Crave - Teresa Mummert Page 0,68

seat belt and wrapped it around me, clicking it into place. Elijah looked at me from the corner of his eye with a small hint of a smile. I flushed realizing that a car accident was the least of my worries as I rode with my vampire boyfriend to escape the legion of others that wanted me dead. My body felt incredibly rested. I was better than normal. I expected to feel tired and sore after we’d slept together.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts. I felt a blush creep over my cheeks and I turned to look out the window into the night.

“Where are we going?” I asked, brushing off his question. He glanced at the clock on the dash.

“We will find another place to sleep just outside of town. We should attack Reid right after the sun sets tomorrow night. Catching them off guard is our best bet.” His plan seemed to make sense, but I didn’t know if I could sleep another day knowing that death was hunting for me at every turn. Not coming up with any other ideas, I nodded in agreement and reached for the radio. My mind going to the mysterious cell phone.

***

We made it to Baltimore with little time to spare before sunrise. I waited in the car as Elijah checked us into a small motel that appeared abandoned. He reemerged from the tiny office with a key in hand. I quickly hopped out of the car and grabbed our bag from the back seat, meeting him in the center of the parking lot.

When we made our way into our room, it was dark and dirty, smelling of smoke and stale alcohol and smoke. I tossed our bag and lay on the bed, grabbing the remote from the side table.

“I need to make a phone call,” He said as he leaned over and kissed my forehead, inhaling the scent of my hair. I nodded and began clicking through the channels. As he walked outside, I sighed and sat the remote down. I could not stop thinking about the messages on the phone from the bag.

The last thing I needed was to doubt Elijah. I was exhausted and the sun would be rising soon. I pulled the covers back and slid underneath, snuggling into the center of the bed.

***

I awoke to Elijah’s hushed voice near the entrance of our hotel room. I glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed. It read nine o’clock. I rubbed my eyes and stretched.

“Elijah?” I called out into the darkness. A moment passed and Elijah rounded the corner.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, grinning as he leaned down and rubbed the back of his fingers along my cheek. I nodded as a yawn escaped my mouth.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked as I fumbled with the button on his crisp white button up shirt.

“You needed your rest,” he replied, kissing me softly on the forehead. “Get dressed. We need to get on the road.” He got up and walked toward the bathroom. I nodded and rubbed my eyes. Sitting up, I search the cramped space for our bag. I spotted it across the room on the dresser and my mind went back to the messages.

I turned on the bedside lamp and made my way to the dresser. I found my favorite pair of old jeans and shrugged them on. My hand skimmed around the bottom of the bag coming up empty. The other phone was gone. I was hoping he would have returned it to the bag after his call. I sighed and pulled my hand out of the bag, turning to see Elijah staring at me from just inside the room, toothbrush in his cheek. His expression was blank.

“Looking for something?” he asked. His tone was calm.

“Just a hair tie,” I stuttered and smiled. He grinned and walked toward me.

“I like your hair down,” He said sweetly, running his fingers through my tangled mane.

“Down it is,” I said blushing and quickly zipped the bag. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to untangle it the best I could before taking a brush to it.

“Your toothbrush is in the bathroom,” He called as he walked back to the restroom.

I needed to talk with Elijah and put my mind at ease but now was not the time. We were preparing for a war and the last thing he needed was to be preoccupied with me.

***

I got ready in record time. We were less than