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The words I’d been dreading were finally spoken and coming out in sobs.

Sheridan wailed out with the same grieving pain of loss we’d heard the night before, and my father stayed frozen for what seemed like eons. Our hands clasped tight around one another, and we each held on for dear life while our bodies shook with another family loss.

K
haldon left
the room and brought back a fresh water pitcher with cups of ice. He handed each one of us a drink. After an hour or more of explaining exactly what had happened on the island, the crying abated a bit and morphed into numb shock. Khaldon and Torchy further explained how the weapons were targeted to attack our exact supernatural weaknesses and how we almost lost Briggs.

I reached out to Torchy. “If it weren’t for him donating his dragon adrenaline, we would have lost Briggs too. Torchy saved his life! He saved all our lives getting us off that island.”

Sheridan stretched her hand to him and gave a soft, quivering smile.

Torchy explained the story from his point of view, and I learned so much more about what happened because I had been blinded the entire time.

My body, raw with exposed nerves, was overcome with pure emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. I needed to sleep for a month—straight.

Khaldon poured himself another cup of water and sat down close to my dad. “Harris is doing much better. He’s not out of the woods yet, but if he responds well to the new wolfsbane treatment, he should be allowed to come home soon. I have family over there with him, so he’s not alone.”

I rubbed my temples trying to abate the headache from last night. “I didn’t want to tell you, especially not after this.” I gestured to Khai.

Sheridan’s tears were a never-ending waterfall of anguish. She exuded a spectrum of emotional scents from anger to disbelief, to flat out nothingness.

She shook with her words. “I don’t believe it. First mom was killed, Teagan is taken from me, and now Dakota.” She looked at me, her red, puffy eyes pleading why. “Do you think they did something to Teagan’s DNA to reject her because she was female? Do they only want boys in their dhampir army?” Sheridan hugged herself and lowered her voice to a whisper. She looked to see if the door was closed. “Would they steal Khai away from us?”

“She’s got a helluva question. I dinnae think we have thought about that.” Torchy moved in closer. “ That nutter will nay lay a hand on the bairn.”

“I can’t handle it anymore. I’m done.” Sheridan stood up from the bed, holding her belly. “If someone else has one more wretched thing to say to me, you might as well lock me up in a padded cell, cause I’m going cuckoo!”

Khai made a funny face with the word “cuckoo.”

I leaned in and hugged her. “I know. Let’s just get you home, okay?”

“No, that’s not okay either! I’m afraid to go home. I just can’t face seeing the nursery set up for both of them.” Sheridan pointed at Khai in Torchy’s arms. “Half pink, half blue. I just can’t do it. And now … this?”

I nodded in respect to her feelings. I hadn’t looked at it from that point of view. “Don’t worry—you can come to my place, and we’ll take care of the rest, all right?”

“No, that’s not all right either. Thanks for the offer, though.” Her voice quieted down to a melancholy drone. “Seeing Dakota’s room … Chey, I just can’t.”

“You are welcome to stay with me, lass.” Torchy’s invitation lit up his face. He had walked over to the other side of the bed with Khai and reached down to touch Sheridan’s shoulder. She took his hand and cradled it in her neck. “I’m happy to be there for ye. You dinnae have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

Sheridan looked up at him, possibly considering his offer.

“Yer li’l Stormaggedon loves my pups, Ash and Soot. Aye, I have plenty of rooms. If ye prefer, we can even set you up in your own adjacent condo. We can do whatever ye want for as long as ye want.”

A small smile breached her mouth. No matter how much she was hurting, I knew she couldn’t bear to insult him.

“I’ve been looking forward to baking you my famous tottie scones fer breakfast. But it’s whenever yer ready, lass.” Torchy bent down and kissed the top of her head and then Khai’s.

Our father finally spoke, but his stutter was in full force. “I … I w-want the funeral service and m-memorial to be n-n-next to your mother, in M-ma-montana.” His voice faltered under extreme duress.

Losing his wife, his youngest daughter, and now his granddaughter was more than any one man should ever have to endure. Daddy placed his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands. He shielded his face as the earth-shattering sobs finally came.

All I could do was join him.

The room grew silent once again as another wave of grief and reality hit.

Neither Dakota nor Teagan was coming home.

Sheridan sniffed, wiped her face, and quietly nodded. “Yes. I love that idea, Daddy. Both our daughters will be safe with Mother.”

It was a perfect and beautiful solution.

“Okay, I’ll contact Uncle Charlie and Aunt Maisie and let them know what’s going on—as much as I can anyway.” I stood up and breathed in, knowing the worst was over. “I don’t think they’ll quite understand the specialty needs we’ll require. Leave all that to Torchy and me, okay?”

Both Sheridan and Daddy imperceptibly nodded.

Shock still encompassed the room as Khai’s squirmy wails pierced the silence. Babies waited for no schedule, no matter what was happening around them.

I
had invited
Sheridan and Torchy over with baby Khai, and we now relaxed out on the veranda overlooking Lake Lola. I hadn’t seen them for a couple weeks as they were trying to find a rhythm with their new living arrangement, a newborn dhampir baby, and the live-in nanny.

Briggs, Harris, and Khaldon had come over, and I had a buffet of pizza boxes set out for our evening meal. We congregated in the outdoor kitchen area and everyone found a seat, a bar stool, or a countertop to sit on.

It was nice being back home, safe and quiet, but I’d realized that no matter how hard I tried to maintain normalcy or return to old routines, nothing would ever be the same. Especially every time I walked past Dakota’s room. I had even gone to the lengths of closing her door and avoiding that side of the house at all costs, but it didn’t seem to matter. The
clack, clack, clack
of her high heels and the
whirring
of her blow dryer were sounds I would never hear again.

Orlando temperatures in February could fluctuate in between the twenties to the nineties, so it was always a craps shoot for planning events outside. But tonight the weather gods graced us with a balmy seventy-four degrees and the winds were fairly mild, so it was nice to entertain on the patio. The setting sun blazed streaks of pinks and orange across the sky until they melted into the velvety indigos of the stars. I reflected back to the last time I appreciated the sunset and remembered that was the final night I’d seen Dakota.

Would I ever look at a sunset again and not think of her?

Harris reached into the wine fridge and pulled out a Coke with the
Werewolf
personalization label I’d purchased from The Super Market. He leaned against the center pergola beam and then cracked open the bottle’s seal. My own Coke’s label read
Witch’s Brew
as I had already drank everything labeled
Vampire
and
Mummy
.

“Harris, I’m so glad you’re home and looking well. The way your body was bloated from the toxins, I was afraid you’d be in Bangkok a lot longer.” My heart soared seeing him alive and vibrant with renewed vitality. Much better than his condition the last time I’d seen him. “When I got your text that you were on the way home, I cried, I was so happy.” I seized him in a huge heart-to-heart hug, and it helped to heal some of the guilt I’d experienced leaving him in Phuket.

Harris drank down almost half the bottle of Coke and then belched an exuberant carbonated burp. “From what Chuck and Ichi tell me, I was given a series of antidote for the wolfsbane poisoning. They called in a Lycan specialist and they gave me some kind of tranquilizer meds that kept me awake. Kinda an oxymoron, right?” He nudged me in the ribs. I called him a real moron and nudged him back.

“Anyways…” he bugged his eyes at me. “The semi-wolfing out allowed the Were transformation
just
enough to kick the metabolism and consume the toxins. The treatment worked without me endangering myself or anyone else.”

“Dzat’s fantastic news. I wish dzey could’ve done dzat with me.” Briggs patted his belly and stroked the scar where the dragon scythe blade had marked him for life.

“Right? That would’ve been sweet, but they might not have been too sure about letting you drag out in the ER.” Harris swigged the remainder of his Coke.

Briggs huffed with a small smile, agreeing with an appreciative sound in the back of his throat.

“Dr. Rattanakosin also said if I hadn’t responded to the treatment that the wolfsbane could have sterilized me.”

I grimaced at the thought because I knew how much he wanted to have a pack of his own one day. My words tiptoed around the intimately personal topic. “So—did they test you to make sure all was well in that department?”

“Oh, hell yeah. I made damn sure my junk still worked.” Harris gently patted his nether regions. “Boys are doing just fine, thank you.”

“TMI, Harris. TMI.” I about dropped my new bottle of 1738 Rémy Martin Cognac. “I can honestly say I’ve never thought about your “boys” before, but I’m glad to hear things are all right in the plumbing department.”

“Chey, I’ll have to tell you about this machine they used on me. Damned freaking awesome. They should make those things open to sell to the public. If we could replicate the design, we’d make millions.”

“Harris, I don’t want to know.” I removed the Cognac from the cylindrical packaging tube and cracked the seal. The aroma instantly invigorated my taste buds, making them dance with anticipation.

“We could call it the iSuck and market it right alongside of your iBrate.”

I about spit the fangs out of my head. “Dude, don’t make me drop this bottle.” I laughed so hard I couldn’t hold the brandy up any longer.

Opening the cabinet doors to the bar, I pulled out six brandy tumblers and set them on the quartzite counter. I added a few granite rock ice cubes for whoever wanted their drink chilled. “I’m glad it worked out to where you and Briggs could travel together. That’s a long flight and having someone to talk to really helps pass the time.”

“You should have seen it, Chey. Briggs and I stomped everyone’s asses playing trivia on the plane. Too bad we weren’t playing for money. It would have paid for our drinks.”

Briggs chuckled, and he also looked much better than when I saw him last in Phuket. His color was returning, but there was a definite change in his personality. Guarded, not his usual draconian confident and boisterous self. “
Oui—d
zere was dzis one fella who ’ad a serious competition complex and every time ’e lost, ’e ordered another drink. By dze fifth game, ’e was passed out.” Briggs inhaled the butterscotchy aroma and slid a glass to his hand in anticipation.

I poured the first round for everyone. I added a couple of the granite ice cubes and swirled it around in my tumbler admiring the oaky scents with just a hint of dark chocolate.

Opening the lids on the pizza boxes, I inspected the Italian yumminess hidden within. I snagged a couple pieces and some garlic bread for myself and a small slice for Beano.

Harris reached for a plate on the bar and opened the second pizza box. “It was great to meet Khaldon’s friends too, they’re pretty bad-assed guys. Vhalencia was easy on the eyes too, if you know what I mean.” He jabbed me with his elbow and danced his eyebrows. “Loads of war stories. Some of the crazy shit they told about Khaldon were hilarious. There was this one time, in Australia—”

“Blimey, Harris, not that one. Seriously, that’s enough.” Khaldon interrupted. “We’re definitely not going there.” He ran a nervous hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll teach those guys. Some things aren’t meant to be repeated.”

“Dude, but that kangaroo laid you out flat. You can’t write that kind of fiction. I laughed for hours over that one.”

Khaldon shook his head and inspected the Italian offerings in the to-go boxes. “I bet they didn’t tell you the part where Ichi had to bandage up Chuck’s arse because he battled the Gila monster and lost. He couldn’t sit and was laid up for a couple days from that bout.”

“Yeah, they all told on themselves reminiscing over the years and the stupidity you guys got messed up in. You should write those stories down. I bet they’d be best sellers if you did.” Harris laughed and reached into the greasy cardboard boxes and snatched up five slices of the meat lovers supreme. “But despite the good times with them, I was anxious to come home and run with my pack. I couldn’t wait to tell them what happened and most of them didn’t believe me until I showed them my wolfsbane shivs and a selfie I took after waking up.”

“What cha wearing there, Harris?
Aye
, is that what I think it is?” Torchy spied Harris’ back end, and that’s when I realized he wasn’t wearing pants.

“It’s called an Utilikilt. It was a
see-ya-later
gift from the guys. I’ll admit I wasn’t too sure about it, but I read about it in a magazine, and they’re worn all over Europe. After you get used to the breeziness of it, I have to admit, I rather like it. Every time I wear it, it’s like a chick magnet.”

“Is it true what they say about what men wear under their kilts?” I asked him and began to lift up the backside of the fabric.

He snapped it out of my hands. “That’s a trade secret, ma’am. And one I’m not gonna divulge.”

Torchy winked at him and gave him an accepting nod. “Good fer the bollocks, mate.”

“Well—I like it.” It wasn’t very ladylike, but I spoke with a piece of garlic bread in my mouth. “Looks like it gives you lots of room to move around in. As far as I’m concerned, it takes a real man to wear something like that. So go for it.” I finished off my last bite of pizza with a swallow of soda. “I’m surprised you’re here too, Tony. I figured you’d have stayed in Tibet a lot longer than you did. The wound from the dragon scythe healed up without any complications? What brought you home so soon?”

Briggs merely shook his head while it seemed he also marveled at the werewolf’s appetite. He loaded a calzone onto his plate with a side of marinara. It was wonderful to hear his smooth French accent again. “Let’s just say you can’t choose your family. After about a week, I was ready to come ’ome and get away from my sister with all ’er
’oodoo
. Kalina means well, but she drives me
cinglé,
preaching to me on ’ow I should be running my own business for more profit. Dzat’s all she dzinks about is money.
Mon père
wants me to take over ’is international interests, but I prefer to keep dzings stateside. If I’d stayed any longer, I dzink I would ’ave killed one of dzem, especially my papa.”

Khaldon eyed Briggs and then shifted his eyes to me and shrugged. He swirled the ice cube in his brandy and didn’t say anything.

He never did finish telling me what he knew about Briggs’ father.

Everyone completed serving up their plates, and we ate in the quiet piece of the night. I addressed my guests for an informal business meeting. “So now that we’re all together, stuffed our faces, and feeling a little safe for the moment, I wanted to talk about a few things that have been bothering me. Right, wrong, or indifferent. We’ve took action and made some decisions.”

Harris leaned against the door frame leading back into the butler pantry, he wrenched the plastic wrap from around a stack of red solo plastic cups. “Oh man, is this gonna take all night? Briggs and I were hoping to throw down in the
Star Battle
SIM for a while before he flies out for New Orleans in the morning, and I wanted to show him this cool cups game using our guns.”

Baby Khai squirmed in Sheridan’s arms and Torchy held out his hands to hold the little guy. She looked up at the man who wore the red dragon, and her smile reached her eyes. Overall, she seemed happy. I could tell there was still something lost, an innocence maybe, but through all the challenges, it was easy to see they were indeed falling in love.

I stole my eyes away from them as my own heart ached because of the increased distance Khaldon and I had experienced since returning home. Recently, there’d been days when we didn’t call, talk, text, or even chat online. In many ways, I think I was associating my sadness over Dakota with seeing him and I just didn’t want to deal with it. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought denying it would make her death go away if I kept myself busy with other things. And thinking about Khaldon was not one of them.

But I was learning that line of thinking was wrong too. Staying AWOL from everyone was safe, but it wasn’t solving anything.

I threw my crumpled up napkin at Harris. “There’ll be plenty of time for playing in the battle SIMs.” I hopped down from sitting on the counter and walked out on the patio, closer to the wall’s edge. “So anyway, thanks for coming over tonight. I’ve thought long and hard about a few things and Sheridan and I have taken action. We wanted to share them with you. I’ll understand if you don’t support them, and you’re not obligated to join in what we did.”

Faces stared back at me with varying degrees of puzzlement and encouragement. Sheridan nodded, fueling me forward.

“The first thing is, since we’ve learned about these illegal blood orchards, we considered taking down the whole
ExsanguiNation
platform so we could stop the sales.”

“Are you freakin’ kidding?” Harris pulled up a chair, turned it backward, and straddled it. “Have you gone mad?”

“What? Chey Chey, you can’t do dzat.” Briggs objected with open arms. “Why would you consider such a dzing?”

“Don’t you feel that’s a trifle rash? Have you even thought this through?” Khaldon chimed in with the chorus of objections.

I stared at all of them almost regretting my words, but my nails bit into my palm while I tried to control the heat pluming up my neck. Admittedly, I was tired of these guys telling me what I could and couldn’t do anymore, but I did value their opinions.

I took another sip of my drink and purposefully swallowed. I pointed at Harris. Opening my eyes wide, I said, “As a matter of fact, Mr. Archer, I can. There are some things I still have control over. This is still my brainchild, and I can blow the whole damn thing up if I want.” I tapped my toe on the slate tile in time with my finger against the side of my glass. “But that’s not my aim.”

The guys stared at me as though trying to figure me out. I hated acting like a bitch, but I also loathed being run over by other people’s opinions even more. Ever since the failed attempt on North Sentinel, my patience for advice was next to nil.

I walked a little closer to everyone and leaned against a solar-generated, wrought iron lamp post. “After we had looked into what Tiffany had told us about North Sentinel, we knew there had to be more facilities like it. We figured if there’s no buying platform, then there’d be no way supply can fuel the trade.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit naïve in your thinking, Cheyenne?” Khaldon stood against one of the pergola pillars with his arms folded across his chest. It was as if he were daring me to pick a fight with him. “If people want to purchase the bloodwine, legal or not, they’ll find a way.”