slipped on the
light dusting of snow coating the gravel driveway. I shivered and shoved my
hands into the front pocket of my sweatshirt. Red flashing lights cut through the
darkness. I climbed inside and sat on the cold, hard bench seat. I met Hannah
and Dante’s gazes through the open double doors where they stood huddled
together.
“We’ll follow behind,” Dante assured me.
The doors snapped closed. Visible through the narrow
windows, Dante urged Hannah to his truck while Eiven dipped his head to listen
to something Julian said.
A groan from my uncle drew my attention to the gurney. That’s
when it hit me. The closed-in space smelled of disinfectant, but under the
chemical smell was blood.
So much blood…
Chapter Four
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and stared out the
windshield. The run-down bar I’d been frequenting for the last two weeks wasn’t
clean or classy. The music was crap. The bathroom smelled like piss and there
was a nicotine film coating the windows so you couldn’t see in or out.
Its only redeeming feature was its proximity to the house
and that no one knew who the fuck I was in there. I wasn’t—according to
rumors—the exiled hunter who’d sold my soul to become a blood whore.
The neon affixed to the roof flashed, shining an eerie blue
light over the gnarled wood slabs that made up the walls of Stew’s. Motorcycles
lined one side of the parking lot. Rusty, mud-splattered pickup trucks the
other. Twangy riffs of country music emanated from inside and increased my
irritation. I tweaked the volume on the car’s stereo, drowning out everything
except my racing heart.
Where the sign’s illumination failed to penetrate, darkness
closed in, secluding the building and its inhabitants. Shadows danced through
the trees and I focused on them instead of on the tight fist squeezing my
chest. I could actually feel the bond between Ella and me stretched to its
limit, as if it were on some giant rubber band. At any second, I expected the
cord to snap and cut me in half.
I rubbed my sternum and tried to force away the sensations.
Ten minutes ago, my Ella withdrawals had reached their peak. I could barely
function through the impulse to turn around and seek her out.
“Are we going to sit here all night or are we actually going
to go inside?” Eli asked.
“Fuck off.”
Pain tightened my chest and I gripped the steering wheel
hard enough to crack plastic. Sweat gathered, steamed. The demon thrashed
inside me, a restless pacing that had my skin tingling.
She needs you.
The hell she did. If Ella wanted to be an irrational bitch,
fine. I’d give her some space to calm down and come to her senses. If she
needed me, she could call.
Eli reached for the radio controls and I slapped his hand
away before he could touch the console. The chaotic electric noise of heavy
metal blaring from the speakers inside the car was the only thing keeping me
sane.
“Touch it and I’ll break your fingers.”
“You’re in a pissy mood.” He pulled out a silver flask from
the back pocket of his jeans.
The moment he went to unscrew the cap, I slapped the steel
container out of his hand and sent it thudding to the floorboard. Eli glared,
the metallic sheen in his amber eyes creeping me the fuck out.
Hard to reconcile the little boy I’d grown up with to the
man who now sat beside me. Energy poured off him, filling the interior with the
neck-ruffling sensation I’d trained my entire life to eradicate.
“Dude,” Eli growled.
“I need you clearheaded tonight, not drunk and on the prowl
for pussy. That shit’s gotta stop. Next time you show up at Dante’s shitfaced,
he’s going to lay you out on your ass. Don’t fuck with him.”
Eli clenched his jaw and sat back in the seat. The wolf
trapped inside him practically vibrated. In one of my brother’s three-day
benders, he’d confessed he drank to drown out the sensations. He fucked to get
rid of the tension. Neither were good long-term
light dusting of snow coating the gravel driveway. I shivered and shoved my
hands into the front pocket of my sweatshirt. Red flashing lights cut through the
darkness. I climbed inside and sat on the cold, hard bench seat. I met Hannah
and Dante’s gazes through the open double doors where they stood huddled
together.
“We’ll follow behind,” Dante assured me.
The doors snapped closed. Visible through the narrow
windows, Dante urged Hannah to his truck while Eiven dipped his head to listen
to something Julian said.
A groan from my uncle drew my attention to the gurney. That’s
when it hit me. The closed-in space smelled of disinfectant, but under the
chemical smell was blood.
So much blood…
Chapter Four
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and stared out the
windshield. The run-down bar I’d been frequenting for the last two weeks wasn’t
clean or classy. The music was crap. The bathroom smelled like piss and there
was a nicotine film coating the windows so you couldn’t see in or out.
Its only redeeming feature was its proximity to the house
and that no one knew who the fuck I was in there. I wasn’t—according to
rumors—the exiled hunter who’d sold my soul to become a blood whore.
The neon affixed to the roof flashed, shining an eerie blue
light over the gnarled wood slabs that made up the walls of Stew’s. Motorcycles
lined one side of the parking lot. Rusty, mud-splattered pickup trucks the
other. Twangy riffs of country music emanated from inside and increased my
irritation. I tweaked the volume on the car’s stereo, drowning out everything
except my racing heart.
Where the sign’s illumination failed to penetrate, darkness
closed in, secluding the building and its inhabitants. Shadows danced through
the trees and I focused on them instead of on the tight fist squeezing my
chest. I could actually feel the bond between Ella and me stretched to its
limit, as if it were on some giant rubber band. At any second, I expected the
cord to snap and cut me in half.
I rubbed my sternum and tried to force away the sensations.
Ten minutes ago, my Ella withdrawals had reached their peak. I could barely
function through the impulse to turn around and seek her out.
“Are we going to sit here all night or are we actually going
to go inside?” Eli asked.
“Fuck off.”
Pain tightened my chest and I gripped the steering wheel
hard enough to crack plastic. Sweat gathered, steamed. The demon thrashed
inside me, a restless pacing that had my skin tingling.
She needs you.
The hell she did. If Ella wanted to be an irrational bitch,
fine. I’d give her some space to calm down and come to her senses. If she
needed me, she could call.
Eli reached for the radio controls and I slapped his hand
away before he could touch the console. The chaotic electric noise of heavy
metal blaring from the speakers inside the car was the only thing keeping me
sane.
“Touch it and I’ll break your fingers.”
“You’re in a pissy mood.” He pulled out a silver flask from
the back pocket of his jeans.
The moment he went to unscrew the cap, I slapped the steel
container out of his hand and sent it thudding to the floorboard. Eli glared,
the metallic sheen in his amber eyes creeping me the fuck out.
Hard to reconcile the little boy I’d grown up with to the
man who now sat beside me. Energy poured off him, filling the interior with the
neck-ruffling sensation I’d trained my entire life to eradicate.
“Dude,” Eli growled.
“I need you clearheaded tonight, not drunk and on the prowl
for pussy. That shit’s gotta stop. Next time you show up at Dante’s shitfaced,
he’s going to lay you out on your ass. Don’t fuck with him.”
Eli clenched his jaw and sat back in the seat. The wolf
trapped inside him practically vibrated. In one of my brother’s three-day
benders, he’d confessed he drank to drown out the sensations. He fucked to get
rid of the tension. Neither were good long-term
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