Blood Oath (#3, Mystic Wolves) by Belinda Boring

time
he had talked this long about himself. I was almost too hesitant to
interrupt. “Well, it could’ve been worse, you know?”
    “How so?” He asked, looking curious.
    “He could’ve called himself Edward, or
Jasper. Sparkling is the “in” thing right now.”
    Devlin groaned loudly. “I would’ve staked him
myself.”
    Laughing hard, I grabbed my sides as I
imagined him chasing poor Vlad around the room with a stake. Just
when I thought I could stop, an image of Devlin glittering in the
sun filled my mind, sending me into another round of hysterics.
    “Now what?” he said, scowling at my
laughter
    “I was picturing what you’d look like as a
Cullen. I think you’d totally rock the sparkle.”
    “Yeah, enough.” He held up his hand, shaking
his head. “Next topic.”
    “Okay, I’m sorry. It was too hard to resist.”
Taking in a calming breath, I continued, “I love hearing about your
past, though. What was your sister’s name?”
    “Elynor.” He sighed. “Even after all this
time I miss her. She would have loved you immensely had she known
you.”
    I rested my hand on his arm and squeezed,
trying to offer comfort. We settled into another bout of silence,
lost in our thoughts, and I was grateful for the glimpse he had
given me. I had no problem imagining him interacting with his
sister, doting on her because he’d shown similar affection for
me.
    I went to ask him more questions, but became
distracted by the images filtering through my connection. Relaxing,
trying to steady my emotions so I didn’t lose contact, I closed my
eyes and concentrated.
    Sensing something was happening, Devlin
didn’t utter a word, the room going still.
    It wasn’t difficult to understand what Mason
and Daniel was experiencing. They had finally arrived at the
meeting place, and judging from what details I could see, Avery had
invited them to one of the larger homes on the other side of town.
This surprised me because I didn’t think he was local. Trying to
remember the street names, looking for familiar landmarks, I felt a
rush of excitement. I knew where they were.
    The house appeared to be dimly light, and as
they cautiously entered the property, no one was there to greet
them or confront them. Again, this was interesting since I was
almost certain Avery would’ve had an entourage of minions.
    Daniel apparently thought the same thing
because I heard him ask Mason what he thought about the absence of
resistance.
    Scoping the area and not seeing any movement,
the Alpha whispered to stay alert. They continued moving up the
pathway toward the entrance, their hands resting lightly on their
weapons
    “Is everything alright?” Devlin’s voice broke
my concentration and I quickly nodded, returning my focus to the
mental images so I wouldn’t miss anything.
    “They’ve arrived and they’re not sure what to
make of it. They’re approaching the front door, but they don’t like
the lack of guards. It’s too quiet.”
    “Do you recognize where they are?”
    I nodded, but didn’t answer. Mason was
pounding on the door and both continued to look around warily. I
could sense his confusion and the moment when he decided they
needed to leave, but the door suddenly opened, revealing Avery.
    He was immaculately dressed in a dark blue
suit, tailor made from its appearance. He bowed slightly, welcoming
them into his home.
    I wanted to scream for Mason to follow his
gut and come home, not liking the look of satisfaction on the
vampire’s face, but I forced myself to be silent.
    Showing no hesitation, they crossed the
threshold, the door slamming shut behind them, and I felt like this
was a scene straight from of a horror movie.
    Gesturing for Mason and Daniel to follow him,
Avery led them into what looked like a parlor, offering them
refreshments as though he was a civilized host. Both refused and I
wondered if they caught the flash of disappointment on his face. It
was lightning fast, buried within seconds, but