Page 44 of Huntress Unleashed

Dane shrugged. “I know my brothers were mad at me for not having them at my back, but things happen like this. In the past, vampires would just kill a hunter if he could get away with it. But today, there are more rogues turning hunters so they can control them. Is it the hunter’s fault? How many times did you go into a fight and?—”

Suddenly, Jacqueline entered the living room to Dane and his brother’s astonishment. Not to mention Mrs. Anderson had lost all the color in her face. She sat down suddenly on a chair, shaking.

“I didn’t tell Dane and his brother to come here to speak on my behalf,” Jacqueline said.

“They…they told me they killed the vampire who had turned you,” Mrs. Anderson said.

“Yeah, Dane did. He unfortunately ended up in a similar situation as me, overwhelmed and outnumbered. We didn’t have a choice. But every one of his brothers have backed him since he was turned,” Jacqueline said. “Not so with my family. I can understand Van dumping me because it wouldn’t have worked out?—”

“Not me,” Dane said. “I don’t understand it at all. He was supposed to have loved you. He might not have wanted to marry a vampire who would have such a long life after the fact, and that could be understandable, but he should have been your hero anyway, and helped to destroy the vampire. He’s a hunter. That’s his business. That’s the least he could have done for you. Especially since he supposedly had loved you just like your family had. He should have asked all his friends to assist him if he hadn’t been sure he could manage on his own. There’s no call for the way he abandoned you.”

Jacqueline smiled at Dane.

Dane hadn’t meant to speak to her parents in an effort to earn points with Jacqueline, though that appeared to be a benefit once she showed up and he was glad for that. But he had done it more to tell her mom, and dad—if he had been there—that family should have meant everything to Jacqueline. Most hunter families were close to each other, helping each other out, taking care of each other—no matter the circumstances.

“I…I shouldn’t have let you in. I need to go to a luncheon,” her mother said, as if that was more important than trying to mend fences with her daughter.

“Go, enjoy your time with your women friends,” Jacqueline said to her mother. “Come on, Dane, Matt. You’re more family to me than my mother, father, and brother are.” Then she left the way she had come, just by vanishing.

Dane saw the frightened look on her mother’s face. He shook his head and vanished to reappear outside the house to be with Jacqueline, hoping she wasn’t too upset. He hadn’t meant to leave his brother behind, but he soon joined them outside, the normal hunter way.

Matt laughed. “I didn’t expect both of you to just disappear on me like that. Though Jacqueline’s mother didn’t either.”

“Well, I expected more of a reaction from your mom,” Dane said to Jacqueline.

“I didn’t. That’s the way she has been since this all happened. Both my parents were disappointed in me, and they were especially disappointed about the messed-up mating between Van and me.”

“Now that’s really screwed up,” Dane said. “So they took his side in all this?”

“Yeah, they did.”

Dane shook his head and they got into Matt’s car. “I still don’t believe it’s a wasted effort though.”

“No, I agree. I’m glad she knows that you took down my ‘master,’ if that was something that was even bothering my parents. And I’m glad you said all that you did. Sometimes they need to hear it from someone else who’s going through the same issues whose family is backing them,” she said. Then she paused. “You know, we should go to her luncheon.”

Matt glanced at her, and Dane chuckled. “We might get thrown out of the establishment.”

“It’s human run. She goes to the restaurant in Plano every week with her girlfriends. We don’t have to say anything to them, unless we feel the need, but I’ve been staying away from her since I was turned. Maybe she needs to see that I’m not going to go into hiding and that while we all live in Dallas, she might just run into me from time to time and she’ll have to deal with it. We all need to have lunch, right?”

Dane said, “I’m all for it. Should we call on Trey and Ryan to join us?”

“On it,” Matt said, getting on Bluetooth and giving them both a call. “We’re going to?—”

“The Blue Diamond Restaurant in Plano,” Jacqueline said.

“Jacqueline is with you?” Ryan sounded intrigued.

“Yep, and Dane. We’ll fill you in when you get there,” Matt said, then ended the call. “You don’t think she’ll call the police and say we’re stalking her, do you?”

“No. Not if your brothers all show up and we’re just there for lunch. We won’t speak to them, unless she initiates some conversation. We might not even see them. But if we do, I won’t mind glancing at them, and letting them all know I’m still in the area and not going away.”

“Are your mom’s friends all huntresses?” Dane asked.

“Yes, and they all know what happened to me. Both Lettie’s and Van’s moms are part of their little clique. They were all looking forward to the wedding. What about you, Dane? How about the hunters who were going to your wedding?”

“Nobody was disappointed. Not on my side of the family. Some of my friends rejected me after I was turned. But my brothers were glad. The thing of it is any of us could end up being turned at any point during our hunter’s career. So what if we had been married already?” Dane asked.

“That was exactly my thought,” Jacqueline said.