The next morning, I found myself hugging the toilet again. Something was definitely wrong with me. Jordyn speculated that I was sick because of Rianne’s betrayal, finding out my father had been dating a vampire, and the entire fucked-up convo with my uncle. The stress had been monumental, for sure. I couldn’t understand why Rianne had told Noah about Sam and me. According to Jordyn, Rianne and Noah had been drinking beers and watching a movie the night before last. I was going with her drinking too much and the liquor making her spill the beans.
Once I emptied the contents of my stomach, I jumped into the shower. The faster I could leave, the better. The only reason I hadn’t left yet was Rianne. She’d decided to stay the night in Bozeman and party with Noah, or that was the gist of the text she’d sent Jordyn. I’d tried calling her, but she wouldn’t answer. As time passed, I was becoming angrier and more stressed, hence my friendliness with the toilet that morning.
Aside from wondering about Rianne, I’d had time to think as I laid in bed last night. My uncle had been right about one thing—it was time for me to choose my path.
For the immediate future, my path was talking to Dr. Vieira. Conrad had given Jordyn Dr. Vieira’s number. I’d called him but had to leave a voice mail.
The hot water felt great against the tense muscles in my shoulders and back. I couldn’t help but think that my problems were just beginning. As I grabbed the shampoo bottle, something hit me out of nowhere, and I gasped. The plastic bottle fell, sounding like an explosion had gone off.
“Layla,” Jordyn called before she practically ripped the shower curtain off its rings. “Are you okay?”
I nodded as I stood under the hot water.
Her brown hair was messy around her face. “You don’t look so good.”
“I thought of Abbey,” I said, “and her vision of Rianne killing me.” Call me crazy, but I got a foreboding ache deep down in my bones that something earth-shattering was going to happen.
“Why? Because Rianne confided in Noah about you and Sam? All Jack told you was that Rianne told Noah a few things. Jack never said what those things were. He could’ve assumed you slept with Sam because of Sam’s text. You even said yourself that Rianne might’ve accidentally slipped. What does it matter, anyway? It’s out there now.” She picked up the bottle of shampoo for me. “Ease up on yourself.” She closed the curtain. “And save some hot water for me.”
I shook off the eerie feeling as I lathered the fruity shampoo in my hair and washed it as fast as I could. I was anxious to pack the small amount of clothes I had and leave, but not before confronting Rianne.
“By the way, any sign of your period?” Jordyn asked.
I peeked around the shower curtain to find Jordyn picking at something on her cheek in the mirror. “Where did that come from?” I hadn’t thought much about my monthly friend, but if my calculations were correct, it should show up any day.
She turned to face me, leaning against the sink and smiling as if she knew something I didn’t. “You were throwing up again earlier this morning. Store-bought pregnancy tests are not always accurate.”
I flipped her off and went back to rinsing my hair as a boulder dropped into my stomach. “We’ve discussed this. It’s not possible. Sam can’t get me pregnant. Besides, I licked blood off a knife. That is not a sign of pregnancy.”
“True, but you’re still not feeling well.”
“As soon as we talk with Rianne, we’ll head to the airport.”
Jordyn and I had decided to fly to Massachusetts instead of driving. We’d debated whether to steal the beat-up truck we’d borrowed the day before but nixed that idea. The less shit I had to deal with when it came to my uncle, the better.
I’d tried to talk to Aunt Tab yesterday, but she avoided me like the plague.
After I rinsed, I stood under the hot water for a minute longer, taking deep breaths and trying to clear my mind. But it was no use until I got answers. I snagged a towel that was hanging over the shower rod, dried myself off, squeezed the water out of my hair, and wrapped the towel around me. I pulled the shower curtain back to find Jordyn sitting on the sink, filing her nails, when something occurred to me.
“Jack mentioned you had an interview with Carly’s company in Chicago. Is that true?” I’d been so hung up on Rianne, my father, and Kendra that I’d forgotten that small tidbit of information.
“No. I told him I might. Carly and Jack Jr. were FaceTiming Uncle Jack and Aunt Tab the other night when I went into the kitchen. Carly was talking to them about her job and how she was looking for help on her tech team at Intech. I just said I could do that job. Before I knew what was happening, she and I were on the phone, talking one-on-one. I did send my résumé in because she asked me to. But I haven’t heard anything. And before you freak out, I was going to tell you, but since you just joined the living yesterday, I haven’t had a chance. Besides, I would rather work for the vampires.”
I wanted to believe her, but truth be told, a tiny part of me didn’t. Still, I knew when Jordyn was lying or trying to get around the truth. She always looked anywhere but at the person, and her eyes were glued to mine.
“You don’t know yet if Steven has an opening. Right?” I asked.
“I don’t. But we have a plan, and that makes me happy.” She hopped off the counter. “Maybe Dr. Vieira will call you back today.”
“Does it matter? We’ll see him soon enough.” Not that I was looking forward to seeing Sam gloat over the fact that he’d given me forty-eight hours before he chased me and brought me back to Massachusetts. At that point, I didn’t care who chased who or who was right. My health came first.
Jordyn undressed. “I’ll be quick.”
I wound my way out of the en suite bathroom and into the bedroom. I dressed quickly, letting my hair air-dry. I was dying to see if Aunt Tab was home. I wasn’t letting her off the hook without explaining why she called Sam. I stuck my head in the bathroom. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Okay,” she said.
Before I left the bedroom, I called Rianne. The line went straight to voice mail. Then I sent her a text: Call me. I know you told Noah about Sam and me, and that’s not the only reason I want to talk. It’s important. I also want to know how your meeting went with the recruiter. I wasn’t leaving the state until Rianne and I settled things.
Once I hit Send, I wound my way through the house, listening intently. It was dead quiet, although our bedroom was secluded from the rest of the house. Plus, my cousins were probably in school. I was praying my uncle wasn’t home.
As I crossed the carpeted floor from the hall into the media room, my aunt asked someone, “Cream?”
I had no idea how my uncle liked his coffee.
I inched closer to the arched doorway leading into the kitchen. Daylight sprayed in from the large windows, giving the rustic media room a warmer vibe than the cold feeling that had plagued the house since I’d arrived. The clang of a spoon against glass filtered out.
I held my stomach, willing the nerves to take a breather as I stopped along the wall of family pictures.
“Jack and I were out last night,” my aunt said, “so I’m not sure.”
I blew out a breath, relieved that she was talking to someone other than my uncle. As the tightness in my stomach eased, I marched into the kitchen.
Aunt Tab was sitting at the island. Her face wore a smattering of makeup. Her salt-and-pepper hair was styled nicely into a chignon bun, and she was wearing a blue scooped long-sleeved top over a pair of jeans.
When I swung my gaze to her friend, I did a double take, blinked, looked again, then lost my breath. Suddenly, my heart was on a fast-moving train that was about to run off the side of a mountain.
Sam Mason rose from the barstool like a Greek god and gentleman. He raked his forest-green eyes up and down my body, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Damn if all my limbs didn’t go weak.
I swept my gaze over him, slow and sure. His white button-down shirt stretched across his broad chest, and the rolled sleeves showed off equally muscled forearms and that massive watch he wore on his right wrist. His faded and tattered blue jeans hugged every inch of his toned thighs, and to complement his outfit, he was sporting black military boots, spit-shined and all.
But what had my lady parts singing a tune was the way his ebony hair was pulled into a low ponytail, highlighting the strong close-shaven beard that had grown in since the last time I’d seen him.
I shouldn’t be checking him out. I should be freaking the fuck out. He was in a vampire hunter’s house.
I rushed out of the kitchen, trying to get air in my lungs. Maybe I was dreaming.
Sam said to my aunt, “She looks pale.”
I searched the media room—for what, I didn’t know. With my heart in my throat, I inched back into the kitchen and tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“There’s coffee,” my aunt said in a calm tone I had yet to hear from her.
My guess—Aunt Tab was under Sam’s spell. She had to have been.
Sam waltzed up to me, grabbed my hand, and guided me to sit on a stool at the end of the island. “You don’t look so good, Layla. Tabitha is right. You need to be seen by a doctor.”
I was sure my complexion was stark white because it felt like the blood had stopped flowing through my veins. “You.” I cleared my throat. “You can’t be here,” I managed to say as I sat on the edge of the stool, ready to run in the event my uncle walked in.
Aunt Tab sipped her coffee. “Jack has gone to Billings today.”
I licked my dry lips. “Noah and Rianne should be home soon.” Or maybe not. Maybe Rianne would avoid me altogether. Though that wasn’t how my sister operated. She lived for confrontation.
Aunt Tab shook her head. “He and Rianne are meeting Jack in Billings.”
I wanted to ask why, but when I swiveled my head ever so slowly at Sam, I lost all thought. I couldn’t believe the arrogant vampire was sitting next to me and, to repeat, in a vampire hunter’s house. My aunt didn’t even seem frightened, which was messing with my brain as well. Granted, she wasn’t afraid of vampires, but she sure as hell had to be scared of what could happen if her husband came home.
Sam returned to his seat, which was to my left, while my aunt was to my right.
“What are you doing here?” My face was scrunched every which way. “And you two seem like best friends.” I wagged a shaky finger between them.
Sam smiled from ear to ear, and butterflies took flight inside my stomach. “I told you on the phone yesterday. Your aunt and I hit it off.”
If I recalled when I walked in on her talking with Sam the first time, she’d been biting off his head.
I clasped my hands in my lap, digging my nails into my skin to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. “Aunt Tab, I’m confused. You tell me vampires are no good for me, but you called Sam and invited him here. Explain.”
She beamed at Sam before she regarded me. “You need help, Layla. Sam has been kind enough to explain what happened to you while you were on the naval base. I’m glad I called him. They have a doctor on staff who specializes in blood cravings.”
Horror had me baring my teeth at Sam. “You did what?”
Sam smirked, and those damn sexy dimples emerged. “She needed to know that you accidentally tasted one of our bottles of blood and it made you sick. I explained to Tabitha that some brands are sweeter than others. My sister likes the orange crème variety.”
I wrinkled my nose, deciding whether to laugh or not. Sam lied for me, and that said a lot about his character.
“Sam says that the blood is so addictive that some humans crave it all the time. You must’ve drunk a lot of it, though,” she said.
Sam lifted his coffee cup to his lips and kept those luscious green eyes on me. “She drank enough.”
The shock of him being there was stifling my ability to think, even more with his made-up story about vampire blood. I was convinced he’d compelled her. But I wasn’t complaining.
“Sam thinks you might have vampire DNA,” Aunt Tab said matter-of-factly.
Okay. I stabbed a thumb at my aunt while I glanced at Sam. “Did you compel her?”
My aunt jerked back. “Of course not. You know I take our potion to prevent vampires from doing that.”
Sam shook his head. “See? I didn’t.”
I was in an alternate universe. But since she brought up the topic, I had to ask, “Well, do we have vampires in our family?”
She bit her bottom lip and looked around the beautiful kitchen my mom always loved.
A chill skated down my spine the longer Aunt Tab didn’t speak.
Then she sighed. “Your father had planned to tell you.”
I almost slid off the barstool, my lungs burning for air. Maybe that was the reason my uncle Jack hated me or the family shunned my sisters and me for so long.
Sam was riveted to Aunt Tab as if fascinated. I bet he was. He and I had something in common.
Aunt Tab blinked. “There is no history of vampires in the Aberdeen family, but there is on your mom’s side of the family.”
I shot up like a jack-in-the-box. “No way. She would’ve told me.” My dad would’ve told me. I refused to believe that my parents kept this bombshell from me.
“Now, things are making sense.” Sam sounded relieved for some reason.
“I don’t know the specifics, except that it was such a long time ago,” Aunt Tab said.
I grabbed my head, hoping the dull throbbing didn’t get any worse.
Aunt Tab gave me a pitying look. “My understanding is your mom shared that piece of her family with your father on her deathbed.”
I shook my head furiously. “I find it unbelievable that my mom kept this shocking revelation from my dad.”
Sam cleared his throat. “Maybe she knew the ramifications of what could happen if the Aberdeens learned about her family. And maybe, Layla, she hated vampires as much as your father.”
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I clutched my chest as my breathing increased. So that was the reason I was craving blood. That was the reason I acted the way I had after tasting Sam’s blood. I had the vampire gene.
Breathe, Layla. Breathe.
I eyed the green-eyed vampire, who was still affecting me in ways I didn’t care to accept. “Do you think that your blood was the spark that set me off because I’m descended from vampires?” I didn’t know if he could answer that, but I had to make sense of what was happening to me.
“It would explain a few things,” he said. “But you can’t turn.”
I let out a wild laugh. “Maybe not, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life wanting to lick blood off a knife or drink it from a bottle like you.” I whipped my gaze at my aunt. “That’s why my uncles hate my sisters and me. Right?”
Holy fuck above all fucks in the world. Rianne was going to flip out like a wild gymnast who had lost her mind. And Jordyn would probably laugh.
The puzzle pieces were coming together. “Does Jack know this?” I asked Aunt Tab. He had to have known. Yet, he told me several things the day before but failed to mention that critical piece of information. Then again, he’d been too hung up on me screwing a vampire.
“They don’t hate you girls,” she said. “But they haven’t come to terms with it. They felt your father should’ve known this about your mother when he married her.”
I had to agree with my uncles. “I need to find proof.” More for my sanity than anything. I’d been raised to hate bloodsuckers, to kill them with every fiber of my being. Now, I was one of them—or at least descended from the undead creatures.
Aunt Tab frowned. “How? Your mom doesn’t have any family.”
If she kept secrets from my dad, then maybe she did have a sibling or two or an aunt or someone who could corroborate this outrageous revelation.
“Aunt Tab, do you know anything about a vampire my dad was dating before he died? Uncle Jack says her name is Kendra.” Maybe she was my mom’s sibling or aunt. Maybe my father didn’t sleep with Kendra, but my uncle had gotten that impression.
Sam chuckled. “That is an interesting twist.”
I was tempted to tell him to leave, but I had Aunt Tab talking.
“I don’t,” she said. “But your father was trying to uncover proof of what your mom told him. Maybe Kendra was someone who knew your mother.” Aunt Tab rose from her stool. “That’s all I know. Sam, I think it’s time for you to leave and take Layla with you.”
I knitted my eyebrows. “I’m not going anywhere.” Before I walked in, I’d been ready to fly out of there. “Not until I find out more about my mom.” I wasn’t sure how. I didn’t even know where to start. Hell, as I thought more about it, I didn’t need to stay in Montana to do research. Still, in my mind, it was life-and-death for me. I had to know. I had to understand who I was and what I was becoming. Sam couldn’t help me, and the only thing Dr. Vieira could do was a physical, which was necessary but not urgent.
Sam’s phone vibrated along the island, and he tapped on the screen. “There’s a car coming down the road,” he said casually, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Aunt Tab went stark white as she ran to the window.
I swore vampires had no emotions whatsoever. That wasn’t exactly true. Sam had a few, but lust and arrogance were far from concern or worry about another’s plight.
“Does Jack or Ray or anyone you know drive a black SUV?” Sam asked Aunt Tab.
Even though I was still trying to process what I’d just learned, his description of the kind of vehicle made me freeze. The last black SUV I’d seen belonged to Roman Brown. But it couldn’t have been. He was in a vampire prison. Plus, the car had been damaged when Sam had ripped the C-4 vest off Jordyn and flung it over the SUV.
Aunt Tab pressed her fingers to her mouth. “No one in the family drives that type of car.”
Sam pushed to his feet, and it was the first time I’d seen an iota of fear wash across his face, almost making him whiter than the snow on the mountains that surrounded the ranch. “I need to make a call.” He swaggered out before I could ask him what was wrong.
Then my mind cleared for a second. Sam wasn’t frightened of anything, not even my uncle. Unless… the shifters. They’d made a deal with the vamp military not to touch us. Maybe they’d reneged, and they were coming after my sisters and me. As powerful as Sam was, he couldn’t face a pack of wolves on his own. Or maybe he wasn’t alone. After all, Sam didn’t go anywhere without two or three others from his SEAL team.
Aunt Tab snapped her fingers. “Layla, do you know who it is?”
I blinked several times. “Not really. But get the weapons out of the closet in the mudroom just in case.” We always had weapons readily available.
Aunt Tab started for the mudroom. “I’ll handle our guests. Make sure Sam doesn’t do anything stupid. Go.” She flicked her hands toward the door.
One thing I liked about Aunt Tab was her courage, even though she was shitting bricks inside. I only knew that because her shoulder twitched in tough situations, and it was moving a mile a minute.