Page 26 of The Union
“Mr. Mason.” Carly said my name as though she wasn’t sure it was me.
Fuck, I wasn’t sure I was me.Did she just fry my brain cells?
She stood over me and shone a penlight in one eye, then the other. “Do you know who I am?”
That grating laughter overhead snaked its way into every fiber in me.
I growled. “Seriously? You’re the next person on my kill list after Rianne.” Hatred clung to every word.
“Say my name, Mr. Mason,” Carly ordered in a caustic tone.
“Why? I don’t need to do shit.”
“That’s him,” Rianne said.
Carly bared her teeth as she glanced at the camera. “I might strangle her.”
I laughed. “Wanna team up, Carly?”
She lost that mean look that had her cute face all creased and scrunched. “I just might take you up on that.”
Then she examined Dane, whose bare chest glistened with sweat. When she was done, she pocketed her penlight. “You two are coming along just fine.”
Dane thrashed around on the table. “I hope you have life insurance, human, because when I’m finally free, you’re my next meal.”
She giggled, masking the fear coursing through her. “No, you won’t.” She stuck out her chin. Then her phone rang. She plucked it out of her lab coat and answered. “What is it?”
“Your guest has arrived,” the lady on the other end said.
“I’ll be right there.” Carly pocketed her phone and said to Dane and me, “I’ll be back later. For now, rest. I need both of you on point for my meeting.” Her heels clicked against the tiled floor.
When the door snicked shut, I closed my eyes, taking inventory of my body, moving my feet, hands, and fingers. Whatever had just happened to me, I didn’t want to hang around to find out what else Carly had in store.
“It’s time to blow this joint,” I said to Dane.
I gathered my fury simmering on the surface and dug deep for my elemental powers. They’d served me well earlier, and they were about to help me again.
10
LAYLA
An astringent odor coupled with the chill in the air made me shudder when I entered Intech ten minutes later. Before I’d left Starbucks, I’d eaten a sliver of the apple turnover and almost puked, thanks to nerves.
Swallowing a ball of emotions, I inched up to the security guard, my pulse sprinting, and my breathing shallow. Jordyn’s description of Fred Emery didn’t match the man behind the desk. The guard had a short crop of wavy blond hair, and I didn’t see a scar. That should ease the tightness in my stomach, but it didn’t.
A voice in my subconscious was shouting for me to turn around and leave. Run, and run fast and far, but my legs kept moving forward.
You’re here to talk to Carly, nothing more.Yet, if my grandmotherwerehere, then the stakes of the battle I was about to fight just escalated. How? I wasn’t sure. But when Harriet Aberdeen was involved, nothing good came out of it.
I let out a soft, agitated laugh. I wasn’t afraid of vampires, but I was frightened of my own kin. Another laugh escaped. I could go head-to-head with Jack, but not his mother. The sweet lady had a deadly bite.
Johnson, as his name read on his uniformed shirt, glanced up from the glass-topped desk, his brown eyes lasering in on me. “Are you lost?”
I feigned a smile as that knot in my stomach wound tighter and tighter. “Good morning, Mr. Johnson.” Kill him with kindness. I was taking a play from my grandmother. “I’m Layla Aberdeen, and I’m here to see my cousin, Carly Aberdeen. I know it’s early, and she may not be in yet. But I’m worried.” I stabbed a thumb at the Starbucks. “She was supposed to meet me for coffee before she came into work.”Liar.
He flipped his mechanic magazine over. “I’ll check to see if she’s in. Mrs. Aberdeen tends to work around the clock sometimes.” He typed on a keyboard.
After I thanked the nice man, I ambled around the empty lobby to keep the blood flowing and the jitters at bay. A bank of elevators was carved into an alcove to the right of the lobby desk. Three tall fig trees covered with mini white lights were scattered around. Two benches were positioned in front of the wall of windows that overlooked the city street, and an antibacterial station stood at the entrance to the elevator area.
