I was so flipping pissed at him though. He should’ve talked to me. He should’ve included Jordyn, Rianne, and me in his deals. We were a family. We hunted together. We killed together. We could’ve helped him. But my dad was a proud man. A patriarch through and through—a protector, a great husband, and a wonderful father who would give anyone the shirt off his back if need be.
After my mom passed, he didn’t want us hunting anymore. He desperately tried to talk us out of the family business. “Life is precious,” he’d said. “You have to find what makes you happy and do that. Go to college or join the military. I’ll find the money to help you.”
We hadn’t been poor. My father’s day job working with my uncle Jack in the horse and cattle business kept a roof over our heads and food on the table. But it wasn’t enough to send three kids to college.
Sam blew in my ear. “Baby doll, your phone is vibrating.”
Goose bumps blanketed me, bringing me back from my trip down memory lane. I picked my cell up from the table. “Oh, it’s Jordyn.”
Jordyn:I’m going home to sleep. Harley left at four this morning since she had to work. Abbey and Jo are here for baby duty. Wendy and Amy are on duty. I’ll check in with you later.
Me:Thank you. As soon as I’m done talking to Sawyer, I’ll be up there.
Sam and I had checked on our little ones before we came here, and they were sleeping soundly. I’d planned on relieving Jordyn then, but she was insistent that I talk to Sawyer. She was just as anxious to find Kendra as I was.
“I’ll be up there as soon as my meeting is over,” he said, reading over my shoulder. Then he returned his attention to the headline news on his cell and growled.
“Another video of you?” I asked.
Sam had been in a bad mood since we’d seen that video of him stopping Carly’s car on TV.
“No. Listen to this,” he said. “The first vampire-related deaths. Five bodies were found in an alleyway in downtown Fall River drained of their blood. An eyewitness tells us two men with fangs were seen following the victims out of a nightclub.’” He pushed out an exasperated breath. “And so it begins.”
As the hours and minutes ticked by, the planet was becoming darker and darker. But the depressing news went by the wayside for the moment when a deep male voice trickled in, and Sam jerked his head toward the open door.
“Stay put,” the man said to someone before his hulking body filled the doorway.
Literally, since the broad and massively tall vampire with wavy blond hair, eyes the color of a deep cherry-stained wood, and tatted arms barely fit through the opening.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Sam said, his ogre mood lifted. “How the hell are you, Kraft?”
It took me a second to figure out where I’d seen him before. Kraft had been the one guarding Wyman the day Tripp and Sam interrogated him.
Kraft moved deeper inside the room. “Fucking peachy, man. You know it’s a shitstorm out there. People are chanting ‘Free Layla,’ or they want to talk to her.” He rounded his gaze on me.
“Maybe I should talk to the press.” My mouth and brain weren’t on the same page. I had no idea where that thought came from.
“The fuck you will,” Sam rushed out, his tone dropping to a growl.
I ruminated on the idea for a beat. “Why not? I can show them I’m fine. I wasn’t compelled. Think about it. If we could rally more humans who believe you guys aren’t monsters and are helping humanity, maybewecan control the narrative. Fight fire with fire, as Adam said.”
“Not happening.” Sam’s tone was lethal. “The council will surely lock me up and throw away the key.”
“If they can catch you,” Kraft said. “Dude, you know the team has your back. Fuck the council rules. They went out the window after that press conference.”
From the expression on Sam’s face, I assumed he had his thinking cap on. “It’s not the right time. And I know the way we operate now will change. But if anyone talks to the press, it should be me, and only if the SEAL team and my dad agree.”
“No,” I bit out. “We do it together.” The idea was taking shape until another thought blindsided me. “What if weshowedhumans what happens if they sign up for Adam’s experiments? We have two people on base who are products of the serum. Carly and Noah. Think about it. The crowds are growing, and until we give them something to prove genetic engineering won’t work, Adam Emery has the upper hand.”
Kraft and Sam swapped athat’s-not-a-bad-idealook.
Then Sam’s expression turned sour. “It all sounds good, but my dad pointed out that every move on our part needs to be thought out with precision since Adam has the public’s attention. If we did a show-and-tell news segment, it could blow back on us. Humans might think we were the ones who changed Carly and Noah. I doubt the public fully understands the meaning behind the fact that we were born, not made. Matthew made mention of that in his speech, but my guess is, people were shocked at Matthew’s vampire features, and they haven’t yet grasped the true meaning of what he said. But I’ll present the idea in the meeting.”
I pouted. “I can see your points.”
“On another note, there’s a Jack Aberdeen here to see you, Layla,” Kraft said.
I guessed my uncle was the person Kraft had ordered to stay put. I was surprised Jack listened to him and hadn’t stormed in, yelling at Kraft to fuck off.
