an hour from Seven Valleys when my nerves began to take over. Grayson was part of Reid’s Sector. He was blood lusting for me and outside of killing him, we had no other ideas of how to make him stop. I bit my nails absentmindedly as I thought of what we were up against.
“Stop,” Elijah growled, breaking me from thoughts. I glanced over at him confused, trying to figure out what I had done. “Your heart. It is beating out of control,” he explained and I realized in the glow of the streetlights it was becoming harder for him to resist. Getting my emotions under control on our way to fight a hoard of angry vampires was easier said than done. I bit my lip and tried to clear my mind, but my thoughts became more jumbled and worried.
“Can I ask you something?” I turned my body to face him, wringing my hands together nervously. He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. “Please don’t be mad, but well… when I was going through our bag, I had found a phone. It had lit up and I knew it wasn’t yours,” I rambled not sure what my question even was. I could see Elijah’s jaw clench and I swallowed hard, wishing I had kept my mouth shut.
“What would you like to know?” he asked evenly. If he was angry with me, he was excellent at hiding it.
“What is a porter?” I asked closing my eyes as if that would help soften the blow from whatever he was going to tell me if he were even going to tell me anything. He took a long deliberate breath and I knew he was frustrated because breathing was not a priority for vampires.
“A porter is an attendant. Sort of like the guy at a hotel who carries your luggage for you or gets you things you need,” He explained vaguely. I was even more confused. My mind flashed to Elijah in a bellhop uniform.
“But the message…” I said letting my voice trail off. Elijah nodded his head and knew he would have to explain further.
“It’s a little different in the vampire world. Vampires don’t need someone to lug around their belongings. But occasionally they need someone found and brought to the Elders Council.” He opened his mouth to say more but decided to wait for my response before giving too much away.
“You are an assassin?” I asked, my voice cracking and coming out more high pitched than I intended.
“Not exactly. They usually want someone brought back intact to stand trial. But some occasions require… swift justice,” he clarified. My brain tried to process all of this information.
“Olivie,” I said barely above a whisper, but Elijah had heard me clearly. “Why didn’t she send a porter? Why did she come for us herself?”
Elijah did not answer and I knew this was something that he had not quite figured out himself… or something he didn’t want to share with me.
I reached for the radio and cranked the volume as high as I could stand. If I Was Your Vampire blared through the speakers and had we not been in such a dangerous predicament, I would have laughed. Elijah’s expression softened and I could see him begin to relax, which made it easier for me to calm down.
Time raced and before I knew it, we were rolling over one of the last hills into Seven Valleys. This was it.
Elijah reached across me and for a moment, I was not sure what he was going to do. He clicked open the glove compartment and pulled out my brother’s gun. He held it out in front of me, waiting for me to take it. I hesitated but wrapped my fingers around the grip and examined it. Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I had not had time to properly mourn the second passing of my brother and with all of the excitement, the emotions were becoming too much to contain. Elijah’s hand rested on my knee and he glanced at me. I knew he was comforting me and he did not need to say a word. I looked back down at the gun and slid it behind me into the back of my jeans so it was handy when I needed to kill someone.
Chapter thirty-two
Rest Haven
Main Street was just beginning to come to life and people filled the streets, not caring about our hurry to wage war in their tiny town. Elijah clenched his jaw and cursed