“It was their castle.”
“Guess they pissed someone off.”
“Guess so.” I shut the book, frustrated. But watching the road speed by through the partially opened window wasn’t any better, so I reached for another text. I drummed my fingers on the cover, the cold air slipping under my collar.
“I thought you weren’t nervous,” Kieran said softly.
“Are you kidding? If I get any more wired I’ll break into a thousand pieces,” I said. “But the brothers need me to act calm. You know how they get.”
He threw me a glance. “You’re wiser than people give you credit for, Hamilton.”
“About time someone realized that.” I snorted as we drove down the lane to the barn. We’d decided it was the best place to meet since Madame Veronique wouldn’t deign to visit it. The fields, the forest, and the Drake farmhouse and cabins secured privately in the woods felt just as much like home as my parents’ house. I’d missed it here.
“Okay, now you really look deranged,” Kieran said at my grin. I jumped out of the car and raced up to the barn.
“Lucy!” Quinn darted out of the door, followed by Connor and Logan. “Your mom will kill us.” They surrounded me like bodyguards. Pale elbows poked into me. I didn’t even make fun of them. Though I did roll my eyes until Helena came up behind us.
“Your mother told you to wait for me,” she said.
I peeked between two well-muscled arms. “Sorry.” She looked weary and sad and smaller than I remembered. All of my manic good cheer that we might finally get Solange and Nicholas back tonight fled. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Helena look so . . . frail. I gulped and followed her meekly inside.
Connor went to sit by Christabel, who was curled up on one of the couches reading. Marcus puttered behind one of the lab counters, helping Uncle Geoffrey. I could smell the disinfectant from here. Duncan leaned against a wall, scowling, and Sebastian was talking to Liam and Bruno. I missed Nicholas fiercely. It was just wrong to see his brothers looking so much like him. Even so, surrounded by my favorite undead boys and Kieran, I felt better than I had in a long time.
Christabel folded the corner of her page down and sat up. “Lucy.”
“Hey.” I tossed her a pair of nose plugs I’d fished out of my pocket. “Put those on so you can hug me without vamping out.”
She hugged me gingerly. “Hey, cuz.”
I hugged her back. “Mom said to tell you to chant your mantra or some shit. Oh, and do your homework.”
Christabel grinned. “I love your mom. But it’s not like I’m in school anymore.”
“Like that’s an excuse.” I looked around. “Where’s London?”
“Don’t know,” Quinn replied, tossing his hair off his pretty face. “She doesn’t exactly check in. Never has.”
I glanced at Logan. He was wearing a Steampunk-esque jacket with silver buttons, lace poking through the cuffs. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied tightly. “My girlfriend is about to face off against my psychotic baby sister. I’m just great.”
I held his hand, squeezing it tightly. “Isabeau has Magda with her and that girl is easily as psychotic as Solange’s hijacker.” When my phone rang, I jumped a foot in the air. It didn’t help that Quinn pulled a stake on me and Logan knocked me protectively to the ground. I shoved him, catching my breath. “You weigh a ton.” I reached for my phone. “Hello?” I croaked.
“Lucky, are you there yet? Are you safe?” It was my mom again. “You tell those boys I’m holding them responsible if anything happens to you.”
“Mom, I’m in a barn. The only current danger is choking on Logan’s lace cuff. Go have some of Dad’s chamomile tea. Mom?” I blinked at my phone. “She hung up on me.”
Logan helped me back up. I rubbed my elbow, which was tingling painfully.
“Lucy, if you could come and sit down over here?” Uncle Geoffrey asked. “We don’t have much time.”
“Nicholas told our contact he’d get Solange to the waterfalls,” Liam explained as I sat in one of those chairs they had at blood donor clinics and dentists’ offices. He shifted aside to let his brother by with the equipment. I shrugged out of my sweater. Liam’s face went carefully blank when he saw the teeth marks on my arm.
“It’s no big deal,” I assured him. “Anyway, it was worth it. It gives him protection. And it will help the rest of you too.” I swallowed when Marcus tied a piece of rubber above my elbow and told me to make a fist. I knew it was the right thing to do. I would give them all an advantage tonight; they wouldn’t succumb to Solange’s pheromones this way.
Didn’t mean I had to like the pinch and slide of the needle as it went under my skin. I winced. The brothers looked politely away from my blood and I looked politely away from their fangs. Kieran just looked like his head was going to explode from whatever inner struggle he was fighting. This went against all of his training, whatever it might mean for him and Solange. He shifted between the brothers and me, even though there was no need.
“Good girl,” Uncle Geoffrey murmured, taking the vials away. Marcus pressed a cotton ball on the tiny pinprick and put a Wonder Woman Band-Aid over it. I had to grin. He winked and took the medical supplies away.
“Is it enough?” Helena asked, her black leather outfit bristling with stakes and daggers. Even her braid looked like it could double as a weapon.