Chapter Fifty

Drake.

Drake downed his bag of blood. He felt he needed to give himself energy. Something in the air didn’t feel right. If it wasn’t the fact an adult vampire was killed in a camp full of vampires without anyone noticing, it was the fact his father was checking on his mother.

It may be nothing, but then again, it could be something. It was hard to tell when his mother was lying. If she lied, it was something serious. She wouldn’t want them to know if she thought their father was after her or not. It wasn't in her personality to worry her children. It never had been.

Even though he pissed Drake off on a daily basis, he was their father and she desperately wanted them to be a family again. In Drake’s mind, they hadn’t been a family in decades. There was no amount of family get-togethers that would change the way he felt about him.

Roderick leaned back against the kitchen counter, craned his head to see where the girls were, and crossed his arms. “What was that all about?” he whispered.

Drake tossed his empty bag into the kitchen trash. “What was what about?”

“Sarah,” he said. “She …” he trailed off into silence.

Drake lifted an eyebrow. “She what?”

Roderick shrugged. “She didn’t say anything,” he said. “She just went to the bathroom. What’s up with that?”

Drake chuckled. “You’re ridiculous, man.”

“I’m ridiculous for picking up on her change in behavior?”

“No,” Drake said, leaning closer. “You're crazy for being upset that she didn’t have a comeback. I can see it on your face. You love that she talks back, and then use it as an excuse not to claim your mate. Pathetic.”

Roderick stepped forward, coming toe-to-toe with Drake like when they were young. “Oh, you’re mad I’m telling you the truth?” he asked. “Then come on. Let’s add to the tension that’s already floating around in this house. We definitely need it."

Roderick rolled his eyes. “I’m over this conversation. Are we going to talk about why Dad is calling Mom?”

“I thought the same thing,” Drake mumbled. “I’ve been around the both of them separately plenty of times and they never chat. Since when does Dad give a rat’s ass where Mom is?"

Roderick shrugged. “I don’t know. We could be paranoid because we just came across a dead vampire.”

Drake didn’t answer when he heard Waverly speaking to his mother. She’d been drinking and he could smell the taste of liquor on her lips from across the room.

If it was a different time, he would have pressed her against the wall and kissed her until she begged him to stop.

Unfortunately, they were currently being tossed through Hell so he kept his hands to himself and only looked with his eyes.

She looked thinner than before, most likely from stress and the inability to eat whenever she wanted. He loved her either way, but he hated that their mad journey running was having any effect on her. She didn't deserve that.

Waverly sat down at the dinner table. She stared at her fingers while pulling at a cuticle. When she looked up and locked eyes with Drake, he knew that she was hiding something. “Waverly, can I talk to you outside for a second?”

“Sure,” she said nonchalantly, but Drake heard her heartbeat increasing.

She was hiding something.

Drake followed her out of the cabin and toward the porch. She stopped on the front step, but he grabbed her elbow and guided her several feet away. There were several vampires in the courtyard so he pulled her behind the house to avoid them overhearing.

“What’s with that face?” he asked her.

She cocked her head to the side. “What face?”

He gestured toward her face. “That one,” he said. “The one you are trying to hide.”

Waverly sighed. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to offend you.”

Drake laced his finger on the back of her neck. “You’re not going to offend me,” he said. “We need to be honest with one another. You always tell me if you have any concerns. Okay? Promise?"

She nodded, her gaze lowered to his chest while she played with the hem of his t-shirt. He grabbed her hands in his. “Waverly—,”

“I think your mother is hiding something, but I don’t know what.”

Drake chuckled under his breath. “Roderick and I were just talking about that in the kitchen, Wave. She’s either nervous because she thinks our dad is coming after her, or she knows he is.”

She sighed in relief. “I just have this awful gut feeling that something worse is going to happen.”

“Me too,” Drake said.

Commotion started from the yard drawing Waverly close to Drake’s side. He pulled her into him and walked with her toward the front of the house.

There was one vampire standing in the center of a circle. Drake tried to judge what was happening when the vampire began to scream. “It’s all their fault. We hadn’t had any royal sightings in over a year until they showed up with the precious human girls. Now my brother is dead. Michael is dead!"

Drake inwardly sighed. Not this again.

Beau stepped forward, trying to be the voice of reason, but the vampire launched at him. Drake felt his adrenaline spike as they began to fight. Roderick came out of the cabin and stopped on the opposite side of him.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“He’s the brother of the vampire that died. He’s talking about how we brought trouble to them,” Drake said.

Amongst the fighting, the vampire heard Drake and looked over. Beau stumbled backward as he shoved him. The vampire began to run full speed toward Drake.

Waverly shrieked as Roderick pushed her backward, acting as a barricade, and crouched in front of her.

Drake tried to brace himself in time but the vampire slammed into him, knocking him back into the cabin. He felt the wood shred around him and pain shot through his entire body.

A crazed look washed over the vampire’s face. Drake had seen that look several times since he was a child.

But he didn’t stay still long enough for Drake to speak to him. He understood his frustration. He’d be in the same boat as him if Roderick had been killed so carelessly.

“Listen—” Drake tried to say but the vampire kicked him square in the chest.

It was the first time since becoming a vampire that he felt breathless. The beast inside of him broke free. The next kick he grabbed his ankle

and slung him across the yard.

The screams of Waverly drifted in and out of his ears. He couldn't focus on them. Any of them.

The vampire screamed out in range. A mutual feeling flooded him head to toe. Beau and Scotty gripped the other vampire by the arms, holding him back.

Drake felt Roderick and someone else grab his shoulders.

“Calm down,” Roderick whispered. “He lost his brother.”

“He needs to die for this!” the other vampire yelled.

Drake stared at his shaggy brown hair and the youth he portrayed. He seemed to be a newer vampire by his strength, and his lack of control. He was hurt, and Drake understood it.

“I’m sorry about your brother,” Drake said honestly.

He snarled, fighting as they dragged him back into the yard. Once a few vampires had him secure, Beau walked over and slid his palm over his face. He looked tired and unhinged. “You probably need to get inside. I’m going to talk to him, but I don’t know what the outcome is going to be.”

Drake nodded. “Sure. I really am sorry about his brother.”

“I know. I’ll come talk to you in a while.”

Drake watched Beau walk to the yard. He felt Waverly’s breath on his back moments later and then her soft palm wrapped around his elbow.

“Let’s go inside,” she whispered.

He let her pull him gently toward the porch while the adrenaline began to fade inside of him.

His mother stared from the porch, her arms folded over her chest and a hesitant look on her face. He was glad when she didn’t say anything as they walked past her and into the house.

He stepped in front of Waverly and into their room.

Once the door was closed he turned and punched a hole in the wall.

Waverly cringed. “I hope they have insurance.”