“This is all my fault,” I said with a heavy breath.
“We’re all at fault. We agreed to take this job.”
It was supposed to be simple. Our benefactor had everything set. He knew where Sam would be. He knew who Sam was meeting with and why. He seemed to know every move the vampire Navy SEALs were making. All we had to do was shoot a few drug-laden darts and take Sam Mason hostage. That was it.
The car jerked as I shifted gears as though I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. My hand trembled like a ten on the Richter Scale. As much as I loved to hunt, my nerves still took control. I couldn’t remember a time where I was as nervous as I was at that moment. Scratch that. My first time hunting with our dad, I peed my pants when we captured a vampire.
I slammed on the gas pedal, which only made the car spit and sputter. Damn piece of shit. The first order of business when I had a chance was to buy a new car.
When I shifted again, the gears made an awful grinding noise, and I screamed.
“Can you not drive?” Jordyn shouted at the top of her lungs. “You’re supposed to be the calm one. And didn’t Rianne drink the potion I made to block compelling?”
“As far as I know, she did.” But I hadn’t been watching her. I didn’t think I had to.
I downshifted, pumping the brakes, but not fast enough. We sailed over a hill, and the wheels came off the ground. And it wasn’t just one hill; the street had several like a mogul run on a ski slope.
I hated this coastal city by the bay. We’d only been in Massachusetts for less than a month, and during that time, the weather had been brutally cold. The heating system in the house we were renting was on the brink, and we had a nosy neighbor.
“Watch out,” Jordyn gasped.
I blinked just in time to miss a pedestrian. “Fuuuuuck.” I swerved, speeding through the stop sign before pumping the brakes again. Who the hell walks around at two in the morning?
I tried to regulate my breathing as I took the next turn down a quiet neighborhood street, my body shaking hard.
A wooded lot loomed ahead, and the moonlight guided me down the sleepy street lined with modest two-story homes that were dark with only a porch light on here and there. I eased into the dirt driveway of a house that appeared to be under construction.
I cut the engine then hopped out and ran up to the edge of the woods, bent over, and inhaled and exhaled. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”
“We’re not safe out here.” A soft tone replaced the anger Jordyn had held a moment ago.
I jumped a mile before I straightened. “I need a minute.” Or more like a lifetime. “Why didn’t Roman react to the drug?”
She scanned the area with mechanical precision. “He kind of did. He just didn’t pass out. He’s going to be a problem.”
I opened and closed my hands, trying to stop the trembling.
Headlights lit up the street behind Jordyn.
I stiffened. “Don’t move.”
Quick as a spark, she pulled a gun from the back of her black jeans, ready to annihilate anyone who dared to threaten her.
My heart rammed against my ribs.
The car turned into a driveway halfway down the street, and once again the area was cloaked in darkness.
Jordyn and I let out a collective sigh.
I closed the distance between us and hugged her for dear life. “Again, I’m sorry. I fucked up royally tonight.”
“Stop already. I told you. We all did. Now, let’s get Rianne home.” She held the gun with two hands, aiming it at the ground, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
I jogged up to the car and opened the back door. Drool dripped down off Rianne’s chin. “Sis, are you in there?”
Rianne blinked as if to say yes.
I pushed out a relieved breath that at least my sister was in there.
