“What now? Fuck, just grab her and hurry!” was how he answered but his voice sounded weak, exhausted.
“Tristan?” she gasped.
“Baby?” his voice was a song in her heart.
She let out a big breath.
“What’s happening? Why are you calling me?”
“I jabbed Sam with the dagger and he’s out.”
“Shit. Where?”
“In the bedroom at the cottage.”
“No, where on Sam?”
“His ribs.”
“Okay. You need him. Take the dagger out.”
“It’s already out. I just poked.”
“Okay, then you have to wait. Wait for him to wake up and he’ll bring you to me.”
“Tristan you said never ever trust any vamp alone, even Sam.”
“I know, princess, but I have no choice right now. I’m depleted. Sam’s medicated. Medicated to lethal levels to get you to me without hurting you. And he and I are good. Some things have come to light. We don’t have a whole lot of time before it wears off. When he comes to, get to me.”
“Should I come alone now? Try to…”
“Wait for Sam.”
“Okay.”
“Fuck, baby…”
He let that hang.
“Yeah,” she choked out, in agreement.
They were both just holding the phone then.
And then Sam started to stir.
“He’s moving.”
“Watch him when he wakes in case the medication has worn off. It shouldn’t, but…”
“He’s awake. He isn’t trying to attack.”
Sam gave her a sour look and got to his feet slowly grunting, “Damn, that smarts.”
He lifted the hem of his t-shirt and rubbed the spot, which had a puncture that wasn’t bleeding, strangely, and then it faded before her eyes to a bruise, and then he dropped the hem of the shirt and held his palm out at her.
“Your chariot, mademoiselle…” Kyla held tight to the dagger and said to Tristan, “I’m on my way,”
“Okay,” he said softly and then she handed Sam back the phone and took his hand.
He jerked her forward and hefted her up into his arms and then zoomed out of the room, down the stairs, and out the wide open front door. He wasn’t as fast a whoosher as Tristan but they were to the main house quickly.
He set her on her feet as he opened the door.
“Slip that dagger into your sleeve and be casual. No eye contact,” he said. “You’re strong enough to walk?”
She nodded.
They walked through the front foyer, which was empty and instead of walking down the hall toward Adrian’s office or that big lounge area that led to the staircase, they walked in the opposite direction down an identical hallway jutting out in the opposite way.
There were several doors along that hallway and thankfully they hadn’t seen anyone so far. They got to the end of the hall and Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card and pressed it against the reader. It clicked and the light flashed green. He opened and held a glass door. She went ahead.
They were in a tiny alcove that had two more glass doors: one to the left and one to the right. He put the key card against the reader on the right and it clicked, turned green, and he opened it for Kyla. She stepped in.
She glanced back, feeling something prickle on the back of her neck and saw a man standing there behind the glass door that was on the left. He put his palm against the glass and leaned forward, his forehead against the glass and it hit her like a ton of bricks that he looked exactly like Jackson. EXACTLY like him. Blond curly hair, big brown eyes, big shoulders.
Jackson who had jumped off a bridge, been put on life support, and was to have the plug pulled causing her to flee Ottawa to Toronto, to head toward what would eventually lead her right here.
He sucked on his lower lip and looked at her longingly and her heart seized for a split second.
“Sam?” she looked ahead at the back of Sam’s head for a quick second.
“Hmm?” He was a good ten paces ahead of her in a long door-lined hallway that had a set of double doors at the end.
She looked back over her shoulder and whoever had been at the other door was now gone.
“Sam?”
He turned around and looked at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Who was that?”
“That who? Who was who?”
“At that other door,” she pointed, “That door back there? It looked like…” She shook her head.
It couldn’t be. Could it? The lip sucking was even characteristic of Jax.
She said it out loud, starting to walk again, “No, it couldn’t have been.” It was like Jackson but cleaned up, healthier-looking. Not strung out. Not hooked up to tubes and machines and…
Sam blew out a long breath and Kyla’s heart skipped a beat.
“It was,” he said. “That conversation’ll have to wait for later.”
Oh…My …Fucking…
What?
She didn’t have time to process that thought, though, because he pressed his thumbprint and the key card against panels on the next door and opened it and a light flashed red on the panel so he grabbed her hand, put her thumb against the panel, and then it turned green and he motioned for her to go ahead. She gave him a quizzical look.