“Why are you alone?” Jo asked. “The guardians normally travel in groups.”
He studied her with a calculating glare.
My intuition sprang free with a vibe that made me nauseous. I wouldn’t want to be caught on a dark street alone with him. Then again, as an officer of vampire law, he’d probably perfected his don’t-fuck-with-me attitude.
“We’re spread thin at the moment,” Collier said. “Look, I just need to check the house, then I’ll be out of here.”
George cleared his throat. “I’ll show you around.” He waved his hands toward the hallway leading into where the nursery and bedrooms were. “We’ll start here.”
I rushed out and into the nursery ahead of George. I didn’t want any strangers near my babies, especially not without me present.
My heart was in my throat, and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I was overly paranoid. Maybe my postpartum hormones were the cause of my paranoia.
Rorie was the only one awake, so I picked her up and sat in the rocker. “Hey, baby girl. How’s my goddess of sunrise?”
She squirmed in my arms, her mahogany eyes dancing with delight.
Instantly, my racing pulse settled until Norman came in. I watched him intently as he opened the closet door before he ambled over to the cribs.
Like Sam was in a crib.
He studied my children for far too long with a clinical expression.
The hairs on my arms stiffened.
After a long beat, he swung his blank expression my way then left the room.
Something was off about him, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what.
Nevertheless, I had to call Sam.
24
SAM
Iwas yanking the hair from my skull. I’d wanted to jump in my Jeep so many times in the last two weeks and head to Maine. I could be there in nine hours from the Catskills. But I couldn’t risk it. I’d even thought about trekking to Chicago and blowing up Intech. After all, the nation thought I was in the Windy City, but I doubted the guardians would have fallen for that ploy. Still, with vampire law enforcement in every state, I had to be careful.
To make matters worse, Sawyer’s team had been surfing our dark web as well as the human one, and only hours ago, they’d found an ad offering a million dollars to anyone, vampire or human, who brought me in dead or alive. A fucking contract was out on my head.
Layla’s worst nightmare had come to fruition.
Maybe I would be better off in the hands of the guardians—unless they were behind the ad. I wouldn’t be surprised. If so, my father hadn’t said anything. I didn’t expect to talk to him. Webb hadn’t heard from my dad in the last three days, which wasn’t that unusual. Sometimes meetings with our government officials and elders and even with our human counterparts could go on for a week without any communication with the outside world.
I had to trust that my old man was diligently working his plan and prayed something would give in my favor soon. I couldn’t stay cooped up with shifters for much longer. I was a soldier, and the itch to fight was growing stronger by the day. I wasn’t made to take orders from wolves or work in a kitchen.
I wasn’t complaining. They had reluctantly welcomed me into their lair—even though they were afraid that my presence would bring war and death.
That certainly was possible, but my response had been, “All supernaturals are in jeopardy, and we have to pool our powers and resources to fight together. If we are to announce ourselves to the world, then we have to do it with a united front. We can’t allow people like Adam Emery to use us for his own sick benefit.”
After I’d given that speech, the wolves voted, and while some believed I was the crux of the problems before us, the majority agreed with me. Maybe because their beta, Dane’s brother Ross, was missing and assumed to have been kidnapped by Roman Brown.
While life went on, I was chopping wood for the umpteenth time. In order to stay, I had to contribute. Fine by me. Swinging the ax allowed me to release pent-up energy and gave me a chance to think. It was also my silent enemy. The more I got lost in my thoughts, the moodier, broodier, and angrier I became. I was desperate to see my family, hold my kids, and touch and kiss my wife. And because of Adam Emery, I couldn’t do any of that. If the wolves blamed me for the public frenzy, then I blamed Adam, Roman, and Rianne. They were the culprits and complicit in outing us to the world.
I growled as I set the ax next to a pile of logs, wiped the sweat from my face and chest, and snagged the bottle of water from the ground beside me.
The temperature was dropping as the sun slid down behind the massively tall trees that were interspersed in and around log cabins, a community center, a weapons-and-equipment building, and the main hub of activity—an L-shaped log structure that was home to offices, a medical wing, and a tech center.
In addition to chopping wood, I’d been tasked with kitchen and janitor duties—washing dishes, pots, and pans, emptying trash, and mopping the soiled floor of their chow hall every night. By the end of my shift, I had a newfound respect for my fellow vampires who were assigned to do the same at my mess hall on base. But I’d never laughed at them like the mutts did every night at my expense. My feelings weren’t hurt. I was grateful they’d agreed to hide me, no matter how abrasive their hospitality. Even my accommodations were lacking. I’d thought Dane had been kidding when he’d said I had to pitch a tent, but nope. My humble abode was a cot and a camp light—nothing I wasn’t used to as a soldier. Hell, I would sleep on a bed of snakes if it meant I wouldn’t be the council’s scapegoat. My family needed me alive, not dead or burned to ash.
