Crave

  “Get out of here,” Elijah growled as he flashed me a look of pure hunger. I turned toward the hallway and began to run. Adrenaline surged through me causing my wound to thump with each accelerated heartbeat. I fell against the walls and used them to steady myself until I finally reached the door. The room blurred and shook for a moment as everything flashed green. I spun around in disbelief, blinking as the forest came into focus.

  Chapter twenty-eight

  Honeysuckle and Grass

  “Elijah,” I screamed into the vast woods. My voice echoed back to me through the rustling of the leaves. I fell against a large tree and rubbed my sore aching head. It was hard to tell if the fog was real or in my imagination. Was any of this real? Was I already dead?

  “Elijah?” I yelled into the woods once more as tears welled up in my eyes and a thick lump formed in my throat. My family was okay. Olivie had told a vicious lie to my face without as much as batting an eyelash. My sadness and confusion turned to rage.

  I grabbed onto a fallen tree branch and snapped the end off. Not the regular wooden stakes they sell in stores, but it would do in a pinch. I picked away the bark and dead leaves, wrapping my fingers around it tightly until splinters bit into my flesh.

  I whipped around and scanned the forest. Only leaves and trees filled my view. I took off running full speed, desperate to find a clearing and my way back to Elijah. Just as a road came into view, I tripped. But the ground was anything but soft. It was flat and cold under my fingers and when I blinked my eyes open, I was back inside of the house.

  ***

  I struggled to catch my breath, to scream for him, but nothing came. I winced in pain as I rolled over onto my side. Blood seeped from the fresh wound on the back of my head. My mouth gaped open as I struggled to find my voice.

  The world began to grow dim around me as I struggled not to lose consciousness. I clawed at the floor, trying to find anything I could grip onto so I could pull myself off the cold tile. My eyes grew heavy and I no longer had the strength to fight it.

  The world around me was cold, dark and uninviting. My body felt weak and oddly limp. My head thumped with the steady beat of my pulse from the wound I had received in the kitchen. I tried to focus my attention on that injury, and not my certain death that would be coming any moment now.

  This is not how I pictured the end of my life. I imagined myself old and frail surrounded by my loved ones. I should be in my own bed, with my own things, not on a cold hard floor, bleeding out, alone. I thought of my father having to tell my mother that my lifeless body was found, bloody and beaten. Elijah’s panicked voice filled the background of my thoughts and I struggled to focus on him.

  “Eva,” he called in the distance. My brain was coated in a hazy fog. I struggled to snake my way through the painful thoughts to him. His voice radiated regret and anger and it seeped into every pore of my being. I wanted to scream out to him, but my body refused to cooperate.

  I felt my heart rate accelerate as my wounds thumped with each passing beat. For a brief moment, I could feel his hope. It was warm and peaceful, but the feeling was short-lived as Elijah’s insatiable hunger for blood overcame him. His emotions ran ramped and flooded the air around me like thick storm clouds. I struggled to steady my heart rate, but it was too late. A sharp sting to my right wrist was the last thing I would feel. I had officially given up. I let the fog take over me, enveloping my body and mind.

  I searched for a happy place in my memories to hide from the end. I was back on Main Street, walking by the handsome stranger in Seven Valleys.

  My heart fluttered at his smile. This was the memory I went to when I wanted to feel alive, with the very person who would kill me.

  I stumbled as he caught me in his arms. Had I known where meeting him would take me, I realized I would do it all over again for that moment. It was the first time in years I had felt that life was worth living. I pictured him picking me up effortlessly and carrying me to his special spot by the creek.

  I was in my perfect place with him now. The air smelled of honeysuckle and fresh cut grass. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held onto him, letting him carry me to my death.

  Chapter twenty-nine

  Like Rum

  The aching in my body faded into the background of my death dream. I had given up entirely, but I was at peace with my decision. Elijah would be able to go back to his life the way it was before me and my family would be safe.

  As I closed my eyes on our private walk, something pulled me back into reality. The fangs that had violently ripped into my wrist retracted. Thrown back into consciousness, the scent of flowers replaced with that of blood. I gasped for air and opened my eyes, squinting in the harsh light.

  Bodies crashed around me as Elijah fought Olivie. Her mouth was stained with blood as she snarled and bit at him like a rabid animal.

  I sat up quickly, the blood rushing to my head, causing the room to spin. I steadied myself and pushed off the ground to my feet determined to end this.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the broken branch I’d grabbed in a last ditch effort to defeat Olivie. I snatched it from the ground, the bark biting into my palm as I squeezed it tightly.

  Elijah and Olivie crashed violently into one another and it sounded as if the house was being torn down with a wrecking ball.

  I swallowed hard and summoned the courage to try to save Elijah like he had done for me so many times. I tiptoed around the corner and into the hallway. Anger consumed me as Elijah came into view. I would not go out without a fight. I would not let this bitch take away the most important person in my life.

  Elijah had her distracted. I slipped into the room beside them. I gripped the thick stick with both hands and took aim at her back. I didn’t second guess myself as I brought the weapon down. It slipped into her flesh effortlessly, between bones, just below her right shoulder blade.

  She lurched and twisted trying to remove the weapon from her back, but to no avail. A single stream of blood oozed down her off-white gown that was torn just above the knee. Her arms flailed wildly without reason. I stepped back to avoid her claw-like nails, but not quickly enough. Her hand caught my cheek, her nails digging in as a look of satisfaction washed over her. Pain rippled through my face. I drew back in anger and swung toward the monster.

  My fist connected with her nose. Unfortunately, this gave her the opportunity to reach me and one of her hands wrapped itself in my hair, clutching into a fist and pulling back hard. Elijah grabbed the stick and twisted sending her reeling in pain. She screeched like a wounded animal. I held my hand in front of me and examined my busted knuckles. The pain radiated up to my shoulder and I knew once the adrenaline wore off I would pay for what I had done, but I didn’t care.

  “Leave,” Elijah shouted as he ripped her hand from my head, taking a handful of hair with her. I spun around on my heel and darted into the hallway. I sank to the floor and covered my ears as they growled and screamed. Olivie was a lot tougher than Elijah had anticipated.

  The fighting went on for what seemed like hours. With the sound of breaking glass and an excruciating moan, the house fell silent. I held my breath as my mind swirled. I was numb from all that I had seen and felt. All I could do was hope that Elijah was the one left standing.

  He stepped into the hallway moments later with blood smearing his lips. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. A long jagged claw-like mark ran down his otherwise flawless face. I sighed and jumped up into his arms, squeezing his neck tightly. Hot tears of relief rolled down my face and I never wanted to let him go again.

  “We have to go. Those injuries will only hold her for so long,” Elijah warned through a clenched jaw. I could tell he was struggling with my bleeding wounds. I hoped he had fed enough from Olivie to hold him over.

  I steadied myself on my feet and walked into the bedroom to grab my things that Elijah had already packed. Possessions in hand, we hurried out of the beach house and into the street. Elijah scanned the a
lleyway for Olivie’s vehicle. He spotted a blue classic car that seemed out of place in the modern neighborhood. In a flash, he was on the car, prying the hood from the latch. He gripped onto part of the engine and pulled, effortlessly freeing it from the car. He walked back toward me with a quickened pace, car part in hand.

  “Get in,” He called as he walked to the driver’s side of his sleek, black Barracuda. I reached for the door handle and realized that my fingers on my right hand were useless. Fumbling with the handle, I was able to pull it open with my left hand and slide in. My adrenaline rush was fading as fast as it had come over me and every part of my body began to ache. Elijah was already revving the engine. His wound was nothing more than a faded pink line.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as panic began to set in and I fumbled with my seatbelt. The engine had roared once more before he answered.

  “We have to kill Reid’s Sector,” He responded, never glancing my way. I repeated his words in my head. Kill Reid’s Sector. I had no idea how to respond to that. My mind flashed to memories of Grayson. I had to say something. I could not condemn him to die. Before I could form the words, Elijah answered my concerns.

  “Grayson will not give up until he has killed you. He cannot stop. He’s not the person you loved. That Grayson died the moment he was turned into a vampire.” My head raced at the thought of killing him again. It hurt just as much to lose my vampire brother, as it had to lose him in his human life. I refused to believe that just because Grayson was a vampire, that he was hopeless. Elijah was the most important person in my life right now and he was a vampire.

  “I’m going to be sick,” I warned him. He glanced over at me with worry. The car slowed rapidly and he was opening my door before I could glance in his direction. He unbuckled my seatbelt and lifted me from the car. Carrying me to the shoulder of the road, he placed me gently on the grass. He raised his wrist to his lips and bit into his own flesh.

  “This will help,” He said as he extended his arm. I snapped my mouth shut at the idea. He pressed his gaping wrist to my mouth firmly. I resisted. I didn’t want to be condemned to a life of murder and an insatiable hunger for human blood. Elijah gritted his teeth and I could tell that if I did not take his offering, I might become his next meal. I parted my lips and let a few drops of the crimson elixir flow into my mouth. The throbbing in my head subsided as I flexed my right hand. “It won’t turn you. You only need a little blood and you aren’t close to death,” he assured me. “You’d also have to have to find your own victim.”

  “Good as new,” I exclaimed with a forced smile. He grinned back with approval.

  “We still need to get you washed up. The dried blood in your hair is becoming hard to resist,” Elijah replied, the smile fading as he brushed my hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “I almost killed you back there,” he confessed.

  “But you didn’t and it made you stronger so you could fight Olivie.”

  He smiled sadly. “Not strong enough. She’s going to come back for us.”

  “We’ll be ready.” I nodded and looked down at his wrist, my fingers still wrapped around his arm. The wound had healed and a faded pink line marked the spot that just moments before he had ripped open. I peered up from behind my eyelashes and stared into his black, hooded eyes.

  He looked like and animal who had just caught sight of his prey, but his hunger was for more than just blood. I could feel his insatiable want for me radiating through the air. He held out his hand for me. I slipped my now healed fingers into his palm and he quickly lifted me to my feet. He bent slightly and his lips brushed across my previously wounded knuckles. A shiver ran down my spine as every hair on my body stood at attention.

  The momentous events of this morning faded into the background of my mind. I let my lips fall open and a flush washed over my cheeks. I stared at him like a schoolgirl with an unwavering crush.

  “Come,” he murmured and I trailed behind him, my hand still in his. His blood was coursing through my veins like rum and I felt warm and wonderfully euphoric. He opened the passenger door and I slid into my seat, pausing briefly as my face passed by his. He smiled a devilishly charming grin and my heart jumped into my throat.

  Clicking my seatbelt, I glanced over to Elijah, who was already in his seat and revving the engine of his muscle car. The machine shook and vibrated with each compression of the gas pedal. I bit my lip and wished that his car could move at the vampire speed that his body was able to travel.

  We pulled back onto the winding road and drove in silence for several minutes. Elijah’s lips were set in a hard line and his eyes gave nothing away to what was going on behind them. I blew out a long breath and let myself relax into the seat. Never glancing my way, Elijah slid his hand over my leg, letting it come to rest just above my knee. Goosebumps immediately followed. My body stiffened back up and all hope of relaxing next to this beautiful specimen of a man was lost.

  Chapter thirty

  Trust

  Elijah pulled the car into a dimly lit parking lot just off the main road. He jumped out of the driver seat, leaving the car idling and disappeared into the motel lobby. I rang my hands together in my lap as I waited for him anxiously. My mind becomes lost in the events of this morning. Was Olivie working with Reid or was she really just protecting the vampire race? If we do eradicate Reid’s Sector, will the hunting from The Elders Council end? My thoughts were cut short by the sound of Elijah opening the driver’s side door.

  “I’ve got us a room,” he said as he pulled the keys from the ignition and the gentle rumble of the engine ceased. I blinked several times at him, in disbelief that this man could possibly have any attraction for me. He smiled and joy shot through me like a giddy child on Christmas morning.

  I scrambled to free myself from the seat belt and exited the car. My grace escaped me and I stumbled. With lightning speed, Elijah’s arms were wrapped tightly around my waist, suspending me in midair. I remembered to breathe and let out a sigh of relief. My feet found the earth underneath me and I regained my balance. My mind swayed with Elijah’s blood coursing through me and I had to concentrate to keep from falling over again. Elijah’s eyes turn cold and his expression hard.

  “S-sorry” I stuttered, wondering what I had done to upset him.

  “You need to wash up immediately,” he hissed. I self-consciously ran my fingers through my bloodied hair and nodded sheepishly. I tiptoed toward the door, like a scolded child. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and tried to gauge his mood. He gave nothing away by his facial expression. He slipped the keycard into the door lock and flipped the handle, sending the door ajar.

  “After you,” he whispers politely, still no emotion evident. I lowered my head and shuffled passed him to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and let my forehead fall against it. Slipping my hand through the clinically white shower curtain, I turned on the water faucet on full blast. Slipping out of my tank and shorts, I ran my hand over my wrist where my wound had once been. Olivie had taken this to an entirely different level. I felt defeated. I slipped into the shower and adjusted the water to the perfect warmth. Dumping a handful of travel-sized shampoo into the palm of my hand, I absentmindedly massaged it into my scalp. The morning had started out with so much promise. Would my life be like this every day if I stay with Elijah? Would I survive a day without him? Would I want to? I shook the thought from my mind.

  I stepped back into the flow of water and let the soap wash free from my hair, the water a swirl of red as it rinsed down the drain. I had fallen for Elijah hard and as much turmoil as my life had consisted of since meeting him; I couldn’t seem to remember anything before him. Was this a side effect from his blood? Would it wear off when the blood leaves my system? I strained to try to focus on any event from my past that did not include him.

  I reached for the conditioner and it toppled toward the shower floor, never making its impact. I glance up to see Elijah, hand extended and holding the tiny bottle in his ha
nd. A smile involuntarily flashed across my face. The corners of his mouth turned upward and I was relieved he was no longer upset. His feelings washed through the air and I became drunk with his lust. I closed my eyes for a moment, grinning like a fool behind the curtain that I held against my body.

  “Can we talk?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. It took a moment for me to find my voice. Is this how vampires feel all of the time, drunk with passion?

  “No one is stopping you,” I replied coyly, taking the conditioner from his hand and turning my back on him, warming my front in the wall of water. I watched Elijah’s shadow outside of the curtain. I dumped the contents of the bottle into my hand and rubbed it through my hair.

  “Where did you get that stick from, Eva?”

  “One minute I was standing there in the house and the next I was… I don’t know. I was in the woods somewhere.”

  “You were unconscious.”

  I pressed my back against the cold tile wall, shaking my head as I went over the details of the fight in my hazy memory. “No. I could tell she was lying so she took me away, or she made the world change. I- I’m not sure how she did it. It’s like how I can feel what you feel.”

  I finished rinsing my hair and stuck my arm out of the shower. Elijah placed a towel in my hand and I quickly wrapped it around my body and shoved open the curtain. I stepped out of the shower, stopping in front of him.

  He shook his head, looking at the lingering red that swirled around the edge of the drain.

  He nodded in agreement but I could feel his uncertainty. “Tell me what you think happened.”

  My words poured out of me in a confusing jumble as I struggled to explain the fight I’d thought I’d had with her. I was known for getting lost in daydreams but this took things to an entirely different level.