Chapter Ninety-four

The look on her face told Bram this would go one of two ways. He was hopeful though. Especially when Mihaela jumped out of her chair and Jennifer didn’t even flinch. “Get them now!” Mihaela yelled, and Jen nodded, taking a step forward.

Stretching her arms and neck, just like Bram had shown her when teaching her to fight, Jennifer reached her arms out in front of her, smiling at Mihaela. The woman never even doubted the loyalty of her true blood. Instead, Jen’s arm went to the side, grabbing Mihaela’s arm. Letting her magic lose, Mihaela screamed as electricity coursed through her body. Her limbs shook and her teeth chattered, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she slumped into a heap on the floor.

Bram couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the sight. “I didn’t like the way she talked about Izzy anyway.” Jen snorted, kicking her gently with her toes.

“Don’t kill her. Not yet.” Gavin stepped forward, his arm outstretched.

Jen backed away from the body looking over at Bram expectantly. “Gavin’s right. We might need her to get Tyler.” Bram smiled looking down at the witch’s frame.

Lifting both his hands in the air, he went to Jen, who met him with a *whoop* and gave him a double high-five. “Yeah!” She pumped her fist in the air. “That was awesome!”

Gavin gave her one of his rare smiles. “Electrifying. Literally. We’re going to have to keep an eye on you.”

“Thanks, Uncle Gavin.” She bounced on her toes excitedly. He winked at her, and she winked back. Bram couldn’t help but roll his eyes at them.

“What about my monkeys?” Bram asked, “We need to find them and get out.”

“I know where they are.” Gavin pointed toward the door.

As Bram shuffled through the satchel at his waist, Jen asked, “Hey question,” Bram pulled a set of hand and foot cuffs glancing at her quickly before leaning over Mihaela’s limp body to bind her, “why was it that when I was alone with her, I had to do everything she said. It was like my body wouldn’t listen to what I wanted? It only did she asked.”

It was Gavin who answered. “Something to know about vampires is that we work in the form of a hierarchy. There’s almost always someone above you. For instance, my vampire mother can command me. She’s my master, so I have to do anything she wants. Her master, however, trumps her. So, if he were around, I would have to do what he says. Even if she tells me to do something different. If Bram were to kill either of them, he would take their place as my master. My best guess here is, if his blood was used in the creation of Mihaela as a vampire, he would trump her mastership over you. So, when he gave you a command, it allowed you freedom outside of Mihaela’s commands.”

“Oh.” She watched as Bram slammed a thin dagger high in Mihaela’s chest. “I thought you weren’t going to kill her.”

Gavin smiled ruefully, “That’s not her heart. It won’t kill her. It’ll keep her weak for some time and hurt like hell. Stupid bitch deserves worse.” He grumbled the last part.

Bram hauled the vampire up and over his shoulder none-to-gently. “There. Now we’re ready.” He nodded, and Gavin turned on his heals, heading out the door.

“It’s just down here.” He said. Once he reached the door, Gavin kicked it in, and the three kids yelled, huddling together. Jen hissed, bouncing against the opposite wall as she tried to get away.

“Yeah, we’ll have to figure that one out.” Bram frowned, “Why don’t you take Mihaela down, and stay in front of us. Being around humans is going to be very difficult for you right now.” He handed the vampire off to Jen, who looked nervous at first, then smiled as she easily put her over her shoulder.

“Gabe is going to be so freaking jealous! It’s like she weighs nothing.” Jen continued to gush as Bram walked into the room. As soon as the kids saw him, they jumped up, throwing themselves as him, wrapping their arms around his waist and legs. He knelt down, pulling them all into a large bear hug.

“Ah. I’ve been so worried about you all!” When he went to stand, the youngest, Missy, wouldn’t let him go, so he pulled her into his arms and carried her with him. The other two snagged a hand or a fist full of shirt, following closely behind him. “Don’t you go rubbing it in. He’s already begged me to change him, and now he’s going to be insufferable. You’ll have to avoid him for now too. It’s going to be dangerous for you guys to see each other, so you’ll have to use face time. I’m not sure what we’re going to do now.”

Gavin cleared his throat looking over his shoulder. “Well, maybe Tyler and I should discuss taking her in? She wouldn’t have to be alone, and we could teach her. He was complaining he wanted to have a kid, like you, but I told him I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Of course, I need to make sure he’s okay with that first. I mean, maybe you could turn Gabe and they could both come?” Gavin said, pausing at the exit. He turned seriously to Jen, grabbing her upper arm. “When we leave the building, the city is going to slap you in the face. Hard. Painfully. Don’t breathe through your nose. And DON’T focus on your hunger. I’ll have to knock you out and carry both of you to the safe house. That’s more work than I want to do.”

Bram couldn’t help but chuckle, “Such a gentleman.”

“Shut it, Bram.” Gavin snapped at him. “I assume you’re taking the kids and heading straight to the church?” He looked at Bram, “We need to move quickly. I’m worried about Tyler.”

Bram put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you going to be okay with Mihaela and Jen? Maybe I should have you wait at the bar down the street, and I can take Jen to the safe house. I’ll come back and grab the kids and head out to the church. If her desire to feed becomes too overwhelming, you might have some issues with her.”

“So, I’m taking the kids and Mihaela and heading to the bar?” Gavin looked at him a bit confused.

“Yes.” Bram looked over at Jen, “I don’t think you would hurt him on purpose, but if you were to get anxious and use your magic on him, you could possibly kill him. Even if you didn’t mean to.”

“I’ll do what you think is best. I can’t say I know much about your kind.” That’s when they split. Bram didn’t have time to lollygag, so he lifted Jennifer up and over his shoulder and was gone. Gavin walked toward the bar, getting funny looks from people as he walked by with three children clinging to him and a woman over his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” A man asked, eyeing Gavin suspiciously.

“We’re fine. I just need to get somewhere I can set her down and call a cab.” Gavin said, strolling by the man. He asked the kids, touching Alex’s shoulder.

“We’re okay. That’s our stepmom, she got super drunk and our uncle had to come get us. Now that he’s here, we’re going to be okay.” He frowned up at the guy, the boy had stopped to look up at the guy, and Gavin turned, waiting for him to catch up again.

“Okay. Just needed to make sure.” The guy smiled at them, “Do you need help or something man? That’s quite an armful.”

“I just need to keep moving before I drop her. But thanks.” Just then, Bram jogged up to them.

“Hey,” Bram slowed, frowning at Gavin, “She did it again huh? I’m sorry.” They played it off, and the guy nodded at them, moving on.

“You were faster than I thought you would be. Everything go okay?” Gavin asked, bouncing Mihaela on his shoulder.

“Overall.” He held a key fob out to Gavin. “Take Mihaela to the bar. It’s probably still a mess, but my office will be the best place to keep her. Close the partition in the window, it’s this button here, and make sure you lock down the room with this one. It’s the only place she won’t be able to escape. You can follow us to the church after, or go off to the safe house. Be careful of Jen though, she did try to electrocute me when we passed by a kid with a bloody knee. So, she’s probably a bit worked up.”
“Right. I guess I’m glad you thought about that. Maybe Tyler and I wouldn’t be best to try to help. I don’t know anything about kids or teenagers, and certainly nothing about magic.” Bram watched as Gavin’s free hand pet the head of Mable, who was currently pressed to his hip holding Missy in front of her. He couldn’t help but smile at the interaction Gavin didn’t even realize.

“We’ll get everyone together later to talk about our options. And see what happens from there. The Elders are going to freak when they learn about her and what Mihaela did.” Bram waived the kids over and they followed looking worse for the wear already. “I’m heading to the church. We need to go check on Izzy. You guys are going to come with me.” Missy stood in front of him and raised her arms, wanting to be picked up, so Bram obliged, pulling her into his arms.

“I m-missed y-y-you, d-dadd-dy.” She said, nuzzling into his shoulder.

“I missed you too, baby. We’ll all be home and happy together again soon. I promise.” He squeezed the little girl, rubbing her back. As the other two came up, he held out his hand to Mable. “I missed you all. I’m so sorry. I’ll do better this time.” They gave him sad smiles, Mable taking his hand and Alex taking hers. “Come on, let’s go get your mom back.”

They nodded as Gavin gave him a deadpan glare, “See you soon, I hope?”

“Yes. I need to know what is going on with Izabella. We’ll go after Tyler soon. You need to get her into my office before she wakes, so you should hurry.” Bram said as Gavin nodded, taking off toward the bar.

Grabbing the kids’ hands, Bram pulled them along. It would be a long walk to the church, but he was afraid to call for a ride. They were tailing him, and that’s probably how they got the kids in the first place. Not that he doubted Jerome, but sitting in a car all day made him an easy target. And IF Jerome was part of their scheming, Bram could avoid any of the issues that could transpire. If it was Jerome, it would be against his will and because they had something on him. Bram couldn’t give the guy grief over it. His child was like Bram and Tyler, a half-blood. And if they got the boy, there wouldn’t be much Jerome would be able to do other than what they wanted.

Bram was ready for that eventuality. The most important thing in this moment was knowing Izabella was alright. Nothing else mattered.