“I don’t deny it.” Mr. Aleksandrov turned his back on the man. “Eli, take care of him. The rest of you, leave.”

Eli stepped forward while Xavier fetched Mila from the bathroom. She kept her gaze on the floor, avoiding the frightening face of our attacker and exited the room.

I didn’t leave…because Eli was ordered to kill someone and I wanted to support him. That’s what lovers do, right? Support each other?

“Go, Ruby,” Eli ordered.

I straightened my posture, my legs turning to concrete. I’d like to see him try and make me leave. “No.”

An unnoticed Hunter snatched my arm and pulled me toward the door. I moved, too, so much for cement legs. I struggled against him, but it was useless, and soon after I was shut out as Hunter locked himself in the room with Eli.

Mr. Aleksandrov’s last words before he walked down the hall echoed throughout my mind. “They won’t be long. We need to get out of here and fast. On the way you can explain what Hunter meant by ‘feeling’ your nightmares.”

Chapter Ten

Never in a million years would I have thought Mr. Aleksandrov would be okay with stealing a car and yet, here I was staring at a black SUV and preparing myself to climb in. Funnily enough, he was the one who suggested it. It seemed I was the only one who felt bad about stealing a dead man’s car. Yep…dead. Eli had killed the intruder while I waited outside the room in the silence. I heard no sounds of struggle or pain seep through the wooden barrier, not even a squeak. When Eli opened the door, I saw the man sitting lifelessly in his chair. There was no extra blood or indication of any kind that Eli had killed him…but he was dead. Everyone else seemed okay with his death, so why was I the only one feeling so bad? He wanted to kill me and I still held a sliver of sympathy for him. Eli brushed past me on the way to the car and I grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn to me. He was mad and it was evident by the way he avoided my eyes. I peered at the car and saw Mr. Aleksandrov watching us through his side mirror. I angled my body so he couldn’t see my face.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” I said, referring to my nightmares. “I was only thinking of you, not myself. You were pulling double shifts—I barely saw you. I didn’t want to add to that.”

He watched me, raking his teeth quickly over his bottom lip. “Will you ever stop keeping things from me?”

“I wasn’t keep—”

“You kept it from me,” he snapped, leaning forward. “You always do. What do I need to do to get you to be open with me? Do I have to annoy you? Kiss you without your consent? Do you want me to be more like him?”

“No, Eli, I don’t want—”

“Then what? What can I do to make you realize that I’m a hell of a lot stronger than you think I am? I was pulling double shifts? Big deal. I’ve been pulling double shifts since I started this career. I’ve been fighting and killing for years. I’ve had the nightmares, I’ve experienced them, and I can help you. I can be there for you, but you choose to neglect me.”

I shifted my weight uncomfortably, nervously fingering the button holes in my shirt. Why did it always sound stupid when he said it? I also knew if I told Eli of my nightmares, he’d have taken my guardian uniform and stripped me of my title. He’d want to prevent me from experiencing Lucian all over again.

“And if I told you, would you have stopped training me? Would you have intervened in my training?”

He didn’t even have to think about his answer. “Absolutely.”

“See, you don’t make it easy for me to tell you things. You take control of the situation immediately without taking my feelings into account.”

“If I don’t take control of the situation, you push it until it spirals out of control. You have a faulty gauge when it comes to stress and pressure. You think you can handle a lot, but you can’t. You’re not made to. If you told me it was because of sleep deprivation that you were having a hard time in training, I wouldn’t have let Lyric push you so much.” He stepped closer. “When I came to your room last night, you were panicked, you held me so tightly you ripped the collar of my shirt.” He tugged on the collar and the back of it was ripped—I didn’t even notice. “I’ve never seen you so scared in your life than you were last night and he wasn’t even a vampire. You’re breaking under the stress, Ruby. You need help.”

I scoffed at him. “I need help? I am doing just fine thank you.”

“Why do you always have to be so stubborn?” he growled, seeming less like the Eli I’m used to. I hadn’t seen him so agitated since the hospital after I’d fled Sage in my first year. “You’ll be your own undoing and when you finally collapse, you’re going to have no one there to help you.”

I flinched as every muscle in my being tensed and somehow squeezed my heart. What did that mean? He wasn’t going to be there for me? Forever wasn’t on the cards for us anymore? Eli noticed my tautness and his features softened. “I can’t be there if you’re not going to share everything with me.”

“You’ll leave me?” I whispered, almost missing it myself.

“No, I’d never leave you, but I don’t have to. You’d push me away, just like you are now.”

The thought of not having Eli even for a split second sucked and the familiar feeling of panic constricted my chest. To fight it off, I launched forward, wrapping my arms around his waist and squeezing him against me. I would never buckle under the stress as long as I had him. The stress could be bucketing down but he was the support beams holding the roof off of my head.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I mumbled, tears threatening my eyes. “Help me.”

He slid a finger under my chin, tilting my face to his. He ran his thumb in quick soft strokes and it warmed me. “Talk to me,” he muttered. “That’s all I want from you.”

I nodded, my eyes never leaving his captivating stare. His gaze flicked to my lips and then back to my eyes, seeking permission. Only Eli would ask his girlfriend (or whatever I was) for permission to kiss her. Always the gentleman.

He lowered his mouth to mine and my breath escaped me in sudden quick pants as I watched his lips get closer and closer. As they’re about to touch, to make everything better, Lyric honks the horn, making the pair of us whip in their direction. In the side mirror, I see Mr. Aleksandrov smirk. Ass.

“Not on my watch,” he called.

Eli slipped out of my grasp and took hold of my hand. “C’mon, you can make it up to me later when you tell me all about your nightmares.”

He tugged me into step beside him and opened the back door. There was barely room for us all, but we managed, even if I did end up sitting with one butt cheek on Mila and one half of my torso on Eli. It could have been worse, I suppose.

Forgetting everyone else, Eli laced his fingers through mine and squeezed. As strange as it sounded, everyone seemed so calm regardless of the events that occurred only hours before. We were strong. The council was nothing compared to the evil we’d already faced on numerous occasions and as long as we had each other, we’d come out on top.

***

We drove for hours. Not a couple of hours, a lot of hours from morning until dusk. Mr. Aleksandrov gave Lyric the directions while the rest of us slept in the back. By the ‘rest of us,’ I meant everyone except me. I didn’t want to sleep. I was too wired and worried to even think about resting. I was on the lookout for signs, trying to get a rough idea of where we were going. I had no idea where we were, but Aleksandrov seemed to know the sparse, rough roads well. I heard him tell Lyric that we were going to be okay and that he knew people in this area. How accurate that was, I had no idea, and it wasn’t until we rolled into a small town that was filled with old people did I begin to believe him.

“What is this place?” I wondered aloud, leaning towards the window and unintentionally digging my elbow into Eli’s stomach to get a better look. He awoke with a jolt and I pulled my elbow back.

“Sorry.”

He ran his hand over his face and shifted in his seat so I could get a better look.

“Gods and goddesses aren’t the only ones with communities, you know, and I’m sure the council has no idea this place even exists.”

I unclipped my seatbelt and followed Eli from the car. My entire body sighed in relief as my muscles finally stretched and softened against the bone. I twirled on the spot, taking in the cute little town. It was like I stepped into a time machine and went back twenty years. It was quiet and there were barely any cars.

Mr. Aleksandrov straightened his grey robe and ushered us toward a small motel. “All of you stay put until I speak with Gwydion.

I perked up at the sound of his name. It had been so long since I’d seen his chubby, pug-like face.

“Gwydion is here?”

“I’m about to find out, but I can’t have you lot walking around the place and making people suspicious. Get a room and wait for me.”

Without resistance, we booked a room in the motel and gained a few strange stares from the old people who worked/lived here. We waited a very, very, very long time for Mr. Aleksandrov to come back, and by the time he did, everyone was ready to sleep again, especially me—who didn’t sleep the first time.

“All right, we’ve been granted a stay of three days maximum and given only two rooms. I was hoping Gwydion would be here, but unfortunately, he has other stuff he’s attending to and we’re on our own. For the time being, keep your heads low and don’t aggravate the locals while I figure out what our next move is.” He rubbed his hands together and exposed a little silver watch from under the sleeve of his robe, checking the time. “They take curfew very seriously in this town and everyone should be in bed by eleven p.m. So, you have eight minutes before lights out.”

We all glanced at each other, feeling like inconsiderate teenagers, and I wasn’t deaf, I heard every stomach in the room rumble at the thought of skipping dinner. We’d skipped breakfast and lunch already. Our stomachs were fed up and we groaned out disappointment.

“Breakfast,” Mr. Aleksandrov said. “I promise a big breakfast.”

With a defeated sigh, Lyric and Xavier took a pillow from the couch each and lay on the floor while Mr. Aleksandrov and Mila unfolded the strange orange sofa bed, leaving Hunter, Eli, and I sitting awkwardly on the queen sized bed, resting against the headboard. The three of us shuffled down and pulled back the blankets.

“My people have been kind enough to let us stay here, but they do not want to be involved in the council’s business.” We blinked at him, dumbfounded. “In other words, Ruby cannot share a bed with you, Eli.”

I couldn’t share a bed with him? In a room with four other people? I opened my mouth to protest, but he raised a palm to silence me. “I don’t care if you have already. It will not happen here.”

We looked sideways at Hunter, who chuckled cockily as he pulled his shirt over his head. I arched a brow as he slid under the covers and got as openly comfortable as he could.

“I’m not a complete fool, Hunter. I know about you younger adults and your hormones. You will not be sharing a bed with her, either.”

Eli laughed once under his breath and I gratefully slipped off the bed and joined Mila on the couch. Hunter put his shirt back on, much to Lyric and Xavier’s amusement, and both he and Eli slipped under the covers. I should have found it funny, the both of them sharing a bed, but I didn’t. I wanted to be held by Eli just like this morning.

“Ruby, can I speak with you a moment?”

I regarded him curiously before I slipped from the couch and stood out in the hall with Mr. Aleksandrov.

“Hunter is sired to you just like we thought, isn’t he?”

There was no point in lying so I nodded my head. “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shifted my weight onto my left leg and crossed my arms over my chest. “You had him locked in an underground cell for months. He didn’t need any more tests performed on him.”

“Being sired to you is a very important side effect. It needs to be tested.

What if it progresses into something else or affects how either of you operate?”

“It doesn’t.” I ran my hand over my face. “Look, I’m really tired. Can we talk about this some other time?”

Even under all of his facial hair, I saw his jaw clench. “I guess some other time will have to do.”

He whipped around and went to his own room—the room he had all to himself. With an exasperated sigh, I headed back to my room. I flicked the lights off before everyone’s curious eyes could fall on me and climbed back into the sofa bed.

“You know,” Hunter said, his voice disrupting the long silence. “If you two girls wanted to explore your ‘young adult’ hormones, I’m sure no one here is going to mind.”

Mila and I groaned while the rest chuckled—I think I even heard Eli laugh.

“What is wrong with you?” I grumbled, punching my pillow a few times to make it puffy. “Go to sleep.”

They didn’t go to sleep and it bothered me for the first few minutes. They spoke about things I didn’t really care for, like football and spiders, but once I had my eyes closed for a solid period of time, sleep took me and all conversation fell from thought.

***

Damp leaves attached to hard branches slap me in the face. My nerves are electrified, like I’m holding an umbrella over my head as I climb to the very tip of a tree during a lightning storm. My legs ache—the burn matching my lungs. I can’t breathe…but I can’t stop. If I stop, he’ll catch me and I don’t want him to catch me.