4.

Sometimes I think I dream of my parents. My real parents.

The dream is always chaotic; people shouting and loud noises surrounding me. I'm always in a dark room, knowing something is on the other side of the door and scared of what it might be. When the door opens, the light comes with it. There's a man standing there, shadowed and dark. I'm always afraid of him, but before anything happens, someone attacks him from behind, saving me from a fate I never knew.

Then someone picks me up.

It's a woman, her hair the same dark color as mine.

She's sad. I can see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice.

But the dream isn't a memory, at least not one that I know.

When the boy—whom I now know as Jace—wakes me in the late afternoon, nothing about him has changed. His hair is still perfect and his eyes aren't tired like mine.

"Do you even need sleep?" I ask as he leads me out into the kitchen. "Since you're a . . ." I can't finish the sentence.

"Yes, we need sleep. Just not as much as a human does." Jace pulls a box of granola bars out of the cupboard and hands them to me. "Now eat, so we can leave."

"You still haven't told me what you want with me," I say.

"I never said I would," he answers, leaning against the far counter. "So you can stop asking."

Now that it's daylight, I thought he would look different but nothing has changed. He's still pale and perfect. And dangerous—I have to remember. He took me away from my home and I need to get back. Are Claire and John looking for me? Have they called the police by now? I think about my phone, still sitting on my nightstand.

I take a bite into the bar, trying not to think about them too much. "Well why not tell me? If I'm going to die, I'd like to know why."

"I also never said you were going to die."
"It was implied."

"Was it?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Does that mean I'm not?"

"No, you're certainly going to," he says.

I sat down on the couch, still within his line of sight. I hadn't really thought about dying until now. Last night felt nothing but a dream. Unreal. Everything about this does, even now.

"Why don't you just do it then?" I ask. "Just get it over with."

Jace pushes himself from the counter, joining me in the living room but not coming any closer than the wall. "I won't be the one who does it. I'm taking you to the Council."

I snort an uneven laugh. "It sounds like you stole that from a movie." He doesn't smile, meaning he's telling the truth. "Why are you taking me there?"

"If I turn you in, I'll be rewarded."

"Like a bounty hunter?"

He shakes his head. "Not exactly. I was just lucky to come across you."

"But why me?"

Jace pushes himself off the wall and comes over to stand in front of me. When I look up, he brushes a finger against my necklace—just like last night. "It's vampire law to turn in any human that wears this symbol."

I glance down, still not understanding. I assume it was my mother's necklace because it was one of the few items I had when I was adopted. It's of a small tree with a rain drops coming off the leaves.

"But why? What does it mean?"

Jace sighs inhumanly again and rubs his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. He drops into the chair. "I still can't believe you know nothing about this." But he answers, "Because it's the symbol of vampire hunters."

"But I'm not a vampire hunter."

"No, but you have the blood of one. And about two decades ago, the Council made it a law to turn them in, where they can dispose of them themselves."

The granola bar lay forgotten in my hand. I have the blood of a vampire hunter? "Does that mean my parents were vampire hunters?" I ask breathlessly.

"Yes."

I stand up in a rush. "I need to use the bathroom."

Jace follows me but I slam the door shut, keeping him out in the hall. I lift the lid of the toilet, staring at the water until I can't keep the fluid in my stomach down. Thinking about my parents, the fact there are vampires in the world, and that I'm going to be turned over to be killed, everything comes up from my stomach at once. My heart pounds too fast that it feels like I can't breathe.

After I'm done, I flush the toilet. The door cracks open but I don't look up. I lean against the bathtub and stare at my feet, still dirty from the walk in the woods.

Jace speaks first. "It was said that when vampires rose up from the depths of hell, hundreds of years ago, an angel blessed a family with the knowledge of us, giving them blood that warns them of us. When you saw us in the field last night, did you know right away something wasn't right? That we weren't right?"

"Well, yeah, can't anyone?"

"Not as well as your kind." Jace crouches down in front of me, making my skin cold from being so close. "When you're near me, do you feel fear?"

I finally look up to meet his coal-colored eyes and whisper, "Yes."
He stands and puts space between us. "If you were a normal human you wouldn't feel that. Humans are attracted to us, in every way possible. That's why vampire hunters are dangerous to us," he says, standing over me again. "They are the only ones that can sense us. Only one parent needs to be a vampire hunter in order for the blood lines to be passed down through their children. So even with the law to capture any we come across, a few still live. But never in my life have I come across a vampire hunter raised by two normal humans."

He doesn't hide the curiosity in his voice.

Did they put me up for adoption because they wanted me to be safe? With vampires hunting vampire hunters, I wouldn't have been able to have a normal life.

If that's even their reason for doing it. If they're even still alive.

"So you're taking me to the Council to be killed then," I say, not phrasing it as a question. "Because I have the blood of a vampire hunter."

"Yes."

I stand up and face him, trying to push away that fear that comes up when I get too close to him. "And what kind of reward will you get for turning me in?"

His face is set in stone. Not a flicker of any emotion to pick up. "I'll be able to clear my name of any past offenses and I'll be rewarded."

"You're a criminal?" I ask, laughing once. "So you're not only a vampire, but you're a criminal vampire." I shake my head, still barely believing what I got myself into. "This is just great."

Jace tilts his head to the side in slightest way. "I wouldn't say so."

"Have you never heard of sarcasm?"

"I don't make it a habit to socialize with humans."

"No, you just kill them."

I stare at him until he looks away, not denying it.

Jace turns and walks out the bathroom door, saying over his shoulder, "We're leaving in ten minutes, and if you aren't ready, I won't hesitate to drag you."