Luca

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

The contents in the refrigerator door jostled as Luca pulled back to find his sister, Mickey, watching him from the entryway to the kitchen. Her t-shirt pulled tight over her round stomach, and as was usual these days, she pressed both hands into her lower back. She tapped her foot and shrugged.

"What makes you think I'm in a good mood?"

He poured the milk he'd been after and waited for her reply. He and Mickey had the most volatile relationship among the siblings. Just two years older than him, she tried to act like his mother more than his sister, and it rarely went over well. Pregnancy hormones hadn't helped the situation.

"You're humming that Ed Sheeran song."

"I was not."

"Incessantly," she continued, reaching around him to pull a glass out of the cabinet. She and Kade had their own house, but with him out hunting Rosita, she spent her nights here.

Rolling his eyes, he downed the rest of his drink and rinsed the cup. When he danced with Van at the Riviere, he had paid little attention to the song the string quartet played, but now that Mickey pointed out his humming, he was sure it was the same song. He wasn't surprised it had seeped into his subconscious, taking root there as easily as the girl in his arms had taken root in his heart.

"It's a girl, right?"

"Shut up."

"Come on, Luca," she whined and rubbed her belly. "I have to live vicariously through someone."

He grinned at her slyly. "Living vicarious is not what put you in that position."

She had the good grace to blush, but she stiffened. "Is that why you're in a good mood? Did you have sex? Oh, my god. My baby brother had sex."

"Shit, Mickey!" He slapped his hands over her mouth. "Are you trying to wake the dead? If Mama hears you say that, there will be no convincing her it isn't true. I already sat through the birth control talk when you got caught with Kade, but we see how well that turned out."

Sharp fangs pierced his palm, and he yanked his hand back. Mickey pointed at the ring on her finger. "We got pregnant on purpose you ass, and you didn't answer the question."

"Because you answered it for me. Incorrectly, I might add. No, I haven't had sex. I haven't even kissed her. Good grief. I swear this is the same conversation I had with Livy."

"But there is a girl." She preened when he didn't deny it. "I was beginning to think you might prefer men since you never showed interest in anyone."

Luca' s body was very interested in Van, especially after his sister put the idea of sex in his mind. Not that he needed her to put it there... After that dance the other night, he'd had more than one steamy dream, but he really wished he wasn't dealing with that interest while standing in the kitchen with his sister.

"Why are you buying into the stereotype? Not all teenage boys are horn dogs 24/7."

"Sure, sure," she waved away his protests as she waddled to the living room. "But Luca, be careful, okay. If she's not pack, then you're just gonna end up hurt because you know it doesn't work."

"Who said she wasn't pack?" His family was aware of his connection to Van, but they didn't know how close they'd become.

"Come on, brother. You know every shifter female around your age, and you want me to think you just suddenly woke up one day and realized you liked one of them?"

"Is that out of the realm of possibility?"

"Whatever. Like I said. Be careful." She disappeared from view, but her finger shot back into sight after a few seconds. "And remember to wrap it up."

Luca groaned. Thank the gods she was Kade's to deal with because he didn't think he would survive her living here full time. Shaking his head while laughing, he answered his phone as it rang.

"Hello."

"Luca, it's Tommy. I'm calling from a burner phone. We've been compromised. Van needs to get that file, and you both need to get out of there. Now. Someone knows."

"Wait, slow down," Luca insisted. He gripped the counter to remain upright as the impact of Tommy's news hit him. "Is Van safe?"

"I don't know. We just got word about ten minutes ago that someone knew about me, and I can see the Slayers surrounding the building. We have to assume they know about everything."

"Shit, Tommy. Doesn't your group have protocols for this kind of thing?"

"We do. We-" A loud bang muffled Tommy's voice. "I have to go. Like I said, it would be best if you cover your tracks."

The line went dead. Luca stared at the phone, mouth open. How had everything fallen apart so fast? But only one thing mattered right now. Make sure Van wasn't going down in this crash.

"I'll be back," he shouted as he passed Mickey who was almost asleep on the couch.

He opened the front door, took two steps, and nearly toppled head first to the ground when he tripped over the girl crying on his front porch.

"Van?"

She threw a small object at him. The flash drive. He shoved it in his pocket and dropped to his knees in front of her. This moment reminded him of the night he chased her through the fields, only this time, she reached for him first.

"I thought you were going to call me before you did it," he admonished, his tone tender as he pushed her hair back.

"I had an opportunity, and I took it. I was in the Warehouse District when your messages came through."

He let her words sink in. "You saw them take Tommy? Is he... is he dead?"

"No, they took him away in cuffs. I guess he didn't put up a fight, but Trixie was there. God, I'm such an idiot."

She sat up and scraped the tears from her cheeks. Her green eyes flashed with fury, and she stood, brushing dust from her jeans before beginning to pace the length of the porch. Luca didn't move and remained silent. She would tell him when she was ready.

"I let myself forget for one second who Abe is. He said all the right things. Did all the right things. Talked to me about my mom. We weren't yelling at each other."

Luca's gut soured with fear. The biggest danger to their rescue plans was Van growing attached to her father, and here she was, admitting it was happening.

"It started after the accident. He may have even set Isaiah up or asked him to cause the accident because he knew it would shake me up. He was right. I was vulnerable after surviving something like that again, and I thought maybe he could really be the dad I used to dream about. But it was all a lie. I suspected as much when I saw the way he looked at Tommy. With pure malice."

"Van," Luca said, going to her side and pinning her in place. As much as he didn't want to put in a favorable word for his adversary, he also didn't want to see Van in pain. "That's nothing you didn't know about your dad. Him doing his job doesn't change that he might be a halfway decent parent. Believing in different things doesn't mean you can't love each other."

"No." She shook her head. "I mean, yes. You're right, and after I calmed down, I thought the same thing. I got to the house and decided to get the file because I knew he wouldn't be home for hours. Gabriella is gone again on another one of her weird retreats. I wasn't going to get another opportunity like that again."

The front door opened, and Mickey stuck her head out. "Luca, is everything okay out here? Oh. Oh!"

"Not now. We'll be inside in a minute. Actually," he said, pushing Van toward the house. "We should go inside so no one can see us."

Not that it would matter if Tommy was right. If Abe Helsing had proof that Luca had conspired with Tommy, the Slayers would be here in no time. This was the worst place Van could have come, but he was grateful she saw him as a safe harbor.

"I'll make us some cocoa," Mickey said, leaving them in the foyer.

"So what changed your mind?" he coaxed.

"It took me a few tries to get into his computer. His password was my mother's name and her date of birth." Van sucked in her lip and blew out several times as she tried to catch her breath. "It was a nice touch. Almost made me think I was wrong, but after I found the file called "The Countess," I started clicking around. He told me he didn't know about me, but he lied. He found out about me three months before the accident."

Van would have crumpled to the floor if his arms hadn't been around her, and he led her to the sofa, shifting pillows so they could sit side by side. He thought his anger had come to a head the night they took Livy- the night he vowed to end the Slayers, but that had been an ember compared to the inferno blazing in his chest now. That man destroyed everything good and precious, and Luca would not stop until Abe Helsing could hurt no one else.

"Luca." Van hiccuped. "I think he caused the accident. He had someone tailing us. There were documents that recorded payments to someone for being in our city that day. An ambush of some sort. He wanted us all brought in. What if that's why I didn't die? Because he had me pulled out, and he left them both to die."

"Van, I'm so sorry," he said, kissing the top of her head. Her small fingers curled around his, her nails biting into his flesh.

"Not as sorry as he will be."