I already knew, but the not dying would be nice.”
Woolly flickered her lights to warn of an incoming visitor, but Cletus tipped Linus off early.
Hood entered the kitchen, stole a muffin, and shook his damp head.
“What’s with the smell?” Lethe stalked over to him. “You showered? With what? Lysol?”
“Some helpful soul doused the rental in bronze filings after Linus left.” He sagged against the wall. “I had to call the cleaners in to decontaminate me.” He ate another muffin. “They just cut me loose.”
Lethe plastered herself against him. “Why didn’t you call?”
“Forgot my cell. It’s with Eva. She was letting Kaleigh watch cartoons on the drive home.”
The cleaners wouldn’t have let him make calls on their phones. They locked victims of exposure to dangerous substances down hard. Experience had taught them any calls to loved ones would only result in said loved ones demanding to see the victim and generally giving them a headache.
“I couldn’t breathe past the entryway,” he confessed to Linus. “I can’t confirm Marchand involvement.”
“That’s not important.” Linus clasped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Here.” Lethe shoved another muffin into his mouth. “You’ll feel better after you eat something.”
“I’m okay,” Hood soothed her. “You don’t have to stuff me to the gills.”
“I’m ordering takeout.” She stroked his cheeks. “You’re so pale.”
Alphas showed no weakness in front of pack. Lethe’s obvious concern was proof she viewed the motley gathering as family, as trustworthy when her mate had been dealt a blow.
“Humor the woman.” Grier winked at Hood. “You’re gwyllgi. You can always eat.”
Resigned to being fussed over, Hood claimed a seat at the bar and submitted to his mate.
Another call came in, and Linus took it in the living room so as not to bother the others.
“I’m done evaluating the feeds you sent from the garage,” Bishop announced. “They’re both clean. Neither shows any signs of tampering.”
“All right.”
“You don’t sound happy about this guy coming up clean.”
“We’re burning hours with nothing to show for it.” Linus rubbed his forehead. “We’re no closer to locating Mother or Boaz than we were when we started.”
“I’ve got more news.” He hesitated. “The blood samples?”
“Yes?”
“There are trace amounts of both your mother and Boaz’s blood types. The rest is a hot mess that points toward vampires who fed well and recently. It will be days before I can tell you more than that.”
Days he didn’t have to spend, time he couldn’t afford to waste. Confirmation vampires were responsible for the attack on the bunker didn’t mean much, given how easy they were to employ, but the news gave him hope his mother and Boaz had escaped without much harm.
“I wish I could help more,” Bishop said into Linus’s thoughtful silence.
“You’ve done enough.” He forced himself to remember his manners. “Thank you.”
Long after the screen went black, Linus stood there with the phone in his hand, wishing a solution would call.
“Linus?”
He turned to find Grier standing between the kitchen and the living room. “Yes?”
“We have a new development.” Teeth sinking into her bottom lip, she raised her shirt. “LJ has learned a new trick.”
Black mist wafted off the skin of her stomach, creating faint shadows that twitched and writhed.
A bolt of ice shot Linus in the spine, and he forgot how to move, how to speak, how to think.
“There’s more.” A frown creasing her brow, she rubbed her taut belly. “Shake.”
The mist coalesced into a small hand protruding from her side, its grasping fingers wrapping hers.
Thud.
Linus searched for the origin of the noise only to find himself lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
“Oh goddess.” Grier stood over him. “Are you okay?” She turned and yelled. “Help.”
Corbin and Hood charged into the room, and they knelt beside Linus and performed a cursory exam.
“He fainted.” Hood patted Linus’s cheek. “Otherwise, he’s fine.”
“Good thing you retired from the potentate life.” Corbin laughed. “You’ll never live this down.”
“He is squeamish when it comes to pregnancy-related matters,” Hood agreed. “I didn’t expect that.”
“I…” Linus watched the light show overhead as Woolly panicked for him. “Did you see?”
“See what?” Corbin arranged his features into a mask of concern. “What are you talking—?”
A hard kick from Grier to the back of Corbin’s knee knocked him sideways onto the floor.
“Leave him alone.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and backed away from Linus. “He’s clearly traumatized.”
Moaning issued from the kitchen, and Linus parted his lips to ask when Hood explained, “Lethe fainted too.”
“The baby,” Linus started but words failed him. “Goddess.”
“That ain’t natural,” Lethe whined.