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“Do they know what you are now?” Jax asks.

“Tom does; after today, he got a good look. I thought he would be more surprised. It seems like he has known about this world for a while. He already knew who Ryker was,” Serenity explains.

“I didn’t make him piss himself,” I say, frowning. “I was disappointed with his reaction. He was nervous but still determined to face me.”

“I’m sure you wish he would run away screaming,” Blue snorts.

“It would have been a nice touch.” I glare at him.

“Fierce vampire is losing his touch,” Blue taunts.

“We can test your theory if you're up for it,” I suggest and lean forward.

“Boys, can we table the fierce vampire test for another time?” Jax asks.

“Fine, but I want to go on record here. I still could kick your ass.” I point at Blue. We both laugh at the same time. Our mutual respect was growing.

“Moving on.” Harmony rolls her eyes at us. She moves over to Jax in punishment for Blue. “Are you going to talk to your mom?”

“I suppose. I’ve never had a good relationship with her. I would be alright with never seeing her again,” Serenity confesses. “If nothing else, I want some closure for myself, and then I can move on.”

“That’s sad. I get it, though,” Harmony says.

“Let’s talk more about what happened in the bathroom,” James reminds us. “Have you ever seen someone with that kind of power?” he asks me.

“No, it was something new. We haven’t had the time to test it out again. Unless Jax doesn’t mind Serenity breaking things.” I look at him. “I did promise she would be good.”

“Ryker, I am not a party trick,” Serenity scolds.

“Of course not. We would just be testing a theory.” I paste an innocent look on my face, or what I hope is innocent. I don’t have tons of experience with what that would look like. The only people I have seen with such power are witches. I may have to contact some old acquaintances to get an idea what Serenity is capable of.

“This is a private area. You can’t come in here,” Jax speaks to someone in the doorway. We all turn to see a woman standing there with a stern expression.

She has short blonde hair. Her clothing makes her stand out. Her stiff white shirt and a skirt down to her ankles feels very out of place for the club. She seems to be in her forties. The various lines on her face are pinched in displeasure. Her furious gaze is centered on Serenity.

“Mom?” Serenity asks, shocked.

Chapter Seventeen

Serenity

My mom is not happy with me. This isn’t a new revelation. But what confuses me is that she would go this far to find me. As far as I know, she has never set foot in any kind of club before now. While I was at home, she didn’t have much interest in the details of my life. It’s odd that once I left home, she suddenly developed a conscience and wanted to be involved.

“This is your mom?” Ryker asks.

“Yes.” I stood and faced her. “What are you doing here?”

“Is it wrong to want to see for myself what is happening in my daughter's life?” she asked, sniffing the air and wrinkling her nose as if smelling something putrid.

“Uh, yeah. You never have before,” I say.

“Well, I had a revelation. When you decided to leave a perfectly good man and travel to a sinful place, I had to step in. I neglected your needs for too long.” She looks at Ryker with disdain as he steps next to me.

“You have to explain better. This is such weird behavior from you,” I say, the possible reasons swirling through my mind, none making sense.

“Maybe we should give you the room,” Jax gracefully offers.

“Shit, no. I want to stay,” James protests and makes himself comfortable.