He shrugged, frustration washing over him. “I only got bits and pieces. Roman sent thirty men. But not all of them work for him. I guess the man who picked up Adam Emery tonight is supposedly Draven Murphy, whoever the fuck that is. Conrad would know more.”
My eyebrows came together. That wasn’t good.
Draven Murphy came from one of the oldest vampire families in Europe. Like his counterpart, Roman, Draven ran a thriving blood cartel business. The two had butted heads several times with Draven stealing major clients of Roman’s. Both were nutjobs in different ways. Whereas Roman liked to play games with his enemies, Draven attacked without question. He had a penchant to behead anyone who pissed in his direction. Which led me to believe that was where Adam got the idea to chop off heads.
Layla sniffled as she faced Dane once again. “What happened to my sister?”
Dane crossed bulky arms over his chest. “She was fleeing to a cave we have carved into the mountains outside the compound. I don’t know the details of how it all went down. But two vampires were hot on her tail. Jordyn was shot twice and also suffered a blow to the head. Part of her injuries were from Abbey’s magic. Jordyn got caught in it when Abbey was waving her hands and sending the bloodsuckers to their deaths over the cliff.”
Layla snapped her jaw shut, shaking her head, squeezing her hands together to the point that the blood was pooling in her fingertips.
Instantly, images of Layla hanging over that cliff outside Dane’s compound brightened before me. My heart had literally stopped that night I’d found her barely hanging on over the chasm, thanks in part to a powerful dream walker, the seasoned witch known as Maeve Monroe. She’d forced Layla to sleepwalk almost to her death simply because she needed my wife dead to break the connection with our children. That had been the first step toward Maeve becoming the Mystic.
I held Layla tightly as she sobbed. “Any other casualties?” It sounded to me that Abbey was fine, although a ten-year-old killing someone, even a vampire, had to be hard on her.
Dane growled. “We lost five shifters. We have three vampires in custody. Several are dead, and we think eight fled.”
Layla shuddered. “I want to be there now. Jordyn needs me. Who has Ellie and Rorie?”
“I believe Jo does,” Dane said.
For the moment, I took comfort in knowing Ellie and Rorie were in good hands with my sister.
Tripp waltzed over and handed me the phone. “Your father wants to talk to you.”
“Pops, give me a second.” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I lowered the phone and kissed Layla on the ear. “Will you be okay?”
She nodded. “I’ll be in the room. Please ask your father to send a pilot as fast as he can.” She turned on her heel, went inside, and shut the door.
I was completely gutted. Layla couldn’t lose Jordyn. My wife had lost too many family members already. I wasn’t sure Layla would ever recover if Jordyn didn’t make it.
I walked away from Tripp and Dane as the two began talking. Then I heard a door open, and Conrad’s voice filtered out on the August breeze. I guessed he and Olivia had returned from tailing Adam and Draven Murphy.
I raised the phone to my ear. “Hey, Pops.”
“I finally have a pilot en route now,” he said. “He should land at the jetport in two hours. That’s the best I can do.”
“Thanks, Pops.” I crossed the parking lot to a sidewalk along the road.
“Look, son. We don’t think Jordyn is going to make it. You need to prepare Layla.”
How the fuck do you prepare anyone for death? You can’t.
My boots scuffed on the sidewalk that ran alongside the motel. “Dane said Jordyn was shot twice and took a blow to the head.”
“Sadly, Abbey’s magic was wild and uncontrollable,” my dad said. “Jordyn was thrown several feet, and she landed on her backside on a large rock. Not to mention the two bullets. She’s being medevaced to our Boston medical facility. Dr. Vieira is in a chopper now, en route to Boston. We also have a surgeon from Mass General and a good friend of Dr. Vieira’s meeting him at our facility. Please let Layla know we’re doing everything we can to save Jordyn.”
A ball of emotions was clogging my airway. Just when I thought we were nearly out of the woods—bam! Another blow to the heart. “How are my daughters? Do you know?”
“I do. I’m here at the scene in the Catskills. I decided at the last minute to accompany the team. Rorie and Ellie are great, and they are absolutely precious.” He choked up. “I’m sorry I haven’t met them sooner.”
I quietly cried as I walked down a darkened street lined with airport businesses. “Don’t beat yourself up. I’ve hardly spent any time with my family. I can’t wait to see them and you.”
“Son, I’m relieved that you and Layla got out of there with Orion and Luna. I’m also glad that we didn’t lose anyone on the team. Adam has threatened to start sending me body parts if I don’t release his brother and Carly. He’s already sent me a picture of Matthew’s head.”
“Adam practically shoved Matthew’s head in my face.”
“We don’t bargain with enemies,” he said. “Given all that has happened since Layla delivered my grandchildren, we have a lot to catch up on, son. We’re also not about to figure out Adam’s next move today. I have fifty heads of state in the country that have large teams behind them. We will locate Adam. Of that, I have no doubt.”
