I dragged the tip of the sword along the back of Wyman’s neck. “If you so much as sneeze in the wrong direction, I’ll use this sword to slice your skull from the rest of your body. Are we clear?”
He tensed so hard he was shaking. “Crystal.”
Using the sharp blade, I severed his ties.
He flew out of his chair and stumbled, almost falling headfirst into the blazing fire. “Thank you,” he squeaked out as he righted himself and faced me.
“Heed my warning, dude,” I said through clenched teeth.
Wyman rubbed his wrists. “I promise, you can trust me.”
We would see about that. Besides, he had some mad computer skills that might serve us well. Nevertheless, Roman could’ve been scoping out the high school for that very reason and contacting parents of teenagers who carried the vampire gene.
Webb swiped a hand over his brown hair. “We have a ton of moving parts. There’s Intech, Camden Industries, and the Aberdeens, who now have Matthew and Layla. Not to mention, Roman is gunning for Abbey. Sam has a chip in his head, as does the shifter Dane Gray. We know the players are Carly Aberdeen, Harriet Aberdeen, Adam Emery, and Roman Brown. And we now have the Duponts and maybe a leak in Victor’s staff.”
Victor poured whiskey into a glass. “One thing I’m confused about, Sam. If Carly has Patrick’s data, why did they take you?”
I tucked a hand into the pocket of my cargo pants. “She needs fresh DNA to whip up the serum, and Patrick’s success was with Jo’s DNA and mine.”
“So you think that Matthew is the last piece of the puzzle?” Wyman asked.
I nodded. “I do. Carly has DNA from Dane and me. Now she needs to study Matthew’s DNA mapping sequence. Once she has both, she might have the secret sauce to perfect makeshift supernatural creatures. Add to that the chip to control said creatures.”
Victor growled. “My daughter is going to have a nervous breakdown.”
If I knew Alia, she would. Her son was everything to her. But she wasn’t my concern. Layla was, and I had to get my ass in gear if I wanted to see my huntress ever again.
5
LAYLA
My head throbbed and nausea swirled in my stomach. The van was moving at high speeds. I’d been in and out of consciousness. For how long? I wasn’t sure. I licked my dry lips before swishing saliva around in my parched mouth. That familiar burn in my throat began to grow hotter and stronger. Blood. I needed Sam’s blood. Oh my God. Sam. He must be out of his mind with worry.
I swallowed thickly, hoping my pulse would slow and that burn would go away. But I knew it wouldn’t until I drank the sticky red stuff. I raised my head from the dirty floor, blinking several times. Darkness spilled in through the windshield as the lights from the dashboard glowed. I squirmed out of my fetal position as the van banked around a sharp curve, causing me to roll and slam against the inside wall behind the driver’s seat. With trembling fingers, I frantically pulled on the zip ties around my wrists and ankles, but I wasn’t strong enough to break the damn ties.
Breathe, girl. Don’t panic.Easier said than done. My heart was in my throat.
From what I could see, thick trees lined the road. That told me we were in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I was wrong.Please show me I’m wrong and that civilization is nearby.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked in a barely audible voice.
The man in the passenger seat turned to look at me. “Somewhere you’ll never be found.” His brown eyes glinted with a truckload of happiness. He’d had that same look just before he jabbed a needle into me at the hospital while the other SWAT man with him had tried to contact Fred Emery.
Then I’d lost consciousness, but I remembered every detail leading up to my kidnapping as things had gone horribly out of control.
Sam sat in the exam room in the ER, processing the shocking news that we were having four babies. “Last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard two heartbeats, not four,” he said.
I was about to say something to calm him down when my phone rang. I fumbled to find my cell in one of my coat pockets. By the time I fished it out, the ringing had stopped, but Jordyn’s name brightened the screen. I called her immediately, anxious and excited to share the news. Though she probably wouldn’t bat an eye, since she thought Sam had magic sperm and had said that morning she wouldn’t be surprised if I had a litter.
I giggled. Maybe Jordyn had unique foresight into the future. We had vampires and witches in our ancestry.
But as the line connected, two things happened at once.
Sam jumped out of his chair, pressing on his earpiece as Jordyn shouted into the phone, “Layla, run!”
Sam barked into his comm, “Motherfucker. Are you sure, Olivia?” He flicked his chin at me. “Put Jordyn on speaker.”
I swallowed a ball of fur, obeying his command.
