Chapter Three
Madison stood next to Sawyer as the group around the table sang Happy Birthday to Jacie.
The little girl blew out the eight candles on her cake with a flourish, grinning at the group surrounding her. Madison wasn’t fooled by her smile for a second. She’d noticed more than once how Jacie’s gaze would stray toward the door. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know who she waited for. But Max wouldn’t show. He hadn’t returned to her in two years.
“Why don’t you open your presents?” Madison waved Jacie toward the side table against the wall.
Jacie bounded from her chair, more than a little excitement evident in her every step.
Madison handed her one of the boxes. “This one is from…” She pulled the small folded card open that was hanging from the lid. “Max.”
With a soft gasp, Jacie rushed forward and snatched the lid off the box. Her eyes lit up with elation. “A puppy!”
“Not just any puppy,” Simon informed her, coming to stand next to Jacie. “It looks like a timber wolf to me.”
Madison glanced over at Lydia to find her leaning against Roman’s side, her face full of joy and contentment.
A twinge of loneliness settled inside Madison’s heart, only to disappear as quickly as it had arrived. Madison enjoyed being alone. She couldn’t imagine the thought of answering to another. Especially a vampire with a sarcastic tongue and a bad attitude.
Why the hell had Simon even entered her mind? She couldn’t stand the creep. Never had.
She shifted her gaze to Roman to find him watching her curiously.
Attempting to avert Roman’s attention away from her, Madison plucked up another gift and read the card attached. “This one is from Alex.”
Unwilling to part with her new puppy, Jacie nodded toward the box. “Will you open it for me?”
And, so it went. Jacie held tightly to her white wolf puppy while Madison opened the rest of her gifts.
“What are you going to name her?” Lydia trailed over and knelt down next to her daughter.
Jacie appeared to think on it for a moment. “Maxine. Her name is Maxine.”
Madison’s heart went out to the child. Though Madison understood Max’s reasons for staying away, it didn’t mean she agreed with him.
Max felt guilty for turning Jacie into a shifter. Even though she would have died had he not. He feared Jacie would grow to resent him the older she got. She would never be able to attend school with normal children her age, never date, marry and have a family of her own unless she found another shifter she cared for. And they were few and far between.
Max had altered Jacie’s life forever at an age where she’d been too young to decide for herself.
The party quickly grew festive. Music played in the background as hotdogs, hamburgers, and chips were brought to the table. No one ate, of course, aside from Jacie, Madison, Sawyer, and Maxine.
Madison laughed noticing Sawyer’s plate. He had three burgers, three hotdogs and a piece of cake in front of him.
“What?” he muttered defensively.
“Oh…nothing.”
Simon leaned back in his chair. “I believe she was noticing your trough of food. Very…dog-like of you.”
Sawyer cranked his head in Simon’s direction. “You haven’t seen dog-like yet, but I’d be more than happy to accommodate you.”
“Alrighty then,” Madison piped in, hoping to divert a confrontation. She forced a smile in Simon’s direction. “Why don’t you help me pick out another bottle of wine from the kitchen?”
Simon pushed to his feet. “Your eagerness to get me alone is quite flattering, Maddie.”
Once in the hall, Madison whirled on him. “You have got to stop baiting Sawyer like that. One of these days he’s going to lose control and rip your throat out.”
“Are you concerned for my safety, sweet one?”
Madison took a patient breath and strode toward the kitchen. “Not in the least. I’m simply trying to get you to ease up on Sawyer. You know how tightly wound he is.”
“Indeed, I do. I bet if he swallowed a lump of coal, he’d shit a diamond.”
Madison rolled her eyes and pushed open the kitchen door to find Ivy scooping up a large bowl of ice cream. “Is that for Jacie?”
Ivy chuckled. “It’s for Sawyer.”
The young vampire suddenly staggered back, her eyes wide with fear.
“What’s wrong?” Madison rushed to Ivy’s side, took the bowl from her trembling fingers, and set it on the counter.
Simon stepped into the room and answered for her. “Svetlana is here.”
Madison’s heartbeat kicked up a notch. “Here? As in the compound?”
Simon shook his head, his face a mask of anger. “No, but she’s near. I can feel her presence.” He slid his gaze over to Ivy. “Get below. She won’t sense you underground.”
Ivy nodded and fled the room.
Madison pinched the bridge of her nose. “What are we going to do?”
“We aren’t doing anything. It’s me she’s after. I’ll leave out the back and draw her away from here.”
Madison would never understand what prompted her to grab onto Simon’s arm as he turned to leave. She quickly released him and cleared her throat. “Don’t you think you should let Roman know what’s going on? I mean, what if Svetlana decides to attack his home even after you’re gone?”
Something flickered in Simon’s eyes. “Take a bottle of wine back in there and signal for him to—”
“What the hell is going on?” Roman hissed, barging into the kitchen.
Madison should have known that Roman would sense something was amiss. He didn’t get to be his age without accruing some serious skills. “Svetlana is back.”
Roman’s eyes swirled with red. He turned his attention to Simon. “How far out is she?”
Simon blew out a breath. “I’m not sure. I just sensed her presence a minute ago. If I had to guess, I’d say ten…maybe twenty miles from here.”
“Son of a bitch,” Roman growled, glancing back toward the door. “How could I not have known that she was in my city?”
Madison touched him on the arm. “She got past everyone. You know how crafty that bitch is.”
“Say nothing to Lydia,” Roman instructed.
The door swung open and Lydia stepped into the room. “Say nothing to me about what?”
Madison could fairly feel Roman’s inward groan. He turned to face his wife. “I don’t want you to worry.”
Lydia rested her hand on her hip. “Tell me.”
“Svetlana is in town.”
Lydia’s hand flew to her mouth. She kept it there for long moments before slowly lowering it. “Why would she come back here?”
“She came for me,” Simon softly confessed.
Instead of Lydia demanding that Simon leave her home, she simply stated. “Well, she’s not going to get you.”
“I can’t stay here and endanger Jacie,” Simon argued. “I won’t.”
Roman held up a hand for silence. “Where is Ivy?”
“I sent her below ground,” Simon responded. “It’s the safest place for her.”
Roman nodded. “Agreed.”
Madison listened with rapt attention as Roman voiced his thoughts. “I know this is bad. Svetlana being in our territory can only mean one thing. She wants revenge, and she wants Simon. If she thinks she’s going to get Simon, she’ll relax her guard. And then we take her out.”
Madison hated coming to Simon’s defense, but she found herself doing exactly that. “You want Simon to just…go to her? She’ll kill him. And what makes you think she’ll relax her guard?”
“She won’t kill him,” Roman assured her. “She loves him. And trust me, if he can actually convince her that he’ll go quietly, she’ll screw up.”
Madison quickly glanced at Simon before asking, “And if she doesn’t?”
“She will.” It was Simon that answered. “For all her strength and power, I am her one weakness.”
Madison chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment. “So, you’re just going to go to her?”
Simon stared at Madison for several heartbeats before shifting his gaze to Roman, then Lydia, and back to Madison. “If I don’t, she’ll only come here looking for me.”
Why did it bother Madison so much for Simon to go to Svetlana? It wasn’t as if she cared for the prick. Quite the opposite, actually.
“So, let her come here,” Madison found herself saying. “We’ll send Jacie somewhere safe. What better place to take her out than behind these walls?”
Simon’s eyes became hooded. “If you think I would allow that fiend anywhere near this place…you don’t know me at all.”