I tossed the towel in the hamper and opened the closet door. At the back of my closet were three large plastic storage containers that held almost every gift Chris had given me over the years. I hadn’t opened these containers in years, except to add the things he’d sent me after he left. I didn’t know if seeing what was in the containers would help or hinder me, but I felt a sudden urge to look in them now.
Grabbing the top container, I carried it over and set it on the floor by the bed. I sat on the rug, pried off the lid, and immediately lost myself in the past.
This box was from my younger years, so it was full of mostly toys and plush animals. Among the contents, I found a delicate china doll, a ragged stuffed bear I’d slept with for years, a tiny bow and a quiver of arrows, and a wooden sword with a real leather sheath.
A small smile curved my mouth as I remembered how excited I’d been to get the sword on my ninth birthday and how Chris had spent hours engaging in mock duels with me. I’d practiced every day for a month so I could show him how good I was on his next visit. Rachel had finally ordered me to take the sword outside and to stop hitting the furniture. It was a good thing the blade was dull, or I would have sliced up everything in sight.
At the bottom of the box, I found a thick photo album, and I hesitated before I lifted it out. I knew it was full of pictures of Chris and me. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have ended up in this container.
I opened the album to the first page, and I was filled with memories of my first Christmas at Longstone, six months after Chris had found me. The first few photos were of me opening gifts, my face flushed with excitement. Turning the page, I saw a picture of Chris and me in front of the tree. My head barely reached his waist, and I had my little arms wrapped around his leg as I grinned up at him. He was smiling back, and it was easy to see the affection we’d had for each other.
Could Rachel be right? Had Chris and I been drawn to each other because our Mori somehow knew we were mates? Was it even possible for a young Mori to sense a potential mate?
With those questions at the front of my mind, I flipped through the whole album, reliving the memories associated with each photo. One thing I couldn’t dispute was that whatever his reason for leaving, Chris had loved me once. The proof was in every picture of the two of us together. But was that enough to forgive him and let go of all the hurt I’d carried with me for years?
I lay back on the floor, hugging the photo album to my chest. My heart still felt like it was in a vise, but I had no tears left to cry, at least for today.
I was still there when Rachel appeared in the doorway thirty minutes later. She took in the photo album in my hands and the things spread out around me and gave me a small smile.
“I made chicken fajitas. Do you want me to bring you some?”
“No. I want us to eat together.”
I sat up and laid the photo album on the bed. I hadn’t come all this way to hide in my room.
She held out a hand to me. I took it, and she pulled me to my feet.
“Come on.” Still holding my hand, she led me from the room. “You know my fajitas always make you feel better.”
“I think it’s going to take more than that this time.”
“What if I told you I have your favorite dessert in the fridge?”
“Cheesecake?” I asked hopefully.
“Call it mother’s intuition, but I had the sudden urge to make New York-style cheesecake this morning.”
I pulled my hand from hers so I could give her a hug. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Now let’s go eat a cheesecake.”
I laughed for the first time in what felt like days and followed her to the kitchen.
Chris
The vampire grinned, showing off his snakelike fangs, as we circled each other in the lobby of the abandoned apartment building. Off to one side, two more of his brethren cheered him on like boys at a street fight. Fools had no clue they were taking their last breaths.
I struck, and the vampire darted away, alive but sporting a nasty gash across his chest. He shrieked and spun back to me, his smile gone.
“When I’m through with –”
His threat ended abruptly as my sword sliced through his neck. Before his head hit the floor, I was on the next one, thrusting my blade through his heart. The third one ran, but I took him down with a knife to the back. He was writhing on the dirty carpet when I strode over to finish him off.
I surveyed the room as I wiped my blades clean on their clothes. Usually, killing three vampires in less than two minutes would fill me with satisfaction, but it would take a lot more than that to lighten my mood.
It had been three days since Beth left, and with each hour that passed, it was getting harder to not get on my bike and go after her. I knew she was at Longstone and that the worst move I could make was to follow her, but being away from her like this was tearing me apart inside.
All I could see when I closed my eyes was the pain on her face when she’d asked me to leave the other night. I didn’t know what had stopped her from breaking the bond, and I was afraid she would be able to do it after she spent time away from me. Every time I thought of that possibility, it felt like a knife was twisting in my chest. I’d spent most of the last three days working and doing anything I could to keep me from thinking about it.
“Took out two. All clear up here.”
Nikolas’s voice came through my comm, pulling me from my thoughts and reminding me I was supposed to be sweeping the bottom floor. I was the one who had suggested he and I be the ones to clean out the abandoned apartment building after we’d gotten word some vampires were squatting here. Normally, we’d send a team for a job like this, but I’d needed the distraction.
The barest whisper of a shoe against carpet alerted me to the fact I was not alone. I spun to the left and felt the sharp sting of claws across the back of my neck.
The vampire flew past and whirled to face me, her face contorted with rage as she looked down at the bodies around us. She was faster than the three I’d killed, and she’d almost gotten the drop on me. I couldn’t remember the last time a vampire had been able to sneak up on me like that. This thing with Beth wasn’t just driving me insane. It was making me sloppy.
“Friends of yours?” I taunted.
Two things I’d learned about vampires was that they had short tempers and tended to act rashly when they were angry.
“Bastard,” she screeched and lunged at me.
I was in no mood to play around. I hit fast, slicing deep across her thigh. My second strike went straight through her chest. She let out a strangled gasp as her body sank to the floor.
“Chris?” Nikolas said through the comm.
“Four down. Continuing my sweep.”
By the time I finished checking the four apartments on this floor, Nikolas was in the lobby, calling for a cleanup team.
“Not a bad night’s work,” he said as I walked up to him.
“No. Though part of me wishes these were Incubi instead of vampires.”
There had been no sign of the Lilin or his sons since the attack on Adele’s nightclub, and the lack of activity worried me. A Lilin didn’t give up on his quest to procreate.
If one good thing had come from Beth leaving, it was that she was at Longstone and far from the Lilin. I’d suffer her absence if it meant she stayed safe while we hunted the demon.
Nikolas and I walked outside to wait for the cleanup team. His phone buzzed with a text, and his smile told me it was from Sara. She hadn’t been happy we’d left her behind tonight. She understood it had nothing to do with her abilities, but she still didn’t like it.
“She still angry texting?”
He chuckled. “She said she’s going to zap us both if either of us gets hurt.”
I laughed, but my good humor was fleeting. My thoughts went to Beth for the hundredth time today, and I wondered if she and I would ever have what Nikolas and Sara had. Or had I hurt her too much to move past all of this?
“How are you holding up?” Nikolas asked.
“I don’t know what’s harder – being away from her or not knowing what she’s going to do.”
“Still no word from her?”
“No.” I leaned wearily against the side of the building. “She’s been in touch with Mason, but no word on when she’s coming back.”