“Then what, Marlon? What if they’ve done this to more people than just Josiah, and what about Elias? I think he led us into a trap, but I don’t know why,” he said.
Now it was me holding his face in my hands. “I promise you we will find out what has happened, and we’ll make sure any of them involved with your being turned will pay dearly. There may be a few of them, but I swear they will all pay.” I was buried in theground for nearly a century, but with Blake’s blood I was strong, and seeing how easily the creature in the truck had been defeated, I knew now we had a chance.
Twenty-Five
Blake
Marlon and I lay on the bed as the sun rose, and I hoped the cheap curtains were enough to protect us. I’d taped them closed as much as I could, but I wasn’t sure it would be enough. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close while he slept, and for a moment I stopped worrying. Maybe that was his superpower—putting my mind at ease. After a while, I finally fell asleep, as much as a vampire could. My mind was always working and always alert, no matter when it was or how many hours I’d gone without sleep.
“Try to relax, love. We’re safe,” Marlon murmured into the hair at the back of my neck.
I gripped his hand tightly and finally managed to drift off, but my mind still went over every detail of what had happened earlier. Elias had assured us he wouldn’t hurt either of us, and technically he hadn’t, but he had led us to an area where it would have been easy for us to be taken. I had strange dreams the rest of the day as I worried about Marlon getting his head torn off while I watched. The prospect of spending eternity without him was more than I wanted to imagine.
We slept, or we acted like we did, until I could feel the pull of the night and I knew the sun would be setting soon. “We need to feed tonight,” Marlon said.
“I know. I can feel the need,” I admitted.
“Never go too long without feeding. As soon as you feel the pull, you need to tell me. I’m sorry, love. I forgot how often a newborn needs to feed.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m still learning, and there’s so much I feel and don’t understand, but I can’t tell what’s important and what I should ignore.” A storm was brewing in me, and it wouldn’t take much for me to drain anything warm-blooded that walked through the door.
“In a few minutes it’ll be safe for us to leave,” Marlon said.
“I’m okay,” I said, as much to reassure myself as Marlon.
“First, we feed, then we find out who and what attacked us last night,” Marlon said and started gathering our things.
“What do you think they were?”
“The one that attacked us was human, but he was stronger. Enhanced, unlike any human I’ve come across before, and he burned up in the sun.”
“Why would Elias be with them? He told us he preferred to be alone and away from humans. Do you think he lied about everything?”
“Possibly. Our kind is not known for being truthful. We don’t know any of these creatures, it’s best not to trust them. We’re going to find Josiah and destroy him, then we’ll decide where we go from there.”
“I don’t understand how anyone could move like that and still be human,” I said as we walked out of the room and over to the truck. After putting the backpack inside the cab, I used a discarded box and more of the tape to fix the back window.
“There is a lot going on I don’t understand,” Marlon said as he watched me use the last strip of tape.
“Is there anyone who can help us?” I asked because I knew Marlon was worried, but he would never admit it.
“No, there is no one,” he said and stood a moment with his hand on the door handle while scanning the parking lot and nearby area. “They are close, and Josiah is still moving north, but not as fast as he was. We need to go.”
Weboth got in the truck, and I started it and drove away from the hotel. “Where are we going?”
“Food first,” Marlon said. I drove in the direction we’d come yesterday but took an exit in the opposite way I hoped led to a remote area where the forest would provide us with something to feed on. “There.” He pointed at a narrow road just off the road we’d just turned onto. We followed it as it led deeper into the woods and farther away from the highway. We rounded a curve, and I was hit with a sense so strong I had to grip the steering wheel to force myself to focus on driving and not leaping out of the vehicle.
“Pull over here,” Marlon said.
I cranked the wheel to the right sliding to a stop and was out of the truck and running before I had time to even think about it. A large animal broke through the brush ahead of me, and before it had time to know I was a threat, I’d snapped the bear’s neck and was drinking its warm blood.
“You are amazing,” Marlon said, and I pushed down the part of me that wanted to challenge him for my food.He was my mate that I loved, and I wanted to help feed the two of us. His fingers brushed my cheek before he sank his fangs into the bear, and for a while the two of us were silent as we drank our fill.
“You’re drinking more now,” I said, and wiped a drop of blood from Marlon’s lips.
“My thoughts have cleared more with every feeding. The silver must finally be leaving me,” he said.
Completely full, I sat back on my heels and wiped blood from my face. “You’re stronger now, and I’m happy what he did to you doesn’t seem to be permanent. Is there a way we can we get past them?” I asked.
