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He wasn’t such a meanie. I leaned over the table and gave Papa Nic a kiss on the cheek. “You’re my favorite,” I said, leaning down and whispering loudly in his ear so everyone else could hear.

“He doesn’t need a bigger head,” Papa Connor deadpanned.

“That’s the truth,” Papa Christian said, both taking my comment for what it was, a tease.

Papa Stephan just sat and chuckled, catching gazes with Mom. They smirked at one another for our “shenanigans”. For the first time in a while, it felt like we were back to normal again. Teasing, laughter, so much joy.

I walked out of the room with a filled heart and a new purpose. Not another clan was going to die. To think of all the relationships, the kisses, the laughter that just ended because of what happened.

It wasn’t fair.

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Chapter Five

After a quick kiss from Papa Christian and Papa Stephan who were staying in Pennsylvania to keep everyone calm, I boarded one of the several SUV’s that lined The Fort’s back parking lot. Besides my mother, Papa Nicolai, and Papa Connor, and us, there were two guards also coming and Li Chang.

Li’s hand was rigid as he gripped the window seat, staring out at the mostly empty parking lot as we loaded up. He didn’t say how he’d gotten here, but as soon as we were all in the SUV’s, we were being driven to the local airport where we would be boarding one of our private jets which would take us directly to the airport closest to Clan Chang in China.

With all the nerves running through my body, I doubted I’d be able to sleep even though it was going to be a very long flight. The longest I’d ever taken. Alexei slid in next to me and I put my head on his shoulder. I was used to doing things like this with him. It never seemed odd to hug him or lay my head on his shoulder when we were watching a movie together. Now, though, I wondered if it had always given him a different idea.

Our SUV backed up and then pulled forward. No one spoke as we made the hour drive to the airport. Most of us looked sullen, sad or stressed. None of us looked eager. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to find out what was going on. That was our number one priority but knowing what we would be walking into tore at my senses. I’d seen it in my head often enough to know the goriness of what lay ahead. To know I would be seeing it in real life turned my stomach.

Finally, we pulled into the county airport. It wasn’t a big commercial one. Just big enough to accommodate the size of our private jet. The SUV’s pulled right out onto the tarmac and we quickly exited and pulled our bags with us to board the plane. Time was of the essence. We didn’t want anyone—or anything—to hide the evidence waiting for us there. If all went well, we’d be leaving China with information on exactly who did this to Clan Chang so we could take swift action against them.

On a personal note, we’d also bury the clan respectfully instead of just letting their bodies decay where they lay.

My gut twisted. I wondered what Su’s looked like. Would I see him? Would I recognize him even if I did?

From what his uncle had said, he was coming here. He wanted to be a potential mate, and now he was gone. It chipped away at my soul to think about it.

I grabbed a seat in the back of the jet, plopping my bag next to me. Our private jet was big enough to accommodate this group and then some. Papa Stephan’s miracle cream invention had been packaged and sold at retail stores everywhere in the United States for skin ailments. The public didn’t know it had traces of vampire blood that helped with healing. It was my mother and Stephan’s idea to sell it nationwide, bringing in more money for the clan in case we went through anything like the blood shortage again. Even in the vampire world, money spoke volumes.

Rafe came up the aisle next and sat across from me. He smiled, his teeth pearly white in contrast with his sun-tanned skin. He looked out of place on the plane. It was like he should be permanently on the beach. I could almost smell the ocean’s waves and sand on him. “Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked, looking up.

I chuckled and smiled teasingly at him. What was I going to say? No? “Of course not,” I said.

He looked around as everyone else was getting settled in. Mother, Papa Nic, and Papa Connor settled in the front. The rest of the mates and the two extra guards found places in between. When he turned back around, he smiled. “Just wanted to get some time alone with you. It’s pretty difficult to do.”

“Especially with everything going on,” I said.

“I’m sorry about Chang,” he ventured, most likely recognizing the despair in my voice.

What to say to that? It wasn’t as if I knew Su. I’d never met him before in my life, but I still felt his loss because he was supposed to be here. “Me too,” I said lamely. I looked up and smiled when I saw Alexei step on and take the row in front of us. Then, I inched forward in my seat and lowered my voice. “I just can’t believe he was coming and now he’s not here.”

Rafe mimicked me, sitting forward in his seat too. He dragged a hand through his blond hair. “I can’t imagine just having the whole clan wiped out. It’s just…” His voice trailed off as a heaviness settled between us. His feet bobbed up and down as his eyes filled with thoughts that were a million miles away from here.

Before I knew it, the plane was taxiing, and the pilot came on the speaker system to tell us to buckle up. We really weren’t wasting any time getting off the ground. I was glad for it. It made me feel better to be doing something about what happened. If I would’ve had to stay home, I would’ve been a fidgety nervous wreck.

Rafe and I locked eyes as the plane picked up speed for takeoff. I was facing forward, one of the reasons why I wanted this seat, but since he was facing me, he was going backward when we were taking off. It didn’t seem to faze him a bit.

When we were in the air and leveled out, he scooted as far forward on his seat as he could. His gaze was focused now as if he’d finally figured out what he wanted to say. “This whole thing has got me thinking…” He bit his lip, one of the first signs of uncertainty I’d seen any of the potential mates display. It made me move forward. I didn’t know what I was doing half the time, so to see Rafe with a vulnerable side? It made me connect with him. He took a deep breath. “I’ve never really thought about it before, but I guess out in California, I’m kind of isolated. I understand there’s a whole other world out there and vampires live all over it. I know about your family and the others, but it’s never seemed that important to me. When you invited someone from my clan here, I—” He cut himself off and then charged ahead. “—I just thought it was going to be a cool adventure. I heard you were special, and I wanted to see it for myself, but I didn’t think anything beyond that. Now look what’s happened. A whole clan is no longer with us. You’re everything I’d heard about and then some. Even your family. I’m in awe of all of you.” He stretched even further, really testing the limits of the seatbelt. “To be honest, my clan seems pretty selfish compared to yours. Maybe that’s just me and the role I play in everything. Back home, I don’t care about anything but surfing, going out, and staying fed. I don’t live next to a training center that trains guards for our world. I train because I like it, but if I didn’t, I bet you I wouldn’t. I’d be the first to admit that if it’s surfing or training, I’ll probably go surfing.”

My eyebrows rose a little.

“I know that sounds crazy. Especially you hearing it because you know what it’s really like out there, but I guess I’ve been sheltered. I’ve heard the stories, but they didn’t affect me. The blood shortage didn’t even impact us out in California nearly as bad as it did you guys out here. I know that. I’ve read it. I’ve listened to the stories, but…” He shook his head, his face coloring in shame.

Rafe’s clan had helped us during the blood shortage. He was right they weren’t hit as badly. For one, they weren’t—and still aren’t—as big as our clan, so their stores had held up even when ours had depleted to nothing. Even with their help, it hadn’t been enough for us.