I jogged across the driveway and over to Louise. She levered back as though I was the Loch Ness monster. I was more than her worse nightmare.
“Y-You have fangs. Wh-What happened to your eyes?” She stuttered out her words. “They were g-green. N-Now they’re silver.”
One of her colleagues screamed. “Over here. He’s the one.”
I rounded my gaze on the tiny human woman trembling violently and pointing at me.
A cop rushed up through the crowd with his gun drawn. “Hands up.”
What the fuck? “You’re kidding. I’m looking for my wife.” Technically she wasn’t yet, and I still had to ask her again. But the word spilled out easily.
The squat cop, with fear dripping off him, aimed the gun at my chest. “I said, hands up.”
I laughed. “The bullet won’t kill me.” I didn’t want to make a scene, but at this point, I was losing time to find Layla. “I’m looking for an auburn-haired woman, about five-seven, blue eyes, pregnant. Louise knows her.”
“No, I don’t,” Louise said.
I got in her face. “Either you help me, or I’ll rip out your tongue.”
The cop inched closer. The name on his uniform was Davidson. “What are you? You killed my partner.”
I swiped the gun out of his hand before he could take a breath. “Sir.” I retracted my fangs. “I didn’t kill your partner. I don’t want any trouble. I’m looking for someone.”
He backed away, shaking his head. “Impossible.”
A kid about twelve years old walked up as his mother screamed at him not to. The brave soul of a boy smiled at me. “I saw a woman come out. She ran that way.” He pointed to the road between the hospital and the parking garage.
“Did you see a black Jeep?”
“Yes, sir. The Jeep followed the woman, and a bald man was chasing the lady.”
I almost hugged the kid but didn’t want to scare him or his mother, who was holding her breath behind him. “You’re awesome, dude.” I mussed his brown hair to show I wasn’t a monster like the crowd thought I was. They weren’t wrong. “Anyone else who looked suspicious with fangs like me?” There was no sense in hiding who I was anymore, and I didn’t give a fuck either. Layla’s life hung in the balance. Hell, if I had time, I could wipe memories, but I didn’t have the bandwidth or energy to erase what these humans had seen.
The boy shook his head and returned to his mother.
I tossed the gun to the now-frozen cop as the other bystanders watched me in horror as a few snapped pictures. The Council of Elders wouldn’t be happy. Not my concern.
I dodged cars and ornamental trees. Jordyn was in the garage, so it made sense Layla would go there to try to save her sister.
My phone rang, and my heart skipped a beat when Layla’s name flashed on the screen.
I slowed to a fast walk. “Talk to me, baby doll,” I said, answering.
“Sam,” she whispered. “I’m—” She screamed, but not banshee level. “Get your hands off me.”
“Layla!” Fury sent me flying down the narrow road and into the parking garage. “Layla!”
I checked my screen, and my heart fucking stopped cold and dead.
Kill was the only word in my vocabulary.
30
SAM
An eerie silence crawled through the first level of cars, trucks, and SUVs in the parking garage. That snowy night five years ago slinked back like a cat burglar on an eerie evening. Jo and I were human, running into a hospital parking garage with vampires on our asses. However, at that time, we hadn’t known the creatures existed.
I sniffed the air, hoping to catch Layla’s cherry scent as I called her. Immediately, the line went straight to voice mail.
