“Sol!” Avery is angry with me for speaking to Jenn so harshly.
“No, Avery. He’s right. I have no business being here. I never did but I don’t plan on sticking around and continuing to be anyone’s problem.” Jenn streaks from the room and out the front door. I immediately feel the pain in Avery’s heart. I want to comfort her but I’m not sure it’ll be welcome.
Shit. What have I done?
I have to try to make this right. “I’m sorry, baby doll. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“You have to go after her.” Her voice–and mind–is drenched in panic. “She doesn’t know how to survive outside this compound yet.”
I put my hand to my forehead and then push it back through my hair as the realization sets in. She’s right. Jenn has been living in a bubble and has no idea how to get along on her own.
This is nothing but a mess–a gigantic one. And I’m its creator.
Avery grabs my face and forces me to look at her. “Stop it, Sol. I feel your guilt but this isn’t your fault. Jenn is a hothead. She always has been but it’s compounded now that she’s a vampire.”
The family–minus Chansey and the babies–enter Jenn’s bedroom before I’m able to reply. “Don’t worry. We’ll all pitch in to help find her,” Gia says.
Avery walks toward the door. “I need my jacket.”
Oh, hell no. She can’t possibly think I’m letting her out of this compound at night. “You’re not going out there.”
I feel her preparing for a showdown. “Why can’t I come? She’s my family.”
Avery and I are a team but I’m forced to draw a line on how much say she gets when it comes to her safety. I’m now the overbearing alpha male that will be calling all the shots. And it’s going to piss her off royally. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
She’s frustrated but not furious as I anticipated. “My circumstances are never changing. I’ll always be a blood jewel. Does that mean I’m never going to be allowed out of the walls surrounding this compound?”
Sounds like a great plan to me. “Maybe not if it keeps you safe.”
Avery stands with her hands on her hips and her weight shifted to one foot. I’ve seen Chansey in that same stance while angry with Curry and I can only wonder if it’s a coincidence or some kind of agápe characteristic. “I want to help find my sister.”
I play the card I’m certain will get through to her. “I know you do but you’ll only slow us down. We can find Jenn much faster if you stay here. Isn’t that what you want? For us to find her as soon as possible?”
I feel her conceding. “I know you’re right but I’ll feel useless if I stay here.”
“You won’t be of no use,” Curry says. “Chansey will need your help with the babies while I’m out. I can’t go if you don’t stay with her.”
“See? You’re needed here.” I’ll need to thank Curry for that later.
She’s hesitant as she appears to be thinking it over but finally agrees. “Okay. I wouldn’t want Chansey to be left alone.”
Curry tells me over his shoulder as he leaves the room, “I’ll meet you out front after I tell Chansey what’s happening.”
We leave Jenn’s bedroom and walk toward the foyer since she used the front door when she left. The others gather outside and begin forming the plan as I stop to kiss Avery. “Don’t worry. We’ll bring Jenn home.”
“Ugh!” she groans. “I hate this.”
“Me, too. But think of this as an opportunity. You’ll have the luxury of being able to speak freely with Chansey about the agápe bond. She can tell you things firsthand that no one else can. The good and the bad.”
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
She pulls me in for a tight squeeze before letting me go. “Please. Please. Please. Be careful.”
I squeeze her back. “Don’t worry about me, baby doll. There’s a reason I’m almost three hundred years old. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I know but I can’t stop myself from worrying. I realize it’s your duty to protect me so please understand my position when I worry about you. I can’t help it.” Hmm. Good point and one I’ve never considered.
I kiss her hard and place my forehead against hers. Curry walks past us in the foyer to join the others and it’s my cue to leave. “We’ll be back before you know it. With Jenn.”
Chapter Ten
I’m the last one to join the huddle outside the front door. “So, what’s the plan?”
Sebastian inhales deeply. “She went northwest judging by the direction of her scent. Since there’s seven of us, we’ll break into three groups.” He points in the direction of each assignment. “Gia, Lairah and Thatcher will take the far west corner. Curry and Sol will search the middle while Sully and I scan the far eastern section. Spread an acre apart so that gives us a wide span and we’ll push north. First group to find her sends out a text to notify the others. Any questions?”
Everyone voices their understanding and we split into our designated groups to begin searching. “I really screwed up.”
“You can’t blame yourself. This is something Jenn’s gotta accept and find a way to deal with. No way it’s your fault.” He’s being supportive but I wonder if he heard the harsh things I said to her.
“I told Jenn she needed to leave if she couldn’t accept my relationship with Avery.”
Curry stops. “I heard everything but you were protecting Avery from Jenn’s verbal attack. That’s what we do for our agápes because we can do no less.” I feel minimally better knowing he understands where I’m coming from but I still have Avery to worry about. I’m not certain she understands.
“But what if we don’t find her? Avery may never forgive me if that happens.” It was a possibility I had to consider.
“First of all, we will find Jenn. She’s still a fledgling so she has no idea how to thwart seven experienced vampires from tracking her. Secondly, that’s not how it works with your agápe. Avery can’t not forgive you. It isn’t her nature to hold a grudge against her beloved because she loves you too much.”
I hadn’t considered that. “I hope so.”
Our phones vibrate simultaneously. “See? Someone has already found her.”