Page 48 of The Dawning
Layla tensed. “I feel sorry for you, Harriet. If I were you, I would return to Fiji and live out the short time you have left on this earth.”
Harriet lunged for Layla.
Maybe Layla would see her grandmother bite the big one, after all. I reached out, snagged her by the neck, and squeezed.
Her face reddened as she smiled.
Layla touched my arm. “Leave her, Sam. She’s dying. It doesn’t matter.”
I cocked my head. “So you think immortality will heal you?” I set her on her feet, then shoved her.
She stumbled. “It will work.”
“No, it won’t, old lady. My DNA or any vampire’s won’t heal you or anyone.” I kind of lied. Abbey’s blood mixed with shifter blood had healed Ben. No one could know that though. “You’ve been watching too many fantasy shows.”
“Layla, if I were you, I would protect that baby at all costs,” Harriet said.
I whirled on her. “Is that a threat?” I was seething and fucking tired of people thinking they could find the Holy Grail in my family’s DNA. “The next time you come near Layla or me or anyone close to me, I will literally nail you to a wall, slit your veins open, and watch you bleed out. If you think I’m kidding, try me. You can relay that message to Rianne, Adam, and Noah.”
“Sam, we need to go,” Carly said.
I spun around and took Layla’s hand. Instantly, a bolt of electricity crackled along my arm, rivaling the supernatural charge Jo and I experienced when we joined hands.
A crease formed between Layla’s pretty eyebrows. “Did you feel that?”
I couldn’t tell if the power was all me or partly from Layla. The same thing had happened once before when she and I were in the back of the SUV in the loading dock at Intech. This connection was much stronger, maybe because I had absorbed a ton of energy from the storm.
Carly whipped out her phone from her lab coat. “Barnes, it’s time. Make sure the path is clear.”
Layla and I hurried out with Carly in the lead.
“Baby doll, are you okay to run like the wind?” With her weak heart, she might not be able to.
She batted her big blue eyes. “Vampire, do pigs like mud?”
I laughed, and it felt fucking good until I glanced at my watch. One minute left before the power came on.
“Sam, we have a small problem,” Tripp said into my comm. “We had to divert Rebekah. That door didn’t blow like we wanted it to. We’re working on another. Head around the back of the building and go east. You may encounter some hostiles.”
“Copy that,” I returned.
When we reached Noah, Layla sucked in air. “Is he dead?”
“Sadly, no,” I said. His ticker was beating extremely fast.
If she was relieved or not, it didn’t register because once we plowed through the exit, fate decided to fuck me again.
I took one sniff, and my brow furrowed. Rianne was holding a cup of blood, leaning against the greenhouse as if she were hanging at a party, and next to her was a short thin-framed dude wearing a bow tie with a tablet in his hands.
Maybe Rianne had changed like Noah. Maybe she was drinking blood to keep her thirst at bay—but she didn’t look grotesque like her cousin.
Carly glued her hands to her hips, assessing the situation. “Felix, what are you doing out here?”
The short dude looked up from the tablet. “Rianne said you needed me.”
The spotlights came on. The power was restored.
Motherfucker.We were out of time.
