The door burst open and a shadow streaked in. Karson’s eyes swept over me frantically as he moved, checking for injuries. His face relaxed when he saw I wasn’t spewing blood. Then his eyes hardened as they homed in on Leah. Her mouth opened and she let out a hiss.
“Mommy,” a tiny voice cried.
Karson halted abruptly. My powers fizzled and Leah slid down the wall onto her feet. Karson stepped between the vampire and me.
Leah didn’t notice. She was looking at Billy, the cold rage in her eyes shuddering to something softer.
Billy’s hands clenched on the hallway rails as he peered through them. I had sealed their bedroom door. I didn’t realize it could be opened from the inside.
“Mommy, please.” His voice cracked. “Don’t hurt them.”
Georgie appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair disheveled from sleep, her eyes wide as they darted between us.
Leah blinked. “Hi, sweetie, go back to bed. Mommy will be up soon.”
“Mom, please.” His bottom lip wobbled. “Don’t.”
“Go back to bed,” she said, tighter this time.
“But, Mom?—”
“I said go back to bed!” she screamed so viciously my heart clattered against my chest. Billy stumbled backwards, tripping on the rug and landing on his ass. He clamored to his feet, his eyes filled with fear, tears trickling down his face.
Georgie knew better than to run, but she walked swiftly to him. “Come with me. We’ll stay with Lottie until Karson sorts something out with your mom.” She placed an arm around his shoulders and guided him to his room, closing the door behind them. Putting herself in danger, if Leah somehow made her way up there.
“Who let you into my house?” Karson asked, his voice cold.
A wolfish grin tugged at her lips. “There’s a way into every house, every heart, if you know the right thing to say.”
Karson rolled up the sleeves of his shirt with the kind of casual confidence of a vampire who knew he was in complete control. “May I suggest we go outside and we can continue our discussion there.”
Would he kill her outside—the doors were thick and largely soundproof? Which begged the question, how did Billy know his mother was here? He wouldn’t have heard her. But he would have heard the door slam shut and probably got up to check out why.
Leah read the undercurrent of his comment. She stiffened, but then took two steps closer, her movements lithe and casual. “No, I’d rather stay inside, if it’s all the same to you.”
“Leave now and I will give you a head start.” Karson’s voice came out soft, but his power rippled through the room. “Stay in my house and I will kill you where you stand.”
Leah’s hungry eyes grazed over me, resting on the wild throb of my throat. “We both have something we don’t want to lose.” Her gaze fell back to Karson. “Give me my children and I will leave.”
His jaw clenched, anger beginning to color his irises like black soot. “Those children will not be going with you.” His voice was deadly quiet.
“They’re mine,” she shrieked. “And you will not keep them from me.”
“You clearly have no idea who you are dealing with. This is your last chance to leave before your blood stains my floors.”
Leah exploded toward him, fangs bared, claws out in front of her body like daggers. She was no match for someone as skilled as Karson. He leapt over the top of her, somersaulting in mid-air as he twisted back. His hands gripped either side of her head, the sound of a branch snapping slapping my hearing.
She dropped to the floor.
My eyes darted to the bedroom door, relieved to see it was still closed. I looked back at her fallen body, aghast.
He moved in a blur and stood a few feet away, a wild look in his eyes as he scanned my body head to toe. “You’re bleeding, where did she hurt you?”
“Is she dead?” I rasped, my voice cracking over my dry throat.
“Amelia, where are you hurt?”
“My back, she dug her claws in, I think,” I answered numbly. Could have been teeth.
