Someone was pounding on the other side of the wall.
I petted Layla as her heart rate increased. “We have to go, baby doll. We’re almost home.”
As if the last word triggered something inside her, she pulled away. “I’m good.”
I wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Are you sure?” If she wasn’t, I would carry her.
She nodded a couple of times in quick succession. “Time is running out.”
I grasped her hand. “Are you ready to show these fuckers how powerful we can be together?”
Layla’s face lit up like the Fourth of July. Her ball-squeezing blue eyes had returned. “Fuck yeah.”
“Then let’s get Orion and Luna and go home,” I said.
Home sounded like a pipe dream. But as long as Layla, my kids, and I were together, I didn’t give a fuck if we lived in a tent.
7
LAYLA
Sam cracked open the cellar door and peered outside. “I don’t see anyone, but I hear an engine idling.”
“Best thing to do is head for the cornfields,” Agnes suggested. “We can hide there until we figure out our next move.”
Agnes seemed to have drunk a high-octane energy drink. I also got the feeling she had been in tense situations before where she needed to think on her feet and act fast. A far cry from the frightened façade she’d given me up to now.
I quickly regarded Patricia. “Are we taking Patricia with us?”
We couldn’t risk her escaping. When we finally left here, I didn’t ever want to deal with her again, and without a doubt, she would definitely seek vengeance. There was no question about that in my mind.
Before I could track my husband, Sam snapped Patricia’s neck. “We have no room for what-ifs. We end this tonight.” His tone was rough and husky with furious undertones.
The sounds of bones breaking wasn’t pleasant, but I wasn’t complaining about what Sam had done. He was so freaking right.Eat or be eaten.That was something my dead uncle Ray had said many times when preparing to hunt for vampires. Yet I felt a sting of nausea at killing a human and another family member.But she would’ve hunted you and your children.
Agnes sucked in air.
“Where are the cornfields in relation to where we are?” Sam barked at Agnes.
My grandmother flinched. “We’re on the back of the main house. So we’ll make two rights once we’re outside. Then you should see the cornfields ahead.”
More pounding reverberated the wall as if someone was breaking it down with a sledgehammer.
The three of us made it outside with Sam in the lead. We stayed close to the house as we cautiously but quickly made the two right turns.
The air had a chill to it as an eerie feeling blanketed me. Before Roman had bitten me, gunfire and the howling of wolves had lit up the night. Now, it was as quiet as a mouse as if our enemies were lurking and watching.
Sam held up a fist, indicating for us to wait. He peeked around the front corner of the house.
I glanced behind us. Something felt off, like it was a trap.
Then I heard Roman’s voice coming from inside the house. I looked up, and the window was cracked open.
“What? They escaped? We’re all out of men. It’s just you and Ernie. We had Maeve and Patty as our weapons. Motherfucker!” Roman was more pissed than I’d ever heard him. Even before he’d bitten me, he was angry but not like he was now. “Find them and pump a box of tranquilizers into them.”
Sam looked over his shoulder, jabbing his finger to the window above us.
“Living room,” Agnes mouthed.
