6. Rena #2
She would’ve told me to go for it. I could almost hear her in my ear, whispering that I was being silly, that I’d been given a gift, that I needed to open my heart.
Hadn’t she told me that a mate bond was the best thing that had ever happened to Grandmama?
That there was no relationship on earth more wonderful?
Turning off the sink, I leaned forward and looked closely at my stitches, then dried my hands. I was procrastinating, but I couldn’t have said why. Maybe I just needed a moment for myself.
I was used to being alone. I liked it most of the time.
Could I really tie myself to Chance Boucher forever?
The prospect didn’t feel as scary as it had before, but I couldn’t pinpoint why.
I thought it over as I made my way back into the trashed living room and out into the hallway that led to the stairs.
I’d always wanted a family. A husband, first. Then some kids. A full house.
And I could have that with Chance.
Did I want it with him? Did it even make sense to be asking those kinds of questions when I’d met him the day before? It seemed crazy. Irrational. Reckless.
Everything I’d called Reese when she’d cemented the bond with Beau within hours after they met.
Now, though, as my body automatically moved through the house toward Chance, I couldn’t deny that something about him just felt…right. Like a piece that had been missing.
As if my entire being said, Oh, there you are. What took you so long?
Rationally, it was probably the mating heat. It was making my hormones go nuts, reacting to his pheromones or something. I wanted to be near him. I wanted him to reach for me and hold my hand and carry me around.
And I’d never been that girl. I’d prided myself on being fiercely independent. Sure, I’d lowered my standards a few times because I was lonely, and I’d let partners get away with crap for far too long in the past, but I’d never had a problem letting them go when I was fed up.
Chance looked up from the counter when I reached the kitchen and smiled, like he hadn’t seen me in a week instead of the few minutes I’d been gone.
That may have been when I fell.
“Hey, beautiful,” he called.
“Better,” I replied, making my way toward him.
“Good to know,” he said as I reached him. “How were the stairs?”
“They were fine,” I replied, surprised. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I’d traversed them easily, both on the way up and then again on the way down.
“Good,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders so he could tuck me into his side. He nodded to the papers spread out on the counter between him and Ambrose. “These are the names of the Vampires we’ve been able to trace to where they held Zeke.”
“Oh,” I said, looking at the faces staring back at me from little black-and-white photos on the corner of each sheet.
“Arthur is doing what he can back at headquarters,” Ambrose said. “But we’re going to need volunteers. Even if they haven’t operated in a long time?—”
“Or ever,” Chance added.
Ambrose nodded. “We’ll still need people who can come in to clean up after we get inside. Doctors, nurses, mothers. Just…help. Those mates are going to be traumatized.”
“So you think that these Vampires’ families will help?”
“Yeah, we do,” Chance said, sliding a sheet of paper to the side. Beneath it was the information of a Vampire who looked a lot like the brothers standing with me. “We would.”
“How do you reach out?” I asked, glancing between them. “Do you know any of them?”
Chance shook his head. “No, none of them. But see?” He pointed to the bottom of the page. “Emergency contacts.”
“You’re going to cold call them?”
“You have a better idea?” Ambrose asked.
“No,” I admitted.
“We don’t either. If we had time, we’d visit them in person, but we don’t. They’re all around the country. If we can get them here, though, we can explain the situation.”
“And get a read on them before we show our asses and get fucked over again.”
“That too,” Ambrose agreed.
“Smart,” I muttered. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Chance bent and kissed the top of my head. “No,” he said. “We’re going to head over to your place.”
“Right now?” I asked in surprise.
“Mom and the aunts are going to make the calls,” Ambrose clarified. “You guys go deal with whatever you need to. This is the calm before Armageddon.”
“Well, that’s comforting.” I grimaced.
Ambrose left the room, and Chance turned to me. “I feel like it was implied, but you’re cool with riding this out here, right?” he asked, reaching up to play with the hair at the base of my neck. “I know you probably want to be in your own place, but I have to be here right now.”
“I can stay here,” I replied. The answer was easier than it should’ve been.
“Good.” He dropped my hair and shuffled the papers into a neat stack. “Beau and Reese are going to ride with us to your place.”
“Is there a reason for that?” I asked as he gently steered me out of the kitchen with his hand on my back.
“We don’t go out alone until this is over,” he explained.
“Didn’t you find me alone?”
He paused almost imperceptibly, then kept walking. “It’s different when it comes to mates. Especially ones who haven’t become immortal.”
My stomach swooped. “Do you think I’m in danger?”
“Haven’t you been paying attention, love?” he asked, his jaw tight. “Every mate is in danger right now. That’s what we’re trying to fix.”
I didn’t know why I hadn’t put it all together until then.
He’d told me that the human organization was targeting mates.
Reese had told me they were targeting mates.
Rosemary and Danny had confirmed that the organization was holding mates in their warehouses of horrors.
For some reason, though, I hadn’t realized that it included me.
I was a mate.
I was a target.
“I know that we have to be quick and everything,” Reese said as she and Beau met us at the front door. “But I’m so fucking glad to get out of the house.”
“You can help me pack,” I began as we stepped onto the porch. Then my mouth fell open as I saw what was left of my car sitting at the edge of the driveway. “Holy fuck.”
“Yeah, it’s toast,” Reese said.
My beautiful car looked like nothing more than a twisted metal lawn ornament. I didn’t know how I’d managed to wreck it so badly and walk away mostly unscathed.
“I need my purse,” I announced, hurrying down the porch stairs. I groaned. “Do you think it’s even still in there?”
“Only one way to find out,” Reese said, keeping pace with me.
“Easy there, sweetheart,” Chance said, yanking me to a stop with his hands on my hips. “You’re not crawling in there. Let me see if I can find it.”
“By all means,” I said, gesturing at what was once my car. It wasn’t as if I wanted to see the damage up close and personal.
“You like him,” Reese sang, so quietly there was barely a sound.
“Look at that ass,” I replied, not bothering to lower my voice. “What’s not to like?”
Chance shook his ass at me as he leaned into the car.
Reese cackled.
“I don’t know why you think you can whisper around them. They hear you anyway.”
“I always forget,” she said with a shrug.
“How?” I was always aware that the Vampires in the house could hear me.
“I don’t know. I just do.”
“Must be entertaining for the rest of the family.”
“Oh, yeah,” Chance called from halfway inside the car. “We really love knowing how much Reese enjoys Beau’s parts.”
Reese coughed.
“Did you find it?” I called back.
“Is this it?” Pulling his top half out of the car, he held up the brown leather bag that I’d been carrying around with me for the last year.
“That’s it,” I confirmed, hurrying over to take it.
The outside had some kind of white powder all over it, and it looked like it had been dragged through gravel, but it was intact.
I unzipped the top and let out a breath of relief.
Everything was still inside, including my wallet and phone. “Thank God for zippers.”
“You ready?” Beau called from the driver’s side window of a big black SUV.
Inside, the SUV smelled like leather and new car. The seats were plush, even in the back seat where Chance and I were sitting. I leaned my head back against the headrest and let myself relax as we made our way down the long gravel driveway, but the minute we hit pavement, I was on edge.