Chapter 17 Kyle
Kyle
My phone was loud the next morning, but my eyes snapped open at the same time as I reached out to grab it.
A number flashed on the screen, and I squinted at it as I tried to recall which of my contacts it was.
Jason, most likely. Temple would try to stay out of contact because it would be dangerous for us to have any sort of connection.
“Yeah?” I never answered with anything that would identify one of us in case the wrong person had the other phone.
Any wrong person.
“Hey.” Yeah, it was Jason. “Everything okay, dude?”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it before speaking into it again. “You calling for a cozy chat now?”
“No.” He chuckled but sounded awkward. “It’s just I… I spoke to Nic, and he said…”
“Yeah.” I glanced at Sam. “We’re done.” Even I sounded disbelieving. “I think we’re all transitioned.”
“Really? That’s great news. I’ll let Nic know.”
I spoke quickly before Jason could hang up. “But I don’t know what to do. I need to see Brock today to find out what they’re doing and make sure I don’t lose my in. But how can I leave Sam here? It’s too dangerous to leave her unguarded. She’s too new.”
Jason inhaled.
“Can you come and get her?” Damn, I hated when I sounded so fucking needy. I never had to ask any of the others for anything, and that was the way I liked it.
Only now that I had Sam, I’d ask and keep asking, and I’d ask some more if it meant keeping her safe. That realization hit me square in the chest like a ton of lead.
“What’s the plan?” Jason sounded thoughtful, and I glanced at Sam before tucking a lock of hair back from her face.
Some of the vivid red dye was leaching away now, leaving a softer red in its wake.
“I hate the idea that I need to leave her here while I go and make nice with the fuckers who made her life such a misery. They nearly killed her.” I stopped and lowered my voice.
“I know.” Perhaps Jason had intended to be reassuring with his interjection, but nothing would reassure me.
Not until I knew Sam was somewhere safe.
“No, you don’t know,” I snapped then immediately regretted my tone. “Sorry, man. I just mean —”
“You’re worried. I know. What can I do to help?”
“Can we get her to Leia and Kayla? Keep her safe?” I had a feeling Sebastian wouldn’t have kept Kayla around New Orleans if he could help it after the attack at his house.
If I knew him, he would have convinced her to go back to Baton Rouge with Leia — although she was strong-willed, so there was no guarantee she would have gone anywhere.
Jason laughed. “Will Sam handle being shuffled out of the way that much better than Kayla did when Sebastian tried it?”
I shook my head a little and smiled. “I have no idea. I hope so, but I can’t risk anything happening to her.”
“Okay, but Nic’s arriving here, so Leia and Kayla will be at Seb’s place. That all right?”
I pressed my lips together. It wasn’t ideal. I wanted Sam carefully wrapped for her own protection and stored as far away from New Orleans as possible, but she’d be safest with Nic’s and Sebastian’s mates. They wouldn’t be left unguarded. I blew out a sigh. “I guess.”
“Okay, then this is what we’re going to do. Remember the old witch, Lettie?”
I started to nod. “Yes. I mean, yeah, I do.”
“Her shop is still kind of a safe place for us. The woman who runs it now, Naomi, is an ally. If you can get Sam to the Quarter, to Naomi, I can do the rest.”
“Great.” Relief lightened the weight in my chest. “I’ll get her there ASAP.”
If I needed to, I’d strap her to my back and run her there. Hell, I’d run her all the way to Baton Rouge if it guaranteed her safety.
I ended the call and Sam was suddenly awake next to me.
“Good morning.” She sat up and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “When are we leaving?”
I glanced at her. “What?”
She gestured toward her ears. “This vamp hearing is amazing, right?”
I laughed as I pushed the comforter off me. This bed was about the only clean thing in the whole place, and I enjoyed the rustle the fabric made as it moved.
“I’m taking you to a shop we know in the Quarter,” I said, and she laughed.
“I think I know the one. I’ve been there.” She lowered her voice as she slipped her jeans on and fastened her bra. “It’s actually where Brock’s goons grabbed me from the other day.”
“What?” I stopped what I was doing and turned to her. “They took you from a Dupont safe location? The storekeeper sold you out?”
She shook her head. “Naomi? What? No way. No… They saw me go in and grabbed me on the way out, I think. Those guys have followed me around for a long time, now. Always in my business. I should have suspected something, really. I got complacent, I guess.”
We were both dressed, and I followed her out into the living room, my chest lighter than it had been in a long time. Sam radiated vitality now, and she half turned to look at me, flashing me a grin before she opened her mouth as if to speak.
But she froze and her eyes widened as the sound of glass shattering filled the room, and four bodies leapt into the space. The vampires’ mouths were pulled back into snarls, their descended fangs on display.
I leaped in front of Sam as the first vampire in my apartment reached for her, and I hissed my anger, my vision reddening. “Get out!” I roared, the volume of my voice shaking the window frames.
But the vampire who’d reached for Sam just laughed. “We’ve come for the thrall. And Brock knows you’re the traitor, so we’ll be coming for you, too, soon enough.”
They’d come for Sam. I’d expected some sort of move but not like this, and fury drove me forward, my nails forming claws as I slashed indiscriminately at the vampires who’d busted out the windows to make their dramatic entrance.
And perhaps that was all it was, showmanship, because the first two folded like cards. I was getting tired of taking out Brock’s men now. It was almost too easy.
I glanced toward Sam. The fourth guy had approached her, and she screamed as she lashed out at him, her fighting style unskilled but enthusiastic.
When she screamed again, the instinct to protect my mate surged inside me, and I grabbed the guy I’d merely been toying with and ripped his head from his body.
Nobody touched Sam.
I reached her side in a burst of speed and thrust my hand into the vampire’s chest before he could grab Sam. The squelch noise of ramming my hand into his body sickened me, but there was triumph in clutching his heart as it beat its last thump. He’d endangered my mate, and now he was dead.
Ultimate justice.
I left the mangled heart in his chest and extracted my hand from the wet, glistening hole I’d made. There was no point making more of a mess on the floor by dumping the unwanted body parts there, although it probably wouldn’t have been noticed alongside the four corpses.
I fought to bring my breathing back under control before I turned to Sam. I also didn’t want my features to scare her. “You okay?” I reached out to take her hand, relieved when she nodded.
She was pale, green eyes darker than usual, her expression a little haunted, but she nodded again, more firmly this time. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Did that guy get you anywhere?” I scanned my gaze over her, looking for injuries and a fresh reason to be glad I’d ripped his heart out.
She started to shake her head then held out her arm to reveal the soft inner flesh above her wrist. “Just a scratch here.” As she spoke, the shallow wound began to knit back together, and she drew in a breath.
“Holy shit, that’s cool,” she murmured. Then she glanced at me, excitement dancing in her eyes. “That’s cool, right?”
I chuckled, suddenly remembering the first time I’d seen my own body heal. “Yes, it’s very cool.” I felt almost indulgent as I joined her in her awe over her new body and its abilities.
But I couldn’t imagine how she must have felt to have lived in the broken shell of a thrall for so long. My anger at Esmé ramped up again, but the thought of her reminded me of Brock and galvanized me into action.
“We can’t stay here.” I sped through the tiny apartment, throwing the few things I still wanted into the small duffle bag I’d arrived with. “I need to get you safe.”
I couldn’t go to Brock now, either. My cover was blown. I’d probably blown it myself when I took Sam, but there was no point going over the details of what I’d done wrong — in reality, I’d hardly done anything right. My mission had been a bust from the moment I’d met Sam.
From that very first moment, then.
“Come on.” I held my hand out to her so we could get the hell out of Dodge. “Time to introduce you to my family.”