Eternal: More Love Stories With Bite (32 page)

Michael
and Liam crossed the
lawn.
Even as he walked sideways to keep my window
in
sight, Liam's
steps
were
sure
and straight, the way they'd never been
in
life.

"Plenty
of
women stay single," I told her.

"Oh my." She sank onto
my
bed, like she was
feeling
faint.
"I
told your mama
not
to send
you
to public
school. I
knew it'd
put
crazy
ideas
into that head
of
yours."

"My
head is
fine."
I
rubbed
my
temple, then dropped my hand quickly before
she
started up
again,
worrying I had a concussion.

"Being single is fine for those depraved country folk, but not for Travellers. Don't you even care what you are?"

"What I am is
in
love with Liam, and sick of this life. I'm going to college. How can I do that with babies running all around?"

"Your mama will help you take care of them. And your husband, whoever he ends up being."

"You mean whoever Brendan sets me up with. What if my husband doesn't want me to go to college? Or what if he wants me to run cons with him when I should be studying? Most people can't live that double life—they want it one way or the other, inside or out. But Liam and I could've done it."
I
watched Michael shove him into the front seat of the car. "Maybe we still can."

"Mary Cassidy O'Riley." For once, my grandmother spoke my full name gently. "Whatever you decide, I will always love you."

My eyes blurred with tears.

"But if you leave us, I'll mourn you. I'll mourn like you were six feet under ground." She went to the door. "We all will."

I
watched Michael drive away, with Liam's pale face turned my way until they were out of sight. Then I slouched back over to the bed, wanting to do nothing but lie down and cry the rest of the night away.

My throat still parched, I reached for the water I'd left on my nightstand, then gasped.

Next to the glass sat Bridget's bridal bouquet, the one I'd caught. I picked it up and took a deep whiff of the red and white roses, wondering how it had gotten here. I'd left it in Liam's car along with my getaway bag earlier that night. Before he died.

He'd brought it back to me.

I looked at the clock, calculated the hours until sunrise (three), then hurried to my desk. While my laptop started up, I changed my clothes and filled my backpack with everything I truly needed. I was used to living out of an RV for an entire summer, so I knew how to pack light. Besides, I had something else to pick up.

Downstairs, I left a note on the kitchen counter:

Dear Nana,

I hope one day, you'll let me live again.

Love, Mary Cassidy O'Riley

* * * *

Michael blocked the doorway of
his
bungalow, which was now Bridget's and
Liam's home,
too. He'd changed out of
his
tuxedo, back into his usual flannel shirt and jeans.

"I told you, Cass, you can't see him."

"I'm not here to see Liam. I'm here to see you."

He glanced toward the side of the house, like he expected someone to jump out with a crossbow, then at the heavy plastic cooler in my hand. "Is this a trick?"

I
smiled
up
at
him.
"Me? Tricky?"

My cousin nodded grimly and started to shut the
door,
but
I
put my foot across the threshold.

"Michael, I'm kidding. Let me in and I'll explain."

He gave a heavy sigh and called over his shoulder. "Bridget, take the kid into the den." In response to a voice I couldn't hear, he said, "So he doesn't eat his ex-girlfriend, that's why. And stay with him."

I followed him into the kitchen. "You need to learn to say please. Didn't you read the husband book?"

He scratched his head as he pulled a beer out of the fridge. "There's a book?"

I set the cooler on top of the counter with a thud, then flipped back the lid.

"What's that?" Michael stepped closer, wary as a fox sniffing bait in a trap. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "Shit, Cassie. Where'd you get all that blood?"

"Where do you think?"

"You broke into my dad's blood bank?" His fingers twitched on the beer bottle, rubbing the edge of the label. "How'd you get past the dogs?"

"He took them with him to hunt down Gavin and his boys. The lock was easy. And he won't know it's gone until at least tomorrow."

"Yeah, and then we'll all catch holy hell." Michael reached into the cooler and pulled out a smooth plastic bag of blood. "It's a great wedding gift, but you gotta take it back."

"It's not a wedding gift." My eyes shifted toward the den.

"Cass, I told you to let Liam go. You're not safe around him, and the sooner you move on, the better off we'll all be." Michael plopped the bag back in the cooler. "Bridget and I'll take care of him. He's fine."

"Don't lie to her." Bridget entered the kitchen, her stomps rattling the glasses in the cupboard even though she was perfectly capable of stealth. "The boy's on a goddamn hunger strike."

"A hunger strike?" My blood felt as
cold
as the blood in the cooler. "Why?"

"It
won't
last," Michael said.

"He says he
won't drink until
we let
you
be together." Bridget peered into the cooler.
"Oh
my Lord, are you out of your mind?"
She backed
up out of
reach
and put her hands behind her. "Get that out of our house. If they catch us with that much blood at one time—that'd last all three
of
us for a week, maybe longer."

I closed the lid slowly, snapping it shut. "I know it would."

She
squinted at me. "What are you saying?"

"I'm
saying I'm getting me and Liam out of here, and I need your
help."

"What did I
just
tell you?" Michael slammed the bottom of
his
bottle
on the
counter, so
hard it
fizzed
up
and overflowed. "You can't
be
with him."

"Calm down." Bridget pointed at him like he was a misbehaving puppy. "Let me handle this."

He pressed his lips together, then backed off and wiped the wet bottle on his shirttail, glaring at us but staying quiet. Maybe he did read the husband book.

She turned back to me. "It was bad enough you running off yesterday
when
Liam was alive. I
didn't
agree with it, but I went
along
anyway because you're my friend and
I
want you to be happy.
But
now—"

"Now we need to leave more than ever. You just said Liam's on a hunger strike. You're his maker—you can't let him die."

"We're both his makers." She gazed sadly at Michael. "I tried to do it all by my myself, but I guess I'm too young a vampire."

He said nothing, just stared at the floor.

"Michael, I didn't know," I whispered. "Thank you."

"I knew how sad you'd be if Liam died." He smirked. "And that you'd go off and kill those boys yourself, so I figured I was saving more than one life."

"So what did you save him for, if not to be with me?"

He scratched the side of his head and didn't answer.

"Cass," Bridget said. "It's not so simple running away when you're a vampire. The sun'll kill us."

"I thought of that. If we leave by four-thirty, we can make it to a vampire-safe motel before sunrise. I already got us a room."

She blinked at me. "A vampire-safe motel?"

I nodded to the stapled stack of papers I'd left on the counter. "I looked it up before I left. There's 'vampire-friendly' places, which means they're either run by vamps or humans who know what you are. Then there's 'vampire-safe,' which just means they have rooms without windows, or at least a bathroom you can sleep in during the day."

She picked up the papers and flipped through them, her eyes turning wide with wonder. "So there are other vampires out there who live around humans, like we do? Vampires who aren't like
that. . .
one?"

"There must be." I stepped closer to her. "I know it's asking a lot. You have a life here, and you're scared to leave. But if you help me, I'll help you. I can get whatever you need during the day. You don't have to be scared."

Bridget chewed her thumbnail as she slowly set down the papers, then stared at the door to the den for a long moment. Finally she looked at the clock. "So we got forty- five minutes."

"What?" Michael shouldered his way between us. "Bridget, we're not doing this."