Page 29 of The Dawning
“Sorry. Like I said, there’s a storm coming. Look, you need to hurry. Intech is around here somewhere, but I’m not sure if they’re tracking me.”
I pushed to my feet. We needed the cavalry ready to go.
“I’m coming for you, baby doll.” I was out the door in eight strides.
“I have to go,” she said. “I love you hard, Sam Mason. Promise me something.”
My pulse was beating faster than the speed of light. “Don’t say what I know you’re about to say.”
She sniveled. “You need to know something. And I mean this with every fiber of my being. If anything happens to me, promise me you’ll murder my grandmother and Rianne. You have to promise me, Sam. They’re not my family anymore.”
I had no problem following through on that promise. “Stop talking like I’ll never see you again.” I gritted my teeth, my tone stern and unyielding. I wouldn’t accept anything other than her in my arms, snuggled up against me while I showed her how much I loved her. “I’m going to marry you, Layla.” My voice softened. “You and I will live a long life without fuckwads hunting us or trying to use us or our children. Do you hear me? You and I will marry under the stars. We’ll make love every day for the rest of our lives. We’ll watch our kids grow and teach them all the things about family, love, and how to protect themselves and each other. That’s my promise to you, and no one, and I mean no one, will come between us or get in our way. If they do, I will cut out their tongues, chop off every limb, and feed them to sharks in the Atlantic.”
She cried and laughed at the same time. “Sharks, huh? I love your vampire ass, Sam Mason.”
I closed my eyes briefly, staving off the waterworks, and for fuck’s sake, they were about to pour out of my eyes harder than Niagara Falls.
“Tell Jordyn I love her,” she whispered.
“You can tell her yourself when you come home.”
“Home—that sounds nice. We need to think about the nursery,” she said.
That was the least of our worries.
“Baby doll, one more thing. Roman told me your grandmother collapsed right before she was to accompany Roman to kidnap you and Jordyn. He doesn’t know what happened. Junior talked to his dad, and Jack doesn’t know either. We’ve checked hospitals around Cleveland and also the Catskills where we thought your grandmother might be headed, but we didn’t find anything.”
“Shit. Do you think she’s dead? Maybe she had a heart attack like my uncle Ray.” Layla sounded more relieved than horrified. “You could check Morgantown.”
I would definitely relay the info to Sawyer, but Harriet wasn’t my first concern, though I would deal with her at some point.
“Look, whether your grandmother’s breathing or not, you still need to be concerned about Rianne, your cousin Noah, and Carly. I’ve been calling Carly, but I’m striking out. Sawyer checked her phone records, and she hadn’t used her phone since that day you and I escaped from Intech. Who knows, she might be dead after all.”
“I still don’t understand why Carly gave you her number,” Layla said.
“Million-dollar question, but it’s not important. You are.”
Regardless, if Carly was alive and I had the opportunity, I firmly believed I could convince her to bat for our team minus the genetic engineering. The way I saw it, remove the queen from the ant colony, and the army would fall—at least for the short-term, until Adam found another scientist. Unless he and the rest of his lot met a sudden and painful death.
“What about Fred Emery?” she asked. “I stabbed him pretty good. Jordyn mentioned he’s in the base prison. Is he talking?”
“Negative. He’s been in and out of consciousness. And during the times he is lucid, he isn’t talking.”
“Layla,” Rebekah called to her. “I need to call my captain.”
“Baby doll, be careful.”
“I will. Love you, vampire.” Her voice quaked.
I grinned as happiness filled my heart and soothed my soul. “Ditto, baby doll. Iwillfind you and bring you home. That’s my solemn promise. I don’t know Rebekah, but I’m holding her responsible if anything happens to you.” With Rebekah’s wolf senses, I was sure she’d heard me.
“She’s only one person, Sam. She can’t fight an army alone. And you need to consider the chip in your head. Soyouneed to be cautious,” Layla warned.
Fuck that device.
Nothing and no one would keep me from saving my one true love.
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