given night there can be hundreds of vamps, not to mention the humans,” he explained and his worry began to scare me. “We can’t risk human casualties. The Elders Council will never stop hunting us if we bring more bad press to their doorstep.”
I was terrified, but I would not let Elijah do this on his own.
“Then we will have to make sure no one dies who doesn’t deserve to,” I replied and kept my expression hard. He nodded once and I knew that was the end of the discussion.
We rode in silence for a few minutes as we sped along the winding country roads. My mind overflowed with all of the things I wanted to say, but I had no idea where to start. I knew these roads like the back of my hand, but this place felt like another planet. Death stalked us at every turn. Our lives hung by a thread. Elijah broke the silence first.
“I think we should discuss turning you.”
I had no idea how to respond. He had done everything he could to prevent that from happening.
“Elijah, I-” I began to respond, but he cut me off mid- sentence.
“I don’t want you to die, Eva. Chances are, Grayson is already aware that your blood is close by. If we change you, he may stop looking. We could run away together and never have to deal with any of this again.” It made perfect sense, but I knew in my heart that was the last thing Elijah wanted for my life. It was the last thing I wanted for my life. I didn’t know what our future held for us, but I didn’t want that life. I have watched it destroy those around me that I loved and I would rather die than suffer the same fate.
“We don’t have time,” I replied sadly. “You know they will find us. I can’t have you fighting them alone,” I swallowed back tears, trying not to let them fall. Elijah was scared. “And Grayson didn’t hesitate to kill Marcus even though they were both vamps,” I pointed out.
He swallowed hard and did not say anything further on the subject. I knew if I didn’t let Elijah change me, that we would have to kill Grayson. A lump formed in my throat and I turned to stare out the window as my tears fell silently from my eyes. Even, after all, we had been through, I still loved Grayson very much and I knew he felt the same way about me, at least while he was alive. But now that I was being forced to choose, I only knew that what I felt for Elijah was… more.
“Turn,” I called out as I realized where we were in Hanover. Elijah whipped the car right.
“What is it?” he asked, looking at me with worry.
“My brother,” I replied as I pointed to the Rest Haven Cemetery. He didn’t say anything as he pulled off the main road into the grass. I could feel his eyes on me, but I did not wait for him to say anything. I got out of the car and made my way across the dark lawn toward the headstones. It was impossible to read them and I soon found myself sobbing uncontrollably as I struggled to find the right way. Elijah put his hand on my back soothingly and began reading the names on the stones. His vision was incredible, another side effect of being a vampire. Because they could not go out in the daylight, their senses adjusted, adapted. He took my hand and pulled me through the rows, reading each stone off one by one. Finally, his feet stopped moving and I rocked on my heels waiting.
“Marcus Morgan,” he whispered quietly. I threw myself onto the grass in front of the marble sculpture. I knew Marcus was never actually here, but it made me feel closer to him. Elijah knelt down beside me and stroked my hair as I cried aloud. I was crying for my brother, but I was also crying for Grayson. I knew if everything went right, he would be dead before the sun rose. Maybe becoming a vampire was my only option. I remembered Reid offering me a place in his Sector and I knew that none of this would ever actually stop unless I took him up on it or died.
“We will be okay,” Elijah whispered. I wanted to scream. It would never be okay. My brother was dead. My ex-boyfriend