Zoey Thornton, the academic, had told Layla and me the same thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about any prophecy? Maybe then we wouldn’t have the threat of witches—as well as every other power-hungry and curious human and supernatural on the planet—hunting us.
“Let’s hope that neither prophecy has any substance to it,” Layla said. “You know, maybe Dr. Vieira can run lab tests to see if any of our children’s DNA mixed with a witch’s can prove that a witch would turn into a vampire. He can use me as the witch subject.”
I was digging the way she was thinking. “Great idea.”
Tripp was nodding. “For sure.”
Jo would be all over this since she was studying to become a doctor with a focus on genetics.
I checked on my beautiful daughter, more to shake off the effects of the last several hours than because I was worried about her. Instantly, my chest loosened.
Her violet orbs glimmered in the dark cab of the SUV. Her thick raven hair curled at the ends, and she seemed happy as she sucked on a pacifier.
For the moment, she was a balm to my frayed nerves. I pushed everything out of my mind but her. I still couldn’t believe she was my blood. That Layla and I had made this amazing inhuman being.
“Hey, baby girl,” I cooed in a voice that sounded foreign to me, basking in a bath of unadulterated love.
Layla held on to Luna’s hand. “I will die if anything happens to Ellie and Rorie. I want all this shit to stop. No one has any right to our children. Why the fuck do they think they do?”
Layla’s anxiety was amplifying my own. I reached around the seat and touched her leg. Electricity charged up my arm and kick-started my heart. “Jordyn will protect our daughters with her life.” I had every confidence in Layla’s sister. She might’ve screwed up a couple of times in the past, but she was dedicated to Layla and me. “The pack will protect them too. Cooper won’t let anything happen to anyone on the compound.” I tried to infuse as much assurance into my tone as I could. Not only for Layla’s benefit but for mine too.
Luna spat out her pacifier, fidgeting in her car seat.
My heart swelled with a love that was both overwhelming and terrifying. I had failed to protect her, and that felt like a dagger to my chest. But for fuck’s sake, I would not make the same mistake twice.
10
SAM
We were hunkered down in a motel that required more repairs than a dilapidated home. The carpet in our room was riddled with burn marks. The walls were stained with brown spots, and a hot shower turned into a cold one when I’d stepped into it.
Despite these shortcomings, Layla, Orion, and Luna were safe and with me. I couldn’t say the same for my other two daughters, Ellie and Rorie. Layla and I were sick with worry, not knowing what the fuck was happening in the Catskills. I wanted to tear out my hair, but I couldn’t. I had to be strong for my wife, which was a monumental feat. Her panic was jumping off her and heightening my own—a double whammy that felt like my insides were going through a meat grinder.
From the time I’d woken up in the cage until we drove into the motel parking lot, three long, excruciatingly painful hours had ticked by. Layla and I still had more panic-filled time ahead of us as we waited for word from the Catskills.
“Jo and Webb and whoever went with them should be there by now.” Layla was sitting on the edge of a queen-size bed, wrapped in a towel and worrying her bottom lip.
Orion and Luna were asleep with pillows surrounding them on the other queen-size bed behind Layla.
As for me, I was in a chair across from my wife, lacing up my boots. “I’ll check with Tripp and see if he’s heard anything or if Dane is here at the motel yet.”
When we’d pulled into the hotel parking lot, Sergeant Rebekah Whyte with Army Special Forces had phoned Tripp to fill him in on Dane’s condition. The good news was that Dane was fine. He’d been shot in the stomach in wolf form and had a hard time shifting. Once the vet removed the bullet, he returned to human form. His prognosis was good since shifters healed quickly, although not as fast as vampires.
“I hate waiting.” Layla sounded like she wanted to scream.
I buckled my belt, went over to the bed, and tugged Layla to her feet. “Come here, baby doll.” Once her warm face was against my bare chest, a much-needed sigh escaped me. I smoothed a hand over her damp hair. She’d showered before I did while I watched Luna and Orion.
She clung to me tightly. “I’m exhausted, Sam. But I’m also sick with worry.” Her voice trembled. “I want to disappear where no one can find us.”
I guided her face to look up at me, and my pulse stuttered. Her eyes, once a bright shade of electric blue, appeared dull and fatigued, while her skin had taken on an ashen hue.
I had time to think in the shower about our next steps from here. “We’ll look for a place as soon as we can. But for the foreseeable future, the naval base will be our home until this war is over.” Dane ran a tight and secure ship, but he and his enforcers weren’t my SEAL team. “I know we left the naval base because of the mob of humans outside the gate and I had guardians on my ass. But I would feel better with the Vampire Navy SEALs protecting you and our children. We also have the military police and another SEAL team in Viking II.”
She snuggled into me. “I do miss our apartment and the new nursery we never had a chance to use. To add to your point, we also need Dr. Vieira while the kids are growing. Which brings up a list of questions. Will they be walking earlier than human children would? I also want to know what their DNA results show. Are they all vampires or witches or both? Or is Orion the only vampire? Then there are both prophecies. And dare I say I’m curious what’s happening with Rianne? Not that I want to see her. I don’t. I’m also wondering about Carly.”
I chuckled, feeling dizzy as she babbled all that. “Slow down, baby doll.” At the mention of Rianne, I tightened my hold on Layla.
She eased away, biting a nail. “I’m sorry. My mind is racing with all these thoughts and questions. Not to mention, will other witches hunt us down to kill our child who’s tied to the prophecy?” Her chest lifted. “My emotions are on a roller-coaster ride too. I’m angry, worried, in awe of my powers, and freaking out that our children are not safe yet.” She slid her warm hands up my chest and neck, then dragged her nails along my unshaven jaw, searching my face. “Remember our handfasting ceremony and the vows we exchanged?”
