I snapped at my sister. “I’m sure you haven’t told me some things.” I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was more to Jordyn’s hatred for Fred. She’d used the word creep and Fred in a sentence many times. I had my own thoughts on the topic, but I didn’t want to push her. In all fairness to her, we hadn’t gotten past the shocking news that Fred Emery had admitted to murdering our father.
She shrank backward and lowered her gaze to her lap, where she was fidgeting with a fingernail.
“You saw your mom in a dream?” Harley asked. “Don’t brush what she said off. In our world, discussions in dreams are messages not to be taken lightly.”
I knew that, and I wasn’t taking anything with a grain of salt. But I’d just learned of the prophecy, and the idea that a child of mine could change or shape humanity in a good or bad way hadn’t yet sunk in.
Jo folded her arms over her lab coat. “Layla, it’s important to lay out everything we’re facing. We can’t afford any more surprises.” Her tone was matter-of-fact yet accusatory. She’d been wound tight since the press conference.
I pursed my lips. “I’m well aware, Jo,” I fired back, not intending to snap, but I felt like she was attacking me for something I had no control over. “But cut me some slack, please. In a span of seventeen hours, I died three times, I gave birth, I saw my nutso sister enjoy her five minutes of fame, discovered Fred Emery murdered my father, and that I might be related to Abbey. That’s more than I can swallow. So forgive me if I haven’t told anyone about a prophecy.”
Jo slipped her hands into the pockets of her lab coat, losing the anger carved into her face as she paced up and down the middle of the room. “I’m sorry. You’re right.Youmore than anyone have been through hell.” She paused for a breath. “Believe it or not, reading minds sucks the wind out of me because everything I learn comes with emotions that I feel as strongly as you do. That sets me on edge. I’m not upset with you, Layla. But I’ve been through this crap before, only this time, Edmund’s war is child’s play compared to the one we’re about to fight.”
Orion let go of the bottle’s nipple, squirming as he started crying, severing the tension. Or maybe he was fussy because my muscles were tight and he could feel my emotions. If human babies could sense a mother’s feelings, then a vampire newborn surely could more so with his heightened senses.
Harley held out her hand. “I’ll hold that while you burp him.”
I gave her the bottle, then adjusted him on my shoulder. “Shh. Momma’s okay,” I said, patting and rubbing his back. But he continued to cry. “Was Sam’s blood mixed in with the formula?” I asked them.
After the jam-packed afternoon of planning and figuring out our next moves, Sam had managed to give blood.
“It is,” Jordyn said. “I saw that nurse Beverly adding a teaspoon to the bottle.”
Orion was becoming fussier.
“Maybe that wasn’t enough,” I said. “He probably needs more blood.”
Jo lowered her fangs, closed the short distance between us, and grabbed my hand. Then she used her long canine to puncture the skin on my forefinger. “I think you’re right.”
I adjusted Orion in my arms, and the second he was sucking on my finger, he quieted. Oh my. I could only imagine that as he grew, he would require more and more of the sticky red stuff. Doc had mentioned Orion would need Sam’s blood more than mine, which meant Sam would be tethered to a needle every day.
Silence zipped around the room.
Jo tangled her fingers, pinning silver eyes on me. “Again, I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m worried about Abbey. With the mess we’re in, it’s not just about Sam’s fate with the elders or your safety. We can’t forget about Abbey. Who knows what Roman has in store for her? She’s had visions of him taking her.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “We need to regroup, strategize, and set priorities. The first one is moving Abbey, you, and my nieces and nephew to Maine. Then when you’re physically ready, Layla, you’ll need to begin working out. Jordyn too. This war might go on for months or, dare I say, years.”
Her last line punched the wind out of me. But I was completely on board with everything she’d said.
I rocked Orion as he continued to suckle. I doubted he was getting much, but he had a hold on me that seemed to dare me to pull my finger out.
I moistened my dry lips with my tongue as a faint burn coated my throat. “Jo, there’s not much to tell about the prophecy. My mom’s message was gibberish and ambiguous. To sum it up, she told me two things. One, Sam and I play a key role in making sure humanity survives. Two, one of our children is prophesied to change the course of humankind with some type of ripple effect that supposedly will upset the balance of the world.” I shrugged. “No clue which one, and I certainly don’t know how. And while I would like to believe the outcome would be good, I didn’t get that vibe from my mom.”
Jo curled black strands of hair around her ear. “My dad’s dreams as of late have shown himyouare important in the war. Your mom intimated that very thing, which tells me we need to heed her warning about the prophecy too.”
It wasn’t as if I was discounting what my mom had told me. Again, priorities. One thing at a time—and one day as well.
“How do you suggest we decipher the prophecy?” I asked.
Jo exchanged a knowing look with Harley.
“When you saw your mother,” Harley asked, crossing one leg over the other, her blue gaze searching my face, “did she have anyone with her, like an animal?”
I arched an eyebrow, dipping into my memory bank. “No, why?”
“My grandfather has a spirit animal—a panther,” Jo said. “The animal has talked to me in my dreams, and now my dad is seeing the panther too.”
“My dreams include a little boy who looks like Orion. No animals.”
“What makes you think your dream has nothing to do with the prophecy? Maybe he’s the prophecy,” Jordyn chimed in.
