Echo snapped her fingers in Adelah’s face, bringing the girl’s attention back to her. “This is important, Adelah. Where is Odette?”
The girl blinked owlishly. “But I thought you knew … she said the people who came for her were family.”
“When did they come?”
“I don’t know … about an hour ago.”
Oh my God. Hope rose within Echo. “What did they look like? Do you remember names?”
“Is Odette okay? She said they were family. I promise.” She looked ready to cry.
“She’s fine. I just … I need to find her, it’s urgent. Who did she leave with?”
“A bunch of burly guys like the usual bodyguards your dad puts on her.”
“How many?”
“Five. But the person in charge was a woman. Odette said she was your aunt Orla.”
Holy shit.
Echo looked up at Elijah. “You were right. He sent his best.”
His face hardened. “Someone who doesn’t like getting a tan, perhaps?”
Jubilation filled Echo. “Exactly.”
William had obviously worked out the truth (how, she didn’t know) and was only an hour ahead of Echo. With Orla in their midst, they couldn’t leave Canada until tonight. And they had to be near because the sun would rise soon.
“Thank you, Adelah.” Echo squeezed the girl’s shoulder and stood. “Your turn,” she said to Elijah.
She watched the rock star lower to his haunches before the tween. Adelah’s eyes were huge with girlish astonishment. And then as Elijah told her in soothing tones that she would forget this entire encounter and fall back into a peaceful, dreamlesssleep, Adelah did just that. Elijah tucked the duvet around the girl and stood to face Echo. He looked unhappy at what he’d had to do.
That irritating flutter in her belly made itself known again as they shared a long look.
Elijah Webb was a good male.
Having been raised among a lot of males who fed right into that whole toxic masculinity thing, Echo couldn’t help but feel attracted to a man who was the opposite of all that.
Sure, he had the sexy rock star persona thing down pat.
But that’s all it was.
A persona.
It wasn’t who he really was.
And who he really was … well, she found it annoyingly appealing.
He raised an eyebrow, something like surprise in his gaze. “Echo?”
She wrenched her eyes from his and whispered, “I know where they are. They couldn’t have gone far with Orla … and if Orla is with them, there’s probably at least one other vampire among the five men Adelah mentioned. We own a safe house in the woods at Hunter’s Cove. It’s private land, a couple of miles from any other property. It’s where we stay when we visit Odette. It’s deep in the woods—and sunlight proof.”
“Isn’t that an obvious place?”
“Yes, but I don’t think William imagined we’d be this close behind. And he’d be guessing I wouldn’t endanger Odette by attacking the cottage.”
“And will you?”
