“She?” My heart hits my chest hard. “How do you know it’s a she?”
“It’s one of the gifts I have, among many others.” Her brows knit as she continues to stare at my belly. “Do you want to protect her?”
“I do, but it’s unbelievably hard when everything around me is so dangerous.” Tears burn at my eyes. “I’ve been hit by so many spells, fallen so many times . . . I’m getting worried.”
“She’s fine.” She glances up at me. “And she can be fine, even when you’re not.”
I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can put a spell on her that will allow her to survive even if something happens to you. I can help you save the one you care about the most,” she says, “and in return, you’ll help me save what I care about the most.”
I’m surprised how easily I agree. With a simple nod, I protect my daughter and put myself in danger again.
But somehow, it feels like the most right thing I’ve ever done in my life.
ALEX
I’m going to fucking kill him, strangle him to death. At least, I want to. But I can’t. Killing Laylen would nearly kill Gemma, and she’d hate me for it. Besides, that would be stooping to my father’s level, and no matter how hard he’s tried to turn me into one of his murderous soldiers, I refuse to be that horrible person. I’m stronger than that. I have to be for the world, for Gemma, for my child.
I hold back on the strangling and, instead, knock Laylen out with a snow shovel. Once he collapses to the ground, I drag his body under a tarp beside a pile of firewood so no one will find and hurt him. Then I try to come up with some kind of plan to salvage this mess.
I have an unconscious, killer vampire on my hands, and the two people who could help me are missing. Not to mention, one of them is bat-shit crazy at the moment.
In the middle of my plan making, I somehow end up in a field with Gemma. Initially, I’m confused, but then I remember the last time we met like this, and I smile to myself. She’s dreaming of me.
After I leave the dream, I thrum my fingers on the sides of my legs as I pace back and forth in front of the woodpile. I don’t know how this happened, how Aislin and Laylen found us, but it seems way too coincidental that, the moment we left the Banshee’s house, the two of them showed up. There has to be a connection
Either I can run away, go back to the airport and fly home, or go back and see what the Banshee knows.
When I arrive back at the house, she’s wailing her cry of death. I barge in without knocking, and the pleased look on her face is enough that I see red.
“Good. You’re alone,” she purrs. “Just what I wanted.”
I stride toward her and shove her against the wall.
“Who are you?” I demand, pushing her again.
She trips back and lands on the floor, wincing as she twists her ankle. “Don’t you think I should be asking you the same thing?” she growls.
“You don’t get to ask questions.” I crouch down in front of her and press the tip of my knife to the base of her throat. “Now, who are you?”
When her lips remain sealed, I press the tip of the blade into her skin just enough to draw a few drops of blood. She winces then, with a venomous growl, the color of her eyes turns from green to blue and her hair from brown to blond, transforming into the Banshee from the alley
I shake my head. “I knew it.”
“You didn’t think Draven would just hand you the information without a price, did you?” she snaps, baring her teeth then trying to bite my hand.
“I did pay a price.” I poke her again with the knife. “Remember, he gets a year of my life.”
“Like that matters to him. What he really wants to know is why you’re seeking a Banshee.” She scoots across the floor and backs herself into the corner. “Who are you really? And why do you need the help of a Banshee?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” I say calmly, standing up straight. “Not until you tell me why you brought me out here.