He tipped his chin down. “I am. Your sister has my info. If you need help, please call me.”
Jordyn smiled as though she’d found a five-carat diamond. “He lives here.” I didn’t know why she sounded so surprised about that. Although to her credit, Conrad seemed as though he was from a big city like New York.
Regardless, I thanked him. Then I hopped back in the truck, flustered and ready to strangle Sam Mason after I fucked his brains out.
10
LAYLA
The tires crunched over gravel as Jordyn drove down the long driveway toward the ranch. Rain clouds skated in, and the sky was growing darker in the distance as the wind picked up.
I shivered as an ominous feeling prickled through me, and the hairs on my nape stood at attention. I heaved a sigh as Jordyn parked next to Uncle Jack’s long-bed four-door diesel truck.
I scanned the property. “Things look quiet around here.”
Jordyn cut the engine and pointed to the workshop in between the barn and the house. “It won’t be for long.”
My uncle was fiddling with something on his workbench, and if I had to guess, he was probably sharpening a dagger or one of his blades. Given that he was resurrecting the family business, I had no doubt he was gathering his weapons and making darn sure they worked. I was surprised he wasn’t overhauling his flamethrower.
A feeling of dread set in. Between Aunt Tab calling Sam and talking to Sam myself, my brain was fried. I wasn’t sure I knew what I wanted to say to Uncle Jack or where to begin. Maybe I should inform him that his wife was talking to a vampire.
I still didn’t understand my aunt. In one breath, she wanted me to stay away from vampires. In another, she was reaching out to one of the most powerful vamps, thinking Sam could help me.
I chomped on a nail like a squirrel nibbling on a pine cone. “Can you believe Aunt Tab called Sam? If Uncle Jack knew, he would have a cow.”
As if he heard me, Uncle Jack glanced our way. The ball cap he wore shadowed his expression, but I didn’t need to see his face to know he was ready to unleash his fury on me. His stiff shoulders and posture said it all. Since my father died, I’d never seen my uncle crack a smile. I understood he was sad over the loss of his younger brother, but two years had passed.
What am I even thinking?My uncle’s cruddy attitude was because of me.
“He would also shit bricks if Aunt Tab told him that you licked blood off the knife,” Jordyn said.
“I can’t see her doing that. She has to know that Sam would call me after she tattled on me. She also knows I could throw her under the bus.” As much as I would love to see the look on my uncle’s face if he learned his wife called a vampire, I wasn’t the type to tattle.
He wiped his hands on a rag and strutted our way. His jeans were stained with oil. His boots had mud on the rims of the soles, and his belly stuck out beneath his flannel shirt.
I grabbed the door handle. “Time to get this over with.” Then I could move on with whatever was next.
Jordyn caught my arm. “Wait. What’s the long-term plan here? Sam wants you to see Dr. Vieira. Are you?”
I couldn’t think past that moment, not with my uncle getting closer. From the look of his hard-set jaw and narrowed grayish-blue eyes, it was evident that I was in for one hell of a fight. “Maybe. I want to talk to Dr. Vieira first, but I don’t have his number.”
She took the keys out of the ignition. “I’ll handle it. I’m sure Conrad will help.”
I didn’t have a chance to respond when Uncle Jack stood with his arms crossed over his chest in front of our truck.
Jordyn practically flew out, scurried past Uncle Jack with a quick hi, and disappeared into the house.
I lifted my chin as I climbed down, stepping on the running board before my booted feet touched the ground. “Is there something you want?” I asked, mostly to quiet my nerves.
“You and I need to talk.” His tone permitted no argument.
The itch to flip him off was making me shake like a druggie that needed a fix, so I slipped my hands into my coat pockets. “Agreed. So, talk.” I anchored myself at the edge of the truck’s hood on the passenger side.
He removed his ball cap, swiped a hand over his thinning reddish hair, and placed the hat back on his head. “I thought you would come to your senses. But I was wrong, and I’m only going to say this once.” He glared at me as though he was shoving a dagger in each one of my eyes. “If you continue to engage with vampires, then you don’t have a place in this family.” If not for his body language, I would think he was calm, cool, and collected with how even his tone was. “Are we clear?”
I should nod and agree and walk away. But one, that wasn’t me. Two, I hadn’t been around him and the rest of the Aberdeen clan for two years, so his threat that I didn’t have a place among them didn’t matter. Three, and most importantly, he had nosed around in my personal business, and that wasn’t okay with me. It had been a mistake to come here to begin with.
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “No, we’re not clear.”
