I pulled out my cell phone and quickly dialed Adeline’s number, but there was no answer. I shook my head, realizing how close I had come to becoming human. Just a few minutes later and I wouldn’t have been able to save my family. I just hoped that I wasn’t too late. I quickly dialed Javier’s number as I headed out the front door of Kalyssa’s cottage.
“Lance?” he said, answering on the first ring. Chaos erupted in the background as my heart sank.
“What happened?”
“Oh, thank God it’s you,” he said. “Leila has been …”
“I know. Xander just told me,” I replied. “Where is she?” I was already starting to run, not waiting for Amy, Xander, and Elias.
“I don’t know, but someone had to have taken her.”
Sirens sounded loudly in the distance.
Anger filled my body. “Tell me about it when I get there. I’m o
I pulled the phone out of my pocket and dialed Javier’s number.“Mr. Steel,” he answered on the first ring.“Who was standing guard?”“Gregory and Cal,” he said in clipped tones, knowing that I meant the penthouse“The Outsiders took Leila,” I said, headed down the stairwell. “Round up some men. We’re going after her. Meet me in the lobby in five.”“Yes, sir,” he said as I hung up the phone and dialed Ferdinand’s number.“Mr. Steel?”“How the hell did The Outsiders get into the castle?!” I demanded.“The fire alarm sounded and there was smoke,” he said, his heels clicking against the hard, tiled floor of the lobby. He was in the casino. “We were busy evacuating the guests …”“While they came after my family?!”“They must have come in the back way,”
We ran over the rough terrain as the wind blew past us. The sun was high overhead, but the heat didn’t affect vampires the way it affected humans. None of the elements did. We ran over mountains and even jumped over a gorge, not losing one vampire. Within minutes, the sound of running water rushing by filled my ears and I knew we were getting close. Soon, the black and red mountain peaks rose up before us. Within minutes, we were on the edge of Promontory Point, on the west side of the Hoover Dam.I looked down at the blue lake and at all of the surrounding igneous rock formations that created mountains, just as Xander came up on my right side. “She could be anywhere.”Xander clasped a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find her.” Then, he turned to his wolf pack, who had joined us. “Split up! Look for any sign of Leila and the baby!” Xander then began ordering his pack to go in every direction. Immediately, they leapt and turne
“Leila?!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as the screams of dying vampires resonated within the cave behind me. I closed my eyes for a moment and then silently prayed. “Please, help me to find them.”I opened my eyes. As I looked at the caves, the one in the center of the humongous cavern stood out. I ran down the narrow path, throwing vampires over my head behind me as I ran, letting my coven tear them apart, and killed several at once, taking their heads off easily with my sword. I threw several against the wall with a wave of my hand, who were ripped apart by shifters. Then, I shoved my hand into the chest of another vampire with milky white eyes when he got too close and listened to his screams as he burst into flames. I jumped over his flaming body when I saw a faint light at the end of the tunnel, running my sword through another vampire that was coming at me. As he lay on the ground, I stomped on his throat and ripped his head from his body. As
“Something tells me that you won’t need to bite your wrist for me anymore,” she joked, suddenly sounding more like herself.“Leila!” I said, crying openly as I pulled her to my chest. I pulled back and crushed my lips to hers, and she responded with all of the pent up passion that we both felt. “Leila, love. I’m so sorry …”“Shush,” she cooed, looking into my eyes. “It wasn’t your fault.”“Yes, it was!” I said, as tears ran down my cheeks. “I should have protected you. I should have been there for you!”“Shush,” she said, then smiled. “You were.” I looked at her, puzzled. “You were with me in my heart. Before I died, you were the last thing I thought of; your face was the last thing I saw in my mind. I love you, Lance.”“I love you, too,” I cooed, “always and forever.”Sudden
Leila reached over and took her from me. “Well, Amy and Angela went through a lot of trouble to organize a surprise anniversary party for us, so you’d better not disappoint them … and look surprised.” In the last several months since The Outsiders attacked and Leila was turned into a vampire, the cure had been perfected and several vampires were turned successfully back into humans. We had to set up a secret relocation program for them, as well, as they would no longer be able to protect themselves from supernatural creatures. Many of the innocent Outsiders were also turned into humans again, successfully. Once they had the cure, their bodies reverted back to their human form, to our relief. Also, Drake had built a private facility just for vampires going through The Change, headed by Amy and Elias. They both would be busy for a long time. I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth, over exaggerating mock shock. “How’s this?” “Silly Daddy!” Sirena said as she laid her head on her moth
BEGINNING VOL. 3: TO LOVE A VAMPIRE Leila Walking with our children—Jase, the equivalent of a twelve-year-old, and Sirena, the equivalent of a four-year-old—I can’t help but notice how much they’ve grown. Dhampir children grow at an accelerated rate and will reach their full maturity at ten years of age. As I watched them, a part of me already missed their baby stages, but I want what all parents want… for my children to be happy, to grow up strong, to feel loved and protected. And now, as a vampire, I can give them all those things. In fact, it will take vampires to keep up with them. As dhampirs, they are half human and half vampire. As such, they have superhuman strength and need blood, but they don’t crave it like vampires. Our friend Amy is a dhampir… super strong and intelligent, but the sunlight doesn’t affect her the way it traditionally affects vampires, burning them to death. Nor does it affect my children. After Lance and I first got together, I developed a sunlight ser
Drake not only worked at Southside Medical Hospital, he was also the head of the South Coven and had come to our aid more times than I cared to remember. Amy smiled as she looked her arm in mine. “Well, follow me, and let’s get this show on the road!” She headed toward the main table, and we followed. Jase was still fidgeting with his tie, so Amy took it off, laid it on the table, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt. “Better?” A broad smile spread across his face as he nodded. “Thanks, Aunt Amy!” I laughed, shaking my head. “He was supposed to leave it on, at least until after dinner.” Amy arched an eyebrow. “So, is Lance wearing a tie?” I chuckled. “You have a point.” Actually, he rarely wore ties, but he always looked dressed up and looked debonaire. Lance laughed as he lifted our daughter into his arms and placed his hand on my back. “Leila and I would like to thank all of you for coming today and for your well wishes! Please, join us in celebrating our weddi
LeilaEven though I knew that Lance wasn’t telling me everything, it was our anniversary, and I didn’t want to spoil it. I looked over, and Jase was still dancing with Addie.“You know, Jase is a good dancer,” I said, surprised.Lance chuckled. “Yes, I think Addie’s been teaching him when we’re not looking. It looks like she wants to make sure he’s got the moves when it’s time for him to start dating.”I burst out laughing, shaking my head. “So, it’s okay for Jase to date, but it’s not okay for Sirena?”Lance looked at me as if wondering what the problem was.I smiled, shaking my head. “If Jase is allowed to date when he’s old enough, then so will Sirena. We won’t have different rules for each of our children. It’s not fair. And keeping her on a tight leash will just make her turn wild.”Lance nodded, pulling me close as he leaned his head against mine. “Well, thank goodness we have a few more years before we have to start worrying about that.” Then he raised his head and gazed into m