The fact Aida lived with his siblings was thereason he knew anything about her. He’d never called, texted, ormessaged her, and though it was the most challenging thing he everdid, he never answered the handful of times she called and textedhim.
He didn’t have a Facebook account, because ifshe were on there, he’d check her page every day. He’d walked awayso she could live her life, and he couldn’t torture himself byseeing how happy she was without him.
Before Aida left Arizona, his mom and daddidn’t talk about her when they spoke. They were too busy fillinghim in on what his siblings, nieces, and nephews were doing toreveal anything about Aida unless it was major news like movingback to the Northeast.
The other members of his family didn’t talkabout her when they spoke. Occasionally, he’d text Mike to say hi,but he never asked about her, and Mike only mentioned hertwice—once when she was visiting and once after she graduatedcollege.
When Aida joined Kyle and Cassidy in Boston,his mom revealed that as part of what the twins were doing, not aspart of Aida’s life. And Julian was fine with that. It was hardenough staying away from her, but hearing about her only made itworse. He dreaded the day he learned of her engagement ormarriage.
The demon inside him stirred and uncoiledlike a snake from where it lay hidden and waiting to strike. Whensaliva filled his mouth and his fangs started to lengthen, hefisted his hands in his pockets and ducked his head away from thepeople walking by him.
Restaurants and bars lined this section ofTremont Street, and a lot of the college kids were out to celebrateFriday night. Many of them talked loudly with each other as theymade their way from one establishment to the other.
Talk of sports filled a lot of theconversations as the Red Sox played earlier in the day, and theBruins were in the playoffs tonight. Some of them bitched aboutclasses or work as they walked with friends.Noneof themwere aware of the vampire moving amongst them and listening totheir heartbeats while he tried not to picture draining every oneof them dry.
He couldn’t believe he was the same age, ifnot younger, than many of these guys. Their lives were sodifferent, and while humans didn’t live a carefree existence, theyat least didn’t have death or insanity hanging over theirheads.
He’d trade immortality for a single day ofnot wanting to grab someone by the throat and squeeze it untiltheir eyes bulged out and their blood ran beneath his fingers. Fora single day of not feeling as if one second of relaxation wouldlead him down the path of murder. For a single day of not cravingthe blood of all those he slaughtered.
It would be an even trade.
If he were human, he’d run down the streetwith these guys as they searched out the next party or girl. Hell,if he was a turned vampire, he might do the same thing, but he wasa purebred vampire without his mate, and partying was the lastthing on his mind.
When one brushed against him and yelled sorryin his ear, it took all Julian had not to smile as he broke theguy’s neck. He wouldn’t bother to apologize afterward.
The guy laughed as he ran to catch up withhis friends. He was in such a rush he didn’t look before plunginginto the street and nearly got hit by a black Mercedes.
“Asshole!” the Mercedes driver shouted.
“Sorry!” the kid yelled back as he turned andflipped the driver off.
Julian’s teeth ground together until he wassure they would become stubs. He never should have decided to walkto the bar where Kyle and Cassidy worked, but after being crammedinto an airplane for six hours with a bunch of humans, he might eatthe taxi driver.
Instead, he opted to walk in the hopes somefresh air would calm him. It hadn’t worked.
Shifting his backpack on his shoulders, hepulled at the straps while he debated finding a hotel for the nightand seeing his siblings tomorrow. He wasn’t exactly the most socialvampire right now. His brother and sister worked a lot, so theywould probably be at the bar tomorrow night too, but as he thoughtit, he spotted the sign for Adler’s Piano Bar—or Addy’s as Cassidycalled it—further down and on the opposite side of the street.
He’d come this far; he didn’t have to staylong, and he had the excuse of exhaustion and having to find ahotel on his side for an early escape. However, he hadn’t seen thetwins in almost four and a half years, and they had a lot to catchup on. He talked to them a few times a year, text messaged them,and occasionally video chatted, but they were all briefconversations, and he missed them.
There was also the chance he might run intoAida if she visited them while they worked. He tried to tellhimself he hoped she wasn’t there, but it was a lie. Even if shedid have someone else, he’d give anything to see her one lasttime.
Julian was about to cross the street to go toAddy’s when he became aware of a new presence. He hadn’t beenpaying much attention to his surroundings, as he was mostly tryingto ignore everyone around him, but the hair on his nape rose, andthe skin on his arms tingled.
A shift in the air alerted him that he wasn’talone. He didn’t have to glance over his shoulder to know someonewas following him. He caught the scent of garbage. It could becoming from the nearby trash can, but judging by the way hisinstincts went into a hyper-alert mode, he guessed it was aSavage.
Unwilling to lead his follower to Kyle andCassidy, Julian ducked into an alley and removed his hands from hispockets as he walked. The brick of the buildings pressed againsthim, and the dank smell of wet asphalt from a recent rain permeatedthe air.
He strained to hear over the noise of thetraffic and people on the street behind him. Beneath the crunch oftires, the beep of a horn, and the chatter of people, he heard thefall of footsteps behind him.
He had no idea why anyone would follow him,but he knew they were looking for a fight. Gripping the straps ofhis backpack, he smiled. He didn’t know who was back there, buthe’d make them regret following him into this alley.
He was halfway down the narrow alley. Aheadof him, more people and cars passed by, but no one paid anyattention to what was happening only a hundred feet away from them.The sounds of the footsteps came faster as his pursuer gave up ontrying to be discreet and rushed toward him.
Julian didn’t react until they were only tenfeet away from him, and then he shrugged out of his backpack andspun to face the vamp as the scent of garbage intensified. When hiseyes fell on the burly man rushing toward him, a sense of rightnessdescended over him.
Thisis what he wanted—fighting,blood,death. He craved this almost as much as holding Aidain his arms again.
The vamp grinned at him as it raced forward,and Julian smiled in return. The last thing he expected was to killsomeone tonight, but he gladly welcomed this release after his dayspent crammed in with humans.
