LeilaI headed toward the bathroom and closed and locked the door, knowing he was right. At that moment, I realized that if I didn’t start being a wife to Lance, I was going to lose him, too. I turned on the shower, letting the water warm as tears slid down my face. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold myself together, but it was no use. I collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.Lance tried the door, and then it suddenly opened. I wasn’t sure how since I had locked it, but Lance had his ways. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into his arms as he slid me onto his lap, cradling me to his chest.“Leila....” was all he could say. Then his broad shoulders started shaking, too. He held me as we both cried together, sitting on the bathroom floor. Then he swept me into his arms, carried me into the bedroom, and laid me on the bed.He crushed his lips to mine as he lay beside me, holding me to him. “Leila, I’m so sorry.... I love you, my sweet Leila....” He kissed my neck and c

LeilaThe elevator doors opened, and I stepped in, glad I had come with Lance to the hospital, after all. It had been a while since I visited Amy, and I was in the mood for a good gabfest.Within minutes, I knocked on the door of her lab.“Come in!” Amy yelled from the other side.When I walked in, she was already hard at work on a new project, wearing a lab coat and safety goggles, and she had something boiling on the Bunsen burner. She took it off with a pair of tongs, and the liquid glowed bright blue. She was making more of the Sunlight Serum that prevented the radioactive poisoning that caused vampires to burst into flames in the sun. Since I had perfected it, vampires could now walk in the sun.A huge smile swept across her face when she saw me, and she took off her safety goggles. “Leila! I’m so glad you’re here! I was just making some more—”“Sunlight Serum,” I finished, smiling. “It’s good to see you, too.” I pulled her in for a quick hug when she was ready. “How have you bee

Lance“Lance, what’s going on?” Drake ran after me as I ran up the entire length of the stairs at full speed.“Raif was here and attacked Leila!”Once the stairwell was clear, I started at the top floor and quickly combed every room, trying not to move quicker than human speed. The last thing I wanted was to attract the attention of the humans, which could cause a war between the vampires and the humans.“He attacked her?” Drake quickly opened an office door, looked inside, and closed it.“He grabbed her and made a pass at her.” My blood boiled at the thought as I quickly checked another room, closed the door, and then moved on to the next.“You’re kidding!” Drake, check another room.“I wish I were.” After we had checked all the rooms on that floor, we moved to the next. “She hid from him to get away.” Rage filled my chest just thinking about it. After we finished checking the rest of the floor, we moved to the next. “Drake, it’s no use. He’s long gone by now. I’m going to his coven.

Leila“Oh, thank God you’re safe!” I wrapped my arms around Lance and pulled him to me as soon as he walked through the door. “How did it go?” I handed him a glass of blood that I had just fixed.He downed the glass in one shot. “He wasn’t there. Selestra said he was going to New York.”“Without her?” I scoffed as I poured some wine into his empty glass. “Either she’s a liar, or he lied to her.”He shrugged, taking a sip of his wine. “Either is possible. But either way, I suspect they know the children are in New York.”“Oh my God!” I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything. “While you were away, I spoke to Raven, and she said the kids are fine. Also, she said that the prophecy has begun.”“What about it?” Lance downed more his wine and then refilled both of our glasses.“She said that many people will come for the children,” she replied. “She also foretold that we would find help in an unlikely source.”Lance nodded, walking over to the window. He stared out at the neatly l

LeilaWhen we landed, a limousine was waiting for us on the tarmac. We headed down the stairs, and John and Lance placed our luggage in the trunk. John and Margarite stayed on the plane.“John, I’ve made arrangements for you and Margarite at The Plaza Hotel with us,” Lance said, smiling as he held the door open to the limo for me. “I’ll send the limo back for you.”“Thank you, sir.” A smile lit his lips. “When you need us, just let us know. I’ll have the plane fueled and ready to go.”“Sounds good. Thank you, John.” Lance slid into the limo beside me, and soon we were on our way.I looked out the window and watched as the sights and sounds of New York passed by. “It’s good to be back. I’ve missed New York.”Lance kissed my temple. “I have, too. We need to start coming here every weekend.”My head snapped up. “That would be great. I just hope the kids don’t think we’re intruding too much.”Lance shrugged. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.” He tilted his head to the side to look at me. “Why do