Page 53 of The Union
I pushed up my coat’s sleeve and exposed Sam’s leather strap. I hadn’t taken it off since I wrapped the hair tie around my wrist in the bathroom on the plane after Sam had been kidnapped.
Lane’s arm held steady as he continued to aim the gun at Dane. “Is he trying to tell you something?”
“I think so,” I said. “Do you want this?” I hooked my finger through the leather tie.
A horn blared.
Dane’s large head jerked, and within a second, he had darted off and out of sight.
“That alarm indicates we have a breach,” Lane said.
“The alarm probably went off because of Dane,” I said, trying to convince myself I wasn’t about to see my grandmother or Emery’s men invading the naval base.
My heart sputtered at the thought that Intech, Roman, or maybe my grandmother had tracked Dane to the base. I would bet they were waiting for Sam and Dane to be in one place, then they would attack. Or worse, they had dropped Dane off here, and they were controlling him now.
20
LAYLA
As Lane and I jogged along the dirt path, my stomach fisted into a knot.
Lane pressed on his earpiece. “Repeat that, please.” A second later, he responded to the other person in his ear, “Copy that.”
The blaring alarm died.
Lane slowed to a walk. “Ross Gray breached the gate.”
I pushed out a sigh. “He tracked Dane here then.”
“It looks that way,” Lane said.
When we reached the clearing where the wooded lot ended and an open, grassy area began, a blue truck skidded to a stop in front of the main entrance. Tripp marched out of the building like a warrior ready to fight. Crossbow at his side, daggers strapped to his legs, his sandy-blond hair tied in a ponytail at his nape, and his bronze eyes lasering on the vehicle.
Déjà vu soared back like a flash flood after a hard rain. Not that long ago, I’d stood in the same area watching Roman slice off my uncle Ray’s finger.
A bald guy emerged from the passenger side, his head glistening beneath the spotlights shining from the corners of the building.
“Is that Ross?” I asked Lane. I’d heard of the man but had never seen or met him.
Lane held his gun at the ready, just in case. “I believe so.”
Another howl ripped through the night, sounding like a cry for help.
Baldy stiffened, seemingly familiar with that howl.
Crossing the grassy area, I scanned in all directions, as did Lane.
Ross whipped his head my way, his striking blue eyes boring a hole in me. “I thought I smelled a human.”
Tripp growled as if to say, touch her and die. “Ross, explain why you practically ran my guard down at the gate?”
Ross swung his attention to the furious vampire, who was ready to use the crossbow on him. “Dane finally managed to shift long enough to call us and tell us he was headed here. Your guard was stalling. Dane sounded like he was in dire straits, and I’m worried he might be rabid.”
Approaching Ross and Tripp with Lane on my tail, I said, “Dane is on the premises. He doesn’t look rabid.” At least not that I could tell.
Ross’s nostrils flared. “You must be the hunter who started this fucked-up mess.”
“Ross, easy. You’re on my turf.” Acid burned in Tripp’s voice.
