Page 75 of Madness Behind the Mask
“Aleric or all of the Blood Fangs?” Myers grins, and I suck in a breath, recalling those dark-gray eyes.I’ve never seen the head of the vampires before, but I know without a doubt, he is Aleric. His name resonates inside me, and I shiver.
“This isn’t the time to be a smartass,” Caden snaps.
His brother draws back, looking more horrified than when he staggered in here on death’s door. “If there’s ever not a time for a joke, then go ahead and kill me.”
“I might,” my husband growled.
Myers laughs but only for a moment. “Katie’s checking on the wards. They looked fine to me, but she’s a lot more specialized in things like that. Leon is with her. Pity he doesn’t have Delun’s soul magic.”
Neither does Jonathan. Like his older brother, he was blessed with super strength and speed – gifts that most definitely saved their lives tonight. Even with their dad’s protection, witch children shouldn’t be a match for grown vampires; bloodsuckers are a lot faster and stronger thanwe are.
Realizing he said Katie’s name, I ask, “Katie Gwilt? She escaped?Is she okay?”
The two share a look before Caden says, “Yes. She used her hypnosis to make Aleric think she died.”
Before I can ask if he hurt her badly, my husband rises to his feet. “How many did we lose?” he asks as Myers copies his movements. He offers his hand to me, and I stand slowly, my legs swaying under the protest of my muscles.
All humor leaves Myers face, and I hold my breath, my stomach churning.
“Too many,” he says, his eyes flicking to me. He doesn’t want to say the actual number in my presence. Thinks I’m too weak to handle it. Before I cancorrecthim,Leon runs into the room.
“Werewolves!” he shouts. “The whole fucking packhasbeen spotted making their wayhere!”
A sudden bubble of laughterchokesmy throat. Who ever would have thought that I would miss the nightmares I was trapped in for the last thirty years?
At least in them, I was the only one who was ever hurt.
TWENTY-Seven
HER
14AUGUST1947
“How far out are they?”
“Which direction are they coming from?”
“Did the fucking vampires tell them?”
“Are they working together now?”
“Shit, if they are –”
“No, they would’ve attacked together.”
“Unless they want us to think that so they can have a plan B if tonight fails.”
“Tonightwillfail for them.”
There’s the first break in conversation, but nobody is feeling the confidence of Caden’s statement. Even he does not look like he believes his own words.
My throat closing, I shake my head. “I need to talk to him,”I rasp just as the conversation starts up again, the men talking about positions to take, soldiers to order.
“What about the women? Katie will be a damn goodasset.”
“As will…”
Their words drown out asI remember Antonio’s pain that night in the woods. He lost his mate and his children. He never got to hold them. I lost thirty years and Olivia and so many kids I never got to holdeither.
