Crave (18 page)

I ran the brush through my hair absentmindedly as I thought about the words Olivie had said to me.

“Your whole relationship is a lie
.”

What did she mean? As far as I knew, I could only feel what he felt because he cared for me.
How could that not be real?
Elijah’s voice broke through my train of thought, startling me.

“What is it?” he asked. His jeans hung low on his hips, unbuttoned. His voice was thick with concern. I smiled and quickly erased any trace of worry from my expression. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks at the memory of what we’d done together.

“I’m hungry,” I replied with a pout. I had been ignoring my stomachs cries for nourishment and I felt like I had not eaten for days. He grinned and ran his hand along my jaw, tipping my chin toward him and kissing me quickly on the lips.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said and grabbed a t-shirt from his bag before heading to the door. “Do not open this for anyone,” he called over his shoulder. I nodded in understanding and ran my fingers through my hair. I turned to the bed and rummaged through the bag for something to wear.

I was relieved to find a tank and a pair of panties. I laid them out on the bed as a low buzzing and the flashing of a cell phone screen caught my eye from inside the bag. It is white and silver, not one I recognized. Elijah has been using a black flip phone since I met him. I bit my lip glanced back at the door. No sound came from outside and I picked up the phone.

The screen came to life at the touch of my finger. I slid through the pages of applications and come to one with an envelope titled
messages
. I paused for a moment to listen for signs of Elijah. The room was silent. I clicked the icon and scroll through the lists of messages. One caught my eye titled
Porter Duties
. I clicked the folder and an overwhelming list of messages popped up onto the screen. I chose one at random and read the contents.

Services needed. Payment upon delivery of the head.

I gasped aloud at what I had just read when the lock on the door to the room suddenly clicked. I threw the phone back into the bag and nervously began dressing. I had my panties on and my tank just over my head as he entered.

“Find anything?” I asked, my voice too high pitch and jumpy. He looked at me for a brief moment and smiled, holding out a bag full of goodies. I relaxed a bit and remembered to breathe. “Thanks,” I said as I walked over and grabbed the bag, unable to look directly into his eye. I felt guilty for invading his privacy.

I sat on the small desk chair beside the bed and clicked the remote. The television came to life. I watched Elijah pick the phone out of the bag from the corner of my eye. After a moment, he slid it into his pocket.

“Here,” He said as he flung a pair of my jeans onto the bed.

I finished a honey bun with as little chewing as possible, desperate to settle my nervous stomach. I still wasn’t sure what had caused me to end up in that forest. We needed to get to Reid before she could get any closer to us. I pulled on my jeans and slipped on my shoes.

“Ready?” Elijah asked, slinging the bag over his shoulder. I nodded and stood up to take his hand. He held onto me tightly as he opened the door and did a sweep of the parking lot with his incredible vision. Everything was pitch black except for a faint glow from the open sign. He pulled me along hurriedly to his car and opened the passenger door, practically shoving me in with more force than I think he intended.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he was in his seat and we whipped out of the parking lot and back onto the main road. His eyes flicked from the road to the rearview mirror and lingered longer than I felt comfortable.

I grabbed my seat belt and wrapped it around me, clicking it into place. Elijah looked at me from the corner of his eye with a small hint of a smile. I flushed realizing that a car accident was the least of my worries as I rode with my vampire boyfriend to escape the legion of others that wanted me dead. My body felt incredibly rested. I was better than normal. I expected to feel tired and sore after we’d slept together.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks and I turned to look out the window into the night.

“Where are we going?” I asked, brushing off his question. He glanced at the clock on the dash.

“We will find another place to sleep just outside of town. We should attack Reid right after the sun sets tomorrow night. Catching them off guard is our best bet.” His plan seemed to make sense, but I didn’t know if I could sleep another day knowing that death was hunting for me at every turn. Not coming up with any other ideas, I nodded in agreement and reached for the radio. My mind going to the mysterious cell phone.

***

We made it to Baltimore with little time to spare before sunrise. I waited in the car as Elijah checked us into a small motel that appeared abandoned. He reemerged from the tiny office with a key in hand. I quickly hopped out of the car and grabbed our bag from the back seat, meeting him in the center of the parking lot.

When we made our way into our room, it was dark and dirty, smelling of smoke and stale alcohol and smoke. I tossed our bag and lay on the bed, grabbing the remote from the side table.

“I need to make a phone call,” He said as he leaned over and kissed my forehead, inhaling the scent of my hair. I nodded and began clicking through the channels. As he walked outside, I sighed and sat the remote down. I could not stop thinking about the messages on the phone from the bag.

The last thing I needed was to doubt Elijah. I was exhausted and the sun would be rising soon. I pulled the covers back and slid underneath, snuggling into the center of the bed.

***

I awoke to Elijah’s hushed voice near the entrance of our hotel room. I glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed. It read nine o’clock. I rubbed my eyes and stretched.

“Elijah?” I called out into the darkness. A moment passed and Elijah rounded the corner.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, grinning as he leaned down and rubbed the back of his fingers along my cheek. I nodded as a yawn escaped my mouth.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked as I fumbled with the button on his crisp white button up shirt.

“You needed your rest,” he replied, kissing me softly on the forehead. “Get dressed. We need to get on the road.” He got up and walked toward the bathroom.  I nodded and rubbed my eyes. Sitting up, I search the cramped space for our bag. I spotted it across the room on the dresser and my mind went back to the messages.

I turned on the bedside lamp and made my way to the dresser. I found my favorite pair of old jeans and shrugged them on. My hand skimmed around the bottom of the bag coming up empty. The other phone was gone. I was hoping he would have returned it to the bag after his call. I sighed and pulled my hand out of the bag, turning to see Elijah staring at me from just inside the room, toothbrush in his cheek. His expression was blank.

“Looking for something?” he asked. His tone was calm.

“Just a hair tie,” I stuttered and smiled. He grinned and walked toward me.

“I like your hair down,” He said sweetly, running his fingers through my tangled mane.

“Down it is,” I said blushing and quickly zipped the bag. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to untangle it the best I could before taking a brush to it.

“Your toothbrush is in the bathroom,” He called as he walked back to the restroom.

I needed to talk with Elijah and put my mind at ease but now was not the time. We were preparing for a war and the last thing he needed was to be preoccupied with me.

***

I got ready in record time. We were less than an hour from Seven Valleys when my nerves began to take over. Grayson was part of Reid’s Sector. He was blood lusting for me and outside of killing him, we had no other ideas of how to make him stop. I bit my nails absentmindedly as I thought of what we were up against.

“Stop,” Elijah growled, breaking me from thoughts. I glanced over at him confused, trying to figure out what I had done. “Your heart. It is beating out of control,” he explained and I realized in the glow of the streetlights it was becoming harder for him to resist. Getting my emotions under control on our way to fight a hoard of angry vampires was easier said than done. I bit my lip and tried to clear my mind, but my thoughts became more jumbled and worried.

“Can I ask you something?” I turned my body to face him, wringing my hands together nervously. He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. “Please don’t be mad, but well… when I was going through our bag, I had found a phone. It had lit up and I knew it wasn’t yours,” I rambled not sure what my question even was. I could see Elijah’s jaw clench and I swallowed hard, wishing I had kept my mouth shut.

“What would you like to know?” he asked evenly. If he was angry with me, he was excellent at hiding it.

“What is a porter?” I asked closing my eyes as if that would help soften the blow from whatever he was going to tell me if he were even going to tell me anything. He took a long deliberate breath and I knew he was frustrated because breathing was not a priority for vampires.

“A porter is an attendant. Sort of like the guy at a hotel who carries your luggage for you or gets you things you need,” He explained vaguely. I was even more confused. My mind flashed to Elijah in a bellhop uniform.

“But the message…” I said letting my voice trail off. Elijah nodded his head and knew he would have to explain further.

“It’s a little different in the vampire world. Vampires don’t need someone to lug around their belongings. But occasionally they need someone found and brought to the Elders Council.” He opened his mouth to say more but decided to wait for my response before giving too much away.

“You are an assassin?” I asked, my voice cracking and coming out more high pitched than I intended.

“Not exactly. They usually want someone brought back intact to stand trial. But some occasions require…
swift
justice,” he clarified. My brain tried to process all of this information.

“Olivie,” I said barely above a whisper, but Elijah had heard me clearly. “Why didn’t she send a porter? Why did she come for us herself?”

Elijah did not answer and I knew this was something that he had not quite figured out himself… or something he didn’t want to share with me.

I reached for the radio and cranked the volume as high as I could stand.
If I Was Your Vampire
blared through the speakers and had we not been in such a dangerous predicament, I would have laughed. Elijah’s expression softened and I could see him begin to relax, which made it easier for me to calm down.

Time raced and before I knew it, we were rolling over one of the last hills into Seven Valleys. This was it.

Elijah reached across me and for a moment, I was not sure what he was going to do. He clicked open the glove compartment and pulled out my brother’s gun. He held it out in front of me, waiting for me to take it. I hesitated but wrapped my fingers around the grip and examined it. Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I had not had time to properly mourn the second passing of my brother and with all of the excitement, the emotions were becoming too much to contain. Elijah’s hand rested on my knee and he glanced at me. I knew he was comforting me and he did not need to say a word. I looked back down at the gun and slid it behind me into the back of my jeans so it was handy when I needed to kill someone.

Main Street was just beginning to come to life and people filled the streets, not caring about our hurry to wage war in their tiny town. Elijah clenched his jaw and cursed under his breath as the car crept forward at a snail’s pace. When we reached Green Valley Road, the congestion had dissipated and Elijah was free to drive at his usual high speed. We slowed to a crawl just before Reid’s farmhouse. Elijah clicked off the headlights and we drifted by, inspecting for signs of life… or death.

One solitary light in the front of the house glowed as Elijah circled around, pulling the car off the side of the road about a block away. He nodded and I knew that it was now or never. We both got out of the car and I met Elijah at the trunk. He slid his keys in the lock and popped it open, revealing an arsenal of vampire-killing weapons, most of which I had never seen and would not even begin to know how to use. Rows upon rows of stakes lined the walls of the trunk. On top of those sat several flat open top creates. Each held a different type of weapon, one filled with crossbows, and another with handguns. The rest looked like movie props from horror flicks.

“You ready for this?” he asked and I was not sure if I ever would be. I nodded and a quick smile spread across his face but faded leaving behind no visible emotions. He pulled out a wooden stake and inspected the tip. It seemed to meet his standards and he handed it to me. “Use the gun first. Hopefully, no one can get close enough that you will need the stake,” he explained and I continued to nod like a bobble head doll.

He slid several weapons into the waist of his jeans and closed the lid. He placed his hand on the small of my back and his confidence flowed freely in the air, calming me. This was Elijah’s favorite pastime and I could tell he was damn good at it.

We moved silently through the dark, circling the house and finding a door near the back that housed a furnace. Elijah tugged on the handle and it swung open. I held my breath.

The room was silent as we stepped inside. I could not make out which part of the house we were in and the glow from a few rooms away did not light my path enough to make it out. I placed my hand on Elijah’s back and followed blindly through the maze of rooms. When we reached the entry to the lit room, I recognized it immediately. It was where I had come face to face with Reid, and discovered my brother was not exactly dead. Elijah turned and nodded quickly and I tucked my body in close to his and followed him around the corner. By now, someone should have known we were here, but nothing came for us. I was beginning to lose confidence in our ambush tactic. Elijah motioned for me to stay put as he snuck up the stairs to the second floor. I pressed my back against the wall, praying to a god I was certain didn’t exist.

The sound of quick footsteps startled me and I struggled to see up the dark staircase. Elijah bounded toward me with his gun in hand.

“I know where they are,” he said as he walked passed me. I followed behind quickly as we snaked our way back through the home and out the same way we had come in.

“Well?” I asked, practically running to keep pace.

“They’re at the club,” he answered over his shoulder as we reached the road. Elijah kept walking, but I stopped out of habit and glanced in both directions to make sure no headlights were in sight.

“What club?” I asked, not trying to hide the irritation in my voice as I got into my seat. The car lurched onto the road before my door closed. “Elijah! Please talk to me,” I begged over the sound of the radio. His jaw clenched and the muscles in his face tensed.

“Remember the club I had told you I worked at when we first met?” he asked but not giving me a chance to respond. “That is where Reid is at tonight, but it’s not just a typical strip joint. It caters to vampires,” he explained. His eyes smoldered, even in the darkness of night.

“I don’t see what the problem is. We just walked into a vampire nest ready to kick some ass. Why are you worried?” I asked, still not understanding the serious tone he had undertaken.

“On any given night there can be hundreds of vamps, not to mention the humans,” he explained and his worry began to scare me. “We can’t risk human casualties. The Elders Council will never stop hunting us if we bring more bad press to their doorstep.”

I was terrified, but I would not let Elijah do this on his own.

“Then we will have to make sure no one dies who doesn’t deserve to,” I replied and kept my expression hard. He nodded once and I knew that was the end of the discussion.

We rode in silence for a few minutes as we sped along the winding country roads. My mind overflowed with all of the things I wanted to say, but I had no idea where to start. I knew these roads like the back of my hand, but this place felt like another planet. Death stalked us at every turn. Our lives hung by a thread. Elijah broke the silence first.

“I think we should discuss turning you.”

I had no idea how to respond. He had done everything he could to prevent that from happening.

“Elijah, I-” I began to respond, but he cut me off mid- sentence.

“I don’t want you to die, Eva. Chances are, Grayson is already aware that your blood is close by. If we change you, he may stop looking. We could run away together and never have to deal with any of this again.” It made perfect sense, but I knew in my heart that was the last thing Elijah wanted for my life. It was the last thing
I
wanted for my life. I didn’t know what our future held for us, but I didn’t want that life. I have watched it destroy those around me that I loved and I would rather die than suffer the same fate.

“We don’t have time,” I replied sadly. “You know they will find us. I can’t have you fighting them alone,” I swallowed back tears, trying not to let them fall. Elijah was scared. “And Grayson didn’t hesitate to kill Marcus even though they were both vamps,” I pointed out.

He swallowed hard and did not say anything further on the subject. I knew if I didn’t let Elijah change me, that we would have to kill Grayson. A lump formed in my throat and I turned to stare out the window as my tears fell silently from my eyes. Even, after all, we had been through, I still loved Grayson very much and I knew he felt the same way about me, at least while he was alive. But now that I was being forced to choose, I only knew that what I felt for Elijah was…
more
.

“Turn,” I called out as I realized where we were in Hanover. Elijah whipped the car right.

“What is it?” he asked, looking at me with worry.

“My brother,” I replied as I pointed to the Rest Haven Cemetery. He didn’t say anything as he pulled off the main road into the grass. I could feel his eyes on me, but I did not wait for him to say anything. I got out of the car and made my way across the dark lawn toward the headstones. It was impossible to read them and I soon found myself sobbing uncontrollably as I struggled to find the right way. Elijah put his hand on my back soothingly and began reading the names on the stones. His vision was incredible, another side effect of being a vampire. Because they could not go out in the daylight, their senses adjusted, adapted. He took my hand and pulled me through the rows, reading each stone off one by one. Finally, his feet stopped moving and I rocked on my heels waiting.

“Marcus Morgan,” he whispered quietly. I threw myself onto the grass in front of the marble sculpture. I knew Marcus was never actually here, but it made me feel closer to him. Elijah knelt down beside me and stroked my hair as I cried aloud. I was crying for my brother, but I was also crying for Grayson. I knew if everything went right, he would be dead before the sun rose. Maybe becoming a vampire was my only option. I remembered Reid offering me a place in his Sector and I knew that none of this would ever actually stop unless I took him up on it or died.

“We will be okay,” Elijah whispered. I wanted to scream. It would never be okay. My brother was dead. My ex-boyfriend was a vampire who would soon be dead unless they killed Elijah or me.

“No,” I said under my breath.

“Eva?” he asked as I struggled to control my breathing. I was on the verge of exploding.

“No! It will not be okay,” I screamed. He leaned back from me, but his hand remained on my hair. “We can’t fix this! We can’t make it better! Everyone around me will keep dying until they get what they want.” I felt defeated. I didn’t know if I had any strength left in me to fight. I wanted to give up. I buried my head in my hands and began to cry harder.

“Eva, look at me,” Elijah demanded as he took his fingers and turned my chin toward him. “You are the strongest human I know.” I wanted to roll my eyes but his expression was serious and I knew he believed what he was saying. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” His eyes darkened and I knew there was something more to what he was saying. I nodded my head and he took my hand pulling me to my feet.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said as I made my way through the maze of headstones. Elijah trailed behind me.