Page 76 of The Union
Steven closed the door while Sam snorted, seemingly enjoying the shock and awe washing over Junior’s freckled face.
Junior’s blue eyes were fixed on me. “What are you, four months?”
I regarded Jordyn. “Do I look that fat?” I dared her to say yes.
Sam’s long legs ate up the space between us. “You’re stunning.” He kissed me on the lips. “But you don’t have much color in your face. You should sit.”
I could use a dose of blood, but I wouldn’t attempt to drink from Sam’s wrist with Junior in the room. “I’m fine.”
Sam helped me over to the couch like he was afraid I would fall or pass out. His overprotective nature was endearing, but if he and Jordyn and anyone else around me had any intentions of coddling me, I would scream bloody murder. I hated to feel like I was suffocating.
After we were all seated around the coffee table with Sam hovering at my side, he said to Junior, “This is your moment to shine.”
Junior was perched on the edge of the chaise lounge when his eyebrows knitted together. “What are you doing with Carly’s number?” He reached out and picked up the piece of paper I’d set on the coffee table after Sam left to get Junior.
In a chair across from me, Steven exchanged a surprised look with Sam.
Sam shrugged at his father. “Where did that come from?”
“It fell out of the cargo pants you had on at Intech. Did you know it was Carly’s number?” I’d found it again when I’d been digging in my handbag that morning for my ChapStick. “You can’t read the last two numbers.”
“I don’t have to,” Junior muttered. “I don’t understand why Sam has her number.”
Sam scrubbed a hand over his chin. “Join the club, man.”
“Maybe she was trying to send Sam a message,” Steven offered.
“Why don’t we call her?” Sam sounded excited.
“I will,” Junior fired back.
Sam hopped up and snagged the paper from Junior. “Tripp has your phone. Besides, you’ve texted her many times, and she hasn’t responded.”
“Sam told me she ran back into the lab. Do you think she’s alive?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Junior responded in a harsh tone. “There was a ton of smoke and an explosion.”
“Maybe she’s immortal,” I said without thinking.
Steven nodded. “You might have a point, Layla. My brother, Patrick, experimented on himself. But he’d never been successful.”
Sam stood next to Junior, the sunlight shining on him, giving him an ethereal glow. “She was quite fascinated with our kind. But she was human when I was there.”
Junior shivered for a brief second. “She had plenty of time to whip up a batch of her vampire juice while you were out cold in that glass room.” Junior’s eyes widened at his own statement.
“Yet last night you told me she went back to the lab for her notes on DNA mapping sequences. That tells me she doesn’t have anything ready to test on anyone. But that doesn’t matter. What are the last two digits?” He plucked his cell out of his jeans.
“Eight seven,” Junior said.
The air thickened as the four of us watched Sam enter the number.
Junior bounced his knee. I bit a hangnail on my thumb. Jordyn seemed relaxed, and Steven eyed Sam.
After a minute, Sam said, “No answer.”
Junior grunted out a frustrated sigh.
“Jordyn, after this, pull Carly’s phone records,” Steven said.
