“Psst.”
Justin turned his head to see Caleb standing on the side of the humanities building. He was waving furiously for Justin to come over. Justin glanced behind him to see his pit bulls about five feet back. He turned and headed toward Caleb.
Caleb reached out and grabbed Justin before he took off. Justin had never run so fast in his life. “Where are we going?” he managed to get out between pants as they raced for the parking lot.
“Ditching the boys,” Caleb answered as they rounded another building, and that was when Justin noticed Caleb’s Jeep sitting by the curb, doors open, motor running. “Hurry, get in before they catch up.”
Justin dove into the passenger’s side, and Caleb was squealing away in seconds. The guy raced out of the parking lot like a maniac and then made a hairpin turn toward the busy streets of Dark Haven.
“Okay, why did you just kidnap me from campus?” Justin asked as he looked over his shoulder. So far no one was following them, but that would soon change. Demetri’s men weren’t going to let Justin get away.
“Because I found out some shit about you,” Caleb turned his radio on and settled back in his seat. “Just chill, and I’ll explain everything when we get there.”
Had Caleb discovered that Justin had vampire DNA? Was that why the guy pulled him from school? Justin reached over and turned the radio down. “What did you discover?” He was sitting on pins and needles and didn’t want to wait.
Caleb clenched his jaw, and Justin had a feeling the cat was out of the bag.
His best friend’s eyes slid toward him. “Why didn’t you tell me your mother was in the asylum? I would’ve never taken you there if I’d known.”
Justin’s jaw dropped as his mind reeled. His books fell from his hands, hitting the floor of the Jeep as he stared at Caleb. “What are you talking about?”
Caleb’s eyes widened slightly. “You didn’t know? Oh, man. I’m sorry, J. I thought you knew and hid that fact from me.” The guy winced. “Hell of a way for you to find out. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Justin sputtered and then narrowed his eyes, shoving a finger toward Caleb. “I don’t know where you heard that, but it isn’t true. My mother died giving birth to me…in a hospital.” But hadn’t he been told that she’d had the same blood disease? What did that mean? Had his mother been half vampire as well? There were so many unanswered questions surrounding the mystery of his mother. Justin would kill to find out about her, but he refused to believe she’d been carted away to a loony bin.
He snapped his head around, glaring out the window. Could that be true? Had his mother been in that asylum? No. Justin wasn’t going to believe that. There was no way she had been locked up in that creepy place.
“Well, that’s why we’re taking this little field trip. When they shut down the asylum, they left all the records behind. We’re going to do a little digging to see if there is any truth to this.” Caleb cut a corner, never once slowing down. Justin looked over his shoulder again but didn’t see anyone following them. He turned back around and crossed his arms over his chest, feeling so cold and alone that his chest felt like a bag of rocks was weighing it down.
“Hey.” Caleb reached over and squeezed Justin’s knee. “Even if she was, no big deal. Shit happens, you know? You’re still my best friend and always will be.”
Justin’s phone began to ring. He pulled it out to see that Demetri was calling him.
“Don’t even think about answering that, J. Do you want answers or listen to my father lecturing you?”
Justin hesitated. He didn’t want Demetri angry at him, but he did want answers. He was desperate for them. Justin had to know about his lineage, where he’d come from, who he was. Nothing about what he was going through made sense to him. Silencing the phone, Justin slid it back into his pocket.
Caleb pulled up to the asylum and cut the motor. It was déjà vu as they sat there staring at the looming building. It didn’t look quite so frightening in the daylight. “Listen, J.” Caleb ran his fingers over the leather steering wheel of his Jeep. “I know you and my father have already sealed the deal, but—”
“Oh, no.” Justin held up his hands. “If you are about to talk about my sex life, there won’t be a conversation.”
“I’m serious,” Caleb said. “It takes a certain type of man to rule over werewolves. A certain type of passion mixed with… ruthlessness.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Justin asked. He knew that Caleb and his father argued, a lot more lately than before, but he also knew how much Caleb loved Demetri.