Page 4 of Endless Terrors
“Finn.” I pulled the covers down and touched his shoulder, reluctant to wake him. “Hey, we have to go.”
He woke instantly. I couldn’t see Finn’s face, but I felt his body stiffen. I felt a flash of regret that I might’ve interrupted a good dream. The werewolf sat up, his eyes shining in the darkness. His voice was like gravel and thunder as he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I just finished a chat with the old Unseelie King.” I was careful not to say his name. “He might’ve led you-know-who right to us. We have to go.”
At that moment, the scene on the TV brightened, allowing me to see Finn’s face. The werewolf’s dark eyes dropped, probably following the scent he’d just picked up. His expression revealed nothing as he took note of the blood on my hands. I’d been trying not to think about it, but at the stark reminder, I moved toward the sink to wash the blue stickiness away. I heard the bed springs squeak behind me as Finn got up. He didn’t ask me what had happened, and for the millionth time, I was grateful to have him at my side through all this. Finn’s quiet strength felt like a port in a storm that had been raging for weeks. Months.
A minute later, my hands still slightly damp, I strode from one side of the room to the other and gathered my belongings. I packed what few things Gil had left out, too. Finn was even more careful when it came to keeping his bag ready. And just because I was constantly paranoid, I wiped every surface clean of prints. I didn’t fully understand witches and their spells, but I wouldn’t make it easy for them to find me.
Once I was done, I covered my fingers with the bottom of my shirt and turned off the TV. Silence filled my ears. Finn had grabbed our bags and gone to the door.
“The vampire is at a bar down the street. We can pick him up on the way,” he said, looking up from his cell phone. The werewolf’s tone was as calm as ever, but I still heard what he didn’t say. Finn was more than willing to leave town without Gil. If I weren’t so agitated from the encounter with Collith, I would’ve rolled my eyes.
Finn pocketed his burner, and seeing that sent a jolt of realization through me—I’d forgotten my phone. As he walked away, I whirled back toward the room, saying over my shoulder, “I’ll meet you at the car.”
Then I saw Laurie, and I froze.
While the sound of Finn’s footsteps faded, neither of us moved. Laurie was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, one booted foot propped up behind him. I stared, drinking in the sight of the Seelie King before turning my attention to the other faerie who’d appeared in the room. Collith sat on the bed I’d been sleeping in, his hands loosely linked between his knees. My phone rested beside his leg, and it was clear that he’d already healed from our encounter in the woods. Besides the fact he was no longer hunched over in agony, the skin beneath his torn shirt was clean and unbroken.
“You couldn’t pay me to sit on that mattress,” Laurie remarked, raising his brows at Collith. “In fact, you should probably burn those clothes when we’re done here.”
At the sound of his voice, I launched myself at him.
Laurie pushed off the wall and caught me effortlessly. I buried my face in his shoulder, his springtime scent assailing my senses. Laurie cupped the back of my head, and I heard him inhale, too, as though he was also reassuring himself I was real. “Hey, Firecracker,” he murmured.
I pulled away reluctantly, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go. My hands made involuntary fists in Laurie’s shirt. He couldn’t seem to move away, either, and one of his arms remained around my waist. Our faces were so close that I could see the delicate lines of his silvery irises. His breath touched my cheek like the tip of a feather.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.
“No,” he agreed. “I really shouldn’t. But I made you a promise.”
I didn’t ask him what he was talking about, or pretend to think about it—I knew exactly which promise Laurie meant. The memory lived under my skin like a whisper or a secret. I will always come for you.
By that time, Finn had returned. I stared up at Laurie, painfully aware that everyone was watching us. His hair was shorter, but other than that, he looked like himself. Maybe a little more serious than I was used to. We’d been reunited for an entire thirty seconds and he hadn’t mentioned an orgy once.
Now I remembered something else he’d said. In the blink of an eye, I was back on that porch, and Laurie’s voice floated past. Saying goodbye to me. Hurting me, even though I wouldn’t admit it. I allowed myself to get distracted.
As if he’d heard the thought, Laurie finally stepped back. His expression wasn’t neutral, exactly, but it felt like a door had closed between us. “I should go; I need to get ready for an event at Court. I’ll check in later,” he murmured.
With that, the Seelie King was gone. The only proof he’d been there at all was the smell of springtime in the air, lingering between me and Collith as if, even now, Laurie were taunting us. I finally moved toward the bed and grabbed my phone, avoiding his gaze. I didn’t know what to say. No, I was afraid to say anything. Collith could probably sense that, too. I left feeling even more agitated than before, somehow.
Something moved in the corner of my eye, and a moment later, a tall form walked beside me. Light bounced off Gil’s bleached hair, making it look a pale, sickly green. “I thought we were picking you up,” I remarked.
“Couldn’t wait,” the vampire told me simply.
I understood; it was the bond. Gil had felt my fear just as strongly as I felt his thirst. In the beginning, I’d assumed that physical distance would make the magic between us easier to ignore. Instead, it was the opposite. We worried about each other, and the jittery feeling in my stomach never fully went away until both Finn and Gil were within my line of sight.
“Let’s go” was all I said.
Gil nodded. “Would you like me to drive, love?”
I hesitated. Truthfully, the vampire’s driving still frightened me. Though he’d been in the U.S. a few months now, Gil still tried to drive on the other side of the road when he was deep in thought.
I had a direct line to those thoughts, though. I knew what was distracting him—not just when he was behind the wheel, but all the time. Blood. Human blood. Always, eternally, forever. It was the blessing and the curse of being a vampire, especially a newborn one. It was the reason Finn didn’t trust him. Well, the main one, at least.
If Gil sensed that I doubted his control, it might make him doubt, too. He needed to know he was strong enough to resist the call. He needed to believe I trusted him, even if there were nights I woke up with an inexplicable sense of unease and looked across the room to find Gil staring back, his stance unnaturally still. Like a predator about to launch from the shadows.
All of this went through my head in two seconds. On the third, I forced an easy grin to my lips and threw the keys at Gil. He moved in a blur, catching them one-handed.
