Page 64 of Fangs and Fudge

When he released me, he said, “Promise me you’ll tell me your plans so I can help you.”

I nodded once more, unable to do anything else but be Cross’ bobblehead.

When he stood from the car, Vena slipped into the driver’s seat and closed the door. Cross stepped out of the way so she could pull back onto the road.

My phone rang. “It’s Shepard.” I swiped to answer. “We’ll be home in a second.”

I quickly turned the tracking on both our phones to prove it.

As Vena turned the corner, we saw Shepard at our doorstep with the phone to his ear. He paced back and forth in front of the door, his fingers threading through his dark blonde hair.

When he saw our car, he stilled. A tingle of trepidation ran through me as our gazes met through the windshield.

“Want me to drive around the block?” Vena asked softly.

Shepard slowly shook his head, proving that he’d heard, and I swallowed hard.

“I don’t think that will be a good idea.”

She parked in front of the house, and Shepard was there to open my door.

“Thank you for making the right choice for a change,” he said.

“Hey,” Vena said.

He gave her a sharp look.

“If I were to start asking questions, would I discover that what happened tonight was because of your influence?” he asked.

I frowned, not liking the way he was talking to her. Or the way she looked down.

“I wish Anchor were here, too,” he said softly, which stopped me from calling him out on his bullying behavior.

“That’s why we went there,” I said. “We had a lead on information regarding Anchor. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out.”

He inhaled slowly, radiating barely contained rage.

“I can smell blood and vampire on you. I’m going to need more than ‘it didn’t pan out,’ Everly.”

“You’re right. Let’s go inside.” I didn’t wait for his approval before making a beeline for the lit-up house.

When I opened the door, Doc stood from his place on the couch. His gaze shifted from me to the person behind me. I didn’t look to see if it was Shepard; I already knew it was.

“I think I’ll make us all a nice cup of tea,” I said, dumping my purse near the door.

Shepard caught my wrist and spun me around. Two seconds later, I was backed into a wall with an up-close view of Shepard’s rapidly rising and falling chest.

“No. You’re going to start talking. Now.”

“Hey,” Vena said, sounding angry. “Everly didn’t do anything to deserve–”

Shepard’s attention snapped to Vena. “You’re next.”

“We get it,” I said, struggling to control my rising temper. “We screwed up. We were there.”

“Take your clothes off,” he said.

“What?”

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