“Yes, sir,” he said emphatically.
I tried to regulate my breathing as I entered the nursery. Nurse Beverly, with her red hair and pink scrubs, was sitting on a stool in front of the computer while my beautiful wife walked around the room with Orion in her arms, humming to him.
“He doesn’t like loud noises,” Layla said, batting her eyelashes at me.
“I know how he feels,” I said.
She must’ve seen the dire expression on my face because she said, “The guardians? Are they here? Is that why the sirens went off?”
Dread settled over me like a hot vat of oil, scalding, searing, and burning. “I have to leave. They’re on their way. I calculate an hour and a half at most unless they’re stopped in morning rush hour through Boston.”
“Then what are you doing here?” she asked. She appeared to be calm, as was her tone of voice, but her pulse was beating as fast or faster than mine.
“I couldn’t leave without telling you.”
Beverly hopped off the stool. “I’ll give you two some alone time. Layla, just yell if you need me. I’ll be in the break room.” She glided out.
My daughters were wide-awake. “That siren could wake the dead,” I said as a painful lump grew in my throat. I was a second away from shedding tears. This would be the last time I got to see my kids in who knew how long.
For fuck’s sake, they were just born, and here I was, bolting faster than a bullet train. But pain, vengeance, and fury lanced through my skin, boiling my blood, and it dried up my tears. This wasn’t the time to brood or show any weakness. It was a time to prepare and plan how I would destroy Adam, Roman, and Rianne. Because they were to blame for my own kind hunting me and taking me away from my family.
I lifted Rorie into my arms, holding her head as I did. “Hey, sweet girl. I love you.” Fuck, buckets of tears were on the verge of pouring out of me.
Layla blinked away tears. “We’ll be fine, Sam. You need to go.”
I rocked on my feet as I held my daughter. “I know, but I don’t want to leave.”
Layla closed the distance between us. “You have to. Do as your father says. He’ll fix this.”
“I can have us all packed and out of here in thirty minutes.” I was sounding desperate and weak.
“Sam, we talked about this,” Layla said. “The babies and I will only slow you down. Now, did you ask Dane if you could hide out with his pack?”
During our time in the apartment, she and I had discussed many things, like the prophecy and my fate with the council, and a question had come up. Where would I hide if the council decided to unleash the guardians? She’d suggested Dane. But the shifter and I weren’t exactly friends. And I didn’t know how I felt about hanging out with a pack of shifters. Their dog stench alone might be more than I could handle.
“No, I haven’t had time. But I just saw him as I was running up here. Don’t worry, baby doll. I’ll find a spot.” I also had camping gear. Anyone would have a difficult time finding me in the mountains, which wasn’t a bad idea. I could find a spot in Maine, and that way I would be close to Layla.
“I am worried about you,” she said, flashing her big blues at me.
I kissed Rorie on the head and returned her to the bassinet. I had bent over to kiss my other two daughters when heavy footsteps sounded in the hall, and Layla’s heartbeat shot from sixty to one hundred twenty beats per minute. I would be lying if I said mine hadn’t done the same. Maybe the guardians had left Boston an hour before my father had been told. If they were here, I wouldn’t go without a fight.
Hawk blocked the doorway. “Sorry, but you’re not allowed in.”
Dane’s white hair stood out just enough over his head. The shifter was an inch or taller than Hawk. “Is that so, bloodsucker?”
Hawk stepped into Dane’s personal space. “Leave, or I’ll throw you out.”
Dane guffawed his deep belly laugh, loud and irritating.
I had to hand it to Hawk. His courage and aggressiveness to protect Layla was just what I wanted to see.
“Hawk, let him through,” I ordered.
Neither of them moved.
“Hawk,” I said in an iron-cold tenor.
The new recruit SEAL stepped aside.
