Chapter Forty-Nine

Waverly.

“Men are like babies.”

Waverly watched Barbie cross her legs and lean back against the couch. They’d eaten their food and spent the entire time talking about their interests.

It wasn’t until the wine came out that Barbie began to give them the good stuff.

“Babies?” Sarah asked from her corner of the couch. “Do tell.”

Barbie took a sip of her wine glass. “Men go from having their mother do everything for them with no instinct to take care of themselves. They rely on a woman in the house to take care of them. When children are involved it gets worse. They get jealous. Some know how to relay their emotions, Drake,” she said toward Waverly. “And some don’t, Roderick.”

Sarah hid her snarl behind her wine glass.

“That doesn’t mean they can’t be trained, Ladies. Roderick needs to know that he can trust you,” Barbie said. “He doesn’t show it, but when his father turned all of us, he grew a shell around him. He doesn’t trust people.”

Waverly watched the look on Sarah’s face change as she considered Barbie’s words. It was hard to imagine that Roderick took anything seriously enough to have true emotions. There was always a smile on his face or a smart-aleck remark on his tongue.

Drake was the opposite. He wore his heart on his sleeve, at least he did with Waverly.

He was the perfect person for her, and it wasn’t just her own feelings telling her that. It was God’s knowing that they would fit together.

Sarah leaned forward and braced her elbows on her knees. “I don’t think that Roderick likes me, Barbie. I think he’s attracted to me because of the bond, but I don’t truly think he wants to be with me … forever.

Barbie smiled softly. “He’s confused, Sarah. Give him time. He’ll come around. In the meantime, don’t hound him, or follow him around. Let him come to you. Trust me.”

Sarah glanced over at Waverly and smiled. “Like Waverly? Drake really worked for it, didn’t he?”

Waverly chuckled. “Well, he was my annoying eavesdropping neighbor. It just worked out better for us. Well, besides the royal situation and all. What about you, Barbie?” Waverly asked.

Barbie lifted a brow. “What about me?”

“Before you were turned … did your husband sweep you off your feet?”

She smiled at her glass, watching the liquid twirl as she sloshed it around in little circles. There was a distant look on her face. Waverly imagined how charming he would have been to catch Barbie.

She was full of life and funny.

“There was a time that I couldn’t see my life with him,” she whispered.

Several minutes of silence settled over the room when the front door opened. Roderick and Drake both looked distraught.

“Well, look who is back bringing the doom and gloom?” Barbie whispered. “Who died?” she asked with a slight smile on her face.

“One of the vampires at the camp,” Roderick snapped.

Barbie leaned forward and placed her wine glass on the table. “I was only joking, son. What happened?”

Waverly met Drake’s worried stare as it landed on her. Something happened that had his shoulders tensed. She stepped toward him without thinking.

“We were at our post,” Roderick said. “And I noticed something in the tree. Something shoved one of our vampires through a branch. He’s dead.”

Barbie crossed her legs, while Sarah gasped.

Waverly reached for Drake and he pulled her into his side. Her was cool was oddly warming to her. Maybe it was the mate bond.

Either way, she felt safer with him around. “No one saw anything?” Barbie asked.

“Beau is going to go around and ask, but as of now, no one knows anything. He was positioned on the other side of the camp. He was either chasing something or … I don’t know.”

Barbie’s gaze flickered toward the table where her phone began to vibrate.

Waverly wasn’t a mind reader, but she assumed it was her husband calling.

“Is that Dad?” Roderick asked, walking past Sarah to the kitchen. “Because I’m sure he’s smart and rich enough to hire someone to track your phone if he can’t figure it out.”

She cleared her throat and ignored the call.

Waverly had a bad feeling in her stomach. Ignoring a man who enjoyed power seemed like a desperate plea to have him hunt you down.

“Maybe you should answer that,” Waverly suggested. “Tell him you’re with your sister so he doesn’t come looking for you.”

Barbie bit her bottom lip. “I’ve already told him where I am, I’m not sure why he is calling.”

Drake snaked his arm around Waverly's waist, giving her a reassuring squeeze that she really needed.

“You’re right,” Barbie said, picking up her phone. “I’ll be right back.”

Waverly watched her walk outside, but couldn’t hear anything once the door shut.

Sarah stood up beside Waverly. “They have no leads?” she asked.

Drake shook his head. “No. Beau is taking care of the body right now. He has a brother here that has been looking for him.”

Waverly glanced at Roderick downing a bag of blood from the kitchen. He hadn’t looked over at them and everything Barbie said bounced around in her mind.

“That’s so sad,” Sarah whispered.

Drake patted Sarah’s shoulder. “Yeah, it means we need to be extremely careful about leaving you two alone. We’ve already amped up the guarding schedule, but this happened to a vampire in the broad daylight.”

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. “Can you imagine what they would do to one of us—,”

“Let’s not think about that,” Roderick said from the kitchen.

Waverly glanced at the stern look on his face. He braced both palms on the counter in front of him, staring at the three of them through the kitchen window.

Sarah stared back. Waverly imagined the advice Barbie gave them dancing around in Sarah’s head. Knowing Sarah, she was shocked when she dismissed herself to the bathroom without a retort back to him.

It shocked Roderick too, because he watched her leave the room with his mouth slightly ajar. It looked as if she really wanted it to work with them, and it made Waverly happy

Drake leaned in and whispered, “What was that about? Since when does Sarah not have something to say?

“I could be wrong but I think she’s taking advice from your mother.”

Drake’s dark gaze settled over hers and both brows lifted up his forehead. “My mother was giving you both advice while we were out protecting the camp?”

She nodded.

“Great,” he said, wiping his palm down his face. “I’d ask what she said but I’m not sure I want to know the things my mother thinks will work on winning over her sons.”

“Probably not,” she said, thinking about the baby reference. She bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

Barbie walked through the front door looking more relaxed than she did before.

“What happened?” Drake asked.

“He was checking on me. Everything is fine. I don’t think he suspected anything.”

Drake nodded seeming to believe his mother, but Waverly had a gut feeling that the phone call wasn’t just about checking on Barbie.

“I’m starving,” Drake leaned in to whisper.

Waverly watched him walk into the kitchen to grab another bag of blood. She hadn’t seen Barbie drink any since they arrived. “Are you not hungry?”

Barbie chuckled and pointed toward her wine. “It’s in there love. I’ve grown used to hiding my love for blood.”

Waverly chuckled with her, even though there was something stirring inside. Something felt off but she couldn’t put her finger on it.