SEDUCTIVE PREY

VAMP-JACKED

Racing against the clock, we set up a supernatural dragnet of sorts. Lexie has a pattern of going after teenage boys who have been lured from various after school hangouts all over Greenwich. So, we've divided into groups of four and spread out across the city. Disguising ourselves so she won't see us coming.

For hours we wait patiently for her to show up to claim another life. But the night passes on without event. So do the next two nights afterward. We've all but given up hope, and make plans to regroup, when we finally spot her. Walking with a group of teen guys holding skateboards.

Fearing she may be about to strike again I text the others to give them our location. Then, Ethan, Tristan, Kaia, and I close in on her from all sides. Careful not to alert her to our presence as she lures them out to the parking lot.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" I ask.

"You don't want to know." Ethan shakes his head.

"Your sister is luring them to an undisclosed location with the promise of fun." Kaia tells me. Proud of herself when she sees my reaction.

Because no... just no.

While I recover from the bile threatening to eject itself from my throat, I follow Lexie. Keeping a close eye on everything she does. From her flirty behavior with the guys she intend to kill, to just how easy this is for her. Which scares the hell out of me. Because even though she thinks she knows it all. Lexie is lost. And she has been for a while now, but I don't know why. Only, she's been this way since she was eleven. She went from a happy, bubbly kid who looked up to me. To an angry, bitter, thorn in my side who is somehow convinced I'm the root of all her problems.

"We need to intercept." Kaia tells us.

"Not yet." Ethan shakes his head. "Not until we can isolate them away from everyone else. If we intercept now, not only will she kill them, but she'll kill anyone else in the vicinity."

For someone who's barely interacted with Lexie except in passing, Ethan sure has become an expert on her overnight.

Then it hits me... she drank his blood.

Maybe now they're somehow connected.

"You've been holding out on me." I narrow my eyes at him. "You have some super freaky vamp-jack on Lexie that you can use to tap into her, don't you?"

Tilting his head, an amused smirk etches across his face. Lighting up those crystal blue orbs he calls eyes. "That's one way of putting it." He replies.

"Can you tell me what the hell she's thinking?"

"I could." He nods. Then he adds, "But it's not my place. I'll help you capture her, but that is all."

"So, you know exactly what she's thinking and you're not going to tell me?" I recoil. Offended.

"If I've learned anything in the many years I've been alive, it's that people are ever evolving, Ali. What she's thinking and how she feels right now, may not be how she thinks or feels in the future. And also, I know better than to get in the middle of whatever this is between the two of you."

Ethan is my best source of information where Lexie is concerned, but he won't tell me anything.

"How the hell am I supposed to help her if I don't know what she's thinking?" I ask. Folding my arms across my chest. Because... duh... my mate equals what's his is mine. Including whatever he knows about my sister. Only, Ethan has clearly drawn a line in the sand.