Her first strike had been leaving the base with Junior and not telling anyone where they were heading. Jordyn had made a deal with her grandmother. She would join Harriet, and in exchange, Harriet wouldn’t harm Layla. I couldn’t fault Jordyn for wanting to save her sister. Hell, I’d been ready to go rogue when Layla had been kidnapped. But we’d had a plan, so there was no need for Jordyn to throw herself in harm’s way.
Me:Copy that. After she reams out Fred, I’ll talk to her and drive your message home. Did the council say anything about Layla?She wasn’t a prisoner like Fred, but the public didn’t know that, and I had to believe my father would’ve shared my marriage with the council.
Tripp:If they did, your father hasn’t said. Just get here.
I couldn’t dwell on or control what the council, our enemies, or the public would do. What I could control was my family’s safety, and for fuck’s sake, that would be a difficult feat if Layla and our babies remained on base. I was sure the crowd had been multiplying outside the gate after that press conference.
I wanted to scream or punch something, preferably Rianne’s face. But at some point, I would have my chance to end that bitch once and for all. Of that much I was certain.
I picked up the pace, laughing out loud at how fate was fucking with me again, ruining a day that should be perfect and festive. I should be handing out cigars, drinking beers, and toasting my inception into fatherhood. Instead, the world was on the brink of destruction and taking my family down in the process.
Breathe, man. Think of your beautiful children, Elara, Aurora, Luna, and Orion. They are the reasons you need to fight for a better and safer world for them to grow up in.
I wasn’t fighting to protect humanity anymore but rather my family.
Heels clicking on the tiled floor broke my concentration as I approached the door from the new wing into the old.
“Sam, hold on,” Jo called, running up to me.
“I thought you were filling Layla in on the news conference,” I said.
“She’s in the bathroom. Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to go off the grid.”
I snorted through a laugh. “I know. All of us might have to. Webb has Tripp on standby to engage our disaster-readiness plan.” I swallowed, hoping saliva would coat the sandpaper in my throat. “The only place I can think of to shelter Layla and the babies is at your Maine house.” They should be safe there. The coastal town was ruled by vampires, including the sheriff, Stan, and his deputies. Not to mention, I also implicitly trusted George, Webb’s longtime family friend, who took care of Jo and Webb’s place. He would guard my family with his life.
She bobbed her head. “I was thinking the same thing. I’ll have George, and Stan’s wife, Gina, set up a nursery in one of the guest bedrooms.” Then she poked me in the chest with her pink-painted nail. “You need to leave, like, now. I’ll take care of your family. The council probably has guardians on their way here to take you in. They’ll throw you in the brig until they can figure out how to handle the hysteria out there.”
“The thought has crossed my mind that the elders might decide to use me as a scapegoat, but Pops won’t let that happen. I didn’t do anything wrong.” My intentions had never been premeditated. Sometimes I couldn’t help when my emotions brought out my vampire side. And if I had known the reporters were filming earlier, I might not have used my powers. Then again, I hadn’t seen any other way to stop Carly. “I’m more concerned about Layla than me.”
My father was an elder and had taken an oath to uphold vampire laws. But I had to believe he would fight for me. Besides, if my dead grandfather’s message to my dad held any weight, then I couldn’t end a war if I was in the brig. Even the ancient elders believed in messages from the dead.
Maybe, but that was before the world knew vampires exist. If they’re afraid, they’ll mutiny if you don’t release Fred. The elders might think along those lines and make an example out of you.I growled at the devil in my head.
I clutched the sides of Jo’s arms. “I love you and that you worry about me. I know time is critical, but I want to talk to Pops first. Okay?”
As strong as my sister was, tears pooled in her silver eyes. “For now. Oh, and one more thing. Matthew isn’t himself. Adam has to be controlling him with one of those chips.”
My sister had a soft spot for Matthew. “Do me a favor, sis. Watch Matthew’s segment again. Something is off with him, and I don’t mean he’s being controlled. Just the opposite.”
She reared back, a crease denting the space between her eyebrows. “You think he’s doing this of his own free will?”
“I don’t know. But even Tripp said you can’t tell if Matthew is helping us or hurting us. But what if he’s been working with Roman? What if he alerted Roman where Abbey was or set up the plan for Roman to kidnap him?”
“No way would he put Abbey in harm’s way,” she said in disbelief. “And we found Victor’s mole. I read the guard’s mind.”
“Jo, you and I know that those who are aware of your capabilities can erect mental shields. You told me earlier that you couldn’t read Fred Emery’s mind. What if Victor’s guard wanted you to believe it was him?”
She shook her head. “Matthew hated what Edmund and our uncle did to him. He wouldn’t betray us.”
My sister knew better than to be so trusting. I lowered my gaze to my flak boots, and before I could stop myself, I was transported back in time to the day I almost lost Jo to someone the entire SEAL team had trusted with their lives.
Jo and I had broken out of a room at a funeral home where Edmund Rain had been holding us hostage. We weren’t his lab rats that day but rather a bargaining chip—our lives for his daughter Abbey’s.
But when Jo banked left with me on her heels, she ran directly into Webb’s sister Kate London. Before I could stop Kate, she’d plunged a cobalt dagger into Jo’s chest. If Jo hadn’t killed Kate that day, I would have in a flat second.
I lifted my gaze, blinking away the past. “Like how everyone thought Kate London could do no wrong. Yet Webb’s sister was sleeping with Edmund Rain. Need I say more?”
She blanched and swallowed audibly.
