Page 51 of Bonded By Blood
Kendall took a small step back, still holding Brianna’s hands, and bobbed her head. “Of course I’m fine. No one poisoned me. And Trista called to check up on me, too. She even offered to send Seth to get me if I thought I needed an escort.”
Brianna couldn’t stop the surprise from showing on her face. That didn’t sound at all like her mother. Then she smiled, just a little. “And you thought you were an outcast here.”
Kendall pouted. “She also said calling me was Joe’s idea.” She turned a smile toward Joe and added, “Thanks, by the way. Totally unnecessary, but very nice of you.”
Joe inclined his head and tucked his hands into his pockets. “You’re welcome.” He lifted his gaze to Brianna’s, but again only briefly. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”
There was definitely something wrong.
“Um,” Kendall started, taking a proper step back and looking at Brianna curiously. “I was hoping you could tell me what happened, but … is now a bad time?”
Brianna watched Joe let himself out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. “It was Matilda,” she said, almost on autopilot. “I don’t think I know everything, but apparently Matilda had reason to be wary of the quality of my meal and brought it out anyway.” She turned her gaze toward Kendall again. “Or so I’ve been led to believe.”
“Sweet Matilda? No way.” Kendall shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”
Biting back a sigh, Brianna took one of Kendall’s hands and guided her toward the sofa she herself had been sitting on when Kendall had burst into the room. “I think there’s more to the story, too,” she said. She folded both of Kendall’s hands between her own and stared into her refreshingly hazel eyes. “But listen to me, Kendall. Whatever the truth is, the situation is dangerous. There’s still a traitor in this house somewhere. The list of vampires Jasen has cleared is extremely short. I need you to be careful, do you understand? If you’re not one hundred percent sure you can trust them, don’t.” Maybe she should risk upsetting Kendall and ask her to leave the Sacramento area for a while. But where was safer?
“You’re kinda scaring me, Bri,” Kendall said quietly. “This whole thing is starting to scare me.” She curled her fingers around Brianna’s hands. “One vampire serial killer was bad enough, but now his brother’s escaped thanks to a mystery traitor that’s still traipsing around here. And you were nearly killed, too. Maybe an innocent woman was framed, maybe she was involved, maybe we’ll never know. How are you going to figure out who the traitor is? When are you going to catch those brothers?” Her voice rose a couple of octaves as her questions picked up speed. “When will this all be over? ‘Cause from here, it seems like we’re losing ground. They’re literally getting away with murder and flaunting it and we’re, what, hiding?”
Brianna held tighter to Kendall’s hands. “I don’t want you to worry, Kendall. No matter how bad it seems right now, we’re handling it. I promise.” She couldn’t tell Kendall that she’d never been poisoned before. That knowledge would only upset her more.
Kendall scoffed and jerked her hands free. “Don’t worry? How can I not worry? Brianna, you were fed poison! What are you going to do to make sure that doesn’t happen again?” She pushed to her feet and began pacing restlessly. “There’s plenty to worry about here. I’m an adult, I don’t need you coddling me. Jasen and Seth have been after these guys for like a century. Why should I believe they’re gonna finally catch ‘em now? What’re you doing different?”
“As far as we know, the Wilsons have never lingered in First Family territory before,” Brianna said, hoping to placate Kendall. She stayed seated, knowing better than to try and physically catch or restrain the girl.
“As far as you know,” Kendall repeated with deliberate emphasis.
Brianna heard her point loud and clear. “Also, though she was reluctant about it, Mother’s agreed to let the local wolves join the hunt. They’ll be patrolling the outer communities.” Seth, and probably Adam, were the only ones who knew the exact schedules, but that was on purpose, too.
Kendall paused her pacing. “Seriously? She’s actually playing nice with the werewolves?”
Brianna fought back a scoff, but let her lips lift in a bitter smile. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Okay,” Kendall said, “but … I guess that’s something. Although it doesn’t do much for investigating inside the city limits.”
“It was all she would agree to.” And certainly better than nothing.
Kendall perched on the side of Brianna’s bed, slumping forward. “I dunno, Bri. If they’re mostly hunting in the city, that’s where the focus should be, don’t you think?”
She did. She also didn’t want Kendall worrying about it so much. “Kendall, please, trust me on this.”
Kendall scrunched up her face. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said. “It’s that I don’t want to lose you.” Her voice cracked, just a little, but Brianna’s vampire hearing picked it up easily. Kendall looked away. “It’s like Trista’s more worried about the in-house traitor situation than the legit serial killer running around outside. She’s focusing the only people you can trust on that. And I guess I get it, I mean, I know it’s important, but so is the other thing!”
Brianna moved to the bed and wrapped her arms around Kendall’s shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. With Kendall’s head on her shoulder and a hand in Kendall’s hair, she whispered, “It is a lot to deal with, Kendall, but I promise you we’ll be okay. All of us. The Wilson brothers won’t be the end of the First Family.”
She’d said that, and she meant the words, but Brianna had to admit to being afraid that Kendall’s fears were still well-founded.
****
She’d sent Kendall home after their talk, because as long as the traitor remained unidentified the house wasn’t a safe place for her. That bothered Brianna significantly.
But it wasn’t the only thing bothering her.
She couldn’t find Joe.
It was nearly an hour after her conversation with Kendall already and she hadn’t seen a single glimpse of him. Where would he have gone? The sun was coming up outside, so she doubted he’d left the building. But he wasn’t in his room, or the small sitting room they’d made love in the day before. Would he have gone to the library? She didn’t particularly want to go back to the library, even though it had undoubtedly been cleaned up. Where did that leave? Why didn’t we prioritize replacing his cell phone? She was hesitant to involve any of the guards in her search. It didn’t take a genius to know most of them distrusted him, regardless of their instruction. Nothing good would come of sending them after him.
Brianna came to a stop at the top of the staircase that descended into the great room. Should she keep wandering, with little—arguably no—direction and just hope she found him? Or should she return to her room and wait for him? There was always the chance he’d gone back there himself. He’d been acting so strangely since she woke up in the safe-room. She suspected that was a large part of why she was so worried.