“I have a message from the grand matriarch of the Aberdeen family. You know, she’s a piece of work. I thoughtIwas evil. Man, she takes the cake. Anyway, if you value Layla’s life, you won’t come for her,” Roman said. “Harriet’s exact words.”
The fuck I wouldn’t. Harriet didn’t strike me as that stupid. Or maybe she was trying to incite me to lure me in. That made more sense. I had escaped from Intech, and I was sure they weren’t done with me. “Why can’t she give me this message herself?”
“She would’ve, except she collapsed right before we departed for your beautiful city. Before you ask, I don’t know what happened.”
I clenched my teeth. “You know I’m coming for you, and I’ll find Layla.”
He chuckled. “Do what you must. I would do the same.” He sounded as though he could feel my pain, but I doubted he had an ounce of emotion in him. “Oh, and one more thing. I’m a patient vampire, Mason. I always get what I want, and Abbey will be mine.” Then the line went dead.
Rage consumed me as I stalked out into the waning daylight with one purpose in mind—to murder Harriet Aberdeen first.
2
SAM
Twenty minutes later, I marched down the hall to the men’s barracks, primed to strangle Junior Aberdeen. The timing of his arrival the day before wasn’t a coincidence. He probably fed Roman the intel after Layla and I had left for the hospital.
Petty Officer Cole Dawson rounded his amber gaze on me, audibly swallowing as concern washed over him.
He stood at attention, lifting his chest. “Sir? What happened?”
I was sure I looked like I’d just walked out of an apocalypse. I was covered in debris from head to toe. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
My name and ugly mug would be prime-time news and splattered over every media outlet coast-to-coast. We would have paranormal junkies, the kind who filmed those documentaries, camped outside the main gate before long. The Council of Elders would have coronaries. Hell, I was certain my father was having one. We had kept our existence in the shadows for centuries with only a small number of humans in the know. But nothing stayed buried forever. Case in point: At a fundraiser years ago, my sister had allowed her emotions to get the best of her right about the time a cameraman was snapping pictures at the event. The next day, the local newspaper article was titled “Beautiful Creature Changes Her Appearance in the Blink of an Eye.” Underneath the headline were two pictures of Jo—one of her with her human silver eyes and the other with purple eyes and fangs hanging over her lips.
But the situation now was much worse. Jo hadn’t been accused of killing a cop.
I stifled a laugh. I was sure my ass would be in front of the council at some point. Still, maybe it was time the humans knew we walked the earth along with other supernaturals, like shifters and witches. Maybe then we could live as one big happy fucking family.Not a good thing, man. You’ll have more vampire hunters tracking you down.Fuck if that mattered. I was on the most wanted list anyway.
“Open the door,” I ordered through clenched teeth.
Petty Officer Dawson did as I commanded.
The minute I stepped in, Junior flew off the bed, his blue eyes bugging out and fear oozing from his pores. “What’s wrong? What the fuck happened?” He stumbled into the wall beside the twin bed.
My fangs clicked into place. “You tell me.” I wasn’t a mind reader, so the only thing I had to go on was his emotions, and since I was an empath, his trepidation was flying at me like a swarm of bees.
My father was supposed to read his mind, but when Layla found blood on her panties, everyone dove into action, and Junior’s vetting had fallen by the wayside.
I got in his face. “Are you working with your grandmother? Did you alert Roman Brown that we were on our way to the hospital?” I was ready to carve out his carotid artery. Fuck, my bloodlust was burning a hole in my throat. “You lied to us. You led Layla right into the viper’s hands.” I gripped his throat. “Layla is gone. Where is she? Start talking, or I’ll gut you right here, right now.” I snarled every fucking word as my elemental powers took over.
Glasses on the counter near the sink clinked together. The table and chairs slid along the tiled floor.
“Sir,” Petty Officer Dawson said behind me before he tried to pull me away from Junior.
Normally, guards didn’t question our motives. But the new recruit, who had recently passed Navy SEAL training with flying colors, had huge fucking balls.
“Back the fuck off, Dawson,” I spat over my shoulder. “Or I’ll make sure you sit in the brig for eternity.”
Once again, Petty Officer Dawson grabbed my arm. “He’s human.”
I should be proud and reward him for his bravery and sticking to our motto that we didn’t harm humans. But he didn’t understand what I was going through.
Ignoring him, I returned my glare to Junior. “Start talking.”
Junior struggled to pry my hands from his throat as his face deepened to red. “Ease up, man.” His voice was strained.
“Sir, stand down,” Cole bit out. “Control room, come in.”
