Adam (The Protectors #5)(3)
“Damon, Jared, Duncan and Sloan are the only names I’m hearing.” Lana’s eyes filled with tears, something that even her sister rarely saw. Lana didn’t cry, ever.
“And Sid?” Understanding flashed across Caroline’s face.
“Nothing.” Lana shook her head, slamming her hand on the counter. “How can I do that to him? I don’t care if the other Warriors want to hear their messages or not. It’s my job to deliver them, but how can I do this to Sid? No one has come forward for him Caroline. Not a single soul.”
At that moment, the love Lana had for the Warrior Vampire was evident. She would rather suffer the hounding of the dead to keep Sid Sinclair from being hurt, and suffer she would. When the dead wanted to speak, they would go to many lengths to have the messages spoken to their loved ones.
“You have to do this, Lana, not only for them, but for you.” Caroline grabbed her hand, squeezing to get her attention. “You can’t keep on like this. We both know it. I’ll help you.”
“Hell no.” Lana pulled her hand away from her sister as she pushed away from the counter to stand. “Don’t even think about it. Look what happened the last time I asked you to help me.”
“Yeah, and the reason it turned badly for me is because I have shoved this gift we have away. I left myself wide open for something like that to happen. It was more my fault than anyone’s. I’m not doing that anymore.” Caroline stood, leading Lana toward the bathroom. “Now go wash up so you can eat. We’ll talk more about how to approach this later after you’ve had some rest and food.”
“I can’t do this to Sid, Caroline.” Lana walked out of the kitchen.
“I’m not giving you a choice,” Caroline whispered, picking up her phone and shooting off a quick text.
******
Sid had just finished training when Lana’s sister texted him asking to meet at their parents’ house. Although his and Lana’s relationship was going great, he knew something was wrong. He sensed she was keeping something from him. At first, he thought it was working with both the police force and the Warriors, but deep down, he knew that wasn’t it. She was doing her best to hide whatever it was, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.
Before he could even knock on the door, Caroline opened it. “She isn’t going to be happy I texted you, so be prepared,” she warned, tossing a glance over her shoulder.
“What’s going on?” Sid’s eyes searched above Caroline’s head trying to spot Lana; his protectiveness roared to the surface.
“Come on.” Caroline stepped out of the way so he could enter. Once he was inside, she closed the door and led him through the house.
The first thing Sid spotted as he followed Caroline was Lana sitting at the kitchen counter; her shoulders slumped as she stared at a disgusting looking sandwich in front of her. Her eyes lifted and the sadness looking back at him made his stomach clinch. Anger surged to the surface sending an urge to kill whoever made her unhappy.
“Hey?” Lana said, looking confused before understanding brightened her dull eyes. “Caroline, dammit.”
“I’m not going to stand here and watch you suffer, Lana.” Caroline walked around to the other side of the kitchen counter out of her sister’s reach, which was a good thing as anger swiftly replaced the confusion on Lana’s face.
“Lana?” Sid frowned, not liking being left out. He had noticed before she left for work that morning that she looked tired, had even commented on it, but figured it was because he had her up most of the night worshipping her sweet body. Now, he wasn’t so sure he had been the cause of the dark circles under her beautiful eyes.
“I’m fine,” Lana sighed, glancing up at Sid.
“No, she’s not,” Caroline shot back. “If you don’t tell him, I will.”
“Tell me what?” Sid’s voice had deepened, his eyes intense as he gazed between Lana and her sister.
“Are you feeling better?” Lana asked her sister with mock sweetness.
“Perfectly. Why?” Caroline frowned at her sister. When Lana didn’t answer, but lurched toward her knocking over one of the kitchen stools, Caroline squealed, running behind Sid for protection.
“Because I’m going to kick your ass, that’s why.” Lana tried to reach around Sid, but Caroline shoved Sid toward her, leaping out of reach.
Sid couldn’t help but grin as he stopped himself from ramming into Lana. “Ladies, as much as I would like to see some one-on-one girl action, twins to boot, I’m going to have to put a stop to this,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood, but instead, it got him punched and slapped by two very pissed off women.
“That’s disgusting.” Caroline smacked him hard on the back.
“I can’t believe you said that, you disgusting pig.” Lana punched him in the stomach before stomping on his foot.
“Hey!” Sid pulled Lana in front of him to shield himself from Caroline and received an elbow in the stomach. “I was just kidding.”
This time, Sid moved out of the way of another back elbow Lana tried to hit him with and forced her to sit down. “Well, it wasn’t funny,” Lana warned, her face scrunched in disgust as she shot him a nasty glare.
“Obviously,” Sid rubbed his stomach, “but it got you two to stop fighting. Now, tell me what the hell is going on.”