Rage almost choked Maggie when she spotted the pretty blonde in Aiden’s arms. She was ready to strangle them both. No! She’d find herself a stake and stab him in every one of his extremities, starting with the wandering one between his legs!

Idiot! Moron for believing anything a vampire says! It was a good thing she didn’t walk on those clouds anymore because this fall would have broken every bone in her body. Aiden set the small blonde down and stepped toward her.

“Maggie, this is my sister, Vicky.”

Maggie blinked at him as his words gradually penetrated the haze of red shading her vision and the fury buzzing like bees in her ears. Then, her gaze returned to the woman who tilted her head to the side while she studied Maggie.

Maggie hadn’t calmed enough to deal with this change of events. She’d experienced and felt many things in her life, but seeing Aiden hugging another woman had readied her to kill in an instant. Her hand trembled when she pushed aside the strand of wet hair falling across her eye.

“Maggie, is it?” Vicky elbowed Aiden in the ribs. He grunted and rubbed his chest as she stepped forward. “I was trying to get Aiden to tell me all about you; however, he takes that whole Hollywood brooding vampire thing to a ridiculous level. But then, I’m sure you’ve already figured that out.”

Aiden glowered at his sister. Less than a minute ago, he’d been hugging her. Now, he contemplated choking her as she strolled toward Maggie with her hand extended. Maggie blinked again, seeming to come out of some reverie.

There had been no denying the wrath darkening her features before, and she appeared to be having a difficult time pulling herself out of it as her jaw remained clenched. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling over how irate seeing him with Vicky had made her. Yes, convincing her to become a vampire might not be so difficult after all.

“I’m Vicky.”

Maggie gazed down at the hand Vicky extended to her before taking it. Vicky was about two inches shorter than her, but strength reverberated from the small vampire. Though Vicky’s eyes were an emerald green instead of Aiden’s spring green, Maggie saw a similarity in their shape. There were few other similarities between the siblings.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Maggie said.

Vicky enclosed both her hands around Maggie’s and squeezed. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Maggie. You’re a lifesaver, and I don’t mean just because you’re a paramedic. Kudos for that, by the way. I could handle the blood, of course, but the guts and bones? Ugh,” Vicky grimaced. “Keep that stuff where it belongs, am I right?”

“Ah, yeah,” Maggie replied, still too thrown off by her violent reaction to seeing Aiden with another woman to register everything Vicky said.

“You’ll save my brother’s life; I’m certain of it,” Vicky declared.

Maggie’s breath caught at those words and the depth of emotion radiating from Vicky’s gaze.

“Enough, Vicky,” Aiden said as he stalked across the room toward them. “You’ll scare her off.”

“If your menacing exterior hasn’t frightened her off yet, I sure won’t,” Vicky replied with a laugh.

“You’re an ass,” Aiden muttered.

“I am,” Vicky agreed blithely and released Maggie’s hand. “I’m also adorable, unforgettable, and magnificent.”

“Your ego could fill the Grand Canyon.”

“That hole has nothing on me,” Vicky said to him and winked at Maggie.

Vicky was a whirlwind, but Maggie found herself liking the outgoing woman.

“I’m the black sheep of the siblings. Has Aiden told you how many of us there are?” Vicky asked.

“He has,” Maggie said as her eyes bounced between the two of them.

They may not look much alike, but they had the easygoing banter of those who knew and loved each other well. She and A.J. had often flowed like this together. Sometimes they forgot anyone else was with them as they traded insults and quips.

An unexpected stab of longing speared her. What would it have been like to grow up secure in the knowledge of unconditional love? To know that no matter how badly you screwed up, there would be someone to help you through it?

Sensing her sudden melancholy, Aiden stepped forward and slid his arm around her waist. “I’d consider myself more of the black sheep,” he said to Vicky.

Vicky’s mouth pursed and twisted to the side as she studied him. “Yeah, you might be the closest to me. You call home about as often as I do.”

“I talked to Mom yesterday.”

“Oh, you call more than I do then!” Vicky’s smile slid away; she fidgeted with the edge of her shirt before grinning again. “How are things at the zoo?”

“Good. They’re enjoying their grandchildren, and Willow is preparing for college.”

“Hopefully she does better with it than I did.”

“And me.”

Vicky’s attention shifted back to Maggie, but before she could say anything more, a knock on the door distracted her. “That must be our sister Abby. She might be the whitest sheep of us all, but we still love her,” Vicky said to Maggie.

“I’d give the title of whitest sheep to Isabelle,” Aiden said.

“Or Cassidy,” Vicky shot over her shoulder as she hurried toward the door.

“Actually, you might be the only female problem child,” Aiden remarked.

“And I rock it.” Vicky lifted her hand and formed the rock sign over her head as she pulled the door open. “Welcome to the den of iniquity,” she greeted.

“Do I want to know?” Abby inquired.

“Nah, you white sheep wouldn’t get it.”

“You’re an ass.”

“You know Aiden just said the same exact thing to me. If you two aren’t careful, I might develop a complex.”

“Then stop being an ass,” Abby retorted.

Maggie’s eyes widened when another blonde woman entered the room. Unlike Aiden and Vicky, where she saw few similarities in their appearance, there was no telling Vicky and Abby apart. Except one had shorter hair than the other. Because she hadn’t been expecting twins, she hadn’t been tracking Vicky once Abby entered the room, so she couldn’t tell if it was Vicky or Abby who had shorter hair.

She’d known a few identical twins over the years, and she’d always been able to find some tiny difference between them. Other than their hair, she couldn’t see any difference between these two. She was about to ask who was who when the one with the longer hair walked toward her.

“I’m Abigail,” she said. “Everyone calls me Abby.”

Abby took hold of Maggie’s hand and clasped it in both of hers as Vicky had done. “I’m so happy to meet you. We’ve been hoping for you.”

Maggie blinked at her and then glanced at Aiden. For the first time, she started to really grasp what she meant to him and his family. He’d told her she was important to him, but now she saw it instead of only hearing it.

“It’s bad enough I have to deal with this shit from Vicky, but I wasn’t expecting it from you too,” Aiden said.

Abby laughed as she released Maggie’s hand. “You know we sometimes like ganging up to humiliate you all.”

“Hmm.” Aiden released Maggie and lifted Abby to give her a bear hug.

“It’s payback for all the things you older ones put us through when we were younger,” Vicky said as she leaned against the wall. “You know we were never as good at those prank wars as the rest of you.”

“But we are good at irritating and embarrassing when we get the chance,” Abby said.

“You are,” Aiden agreed and set her down. “Where’s Brian?”

“Here,” Brian said.

Vicky glanced over her shoulder as a man stepped into the room. Maggie’s mouth almost fell open when she spotted the stunning man with platinum blond hair and ice blue eyes. Abby released Aiden and walked over to slide her hand into Brian’s. The iciness of Brian’s eyes melted when he smiled down at her.

Mated. Maggie didn’t know how she knew it, but she had no doubt Abby and Brian were mates.

Brian tore his attention away from Abby to focus on Maggie. In his eyes, she saw the same curiosity she’d seen in the others. She suspected she would endure this from all of Aiden’s family when she first met them.

A small shock went through her when she realized she was thinking long term for them if she was considering meeting his family.

Brian released Abby and walked over to shake her hand before turning to clasp Aiden’s shoulder. “Sorry I had to track you down,” Brian apologized as he returned to Abby.

“Why did you track me down?” Aiden inquired.

“If you’d answered your phone, you’d know,” Abby admonished.

Vicky placed her hand against the corner of her mouth and hid her finger behind it as she pointed at Abby and mouthed to Maggie, “White sheep.” Maggie stifled a laugh while Abby glared at her sister.

“Know what?” Aiden demanded.

“Using the ruined shirt left in the ambulance with the two dead drivers, I located one of the Savages who attacked you,” Brian said.

Aiden drew Maggie closer when she winced at Brian’s blunt words. Brian looked guiltily at her, and Abby elbowed him in the gut.

“You can track others like that?” Maggie asked Aiden.

“Brian can, I can’t, and I know of no one else who can,” he replied. “And?” Aiden prodded Brian.

“Ronan has the Savage imprisoned now. They’re going to work on getting information from him, and Ronan thought you might like to be involved,” Brian said.