“It wasn’t my family,” Layla explains. “Oh, Van, it wasn’t us.”
“They would have just opened the door to you,” Van goes on. “They knew you. They--”
“They know I’m dead,” Layla says in exasperation. “Think, Van. Besides, I would never…”
“We came looking for you, and the next thing we know, vampires kill everyone--”
“Who exactly did you come looking for?” a new, low voice demands. All of our gazes snap up to Abel. The tall, dark-haired vampire lingers in the doorway, his arms crossed. “You didn’t know Layla had been turned, did you? So how were you looking for us?”
Van jumps to his feet. “We were looking for the bastards who killed her and almost killed Aiden--”
The vampire’s lips part in a disbelieving laugh. “Then you went looking for the Holden hive. Well, no wonder. They don’t care much for guests.”
“The Holden hive?” Reid joins Van, rising to his feet. He glances at Aiden, protective fury written across his face. “Where can we find them?”
“You don’t want to find them,” Abel warns.
“We really do,” Aiden promises.
“Let’s take some time and make a plan,” Layla says, as if she’s made a decision. “You two can’t go off half-cocked to try to take down a vampire hive. You might be gods, but you’re still my little brothers.”
“Who do you think they’ll go after next?” Van demands.
“I’m not saying we don’t fight back,” Layla says. “I’ll be with you--”
“Layla, no,” the vampire in the doorway says firmly.
Aiden glances up over her shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he studies the vamp. “You trapped her in this house?”
“Aiden, it’s not like that.” She puts her hand on Aiden’s chest to make sure he can’t go around her and attack the vamp. “He’s not the one you want to hurt. All right? Calm down.”
“He might be on my list,” Aiden mutters, “even if he’s not the one who killed you.”
“Well, I don’t want you to hurt him,” she chides. “That’s the father of my child you’re talking about. He might be an idiot right now, but I can fix that.”
The vampire scoffs.
“The father of your child?” Aiden demands.
Layla nods, pressing her hand to the faint swell of her belly through her sweater. “You two are going to be uncles. So please don’t do anything stupid.”
“I want to say congratulations,” Reid says, “but this is a lot to take in.”
“If the hive targeted Van’s family, who was with him?” Abel demands. “Because the Holden hive is nothing if not thorough…”
“It was me,” Aiden says. “I was.”
“Mom and dad,” Reid and Layla say at the same time.
“Come on,” Layla says. “We’ll make sure they’re safe and then we’ll work on a plan to deal with the hive.”
“Layla!” the vampire says. “You can’t go to your parents’ house. After all this time--”
“I love you, sweetheart,” she says, “but shut up.”
The guys, Layla, and I dash out of the house. Just as we’re all beginning to climb into the car, the vamp comes out of the house, frowning, and hits the key fob in his hand to unlock the doors of his sports car.
“The rest of the hive is on standby if we need them,” he says.
“I can’t imagine a world where I ever need a vampire,” Aiden grouses, but Layla grins before she runs to her vampire. She squeezes him around the neck and he grunts, looking as if he’s just agreed to a trip to a shopping mall and is distinctly unhappy with the whole thing.
The five of us pile into our car and pull out onto the road. Reid looks pale, and I reach out to touch his leg. He smiles at me, although it’s a faint smile.
Van drives too fast--but then he always does--and we drive back through the familiar neighborhood. My throat closes up at the sight of the familiar soundings. I wasn’t happy here--I was so alone--and if it weren’t for how bleak everything feels today, I’d be happier now. Because I have them.
If we can keep each other, with vampires hunting Aiden and Van and the godslayers waiting to blast us into oblivion.
When we reach the house, Aiden jumps out of the car before it even comes to a stop. Van swears and slams on the brakes, as Aiden leaves the door swinging open.
Reid and I run after him. Aiden’s already jumped up the porch steps and run in the front door as we follow him.
Inside, the house is peaceful. For a second, my heart catches in my chest, afraid we’re too late.
There are footsteps on the stairs, and Aiden looks up first. Reid and I step into the house. My heart thumps in my chest, ready for a fight.
But it’s Aiden’s mom who stands on the stairs. I can’t see her face, and she can’t see Reid and I, but I can see her legs and the scrub pants she wears for her nursing job. She must be on her way to work.
“Aiden,” she says, and there’s a frown in her voice as he steps onto the stairs.
“Mom.” He runs up the stairs and folds her in a hug. “You’re okay.”
“Of course I’m okay.” Even from here, I can tell she must push him away because he takes a step back down the stairs.
“Where’s dad?” he asks. His voice has cooled, and my heart aches for him. Their parents never treated him the same after Layla died.
“He’s in his home office working,” she says. “Aiden, why are you here? You’re supposed to be at school.”
“We had some time off. I wanted to come see you.”
“All right.” She doesn’t sound like it’s all right. “Well, I don’t want you to get into more trouble. You better go back.”
“Mom,” he says. “I thought maybe I could stay here tonight. Go back to school in the morning.”
Reid runs his hand through his hair, pain written across his face like he aches for his brother. Aiden’s just trying to protect them.
“You’d better go back to school,” she says again.
I feel someone shift behind me, and when I look back, Layla is right there in the doorway. Tears run down her face as she backs away, shaking her head. Then she runs to the car, pulls open the passenger door, and jumps in.
Aiden’s mom comes the rest of the way down the stairs, and her face brightens when she sees Reid. Then, “Oh, Izzy! I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Hi,” I say, my voice coming out subdued. I always adored Aiden and Reid’s mom but the way she treats Aiden now changes everything for me.
“Why don’t I make you all something to eat before you have to go home?” she asks. “I have half an hour before I go to work.”
Aiden’s lips part. I think he’s about to say she shouldn’t go, but Reid catches his eye and shakes his head.
Some of us can stand guard at their house until we figure out how to deal with the Holden hive. We can’t tell them about the vampires. They would never believe us anyway.
Not unless they saw Layla.