Part 14 (1/2)

We stood in silence, waiting for the green light to leave. The trees loomed over us, utterly still like statues in a museum, no leaf daring to fall.

”Ahh,” Lucian sighed. ”We have an intruder.”

My skin tingled uncomfortably all over, like a million tiny bugs were running rampant all over my body.

Please be over, please just let us go! my mind screamed. I nervously rubbed the palms of my hands with my fingertips. My skin felt so clammy, covered with a cold sweat.

Out of the bushes stepped Liam, a tall, blonde vampire. As the rest of his body emerged from the cloak of the darkness, he had a hold of someone, someone I immediately recognized.

”Hunter!”

Hunted.

My breath caught in my throat and instinctively I lunged forward, but Eli's hand grasped my forearm firmly, preventing me from making any progress.

”Hunter, what are you doing?” I called, my voice shaky.

A large bruise had already begun to form on his upper left cheekbone.

”I'm coming with you,” he stated fiercely. Hunter made eye contact with Eli briefly before turning his eyes back to me.

”This G.o.d killed Oryx, Yasmine, and Dane,” Liam spat.

He killed three vampires? I couldn't imagine Hunter taking on so many. He seemed too 'pretty' for that.

”Liam are you hungry?”

”If you want me to be, sir ...”

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could feel Lucian's dark eyes searching my face.

”No!” I shouted. ”Please!”

”Finders keepers. He's all yours.”

A wry smile spread over Liam's lips and Lucian kept his attention on me. The flood gates opened and tears spilled down my cheeks. I bit my lip, not giving my cry a chance to turn hysterical.

”Please,” I sobbed.

Liam wasted no time. Hunter gasped in pain as the vampire sank his teeth into his skin. The bottom half of my body gave way and I fell to my knees. His eyes became dull and lifeless, then Liam let Hunter's body fall into a heap on the ground. I wanted to scream and run over to his body, shake him and pray for him to wake up, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't move. I just knelt there, hating myself for not being able to do anything.

”You have somewhere to be,” Lucian growled at Eli. ”It's a very long drive and you have to be there by Sunday at six p.m. Have I not made it clear how serious I am about punctuality?”

”Ruby, let's go,” Eli whispered, kneeling down beside me.

When he saw I couldn't move, he pulled me to my feet and s.h.i.+fted my weight onto him. My body was numb. I couldn't feel the warmth from Eli's body; I couldn't feel the damp leaves, or the sloppy forest floor as we pa.s.sed through it.

”We just have to make it to the car park,” Eli muttered.

”I can walk,” I replied, sniffling.

Eli let me go and I pushed through. It was only six-thirty; most of the kids would still be in the dining hall. We needed to make it to the car park. As we crossed the oval, my tears managed to dry up. The swelling of my eyes didn't go down, though, and the redness would surely be noticeable in the light.

We managed to cross the student campus without being noticed. Sera was waiting at the car. She was a female guardian angel. I saw her in the dining room mostly, or whenever she was on s.h.i.+ft patrolling the school.

”Eli.” Her voice was relieved and kind.

”Sit in the car,” he uttered to me. I climbed in.

The car was quiet, forcing me to listen to my breathing and uneven heartbeat. I didn't want to be alone, even if it was only for a few seconds. The driver's door opened and Eli climbed in. The cool air that blew into the car carried a sad tune in with it - or perhaps I was imagining things.

”Sera brought your boxes and things down to the car earlier. Are you ready to go?”

Slowly my head bobbled up and down, but Eli didn't start the car. Instead, he got out. I glanced in my side mirror; he was coming around to my side. He opened my door and more cool air blew in, causing me to s.h.i.+ver slightly. My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I used pain to fight back the fresh batch of tears.

”Are you all right?” His words made it impossible to hold back the tsunami that pushed relentlessly at my tear ducts.

”It's my fault,” I cried hysterically.

”Hey.” He pulled me into him. Usually his sweet, crisp scent and low comforting voice was enough to sooth me, but not this time. This time my pain was too fresh, too overwhelming.

”None of this is your fault, Ruby.”

My chest ached as my lungs desperately fought against my distraught sobs for air. Slowly I nodded my head and my tears ran out once again.

”Aleksandrov has a plan. We'll get out of this. We just have to go with the flow for now, okay?”

”Okay.” I sniffled.

Eli kissed the top of my head and guilt struck me as Hunter flashed across my mind. I cringed as I pushed the image from my head. I wasn't ready to think about him. I needed to focus on getting out of this mess and protecting what little amount of loved ones I had left. I pulled away from Eli's embrace and sat back in the leather seat. I was thankful for it, I would have collapsed without it.

”We have a lot of driving to do,” Eli said as he climbed back into the driver's seat. ”If you're up for it, we can talk about -”

”Thank you.” I sounded a little rude, although I didn't mean to. I just didn't think I could handle hearing his name out loud. I stared unblinkingly for long periods of time and I felt like I was going to start hyperventilating at any second. I needed to get over it, otherwise I could put many, many lives in danger.

In my side mirror I saw the school disappearing rapidly behind us. Before long, we were encompa.s.sed by the forest. If you'd asked me a year ago what I thought about the forest, I would described it as tranquil, serene, and quiet, but all I could think of now were secrets, dark, and evil. I looked at Eli; here he was again, helping me and protecting me. What if I lost him, too?

”A penny for your thoughts?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

”You're going to need a lot of pennies...”

The corner of Eli's mouth twitched as he fought a smile.

”I don't know what I'm thinking. It changes so quickly, I'm all over the place.”

”That's normal. You've been through so much tonight, and I know this might come off as insensitive, but we need to go into this thing with a clear head, otherwise we're going to die. I know you cared for Hunter; he was there for you when I wasn't. He might have been a bad influence, but he kept you going and kept you safe. For that I will be forever grateful.”