In the Dark by Lila Rose (31 page)

"I will," I whispered.

He kissed me one last time before he tore himself away from my grabby hands. He laughed to the door. There he composed himself and opened it, glaring at Ty.

Dismissing Ty altogether, he glanced back to me before saying, "I'll have guards posted. Stay safe, Leila."

Snorting, I rolled my eyes and saluted him, "Yes, Captain."

He went to pass by Ty, until Ty caught his attention. "Isaac, I have an understanding Leila will be t-training with both our sides."

"Yes."

"Thank you for trusting the rest of us after Kalvin did what he d-did."

Isaac shrugged. "If you were to harm Leila, you would have done it already."

Ty smirked. "True."

"Besides, Darik has already informed me the rest of Jack's team is legit." Ty nodded. "For Leila, we have come to a truce with Jack and his team. However, if one was to stab us in the back, there will be a swift punishment."

Ty stiffened. "It won't happen again. I trust my team with my life."

Isaac's eyes narrowed. "Would you have trusted Kalvin with your life?" he snarled.

"No," Ty snapped. "He was new, sent to us. But the rest of us
are
dependable."

"We will see." My man glared.

Clearing my throat, I said, "Okay, boys. Enough testosterone. Isaac, I'll see you soon, and Ty, come on in if you want to talk."

Isaac smirked, winked and walked down the hallway without another word. Ty watched Isaac's outline leave before he came into my room. I patted the bed and sat near the pillows. Ty sat next to me.

"What's up?"

He snorted. "I can't believe what happened. I never thought Kalvin would have turned on you. Not when he spoke of his loss."

"He seemed to blame me for it."

Ty's head jerked back. His sightless eyes met mine and they were wide. "What? Why?"

Shrugging, I said, "I'm not sure. As soon as I find out, I'll let you know." I leaned in and nudged his shoulder with mine. "Thanks for coming to check on me though."

He nudged me back and smiled. "Always. You've come to be an annoying little sister to me."

Laughing, I teased, "And you're a pain-in-the-butt brother."

"So," he started.

"So what?"

"I know you haven't had time to scratch yourself, but have you thought about joining us?"

I licked my dry lips and bit a nail before answering, "Not really." Looking to him, I asked, "Are you happy doing what you do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I really am. We're like cops, but for the supernatural. We don't hunt anyone we don't have hard facts on, Leila. We don't just kill random supernaturals for the fun of it."

"I'm getting that. How's it been working with Jack?"

Ty laughed. "He's tough, but I know if he puts us through hell, he'll be there with us doing the same. He's a great teacher."

Who would have thought my uncle would have high praise on him?

"You seem like such a tight-knit group. I'm not sure I'd fit in." I wasn't sure I wanted to either. There were other possibilities I had to think of.

"You would. Everyone is easy to get along with."

"Can I think about it a little longer?"

"Course you can. In the meantime, you get to hang with us while we kick your arse."

Rolling my eyes, I shoved him. "Like that could happen."

He chuckled. "The good part about it, we won't get in the shit about it from Isaac." He searched my face for something.

"Just ask."

"Are you sure you'd be happy with him?"

"If you start to offer yourself up for the taking, I think I'll be sick."

His nose screwed up. "Jesus, no." He shuddered. "No offence, but that's just wrong on so many levels."

"Good." I laughed. "But yeah, I'm happy. I know Isaac would bend over backward to make sure I was."

"He would." He pretended to gag. "I guess he's an okay guy."

Shaking my head, I smiled and said, "One day, the two of you will be friends."

He laughed loud and long. "When hell freezes over."

Problem was, hell could be coming sooner than we thought.

A month had passed with no sign of Gerald. College seemed nothing compared to what was really going on in the world. Therefore, two weeks earlier, I decided to leave. Instead, I was joining Isaac's team. My uncle, Dad and Ty had tried to persuade me to reconsider nearly every day, but I didn't want to be a hunter.

Now that Isaac had taken the step closer to become his people's leader, I knew the battle had just started. Gerald would be only one enemy against Isaac. I felt my help would be more beneficial with Isaac and his people than with the hunters.

However, even though all the training and meetings continued, some harder than most, everyday stuff still happened. Which was how I was in the local store food shopping.

Jezanna strolled down the aisle with me. She was telling me about how Caelen had been so great after they'd lost Gregory. It didn't seem as though it had been a month already. It still felt fresh. Sometimes I could see Isaac staring off in the distance and I knew, like I had many times, he was thinking about the man who took them in after their parents were slaughtered. It would still live with them for a long time to come.

She placed my favourite cereal into the trolley when she paused her talk and whispered out the corner of her mouth, "Why do I get the feeling people are staring at us?"

Shrugging, I leaned over to grab some Pop-Tarts off the bottom shelf. As I stood, I said, "It happens all the time when I'm around."

Her hand went to the trolley and my step forward halted. I let out an "Oof," when my stomach crashed into it. When a vampire wanted you to stop, you did.

"Leila, this is not normal. I've been here with you before and there was a mixture of males and females looking at us. Now, it's mainly men."

Glancing around, I stiffened. She was right. Down both ends of the aisle, even scattered through, there were men of different ages looking at us. Actually, their gaze would flick quickly from the shelves to us and back again. But they were definitely watching us.

"What's going on? Do I have something on my face?" I asked.

Jezanna shook her head. She was as tense as I was feeling. "Leila, what did Xavier say this morning as he drove us here?" She'd been on her phone and probably only heard a murmur of it; Xavier had been quiet saying it.

"He said I smelt different." A lot of people had been saying the same thing to me for a while now. I thought nothing of it, only them being strange because I hadn't even changed my shampoo or body wash.

"Your birthday, Leila, when is it?"

A pretend offended scoff escaped my mouth. "I'm upset you don't know already, no matter how busy we've been."

She spun to me, her eyes wide and worried. "Your birthday, Leila?"

"It's coming up in a couple of months. Why?"

Shaking her head, she mumbled to herself, "It's too soon then. It's too soon."

Grabbing her arm, I gave her a shake. "Jezza, what are you talking about?"

"Your uncle loaned me a book. A book the hunters from the beginning of time put together. In it is information about every supernatural species. Leila, it was only a few days ago I read about your kind."

I knew why my uncle hadn't given it to me to study, because I had refused to tell him about my feline side. Still, he could have given it to me recently, instead of Jezanna.

"Don't be upset with your uncle. You were out. I was supposed to pass it along to you, but I got caught up reading and couldn't stop."

I offered a stiff nod. "What are you getting at, Jezza?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but someone behind me cleared their throat. "Excuse me." It was a familiar male voice.

Turning, I came face-to-face with Rodney. He was a friend of Jason's, only he was a nicer one. At least he wasn't there the night Jason and his mates helped MaryJane.

What was even stranger than the men staring at us was Rodney had never approached me before. So of course, I wanted to know why. "What can I do for you?"

His smile was big and bright. His eyes lit with something I wasn't used to seeing, kindness, eagerness as well. "I was hoping you'd want to go out with me tonight?"

Um… Huh?

"No," was yelled. Spinning, I looked over Jezanna's shoulder to see Malcom. He worked in the Chinese takeaway place down the road. He stepped up to us. "Go out with me, please, Leila."

My shocked gaze turned to Jezanna. Her eyes were as wide as mine. Men around us started shouting out their complaints towards Rodney and Malcom, and then following through with their own invite for dinner. Some even forwent the invitation for dinner and had went straight for a party in their bedroom.

"Shit, shit, shit," rattled off Jezanna's tongue. It was the first time I'd ever heard her swear, so I knew whatever was happening was serious. She pushed the trolley towards the approaching men, then took my wrist in her hand and pulled me down the aisle to the front of the shop, shoving men out of her way as she went. They tried to grab me, grope me and begged me to stay. Jezanna picked up speed as she ran us through the front glass sliding doors.

Xavier was at our sides the next second, his face full of concern. He'd been waiting out the front after checking the grocery store was clear of anything other than humans. "What is it?"

"We must get Leila home and now. Call in Sophie, Raven. Jesus, any female fighters we have close."

"What?"

"No, Xavier, please just do it."

A nod and he propelled me into his arms where he raced us to the car. Behind us, I saw the doors to the store open again and all the men rushed out of it. Before Xavier threw me into the car, all I could hear was my name being called over and over. Their voices sounded so pained, filled with anguish and loss because I was leaving.

This shit was starting to freak me the hell out.

Xavier jumped in and started the car. Jezanna was already in the passenger seat, her phone to her ear.

"Jezanna?"

"Please wait." She hit her hand to the dash. "Come on, answer," she cried.

Looking to Xavier, he also had his phone to his ear, mumbling something I couldn't hear into it. "What's happening to them?" I mumbled to myself. "Is there a new drug going around?" Maybe some type of gas had leaked into the town.

"Jack, finally. We have a problem. Leila tells me she doesn't turn nineteen until a couple of months and you would have read what I did in the book—"

"What in the hell happened?"

"Men swarmed her at the store." Jezanna glanced behind her and out the back window of the car. "We're being followed by at least five different vehicles. We'll be taking her to our house. There's a basement we can hold her in until this passes. Make sure you warn all men to stay away. Xavier, who is not feeling the pull, is calling in the women within both our circles to help keep them out."

"Fuck," he yelled. "Fuck, we had time. We had time."

"Did Leila's mother tell Justin her birthdate?"

"Christ, hang on." We could hear Jack call out the question to my dad. "Shit. No, she didn't. He just placed it at the day he got her."

Jezanna sighed. "Meaning we have a big problem to deal with and no time to prepare."

My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. My body shook. I felt cold, but my body was extra hot still.

Answers, I needed them.

"Exactly. I'll warn the men. Call Isaac, he'd left early on a mission. Tell him what's happening and to stay away." He swore again. "You take care of her, Jezanna."

"With my life," she whispered and then slid the phone away from her ear. She looked to Xavier. "Tell me they're coming."

"They are and Seraphine arrived back last night."

"Good, we'll need her."

"Hold the fuck on. Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on with
me
?"

Ignoring me, Jezanna asked Xavier, "Since you're not affected, please call in Jensen as well."

"I will as soon as I know what's going on and before Leila bursts a blood vessel with concern."

Jezanna turned in her seat to face me. "I'm sorry, Leila, but I needed to act first before the information was passed because things are about to become difficult for us."

"How?" I snapped.

"A passage in the book caught my attention, which is another reason I hadn't passed it along. I wanted to prepare for it and help you through it in any way I could because it will be hard to… comprehend."

"Jezanna," I whined. "Get on with it."

"On your nineteenth birthday, you will go into 'heat.'"

My hand went up to silence her. I studied her face for any signs of hilarity, but couldn't find any. "You have got to be kidding me. I'm not some dog." She couldn't be serious, not really. Shaking my head at the thought, I started laughing. It was plain-old ridiculous. I was going into heat. Heat like a bloody cat. What the fuck? No way, no how.

A hand touched my knee. Seeing it was Jezanna's, I glanced up to her. "No, Leila. I'm not joking. House cats go through it as well, but again, it's different for werecats," she stated with an apologetic tone.

"That shit does not happen. This is real life, people. Why in the hell would I go into heat?" I scoffed. "No. Nope. Nuh-uh."

"How can you explain the reaction from the men down the street?" she asked.

Hell. I didn't know. Therefore, I offered a shrug.

"Leila, I am sorry this is happening, but it's uncontrollable. The desire the men feel is undeniable. They will lust after you until this passes. They will try anything to get within arm's reach of you. They want you. They need to hear your voice, touch your skin and the urge to want to be inside of you is unmanageable. Their mind only has one thought, which is to claim you."

"When will it end?"

"Either in a couple of days or…" she trailed off. Her pinched eyes told me she was worried.

"Or what, Jezza?" I growled.

"Or it will pass if your mate claims you."

Mate? I didn't understand the mate talk. But it was coming up more and more. MaryJane and Kalvin. Even Isaac mentioned something about it, but I couldn't recall what he'd said.