The tires crunched over gravel as Jordyn drove down the long driveway toward the ranch. Rain clouds skated in, and the sky was growing darker in the distance as the wind picked up.
I shivered as an ominous feeling prickled through me, and the hairs on my nape stood at attention. I heaved a sigh as Jordyn parked next to Uncle Jack’s long-bed four-door diesel truck.
I scanned the property. “Things look quiet around here.”
Jordyn cut the engine and pointed to the workshop in between the barn and the house. “It won’t be for long.”
My uncle was fiddling with something on his workbench, and if I had to guess, he was probably sharpening a dagger or one of his blades. Given that he was resurrecting the family business, I had no doubt he was gathering his weapons and making darn sure they worked. I was surprised he wasn’t overhauling his flamethrower.
A feeling of dread set in. Between Aunt Tab calling Sam and talking to Sam myself, my brain was fried. I wasn’t sure I knew what I wanted to say to Uncle Jack or where to begin. Maybe I should inform him that his wife was talking to a vampire.
I still didn’t understand my aunt. In one breath, she wanted me to stay away from vampires. In another, she was reaching out to one of the most powerful vamps, thinking Sam could help me.
I chomped on a nail like a squirrel nibbling on a pine cone. “Can you believe Aunt Tab called Sam? If Uncle Jack knew, he would have a cow.”
As if he heard me, Uncle Jack glanced our way. The ball cap he wore shadowed his expression, but I didn’t need to see his face to know he was ready to unleash his fury on me. His stiff shoulders and posture said it all. Since my father died, I’d never seen my uncle crack a smile. I understood he was sad over the loss of his younger brother, but two years had passed.
What am I even thinking? My uncle’s cruddy attitude was because of me.
“He would also shit bricks if Aunt Tab told him that you licked blood off the knife,” Jordyn said.
“I can’t see her doing that. She has to know that Sam would call me after she tattled on me. She also knows I could throw her under the bus.” As much as I would love to see the look on my uncle’s face if he learned his wife called a vampire, I wasn’t the type to tattle.
He wiped his hands on a rag and strutted our way. His jeans were stained with oil. His boots had mud on the rims of the soles, and his belly stuck out beneath his flannel shirt.
I grabbed the door handle. “Time to get this over with.” Then I could move on with whatever was next.
Jordyn caught my arm. “Wait. What’s the long-term plan here? Sam wants you to see Dr. Vieira. Are you?”
I couldn’t think past that moment, not with my uncle getting closer. From the look of his hard-set jaw and narrowed grayish-blue eyes, it was evident that I was in for one hell of a fight. “Maybe. I want to talk to Dr. Vieira first, but I don’t have his number.”
She took the keys out of the ignition. “I’ll handle it. I’m sure Conrad will help.”
I didn’t have a chance to respond when Uncle Jack stood with his arms crossed over his chest in front of our truck.
Jordyn practically flew out, scurried past Uncle Jack with a quick hi, and disappeared into the house.
I lifted my chin as I climbed down, stepping on the running board before my booted feet touched the ground. “Is there something you want?” I asked, mostly to quiet my nerves.
“You and I need to talk.” His tone permitted no argument.
The itch to flip him off was making me shake like a druggie that needed a fix, so I slipped my hands into my coat pockets. “Agreed. So, talk.” I anchored myself at the edge of the truck’s hood on the passenger side.
He removed his ball cap, swiped a hand over his thinning reddish hair, and placed the hat back on his head. “I thought you would come to your senses. But I was wrong, and I’m only going to say this once.” He glared at me as though he was shoving a dagger in each one of my eyes. “If you continue to engage with vampires, then you don’t have a place in this family.” If not for his body language, I would think he was calm, cool, and collected with how even his tone was. “Are we clear?”
I should nod and agree and walk away. But one, that wasn’t me. Two, I hadn’t been around him and the rest of the Aberdeen clan for two years, so his threat that I didn’t have a place among them didn’t matter. Three, and most importantly, he had nosed around in my personal business, and that wasn’t okay with me. It had been a mistake to come here to begin with.
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “No, we’re not clear.”
He flinched. “Come again?”
I squared my shoulders. “You invaded my privacy by reading my text message. That’s not okay.”
“What happened to you? What happened to the girl who got excited about hunting? Last I knew, you hated vampires, and now, you’re sleeping with one.” His voice grew in volume with each sentence.
My jaw practically came unhinged. “Who said I was sleeping with a vampire?” I muttered several swear words under my breath. I would strangle whoever told him. Given Noah’s snarky comment that morning, I was beginning to believe Rianne had told Noah. The text from Sam hadn’t indicated anything other than his concern for me.
His folded arms rested on his belly as he cocked an eyebrow. “Are you?”
Usually, my uncle didn’t ask a question he didn’t already know the answer to. I’d seen him grill his kids when they did something wrong. He wanted to hear the truth from them. But I wasn’t his daughter.
“Is this why you’re resurrecting the family business? Because you think I slept with a bloodsucker?”
“I suggest you choose sides.”
My eyes widened so much that pain pulsed above my eyebrows. “Choose sides? So if I bat for the vampires, you will what? Hunt me down? Kill me?” If I did carry the vampire gene, I was beginning to believe that my uncles would send me to my grave.
His face reddened. “You will not be part of this family anymore. Either get on board or get out.”
I wasn’t planning on staying, anyway. “While we’re on the topic of family, Aunt Tab told me you stopped hunting because you got spooked over my father’s death—but you said it was because of finances and building a better life. I might believe the latter, but you’re not one to get spooked. What’s the real story, Uncle Jack?” I doubted, with his tough bravado, he would ever admit he was frightened. To his wife, sure. But not to anyone else.
His shoulders lowered slightly. “There is no story. Your father’s death was a wake-up call for all of us. Frankly, I had to reevaluate what we were doing.” He stared at the truck, seemingly reliving the grief over his brother.
“And now you’re ready to hunt again?”
Blinking, he impaled me with a stern expression. “After what I saw on that naval base and from that Roman vampire, I realize it’s time, especially after Rianne filled Noah in on a few things that happened.”
I gaped. “She did?” I said more to jar the rock loose in my throat. Things made sense now. I held my stomach, suddenly feeling queasy. I didn’t want to believe Rianne had betrayed me. Swallowing hard, I pushed my fingers into my chest. My lungs constricted, making it hard to breathe.
He scrubbed a hand over his mouth and down his chin. “It’s time to do something with your life, Layla. Rianne is joining the military. Jordyn mentioned she’s interviewing for a job at the tech company Carly works at in Chicago. You need to choose a path, and one that doesn’t involve sleeping with vampires.”
I fisted my hands at my sides. “Look, Uncle Jack, what I do is none of your business.”
My brain had whiplash from such an eye-opening conversation. I was even miffed about why Jordyn hadn’t told me about her job interview with Jack Jr.’s wife, Carly. My uncle’s look-alike oldest son had taken off for Chicago right after he got married and not long after my father had died. Jordyn must’ve spoken to Carly.
He studied me with equal parts pity and derision.
Screw his pity. I made the decision to sleep with Sam, and I was not about to tremble or shy away from Uncle Jack’s scrutiny. Since he already knew secondhand about Sam and me, I wanted to see his true reaction when he heard it from me. Besides, it was time to own my shit, to lay things out so he understood who I was. Then I could move the fuck on.
“You want me to choose sides? Well, my side is not here.” I stabbed a finger toward the ground. “I appreciate you coming to our rescue in Massachusetts. To be honest, the only reason why I came here was to prevent a war from breaking out between you and the Masons. You want to hear me say I slept with a vampire? I did, and I have no regrets.”
I swore steam blew from his nose as a muscle ticked in his jaw.
But I wasn’t done yet. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is stopping vampires like Roman Brown. I can see why you would want to hunt again.” I lost my sarcastic tone and softened my voice, hoping I could at least make him understand we were on the same side. “Uncle Jack, spending time with the vampire military was eye-opening. Did you know that there are half-breeds out there because of an experiment gone wrong five years ago? Did you know that the Masons stopped their enemy from turning humans into vampires to build a super army?” I took a breath.
I couldn’t discern yet whether he was hung up on my admission that I’d slept with a vampire. But I used his silence to continue. “I want the same thing as you. To live in a world where we can be free not to fear vampires and shifters and whatever other supernatural being is out there. That’s what the vampire government is trying to do. They protect humanity.” I paused once again, hoping for some reaction from him. But his expression was stone-cold.
“I understand you, Uncle Ray, and my dad had been arguing over a woman at the Deer and Elk not long before my dad died. Who was she? Was he dating her? Or were you arguing about my dad working for Steven Mason? Or my dad turning Sam Mason over to the CIA?”
He flinched out of his zombie state. “CIA? What are you talking about? Why would your dad turn a vampire over to them? That’s insane. They would only….” He started pacing.
“Build super soldiers,” I said.
He nodded.
Finally, something we agreed on. “You see? We can’t let that happen. If we are true hunters who protect humans and our loved ones, then we need to work with those who want the same thing as us. We can’t allow any part of the human government or rogue vampires to get their hands on someone like Sam Mason.”
He stopped in his tracks and glowered. “What are you saying? That you plan on working with them? Or you just want to continue to sleep with one of them?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “Screw you. I’m trying to make you see the big picture.” It was useless. I started for the house as anger tightened every muscle in me.
“You’re just like your father, Layla,” Uncle Jack said at my back. “He slept with a bloodsucker too. You both disgust me.”
My limbs locked, and white dots blurred my vision. Breathe, girl. Breathe. Walk away. Pack your things and get off this ranch. It’s best for everyone.
But I didn’t listen to that little voice in my head. I spun around and stomped back to him like a soldier heading into war.
His smugness sent fury plowing through my veins, and I itched to punch him square in his bulbous nose. “So the lady you were arguing over was a vampire?” I kept my voice even.
He flicked his head to one side. “You could say that.”
I ground my back molars. “And let me guess: you banned him from the family because of that?”
“As I said, there is no place for anyone who’s in bed with a vampire here.”
“That was the reason he partnered with a former CIA agent to make money,” I mumbled to myself. “You drove him to his death.” I shook my head back and forth several times. “You disgust me.”
“Your father made a choice, but that didn’t mean I wanted him dead.” He sounded horrified that I would accuse him of that.
I blew out a quiet breath as my head finally stopped moving back and forth. My stomach, on the other hand, was growing more nauseated by the second. “Who is this vampire my father slept with? Where is she? Did she kill my father?”
He tucked his hands into his jeans pockets. “All Ray and I have right now is a name. Kendra. He and I have been trying to find her since your father died. We don’t know if she was the one who did it.” He took a breath, and his pinched features relaxed. “We hired a friend of ours who does PI work.”
A thousand volts of electricity jolted me into shock at how freely he’d just told me all that. Maybe there was hope for Jack. “Why didn’t you tell me this a long time ago? I had to find out from a former CIA guy that my father had been dating someone. But he didn’t know much.”
“You and your sisters were distraught over his death. If I would’ve told you this then, would you have believed me?”
I shrugged. I probably would’ve thought he was nuts. But after sleeping with Sam, it wasn’t difficult to wrap my head around the fact that my father had dated a vampire. “Is the PI still looking?” I would like to meet Kendra.
He nodded. “He is. He checks in every now and then with an update. He got a break about a week ago. He’s not sure if it will pan out.”
“If you do find her, I want to talk to her before you and Ray decide to seal her fate.” I wouldn’t hold out hope, though. As far as my uncles were concerned, Kendra was already guilty, whether or not she killed my dad.
His chest heaved before he pushed air out of his lungs. “Worry about yourself. Do something with your life, Layla. Preferably not with vampires.”
Oh, I would definitely do something with my life. But he wouldn’t like it.