Free Vampire in Denial by Dale Mayer Page B

her stupidity. Bitterness washed over her in waves. Surely, for once in her life, some things could be private? Not this, apparently. Then again, of all her actions, this one would have the most widespread repercussions.
     
    "I don't want to hear it," snapped her father, his barely leashed temper adding a cutting edge to his voice.
     
    Tessa couldn't suppress the moan that slipped out. His voice… Could he please remove the spike now deeply embedded in her brain by his raised voice? She massaged her temple and fell back against the doorway.
     
    "Tessa?"
     
    The room erupted into chaos.
     
    Her mother rushed to her side. Cody beat her.
     
    "Why the hell aren't you sleeping?" he snapped.
     
    "Uh, gee, maybe because of all the yelling going on," she snapped back. She didn't argue as he slipped a hand under her elbow and led her to the closest chair. Sinking in deep, she closed her eyes briefly. Opened them to see her mother glaring at her father.
     
    "I told you to keep your voice down," Rhia said.
     
    His glare swiveled from Rhia to Tessa and back again. "Maybe it's better this way."
     
    Tessa watched her mother draw herself up to her full height, in no way prepared to give an inch. "You will not question her right now. She's injured. Twice now, I might add."
     
    "I know that. I'm not going to beat her, for Christ's sake," he muttered. "I just want to ask her some questions. Get some answers we need."
     
    Any other time, Tessa would have grinned at her father backing down in the face of her mother's wrath. Those two had been together for centuries. They knew just what boundaries they could cross and which ones they couldn't. Then the sooner everyone knew what had happened then maybe something could be done to save Jared. "Mom, it's okay. I'm fine."
     
    Her mother spun on her heels, frustration firing her voice with heat "No, you are not fine. I want you to march upstairs and get yourself back into bed. And stay there. Do you hear me?"
     
    Tessa heard the words, and when she looked in her mother's eyes she recognized real fear behind the tone. Tessa smiled gently. "I love you, too, Mom."
     
    Her mother's eyes filled with tears and she rushed over to hug her only daughter. "Tessa, you could have been killed. Do you understand that?"
     
    "Yes," Tessa whispered against her mother's blue-black locks.
     
    Her mother wiped away her tears and pulled back a little to look down at Tessa. "Please, wait until you're feeling better. I don't know much about the kinds of injuries you have. Maybe I should call a human doctor…? Taz." She brightened at the idea. "Yes, that's what I'll do. Let's go back upstairs. Taz will be happy to come."
     
    Tessa glanced over at David and Seth, who both rolled their eyes at her. "Mom. I'm not human, remember. And Taz isn't going to want to come into the house with this gathering going on." She motioned to the room full of black-clad vampires. "Though I might get injured a little more than the rest of you, and I might take longer to recuperate, that doesn't mean I don't have any vampire traits."
     
    Cody stepped closer. "And I'd be the first one to say I've seen more than a few of them in action over the last few hours."
     
    Her father glared in Tessa's general direction, effectively including the entire family and Cody.
     
    Tessa glared back, and then winced. The tempo in her head clashed with the movement, and a fine tremor ran through down her spine.
     
    "Tessa?" Her mother crouched down in front of her. "Honey, please go back up and lie down."
     
    But Cody placed a hand on her shoulder. Heat crept up her face. Maybe she hadn't imagined those solicitous touches earlier. Did he really care, or was she just the little sister he didn't have in his life? What a depressing thought.
     
    "She can go back up in a few minutes. She's my daughter, not some weak lily-livered human." Serus's tone brooked no argument.
     
    Straightening her spine, Tessa stared at her father. Showing weakness