Somehow I doubt that.
It’s weird to drive back toward our hometown. As we travel, Van and Aiden fill us in on everything they’ve learned. I can’t believe they didn’t tell us earlier what was going on.
“No more secrets,” Izzy says, glancing around at all of us. She gives us each a meaningful look. “We all can trust each other. With the…darker parts. The parts the gods can use against us.”
We pass the exit for our hometown. We’re going just a little further, into the city where it was less likely any of us might run into their parents by accident.
“What’s your dark secret, Izzy?” Reid asks, his voice conversational.
Her brows arch. “My big dark secret is that I’ve always been hopelessly in love with a bunch of--”
Aiden wraps his hand over her mouth, and her eyes crinkle at the corners. “No name-calling.”
“Imagof,” she says through his hand. Then I’m pretty sure she licks him, because he pulls his hand away, half-laughing and half-wincing.
“I was going to say nice things about you,” she insists. But then her face clouds as she admits, “I’ve always wanted to have a family. To have my mom and my sister back. That’s… I don’t know what happened to them.”
“We’ll find out,” I promise.
Her lips twist. “Yeah, but we don’t know what we’ll find.”
“No matter what, you’ve got a family now,” Reid says.
The guys groan at him saying something so cheesy, and he rolls his eyes. “A fucked-up family of idiots--except for me--but whatever.”
Izzy grins, then leans over to press her lips to his, kissing him hard.
Who’s concerned about Izzy’s tonsils now?
“Knock it off.” Aiden twists in his seat, looking exasperated. “We’re trying to get into badass mode now. Talking about our feelings and kissing is not exactly badass.”
“Game faces on,” Van adds. He’s coming to a stop in front of a big house. He crooks an eyebrow as he stares at it, before he says, “Look at this place. Eight thousand square feet with a pool, and full of bloodsuckers. Feels like home.”
“Should we…ring the doorbell?” Reid asks.
“Might as well be polite before we get our killing on,” Aiden says.
“Calm,” Izzy reminds us.
We head up the expansive green lawn, but we never make it to the house.
Chapter Nineteen
Izzy
I glimpse movement on the roof. A vampire. I call a warning, but he’s already racing down the steep, gabled roof of the mansion and jumping into the air. He has a long, gleaming sword in his hand.
And he’s just the distraction. A dozen other vampires seem to materialize around us, dashing across the lawn with their weapons raised.
Aiden’s hammer is suddenly in his hand, and Van is drawing his sword from the sheath that just materialized on his back. Reid and Wilder move defensively in front of me, the four men forming a circle around me without conscious thought.
How come the girl doesn’t get a sword?
I raise my hand at the vampires racing toward us. The first one drops into the grass, squealing frantically, suddenly transformed into an adorable little pig. One of the vamps pales as he almost trips over his friend, who runs bleating between his feet.
Right. That’s why I don’t need a weapon.
The vampires fight us with their fangs bared. There’s something so eerie about their red-rimmed pupils, their perfectly beautiful faces.
I feel a prickle up my spine. I whirl to find a dark-haired girl with a sword in her hand. She’s close enough for me to feel instant fear, and I raise my hands to face her.
She shakes her head frantically. Her face is oddly familiar, drawn with horror.
Swords and hammer clang together, and I watch, from the corner of my eye, as the first of the vampires fall. The girl presses her hands to her mouth in horror and I pause, this close to transforming her into something cute and fluffy.
At first, I think the fallen vamp is dead, and then I see his eyes are still open, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. He’s hurt, but he’s struggling to rise again as Aiden pursues him.
Aiden pins him with his hammer, pressing it against his chest.
“What do you know about Layla?” Aiden roars. The vamp writhes under the weight of the hammer, his fingers curling uselessly against the hammer, trying to push away the handle. But no one can wield Thor’s hammer but Aiden.
The vamp finally gives up fighting and lets his head fall back, breathing shallowly under the pressure of the hammer. “What do you want with my wife?”
Aiden’s eyes go disbelieving. “Just because you tricked her into your bed doesn’t mean—“ He breaks off, obviously trying to get control over his fury, and I see the moment he loses it. He draws back the hammer, preparing to strike.
“No!” the girl across from me screams.
And it all clicks together for me.
“Aiden, stop!” I scream, but Aiden is already bringing the hammer down from over his shoulder. The heavy weapon is unstoppable, and Aiden’s gaze snaps up, looking for mine, as he frantically wrenches the hammer to one side.
He listened to me. I can barely believe it, even as the hammer smashes harmlessly into the ground inches away from the vampire’s head. The vamp stares at the destroyed ground, the hammer buried deep in the grass until Aiden rests it easily on his shoulder again, and the girl lets out a relieved sob.
“Layla,” I say, and my voice comes out loud in the battle.
The vampire scrambles up from the ground and flings himself between us and Layla, his arms held out protectively. The battle is still raging around us, but Aiden has come to a dead stop, staring at her.
“Enough!” I shout. “All of you, stop fighting.” I turn to the vampire and there’s command in my voice as I order, “Make them stop!”
He scoffs at that, but Layla turns worried eyes up at his face and he abruptly shouts, “Peace! Hold off!”
There are a few last clattering sounds of weapons striking weapons, and then a hush falls over the yard.
This isn’t possible. I was there when they buried Layla. I was there when they lowered her casket into the ground.
And yet, now that I see it, there’s no denying it’s her.
Layla could’ve been Aiden and Reid’s twin. She has the same dark hair, the exact shade as Reid’s, and something about her face marks her as his sister. Maybe the fullness of her lips, the curves of her cheekbones, and the arch of her brows…except she’s far more delicate than Reid. And yet, it’s her eyes that keep me spellbound. It’s like looking at Aiden.
Her mouth opens, but no words come out.
Suddenly, Aiden is backing away. “What are you? What is this? This isn’t possible.”
Reid doesn’t move. He doesn’t react. He just stares.
Layla’s mouth closes, and her eyes grow wild. I get the sense she’s about to bolt, and that would be the worst thing possible. Aiden is like a storm about to be unleashed, while Reid is the calm before the storm.
If she takes off, they will level this world to reach her. They’ll destroy all these vampires, and I’m not sure what they mean to her, but I have a feeling they mean something.