Page 77 of The Union
My sister rolled her shoulders back. “Yes, sir. Sam, can you text me Carly’s number?”
Sam handed his phone to my sister, then he sat next to me. “Start talking, Junior.” He swung his arm over the back of the couch.
I had a ton of questions about Carly. If she was the leader of the merry fuckups, how had she found out I knew Sam if Junior didn’t tell her? Did she know the Aberdeens were vampire hunters before she married Junior? As far as I knew, Junior never told Carly about our business, and I didn’t blame him, since Jack had closed the doors on hunting right before Junior married Carly. So he hadn’t seen a need to bring up an inconceivable topic.
Junior leaned his elbows on his knees. “Layla, I guess you told Granny about your mother and vampire blood running in her family, which, by the way, was a shock for me. My dad never mentioned that. Anyway, she grilled my father about it. He told her as much as he knew. Now… she has this twisted idea that Layla, Jordyn, and Rianne would make good test subjects for genetic engineering. Jack wanted me to warn you what you’re up against. It isn’t about locking you away to convince you not to be with a bloodsucker. The game has changed. Now she wants you to succumb to her evil plan to command an army of supernaturals, and she believes you and your sisters will lead the charge.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was so deranged on multiple levels, it wasn’t even funny.
Jordyn shook her head. “Unbelievable. She has gone stark mad.”
I tucked my cold hands between my thighs. “Do you know anything else Jack told her?” If Junior didn’t know I was pregnant, I held out hope that Granny didn’t either.
Junior swallowed. “If you’re asking me if she knows you’re carrying a Mason baby, I don’t know. My father didn’t tell me. I doubt he told her. But knowing Granny, I’m afraid not only for you but that baby. You might be hunted more than him.” He stabbed a finger at Sam. “Also, my father wanted me to mention that my grandmother talked about a little girl named Abbey.”
The oxygen in the room diminished rapidly.
I slapped a hand on my chest. Roman Brown salivated to get his hands on Abbey, and now another person wanted the powerful ten-year-old. My insides were shredding piece by piece at the idea that my child or children would be hunted like Abbey.
Sam was on his feet. “Fuuuuck. I swear, I’m murdering your grandmother first.”
Steven, on the other hand, was as calm as the ocean on a hot, humid day. “Explain more.”
Confusion blazed in Junior’s blue eyes. “Something about a prodigy and that Abbey could be the key to their success. Who is she?”
Sam was pounding his booted feet into the floor behind his father as he paced. The walls began to shake. The glasses in the dish rack near the sink clinked together.
Steven rose. “Son, calm down.”
“The fuck I will,” Sam shouted. “Everywhere we turn, someone wants either Jo, Abbey, or me. I’m sick of it, Pops.” Sam swung his apologetic gaze to me, silver banishing his green irises. “Now my kid will probably be hunted.”
There was no probably about it. I knew without a doubt our children would be, and the thought of anyone putting their hands on them had me breathing heavy.
Steven clutched Sam’s arms. “We’ve won this type of war before. We can do it again.”
Sam grabbed the back of his head with both hands. “How many wars are we going to fight before we can live in peace!” He was bordering on shattering the windows.
I rushed over to Sam and flattened my hand on his face. “Hey, Abbey is safe. I am too.” I didn’t sound convincing as my stomach churned like a violent storm at sea. But all of us had to stay vigilant and optimistic. “As long as you and I are together, they can’t touch us. In the end, we’ll do whatever it takes to protect us and our family.” I couldn’t promise we wouldn’t endure pain and suffering, but I could promise I would give my life to save my loved ones.
“Does that mean kill anyone in your family who fucks with us?” Venom threaded through Sam’s words.
“If they try to even take our kid, then yes.” I had never been more serious. My dad taught me to defend myself and those I love.But you love Rianne?Despite how I felt about my sister, if it came down to her or me, I would choose me. “I will pulverize anyone if they so much as fuck with our child, Sam. Sister or not. Grandmother or not.”
Junior gasped. “You would? You wanted to help them after your scream caused us to collapse in that room at Intech.”
Even though he was right, I ignored him and kept my focus on Sam. “We’re partners, right, Sam? We agreed we have each other’s backs. We have a child or children to think about now. Therefore, nothing or no one will fuck with our growing family.”
He pulled me to him and kissed me on the head. “I love you.”
I inhaled the clean scent embedded in his black shirt, the aroma coating my frayed nerves. “Ditto, vampire.”
Trembling, he hugged me tighter.
Beneath the love pouring out of him, I could feel his fury, lethal and primed. I pitied whoever got in the way of his wrath.
Junior asked about Abbey again.
“She’s Steven’s granddaughter and Sam’s niece,” Jordyn said.
