She rapped her knuckles on the frosted glass door. “Mr. Rothsberg?”
A voice inside greeted her. “Come in, Sarah.”
She twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Mr. Rothsberg sat behind his desk with his hands folded in front of him. He was dressed in a different sweater vest and slacks combination than when she had seen him at the fair. A thin sheen of sweat slicked his bald head and brow. File cabinets with piles of paper towering on top lined the office walls. Even though smoking was prohibited anywhere on the school grounds, the room reeked of pipe tobacco. One lone tarnished cross was the only Christian symbol in the religious school office, and at the angle it hung, it looked like it was an afterthought.
He motioned to the faded, threadbare chair across the desk from him. “Please. Have a seat.”
Sarah settled on the edge of the seat. Her stomach churned. Her heart fluttered. She had wanted to teach since she was a child, and now it was possibly coming to an end. She wove her fingers together to keep her from wringing her hands.
Mr. Rothsberg leaned toward her and then shook her head. “Sarah, we have rules. We have standards. The parents who pay to send their children here need to know their children are in the best hands.”
“I understand that Mr. Rothsberg,” Sarah responded.
“So you understand why your behavior is unacceptable.”
Sarah felt her cheeks burn. Deep down she hoped he thought it was because she was uncomfortable with their discussion. Because she was. “Mr. Rothsberg, I don’t know what behavior you’re talking about.”
He gripped the edge of his flat screen monitor and spun it toward her. It had to be the only item he had that was produced in the twenty-first century including his clothes. “You were probably not aware that there were cameras in the haunted house where you and your friend…well, you know what you did. It seems that in other towns the carnival company had troubles with local teenagers defacing attractions that were broken down. They certainly didn’t expect what they found when they looked at the tape from that night.”
She felt her blood run cold. Unwittingly, she and Josiah made a sex tape. And she was going to lose her job over it. She swallowed hard as he punched the keys on his keyboard with his pudgy fingers. He obviously had a vendetta to humiliate her. He was taking it personally, and she had no idea why. The thought that he watched her in an intimate, passionate moment with Josiah horrified her.
His brow creased deep. “What? It worked this morning. I left the video on my desktop. No matter. I’ll take it from my email.” There was more clicking in the silent office. She heard him curse under his breath. She couldn’t remember hearing him ever curse before in all the time she had worked there. Cursing was forbidden within the school walls. “The email. It was just here. It’s not it my trash. It’s like it never existed.”
Sarah slowly exhaled. “So there’s no video.”
Mr. Rothsberg gritted his teeth as he spat out the answer. “No.”
She sat up straight in the chair. “So you have no evidence that I did anything wrong?”
“No. I don’t.”
She fought back a smile. “Well, then. I’ll be going. I have students to prepare for.” She briefly nodded and then stood. She turned her back to him.
“What is that on your back, Sarah?” Mr. Rothsberg questioned. He rose from his desk. She could feel his gaze on her skin as he approached. She had grabbed the first thing she could find in her closet to escape her lover. She didn’t realize it was the dress with the sheer lace across her upper back. She never wore it to work. It was more for a fancy night out. It displayed the new pattern embedded in her flesh clear as day.
“Mr. Rothsberg…”
“We have a strict rule about tattoos.”
“I can cover it up.”
“And you make another mistake like this? No, Sarah. This insubordination is too much.” He wrapped a hand around her bicep then pulled the office door open. “Please clean your things out of the classroom. Thank you for all you’ve done. You are no longer needed at my school.”
The words he spoke didn’t register over the sudden, violent bout of nausea she felt. She held her breath to hold back the bile that burned the back of her throat. Of course, being fired devastated her. But was it enough to make her sick?
Mr. Rothsberg escorted her out into the hall and then slammed the door shut behind her. Her belly stilled in an instant, as if it was never upset. The whole thing was beyond bizarre. She shot one last look at the frosted window and then hurried down the hall to gather her things.
She kept her emotions in check as she dropped her few belongings in an old box that held reams of paper. It had once held recycling. Now it held her things. Her eyes checked the time on the clock mounted to the wall. She needed to be gone before any students arrived. The fact a few no longer had a teacher wasn’t her problem. It was the principal’s. He could figure out what to do with them. She was certain that what happened was illegal. She knew there was a guideline to cover tattoos, but it wasn’t a hard and fast law. The physical education teacher had an eagle on his forearm he rarely covered. But Mr. Rothsberg seemed suddenly determined to get rid of her, and she had no idea why.
Sarah held it together until she stepped outside into the bright sunlight. Josiah leaned against his beat-up truck across the street from the sidewalk leading into the school. He was so sexy with his broad arms crossed over his chest. His long, dark hair was held back with a leather cord. His gaze locked on her. It undid her.
The tears burned her eyes as her steps slowed toward him. She clenched the box to her chest and bit her lower lip.
“So what did he want?” Josiah questioned.
Sarah took a deep breath to dam back her sobs. “He said he had a video of you and I in the haunted house.”
Josiah laughed. “He had it. He doesn’t now. My sister-in-law, Eve, is a master hacker. She got into the school’s computer network and destroyed every copy of the video. Except one. I have that one.” He cocked his head to the side. “So why do you have a box of your shit?”
She let a whimper escape. “He saw the tattoo on my back. He fired me over it. I got so upset I almost threw up. I didn’t think it was that bad, but it must have been.”
Josiah frowned. “Was he touching you?”
“Yes.”
She watched his face contort in rage. “I am going to kill that fucking son of a bitch.”
“Josiah.”
He shoved off the panel of the truck and stalked toward her. His voice was a low growl. “When some who want us sexually touches us after we mate, we get violently ill. So that asshole probably fired you because you fucked me and not him.”
“Mr. Rothsberg? Wanting to sleep with me? You’re insane.”
“Am I?”
Sarah stared up in his eyes. The intensity there frightened her. That, coupled with the emotions raging inside her after being fired, finally broke her. Tears slipped down her cheeks, cutting paths down her skin. “What am I going to do?”
She dropped her head as she started to cry. She never noticed Josiah move. He was stealthy, almost like a predator. She didn’t realize she was wrapped tight in his arms until the musky scent of man and evergreens filled her senses, and the soft cotton of his T-shirt comforted her. The cardboard box she held was squished between them. He took it from her and tossed it on the ground so he could hold her tight to him. He caressed her hair as she sobbed into his chest.
“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together,” he consoled.
“This is my problem.”
“I’m right here with you. I’m not going anywhere.”
She didn’t know how long he stood there and held her in silence. She listened to the steady beat of his heart as she cried.
Sarah looked up when he spoke. “I’ll call my brothers. They can be here in a couple of hours. We’ll pack up your stuff and get you settled in at my place.”
She pulled out of his arms and wiped her cheeks. “I said no
.”
“You aren’t working for him anymore. You don’t have to protect your precious reputation any longer.”
Sarah shook her head in disbelief. “I’m not trying to protect my reputation. You didn’t listen to me. I’m not moving in with a man until he’s my husband. End of discussion.”
“Sarah, you need to see reason.”
She took a step backward away from him. She picked up the cardboard box off the ground then clung to the box in her arms like it was her lifeline. “Goodbye, Josiah.”
Before he could say anything, she spun on her toe and hurried down the sidewalk, away from the school.
Chapter Six
Josiah surveyed the mob from the doorway of the club. Just like Samuel hoped, the place was packed wall to wall. He searched for the ancient decanter of clear liquid, the substance that fueled a building-wide orgy the last time they were here. It was high up on a shelf above the rest of the liquor. Nobody’s drink was getting a boost tonight. It didn’t stop several couples from banging each other’s brains out right there on the dance floor, though. Whatever it was, it had a strong hold on those who drank it, and it didn’t let go.
He took account of his family as he followed Sam to the stage. Eve, Meg, Henry, and Delilah stood at the base of the stage. Littlefoot and his nephews built a human wall around them to keep them safe from the crowd. Josiah had tried to stop the four of them from coming. Three pregnant women trapped in a place like this didn’t bode well for him. Samuel, Caleb, and Micah overruled him. It seemed like they were doing that quite a bit lately. Ever since Rock and Cort showed up at their camp, they were reluctant to leave their loved ones behind in case they came back. Momma was even sent to visit Littlefoot’s family for the night. It was probably for the best that his little brothers spoke up on behalf of their families. He sighed as the stench of stale beer hit him. His mind was other places as of late.
He glanced around at the near naked bodies that surrounded him. His stomach lurched with every fingertip that touched him. He was more than grateful that Sarah wasn’t here. If he could help it, she would never step foot in this place. As Bible-thumping as she was, she would drop dead, mortified, just inside the threshold. The sex and debauchery would leave him without a mate for certain.
Every day for the last two weeks mirrored the previous one. In the morning they fought over her moving in with him. She fiercely stood by her morals. He accused her of being ridiculous. He would spend the rest of the day fuming, wondering what the mystical power that bound them to their mates was thinking. There couldn’t be a woman on the planet more infuriating than Sarah. She didn’t listen to reason. She still called him Satan’s spawn. She was exactly a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree opposite of the kind of woman he wanted. Eternity with a woman like this was going to be hell.
But as soon as night fell, he was at her door. They spent every night wrapped tight in each other’s arms with him deep inside her. All of his anger and animosity faded away. He wasn’t evil in her eyes anymore. At the midnight hour, he was her savior, her entire world.
Once the sun rose, the whole frustrating cycle started over. It had been the longest two weeks of his life, and it didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime soon.
Josiah bit back the bile burning in his throat as he looked up at the stage. Bowser McNamara, Sam’s opponent, and his team were ascending the opposite staircase for his weigh in. He leaned toward Samuel’s ear so his little brother could hear him. “It’s show time,” Josiah shouted over the noise as he nudged Samuel up the stairs. Samuel gave him a brief nod and then stormed up them. Josiah and the rest of the Hallow brothers followed on his heels.
Josiah’s gaze locked on Rock and Cort as they presided over the scene on the stage. He watched Bowser strip down to his fight shorts and step on the scale out of the corner of his eye. Samuel and the rest of his brothers stood stone still on the edge of the stage. The only one who fidgeted was Abraham. He was probably watching a couple getting it on.
“Two hundred and sixty-five point five pounds,” the announcer shouted into the microphone. Bowser stepped off the scale and then turned to sneer at Samuel. He finished it off with a dog bark.
Samuel shouted across the stage. “I will smack that look off your face.”
Josiah tore his attention from the vampires. He wrapped his hand around Samuel’s shoulder and nudged him toward the scale. “He can’t hear you. Save it for the cage.”
He followed two paces behind Samuel as the younger Hallow strode across the stage. The cheers and catcalls were near deafening. They got louder as he slowly peeled his clothes off. Josiah did the best he could to fight back the eye roll. Each garment came off slower. Henry and Delilah stared at Sam with their eyes wide and mouths gaped open. There was no doubt Samuel was putting on a show for his mates. There was nothing wrong with that, other than the two murderous bloodsuckers behind them and fuck knew how many roaming the crowd. They needed to get out of there quick.
“Sam, get on the scale,” Josiah demanded.
Josiah watched as Samuel stepped on the scale and stood still. The place fell silent as they waited. The physician muttered to the announcer who then called it out to the crowd. “Two hundred and sixty-four point five pounds. This will be an epic battle. Let’s face off, gentlemen.”
Samuel took a step backward off the scale and then spun around to face Bowser and his team. Josiah glanced back to the others to signal them to join him and Sam. He smiled to himself. He didn’t get a nod off before the other five brothers strode across the stage to them.
Bowser stepped up to Samuel until their noses almost touched. “I’m going to crush you, Hallow. Then I’m going to feast on your bones.”
“I’m gonna put you down like the dog you think you are,” Samuel replied. “You won’t be getting up, son. They’ll have to carry you out.”
Bowser shoved against Samuel with a snarl. Samuel stood his ground, his whole body like rock. Even though not one of the Hallows moved, the security guards grabbed hold of the teams and pulled them apart. Josiah ripped free from the hold and growled at the thug who had constrained him.
“Drop into fight stances for pictures, boys,” one of the guards instructed.
Both fighters dropped into fight stance. The club lit up with the flashes from a room of cell phones. Once the place was dark again, they were ushered to opposite sides of the stage. Josiah handed Samuel his clothes and then once again took stock of their surroundings while Samuel dressed.
“Where’s Cay?” Samuel asked. Josiah turned and stared at him, confused. Then he counted the brothers surrounding them. He only got to six, including himself and Sam.
“He took off to take a leak before we go,” Abraham reported.
Samuel crouched down to pull on his boot. He looked up at Josiah and Micah. “Can you get Dee and Henry safe through this crowd to my truck? I’ll go get Cay.”
“We’ll get them out,” Josiah replied. Samuel pulled his second boot on with a grin and then raced off the stage toward the restrooms.
Josiah leaned into Micah so he could be heard over the noise. “Better go get the mates.”
“After you,” Micah replied.
Josiah glanced the raucous crowd, the nearly naked women who already reached out to touch him. He growled at Micah. “You’re an asshole.”
“Noted. Welcome to the club. You’re the newbie to this touch and hurl phenomenon. That means you go first. Go.”
Josiah huffed angrily before he charged into the crowd. Fingertips brushed him. His stomach quaked. He sucked in his breath as he shoved his way through to Littlefoot and his nephews. They broke their human wall just enough to let him and Micah through. He wrapped one hand around Henry’s bicep and his other around Delilah’s.
“What the fuck?” Delilah protested. “Where’s Sam?”
“Getting Cay’s ass out of the bathroom,” Josiah answered. He looked past Littlefoot and his nephew’s. “Something’s possessed this crowd. There are vampires out
there. I’m sure as fuck not going to let you wander aimlessly among them and let you become their next meal. Or let them get their slimy fingers on Henry so they can exploit whatever the fuck he is. Let’s get out of here and go home.”
Micah escorted Meg and Eve through the crowd before Josiah, Delilah, and Henry. Littlefoot and his nephews flanked them on each side. It was awkward shuffling through the mob like that. It was worth the inconvenience. It took quite a bit of effort to touch any of the mated. He would get through the night without emptying his guts on the floor.
Once they were outside in the warm summer night, they broke off toward their vehicles. Josiah paced to his truck and then turned back to the building. The mystic pull, the one that dominated his soul since Sarah stepped into his life, demanded that he get in, fire up his truck, and break every speed limit until he was in her bed. His promise to his dad to protect his family rooted him to the street. He snarled. This was hell.
He whipped his cell from his pocket and woke it to check the time. “Where the fuck are they?”
Ezekiel frowned. “Can vampires bite werewolves?”
“Shit. Fuck. I’m going to go find them.” Josiah jogged back to the door but stopped dead in his tracks when Caleb and Samuel strode outside. Samuel had a death grip on Caleb and dragged him along. Caleb, typically the most foul-mouthed, ill-tempered of the bunch, didn’t fight back. By the way they growled at each other, something went down inside on the way to the can.
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