Page 77 of The Dawning
Jack kept his distance from Sam and crossed his arms over his barrel chest. “This shit with Intech and my mother has to end.” His voice boomed, almost shaking the walls.
A muscle ticked in Sam’s jaw. “Then consider helping instead of hiding.” He dropped the words like chips of ice into a tin bowl.
Jack took one step toward Sam, then stilled, splotchy red spots coloring his face. “I have two families to protect.”
“We all do, Jack,” Sam fired back. “Your mother is out on a ledge, searching for a cure for her blood cancer. She thinks either I’m her golden ticket or my children are. I will stop her. If you want to help, then get on board. Otherwise, don’t tell us what we need to do.”
“That’s why she’s doing this?” Aunt Tab’s voice hitched with horror.
Jack paled. “Blood cancer?”
“A rare form,” I added. “Not sure what type. But she’s dead set on immortality as a cure.”
“Noah?” Aunt Tab asked. “Did you see him? Either of you?”
Sam placed his hands behind his back and straightened as though he was programmed to do so, not reacting to Aunt Tab’s question.
I looked to him for help, but his attention was on Aunt Tab.
I thought he would say something. After all, he’d seen Noah. I expected him to tell Aunt Tab that her son had gulped down Carly’s crazy juice.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that Noah wasn’t the same boy she’d given birth to—he wasn’t human.
Aunt Tab brought her fingers to her mouth. “You have. Is he dead?” Tears clouded her eyes. The poor woman had already lost her eldest son to a car accident and didn’t look like she could withstand the whole truth about Noah.
Somehow, I had to put her out of her misery. “I’ve seen Noah. He’s with Rianne and Harriet. But like my sister, there’s no convincing him that the quest he’s on will never work.”
Jack whisked a hand through his thinning red hair, then rubbed the back of his neck. “How do you propose we help, Mason?”
Steven strutted in as if on cue to answer Jack. The Sam look-alike had his black hair tied in a low ponytail like his son. He wore a white button-down shirt open at the collar, the sleeves cuffed over his forearms, and black slacks.
I couldn’t wait to see Sam dressed in a suit. His dad was loaning him one for our ceremony that evening. Sam looked hot as hell in both his SEAL uniform and casual attire, but there was something about a man in a tailored suit that tickled my lady parts.
Steven introduced himself to Aunt Tab and expressed his condolences to her and Jack. Then he invited them to stay at one of the transient homes on base.
“Thank you, but we’re leaving tonight. We would like to bury Junior and Ray as soon as possible,” Jack said. “And my brothers-in-law, who are holding down the fort, expect us to return quickly. We can talk over video chat at some point. Any activity since we spoke?” Jack asked Steven.
“Nothing to address. But this war is coming, Jack. Don’t wait long to engage. Whether you like or not, you’re involved.”
My uncle acknowledged Steven with a dip of his chin. “Seems you have a ton of shit to handle with the media as well.”
“One of the reasons the war will be here faster than you think,” Steven added. “Intech will use the media to its advantage.”
“How? By recruiting humans?” I asked. It was the first thing that came to mind. It kind of made sense.
If I was right, neither Steven nor Sam answered. They probably couldn’t say for sure. Regardless, with our luck, Adam Emery would use Sam’s notoriety with the public as a way to capture him or… Our children also came to mind. I swallowed thickly, clutching my chest as the sharp edges of my ruby engagement ring pricked me.
Sam grumbled at his dad, “Layla and I are leaving. Her heart rate is elevated.”
My lower back was beginning to spasm anyway. I didn’t have much else to say to Tab or Jack. Though, it would be nice to pick Tab’s brain about her pregnancies. The more I thought about that, the more I nixed the idea. She didn’t have supernatural kids. Her pregnancy was nine months, not six. I couldn’t compare apples to oranges.
I almost invited them to our handfasting ceremony, then thought better of it. I liked my aunt and uncle. Tabitha had a big heart, and I felt her pain over the loss of Junior. I prayed I would never have to experience anything like that. As far as Jack went, we had our differences. We both believed in the sanctity of humanity, yet he couldn’t grasp how the Vampire Navy SEALs wanted the same thing as us—protecting humankind to engender a thriving world of peace for everyone, including the supernatural community. Because of those reasons, my aunt and uncle didn’t fit in our circle of family and friends. Sure, Jack had a stake in the game now—his mother and son—but that wasn’t enough reason to invite him and Tab to witness the love Sam and I had for each other. Jack would probably puke the entire time or continue to breathe fire at Sam. We needed peace and tranquility tonight, not hatred and disgust.
I said my goodbyes in the hopes that all of them, including Ray’s wife and my cousins, stayed safe. I wouldn’t be disheartened if our paths never crossed again. Although I suspected they would—if Jack truly decided to help us.
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SAM
