A Chase of Prey (A Shade of Vampire #11)(17)

She raised a brow at me. I was surprised by her forwardness. All I wanted was to return home. It had been a grueling day and I wanted to retire to begin afresh tomorrow. But it wouldn’t have been good manners to refuse to help her.

“Sure.”

We left the boathouse and began walking toward the beaches northwest of the island.

I cleared my throat, trying to think of some small talk as we walked along. “So you have a sister?”

“A younger sister, yes. We share a house. Always have. I suppose you live in one of the treehouses?”

I nodded.

“You live alone?”

“Yes…”

“What about Sofia’s mother?”

I let out a sigh. “Long story, Kailyn. One I’m not sure you’d be interested to hear. But simply put, she passed away almost two decades ago.”

Kailyn looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry to hear that… If Sofia’s anything to judge her by, she must have been a wonderful woman.”

My lips formed a bitter smile. “Everything my daughter is today is down to no one but herself,” I said. It was the politest way I could think to respond to her remark.

Kailyn looked at me curiously, but didn’t press. She was smart enough to sense that it was a sensitive subject.

By now we’d already reached the row of houses that the werewolves inhabited. Both of us were fast walkers, so it hadn’t taken as long as I might have suspected.

“Other than your sister,” I said, eager to change the subject, “do you have family here?”

“Nope.” She pointed to a house toward the middle of the row. “Well, that’s ours.”

We walked up the pathway through the front yard. She reached for the door and opened it, holding it so I could step inside after her.

“Kira,” she called out, “we have a guest.”

There was a creaking of floorboards overhead and a young woman descended the steps into the hall. She had the same athletic build and curly blonde hair, though it was slightly shorter than her sister’s. Kira also looked at least ten years younger than Kailyn, closer to the age of my own daughter.

“This is Aiden, Sofia’s father.”

Kira’s face broke out into a smile and she reached to shake my hand. “Hello.”

“He’s come to show us how to use the wash machine.”

“Washing machine,” I corrected. “Yes.”

We walked into the kitchen. Opening the cupboard beneath the sink, I crouched down. The machine looked almost brand new and there was even washing powder down there. A manual lay on top of the machine. Flipping through it, I began to explain the basic functions. They stared at me like I was talking another language, and when I demonstrated how to switch it on, they watched in wonderment as it began to swish and swirl. Once I felt I’d shown them all I could and both of them had practiced switching it on and off, I stood up and replaced the manual on top of the machine.

“You can always check the instruction booklet if you forget something.”

“Thanks, Aiden,” Kailyn said. “Now maybe I can afford to sit in front of Brett more often to test how good it is…”

I chuckled. “Well, I’d better get going now,” I said, making my way out of the kitchen toward the front door. Kira said goodbye and walked back up the stairs, while Kailyn followed me to the exit.

Stepping back outside into the warm evening breeze, I turned around to say goodbye. Kailyn had a smirk on her face as she leaned against the doorpost.

“By the way, you’re cute. You should stop by again some time.” She winked at me and shut the door.

Despite myself, I felt the temperature rise in my cheeks. I was glad she’d already shut the door and hadn’t caught me blushing. I’d have to be blind to say that Kailyn wasn’t cute too.

Chapter 11: Rose

As I unglued my eyelids, my vision coming into focus, I felt utterly bewildered. It took a few seconds to remember where I was and why a man’s arm was wrapped around me.

Morning sun was beginning to trickle through the windows and hit a corner of the inside of the truck, a couple of feet away from us.

Why are we still here?

My heartbeat quickened as realization dawned on me.

We’d both fallen asleep and slept all the way through the night. Caleb had been so wrecked, even he hadn’t woken up. I clutched Caleb’s heavy hand and wriggled out from beneath his grip. His eyes were still closed.

I brushed his cheek with my hand.

“Caleb. You need to wake up. It’s morning already.”

His eyes shot open and he sat up so fast he bumped his head against the ceiling. The mist of sleep still veiling his eyes, he looked around in the same bewildered state I’d been in. He looked out of the window at the brightening horizon.

He swore and punched the side of the truck, making the whole vehicle shake.

He drew open the door and scrambled out of the truck and looked around, as if hoping he might witness a different time of day if he went outside. He paced up and down, his chest heaving as he continued to curse himself beneath his breath. I gathered myself together and climbed out of the truck after him.

“We need to leave,” he said, racing to the river’s edge, shadowed by trees and washing his face.

“There’s no way you can travel on foot during the heat of the day.”