Her Step-Brother

The yellow cab pulled away from the curb, leaving me at the foot of the wrought-iron driveway gates.

Walking up the gravel path, the house loomed over the manicured lawn like a gray stone fortress. Calling this place home felt wrong. High school had been suffocating enough today, surrounded by teenagers whose eyes flashed amber when they got agitated, but stepping across this threshold was always worse. At school, there were teachers and rules. In this house, I was the only thing with a steady, fragile pulse. I didn't have my own car yet, and I had refused my stepfather's offer to hire me a personal driver, which left me stuck taking daily taxis back and forth.

I slipped through the front door, kicked off my sneakers by the mat, and held my breath. The ground floor was quiet. My mother was still at the art gallery in town, and Vic was stuck at his firm until dark. That left Kaelen.

Kaelen was the last person on earth I wanted to encounter.

I crept up the carpeted staircase, pressing my weight against the edges of the steps where the wood was less likely to creak. It was a useless habit. A vampire could hear the blood rushing through my eardrums from three rooms away, but human instinct died hard. Before my fingers could even touch the brass knob of my bedroom, the door opposite mine swung open.

Kaelen stood in the frame, bare-chested in a pair of gray sweatpants. His dark brown hair fell across his forehead in tangled waves, looking like he had just rolled out of bed, though I knew better than that. Vampires didn't sleep. A lazy half-smile pulled at his mouth, putting the sharp white tips of his canines on full display. He stood well over six feet tall, broad-shouldered and lean, with honey-brown eyes that seemed to take in every twitch of my face.

"Hey, kiddo, how was school?" he asked.

"Don't call me that," I snapped.

"Someone is grumpy. Did something go wrong in fifth period?"

"Why can't you just leave me alone for five minutes?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. "That attitude isn't good for your health."

"Mind your own business, Kaelen." I turned my back on him and shoved my key into the lock.

This room was my only private sanctuary in this massive estate, and I didn't want him meddling in it. Part of me wished I had the nerve to hang a fresh braid of garlic right over the lintel. But this was Vic's house, and Kaelen had lived here long before my mother ever walked into their lives. Pulling a stunt like that would only cause a scene, and Mom would end up crying about how ungrateful I was being.

Kaelen seemed to catch the sour edge in my scent because he didn't push any further. He stepped back into his room, and I slipped inside mine, twisting the lock shut with a firm click.

I dumped my backpack onto the desk and headed straight for the bathroom. The hot water felt soothing against my tense shoulders, washing away the lingering scents of chalk dust, cafeteria grease, and cheap body spray from school. Tomorrow was Saturday, which meant I could spend the entire day locked in here catching up on sleep without facing anyone.

After scrubbing myself clean, I dried off and pulled on a pair of soft cotton shorts and an oversized gray t-shirt. The shirt was huge, hanging almost to my knees, but I didn't care. I lacked the energy to assemble a real outfit just to sit around my bedroom.

I grabbed my phone and collapsed onto the mattress. I had barely opened my screen when my stomach let out a hollow, angry growl.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. Aside from half an apple during third period, I hadn't eaten a single bite all day. My body was demanding real food.

Dragging myself off the bed, I padded barefoot down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. The marble counters were spotless and cold. I opened the double doors of the refrigerator, hoping Mom had left some takeout or prepared groceries, but the glass shelves were depressing. There were two cans of cola, a dried-out container of noodles from three days ago, and a row of dark glass bottles chilling on the bottom rack.

The bottles had gold script on their labels, but I knew what was inside them. Blood. Animal, synthetic, or preserved donor plasma—it didn't matter. The mere thought of that dark, metallic liquid sitting inches away from regular groceries made goosebumps break out across my arms. A wave of nausea hit the back of my throat.

"Are you hungry?" a voice asked from behind.

I jumped and looked over my shoulder. Kaelen was leaning casually against the kitchen island. He had pulled on a clean black crewneck shirt, though his hair remained delightfully messy.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Starving."

"Come on, I'll take you out to eat." He picked up his key fob from the marble counter and turned toward the garage entryway.

I trailed behind him, my stubborn pride crumbling under the sharp cramps in my stomach. When we reached the mudroom door, he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around, his gaze dropping down to my oversized shirt and bare legs, his brows pulling together in a sharp frown.

"You can't go out like that," he said.

I looked down at myself. "Why not?"

"It's too short. Go upstairs and put on some jeans."

"The hem is two inches above my knees. It covers everything."

"You look like you're wearing an oversized nightgown. Go change."

"If I go back up those stairs, I am staying in my room. If I die of starvation before morning, you can explain that to Mom."

He groaned, muttering something under his breath as he pushed open the heavy door to the garage. "Get in the car before I change my mind."

We stepped out into the cool evening air. His silver coupe sat under the garage lights, spotless and polished. When I slid into the leather passenger seat, the cabin smelled faintly of cedar and clean sugar—the sweet scent that seemed attached to his skin no matter what he did. I buckled my seatbelt while he started the engine, backing smoothly down the driveway.

He tapped the screen to start a playlist of low indie music. I was grateful for the background noise. On most car rides, Kaelen treated every red light as an excuse to interrogate me about my grades or my social life. That constant prying was the exact reason I preferred taking cabs to school every morning. He was an intolerable meddler, and a vampire to boot.

Ten minutes later, he pulled into the lot of a quiet steakhouse near the river. This was the place Vic brought the family every weekend. The chefs here prepared fantastic steaks for human patrons, but they also catered discreetly to supernaturals. Vic used to order blood sausage here until I threw up in the bathroom after watching him cut into the dark, gelatinous meat. Normal stepfathers might have taken offense to a teenager gagging at their dinner, but Vic had simply switched to drinking dark red wine from then on so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

The hostess led us to our usual leather booth near the back. The dining room was only half-full, mostly populated by couples on evening dates.

Kaelen slid into the booth across from me. He didn't pick up the leather-bound menu, and when the waiter stopped by, he didn't order a single thing for himself. He just sat there with his elbows on the dark wood, resting his chin on his hands, his honey-brown eyes fixed straight on me.

That unsettling habit of his always put me on edge. He watched me with a strange, lingering longing swirling deep in his gaze. It was heavy and intense, dropping to the pulse point on my neck before rising back to my mouth. I had spent months trying to figure out what was running through his head during those moments. Maybe he could hear the blood rushing through my jugular vein. Maybe he was fighting the instinct to lean across the table and tear it open.

To shake off the chill running down my spine, I looked away and focused on the rest of the dining room.

Two booths over, a young couple sat close together. The girl was undeniably human, with warm blush on her cheeks and a messy blonde bun. The guy beside her was a vampire, sporting pale porcelain skin and an unnaturally still posture. She was leaning against his shoulder, looking love-drunk as she laughed at whatever he whispered into her ear. It looked bizarre. Why would a regular human choose to date a creature that could snap her neck during a bad dream?

"Do you think they're cute?" Kaelen asked, catching the direction of my stare.

I dropped my gaze back to the paper napkin. "I think they won't last."

"That's a cynical take."

"It's just common sense. She's aging every day, and he hasn't taken a breath in decades. One bad reaction, one slip of control, and she ends up in an ambulance. It's a disaster waiting to happen."

His expression cooled, the faint amusement vanishing from his eyes. "You say that as if it's wrong to love someone who isn't like you. It's unfair, Brynn, but people don't get to choose who they fall in love with."

I studied the tight line of his jaw. A knowing smirk crept onto my face as I leaned across the table. "You sound defensive. Is there someone you like who isn't a vampire?"

"You could say that." He didn't even try to deny it.

Curiosity flared inside my chest. Kaelen commuted to a private university thirty miles north, and he rarely talked about his friends. He certainly hadn't brought any girls home to meet Vic or Mom.

"Is she someone from your college?" I asked.

"No."

"Someone from Vic's firm?"

"Brynn, drop it."

"You can tell me. I won't say a word to Mom."

He raised his hand toward the aisle, his voice cutting through my questions with sharp finality. "Waiter! We'd like the check, please."

He refused to say another word about her for the rest of the night.

***

A few hours later, the smell of roasted garlic, crushed tomatoes, and dried oregano drifted through the house. Mom had decided to cook dinner herself tonight, trying out an authentic Italian pasta recipe she found online. Even though I had eaten at the restaurant with Kaelen earlier, I still helped her set the table. I loved home-cooked meals, and helping her kept my mind off the tension that always seemed to linger under this roof.

Vic and Kaelen were already seated at the dining table.

Vic wore a crisp dress shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned. Beside his porcelain plate sat a tall crystal wine glass filled with a thick, deep red fluid that smelled distinctly of copper. Kaelen was seated across from my chair, his thumbs moving across his phone. The moment I pulled out my chair and sat down with a bowl of pasta, he looked up.

There was that look again. That heavy, searching gaze that lingered on my face whenever he thought I was too distracted to notice.

"Brynn, slow down," Mom scolded gently as she sat beside Vic. "You're going to choke if you keep shoving food in like that."

Vic placed a warm, pale hand over Mom's fingers. "Leave her be, Nadine. She had a long day at school."

I frowned into my pasta. I hated the way he pronounced my name with that aristocratically smooth cadence, as if he were addressing a delicate child.

"She ate half a burger two hours ago," Kaelen chimed in, flashing me a teasing smirk.

"Does it matter?" I snapped, setting my fork down with a clatter. "Why can't you people just let me eat in peace?"

"You're cute when you get mad, kiddo."

"Don't call me that, Kaelen."

Vic cleared his throat, lifting his crystal glass to take a slow, refined sip of blood. He wiped his lips with a linen napkin before folding his hands on the table. "While we are all sitting together, dear, your mother and I wanted to discuss your future."

My appetite vanished. "What about it?"

"You only have one year left of high school," Vic said smoothly. "College applications will open before you know it. I strongly recommend you apply to Saint Jude, the university Kaelen attends. It has one of the finest academic programs in the state, and your mother would feel much more at ease having you close to the family."

"I don't want to go there," I said flatly.

Mom stopped pouring water into her glass, looking across the table with an exasperated frown. "Brynn, you haven't even looked at the curriculum. Vic took the time to speak to the board on your behalf."

"There is nothing to look at, Mom. I'm moving to Hawaii after graduation."

"Hawaii?" Mom set her pitcher down hard on the wood. "When you brought that up last year, I thought you were making a bad joke. Why on earth would you want to move across the country to Hawaii?"

"Because the weather is warm, the beaches are clean, and the state schools are fine," I shot back, keeping my chin lifted.

The real reason hung like a blade in the room. Hawaii had virtually zero supernatural presence. There were no covens on the islands. No vampires drinking blood from wine glasses at dinner.

"You can make much better plans for your future, Brynn," Mom insisted, the stress lines deepening across her forehead. "Vic is offering you a full ride at an elite private college. You need to accept his guidance and be sensible."

"Maybe I don't want Vic's help anymore!" The shout ripped from my throat before I could swallow it down. "I don't want to owe him anything else!"

Vic leaned forward, his amber eyes calm and placid as he raised an open palm. "Brynn, you don't owe me a single thing. I only want—"

"Listen to me, Vic!" I stood up so violently that my chair screeched against the hardwood floor. "I appreciate what you do for my mom. I'm not ungrateful. But I hate feeling indebted to you! I eat your food, I sleep in your mansion, and I spend your money, but I am terrified of you! Every single day, I sit here thinking you might lose control and kill us! I can't breathe in this house! This isn't the life I wanted!"

Mom stood up, her face draining of color. "Brynn! That is enough! Apologize right now!"

"No, Mom!" Hot tears spilled over my eyelids, blurring the room into streaks of amber and shadow. "How could you marry him? Five years ago, you didn't even know creatures like this existed! Now you sleep in their bed and pretend we're safe! What happens when they snap? What happens when Kaelen decides donor blood isn't good enough anymore?"

Kaelen didn't move. The easy, teasing warmth had vanished from his expression, leaving his face cold, white, and completely rigid. His jaw was clenched so hard that a sharp muscle twitched beneath his skin.

"Brynn, please," Vic said, his tone still quiet, still horribly patient. "Nobody in this house will ever lay a hand on you."

"I don't want to be here anymore!"

I spun on my heel and sprinted out of the dining room. Mom called my name from behind, but I ignored her, taking the stairs two at a time until I reached my room.

I slammed the heavy door, threw the deadbolt into place, and collapsed onto the bed.

I buried my face deep into the pillow, choking on heavy, wracking sobs that shook my entire body. My chest felt so tight I could barely draw breath. The air smelled of salt and damp cotton.

Why had I said those things?

The crushing guilt followed instantly, tearing through me like broken glass. Vic had never raised his voice at me. He had bought me whatever I needed, shielded Mom from financial ruin, and went out of his way to hide his feeding habits so I wouldn't feel sick. And Kaelen—Kaelen drove me around, teased me, and kept me company, even when I acted like an angry brat. Neither of them deserved to be called monsters to their faces.

Why couldn't I just be normal? Why couldn't I accept them the way Mom did?

I lay frozen in the dark for what felt like hours, listening to the heavy silence of the upper floor. My eyes burned, raw and swollen from crying. The emotional exhaustion settled deep into my bones, turning my limbs numb and heavy. I didn't have the courage to unlock that door. I couldn't face the quiet disappointment in Vic's eyes, or the hurt that had flickered across Kaelen's face before I ran.

Eventually, the weight of the day dragged me under. My breathing slowed, my damp eyelashes fluttering shut as I surrendered to the darkness, dropping into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I lay completely still on the mattress, unaware of the soft click of the lock.

Under the cover of night, the bedroom door swung open without making a sound. A tall, silent figure stepped through the threshold, slipping quietly into the room while I slept.