No one moved. The tension was thick in the air, and Layla thought she might choke on it as he verbalized what she’d been afraid of.
“Layla and I both sensed an Amoveo energy signature at the house last night, so it would make sense that a Purist was there looking for Layla or possibly for you. I didn’t recognize the individual’s energy, and given the situation, the only thing that makes sense is that this Amoveo was a Purist. I agree with you that it’s safer for your sister Tatiana to stay where she is and away from this situation. However, I do not appreciate your accusatory tone.”
Layla narrowed her eyes and studied William’s unflappable expression. “No one is accusing you of anything, but if you know something, or have any idea who did this, you have to tell us.” Anger flashed, and heat flared up her cheeks. “Don’t protect them.”
“The only people I have any desire to protect are in this room,” he said.
William’s energy waves pulsed violently in the air, causing the floor plant nearby to shake and quiver as if in fear. The hard angles of his face sharpened, and that biting gaze of his pierced her in a split second.
He was furious.
“Do you really think that I would protect the person who did this to Rosie?” he said in a deadly tone. “You believe that I would shelter someone who invaded your home and came dangerously close to harming you?” The words came out in a barely audible rush, and his glowing ebony eyes narrowed, but his gaze didn’t move from her face. “No,” he bit out. “I don’t know which one of our people did this, but you can bet that I’m going to find out.”
He glanced out the window and took a deep breath as his eyes shifted back to their human form. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said without sparing a look to either of them. “I am going to get a cup of coffee and step outside for a few minutes before I say something I’ll regret.” He opened the door to the hall and threw a pointed glance to Layla. “Do not leave this room until I return.”
The swarm of emotions that battered Layla ran the gamut from heartbreaking regret to spitting-nails mad. She’d never encountered anyone who could send her through such a broad range of emotions in such a short time. One minute she felt like a complete shit for implying that he had any knowledge of who’d attacked Rosie, and the next she was ready to kill him for having the nerve to tell her what to do.
However, her anger was swiftly set aside as she remembered the look on his face when she’d accused him of knowing who’d done this. The hurt in his eyes… that look would haunt her. Even as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it couldn’t possibly be true.
What. A. Bitch.
She swore softly and turned to look out the window. William had been nothing but kind, chivalrous, loving, and attentive since he’d arrived, and she knew that he would never in a million years hurt Rosie. He was overbearing, bossy, and ridiculously uptight, but he wasn’t cruel.
Layla let out a slow breath and pushed her hair off her face. Nope. She seemed to be the one who had cornered the market on cruelty.
After everything he’d done and all the things he’d shown her, she repaid him with a thinly veiled accusation. For Christ’s sake, he taught her how to use her visualization skills to help Rosie, and he did it without any comment or remarks about the fact that she’d never used them before. William’s primary concern had always been for her feelings, and she returned his kindness with betrayal.
“Dammit.” Layla pulled a hair elastic out of her pocket and tied back her unruly curls.
“Oh calm down, he’ll be back.” Raife kissed Rosie’s hand, gently laid it on her blanket-covered belly, and sat back in his chair. “Unfortunately.”
Layla spun to face him. “William doesn’t know who did this to Rosie,” she said vehemently. Her eyes snapped to their clan form as she glowered at her brother. “You’ve been hard on him since the second he got here, and he’s been nothing but gracious.”
“Feeling protective, are we?” Raife’s eyebrows flew up. “It looks like he’s growing on you, Red, but let’s not forget a couple important facts,” he said with no humor. “Number one, he says that you sensed there was another Amoveo at the house last night, and number two, they just happen to show up after William appears.” He leaned his elbows on his knees and kept his eyes locked with hers. “Do you really think that’s a coincidence?”
Layla’s eyes tingled and shifted back to their human form as she struggled with the reality of what Raife said. “No, I don’t.” She looked at Rosie who still lay unconscious, covered in tubes and bandages, and tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She rubbed at them furiously before they could spill over. “But I am telling you, there is no way that William is involved in this.” She sniffled and locked her serious gaze with Raife’s. “He cares for Rosie and for me. But at the moment, I’m not sure why, since I’ve done nothing but hurt him.”
Feeling every bit as guilty as she sounded, Layla sat on the edge of the radiator and studied her brother’s face. “Do you know how we got her to the hospital last night?”
“No.” He shrugged and sat back in his chair. “I figured an ambulance, why?”
“Remember that incident I told you about the other day?”
“You mean the one where he just appeared in your Jeep?” he asked the question tentatively, but his body visibly tensed as he waited for her answer.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Well… we did that.” Layla folded her arms over her breasts in a vain effort to steady herself. “More to the point,” she said softly, “I did that.”
“You? I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t bird boy do it?”
“He’d never been here before. Apparently, we have to imprint on the location or on a person at the place we want to go. That day in the Jeep, he tapped into my energy signature and was able to use visualization skills to get to me. Anyway…” she said with a sigh. “Last night he showed me, or helped me, to use that ability to get us here.”
She looked at Rosie, and her throat clogged with emotion. “If he hadn’t showed me how to do that, I don’t think we would’ve gotten her here in time. She was pretty banged up and had lost a lot of blood.”
She watched Raife absorb what she’d told him. He rubbed his mouth and made a sound of understanding.
“He knows,” she said softly.
“Knows what?” Raife asked as his face twisted in confusion.
Layla straightened her back, instinctively feeling defensive. “He knows that I’ve never been able to shift.”
“Are you sure?” His lips set in a tight line. “What did he say?”
“Well, that’s just it. He didn’t say anything. He just knew. Last night at the bar, when Sylvia was there being… Sylvia… she got under my skin.” Her lips curved at the irony of the statement. “So to speak.”
Raife’s eyes twinkled with excitement for his sister. “You started to shift.” He knew how much it bothered her that she’d never been able to shift like him and Tati. “You know, I thought I sensed something last night, another ripple in your energy signature, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was.”
“Well, if it hadn’t been for William, I probably would’ve shifted into my cheetah right at the damn bar, and most likely ripped Sylvia’s head off.”
Warmth washed over her at the memory, but she suppressed the smile that was brewing, unsure if her brother would share her enthusiasm. She suspected that no matter how much he said that he hated Sylvia, there was a part of him that still loved her and probably always would.
“William sensed the shift coming on, knew that it was happening beyond my control, and talked me off the ledge. He showed me how to get a hold of it before it got a hold of me. And you know what? He never once acknowledged that I’d never done it before or called attention to my inadequacy… he just helped me. The same thing happened last night when he showed me how to get Rosie here. He knew
what we needed to do and got it done. There was no shame, no mention of me being a hybrid, or being behind the curve somehow.” She let out a soft laugh. “It was the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“Maybe,” he said quietly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that there are other Amoveo who have found us, and they’re the ones who did this to Rosie.” His eyes flickered, but he kept them from shifting. “Since lover boy has been so helpful, maybe he can use some of his awesomeness to find the animal.” His hands balled into tight fists, and his body tensed as he looked like he was choosing his words carefully. “You should probably show him my mother’s diary.”
Layla couldn’t have stopped from looking surprised if she wanted too. That diary was his prized, sacred possession.
“Are you sure?” she asked gently.
She knew how special that diary was to Raife and Tati; she’d never asked them if she could read it. He’d offered, but somehow, it felt like a major invasion of privacy. Besides, it wasn’t her mother’s story. However, given the latest developments, privacy would have to take a backseat to their safety.
“You want us to read it?” Layla lowered her voice. “Are you sure?”
“Want wouldn’t be exactly accurate.” Raife leaned one elbow on the arm of the chair and rubbed his mouth against his fist. “I’m not letting him read it to bond with the guy, and I’m not psyched about it,” his voice softened. “There might be something in there he can use.”
Layla walked around the bed to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you,” she whispered and placed a kiss on his unshaven cheek. “I love you, Raife.”
“Yeah.” He patted her arm and gave her a quick squeeze before releasing her. “I love you too, Red.”
The door to Rosie’s room swung open, and William walked in bearing a tray with three cups of coffee and a brown bag that looked suspiciously like a bag of doughnuts. He stood there for a moment watching them, clearly uncomfortable that he’d walked in on an emotional moment for the siblings.
He cleared his throat and awkwardly held out the tray and the bag. “It’s been a long night, and I thought you could both use coffee and something to eat.”
“Unbelievable,” she said softly.
Once again, he showed consideration for her and her comfort, even after she’d been so horrible to him. A huge smile cracked Layla’s face, and before he could put anything down, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him. She rested her face against his warm, firm chest, and tears stung at her eyes.
“Thank you,” she mumbled against his shirt. He smelled like the woods in wintertime.
“You’re welcome,” William said evenly. His arms still outstretched and his hands full, he remained stone still, but she could feel his heart beating rapidly beneath her cheek. “I’ll have to bring you coffee and doughnuts more often.”
“You look ridiculous,” Raife said as he took the items from William’s hands. “You better hug her back before she starts bawling,” he grumbled and brought the items to the nightstand on the other side of Rosie’s bed.
“I don’t bawl.” Layla sniffled into his shirt. William’s strong arms wrapped around her, and he kissed the top of her head. She squeezed him tighter, as if he might slip from her grasp and vanish. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“You are most welcome,” he said as he brushed his hands down her sides. He leaned back and tilted her chin up with the tip of one strong finger, forcing her to look him in the eye. His dark, moon-glow eyes glimmered down at her intensely. “I swear we’ll find out who did this, and when we do,” he said with deadly intent, “I will make them pay.”
The stern tone of his voice was matched by the fierce look in his eye, and Layla knew he was telling the truth. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, that she knew he wasn’t behind any of this, and to kiss those firm, warm lips of his senseless, until he forgave her. However, the sound of Raife loudly clearing his throat broke the spell and set her cheeks aflame with embarrassment.
William’s lips curved, and his eyes shifted back to their human state as she slipped out of his embrace.
“Here,” Raife said as he handed a cup of coffee to her and one to William. “Do me a favor and drink the coffee, so I don’t have to watch you two grope each other.” He took doughnuts out of the bag and handed one of the sugar-coated concoctions to each of them. “There, now both hands are full of something other than each other,” he said with a satisfied smile as he took a massive bite out of his pastry.
He chewed and quickly swallowed his mouthful without taking his eyes off William. Layla blew on her coffee and watched Raife study him with his usual bold demeanor. She could tell he was deciding exactly what to say, and based on William’s calm, controlled stance, he was aware of it and didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. To his credit, he said nothing, but simply sipped his coffee with the same regality one might drink a fine glass of champagne.
No one was saying anything, and the only sound in the room was the steady beep of Rosie’s heart monitor. Layla half expected Rosie to sit up and tell them all to stop being so childish, but she continued to lie silently amid the tension of the room.
After what felt like an eternity, Raife finally broke the thickening silence.
“I may not trust you entirely,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “But my sister does, and that’s good enough for me, because I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this yet, but she doesn’t trust many people.” He crumpled the now empty brown bag and tossed it into the small garbage can in the corner. “So here’s the way I see it,” he continued calmly, with his hands on his hips. “An Amoveo was at our house tonight, and that’s probably who did this to Rosie.”
“Most likely,” William said quietly. “However, if it was a Purist, based on their previous actions, I find it strange that they left her alive.” His massive body didn’t flinch, but Layla could see he was primed and ready to leap into action if necessary. “No one else will be harmed. That much I can promise you. If it’s alright with the two of you, I would like to ask my friends Dante and Malcolm for their assistance. Their mates are hybrids. They have had some run-ins with the Purist sect, and their experience would be quite valuable.” His dark eyes flicked to Layla briefly before going directly back to Raife. “They could also provide us with additional security at the farm and here at the hospital.”
Raife crossed his arms over his chest as he looked from Layla to William. “You trust them?” he asked pointedly. “You would trust them with Layla’s life?”
“Yes,” he said firmly. “But you don’t have to worry about Layla, because I won’t let her out of my sight until the situation is settled.”
As the words escaped his lips, William’s energy signature buzzed loudly in her head and merged with Layla, as if tethering her to him. The suddenly increased connection caught her off guard, and she sucked in a sharp breath in an effort to acclimate to the new sensation.
William didn’t take his eyes off Raife and seemed unaware of the newly sharpened connection between them. As the buzzing subsided, and her body adjusted to their amplified bond, her mind raced with the possibilities of what it all meant.
“Fine,” he said quietly. “Call in your friends.” His serious blue eyes studied William intently, and the lines in his forehead deepened. “I have one more question for you. Do you have anything against killing one of your own?” Raife asked, pulling Layla from her thoughts.
Killing people? Raife was talking about killing the Amoveo who did this? What the hell? She looked at the two men as if they’d lost their minds. Maybe they had, and perhaps she had too.
“I have no problem with it.” William’s eyes flickered and shifted brightly. “Whoever did this is not one of my own.” His voice, barely above a whisper, filled every inch of the room as his glowing eyes latched firmly onto
hers. “I will protect what is mine at all costs.”
A shiver ran up Layla’s spine at the possessive tone in his voice, and her heart leapt into her throat. He meant her. As if the bizarre bonding of their energy signatures wasn’t enough, he felt the need to verbally claim her in front of her brother? If they weren’t standing in the middle of Rosie’s hospital room, she would’ve decked him square in the jaw.
“Good.” Raife gave a curt nod, and without a glance back, he sat in the chair next to Rosie. Her brother was obviously unfazed by William’s caveman professions and actually seemed comforted by them.
Now she wanted to punch them both in the face.
“Excuse me,” she said in the most serene voice she could muster. “I am not some helpless damsel in distress, and I don’t need either of you to protect me.”
Having suddenly lost her appetite, she threw the rest of her doughnut in the garbage can and brushed the sugar from her hands briskly.
“Aside from the fact that I am an independent woman who has traveled to some of the most dangerous parts of the world on assignment, I also happen to be half cheetah and could kick both of your asses sideways if I wanted to.”
Hands on her hips, she glared at them, daring them to challenge her.
Raife let out a short laugh. “Oh, I know you could, but you also tend to act before you think and would probably run off half-cocked and get yourself killed. So if bird boy here can help keep an eye on you, then I’m all for it.” Raife glanced over his shoulder at William. “I’m not leaving Rosie’s side until you find the sack of shit that did this. I’m sure your friends are just freaking peachy, but I’m not leaving Rosie alone.”
“Understood.” He gave a sharp nod and turned his dark eyes on Layla. “I am well aware of how capable you are,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to belittle you or make you feel as if I don’t respect you or have every confidence in your abilities.” He moved his massive frame closer and linked his fingers with hers. Her heart skipped a beat as their flesh connected, and every nerve ending in her palm came alive. “Forgive my overprotective nature, but I couldn’t bear it if you were harmed.”
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