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I could only close my eyes tight and rub my temples.

He exhaled harshly.

“I knew you feared something, but I would have never imagined it was vampires.” He scoffed.

“Wait, you knew . . .” I rolled my lips between my teeth. I tried hiding my emotions from him.

“How could I not know, Cat? You jumped at every little sound, you woke up screaming, you always acted like someone was right behind you. I knew you were hiding from someone.”

I could only gawk up at him.

“And no, I’m not going back to school until I know you’re okay.”

My hands trembled at my sides.

“You’re not safe here?—”

He just shrugged. Who was this little brother of mine?

“I’m hungry. You got anything to eat?”

I scoffed and shook my head. I shoved his shoulder.

“Kitchen is that way.” He stormed forward and I hurried to catch up to him.

“So, what? It took you ten seconds to accept the existence of fictional creatures?” I muttered behind him.

“Kind of hard to deny it.” He sat at the island, elbows thudding on the counter.

“Maddy, can you make some food?”

She’s already clocked him and her gaze bounced from me to him. We had very similar features, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to guess we were siblings. We’d always been told we looked alike.

“Sure thing,” she said. Porcelain clanged as she rifled to get a plate out. He didn’t seem torn up about the existence of vampires and he really should be.

Peter fixed his gaze on his dead cell phone.

“Maddy, can you keep him here?”

All she did was give me a thumbs up. In the short amount of time I’d known her, I’d come to realize that she got the clue fast. She’d make sure he stayed put while I dealt with my overwhelming emotions.

Off-kilter, stunned, discombobulated . . . they were all words to describe the madness rolling through my chest and the frantic thoughts overwhelming my brain weren’t helping the matter.

It took only a few steps down the hallway for the ground to shift and I stumbled into the wall. My back slid down until I was in a half-slouch, propping myself up.

“Catalina.” Tobias’s whisper held a sharp edge to it. “Are you well?” He gripped my forearm and helped steady me on my feet.

“Where are all the guys?” I forced the words free from the back of my throat where my emotions had clogged.

“In your bedroom.”

I grabbed onto him and pulled him to the metal door across from the kitchen, unable to bear looking at my brother lest he see the tears forming on my eyelashes.

TWENTY-FIVE

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Bastien sprawled on my bed,arms behind his head. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping. The other three were in the living room area. Ren’s shoulder rested on the wall near my bedroom door, and the twins sat on the couch, Jax’s legs sprawled out and Asher crossed one ankle on a knee.