Maxwell cleared his throat but Judith laid a hand on his arm. She nodded at me and gave me an understanding smile. “We know you’ve been through a lot tonight so take all the time you need.”

I didn’t need time, I needed answers. Surprisingly, the first question on my lips was not the one I’d intended to ask. “Why did you let us become friends? Weren’t you afraid that I’d find out what you were, spending so much time here?”

It was Maxwell who answered. “There were some in the pack who thought it a bad idea, but if we are to live among humans we can’t shut ourselves off from people. And we have ways of concealing what we are.”

Apparently. Until tonight, I hadn’t the slightest clue that my friends were anything but human. I wondered about the people who’d been against my friendship with Roland and Peter and I knew I could name at least one of them. Francis had never hidden his dislike for me. Now I knew why.

“I know you guys go hunting once a month but Roland and Peter have only been doing that for a few years. Why didn’t they go when they were younger?”

Maxwell’s eyebrows shot up and he sent a scorching look at Roland and Peter. Peter raised his hands in defense. “We didn’t tell her anything, I swear.”

“It wasn’t them. I know werewolves have to hunt or… bad things can happen.” I glanced around at the faces showing various degrees of surprise.

“See, I told you. She knows things,” Peter piped in.

“How do you know this?” Maxwell asked.

“I –” How much could I tell them without giving away secrets I was not ready to share? I thought about what I was going to say before I continued. “I’ve seen things and I talk to people online.” At Maxwell’s look of disapproval, I said, “It’s mostly message boards but I do chat with some people. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’m not sure if you guys know this but there are a lot of people, humans, who know about the real world. We just don’t go around telling everyone about it. Who would believe us, right?”

Maxwell’s scowl softened. “You said you’ve seen things. What kind of things?”

Oh you know: vampires, trolls, elementals. “Um… imps.”

“Imps?” Judith repeated.

Her startled expression was so funny that I almost laughed for the first time since the attack. “Our building is infested with them.”

Roland wrinkled his nose. “Ugh! You know there is a remedy for that. Pete and me can take care of them for you.”

I shook my head. “I know they’re a bit of a nuisance and no one likes them, but they’re not so bad once you get used to them. They love blueberry muffins so I leave them a few treats every now and then and they leave my stuff alone. They’re great at catching rats too.”

Brendan coughed into his hand.

Peter’s brows drew together. “I’ve never heard of imps infesting a human home. Is that normal, Uncle Brendan?”

Brendan shook his head. “No, but then how many human homes have you checked for imps? Guess it had to happen eventually with towns and cities growing and all.”

Maxwell looked pensive. “You say you’ve known about our world for a long time. How long, exactly?”

My fingers gripped the edge of the counter behind my back. The only person I’d ever told this to was Remy but there was something about my fierce friend that made it easy to tell him my troubles. Telling people who were like family to me was a different matter.

“I’ve known ever since my dad was killed and I saw… what they did to him.” I swallowed hard. “No human could have done that no matter what the police said. It took me a few years to figure it out.”

“Vampire,” Peter said and the word hung in the air between us.

Roland straightened. “Jesus, Sara. I had no idea.”

“No one did.” I toyed with the hem of my borrowed sweater. “It’s not like I could tell Nate or the police. Who would believe it?”

Maxwell rubbed his fingers through his beard. “We suspected. We have friends on the Portland PD so we know there were several suspicious deaths around that time. You were so young, I had no idea you saw it or that you knew the truth.”

A chair scraped the floor and I found myself in Judith’s warm embrace. “You brave girl. I can’t believe you had to deal with this alone all these years.”

I had not been hugged so much since before my father died. I wanted to pull away but that seemed rude somehow so I let her hold me.

She stepped back and cleared her throat. “I think I need some tea. Anyone else?”

I moved aside so she could fill the kettle. “Is that true that werewolves hunt vampires?” I asked Maxwell who nodded.

“I can’t believe I never caught on to what you are.” All the days I’d spent out here, all the sleepovers with Peter and Roland and dinners with the family and I had never seen a single clue that they were different in any way. I certainly never would have pegged them as vampire hunters.

Maxwell smiled for the first time. “We’re very good at keeping our secrets. I’d be very put out if we couldn’t hide them from one little girl.”

Roland snorted and his uncle shot him a dark look. “You won’t find it as funny when you are running drills for the next month.”

Roland’s face fell and I almost laughed at his pitiful expression. To save him from Maxwell’s glare, I said, “So is that how you know that guy, Nikolas? What is his story anyway?”