Jordyn and I were tucked into a booth in the back corner of a local restaurant in Big Timber. The lunch crowd was beginning to thin. Voices droned, glasses clinked, and the swinging doors to the kitchen squeaked.
I held onto my glass of Coke, debating whether I should ask the waitress if they had any Pepto-Bismol. My stomach still wasn’t feeling all that great. I was glad the restrooms were down a short hall next to me. That way, if I lost the spoonful of chicken soup I’d slurped a minute ago, I could dart into the ladies’ room quickly.
Jordyn picked at her Caesar salad as if looking for something interesting. We’d both been quiet on our way to the restaurant. I wasn’t ready to deal with why I’d licked blood off a knife or why I craved the iron-flavored red stuff.
“Are we going to talk?” Her voice cracked.
I shuddered as I peeked around the tall wooden booth behind Jordyn. Since we’d sat down about fifteen minutes before, I kept eyeing the entrance in the distance like a damn soldier guarding a palace. I had no idea if Aunt Tab would spill her guts to Uncle Jack about me licking blood off the knife or if she would tell him that Sam had called. Knowing my uncle, he would hunt me down and probably lock me away for good. It was bad enough that he was pissed about the text from Sam.
She puffed out her cheeks. “Why did you lick blood off the knife? By now, Sam’s blood should be out of your system.”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. Something is wrong with me.”
Jordyn set her fork down. “You need Dr. Vieira, then.”
“I agree.” I couldn’t exactly ask a human doctor to test my DNA for a vampire gene. And if I didn’t carry it, then Dr. Vieira would be the best doctor to diagnose why I was craving blood.
“Then we should head to Massachusetts. We can talk to Steven Mason about a job and Dr. Vieira can examine you. Two birds, one stone and all.”
“Slow your roll, sis. I never said I would work for Steven.” If I did, Sam would be around, and I didn’t trust myself with him.
She leaned in, and strands of her brown hair brushed the tabletop. “Do you really want to stay in this town? Look around, Layla. Too many memories I would like to forget. Just driving into town, I imagined Mom going into the bakery down the street.”
I smiled at a memory of Mom lighting up when she bought an upside-down pineapple cake from Weston’s Bakery. “Is that why you were quiet? Or are you processing the knife-and-blood thing?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she fired back. “I’m ready to get on with my life. The ranch isn’t the place for us if we want privacy. Fuck, Aunt Tab stole your phone. Uncle Jack read your text from Sam, and now Aunt Tab can tell her husband you licked blood. Think about the shitstorm over that one. We came here to relax and to make sure a war didn’t break out between the Masons and our family. I get it. But our time here is up. We need to leave, and soon.”
I couldn’t disagree with her. But we didn’t have enough money in our bank accounts to rent our own place. However, we did have enough cash to get us to Massachusetts. “We don’t have a car.”
She flicked her thumb behind her. “We have a truck outside.”
“You want to steal Uncle Jack’s truck?”
Jordyn sat back and removed her scarf. “We’re only borrowing it.” Her tone was matter-of-fact.
I took a swig of Coke. “Let me think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about.” Her voice rose in pitch. Jordyn hardly ever got mad, but when she did, she could blow the roof off a house. “If I have to drug you then drag you into the truck, I will.”
I closed my eyes. If I wanted to get into the police academy, I had to apply. Not all applicants were selected. Plus, the application process took time, which meant I would be at the ranch longer than I would like.
“What about Rianne?”
She popped forward. “Rianne is on her own journey. She wants nothing to do with vampires. I’ll miss her, but the military is the best place for her.” She glanced around then regarded me. “I’ve been waiting to tell you this. Now seems like a good time.”
Nerves pricked my stomach.
“Uncle Jack is resurrecting the family business and will be hunting shifters now too,” she whispered. “So if he thinks you or any of us love vampires, the hunter might just become the hunted.”
I stiffened and furrowed my brow. “Are you saying Uncle Jack will hunt us?” We didn’t like each other, but I couldn’t believe he would hurt us for befriending vampires. Sure, he would definitely disown us, but that was as far as he would go—at least I hoped so. Although Uncle Jack was a loose cannon.
She shrugged. “As much as he hates the bloodsuckers, I wouldn’t put it past him.”
If I had vampire DNA, then Jack might change his tune about me, but not about Jordyn. I was curious—if I had the gene, did that mean Jordyn and Rianne did as well? I shook it off. I was getting way ahead of myself.
I blinked and absently scanned the restaurant when a sharply dressed man caught my eye.
He took off his overcoat as he headed for the bar while looking at me with a curious glint in his hazel eyes. It was as if he knew me. Suddenly, my mind drifted back to that night on the naval base when Roman stood proudly on the SUV, wearing a suit, of all things, to a fight.
I quivered at the thought and studied the man. He appeared to be in his late twenties with a close-shaven beard and thick short black hair cropped on the sides. Military man came to mind, but the way he was dressed screamed of a lawyer or rich businessman of some kind. There was a law office a block down.
Jordyn followed my line of sight. “Do you know him?”
“Nope.” The last thing I needed was to hook up with a guy.
The cute brunette bartender took the man’s drink order with a flirty smile as her big brown eyes lit up.
“So, sis, what’s it going to be? Ranch from hell? Or hot sexy vampires?”
I snorted before I took a long pull of soda from the straw then picked up my phone from the tabletop. “I don’t have Dr. Vieira’s number.”
She beamed from ear to ear. “Now, we’re getting somewhere. Call Sam. He’ll give it to you,” she said all too smugly.
I snarled at her teasingly. “You’re just dying to get us together, aren’t you?”
She grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Layla, I know you like him. But you’re frightened out of your mind. You’re trying to do everything to avoid him.” She twisted her lips. “Life’s too short to worry about what our family thinks of you, of us. They don’t own us. Maybe things would be different if Dad was still alive. Well, I take that back. We probably would’ve never met Sam and the others.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m not saying rush back to him and get married, but you’ve got to explore how you feel. And right now, you’re in denial.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. A dull throbbing began in my temples. My stomach swirled with nerves, and I knew I had to do something, especially after licking that blood off the knife like it was my favorite watermelon candy. I needed answers, ones that made sense. Answers that said I wasn’t going crazy.
I opened the text from Sam.
“What does it say?” Jordyn snatched the phone from me. “‘Baby doll, please return my messages. I want to make sure you’re okay. Don’t make me come to Montana.’” She giggled. “I guess I could see why Uncle Jack is having a cow. I would bet he’s priming his flamethrower.”
I bit a nail and swallowed as something dark and scary stole my breath. “You don’t think Sam is on his way here now? The fact that Aunt Tab answered my phone would make Sam suspicious.”
She slid my cell across the wooden table. “Only one way to find out. Call him. Or I will. At least tell him you’re okay, even though it would be fun to see how Sam would fare if he stepped foot on the ranch.”
A chill danced down my spine as I pictured Sam hanging by his ankles over a roaring fire. “You know as well as I do that he wouldn’t stand a chance, no matter how powerful he is.” I absently glanced around, and my gaze landed on the well-dressed man at the bar again.
He grinned and nodded.
What the hell? “That man is giving me the creeps,” I whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”
It was time to get my life in order.