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 I ran, she concluded.  I didn t know what else to do. The sobs
started again, and she struggled to continue as her throat seized and
clogged with her emotions.  I m losing my mind.
Midge slipped down from her seat and wrapped Ryah up nice and
tight in her arms.  Hush now, honey. You re just as sane as anyone is.
What has you so upset? The fact your boy turned into a wolf? Or the
idea that such things even exist?
Ryah scrunched her nose, her brows forming a shallow V as she
thought over the question.
Midge chuckled again.  I get that it s a hard pill to swallow.
You re reacting much better than some I ve known. She pushed
Ryah s hair back from her temple and smiled tenderly.  Damon and
Tate are still the same men you loved half an hour ago. The fact
they re shifters doesn t change who they are, baby girl.
 Shifters? Is that what they are? Like werewolves?
 I m not sure I m the one that should be telling you this.
Ryah grabbed the older woman s wrinkled hand, pleading with
her eyes.  Please.
Midge huffed out a big breath, dropping her chin to her chest and
rocking her head on her shoulders. When she finally looked up, Ryah
thought she detected just a hint of sadness in those faded blue eyes.
 Werewolves only change during the full moon, Midge began.
44 Gabrielle Evans
 Their form becomes something between a man and a wolf.
 Oh fish sticks, Ryah breathed.  You mean werewolves are
different than shifters, and they exist, too?
Midge nodded.  Yes, but we are lycan. We can change any time,
and always to a completely wolf form.
Ryah didn t really see the distinction, but she would worry about
that later. Then the first part of her friend s sentence hit her, and she
reeled backward, tumbling from the stool and landing heavily on her
bottom.
The pain barely registered.  We? You re one of them? Oh, God, is
anyone in this town human besides me?
Midge glared at her, fisting her hands on her ample hips.  May I
continue?
Ryah nodded and resumed her seat.  You re not going to eat me
are you? A little of the tension left Ryah s shoulders at Midge s
snort.  Okay, go on.
 We are hybrids. There are a lot of hybrids, but our kind is very
rare. There are only a few hundred of us in the world.
Ryah just gaped at her. She considered a few hundred to be rare?
 Damon, Tate, and myself as well as the rest of our colony
are actually a triple hybrid. Midge paused and appeared to be
steeling herself to continue.  We are Gavolots, a lycan, demon, and
vampire hybrid.
Ryah stared at her and frowned. She had thought lycan and
vampires only existed in fairytales.  What does that mean?
 You know what a lycan is, Midge said.
Ryah nodded.
 And you know what a vampire is.
Ryah nodded again.
 Gavolot is a bastardization of the Macedonian word for devil.
Demons are a lot like vampires. They are immortal, nocturnal, and
survive on the blood of others. They are more vicious, however, and
have very little reasoning of right and wrong. Feeding and breeding
Keeper of the Light 45
are their only objectives.
Ryah tried desperately to process everything the woman told her.
She didn t find it easy though. When she woke up that morning, she
had thought werewolves, vampires, and demons were just myths. She
wondered if Santa Claus was real.
 I doubt Santa Claus is real, Midge said around a laugh.
Oops! Ryah blushed, but smiled a little in return. In her agitation,
she hadn t realized she spoken aloud.  Sorry, it s just a lot to absorb.
You said demons are vicious. Should I be concerned?
Midge shook her head, her face serious.  No one will take better
care of you than those boys. Now, you never answered my question.
What freaked you out more?
Ryah sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and gnawed on it
for a long time.  I guess that these things exist at all. She suddenly
felt the need to defend her actions.  I mean, what the hell was I
supposed to do? Just nod and smile and act like it s perfectly natural
to turn into a damn wolf?
 It s natural for us.
 So you said, Ryah mumbled under her breath. Her head hurt,
and her stomach cramped painfully from the stress of the past hour.
Midge leaned forward and kissed Ryah s temple.  You can stay
here as long as you like. Take some time to sort out your thoughts.
Just remember we are no different than we were before you knew
about our gifts.
Ryah snorted. Gifts indeed.
Midge pulled away and headed toward the door.  Just think about
it. The answer will come to you. I have to let them know you re safe,
or those two will tear the entire town apart looking for you. I won t
tell them you re here, though.
Ryah nodded gratefully but couldn t form words. She watched
Midge slip from the room and shut the door.
Propping her elbows on the bar, she dropped her face into her
palms and groaned. The entire town had gone insane and pulled her
46 Gabrielle Evans
kicking and screaming behind it. With a deep sigh, she thought back [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]