But Sam didn’t look angry or ready to hurt anyone. “Jack, you know I can take that weapon from you before you can even blink,” he said too confidently.
“Tab, I told you to call my brother. Don’t just stand there!” Jack barked.
“No,” she volleyed back. “You wanted Layla gone, so she’s leaving with Sam. He’s here to take her back to Massachusetts.”
I exchanged a wide-eyed look with Jordyn before I turned to my aunt. “May I remind you that…” I couldn’t bring myself to throw her under the bus, so the only other thing I could do was meet my uncle head-on. If he burned me alive, so be it.
Sam reached out and caught my hand. “What are you doing?”
I shrugged him off. “Get your ass in your car and leave. I’ll handle my family.”
The stubborn vampire didn’t move as his green eyes vacillated to silver then back to green.
“I said go.” I stomped my foot.
A deep crease formed between his eyebrows. “I’m not leaving without you. It’s best if I protect you.”
Without taking my eyes off Sam, I said, “Jordyn, leave with Sam. I’ll meet you in town. You know where.” I wasn’t about to divulge that piece of information. Knowing my uncle, as soon as Sam left, he would gather the troops and hunt him down.
I hated to believe that the images I had of Sam hanging by his ankles over our firepit would come true. But somehow, my intuition was pinging me left and right that Sam was in danger if he didn’t get his butt on a plane and out of Montana.
“Let me get my bag,” Jordyn said. “I’m all packed and ready to go, anyway.”
“Packed?” Uncle Jack asked. “Where are you going?”
I finally broke my stare with Sam. “She’s not staying here, either.”
“I thought you had an interview with that company in Chicago that Carly works for?” Jack asked.
“I told you I hadn’t heard from them yet,” Jordyn said, sounding elated. “But I’m going to talk to Steven Mason about a job.”
“What?” Jack and Sam asked in unison.
My sister smiled as though she’d won a beauty contest. “Steven was hoping you would work for him, Uncle. But we know that won’t happen. And frankly, while we’re telling the truth around here, I want you to know that not all of them are as evil as this family made us believe. The military vampires protect those who can’t protect themselves, and they are better than we ever could be.”
My uncle’s complexion went beet red.
I pursed my lips at my sister. “Move.” We didn’t need to incite him any further.
Jordyn disappeared into the house while Sam ambled over to his car. “Layla, make it quick. My plane leaves at eight tonight.”
I had plenty of time. It was only approaching noon. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to spend another minute there if I didn’t have to. I also didn’t want to leave the area until I could talk to Rianne. I had to see her before I got on the plane.
“Where’s Rianne?” I asked my uncle.
Jack kept his sharp focus on Sam as he waited at his car for Jordyn. “She’ll be here within the hour.”
Jordyn barreled out of the house. “I have your bag, too, Layla.”
I wanted to laugh. I hadn’t packed, but I guessed that was the reason Jordyn had been nonexistent since I’d left her while she showered. Then something dawned on me. I had no transportation to meet Jordyn later. No matter. I would coax my aunt into giving me a ride.
Jordyn tossed the bags into the back seat of Sam’s rental car. “I’ll text you, Layla.”
Sam hesitated, staring at me.
I prodded him with my eyes. “Go.”
When he finally acquiesced and slid behind the wheel, my uncle lowered his flamethrower.
