Crave - Teresa Mummert Page 0,12

on the other side of the theater. That was until Elijah grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the fire exit in the front of the room. Some guys had come in and started a fight with the local football players, most likely a rival team. We made it to the parking lot where I noticed a shiny black muscle car parked in the fire lane.

“I think those guys in there are the ones who came into the pool hall earlier starting trouble. They’re vampires,” I warned.

“Come on.”

I pulled my arm free from his grip and he turned around, his jaw tense.

“We can’t just leave. Aren’t you going to do… something?” I threw my hands in the air, not certain what it was I expected from him.

“Like what, Eva? You want me to go in there half-cocked and start shit with a bunch of vamps?”

“Well, we can’t just leave them in there with all those people.”

He took two quick steps toward me and I had to look up to maintain eye contact.

“If they wanted to kill someone in there, they’d already be dead.” His voice was so low but I could tell he was upset.

“But it’s your job.” I sat the weight of the world on his shoulders with one statement but his resolve didn’t waver.

“No. Tonight, my job is to keep you safe. You. So you can either walk with me side by side, or I can carry you, but we are leaving now.”

I eyed him for a moment, wanting to protest but I knew he was right that if those guys wanted to, everyone in that room would be dead. Having him go back in would just escalate the situation.

I held out my hand and he laced his fingers in mine, his mouth cocked in a small grin. We rushed back toward my house, avoiding any confrontation.

When we reached my apartment, I locked the door, leaning back against it as I struggled to slow my breathing.

“Whenever you see that car I need you to run the other direction as fast as you can.” He placed his hands on either side of my face.

“I know, Elijah. Don’t worry. I’m the last person who would want anything to do with them.” I smiled, trying to lighten his mood. His expression remained hard.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.” Whatever the vampires had done to Elijah had to have been terrible. My thoughts drifted to my brother. I contemplated telling him my story to make him understand how serious I was about avoiding them, but it was too soon. I didn’t want to scare him off with my baggage. Besides, he didn’t seem ready to talk about whatever his issue was with them either. He kissed me on the forehead softly, ceasing my rambling thoughts.

“So, what now?” I asked, hoping our night wasn’t over.

“I have an idea.” He leaned in to kiss me again and I let my lips part, wanting to pick up where we left off last night. I wrapped my arms around him just as my phone rang from the bedroom.

“Shit.” I pulled away from him. “I should get that. They will just keep calling if I don’t.” I stalked off to my bedroom to answer, ready to release a string of curse words on the caller.

“What?” I asked into my phone.

“Jesus, Eva! Where have you been?” Grayson asked angrily.

“None of your business, Grayson.”

“Wait, wait! Eva! I have some… bad news.”

“I’m listening.”

“There was a big fight out at the pool hall after you left. Christ, Eva. I don’t… Madelyn is dead.” The line went quiet as I tried to process what he’d just told me. “I’m coming over.”

“No.” I rubbed my hand over my face, praying this was some sort of sick joke. “I think I just want to be alone.” The last thing I needed was Grayson and Elijah face to face in my house and I didn’t want Grayson running to my rescue anytime things went wrong.

“Fine… just call me if you need me. Eva, I love you,” he said as he hung up, not giving me the chance to respond. I was relieved he didn’t.

I tossed my phone on my bed, collapsing next to it as the weight of his words crushed me. Burying my face in my hands, I tried to absorb the news I had just received. This is what happened when you cared about someone and even though I attempted to keep everyone at arms length, they still found their way into my heart.

Elijah knocked on