Page 20 of New Nebraska Home

Before anyone could answer, Callum stomped through the front door and slammed the door behind him. The glass pane rattled in its frame, and he shot me an apologetic look. He still looked so angry, the red in his eyes deeper, his nostrils flared a little, and I could just see the points of his fangs when he spoke.

“They’re gone. They took the license plate off the car, and I wasn’t able to see their faces.”

“What the hell happened?” I needed someone to give me a damn answer.

All three men avoided eye contact like they were afraid to tell me. That had to mean it was bad. Leif was fine, so whatever it was, I could face it. I just needed someone to tell me what I needed to deal with now.

“Tell me.” I put my hands on my hips like I wasn’t a human addressing three men who were all bigger than me, stronger than me and supernatural.

“The kid and I came inside to get a drink when I heard someone pull into the driveway,” Malik started. “I wasn’t able to make it more than three steps in the living room when the window shattered. I grabbed Leif and hauled him back into the kitchen…”

“That’s when we came upstairs,” Brock interrupted. “Callum and I went toward the noise, and we saw the glass. I heard you coming downstairs and didn’t want you to cut yourself.”

These grown men were explaining what happened as if they were teenagers, afraid they were in trouble. There was something more here. Something they didn’t want to tell me.

“I went to see if I could find out who did it, but they were already in the car, I’m not sure they ever got out of it. I haven’t fed in a while, so I wasn’t able to keep up with the car,” Callum finished.

I made a mental note of him needing blood, but I would deal with that later or let him do it. But then ask questions about the blood diner he went to and how it operated.

“What did they do? How did they break the glass?” I asked, keeping my voice calm and level. The same way I did when Leif was in trouble, and I needed him to listen to me and not be afraid. What could be so bad they didn’t want to tell me? My brain tried to come up with ideas, but the house was standing and Leif was fine.

“Uh,” Malik rubbed the back of his neck. “Someone threw this through the window.”

He handed me a large brick with a message painted in white paint:

All Sinners Will Burn In Hell

I stared at the brick, the world around me falling away. The only thing I could see was the painted message of hate. The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat thrumming in my ears. I just stared at it, not able to process what I was seeing.

“Liz?” Someone called my name and put their hand on my shoulder, sending a little shock of power through me. It was enough to break my focus and bring me back to my living room. I looked around. All three men were staring at me. Brock had his hand out like he wanted to touch me, but was afraid.

I felt it building in my gut and rising through my throat. I couldn’t stop it, so I let it out. The laughter bubbled out of my mouth, and I couldn’t control it. My sides ached as I dropped the brick, wrapped my arms around myself, and doubled over in laughter. Tears streamed down my face, and I couldn’t breathe. My lungs burned, but I didn’t care.

I tried to control myself a few times, but every time I saw the concern on their faces, I lost my composure again and started cackling.

“I think she broke,” Brock announced, looking at the other guys.

Brock

THE HUMAN IS BROKEN

Iknew humans were said to be weaker than the rest of us, but I didn’t think their brains could snap in half like this. Liz doubled over in laughter. At least, I think it was laughter. Her breath was constricted, coming out like a rabid animal. She tried to stop several times, taking deep breaths, but the second she looked up and met one of our eyes, she started laughing again.

The way tears streamed down her cheeks, and she held her side, made me a little worried she was going to hurt herself. Her face turned a brilliant scarlet shade, and then I was worried that she was going to end up passing out because of lack of oxygen. I scooped her up in my arms again, holding her shaking body to my bare chest, trying to ignore the odd sensation of her skin against mine. It wasn’t unpleasant, far from it, but I had felt nothing in the world like what I felt when I touched Liz skin to skin.

That was a mystery for another day. First, I needed to make sure that she didn’t need medical intervention. I brought her over to the couch, carrying her over all the broken glass shards. Her head rested against my chest as she shook with more laughter and I had to stop my mind from wandering to very inappropriate places.

She was going through something traumatic, and she didn’t deserve my skeeving on her just because Callum and I were getting a little hot and heavy.

Fuck, I had kissed my best friend. I had made out with him, touched him, let him touch me. I wanted him badly, but did he feel the same? His actions made me think that was a possibility, but it could have just been blood lust. He had gone so long without a proper meal, and I was pretty sure it was longer since he had a lover or even a little something on the side.

Was he starving?

Did I let my feelings cloud my judgment and take advantage of my best friend while he was weak? Fuck. When this was over, he needed to feed and get his shit straight and I needed to be sure I hadn’t broken something unfixable with the only person who had really mattered to me in a long time.

Liz started shaking against me again, and I set her down gently on the couch. Callum sat down on the other side of her and pulled her from my arms to his.

I wanted to be the one to comfort her, hold her, and tell her everything was going to be okay. But I knew Callum needed the control right now. He’d always hated it when something he couldn’t control or predict happened. Chaos was not something Callum dealt with regularly and never easily. So, if holding her soothed him as well as calmed her, I wasn’t going to object.

---