Blood: The Third Course

Chapter Twenty-Six

Carson buckled his belt and adjusted his jeans so they hung properly on his hips. He watched across the farm yard as Kaleb spoke into the phone, nodding dolefully and finally hanging up, tucking the phone back into his pocket. Grabbing his shirt from the crate in the grass, the last one there, Carson took his time in straightening it, pulling the sleeves the right way out. It wasn't like he had anyone he needed to talk to, or anywhere he needed to be. He supposed that he should make a phone call himself, but it could wait until later.

Looking across the farmyard again, Carson's eyes widened to see that Kaleb was storming towards him. Priya stepped in front of him, but the two barely shared a word before the Alpha shoved her carelessly out of the way and continued across the gravel towards Carson.

Carson tugged his shirt over his head, quickly shoving his arms into the sleeves and pulling the material down his body. He hadn't brought a jumper with him, not that it had really mattered until now, when he feared he would be caught in some kind of talking to.

Kaleb smacked his hand down on the top rung of the fence.

"You, here, now!" he snapped.

Carson groaned under his breath and trudged across the frozen ground. The stalks that had been cut were flattened, dead and freezing into the mud. The squelch of the autumn rains had long since dried off. Gone were the months that they'd return from the full moon coated in mud up to their elbows and knees. Carson used to enjoy those months. Not this year. This year, the full moon had been as lonely as any other day. The anger from his sister and Kaleb had isolated him out of the pack. He ran with them, but he wasn't one of them. He'd thought that maybe that would be over now, that the icy ground would have thawed their fury and disappointment now that Vince had returned. From the look on Kaleb's face, the distaste in his voice, Carson could see that his reception would not thaw any time soon.

"What is it?" Carson asked, trying to keep his tone level.

"Did you, or did you not, take that girl from the motel room?" Kaleb demanded. He smacked his hand rhythmically on the fence top, and Carson wondered how much Kaleb wanted the wood to be his brother-in-law's face instead.

"I did," he said. "What's going—"

"And did you, or did you not, return her to her family?"

Carson stopped, one foot on the bottom rung of the fence, hands poised ready to jump over the top. He ran his tongue across the back of his teeth as he considered how to answer him. He hadn't lied, not exactly. He'd had every intention of Edeline returning to her father, to those like her, but she'd not wanted to go.

"Carson?" Kaleb said, leaning closer. "Where is that girl?"

Releasing his grip on the wood, Carson stepped away from the fence. He looked down at his boots and shoved his hands into his pockets. Kaleb smacked the wood so hard that a crack appeared at the bottom with a wet groan.

"Carson, so help me god, you will tell me where she is!"

"Why?" Carson snapped, forgetting himself. "You got Vince back! That vampire—"

"Oh yes," Kaleb sneered, his fingers making dents in the wet wood. "Yes, that vampire is back, and so is another one..."

Carson's eyes narrowed and he took another step away from his alpha's anger.

"What?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Her name was Paige, she was Caine's sired. You know about her, don't you? She was the one turned that made you start this whole mess."