Page 28 of The Vampire's Mate

“Kianneedsanswers, James.” I took a deep breath. “Please.”

Gabriel took his phone out, sent a text, and relaxed in his seat. “Abigail will be up soon.”

Though I desperately wanted to connect these pieces, my sense of unease grew as the minutes passed. For a vampire, Abigail moved painstakingly slow. Itching for something to fill the charged silence, I asked, “Do all of you have Biblical names?”

The two vampires shared a look and laughed. “They’re very common names,” James said.

“I know, but I’ve never met such a cluster of them before.”

“They’re timeless,” Gabriel explained. “If we all walked around with names like Vladimir or Jezebel—especially in small towns—we’d draw more attention than we care to.”

“Jezebel is Biblical,” I pointed out.

Gabriel flashed me a grin, and a flicker of amusement in hiseyes had me shifting closer to James. “You have your hands full with this one.” It was a statement. Not a question.

“You have no idea,” James said.

The door opened again, and Abigail stepped into the room. Her eyes found mine and she smiled, and it chilled me to the bone. I’d seen her once before. She’d traded her white evening gown for a business-casual dress, accentuated by a navy jacket. Her platinum hair was tied back, but she carried the same intensity I’d seen a year ago. “Good to see you two again,” she chirped, attempting to sit on the edge of Gabriel’s chair. “It’s been a while.”

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel gave her a shove. “Get your own seat, Abby.”

As she did so, Gabriel filled her in on everything we’d discussed. “What do you know about the boy?”

“What boy?”

“The couple’s five-year-old was never accounted for.”

She shrugged. “We assumed he died in the fire.”

Now it was Gabriel’s turn to be surprised. “What do you mean, ‘assumed?’ Didn’t you make sure everyone associated with that fire was taken care of?”

I had to admit that I was the slightest bit amused when she bristled under her brother’s glare. “There wasn’t a body to recover. Every picture in the house burned. He wasn’t at school, and there was no other family for him to be with. He was never seen again.”

Until now.

Bile rose in my throat.

“Why are we talking about a fire from fifteen years ago?” Abigail asked, attempting to read the room.

The other two vampires looked at each other. I looked down at my lap.

“Because that boy didn’t die in the fire, and he didn’t vanishinto thin air.” Gabriel’s tone was stern, assertive—and it had me wanting to bolt.

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “What were you told when you were called there?”

Abigail squared her shoulders. “Hunters were involved. A rookie made a mistake, mixed up some numbers and they targeted the wrong house. No humans were supposed to be there.”

James’s hand found mine again. “A rookie hunter who made a mistake,” he repeated. “Does that sound like someone you know?”

I squeezed, finding solace in his fingers entwined with mine. “Sure does,” I said. I was through with this conversation. I’d gotten the answers I came for, and I needed to get out of here. With another tight grip on James’s hand, I let go and shot to my feet. “Can we go?”

“Of course,” he responded cautiously, as if I were a bomb ready to blow. And, frankly, that was exactly how I felt. I paced in front of the door while I waited for him to join me. Gabriel and Abigail were not-so-quietly bickering.

James softly thanked Gabriel for his help, promised to call if there was anything else, and followed me out of the building. “Do you want me to drive home?”

I pulled out my phone and checked the time. “I don’t want to go home.” I didn’t stop moving until my hand was on the door handle, and only when I recognized how bad it was shaking did I turn around and hand my keys to James. “But I will let you drive.”

The momentary confusion on his face gave way to understanding as he finally connected my thoughts. I made a move to walk around the car, but he stopped me with a hand on my waist.

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