No, strangers weren't a rare occurrence anymore, but the vampire this man was traveling with had caught her attention. He was the first vampire she'd ever seen not back down from Calvin. She'd been terrified Calvin was going to kill him for his insolence, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the stranger might actually be a threat to Calvin. She didn't see how that was possible though, Calvin was the most powerful vampire within a couple of hundred miles as far as she knew. He never let anyone forget it either as he ruled this town and all its inhabitants with an iron fist.
She was trying to convince herself that her interest in him was because he hadn't backed down from Calvin, but she knew that it was more than that. Though there were a fair amount of handsome men in town, including Calvin, none of them had affected her in quite the same way that this new vampire had. His unrelenting steel gray eyes had been seared into her memory when they had met and held hers. The planes of his high cheekbones and the curve of his square jaw haunted her thoughts. His tussled hair would have been completely black if it hadn't been for the streaks of brown and gold that ran through it. The tanned hue of his skin, and those fairer strands of hair, lent an air to him that screamed of the outdoors, of being able to run wild and a freedom that she would never know.
Uncle Abe had informed her that the vampire had taken two rooms upstairs but she didn't know how long they would be staying in town for. Maybe she would get a chance to talk with him...
She shut that thought down instantly. It was a dangerous thought to have, Calvin would make sure the enigmatic vampire was chased off or killed if she even remotely showed one iota of interest in him.
Hannah folded her hands into the skirts of her dress. Sometimes she wished that she could leave here, but there was nowhere for her to go. Her life was here, her family was here, and she would be vulnerable out in the world, exposed for everyone to see. This was where she belonged, where she would always belong, but she was terrified that she would be forced into a relationship with Calvin that she didn't want. She would be helpless to stop it though if she was going to keep her loved ones safe.
"Turner, don't you think you should be getting home?" she suggested as Lucas inspected the broken pieces of the chair with a curled upper lip. The older human was staring at his cards with a look on his face that made her realize they might have another person sleeping in the rooms above today.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be welcome there," Turner muttered around the toothpick dangling from his lips.
"I'm not sure you will be either," Hannah agreed. "But you better find out before we go to sleep because we won't be opening the door for you in another hour."
Turner pulled the toothpick from his mouth and tossed it onto the table as the newcomer smiled and added the pot in the middle of the table to his large pile of money. Lucas opened the door for Turner and gave a sweeping gesture of his arm before closing and locking it behind him. The human stood up and shoved all of his winnings into a pouch before pulling the string closed.
"It's a nice town you have here, good people," the stranger commented.
"That you like fleecing of their money?" Lucas asked as he dropped the seat from the chair on the pile of wood by his feet.
The redhead chuckled as he slipped the pouch into a pocket inside his coat. "That's always a bonus," he admitted. "My name is William."
"Lucas," her cousin introduced himself as he shook the man's tanned hand.
"Hannah," she greeted as she took hold of the calloused hand and gave it a brief shake.
"Pleasure to meet you both," William said and released her hand.
A loud pounding on the door brought her head around before she could respond to him. "Lola kicked Turner out faster than I'd expected," Lucas said with a small laugh.
"Well he has been sitting here since six o'clock last night," Hannah said as she strode toward the door. She had just thrown the lock on the door when it was forcefully shoved open. A small cry escaped her as she was knocked back a good three feet by the force of the door.
"Hannah!" Lucas shouted as he lurched forward to try and grab her.
He wasn't quick enough though as she tumbled to the floor in an awkward heap that made her teeth clamp together uncomfortably. Lucas released a low hiss and pulled her away from the door as men filtered through the doorway. Kane was in front but Calvin strode confidently through the doorway with the collar of Turner's shirt twisted in his hand. The hapless human's toes scraped across the wood as he was led forward. Turner's eyes had been bloodshot and swollen from lack of sleep when he'd left, but now they were mere slits behind the bulging and already bruised lids that framed them. A nasty black and blue bump was starting to form on Turner's wrinkled forehead.
Hannah had to force her gaze away from poor Turner's swollen face and up to Calvin's smirking one. Resentment boiled hotly through her but she managed to suppress it as Calvin's hooded, predator-like eyes met hers. Ruthless, that's what he was, completely ruthless. A bad feeling about what was about to unfold settled in her stomach. She grabbed Lucas's hand as he helped her back to her feet.
"I'm sorry Hannah I didn't realize you were so close to the door. Are you ok?" Calvin asked with false sweetness.
There was no remorse in the hawk like eyes that studied her. Apprehension trickled down her spine when his gaze drifted past her to Lucas. His smile widened as he dropped Turner before him. Turner didn't even have time to get his hands underneath him before he face planted on the floor. Blood trickled out of his brutalized nose, he managed to push himself onto his back but he didn't move again. Hannah fought the urge to help the poor old man but Calvin would only be uglier to Turner if he realized he could manipulate her by hurting him.