I got what he was saying as I drowned my fries with ketchup. This was going to fuck up my entire plan of playing it cool and making her crazy for me. I didn’t think about the three-month mark at all.
My father’s eyebrow raised slightly, and my eye caught that. “What?” I shoved a few fries into my mouth.
“You are experiencing vulnerability. I never thought I would live to see this day, Blake.”
“Oh, come on.” I hated the teasing, and he laughed as I still chewed. I swallowed the food in my mouth and chuckled. “It’s not a good look on me, I know. It’s just I can’t mess this up. She has to at least like me if I am going to dent one day.”
“It’s not that it’s not a good look on you, Blake. It’s the fact that she is already becoming your weakness. And I’m afraid that the Rubicon already has too many enemies.”
I nodded. He was right. I had a few enemies already, and Samuel would become one of them, too. He might not hurt my sister and my mother anymore, but he could hurt Elena.
A huff pushed through my lips. I already felt this undying need to protect her, and I hardly spoke a few words to her. What would it be like once we became more than just acquaintances?
4
ELENA
Fat mushroom-like tree burls whisked past me. Dead pine needles and twigs crunched with each step I took. My lungs struggled to breathe as the wind shuttered through the branches. The screeching of an animal pierced my ears, causing my heart to pound harder. Decomposing leaves, animal scat, sweet cedar and moss plagued my nose.
I was running again. How I got here, I did not know. I remembered going to bed, but when did I wake up? When did my father tell me to run? Where the hell was the snow?
Something chased me. The vibrations thrummed through the ground with each step it took. Fear kept me from turning around to see what it was. Thickets and tree branches whisk past me, and it felt as if they tried to capture me, slowing my pace down. My heart kept stammering louder and faster, like a bird trapped inside a cage.
My legs burned from the running. Or it should. I could swear it was burning a few seconds ago.
This was so weird.
I finally turned around to find out who was chasing me and collided hard with something, making me fall backward and on my ass.
When I looked up, Blake towered over me. He was different. His eyes were red, a glowing red, and I screamed.
“Elena, wake up!” Blake’s face immediately changed into my father’s. He tried to wake me up as I breathed hard and fast.
I couldn’t get rid of the beautiful angelic face with red eyes from my mind, and I did not know what brought on this exquisite nightmare.
Sure, moving from place to place would make you dream you were constantly running, but why was he in it? Why did his eyes glow red?
Was it a warning, a warning to stay away? He smelled dangerous. If dangerous had a smell, I was sure it would be his scent.
“Deep breaths.” My father guided me to take deep, solid breaths. My heart calmed down.
Why would a guy like him even feel the need to introduce himself?
It wasn’t a warning. Blake was probably just a good-looking guy who wanted a break and ended up being bombarded again by girls and guys. He was like a magnet, and I had to stop whatever was brewing in my mind before it exploded into an obsession, which made him dangerous to me.
“That is it. You okay?” my father asked and sat down on my bed.
“I’m fine. I don’t know. It was only a dream.”
“About what?”
“Running, Dad. I’m always running. Something chased me, but I don’t know what it is.” My voice broke as the darkness still had its claws buried deep inside me.
“Something chased you?” Dad’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Yes!” I looked at him and jumped out of bed. “It’s my mind wondering why we are constantly on the run.” Tears pooled in my eyes. “My mind has had enough. You not telling me how serious it is, have taken its toll, and this is the end product. Do you love it? I don’t.”
“Elena!” He closed his eyes and opened them. A sigh expelled from his body as he tapped on the bed.
