Chapter One
Jessica
“Creed, wait!”
After Davina dropped her bombshell Creed took off, he’s walking so fast I have to run to even catch up. I reach out when I’m close and grip his hand, but he yanks free of my hold. “I’m not gonna keep chasing you.” I call after him in frustration.
“I never asked you to in the first place.”Ouch,that hurt. I stand there and watch as he storms away from me heading back the way we came. I feel for him, I really do but his mother isalive. I would give anything to have my mom back with me, for her to meet my son. I release a frustrated sigh and cram my hands in my pockets, I could follow Creed or go back and see if I can figure out what Davina’s role in all of this is. I decide it’s better to let Creed just cool off, if I go after him now, I know he will lash out and I don’t need that crap right now. With my mind made up I turn around and head back to the others.
On my way back I notice things I didn’t on the way in. There are children here and they don’t seem like vampires, mind you I have never met a vampire before until like ten minutes ago but still. People here don’t look unhappy or trapped, they almost seem at home. I don’t know what I expected when we came ashore but this sure as hell wasn’t it. I make my way around the container style home and head toward the back, I hear raised voices and stop. I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop but come on, people tend to be more honest when they don’t know someone is listening.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do withmykids, Davina, you lost that right!” I scrunch my face in confusion, I thought Kane didn’t know Davina was alive?
“You took that right from me––“Davina sounds pissed, we are missing something here and I’m pretty sure Kane has been lying to us about his wife’sdeath.
“You chose wrong, not me, not my kids.”
“They are mine!” Kane and Davina’s bickering is cut off when a loud angry growl sounds out.
“You both may have made them, but they are just as much mine as they are yours. I love the three of them like they are my own, I raised them, clothed and fed them.” My heart aches for Meg, this must be such a hard position for her to be in. “I am beyond disgusted in you right now, how you could lie to our children so easily is beyond me. We always swore we would never lie to the kids or each other in yet our whole marriage has been based on a lie. Fix this shit now Kane, I’m going aftermysons and we will be returning to the boat so I can tellmydaughter what we have discovered.” I silently fist bump the air, yes Meg, get it girl. I love that she didn’t let Kane or Davina walk all over her, she is damn right, she is the twins and Creed’s mother, not Davina. Blood doesn’t make you family, loyalty and love dies.
“Sweetheart wait––“
“No, you need to sort whatever the hell this is out. I need to find my sons.” Meg comes out of the gate and spots me standing next to the hedges, I smile at her sheepishly when she cocks a brow. She nods her head for me to follow and I do, I don’t want to be a part of whatever the hell is going on in there. We remain silent as we exit the property, I can feel the anger and frustration wafting off Meg in waves, whatever was said back there has really upset her. After we exit the big gates, I can’t hold my tongue any longer.
“Meg?” Her steps falter but she doesn’t stop walking, I reach out and grip her arm pulling her to a stop. She wrenches her arm out of my hold and glares at me, I stumble back a step at the hostile look in her eyes. I take a deep breath and steel my spine. “Are you okay?” She throws her arms in the air like I have asked the most ridiculous question.
“No Jess, I’m not okay. My husband has lied to me for years, both my sons have taken off, I need to find them before they become vampire food and on top of that I have to tell my daughter her…real mother is alive.” I can hear the watery tone in her voice, her eyes fill with tears and my chest aches for her. I pull her to me and wrap my arms around her as the first sob tears from her chest. I can’t imagine what’s she going through, Kane lied to her from the very start and she probably thinks, Creed, Cole and Cali will forget about her now that their bio mom is alive. Gut wrenching sobs tear from Meg, I tighten my hold and let her know that I’m here for her. “I…I can’t l-lose them, their m-my babies.” She hiccups out between sobs; I open my mouth to answer but am cut off.
“She is not our mother.” Meg tears out of my hold at the sound of her son’s voice, she spins around and standing there is both Reeves brothers. They are a sight to behold, they each look like a thunderstorm, their faces are masks of pure fury. Cole’s green eyes promise pain and Creed’s hazel eyes bore into mine, the look he gives me tells me he is going to cause destruction. Meg pulls away from me to race over to the guys, they each wrap their arms around her and pull her in close while she sobs. I have never seen Creed like this, the way he holds his mother and how he whispers words of love in her ear surprises me.
“I-I… didn’t know.”
“Shhh, mom, we know.” Cole tries to say in the most soothing way. I can hear the hurt in his voice, and I just can’t imagine how hard this is for them. His brown hair flops forward onto his forehead as he bends down to engulf his mom in a hug. Creed breaks away from them and comes to stand next to me.
“Nothing changes, she means nothing to us. We make our way back to the boat and we leave, we’ll figure this out on our own and deal with the council.” The conviction in Creed’s voice is astounding, Meg pulls back from Cole and turns worried brown eyes to her oldest son.
“We don’t have the numbers.” She stutters out.
“We’ll get them, now let’s go––“
“What about your father?” Even after the lies he told, Meg is still worried about him, she is a better woman than me.
“He can find his own way back.”
Chapter Two
Jessica
Before I can voice my concern about leaving my brother behind, we hear the crunch of gravel behind us. I spin around and see Cairo storming toward us, tension flees my body at the sight of him. The five years we spent together with the pack has made me come to rely on him, he is the father figure I never had. Ro has made sure that Harlem and I have never gone without and made sure that Harlem has always been safe. I owe everything to him, after what happened with Josh, he didn’t have to take me in but he did, even at the risk of his own pack. Killing Josh wasn’t something that I had planned, and I knew there would be repercussions, Ro didn’t care, he said he would protect me at all costs and he has.
Once he’s close enough, I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around him, he returns my embrace.
“I’m okay, but we should get out of here.” I pull back and stare up into his blue eyes, so much uncertainty shines in his eyes. I give him a stiff nod and turn toward the others. “Did you want to wait for Kane?”
“No.” The three Reeves answer in unison, Cairo cocks a brow at me in question, but I just shake my head and mouth that I’ll fill him in later.
We all begin to make our way toward the boat, we’re not in a rush, so we take our time and take in our surroundings. How they came to make such a city like this on an island in the middle of nowhere baffles me. The people we do see aren’t scared or helpless, they seem to...enjoy being here. I mean, I’m no vampire expert, everything I know about them is from Twilight, so my knowledge is limited to say the least. Even children roam through the town, I look and see people crossing the makeshift bridges that lead from one tree top to the other. This place is incredible; I’m shaken from my thoughts when my brother quietly asks.