Page 35 of The Union
I was ready to kiss the fuck out of her when my father’s voice peppered the air.
Layla and I jerked our attention at the gaping hole just as my father climbed through, gun at the ready.
I rose, then helped Layla to her feet. “Can you walk?”
She rolled those ball-squeezing electric-blue eyes. “Does a cow moo?”
Whether she could or not, I lifted her into my arms just the same.
“I said I could walk, vampire.” Her protest was weak at best.
“Too bad. I need to feel you against me.” She was the only one who could temper my rage and the urge to blow this building all to hell.
Once we were through the cavernous hole, Webb stood on the other side and jerked his head at the SUV idling in the loading dock. “We need to move.”
Daylight flowed down the incline of the driveway, and a hint of the car’s exhaust hung in the air.
I was curious as to how my father had known where we were in the building until I remembered the tracking device in my lower right back. I’d hated when my old man had the microchips embedded into Jo and me after we turned into vampires. He’d been worried about finding us if we’d ever gotten kidnapped. A lot of good that had done. Whenever Edmund had kidnapped Jo or me, he’d known to scramble the signal since Edmund had been a vampire and had a chip in him as well. But Intech didn’t know about my chip, or at least I didn’t think so.
My father kept his gun aimed at the blown door as he backed toward us slowly. “Your chip didn’t have a signal until about thirty minutes ago,” he said, reading my mind. “I suspect wherever they were keeping you was blocking the signal.”
Layla squirmed in my arms. “What about Carly and Junior?”
I held her tighter to me. “Too risky.” I desperately wanted to snatch Carly to pump her for information, particularly about what she’d been doing to my head. I also wanted to gather every last fucker involved and put them in a dark cell with a hoard of rats, never to see the light of day again. Rianne came to mind first.
Layla shuddered. “I guess you’re right.” She sounded highly dejected. “Junior doesn't want any part of this fight.”
“Too bad. He’s an Aberdeen. The shit comes with the territory.” I set her on her feet outside the SUV. “It’s odd you’re worried about Carly and Junior. Not Rianne?”
Her bottom lip jutted out. “I’m done with my sister. There’s no saving her, Sam.”
I think my love for Layla grew twenty times stronger. It had to be difficult for her to say that. Yet, deep down I knew that if she had the opportunity again, she would try to knock some sense into Rianne.
Webb had gone go through many emotions when he learned his sister, Kate, had been a traitor who’d sided with our enemy. It had been harrowing to watch but equally as agonizing to feel as an empath. It had taken Webb a long time to come to terms that he couldn’t save Kate, and he tried many times. And when she took her last breath at Jo’s hand, Webb tried to revive her. He’d wanted nothing to do with Kate, but he didn’t want her to die either.
Sadly, my gut told me Rianne and I would face off eventually, especially if Abbey’s vision about Rianne ending Layla came true.
Layla scraped a soft hand along my scruffy jaw, jarring me out of my reverie. “Did you hear me?”
I blinked, then opened the back door. “Sorry.”
“I believe Junior can be swayed if we can convince Carly to join us,” she said.
I kissed her on the forehead. “I agree, but now is not the time.” I swung out my arm, gesturing for her to get into the SUV.
Leaning forward, she eyed the blown door as if she was ready to run.
I stepped into her line of sight. “We’ll discuss Carly and your cousin later. I promise.”
She flashed her big blue eyes at me and climbed into the car.
Once I was seated beside her, I asked, “Are you sure you’re not hurt?” I didn’t see any cuts or blood, but she could have broken bones. Even worse, our unborn baby could be hurt. My pulse was machine-gun fast, praying her pregnancy hadn’t been compromised.
She wrapped the seat belt over her before it clicked into place. “I’m fine, Sam.”
I loved her badass attitude, but she was talking to me, an empath. “Liar.”
“Just bruised.” She propped her head against the seat, her chest heaving with a sigh.
