Page 61 of Omega's Triplets

But was that too long? Shouldn’t someone have gotten here by now?

What if something had happened to the others?

Reese got off the bed, walked to the window, and drew back the curtain, peering out at the night.

“Close that,” Harley snapped.

Reese dropped the curtain, looking shocked.

“Sorry,” Harley said. “I didn’t mean to snap. But we can’t have the curtains open. Anyone could be looking in.”

“You mean, the Death Fangs,” Piper said.

“Why do they want Maddy so bad?” Reese asked. “Don’t they have a ton of omegas? How much difference could one make to them?”

“It’s not having her specifically that matters to them,” Harley said. “It’s the fact that we got her away from them. We took her from them, in their eyes. And we got away with it. They can’t stand for that. They can’t allow someone to rob them and get away with it.” He looked out the peephole of the hotel room door at an empty hallway. “They just can’t stand being bested at anything, the fuckers.”

“What will they do if they catch us?” Piper asked.

“They won’t do anything,” Harley said. The truth was, he didn’t feel confident in that assessment at all. He didn’t think the Death Fangs would hesitate to hurt innocent people on their way to achieving their ends. But he had to hope they’d at least leave the kids alone. Piper, Reese, and Amy had nothing to do with any of this. There was no point in attacking them.

Besides, he wanted them calm. He wanted to reassure them.

“Mark was right,” he continued. “They’re after Maddy. They’re after us—me, Mark, and Jamie—for taking her. They’re not after you guys. You don’t need to worry.”

Reese and Piper didn’t look reassured at all. Harley supposed he didn’t blame them. Even if they were safe from the Death Fangs, half their family was still being hunted. He couldn’t expect them to be fine with that.

Then came a knock at the door.

Everyone started. Reese moved away from the window and over to stand beside Piper, who was sitting on the bed, trembling slightly. Harley held up a hand, warning them to be quiet, then peeked out through the hole.

It was Jamie and Maddy.

He threw the door open and pulled them inside, where he immediately embraced Maddy. She was shivering, and he realized she was chilled. “Let’s get you into a bath,” he said. “We have time before Mark arrives and we have to do whatever comes next.”

She nodded.

Harley clapped a hand onto Jamie’s shoulder. “Everything go all right?”

Jamie nodded. “Mark and Amy should be right behind us. I’ll run down to the lobby and get something to eat at the vending machine.”

“No,” Reese said, “I’ll go.”

They all looked at him.

“You said the Death Fangs aren’t after me, right?” he said. “So, they won’t notice me, if they see me. It’s safer if I go.”

He was probably right, Harley thought, but they couldn’t allow a teenager to risk his life on their account. “No way,” he said. “You stay here. Jamie can handle it.”

Reese and Piper exchanged looks, but there was no further argument.

Jamie took the hotel room key from the dresser and slipped out into the hall. Harley took Maddy by the hand and led her into the bathroom, where he carefully undressed her and helped her into the tub. He started the water, holding a hand under the faucet to ensure that it was warm but not hot. “You did really well,” he said.

“You didn’t even see me.” She smiled a little.

“No,” he agreed, “but you must have done well to escape without the Death Fangs catching you. And you’ve been very calm. You’re coping well with all this.”

Her smile wavered. “I’m not,” she admitted. “If it were just me, then I might be okay. But if they take me, Harley, they’ll have our babies. I can’t even imagine what they might do with them.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “Probably raise them to be Death Fangs,” she said. “To be like them. I couldn’t stand it if that happened.”

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