Book One: The Girl (The Sanctum) by Madhuri Blaylock Page B

he had tried to convince himself that he needed to leave Ryker out of his plans with Dev, doing so just made everything feel intrinsically wrong and threw Wyatt off-balance. He smiled to himself, thinking this was one of those moments Jools would tell him he was acting like a girl and so be it. At least he felt like he was back on solid ground.
    “Hey,” Jools climbed onto her brother’s lap, getting right in Wyatt’s face, so close that if she really wanted to be annoying, she could kiss him, “now that you and Ryker are boyfriend and boyfriend again, can I see what you’re hiding upstairs?”
    Wyatt didn’t bother opening his eyes, knowing if he did, he would see nothing but Jools. That’s how close she was.
    “I can smell your breath.”
    “Yeah?” Jools asked, not moving back an inch, “What’s it smell like?”
    “Ass.”
    “You would know,” Jools snickered as she swung her legs off the couch and headed for the staircase, looking longingly upstairs.
    “Don’t you even think about goin’ upstairs without your brother.”
    Jools spun around to find herself face-to-face with Darby. A very healthy-looking Darby, suggesting she had recently fed. Jools silently shuddered at the fact, not wanting to think about someone walking around slightly lighter thanks to Darby’s dietary habits.
    “Well, aren’t you the picture of health?” Jools commented sarcastically.
    Darby sauntered past Jools and poured herself a drink before taking a seat on the couch next to Wyatt.
    “Don’t you sass me, Jools Clayworth. I haven’t forgotten that nonsense you pulled with Ryker the other night. He might have,” Darby shot Ryker a disgusted look, “but I didn’t. And the plain ol’ fact of the matter is I don’t like you, I tolerate you. So behave.”
    Jools held up her hands in surrender, knowing better than to test Darby’s temper. The vampire was already on edge, the last thing Jools needed to do was add to her testy mood.
    “Your house, your rules.”
    Darby eyed the younger Clayworth, sensing something different about the girl but unable to put her finger on it just yet. She would figure it out later. Right now, she had more pressing concerns.
    “Wyatt,” Darby began.
    Wyatt grabbed the tiny vampire and pulled her close to him, taking comfort in her familiar chill, wanting to ease her mind.
    “Don’t do it, Darby.”
    Darby had been so annoyed with Jools’ presence in her home that she failed to notice the change in Jools’ brother. Wyatt was the picture of calm, so unlike the boy she left this morning. Gone was the stress wrinkle between his eyes and the sense of frenzy he carried with him earlier in the day. Before her was the cool and calculated Class A Warrior, The Sanctum's crown prince returned.
    "Welcome back,” she smiled up at him.
    "Thanks," Wyatt shot her a quick grin, one that was gone so fast, had she blinked, Darby would have missed it.
    "I just want to tell you," Darby began again, sitting up and untangling herself from Wyatt’s embrace, "and please do not interrupt me. As much as I love you, Wyatt, there is nothing this Southern girl hates more than being interrupted, so whatever that pretty mouth of yours is about to say, hush it up.
    "Because I have got to say that I am so sorry but there was no way I was going to keep your secret. Well, actually that's not true. I could have kept it from Jools. Easily,” Darby shot Jools a less-than-friendly glance, “but Ryker is a whole other story. He saved me at the lowest point of my never-ending life, in ways you can never imagine, and I will always love him madly for that. So as much as I love you, and trust me, I do, I would never dream of lying to him. Ever. About anything.
    "When he found me this afternoon and asked if I knew where you were, I told him. I even gave him my key because the fact of the matter is you need Ryker. Maybe not the same way you needed him when you were younger but he is an intrinsic part of you. He is part of your