I scan the dates. “No. I don’t think so. I’ve only logged into this once, so some of these are months old. But look. These were in the last two days,” I say, pointing to the top three videos.
He shakes his head in relief, looking at me with a strange expression.
“Can you log in on our computer so we can stream it to the television?” Sage asks. “That way we can all see?”
“Yeah,that’s a good idea.”
Five minutes later, Forest clicks on the first of the videos, dated around the time when the club was shut down. Jericho tenses when he appears on screen, practically flying across the yard to tear down my front door. It’s still unsettling to see him move so damn fast.
“Turn it up. I hear something,” Sage says, leaning in.
“Do you want him to live?”Jericho’s voice rises gradually.
“Wh-what?”I hear myself reply.
“He hurt you,”Jericho says.“Do you want him to live, or can I rip his throat out?”
Jericho and I turn to each other. It’s so bizarre hearing our own voices.
A gunshot rings out, followed by a flash of white light. Jericho flinches and drops his gaze.
“Drink, Ev. I’ll explain later.”
Everyone turns to us, more confused than before.
Forest pauses the video. “Mind telling us what that’s about? It sounds to me like you didn’t know Jericho was a vampire.”
“I did,” I say. “But he didn’t know I did.”
This only seems to raise more questions. Grant’s stony gaze burns into me. “I thought you were traveling together? How did you not know?”
Shit, this looks bad. Like we were lying to them from the beginning.
“Look, I spent months trying to find Jericho before that night, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t. Then he came back to… I don’t know, check on me or something and thank God he had, or I wouldn’t be here. That guy shot me. Jericho fed me blood to heal me. Once he saw Rip in the car, we left.”
“You werelookingfor him?” Grant asks me.
Jericho shifts uncomfortably. “I disappeared on Evan before I was turned. Left without saying goodbye. It was stupid, and I hurt Evan. He spent the better part of a year looking for me, and that’s when he found out what happened to me. I only checked in on him that night because my gut told me to.” He drops his gaze. “If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t be pulled into this mess.”
I reach out to him. “No. If you hadn’t, I’d be dead, Jer,” I say for the third or fourth time. Why can’t he get that into his head? Hesavedme.
Grant considers this. “Who shot you?”
“His name was Trace McCallister,” I say. “He worked with the private investigator I hired to find Jericho. I never paid the guy before he died, so Trace wanted his money.”
“Why would you invest in a PI to find a freshly turned vampire?” Jasmine says, like she can’t understand why someone would want to get close to one.
“Because he’s my best friend,” I say simply. “I’ve already told you, we met in college four years ago and we’ve spent nearly every day together since. But then he left, and I never heard from him again. I panicked and hired some help.”
“So you’ve only been together again for… what?Two days?”she asks incredulously. “You made it sound like you’ve been together this whole time!”
Jericho avoids my eyes, his jaw ticking. I want to comfort him, but I’m not sure how. That night had been hell for both of us. But in some weird way, it was also a dream come true. I finally got him back.
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you this, but I didn’t see the point. Weweretraveling together,” I say.
“No, it actually makes sense to me,” Red says, reaching for Sage’s hand. “I’d go to the ends of the earth to find someone I loved.”
I clamp my mouth shut. Why does everyone assume we’re a couple?
