1
LAYLA
My screams died in the wind as I plummeted to earth. If only my sweater hadn’t ripped, or I hadn’t chased after Sam, or I hadn’t signed up for a job to capture the arrogant vampire in the first place. That night at the vampire club seemed like eons ago when in fact just over three weeks had passed. I had to stop kicking myself over meeting Sam Mason. I wasn’t in a good place in my life, but Sam was the one good thing in the hell I was living. He might be an ass—arrogant, dominant, and possessive—but he was mine. He was the only one who loved me in a way no one had loved me before.
Still, so much had happened in a short time span that I couldn’t process any of it quickly enough. But crying wouldn’t save my life or that of my unborn child’s.Stupid, stupid me.I’m going to die. I’m going to splatter on the ground, and my body parts will be strewn over the open field.
I would never see Sam again or see my baby at all. Hell, I would never have the chance to ask Dr. Vieira all the additional things I needed to know about having a supernatural kid. Above all, I would never have the chance to tell Sam I loved him.
Snow plastered my face as I continued to scream, thinking about all the what-ifs. But the number of what-if questions or regrets wouldn’t save me. Tears poured out, and my pulse pounded in my ears. I had no clue how far up I’d been, and I was deathly afraid to look.
“Mom, Dad, I’m coming to see you in heaven. Jordyn, I love you. Rianne—” My other sister’s name caught in my throat as anger overshadowed the panic gripping me.
I swore if I lived, I would kill my uncle Ray after I shook him for Sam’s whereabouts. Then I would hunt everyone and anyone who had a hand in Sam’s kidnapping, including my sister, Rianne. Trying to reason with her was a waste of energy.
But I was out of time. I squeezed my eyes shut, sucked in air, prayed harder than I ever had before, and braced for impact, preparing for the pain. But it didn’t come. It took me a second to realize someone had caught me. He smelled like a mixture of pine and earth. Maybe I’d made it to heaven—or hell. My head spun like an F5 tornado as blackness crept in from my peripheral vision.
“I’ve got you, Layla,” the man said, cradling me in his arms. The heat emanating off my savior competed with the chill coursing through my body.
“Sam?” I cried. Maybe this was all a dream, and the vampire I was hopelessly in love with hadn’t been kidnapped. “You’re okay.”
“No, darling. I’m afraid I’m not Sam.” He sounded sad with an undercurrent of anger. “We need to get you on the plane and warmed up. You’re shivering.”
“Plane?” I whispered as the face of the man who resembled Sam spun before me. “Steven?”
Sam’s dad grinned, his green eyes high beams in the growing storm.
My heart split wide open.
“You’re not dying on my watch,” he said as if he read the questions on my face.
Tears streamed down my windburned cheeks and stung my chapped lips as I locked my hands around his neck. “I’m sorry. I wanted to save Sam, and I almost killed our baby in the process.” I’d recently learned I was carrying a fanged creature—or maybe not. Maybe the embryo inside me would be born human, without fangs.
Normally when a male vampire impregnated a woman with Vel-negative blood, the child was human until the teenage years. At that time, the kid would have the choice to activate the vampire gene. However, Dr. Vieira had previously speculated the child would come out of my womb with fangs, ready to drink blood. My stomach protested as acid shot to my throat. The idea of a fanged baby was mind-blowing. But the thought of losing Sam was even more overwhelming.
“We need to find Sam.”How am I supposed to have a baby without him?We were in this together. We were supposed to be a team.
I bounced in Steven’s arms as we headed toward the plane. “We’ll get him back,” he said as certain as the snow was falling.
I rested my head against his. “Do you know where they’re taking him?”
“No, but we know where to start our search.”
Adrenaline surged through me. “Intech?” Killing my cousin Noah came to mind. Hell, murdering someone was on my list, and Jack’s son sat at the top like a neon sign shining in the night on the Las Vegas Strip.
“We still don’t know everything about Intech or Camden Industries, but we’ll begin there.” Steven continued to cross the large field.
I glanced up at the cloudy sky, snowflakes falling and melting on my skin. “I still can’t believe I’m not dead.” Maybe I had an angel on my shoulder. Or maybe my parents were watching over me.
“You weren’t that far up yet. A little higher, and…”
I swallowed an elephant of emotions, thanking whoever was listening that Steven was a vampire. I doubted a human could’ve caught me with such ease. Again, I shook off images of my body being scattered over the open field.
When Jo’s voice carried on the wind, I oriented my vision to find Sam’s twin sister jogging toward us. Her black hair billowed behind her, capturing snow along the way. “Layla, thank the heavens you’re okay.” She walked alongside Steven and me.
“Why do you look like someone died?” I asked.What am I thinking? I almost did.Plus, the events of the day weren’t exactly something to smile about.
Steven came to an abrupt halt not far from the plane. “What happened?” He hardened his jaw, his hold on me tightening.
