Free Brock by Kathi S. Barton

them about sex and each other had gone a long way to them being sated more than they’d ever been. When Shawn pulled from his body, Bert did as well from the woman. Both of them would have to be taken care of, but for now he wanted to bask in his bliss.
    “You’re still marred up.” He looked at Erwin, who had entered. “I guess that part of what he told us was true. We can’t kill our watchers.”
    Bert went to the mirror and looked at his face. He’d been surprised the first time he’d seen his reflection and had said as much to Jimmy. He’d laughed at him for nearly ten minutes until Bert, in a fit of rage, had tried to attack him. He was frozen on the spot, not able to lift a hand against him.
    “You can never harm me unless I have done you a great injustice. And other than making you all children of mine, I’ve done nothing to cause you harm.” He’d told them that the house they were now staying in was his and would be until such time they were one hundred years young as a vampire. Then he would expect them to move out on their own. He also told them that there would be money for them to use as well. They never got to see any of that because he’d left them to their own devices shortly after that. That had been over eight years ago.
    His face was marred in a new scar sort of way. Large scars made his cheek look like he’d had acid poured over it, and his hands and arms were no better. His feet were still tender and looked raw and ravaged. He turned to his sons.
    “Do you think this will recede?” Neither of them would look at him, and he turned back to the mirror. He knew it wouldn’t as surely as he was standing there. He saw Wilfred and Steven come into the room as he was pulling on a robe and Shawn was wrapping the women in the sheets from the bed.
    “We will find her soon. I know that she’s in Ohio somewhere because Jimmy had told me before when I contacted him about her. He said she’d stay there for a while before moving toward Florida. He thought she’d think she was safe in all the sunshine and we couldn’t touch her.” Wilfred glared at Steven when he snorted. “You have something to add, or do you want to stay here and wait for hell to break loose?”
    “What do you mean?” Steven looked at him when Wilfred didn’t answer him, and he shrugged. “Christ, Wilfred, what have you done?”
    “How the fuck was I supposed to know who she was ? She smelled good, and I was hungry. And her friends, too, smelled like sex and….” His eyes glazed over for a second. Then he looked at him. “At least I didn’t kill our watcher. Now what the fuck are we supposed to do before we get Emma back here to fucking do what she’s told?”
    He’d killed nine teenagers , all of them from prominent families. The news had run nothing else since the bodies had been discovered. Wilfred had torn them up so badly that they were having difficulties identifying which body part went with the other. Bert discovered this when he went to the scene and witnessed firsthand his son’s destruction. He watched as policeman after policeman went to the bushes and puked up their meals and then staggered away. Bert hadn’t realized that Wilfred had such rage in him until that moment. They left before sunrise, moving to another town closer to Ohio. At this rate and the way Wilfred was acting, they would be lucky if they made it to Ohio. His son had gone over the edge and was quickly becoming a problem.
    ~~~
    Jules sat down next to him, and Brock hugged him. They’d been late to the party, and he told him again how sorry he was. Jules told him not to worry about it.
    “She’s the reason you were late?” He nodded toward Em as she helped their mom set the table. “If so, then I have no choice but to forgive you. She’s beautiful.”
    She was too. Her blond e hair was tied back in a pony tail that hung to her waist. She’d put other ties around it at different lengths to hold it, she’d told him. He’d been so