Page 23 of Kidnapping Their Third

Before Pike could answer, Cooper walked by, deliberately hitting Pike with his shoulder. It didn’t bother Pike, but Cooper ended up stumbling and almost ramming into the front door frame.

“Fuck me,” Cooper muttered. “Built like a goddamn brick shithouse.”

Then he was gone, and Cora strode past him to slam the front door shut. With a scowl on her face, she turned to face him. “Did I not say I needed some space?”

“Um, yeah,” he said. Suddenly he was a three-foot-tall cub being reprimanded by his mom.

“Then what are you doing here?” To his surprise, her expression went from anger to concern. “Wait, where’s Kimble? Did you leave him on his own?”

That’s when Pike looked over at the large window at the front of the house to see the sun setting.

Oh, this was bad.

“Call me for anything!” Pike shouted as he barreled past Cora and out the door.

Chapter 9

Cora

Once she was alone, Cora locked her door, secured all the windows, then spent an hour in the shower. It felt like she had to remove all the grime and dirt in layers, but by the time she emerged, she felt much better. Another meal and a good night's sleep, and she’d be good as new.

Except there was a weird ache in her chest that wouldn’t go away. It had started the moment she’d watched Pike drive away and only gotten worse over time. It was almost ten at night now and instead of feeling tired, she was wide awake and jittery, as if she’d downed an entire pot of coffee.

Lying in bed and staring into the dark wasn’t going to do her any good, so she decided maybe a mug of tea and a boring documentary would do the trick. Throwing off the covers, she unplugged her cell and pulled on a comfy bathrobe. She didn't bother turning on any lights until she was in the living room, and then she only flipped the switch for the small set of recessed lights that illuminated her bookshelf covered wall.

That provided enough light for her to see the figure standing perfectly still in the living room, watching her with a blank expression.

Screaming in surprise, Cora grabbed the closest thing at hand, a brass bookend, and threw it with all her force. Theperson plucked it out of the air, tilted his head in confusion, then dropped to his knees and watched her with unblinking eyes.

By now, she realized it was Kimble standing there. Adrenaline was still coursing through her system, and her heart was pounding as she pressed a hand to her chest and sagged against a nearby bookshelf.

“Fuck, Kimble,” she breathed. “You’re lucky I didn’t have a gun.”

Kimble gave her a small, apologetic smile. “Flock. Safe.”

Cora shook her head. Had she really been expecting more? Straightening away from the shelf, she gestured for Kimble to get up.

“Don’t kneel like that. It makes me feel like I’m demanding weird things from you or something.” She refused to acknowledge that she was glad he was here. If she called Pike, the bear would probably come over as well. By then, it would be too late for them to leave so they’d need to spend the night.

She might not have planned to invite them over, but she was ready to take advantage of the situation.

The vampire got to his feet slowly, keeping his hands clasped together in front of him. Holding out his hands, he smiled eagerly.

“Flock.”

Cora watched as he opened his hands to reveal a piece of jewelry. It looked like a bronze disk with a garnet or ruby set in the center. The entire thing was about an inch in diameter and etched with symbols.

“What the flocking flock?” Cora asked with a laugh at her bad joke. “I hope you didn’t steal that.”

Kimble shook his head and moved his hands closer to her, offering her the necklace. “Tool-gift for human flock.”

Cora blinked at him, impressed with the sentence. “That was a lot of words, good job!”

The compliment didn’t affect Kimble; his focus never wavered from getting her to take the piece of jewelry.

“Tool-gift for human flock,” he repeated and offered it again. He must’ve practiced those words to say to her.

“You don’t have to give me gifts,” Cora said. “Especially not jewelry. I’m not really a jewelry person.”

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