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I caught it midair and lowered it to my mouth. Tearing into the side of the pack, I grumbled, "Don't call me that."
The moment the blood touched my tongue, I couldn't hold back a groan of pleasure. The others moved into the room, keeping their distance from me as I drained another bag of blood. When I opened my eyes, four out of five of my brothers stood before me. The twins had on matching grey hoodies, stating they went to the local college, along with gym shorts. We tried to integrate ourselves into each place we hid out in so we didn't stand out. The town we were in now was a college town, which made it easy pickings for feeding, but harder for those of us who looked more than the average college age. Which was why I'd sent Wynn to see Piper while I kept to our motel room.
"Better?" Drake quirked a brow.
"Much." I tossed the bag aside and placed a hand on my knee. "How did it go?"
"Well, Allister got himself surrounded by a horde of sorority girls and we had to push a bit of power to get out of there without getting mobbed or stripped on the spot." Drake chuckled, nudging his brother in the arm. Allister's lips ticked up slightly at his twin's words, but didn't comment further.
"While that sounds entertaining, I was referring to Wynn." I shifted my gaze from the twins to Wynn. He lounged on the dingy, vomit green bedspread with a look of utter disdain on his face. No doubt in reference to the pitiful lodging we had found ourselves in.
"Speaking of interesting," Wynn murmured, with a sly quirk of his lips that didn't promise anything I would like. "Things with Piper and Darren are going well."
"Are you sure?" I arched a brow. "I feel far more anger than I should be if everything is going well."
Wynn threw his head back and laughed. The others gave him a curious look, but I simply waited for him to elaborate. "Oh, yes. Piper is truly and surely, as they say, pissed off. I barely made it out of there with my head on my shoulders. We must find a better way of checking in on them than just once a month. I fear she won't stay in one place for too much longer. It's already been far too long." He seemed like he had more to say, but he didn’t elaborate further.
"Yes," I mused, lifted a hand to my face. "I wish we had better news, but unfortunately, with no way to find the hunters, we are simply stuck on the defense. Marcus is out now doing recon."
"Recon?" Wynn sat forward, his hands laced between his legs. "What could he possibly hope to learn?"
My mouth tugged up at the edges. "With any luck, where the hunters take refuge. Marcus will let a hunter find him and then follow them back to their lair."
"Lair?" Drake chuckled.
"For lack of a better word." I glowered at him, then I turned my attention back to Wynn. "Anything else to report?"
Wynn's face takes on a curious expression I couldn't describe, but Rayne thankfully figured it out for me.
Rayne jumped back from the others with a look of shock and horror on his face. "Piper and Darren are what?"
Wynn offered Rayne a lazy grin, lifting a hand to wiggle his little finger into his ear. "Shout a little louder, little brother. I don't think the hunters in town heard you."
The twins carried identical expressions of confusion and interest, while I waited patiently for Rayne or Wynn to explain.
"How could this have happened?" Rayne continued, jerking his arms around him. His agitation showing with each movement. "I thought they tolerated each other." Then, without warning, Rayne spun on me, pointing a finger in my face. "This is your fault. If you hadn't opened that can of worms, my Piper wouldn't be lowering herself to...to playing house with that stick in the mud." Rayne's face turned as red as his hair as he twisted back around to the others. "And I blame all of us for leaving her alone with him for so long."
Drake grabbed Rayne by the shoulders and stopped him from going back and forth like a spin top. "Would you chill out already and just tell us what's going on?"
Wynn interrupted Rayne before he could get another word out. "It seems our dear Darren has far more charm than we believed. He's somehow wormed his way not only into Piper's bed, but her heart as well."
While the others stiffened at Wynn's words, I hummed. On the outside, I seemed calm and collected, but on the inside, I boiled with jealousy and rage. Not because I hated the fact that Piper and Darren were together, but because I hadn't been there to watch it develop. Two of the people I cared for most in this world had found solace in each other. If that wasn't ironic, I didn't know what was.
My brothers argued and debated how the serious Darren had been able to woo the hyperactive klutz that was Piper, while I closed my eyes and focused. My mind shifted from my body and flew through the air. My conscience sped through the emptiness until it came into the nearest crow in Seabrick.
Lifting my wings, I took to the air. The salty breeze from the ocean filled my senses as I swooped and flapped in the sky. I shifted through the trees and passed the houses, barely noticing the humans wandering the streets around me. Finally, I lowered myself onto the nearby branch of a small house near the beach.
Peering through the window of the living room, I searched for a familiar face. Neither Piper nor Darren were in the living room. I strained my ears toward the sounds coming from farther in the house. Giggling and groans. Taking flight once more, I glided through the air until I rounded the house, landing on the windowsill to the bedroom.
The room was simple, but it had touches of Piper and Darren in it. The bathroom door was open, spilling light into the otherwise dark room. Clothes were strewn over a nearby chair, a bra had been carelessly dropped on the floor, and there was a stack of romance novels on the side table. Nothing of Darren's was thrown about the room, but there was a small pile of his clothes on the dresser and a pair of white gloves on the nightstand.
Another giggle pulled my attention back to the bathroom door. The water from the showerhead tinged against the tile, disrupted by what I assumed were bodies in the way. I waited for the water to cut off and then feet padded out of the shower, barely audible. Then there was giggling again.
"If you get me dirty, I'll have to take a shower all over again." Piper's voice came out husky and muffled as if something covered her mouth.
"Then I shall have to clean you, thoroughly." I recognized the sound of desire in Darren's voice as they stumbled out of the bathroom, nude and still slick with water. I waited for Darren to insist on cleaning up the water they were dripping all over the wooden floor. He didn't. Darren's hands slid down to cup Piper's ass, dragging her closer to him as they collapsed on the bed. To my utter surprise, Darren smiled. An open and honest grin that spread from one ear to the other. I'd never seen such a thing on Darren's face in all our time together.
Giving them their privacy, I withdrew from the crow. My mind flew through the air between Georgia and Rhode Island, settling back into my body.
My brothers were no longer arguing, their voices low as they discussed the movements of the hunters nearby. Wynn noticed my movements first, pausing mid-sentence to look to me. The others followed suit.
"Well?" Allister asked with a hint of apprehension in his voice.
I uncrossed my legs and brushed my pants off as I stood. "What? Are you afraid of a little competition? Do you think that Piper does not have room in her heart for each of us?" All but Wynn shifted. He seemed unaffected by my human servants’ coupling, unlike the others. "There is nothing to fear. Be happy they are finding enjoyment in each other rather than outside of the family. God only knows what Piper could get herself into if she wasn't thoroughly distracted."
Wynn snorted. "Isn't that the truth."
