yourself,” I laughed lightly but it was not a pleasant sort of laugh.
“Ky, that isn’t true,” he said.
“Isn’t it?” I said my face falling.
He looked thoughtful and didn’t answer.
“Can I ask you something?” he said, his face becoming red.