"He's blocking me." There was hurt in her voice. "He has to be. There's no other explanation that makes sense."
Paul Jansen gathered Skyler into his arms and hugged her hard. He was taller than she remembered, his shoulders wide and chest deep. He'd filled out and looked more of a man than a boy. He worked hard on his family's ranch and it showed in his deep tan, strong build, defined arms, and confidence. He looked older than his twenty years, responsibility weighing on him.
Skyler hugged him back just as hard. "Thank you for coming. I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't so desperate."
He held her at arm's length, looking her over carefully, a small, affectionate grin on his face. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. We made a pact a long time ago, the three of us, if any one of us was in trouble, we'd come running. I'm glad you called me."
Josef caught his forearms in the traditional Carpathian greeting between warriors, shocking Skyler a little. There was nothing traditional about Josef, and when he used any of the ancient rituals it always surprised her.
"Good to see you, brother. It's been too long. They don't let you get off work very often, do they?" Josef said.
Paul hugged him in the more traditional human way. "I look after my sisters, especially Ginny. The De La Cruz brothers and their lifemates have enemies, and there's a ranch to run and Ginny to look after during the day."
"You always did work too hard," Josef commented, hugging him back. "It's good to see you. Talking online doesn't cut it. How is your sister? She's growing up fast."
"Ginny is amazing with horses, just like Colby always has been. She's beautiful, too, which means I have to watch all those ranch hands and make sure they don't get any ideas." Paul grinned, but there was no amusement in his eyes.
Skyler had to smile. Most Carpathian hunters were tough as nails and then some, but Paul's sister Colby had married into one of the roughest families of all. She was a lifemate to Rafael De La Cruz. There were five brothers and all of them were considered extremely lethal, some of the most feared predators on the planet. Clearly, Paul had already learned a lot from them. She had no doubt that he'd learned to defend himself as well. He fought vampires and did a man's work on the ranch, running things while the Carpathians slept during the day.
"Josef, load your coffin into the truck, please," Skyler told him. "We've got to keep moving. We need to be on the road just in case someone comes looking for one of us."
Paul looked over the ornate coffin and then burst out laughing. "Look at that thing. Josef, you've been having fun, haven't you?"
Skyler rolled her eyes. "Don't encourage him. You have no idea. He actually put the cause of death as a broken heart in the official documents. Can you believe that?"
Paul laughed harder. "I would expect nothing less." He ruffled Skyler's hair. "You grew up beautiful. Who knew?"
Josef scowled at him. "You see her nearly every day on FaceTime or Skype. She looks the same way she always looks. You, on the other hand, have grown your hair out. You're even beginning to look like the De La Cruz brothers. Are you crazy?"