Forest nods. “Of course.”
When I push my seat back and head toward the front door, he says, “I suggest you stay close to my house for now, though. Just until I can talk to the surrounding packs. They’ll likely want to meet you. I’m afraid we aren’t the only pack who has been hurt by Foxx recently, so they might not be kind to a rogue vampire.”
I stiffen at the thought of meeting even more shifters, but nod, knowing I have no other choice but to trust them. Evan’s life depends on me. On a pack of wolves. “Thank you.”
7
EVAN
As soon as we are outside, we head to the van, climbing in and taking a seat on the bed. Jericho turns to me, but the deeply tinted windows make it hard to see his face. I wish I could tell what he’s thinking.
Jericho kicks his shoes off and scoots back against the wall with one knee propped. A position I’ve seen a thousand times on him when he needs to think.
I rub at my chest, trying to ease the sudden ache. I had suspected Jericho’s life was in danger, but now that Iknow,now that I’m being hunted alongside him…It fucking terrifies me.
At least we knowwhyFoxx is after Jericho, even if there’s little we can do about it yet.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask.
“I think… I’m an idiot,” Jericho says, his tone thick with sarcasm.
I pull a knee up onto the bed and turn to face him.
He sighs. “I should’ve seen it, Ev. About Foxx wanting my gift, I mean. It makes so much sense.”
“Why did you think he was chasing you?”
He shrugs. “I justthought it was because he claimed me that night, you know. Like he had some sick ownership over me or something.”
I nod. “I probably would’ve too.” When he doesn’t reply, I continue. “I don’t know how he’s getting away with it. I mean, all those people?”
“Me either. But what concerns me is those are only the ones the pack knows about. Who knows how many more there are. Or how many he killed before taking over the club.”
My stomach twists. I hadn’t thought about that. I pick at my fingernails, needing something to do. “What if he’d killed you?”
Jericho nudges me. “Don’t go there.”
“How can I not? I mean, you heard them. If he hadn’t… if Foxx hadn’t seen something in you that day, we wouldn’t even be here.Youwouldn’t be here. He would’ve killed you.”Don’t you know how much that hurts?
He looks at me for a long time before patting the space next to him. “Come here.”
I kick my shoes off and join him on the mattress, our hips touching. My lungs burn, like I can’t fully draw breath, and Jericho doesn’t seem much better. His body is stiff, hands clammy. It makes me wonder how he handled all of this on his own for so long.
After a minute, Jericho reaches for something on the ledge above his pillow and begins twirling it between his fingers. I don’t even need to see it to know what it is.
I gesture to the pencil. “You still draw?” He rarely went anywhere without a sketchbook back in Comstead.
“Is the sky blue?” he says with a straight face.
I chuckle.
He reaches around me, to a ledge on the side of the bed where a dozen or more notebooks are held in place by two bungee cords. Hepulls one out and hands it to me. My breath hitches when I open the cover. Damn. His art is just as incredible as I remember; the portraits and landscapes are some of the best I’ve ever seen. But his talent definitely improved since he was turned. The details are finer somehow. Crisper. Even more realistic than before, like he could see every pore, every intricate wrinkle.
“Are you sure drawing isn’t your vamp gift?” I tease. “Because wow.”
He laughs. “That would be a pretty lame gift to hunt me down for.”
“I don’t know. I mean, Foxx could sell your art and make good money for his coven.”
