The Yellow Sun Part 5

"Why? Both our parents were hunters," Amara pointed out.

"None of this is about his parents though," Alex corrected her. "Now, are we going to sit here and point fingers or are we going to try to figure out who is killing people on my land?"

Stephanie took that moment to silently lean forward and put the file on the desk. She sat back afterwards, suddenly not feeling looking so very well and wis.h.i.+ng she had taken the advice of the EMTs.

The vampire opened the file and flipped through it quietly. For a few minutes, the room fell into an awkward silence. Stephanie watched Chris carefully. There was a sort of foreboding pain in his eyes as if he were reliving some dark part of his own past. She touched his hand gently, and he seemed to snapped out of the his daydream and gave her a light, rea.s.suring smile. Alexander glanced up at the two through neutral eyes, his expression kept carefully blank. He looked back down into the file, and finished reading, then looked up again and sat back.

"Who have you looked into so far?" he asked.

"No one yet, but we were attacked on the way over here," Amara explained and pulled out her phone. "Funny thing is, this was on our gunner's arm." She held her phone out to him to show him the pictures, and Alexander paused again.

"Kafele?" he asked. He recognized the writing and took the phone from Amara's hand to get a better look. "He's in town?"

"He is," Amara confirmed. "Any idea why he'd send someone to kill us?"

Alex shook his head quietly , then looked up at the group as if something had hit him, a reason why. He shook his head again.

"No. I really don't know. I'd say if he's out to get you, that you should keep an eye out. As for the killings, this isn't something he'd be likely to do. Have you looked into Kyren's friends? Acquaintances? Maybe she keeps like company," the vampire suggested.

"You think there's some sort of Royal Order of the Cannibals?" Chris asked, his tone even again.

"Maybe." Alexander couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "You really never know. Kyren was never the sort of vampire-or human-, to enjoy being alone."

"Pretty quick to pa.s.s the buck, aren't we, Alex?" Amara questioned him.

"If you want to chase after Kafele be my guest. If you kill him and bring me his head, I'll even pay you for it. You'll be chasing the wrong dog. Kafele wouldn't do something like this. If raped, gutted women start turning up, then you know who to look for."

"We'll keep that in mind," Amara said with a nod as she got up. "I'll leave you get back to your meeting now."

As Christopher got up, Alexander grabbed his wrist.

"A word?" Alex asked quietly, softly. It made Chris instantly uncomfortable.

"I really don't have time for this. People are dying," Chris said as he tried to pull away.

"It'll just take a second," Alexander pleaded quietly.

Chris sighed and looked to Stephanie and Amara. "I'll be right there."

Amara glared at him but walked out of the room. Stephanie, on the other hand, watched him, worriedly looking worried as she followed Amara.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked as she sat back down on the couch.

"He's probably just reminiscing," Amara rolled her eyes. "Taking a walk down memory lane."

"Why can't you just leave him alone?" Stephanie glared at her. "Everyone has some sort of skeleton in their closet."

"Do you?" Amara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Stephanie hesitated. "No, I guess not, but you do. Just leave him alone, okay?"

"What are you going to do if you find out he's in league with the vampires? With the bad vampires?"

"We've already had this argument. I'm not having it again," Stephanie barked. "Now just sit there and, for once in your life, keep your snide, accusing remarks to yourself because I don't want to hear them."

Amara's eyes widened a little. She was shocked that Stephanie raised her voice, so shocked in fact that she just sat there quietly and waited. It worried Amara too. Stephanie defended Chris quite often. It might not turn out so well for her in the end.

It was only a few minutes later when Chris walked out of the office. He looked a bit calmer, but not entirely at ease. As he walked out Alexander followed. The vampire brushed against him lightly and Christopher tensed.

"I'll see you soon," Alexander whispered to him and stepped past him to the girls.

"I'm going to send one of my wolves with you. Her name is Spirit. She's visiting from out of town. I'll trust you to take good care of her."

"Why would we want one of your mangy dogs following us around?" Amara lifted an eyebrow curiously.

"Because she's got human intellect and the nose of a wolf. I'm ordering her to protect you all. I suggest you be a little more grateful."

Amara rolled her eyes but didn't argue. He had a point. If they were going to catch whoever or whatever was doing this, they needed the monsters on their side as well. Generally, she made a rule not to work with them, but there were always exceptions. Steven being one of them. Now she would have to make more exceptions. She didn't like that list growing.

"I*ll be sending her along a little bit later," Alexander said, then repeated himself. "Again, take good care of her."

Stephanie nodded and pulled Amara out of the room before she could make any more remarks. Chris looked back to Alex as he walked out, following the two girls.

The night air was still warm when the group got outside. It would likely stay warm through the entire night. If it wasn't cold by midnight, it probably wouldn't get very much colder.

Stephanie watched Chris from behind. He looked happy to be out of the club and it made her even more curious about his past with the vampire. She wanted to ask what happened, but after some of the comments Amara already made, she doubted if he would be ready to open up. The worst part was, as much as Stephanie wanted to trust Chris, she was having problems now. What had happened between Chris and Alexander behind those closed doors?

Stephanie opened her mouth to talk ,but Amara was one step ahead of her.

"Have a nice chat with your boyfriend?" Amara asked, her voice even and neutral as if everything were just as she would have expected.

Chris spun quickly to face her. "Would you just shut up?"

"I'm wondering if he gave you any valuable information when he took you in back."

Chris clenched his fists and kept walking, but Stephanie had as much as she could stand.

"You really don't think this is going to affect the way we work together? If he did have information, why on Earth would he share it with you?" Stephanie finally said. "I'm totally sick of hearing it too. If you don't want to be part of this mission, just go back to the HQ and explain it. I'm sure they'll understand."

"You know, people aren't always as good as you think that they are." The hunter rolled her eyes.

"The world isn't as bad as you make it out to be."

"Can you both just stop?" Chris finally chimed back in as well. "People are dying, and all the three of us can do is argue. Stop instigating, Amara, and maybe we'll get this done faster and be rid of each other."

"Okay, okay," Amara said defensively. "If I keep my remarks to myself then you need to open up."

"I'll tell you anything about the mission that I find out, but you don't need to know my life's story."

"Agreed," Amara said and went quiet.

Chapter Eleven.

The car ride home was unusually quiet and filled with unspoken tension. On the outside, it looked as if the group was finally getting along, but the stiffness in the air was thick like a s.h.i.+eld of choking smoke. The silence followed them into the hotel room. Chris paused at the door.

"Aren't you coming in?" Stephanie asked him gently.

He shook his head. "No, I'm going to head back to my own hotel room for the night."

"We just got shot at," she said, sounding anxious.

"I'll be fine. I've been shot at more than once. It's kind of part of being a hunter." Chris laughed a little and it was seemed genuine.

"Can't you just stay the night? I'll worry." Stephanie pouted.

Chris looked down quietly for a few moments. "I really can't."

"Please," she pleaded quietly and looked up into his eyes.

Chris paused for a moment , then sighed and nodded.

"Okay. I'll stay, but I can't do this every night." It was too late to argue, and she was looked too hurt for him to say no.

"Then we might as well order dinner," Amara suggested. "Isn't anyone else getting hungry?"

"Actually, I hadn't noticed until you said something. What do you two want?" Stephanie asked.

"I say we just order from the diner," Amara suggested as she pulled the phone book out of a drawer in the nightstand by her bed and paged through it.

"The one Steven's friend owns? The Yellow Sun?" Stephanie teased Amara as she sat down on the bed.

"No, the one we usually go to. I don't like the food at the other one," she answered seriously.

"I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich. Chris?"

"Uh...I guess I'll have a burger too," he said and sat down on one of the small chairs at the tiny dining table.

Amara called the order in. While on the phone, she found a large envelope sitting neatly on her bed. On the outside there was a single letter "J". She smiled as she hung the phone up after the man said it'd be twenty minutes. Jeremy pulled through for her after all, and in record time, too. Nothing like a little jealousy to make a man ambitious. She opened the folder and was careful to keep herself neutral as she read over it. Luckily, Stephanie and Christopher kept themselves entertained. After a while, she set the folder in the drawer beside her bed and looked to Stephanie.

"Why don't you lay down? I'm going taking Chris to get food."

"And leave you two alone? No way. How dumb do you think I am?" She Stephanie arched an eyebrow questioningly.

Chris watched Amara as she talked to Stephanie. He knew she had something to say and maybe it could solve the arguments rising up between them.

"It'll be fine, Steph. You take a break."

"Wake me up when you get back," Stephanie said but shook her head as she walked toward the bathroom.

If Chris were so willing to go with Amara, she wouldn't stop them. She didn't think it was a good idea though. With the way those two nitpicked at one another, she was sure this was just Amara's way of sealing the deal that Chris stay in his own room. While Stephanie worried he'd get hurt, there were other reasons she wanted him to stay . The more time she spent around him, the more she liked him. He was always so nice to her, and they liked a lot of the same things. If Amara did something to hurt her chances, Stephanie just might kill her.

"Hurry back," Stephanie finally called to them as she shut the door to wash up and change.

"Let's go," Amara said as she got up and grabbed her keys.

Christopher followed. He made sure he had his gun at his side and then made sure the door locked behind him. There was no reason to take unnecessary risks. He got into the car and Amara started to drive.

At first, he thought maybe he was mistaken. Amara was quiet for the first few minutes of the ride. Maybe she really just didn't want to see him and Stephanie alone together. Maybe she really did think he would hurt her. Then she finally spoke up.

"I want you to stop flirting with her," Amara said evenly.

"First off, I'm not flirting with her. Second, stop acting like I'm going to hurt her. I'm not going to."

"You already are hurting her." Amara glanced over to him for a moment, then looked back to where she was driving. "Every time you let her touch you, every time you smile at her or say nice things, you're hurting her."

"Oh? Is that what's wrong?" Chris barked a laugh. "You have your whole life backward. So when you shout at her it really means you care?"

"Christopher, I'm not joking. Don't you notice the way she looks at you? She's falling for you, and we both know you're not going to fall for her."

The humor drained from his expression, and he looked out the window quietly. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"You don't know anything about me, Amara," he murmured and looked back to her. He opened his mouth to explain, but she cut him off.

"Oh, but I do," she argued. "I did a little digging, and guess what I found? Your file. Turns out not everything I thought about you was wrong."

She glanced over at him again. Chris glared at her like he might kill her. There was a fury in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"I'm not threatening or blackmailing you. I'm telling you the way things are. I don't want to see Stephanie get hurt. I know your big secret, and if you care for or respect her at all, you'll sit her down and tell her the truth."

"Why? So you can sit back and laugh?" Chris growled at her.

"No. I'll leave. I'll give the two of you some s.p.a.ce and go out. If you don't tell her, I really have to. I don't know if she'll believe me, but I won't let you hurt her like this."

Chris looked down. Unfortunately Amara had a good point. He was really, truly fond of Stephanie. She was fun to be around and sort of sweet, but the situation being what it was, Amara was right. He had to tell her.