Immortal Embrace

With Quentin gone from the hotel Finn felt at peace for the first time in a long time. Violet knew the truth and the two of them could fix things, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Before they could they had a group of hunters to deal with. “The hunters aren’t going to know exactly what happened.” He looked between Luke and Morgan. “For now we do the best we can to protect them from themselves. Most hunters don’t truly know what it’s like to be dealing with vampires. Not vampires like me, anyway. I am what I am and I make no apologies for it.”

“How does Vi like that?”

“There was a time when she was the same way. She was the one who taught me, remember? I know things have been hard for her, and they have been for a long time, but she did bring part of that upon herself. The choices she made were the wrong choices.”

“At the time they didn’t feel like they were.” Violet sighed. “I’m sorry, Finn.”

“It’s all in the past.” He didn’t look at her. There was no reason for him to. She knew how he felt, how he thought, and that was enough. “Hunters aren’t dangerous to any vampire. We’re much stronger than they are, which is something I know you both already know. That’s why we have to be so careful. We don’t want to kill them accidentally, but it’s possible, so it would be best for Morgan to keep out of this as much as possible.”

“No.” Morgan shook her head. “It’s my family. I want to talk to them. Maybe I can make them see sense. Coming to a city like this… it’s inevitable there are going to be more vampires here than they can deal with. I don’t know why they’d do something this stupid.”

“Like everyone they have their reasons, Morgan.” Finn smiled. “You and Luke aren’t their only priorities. The thing you need to know about your family is that it might have started off a personal vendetta, but it hasn’t stayed that way. When we started moving they knew something was coming. In the end we didn’t have a choice, because the time had come for us to bring about the end of such a stifling rule, so we’ve got that to deal with along with the hunters. Cities that were held in the iron grip of one of the first aren’t. The only survivor is Quentin, who will be back. He’s going to hate me more now than he already did - and I’m glad. I wanted him to know I knew from the beginning what he’d done.”

“Which was a mistake.” Violet put her hand on his shoulder. “Quentin’s a malicious bastard. Pushing him over the edge is going to make him worse.”

“It will also lead to him making mistakes. I know him as well as you do, Vi, if not better, and I have some idea of what to expect.” Finn smiled. “For now we focus on the hunters. Morgan, do you have any idea where they might be?”

“Yes.” She studied him. “I’m not going to be telling you.”

“Morgan…”

“Don’t, Vi. You might trust him, but I don’t, and that’s my family. They’re not just hunters. It’s not something Finn is going to care about, though.”

“I care. I just don’t care in the same way you do.” Finn stood. “Do you really think you’re the only one who’s been through something like this? When I was first turned my family knew exactly what had happened. Stories about vampires had passed down from one generation to the next, since the very beginning. I knew of them myself. I, however, believed the stories were just that - stories. It wasn’t until I fell in love with Vi, and she made the decision to change me, I found out how wrong I’d been. My father made the decision the best thing he could do was end my life. Like your family he believed becoming a vampire had taken my humanity. For a while it did.”

“Until I managed to remind you who you were.”

“Time has taken some of the pain of that time, but it will never take it all. I’m never going to forget what I became. I’m never going to go back to that. However it did show me who I could be, if I needed to be, and I will be that person if I have to be now. Morgan, I need to know where the hunters are going to be.”

“After what you did to Vi’s family I don’t trust you with mine.”

“They’re human. I’m not going to kill them. If we’re lucky I won’t need to kill them. I’m charismatic enough to be able to send them back to your home, if they aren’t too determined to go. It’s possible they are. They know they have a chance to kill a lot of vampires, even though it’s not something they’re going to be able to do, and when that happens it does become a little more difficult to remind them to be logical.” He shrugged. “I get that you don’t trust me. I don’t trust you, either.”

“Good.” She smiled. “I suggest you leave, Finn.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Not until you tell me where the hunters are.”

“Nothing you can say will convince me I should tell you.”

“Will you listen to me?” Morgan’s eyes moved onto Violet. “I trust Finn. He’s not going to hurt your family. We don’t make the same mistakes multiple times, Morgan. Finn made that mistake before, when his father was the hunter, and he’s not going to do it again.”

“Thank you for that.” Finn sighed. “I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t killed humans before, because I have. For a long time I didn’t care. They were food, and nothing more. I’m not the same vampire I was then, so I can promise you I won’t hurt them, but we do need to get them out the city.”

***

“Well, that did go well.” Finn made a face. “Is Morgan always that stubborn?”

“Pretty much.” Violet glanced at him. “I’m not surprised. You did kill my entire family, apart from Quentin, because you hated them.”

“They deserved to die. After everything they’d done the world is a better place without them. When it comes to the hunters things are very different.”

“Yes, it is, but at the moment she’s still coming to terms with the fact one of yours turned her, and I think she’s worried about how much control you have over the vampires with you. Right now she wants to believe you weren’t the one who wanted her changed. At the same time it’s possible you could have, in order to bring a large group of hunters here, so you could kill them.”

“I’m not that sort of person.”

“We both know that. She doesn’t. I don’t