We’d enjoyed three months of solitude—boredom was a better term to describe the last part of my pregnancy. But boredom was nice. The time between when Sam rescued me from Intech until I’d given birth early that morning had allowed Sam and me time to learn more about each other. I had a chance to grow my relationship with Harley. The strawberry-blond vampire who was Webb’s assistant was becoming a great friend. I’d even had an opportunity to spend some quality time with my father-in-law, Steven, which sparked a thought. He had flown out to Montana to help my uncle Jack.
Jordyn tapped my leg. “You’re spacing again.”
I shook off thoughts of my uncle and Harley for the moment. “How do you know Fred killed Dad? Did you talk to him?”
She pressed her lips into a thin line. “Tripp gave me the chance to say my piece. But if Sam and Tripp hadn’t been in the cell with me and that disgusting creep, I would’ve yanked his balls from his body. Anyway, I never expected to hear the asshole brag about how he took Dad’s life. The bastard drained Dad’s blood to make it look like Kendra murdered him.” Flames flickered in her eyes.
That fury I’d had while watching Rianne’s speech pushed me to my feet in a flash, and I was out the door before Jordyn could say a word. The constant round of dreadful things happening felt like shrapnel flying at me constantly.
The long hallway seemed to go on for miles, and a hint of fresh paint hung in the air. I closed the robe I’d thrown on when I’d gotten out of bed, my bare feet slapping on the pristine, cold, white-tiled floor.
“Layla Aberdeen.” Jordyn raised her voice, sounding like our mother, before she came up alongside me. “You won’t find Fred.”
“Oh, I will, and when I do, I’ll be the one living in a prison cell.” I didn’t care either. “And I’m a Mason now.” I shouldn’t be biting her head off like a snapping turtle, but my rage was taking control of my psyche.
“Layla,” Jordyn said again. “The SEALs let him go.”
I jerked to a stop, the walls closing in. Suddenly, a sharp tingle swirled in my stomach and careened up into my throat. Before I could connect the dots of what was happening, my inner banshee unleashed a scream that had me expelling the madness clutching my insides.
Jordyn’s body hit the floor with a thud.
What the hell? No. No. No. This can’t be happening. I had powers because of the babies, who aren’t in me anymore. So how is this possible?
I rushed the short distance to her as the hallway spun. I blinked several times, my body feeling like I’d been strung up over a firepit.
A squeak of a door followed by heavy footfalls trickled into my ears. I was about to drop to my knees when darkness encroached within my peripheral vision.
The last thing I heard before the lights snuffed out was Sam shouting, “Baby doll!”
16
SAM
With vampire speed, I was lifting Layla in my arms as my daughters and son wailed as if they knew something happened to their mom.
Jordyn groaned, reaching for her ears as blood dribbled out. She took one look at her sister limp in my arms and scrambled to stand up. “What happened to her? She doesn’t pass out after one of her Emmy-award-winning screams.”
As if I knew what had happened. But Jordyn was right, which had my nerves eating my insides. The good news—Layla’s heart was beating normally. Mine, on the other hand, was ramming into my chest as if Thor was swinging his hammer against my ribs.
“Find Doc. He’s probably in the nursery,” I said to Jordyn.
I knew he was close by because I had checked his office and the old wing of the infirmary and came up empty.
My intent had been to ask Doc when Layla and the babies could travel. After talking with my old man, I realized the naval base wasn’t the best place for my family. Particularly considering the humans waving signs to free Layla.
Jordyn hurried down the hall toward the infirmary’s nursery as I carried Layla into her room and laid her on the bed.
Leaning down, I moved strands of hair from her sweat-sheened face before kissing her on the lips. “Baby doll.” I tapped her on the cheek. “Wake up.”
I wondered if she was having a bad reaction to the healing blood Doc had given her. Now that she wasn’t pregnant anymore, maybe the blood didn’t agree with her.
Doc rushed in like a gust of wind with Jordyn on his heels. “I heard her, but I was in the middle of pulling blood from Elara.” Doc proceeded to listen to Layla’s heart.
“I’m pretty sure the entire building heard her,” I mumbled.
Jordyn stood at the foot of the bed, rubbing her ear. “I shouldn’t have told her about what Fred did to our dad. I’d never seen her that angry before.”
The day’s events were hard to swallow, and if I’d learned someone had murdered my father or sister, I wouldn’t be able to contain my rage.
