Page 84 of Bonded Through Bite

“No shit,” Santiago replies, finally losing some of that cool collectiveness.

“No. I mean we have a problem.”

“What?” the wolf growls and Samantha winces.

“Patricia is coming to visit.” My gaze flickers between Samantha and Santiago. The curses that flow from Santiago are not in any language I know, but I don’t need to know the language to get the gist.

“I take it that the shit just hit a bigger fan.” Zack instinctively curls closer to Samantha.

“That bitch is not getting anywhere near Samantha.” Santiago snarls and kicks the floor hard enough to make the hardwood crack.

“Who is Patricia?”

“The bitch who made us both,” I reply.

“And she’s coming here?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” he demands to know.

“She has some news about missing vampires.” I never should have made that call to ask about missing women.

“And you believe her?”

“That she has information? Of course. That it’s the reason she is coming to visit? Fuck no.”

“At least we are on the same page on that,” Santiago snaps.

“Is she a danger to Samantha?” The wolf has its hackles up.

“Is water wet?” Santiago growls a reply.

“All right, here’s what we are going to do,” I begin. “San, you are going to take Samantha and hide. I don’t think Patricia knows you are here.” Then I face the wolf, ready to argue. “You need to get out of here and take your pack too. Patricia is… difficult to predict. Get your trackers and start looking. Just don’t cross the border to my lands while you are at it.”

“What he’s leaving out is that Patricia is a homicidal bitch,” Santiago says coldly. “Keep your distance.”

The wolf looks like he’s about to explode, but then he looks down at Samantha and takes a couple of deep breaths. “Where are you taking her?”

“The bunker,” I decide and Santiago inhales sharply.

“No!”

“Yes,” I fire back. “It’ll keep her contained and you can defend it alone for a time if need be.”

“But—”

“We don’t have time to drag Samantha to another continent!”

That’s not an option I would allow in any case. Unless I were going with her.

“You are not leaving me out of this. She needs me,” the wolf argues.

“What is the bunker and where is it?” Samantha whispers and all our attention falls back to her. Her eyes look tired and wary.

“Little fangs, you look beat. How are you feeling?” Santiago strokes her neck.

“Just fucking dandy.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t try to avoid the question.”