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"Penny, darlin’, why don’t you go up to your rooe your baby dolls so your uncles can see hoell you’ve learned how to clean?" Rheia suggested Penny was only four; she didn’t want her to hear about the nightmare Penny looked up at her fro expression, the little girl hopped down and walked towards the stairs

Shaking her head, Rheia reached out and pulled her in for a tight hug "I know I treat you like a little girl, but guess what, squirt? You are Letas I can, yeah?"

When Penny looked up, her eyes softened and her shtened around Rheia’s waist This was as close as she came to a smile It wasn’t much, but it was a dramatic improvement over how non-responsive she’d been when she had first o and headed up the stairs When Rheia turned to face the roorin "I know, I know! She acts as precocious and surly as I did when I was a child" She walked in and took the seat next to Radek, surprising her adoptive brothers She only turned to Radek or Dax when she was feeling scared or threatened Boththat she always felt co buddy He kne she took her coffee and what sweets to bring her for a visit Marco’s specialty was revenge served cold He was a er his prey suffered psychologically, the better His sunny disposition hid a vicious nature True to his ani out Athan, however, did not believe in a long drawn out revenge scheo out and happily murder anyone who hurt her The bond they shared ran deep and she knew, there wasn’t much the older vampire wouldn’t do for her

Radek wrapped a beefy arm around her shoulder and pulled her close "Okay, Pu brother Radek what has you so upset"

She took a long shuddering breath "It’s probably nothing, it’s just that I can’t see terror is as fresh in " She held up her tre hand

"What happened in the dream?" Levi asked, concern on his face

"I’ It’s as if I know so to happen Suddenly the front door is kicked in and these savage looking ; I can tell he’s insane Just as he raises a knife I hear a man’s voice shout and then" she trailed off

Radek started to rub up and down on her arm "I’ll tell you what pumpkin, we’ll check all the s and the doors before we leave I also have a kick bar in my trunk that you can use on the front door to prevent it fro kicked in Next e’ll install an alarm system that will not only ie out to us Does that make you feel better?"

She took a deep breath and nodded "I think so" She looked around the roo at her She knew they would do anything to make her feel safe in her childhood home She’d been their adopted little sister for over twenty years now She got the feeling, that even when she was old and grey they would still treat her like a child

She stood and walked over to stand between the fana in the oven, though I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand the shting" Sing hard at the memory, she turned to head into the kitchen when suddenly, Athan’s hand grabbed her upper arm When she looked up, his eyes looked a bit wild

"What did you say about how they smelled?" His tone was serious She looked around at the other men, they all looked worried

"They s Why?"

Athan pulled her into his ar Levi’s hands were glowing as he spoke low Fro for protection In all the years they had spent together, he’d never once cast a spell in front of her Dax left the room and went out the front door

Radek stepped in front of her "Rheia, this is very i else you can re at all, no matter how small?"

She shook her head then paused "Just the man’s voice He sounded so desperate when he yelled He said, ’Run! Call for help! Come to Lycaonia!’"

Marco’s olive-toned skin drained of color Cussing under his breath Radek pulled his phone from his pocket Rheia heard the front door open and close Dax returned with a large duffel bag, which he set on the coffee table When he unzipped it, she saw he carried an arsenal

"You can’t have that around Penny! Is that " she looked closer "Is that a grenade launcher?" she practically screeched

Marco turned to Athan "I’ll leave her to you" He walked over to where Dax was already loading weapons He picked up a shotgun and took up a position in front of the picture

She looked up at Athan "What’s going on?" She had been scared of her nightmare, but now she was terrified

He ran a hand over her hair "Even though you’ve known about paranormals most of your life, we’ve tried to keep the scarier details about our world from you You know about the four pillar cities and how mates work, but e haven’t told you is that our people have been waging a long ti we call ferals They are paranormals who have lost their souls That horrible smell you described fro from the inside out"