Haven raised his eyebrows.
“You’re kidding,” Wesley let out.
“My wife and Nina are human.”
The clearing of a throat made Samson look at the last woman he hadn’t introduced yet. “I’m sorry, Francine. My apologies for not introducing you. This is Francine. She’s a witch.”
Haven’s head swam with information he needed to digest. Two of the vampires were married to human women? And one of them was pregnant? Hell, if he’d ever had an information overload, it was now. How was this possible? How could a human woman marry a bloodsucker?
And how common was this? Vampires sleeping with humans? Did this mean that him wanting to fuck Yvette wasn’t quite as perverse as he thought it was?
Haven gazed at the woman who’d been introduced at the very end: Francine. She looked familiar. He knew her from somewhere, but the memory of her face was blurry. “Have we met?” he asked her.
Francine smiled. “I was wondering whether you’d remember me. I was a friend of your mother. You were ten or eleven back then.”
Haven closed his eyes for a moment, letting the memories flood his mind. Yes, Francine had visited her mother. The last time he remembered seeing her was shortly before Katie was born. “You and her … you argued.”
Francine’s face turned serious. “Let’s not talk about that now. I’m happy to see that you finally found Katie.”
Instinctively, his gaze wandered to his sister, who now sat next to the pregnant Delilah. She seemed to be comfortable and completely at ease in her surroundings, despite the knowledge that the men around her were vampires. “It was that witch who found her, but nevertheless, we have her back.”
He felt his brother’s hand on his shoulder. “Yes, we do.”
Samson crossed his arms over his chest. “Family reunion aside, that’s where our problem begins.”
“Problem? Listen,” Haven started. “I know you’re probably all pissed because I abducted Yvette and Kimberly, but I had no choice. That witch, Bess she called herself, was holding Wesley captive. I couldn’t let him rot there.”
“We know all that,” Samson said calmly. “That’s not the problem. Not anymore anyway. Nobody was killed in the fight. But it’s not the end of it.”
“You freed us from the witch. Thank you for that. Now, since there are no hard feelings, I’d like to have a word with Yvette and then get out of here. No offense.”
“None taken,” Samson conceded. “But you’re not leaving. Neither of you three.”
Shock coursed through Haven. Had he simply exchanged one prison for another?
Twenty-Five
Haven drew in a breath and glared at Samson, taking two steps toward him, before Zane blocked his approach. The bald vampire flashed his fangs. Vaguely, Haven heard Kimberly gasp and sensed Wesley move to his side. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the hostile vamp.
“Get out of my fucking way!”
“Zane!” Samson admonished.
Tense seconds passed before Zane rolled his shoulders and followed his boss’ command.
“Excuse my associate, but he has an aversion to witches,” Samson explained.
Great! And if Yvette could be believed, he and his siblings were witches. This didn’t bode well for his immediate future. Haven cast a quick glance at his sister and noticed how the pregnant Delilah patted Kimberly’s hand as if to reassure her, a warm smile playing around her lips.
The assembled group was a study in contradiction. On one hand, Amaury and Delilah were treating him, Wesley and Kimberly politely, on the other hand, Zane showed open hostility, while Samson was keeping them prisoner. Where the rest of the vamps stood, he couldn’t determine yet. And as to where Francine fit in … he was entirely in the dark.
“I’d like an explanation of what you want from us,” Haven demanded, tossing Samson a challenging look while at the same time widening his stance. Yet deep down he knew fighting them would be a suicide mission. And he couldn’t risk the lives of his brother and sister. He’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Samson nodded, a contemplative look on his face. “And you deserve one. Let me assure you that we have no interest in harming you, but we need to protect ourselves, and unleashing the Power of Three will upset the balance of power in our world. We can’t allow that.”
“Hold it right there.” Haven held up his hand. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. As I told Yvette before, we have no powers. We might smell like witches, but we have no powers.”