LeilaI headed toward the bathroom and closed and locked the door, knowing he was right. At that moment, I realized that if I didn’t start being a wife to Lance, I was going to lose him, too. I turned on the shower, letting the water warm as tears slid down my face. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold myself together, but it was no use. I collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.Lance tried the door, and then it suddenly opened. I wasn’t sure how since I had locked it, but Lance had his ways. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into his arms as he slid me onto his lap, cradling me to his chest.“Leila....” was all he could say. Then his broad shoulders started shaking, too. He held me as we both cried together, sitting on the bathroom floor. Then he swept me into his arms, carried me into the bedroom, and laid me on the bed.He crushed his lips to mine as he lay beside me, holding me to him. “Leila, I’m so sorry.... I love you, my sweet Leila....” He kissed my neck and c
LeilaLooking through my closet, I chose a beige wraparound dress that fell to a few inches from my knees and a pair of matching heels, wanting to look professional. Then I slipped on a wide black belt and was ready. Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I nearly shrieked. I quickly grabbed a brush and ran it through my wavy blonde hair, applied lipstick, and came out, ready to go.“Wow....” Lance smiled, his eyes wide when I walked out. “You look gorgeous.” He was already dressed in a light gray suit with a light-blue shirt that contrasted beautifully with his gorgeous green eyes, ready to go.I slid the chain of my small purse over my shoulder, taking him in. “So do you.” I smiled as I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips to his. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the muscles of his hard, tight back under my grasp.Lance pulled back a moment later, smiling against my lips. “I think we’d better go before I change my mind and decide not to let you leave.”“Promises,
LeilaThe elevator doors opened, and I stepped in, glad I had come with Lance to the hospital, after all. It had been a while since I visited Amy, and I was in the mood for a good gabfest.Within minutes, I knocked on the door of her lab.“Come in!” Amy yelled from the other side.When I walked in, she was already hard at work on a new project, wearing a lab coat and safety goggles, and she had something boiling on the Bunsen burner. She took it off with a pair of tongs, and the liquid glowed bright blue. She was making more of the Sunlight Serum that prevented the radioactive poisoning that caused vampires to burst into flames in the sun. Since I had perfected it, vampires could now walk in the sun.A huge smile swept across her face when she saw me, and she took off her safety goggles. “Leila! I’m so glad you’re here! I was just making some more—”“Sunlight Serum,” I finished, smiling. “It’s good to see you, too.” I pulled her in for a quick hug when she was ready. “How have you bee
Leila“Well, Amy,” I said, taking off my lab coat. “I hate to do this, but Lance is probably waiting for me downstairs.”“Leila, I’m so glad you came today.” She pulled me in for a huge hug. “If you ever want to get out of the castle, give me a call.” A sly smile spread across her lips. “And it doesn’t have to be just work. Let’s do lunch sometime!”I laughed as I sanitized my goggles and put them away. “I’ll take you up on that. Lance and I are going to Maggiano’s Little Italy when we leave here.” I shrugged. “Maybe we can go there for lunch, too.”Amy chuckled. “I’m going to hold you to that! They have the best Italian food in Las Vegas.”“Yes, they do.” I pulled her in for another hug. “Amy, don’t be a stranger. And think about what I said about moving back into the castle.”She nodded, smiling. “I will.”After saying my last goodbyes, I headed out the door and down the stairs, wanting to get downstairs as quickly as possible. Then I froze... for coming up the stairs was none other
Lance“Lance, what’s going on?” Drake ran after me as I ran up the entire length of the stairs at full speed.“Raif was here and attacked Leila!”Once the stairwell was clear, I started at the top floor and quickly combed every room, trying not to move quicker than human speed. The last thing I wanted was to attract the attention of the humans, which could cause a war between the vampires and the humans.“He attacked her?” Drake quickly opened an office door, looked inside, and closed it.“He grabbed her and made a pass at her.” My blood boiled at the thought as I quickly checked another room, closed the door, and then moved on to the next.“You’re kidding!” Drake, check another room.“I wish I were.” After we had checked all the rooms on that floor, we moved to the next. “She hid from him to get away.” Rage filled my chest just thinking about it. After we finished checking the rest of the floor, we moved to the next. “Drake, it’s no use. He’s long gone by now. I’m going to his coven.
Lance“I’ll prepare the warriors.” Kellen let out a deep breath, his eyes filled with concern.“No.” My head snapped up just as the elevator doors opened. “Drake is coming with me. We’re going alone, just Drake and me. I want you to stay here and secure the castle.” I looked into his eyes. “Place extra guards on our floor and outside the penthouse. I want Leila kept safe. And if anything happens to her, I’ll have your head.”He scoffed. “Lance, I know you’re angry, but don’t threaten me.” Kellen held his hands up in surrender. “I’m on your side. Remember? We’ve been through too much for you to level such threats at me. You know I’ll protect her with my life. That goes without saying.”I let out a deep breath, shaking my head. “Sorry, Kellen. You’re right. Wait here for me. I’ll only be a minute.”Kellen nodded, giving my arm a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, Lance. It’s going to be okay.”I nodded once and then escorted Leila inside. “Wait here.” I did a quick sweep of the penthouse, ch
Leila“Oh, thank God you’re safe!” I wrapped my arms around Lance and pulled him to me as soon as he walked through the door. “How did it go?” I handed him a glass of blood that I had just fixed.He downed the glass in one shot. “He wasn’t there. Selestra said he was going to New York.”“Without her?” I scoffed as I poured some wine into his empty glass. “Either she’s a liar, or he lied to her.”He shrugged, taking a sip of his wine. “Either is possible. But either way, I suspect they know the children are in New York.”“Oh my God!” I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything. “While you were away, I spoke to Raven, and she said the kids are fine. Also, she said that the prophecy has begun.”“What about it?” Lance downed more his wine and then refilled both of our glasses.“She said that many people will come for the children,” she replied. “She also foretold that we would find help in an unlikely source.”Lance nodded, walking over to the window. He stared out at the neatly l
Leila“Thanks for telling me,” she replied, “but the children are fine. We have the coven on lockdown until the crisis is averted.”I smiled into the phone. “Thank goodness.”Lance motioned for the phone.“Listen, Raven, Lance wants to speak with you.”There was a slight pause before she replied, “Put him on.”I handed him the phone. “Hello, Raven.”“Hello, Lance. Is everything alright?” she asked on the other end. With my vampire hearing, I could easily hear her responses on the other end. It made me realize how much I had missed out on as a human.“Yes, everything’s fine. I just wanted you to know that Leila and I are on our way to see the kids. After what happened today, we’ll feel much better seeing them ourselves.” He looked at me and smiled.“It couldn’t be that you both were missing them, could it?” Raven teased, knowing full well that it was.Lance chuckled. Just then, John appeared in the doorway of the plane. “Well, Raven, we have to go. We’ll see you tonight or tomorrow mor
LeilaJase started toward me, but Selestra held up her hand, stopping him. “Wait!”“Selestra,” Lance growled, his eyes flaring a brilliant green. “If you do not release the children now, I will personally tear you to pieces.”“As a show of good faith, I’m giving you back the children,” she replied. “But Raif is crazed with vengeance. I couldn’t take his abuse anymore, and I left him and took your children with me.”“It’s a lie!”“Lance, wait!” I held my hand up, stopping her. “What if she’s telling the truth?” Then I turned to Selestra. “So, give us the children. Once they’re safe, then we’ll talk.”Selestra nodded. “Agreed.” She motioned for Jase and Addie to go to us, and they both rushed toward me and hugged me.“She’s alone,” Addie whispered, keeping her voice so low only I could hear.I nodded once. “Jase, Sirena, go home with Raven. we’ll talk when we get there.”Jase looked between us and said, “Be safe.”Lance pulled them both in for a quick hug, making it look good. But he ki
Leila“I spoke with Kellen,” Lance said, quickly crossing the room. “He’s called an emergency and is locking down the castle as we speak. He’s also agreed to stay with Sirena and Emma, too.” He let out a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips. “It may be overkill, but I don’t care. Sirena needs all the protection we can give her.”A moment later, there was a knock on the door.Lance held up his hand to me and quickly crossed the room. He looked through the peephole, opened the door, and extended his hand to Emma. “Thanks for this. I’m so sorry we had to phone you on such short notice.”“Not a problem. I’m glad to help.” She walked in dressed in a pair of jeans, a floral shirt, and boots, similar to what I was wearing. I was sure she had come prepared to fight, too.“Thank you so much for this.” I pulled her in for a quick hug. “After Kellen locks down the castle, he’ll come stay with you.”Emma nodded. “That’s fine.” She pointed down the hallway. “Is Sirena in the family room?”I
Leila“What do you mean ‘they’re missing?’” Lance demanded, taking a step closer.Raven took a deep breath, the most flustered I’d ever seen her. “After dinner, they were dismissed and were in their common rooms. One of the other students said that Jase got a call... from you.” Her head snapped up toward me. “So, he stepped out into the hallway with Addie and never came back in.”“From me?” I asked in disbelief, shaking my head. “It wasn’t me.”“Well, the student said your number popped up on his phone.” Raven shook her head. “I’m so sorry—”“Who was the student?” I asked.Raven let out a deep breath. “Kian Medine. The Medine family is important in the witch community and very trustworthy.”I nodded. “Can you do a locator spell on him like you did last time?”“That’s what I planned to do.” She looked into Lance’s eyes. “I knew you would want to be present.”Lance nodded. “Thank you.” He gritted his teeth. “If Raif and Selestra have them, there will be no place they can hide. I’ll tear
LeilaI nodded. “I know you will.” I rose to my feet and pulled her in for a hug. “My husband and I will discuss this and will get back to you. Thank you for coming.”“Would you like to meet our daughter before you go?” Lance asked.Emma nodded. “Yes, please.” Her eyes brightened. It was clear that she loved children.I nodded. Whether or not we hired her, what harm could it do to introduce Emma to Sirena? “Right this way.”I walked down the hallway, and Emma walked beside me as Lance followed behind. When we entered the family room, Sirena was playing Chess alone, switching seats at each turn. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. Then guilt filled my chest for not having anyone her age to occupy her. “Sirena, honey, I’d like you to meet someone.”Sirena looked up and smiled, her game forgotten as she crossed the room purposefully toward Emma and thrust out her hand. “Hello. My name is Sirena. What’s your name?”“My name is Emma.” She tilted her head to the side, smiling. So, you
LeilaEmma sat on the edge of her seat and smiled, folding her arms on her lap. “My name is Emma Fitzroy.” She had the type of British accent that I could listen to all day.Lance’s head snapped up, a crease between his eyes. “Fitzroy? As in ‘the bastard son of a king?’”“Lance!” I scoffed, unable to believe what he had just said.“Please, pardon me, both of you.” Lance looked over at me and smiled. “The word was more commonly used in our time. Please, forgive me.”I nodded cautiously. “It’s okay.”But Emma smiled, unaffected. “It’s okay. I used to hear it all the time years ago. But not many people know the meaning or connotation today.”Lance nodded. “So, who was your father?”She let out a deep breath. “My father was King Henry I, and I am one of his illegitimate children.”My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, but miraculously, I maintained my composure. “Could you explain that to us? I mean, how did you come to be in our coven?”She nodded. “I was born the twenty-sixth of June, i
LeilaLance let out a deep breath. “After hearing everything, the Council agreed with my reasoning. They couldn’t believe all the threats Raif had leveled against you and the children, and they agreed that if he defeated me, he would also take over the Council, the vampire world, and the rest of the supernatural creatures. When I told them he wanted to be king, they agreed that we can’t let that happen.”“Well, let’s eat, and then you can take a shower before Emma gets here.” I made a sandwich out of a biscuit, an egg, and a slice of bacon.Lance laughed. “What are you doing?”“I used to do this all the time when I was human.” I picked it up and took a bite. “You should try it! It’s good!”“Can I have some?” Sirena asked, looking at my biscuit sandwich with curiosity.“Sure!” I slid her onto my lap and made her a sandwich with the other biscuit, egg, and bacon. Lance got up and made another one for me and warmed up a bag of blood for her.“Here you go!” I handed her the biscuit sandw
LeilaLance raised up and kissed my shoulder, smiling as he laced his fingers through my hair. “Why don’t you shower, and I’ll fix the coffee?” He traced lazy circles over my body, raising my nipples to peaks and sending chills over my body. “I would take a shower with you, but Sirena will be up in a few minutes, and her seeing her mommy and daddy naked may cause unnecessary trauma.” He chuckled. “It’ll cost me a fortune in therapy for the rest of her life.”I laughed, running my fingers through his dark brown wavy hair. “We really need to find her a nanny.”He laughed. “Yes, we do.” Then his lips descended upon mine in a passionate kiss as my tongue swiped over his, all heat and desire. He pulled back a moment later and gave me one last sweet kiss. Then he slid out of bed and slipped into his sleeping shorts and a white T-shirt.“Ahh,” I moaned, reaching for him. “Come back to bed.”He chuckled, one corner of his lips curling into a sexy smile. “You don’t know how tempting that is.”
LanceI nodded. “So, what say you? I will poll each of you. An answer of Yay will be in favor of banning together to fight. An answer of Nay will be against.” I looked around the room. “Xander.”“Yay.”I nodded. “Drake.”“Yay.”“Annette.”“If he would go so far as to threaten you and your family and then take over the Council, then my answer is Yay,” she replied.I nodded. “Felicia.”She let out a deep breath, a crease forming between her eyes. It was clear that she was not making her decision lightly. “Yay.”“So, it’s unanimous. We will stand and fight. I appreciate your support.” I placed my hands on the table as I leaned forward. “I’ll coordinate with you and will let you know when we plan to attack. But as of this moment, we are at war with Raif Cavanaugh, Leader of the East Coven.” I let out a deep breath. “I asked Chef Faustino to prepare a special buffet for you. So, please. Enjoy.” I motioned toward the buffet lined up against the wall, filled with all sorts of delicacies incl
LanceLeila and I went through several applicants for Sirena’s nanny but didn’t find anyone suitable. The successful applicant needed to be a vampire with fighting skills, capable of protecting Sirena during a crisis. He or she would also have to have good nanny and child nurturing skills. Not an easy combination to find in one person.“So, did you have any luck finding a nanny for Sirena?” A smile spread across Kellen’s face as we headed toward the main conference room for the meeting with the Supernatural Council, consisting of the heads of all the covens and packs in Las Vegas.I scoffed. “No. Not yet. It’s proving to be as difficult as it was to find a nanny and protector for Jase.”Kellen nodded, stopping just outside the door. “I think I may have a solution for you.”“Oh?” My eyebrows shot up.“I know a young woman that reminds me a lot of Addie, but she was a little older when she was turned.”“How old was she?”“Eighteen,” he replied. “I think Addie was sixteen when she was tu