Devour (The Devoured Series Book 1) by Shelly Crane (4)

He came careening toward me through the air; upright, but his feet were dragging the ground. He tried to stop, slow down, something, but even as he swatted limbs away from him, he plowed into me and we toppled to the ground. The bond wound itself around his wrist and I felt almost as if my insides sighed.

“Oh, Clara, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop,” he pleaded and raked my hair back from my face. “Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I answered truthfully.

“I am so sorry,“ he said vehemently and kissed my forehead. “I hate that you had to go through that, but it was the only way to keep you safe.”

“It’s ok. I see now. That Hatch guy isn’t a fan.”

“No,” he agreed and once again his hand moved across my face and neck, my arm, my stomach and side. “You’re all right? Did it hurt?”

“Not at first, but the longer we held out the worst it was.”

“That was incredible,” he told me, the awe evident in his voice. “The stories of this kind of thing are skewed and fairy taled, but I’ve never heard of a bond being held back that long.”

“Well, I’m not a normal human. Or should I say feeler.”

“Don’t say that word,” he said. “I’ve always hated it and I wanted to punch every person out there that said it about you.”

I touched his cheek, my middle finger rubbing across his eyebrow ring. He closed his eyes and exhaled. I felt his whole body relax from its tense position. I felt his weight on me as he let me help to relax him. The ground beneath was surprisingly comfortable, though cold, and I continued to reassure him with my touch for a few more moments before he lifted his head once more.

“I’m so glad you’re ok,” he said, but the words barely made a sound. “I was aching with worry for you, thinking the bond was hurting you. I thought that was better than death, though.”

“It’s ok now. It’s over,” I assured, but thought. “Isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid to think so.” His nose was almost touching mine as he gazed down at me. “I’ll keep watch outside your house tonight, just to be sure.” He let his thumb run the length of my eyebrow and then down my cheek. “Clara, we have a lot of things to talk about.”

“Like what?”

“Like whether it’s safe to stay here now.”

“I can’t leave at the end of Senior year,” I said.

“Will it even matter if you’re not alive to enjoy it?” he countered.

“Ok, point taken. But for the record, I want to stay here until then.”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

I nodded and rubbed his shirt front, but didn’t let my fingers press into his skin just in case. I let my fingers almost skim the length of his arm to his wrist.

“How’s this doing?”

“All better,” he said low and rumbling. “I just needed you.”

I pulled him down by his collar and kissed him gratefully. He was alive, I was alive, we’d made it through whoever those guys were, his evil twin, me binding myself to him and his crazy stalker semi-ex. It had been quite a night. I felt his knees lift until he was kneeling over me, but he didn’t leave me. He put an arm under my back and lifted me to be closer to him.

 

His warmth and the warmth my body was creating on its own from being completely affected by him was enough to make me comfortable again. He eased away gently and sighed against my skin. Then he kissed my forehead and put a hand out to steady himself, but he jerked back with a hiss.

“What?” I asked.

“Thorns.”

I took his hand and looked at it. A thorn had pricked his thumb, barely, big baby. I smiled and without even thinking, put it in my mouth to make it feel better. What in the world made me do that? He watched me, enthralled by my actions, and sucked in a breath as I ran my tongue along his skin. I released him and then kissed it. He looked at it and then back to me. The look on his face was hard to decipher. Was he grossed out? Was he perplexed by my human behavior and need to comfort?

“Stop,” he whispered. “I don’t ever want to feel your insecurity around me again.” He pushed me back down to the ground and followed me on his knees like before. “I’m fascinated by you, that’s all. You’re unlike any human I’ve ever come across before. The things you say and do…the way you react to things… It’s all I can do to keep up with you. I think you are going to be very entertaining in the days to come.”

“Hey,” I muttered.

He smiled that smirk that made me first wonder how I was ever going to resist him. And now I didn’t have to. He pulled me up again, just like before, and his mouth found mine easily. He held me so effortlessly and didn’t need my help, but I gripped his arms anyway just to feel him real and there under my fingertips.

We heard a grunt and froze, his lips still on mine. We waited for another noise, another clue. Then we heard it again and Eli put a finger to my lips to remind me to stay quiet. I nodded as he raised himself up to stand. Then he rolled his eyes and sighed before pulling me up with him.

“My idiotic brother is awake. We better scram before he remembers what happened and takes it out on us,” he said, but he laughed as he pulled me along, easing my fears.

 

 

Eli took me to his house first. Luckily, somehow, it wasn’t time for my curfew yet.

He said he wanted to clean both of us up before taking me home.

He opened the door and I took a good look around as he ushered me in. It looked the same as before, plain and old fashioned. He took my hand and pulled me through the house, right passed that bird. I swear its eyes followed us across the room.

“What’s up with the bird?”

“I told you, it’s a nasty vile creature. I hate that bird,” he explained as he opened a door to a long line down of dark stairs. “My room.”

“So,” I asked as I braved the stairs ahead of him, “if you hate the bird so much, why do you keep it?”

“It’s immortal,” he sneered as if that idea upset him.

“What?” I asked and turned on the stairs to look at him. He grabbed a pull string above his head and the area around us illuminated. You’d think a basement would be dank and dusty, but it looked just like any other room, although huge. The walls were black stucco and the floor was white tile. It was so clean I was afraid to walk on it. A huge wooden post bed sat in the middle of the room against the wall. The room was freakishly sterile and organized, as if no one lived there at all. The bed was smooth and clean like a hotel bed-make job. I looked at him and quirked a brow.

“What?” he asked smoothly as his eyes followed me from his perch on the back wall.

“Anal much?”

He laughed that delicious deep chuckle that gave me goose bumps just hearing it…letting alone feeling it rumble as he was suddenly at my back.

“I have to say, I like you in my room.”

I turned to him slowly and peeked up at him, fully expecting a Tate face; open mouth, droopy passion induced eyes and a tight neck from strain because he could never seem to control himself. I wondered if I should regret coming down to his room. Would he think it was an invitation? But as my eyes found his, I saw that he was himself. His lips held a smile, but it wasn’t cocky or flirty. It was sweet. He really just liked the idea of me in his space. And given by the apparent lack of guests, I couldn’t say I blamed him.

“Me, too,” I answered and smiled back. “Are you going to keep staying here?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Um, maybe because the Horde and your evil-ex know where you live?” I spouted sarcastically and fisted my hands to my hips.

“She is not my ex,” he said smartly.

“Whatever, you know what I mean.”

“Uhuh, I do. That you are particularly intriguing when you’re jealous.”

“Well, it’s a little disconcerting…the whole a-goddess-wants-my-boyfriend thing.”

He laughed again and hooked his fingers in my front pockets to pull me to him.

“You are one cute human.” He tipped my chin with a crooked finger. “Did you not see the whole me-choosing-you-over-her thing,” he said mockingly.

I tried to scowl, tried to frown, bit my lip to stop the smile, but it won, hands down.

“Yeah, that was pretty sweet,” I agreed.

“Yeah. Now, let’s get you a clean shirt and get you home before I have to add ‘Pastor’ to my list of growing enemies.”

“Why does the Horde care if we’re together?” I asked as I took my shirt off when his back was turned to rummage through his dresser drawers. I held my shirt over my front. He turned and stumbled a little at seeing me that way, but held the shirt out as he turned back around.

I accepted the t-shirt he gave me and hoped that no one noticed my shirt was different at home.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “what he said about polluting our race, he believes that. The Horde does. They are a group who takes matters into their own hands and places those of us that they deem a traitor into custody. And they kill humans who interfere with our kind or find out about us.”

“So, they’re like your council or police or something?” I asked as I pulled the shirt over my head and smoothed the front. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I smirked as he went on.

“No, not at all. We have no government, no council, no regulations, no laws. That would defeat the whole purpose in their eyes, though the hypocrisy is almost funny.” He turned his profile towards me. “Can I turn around now?”

“Yes, I’m decent. As decent as I can be wearing super hero turtles from the 90’s.”

He looked me over and smiled wistfully as he said, “I love that shirt.”

“I’ll make sure you get it back.”

“No problem. You’ll be with me anyway won’t you? I’ll just take it back if I want it.” He pulled me by my hands and sat me on the bed. “Now, see, they think mating is acceptable because, as I said, it’s all about control. They’ve never accepted nor understood a bonding and I’ve never personally met anyone who has been. But I knew it would be trouble, I just assumed we’d lay low and then avoid my kind at all cost. But Enoch and Angelina couldn’t make things easy for us, could they?” he spat angrily and clenched his fists on the bed between us. I covered my hand with his, smoothing the angry blue veins.

I waited for him to say something. I didn’t try to soothe him with empty words.

He continued, “We’re going to have to do a lot of pretending. A lot of…lying. A lot of trying to avoid my kind.”

“Are they going to be coming after us or something?”

“I don’t know if the Horde bought it or not. They’re very manipulative and sneaky. They may have just been playing us, but they took Angelina so…I don’t know. I just know that I can’t leave you alone. Not yet.”

“Eli,” I countered, “you can’t just sit outside my house every night, all night.”

“Of course I can, CB,” he replied almost smugly. “You can’t stop me, so don’t even try. I know I can’t come in, but I can at least watch out for you while you sleep.”

“But you’ll be…bored. You’ll get tired of me pretty quick that way,” I grumbled.

He scooted closer and put a hand around the front of my neck, using his thumb to tip up my chin as he said, “Have I not made my feelings for you clear?”

“Yes, but-“

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing is more important than you. Besides,” he pulled me closer and put an arm around my shoulder, “I like the night. It’s quiet. It’s easy to deal with. I’ve lived a very fast paced and reckless life and to be able to just sit and enjoy peace is a gift all its own. And sitting outside your window, knowing you’re safe inside, is just icing.”

“Ok,” I conceded, “if you must. But I don’t want you putting yourself in danger either.”

He nodded and chuckled a little. “Ok, CB. You got it.”

“So tell me about the bird. It’s immortal?” I asked, continuing my earlier question.

He shifted uncomfortably, pulling his arm from me and leaning his elbows on his knees. He fingered the barbed string on his wrist and avoided my gaze. I thought, that couldn’t be good. I leaned forward, too, and asked him the silent question with my eyes. He sighed and finally looked up to see me. “It’s Angelina’s bird.”

“What?” I asked and sat up.

“It’s Ange-“

“I heard you!” I almost yelled and he looked away again. I felt suddenly hysterical. Why would he have her bird if nothing went on and why wouldn’t he have told me about it? “Why do you have her bird?” I tried for calm.

“She abandoned it on one of her escapades to come and get me. She’s had that blasted bird for as long as I can remember. I’ve always hated it. She taught it to say all kinds of stupid things.” He looked back to me. “I know you think it proves me guilty of lying to you, but I haven’t. She left it, I don’t know why, but she did and I couldn’t just leave it there, too. Number one, it’s immortal as I said and number two, as badly as I don’t like the thing, it’s an animal. It doesn’t have to eat to survive, but it feels hunger and it was cruel to leave it there in that cave in California for all eternity, hungry and alone. Besides if a human had found it there’s no telling what they would’ve done with it.”

I stared at him in awe. Really? That’s why he wanted to hide all that? Because he thought I would assume he was lying?

“Eli-“

“I didn’t want you to think I had feelings for her still or that I was keeping the bird as some love trinket or reminder.”

“I wouldn’t-“

“In all honesty, it just makes me soft to keep it, but I couldn’t help it. I’ve had the bird for 21 years now and believe me, I have no love for that bird. It hasn’t spoken a word to me. I’m not sure what that’s about, but…” He looked back to me and his eyes pleaded with me. “Please forgive me. I meant to tell you, but it just snowballed and then my omission felt like a lie and then you met her and it seemed like it was too late to say anything then; that the evidence was too damning.”

“Eli, you’re nuts,” I said when I could finally get a word in.

“What?” he asked, completely confused.

“You really think that after everything that you said today and everything that happened to us at the park with Angelina that I would think you still have feelings for her?”

He smirked a ghost of a smile. “Well…I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care who the bird belongs to. It’s really sweet that you saved it, especially since you find it so revolting.”

He laughed. “Really? I thought you were going to throw some human hissy fit over this.”

“Well, it sucks that you didn’t tell me and it sucks even worse that you think I’d leave you over it or something, but I don’t care. It’s just a bird.”

“It’s not just a bird,” he told me and took my hand to run this thumb over my wrist over and over. “He’s immortal. You didn’t think to ask me about it?”

“Honestly, Eli, I’m not sure I can even be surprised anymore at this point,” I answered and was caught off guard by how breathless I sounded.

I watched him continue to torture my wrist with his slow fluid skimming movements. He seemed completely engrossed in what he was doing. When I could take it now longer and goose bumps spread rapidly up my arm, that seemed to snap him back to the present. He turned his gaze to mine and smiled, in satisfaction as much as happiness.

He continued to smile as he spoke. “The bird has a spell on it. When Angelina got it in the 1700’s, she was dealing a lot with witches and sorcerers back then.”

“Witches and sorcerers?” I squeaked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m not the only nightmare out there.”

“There are other things,” I mused and nodded, breathing through bits and spurts of panic. “Like what?”

“Well,” he said slowly and pulled my hand to cradle it against his chest, “I’m not going to tell you. I want your dreams to be only good things. Well, and me, of course.”

“Eli,” I snapped, half because I was scared and half because I didn’t want him to spend the rest of our lives acting like we were opposite sides of the good-vs.-evil spectrum, “stop acting like you’re evil.”

“I am evil,” he insisted with a slight tightening of his jaw. “And no matter how tame you think I am, you’d do well to remember that.”

“Why?”

“So when I do wind up doing something in the future that you may not approve of, you won’t be so shocked about it.”

“Like what you did to that security guard at the club that night?” I asked softly.

He looked at me sharply before saying, “You noticed that?”

I nodded. “What did you do?”

“I just persuaded him to let you in.”

“How?”

“I’m not without my talents,” he growled in what sounded like frustration before combing his hands through his hair and leaning on his elbows to his knees once more. “I’m sorry. I immediately regretted it once I did it, but it was the only way to get you in. And I didn’t know you understood what I’d done for what it was.”

“You didn’t hurt him,” I said and thought back to that night. “He wasn’t scared, you just persuaded him.”

“Exactly. Persuading - making people think they want what we want - is another one of our tricks,” he muttered. “It’s so addictive and easy because it’s subtle. It’s so very easy to just plant a seed of what we want in their mind. I hadn’t done it in a long time, but that night I just…I wanted to spend time with you and it just happened,” he admitted and the shame of his words practically coated the air.

“Eli,” I turned his face to look at me, “I’ll help you. Do you understand?” He shook his head and scrunched his eyebrows. I knelt on the floor in between his knees and put my hands on his legs. “Ok, listen. Once, a long time ago, in my parent's marriage, my dad was having a hard time at work. We went through a rough patch and almost lost our house. He started drinking. For about a month, my dad was drunk almost every minute of every day when he was laid off from his job. Well, my mom let him try to work through everything, but eventually, she had to step in. She went on a rampage, going through the whole house and throwing away every bottle she could find, his cigarettes, everything. He followed her around and yelled at her as she did it, but he never touched her, never forced her to stop. Do you know why?”

He shook his head a ‘no’.

“Because he loved her. Because deep down, he wanted her to do it. He needed her help. He wasn’t strong enough to drop the shoe himself, but he was willing to let her do it for him. He trusted her and needed her and she knew it. It was the only time in their marriage where they had problems, and after that, they were practically inseparable. It was kind of gross actually,” I said remembering and smiled. “But my point is that I get it. You’re the protective type, you’re the big, bad Devourer.” He cracked his first smile and I felt my held breath release and relax in gratitude for it. “But even though I might need you to save me, a lot, I’ll always be here for you. I’d never let you lose yourself or go back to something you were before. I can save you if I have to and I'll fight with everything I have.” I pointed to our wrists where the string held tight. “I think I’ve proven that already.”

His breaths were loud and laced with strain. I didn’t know why, I thought he’d understand what I was trying to say. Then he pulled me up by my elbows, wrapping his arms around me completely and pressed his mouth to mine. He sighed a long and needed breath that seemed to relax even the tension in the air. I put my arms around his neck, for my own need to be held up as anything else. He was answering me, letting me know that he was grateful. And boy, was he being thorough. His hands pressed me and slid over me in caresses that were meant to show affection and devotion. That was all.

Once again, I felt safe in every way possible and it made me ache in my chest with gratitude.

It seemed like this was something he needed more than wanted to do, like he was being pulled to it without a will in it, so I let him ravish and devour me for quite a while before he finally pulled back, but not by much.

With his hand on my cheek and his rough breaths against my neck, he looked down at me almost as if embarrassed by his actions.

“Sorry,” he said, confirming my thoughts.

“Why would you be sorry for that?” I whispered and licked my lip to feel it plump and tender from his kisses.

“I just…I needed to feel the way you feel about me,” he admitted. “Nothing makes me feel more human, more capable of being good, more like I could possibly deserve something like this one day, than when I kiss you…and you kiss me back, completely of your own free will.”

I sighed. “I need you to stop being so self deprecating,” I said, going for firm and stern, but my mind was still reeling from what he said. He laughed and  shook his head. “Eli,” I sighed his name, thinking of a way to make him see, “what you said was so…I’ve always wanted someone to feel that way about me. I feel the same way about you. I mean, without the human part,” he laughed again as I kept going, “but I was always a prize; a toy to be paraded around. When I’m with you, I feel like I know what my parents had was real. They loved each other, no matter what, no matter what demons came into their lives. I’d almost given up that that was possible anymore.”

“It’s not impossible, CB,” he said softly, sweeping a hand down my arm to twine his fingers with mine. “You’re the best intrusion that has ever invaded my life. I’ll be forever grateful that I found you.”

I never thought being called an intrusion would make me cry, but I was about to. I nodded to him, as it was all I could do, and he kissed my fingers. This was so much, so fast, but, gosh, did I need it. Despite what he said about his needing me, I needed him.

“Now,” he edged, sensing I wanted a subject change to stave off red, crying eyes all night, “you have more questions for me, right?”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “Ok, about the bird,” he grunted in annoyance, “you say he’s immortal. Did Angelina buy him that way or did she have him cursed after she bought him.”

“We’ll never know. She’s not very forthcoming.”

“But you say you found the bird in a cave in California?”

“It was my cave,” he said carefully and never removed his eyes from mine.

“Your cave,” I repeated. “Then how did the bird get there?”

He sighed and squeezed my fingers a bit, stalling. I quirked a brow at him. He ventured on.

“Angelina brought the bird with her everywhere. She and Enoch were really relentless in their efforts to find me. Sometimes, it was worth it to exchange amenities for comfort, if it meant that I could not see them for longer.”

“Ah. So you stayed in caves and places where they wouldn’t think to look for you,” I realized.

“Yes. But they always found me eventually.”

“So…”I said, finally getting what he was saying. “Angelina was in the cave with you.”

 

 

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly and looked up to me. “She left the bird there once when she went to come after me. I went back to the cave after some time and saw that she had abandoned it. She’s never tried to take it back since.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll be honest, you deserve that. I never brought it up before because there was never a reason to, but she would find me and I would pretend with her sometimes.”

“Pretend what?” I asked and it came out shrill. I cleared my throat.

“Pretend to be what she wanted,” he confessed. I tensed and his arms around me tightened a bit to keep me there.

“But you told me you were never with her,” I accused.

“I wasn’t. Never. I would never lie to you. She’d show up and there was no way to leave unless I bolted and she’d be too close behind. I had to distract her so I could catch her off guard and get a head start. So, sometimes…I would act like I was surrendering. I’d let her kiss me. She was so gullible, she believed that I had caved. She’d let her guard down and when she ran errands or went to feed, I’d run, leaving everything behind.”

“No wonder she follows you, Eli,” I chastised softly, “after you led her on like that.”

“I didn’t lead her on. I tried to just leave, I tried to tell her the truth - that there was absolutely no future for us - but she never gave in. I was losing my mind. Can you imagine running from someone for hundreds of years as they chased you and ruined your life over and over again?” He huffed a surprised breath. “I can’t believe you’re taking her side anyway.”

“I’m not taking her side. I just know how girls think.”

“Not this girl,” he assured me. “We’re talking about ‘Psycho’ meets ‘The Babysitter’,” he explained, making me snicker. He pulled my face up to look at him closely. “You don’t ever have to worry about her and me. There’s no history there, just bad memories.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Anyway, it’s not like you had to see it for yourself. Unlike me, I saw you and Tate everywhere and in large quantities if you recall; at lunch, at diners, at your locker, at your house,” he said wryly.

“Ok, I get it. I have no room to talk.” That sure gave me some perspective. “I was just trying to…with Tate I just…”

“I know what you were just doing. You were just trying to stop your feelings for me by making out with your boyfriend who you weren’t in love with.”

“Yes, that’s what I was doing,” I admitted. “I felt guilty for feeling anything for you when I still had a boyfriend.”

He pulled me closer and whispered into my hair, “And it made me respect you even more for it. Let’s just forget about that. I think it all worked out for the best, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” I leaned back. “I better get going.”

“I’ll walk you,” he said and I knew better than to argue.

As we made our way upstairs and passed the living room I stopped at the birds' cage. He looked at me with a crooked neck. He blinked, I blinked.

“Cavuto,” I said and it stayed silent. “Cavuto want a cracker?” Still nothing.

I rolled my eyes and went to leave, hearing Eli chuckle behind me, but we both stopped when we heard from behind us, “Arequipa.”

“Arawhata?” I asked as we both turned back to the bird.

“Arequipa,” Eli repeated. “It’s a city in Peru. Angelina must have taken the bird there at some point.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“Yeah…about 25 years ago. It’s been a while. But I wasn’t there with her,” he finished quickly.

“OK, well, let’s-“

“Clara want a cracker?”

“What?” I asked and laughed nervously as I glanced at Eli. He looked stunned, too. “That bird is pretty chatty. I thought you said he never talked?”

“Yeah.” He crossed his arms in contemplation. “I haven’t heard him speak since I took him. He must like you. Maybe he just likes girls.”

I went closer to the cage and crooned to him, “How did you know my name, little guy?”

“Eli told me, idiot.”

I stilled and glared at the bird. The innocent little feathery beast was perched on his feet from his swing so sweetly, like he didn’t just insult me. I switched my gaze to Eli, who was smothering a laugh in his fist. Very badly, I might add.

“Ah, CB,” he soothed. “I told you she taught it to be foul mouthed.”

“Ok, fine. Bye, Cavuto, you deviant little thing.”

“Bye, toots,” the bird sang out.

Before I could turn and teach that bird a few new choice words, Eli had grabbed me and turned us out the door. He was still fighting a smile as we walked to my house.

“Not funny,” I muttered. “I can’t even get birds to show me some respect.”

He pulled me under his arm and said, “I respect you.”

“Yeah, but you’re only one person. Everyone else thinks I’m a ditz or a tease or, recently, a stupid human.”

“You are none of those things.” He kissed my temple as we turned into my yard. “I told you, the bird has said way nastier things in the time that I’ve known him.”

“So,” I thought of some more of the questions I wanted to ask before he was gone. “The Sweet Grass carnival is coming up.”

“And the dance.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to that.”

“Why? You don’t think I’d want to go?”

“I don’t want to.”

“There’s got to be a reason,” he asked softly as we reached my porch and turned to face each other.

“The old me would have loved to have gone. The new me, not so much. The carnival, yes, I’m dying to go. But the dance is just a juvenile and pointless thing that I don’t need nor want to do when there are plenty of other things to  round out my education. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m in control of myself.” I smiled up at him.

“Well, I’m glad then.” His hands coasted up and down my arms. “But I am going to wish I could’ve seen you in a pretty, silky dress.”

“Well,” I thought, “there’s always prom.”

“So we’re not ditching all school functions, just the ones you dub as juvenile?”

“Now you’re getting it,” I jested and poked his stomach. He laughed as he pulled me to him.

“I’ll be here all night,” he promised. “You’ll be safe, so I want you to sleep tight.”

“You won’t put yourself in danger will you?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not particularly thrilled about you being out here alone.”

“My whole life, I’ve been alone.”

“That’s doesn’t make it ok for now.”

“Clara, don’t argue. When it comes to you being safe, I won’t ever compromise on that.” I scowled up at him. “And don’t pout. It doesn’t work on me. I’m immune,” he said grinning.

“I highly doubt that,” I said in a challenging tone.

He just smiled that crooked, gorgeous smile that fit his lips perfectly and kissed me. “I’m not going to come to you in a Reverie tonight. You need your rest. Enoch will be too exhausted from recuperating to try and Angelina, hopefully, is indisposed.”

“Ok,” I said reluctantly. I liked the Reveries. We could go wherever we wanted for any kind of weather. It was our own little fantasy world. “If you change your mind though, I’ll be all for it,” I told him and pulled him down to me once more.

He chuckled huskily against my lips. When we parted this time he looked down at our wrists. He rubbed mine and smiled without looking up. “Thank you for this.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for picking me first.”

“Always will,” he said with promise. Then he rubbed my cheek and turned to go, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll be here all night. Stay inside and sleep well.”

“Ok. Thank you,” was all I could say. He wasn’t exactly giving me much choice.

I turned to go inside and ran down the hall in the quiet house. I glanced in the mirror before taking off Eli’s shirt and did a double take. My eyes were seriously green, like Eli had said. I liked the way it made me look; different in a familiar way that made me feel mysterious and empowered. Wow. How to explain this one…

I showered quickly and went to lay on my bed in an exhausted heap. I flopped on my back, my arms spread wide and I looked at my wrist. The barb wire was still wrapped around me in its possession and made a path out my window to wherever Eli was. I felt satisfied with just that small reminder that I belonged to him. And vice versa.

I smiled as I rolled over and closed my eyes. And though I was by myself in the dark of my room and the dark of my eyelids, I knew Eli was right there outside and I’ve never in my life felt so looked after and safe.

 

~ ~ ~

 

The next morning, I woke a little early. It was pretty quiet in the house so I hurried and got ready for the day. With my uniform on and hair fixed, I ran downstairs to fix a glass of juice. Pastor snuck, unintentionally, up on me and made me spill some of the orange juice on the counter.

“Sorry. Thought you heard me.”

“It’s ok. Just a little jumpy, I guess,” I answered as I sopped juice into a paper towel.

“So, what’s on the…” he started, but trailed off as his newspaper fell to the counter and he came closer. “What happened to your eyes?”

“Oh,” I laughed nervously and rehearsed the explanation I’d concocted this morning, “it’s a social experiment for school. You know, to see how many people look you in the eye when they talk to you. I’m going to see how many notice my eye color is different.”

“Interesting. I like it. And the green actually suits you well, it was just a shock.”

“No worries. Bye!”

“Bye.”

I was glad he didn’t ask me why I was leaving so early. I had to see Eli before school and since he was nowhere to be found in my yard, and the string had me heading into the woods, I headed for his house to wait for him instead. When I got there I knocked softly, but remembered he wasn’t there yet and rolled my eyes at myself before I went inside. The bird was asleep with a sheet over the top so I crept by, happy to escape anymore interactions with the rude thing.

I made my way down the stairs to his room and found something I had not intended. Instead of an empty room that I could sit and wait for Eli in, I found Angelina. And she was awake, naked, covered only in his black silk sheets, in his bed.

 

 

She roused slowly and languidly, stretching and pretending like she couldn’t see me there. The sheet fell away from her chest to her waist and I couldn’t help the disgusted gasp that fell from my lips. Or the following ,”Oh, please.”

“Yeah, right,” she muttered and finally looked my way. “Don’t act like you’re not impressed.”

“Are you serious?” I said incredulously and shielded my eyes. “Viewer discretion is advised.”

“I know what I look like to my own kind, let alone human standards,” she said matter-of-factly and suavely pushed and smoothed her hair back before pulling the sheet back up.

“You are a real piece of work,” I said sharply and crossed my arms over my uniformed chest. I felt silly in my uniform in this setting, with her laying there so perfectly. “Who do you think you are?”

“I’m who Eli was with last night,” she replied happily and smiled, a cruel grin on her pink lips. “And I gotta tell you, coming back together after all that chasing was so worth it.”

It hit me like a message from the sky; a plan.

I dropped my chin to my chest, to stop the grin more than anything else, because I wanted her to believe that I believed her. I turned to go, slowly, carefully. I heard her giggle behind me and turned, where she could just see my profile.

“I hope you’re happy,” I said softly.

“Oh, I am,” she affirmed. “Couldn’t be happier.”

I left walking straight back to my house. I wasn’t exactly sure where my plan started and ended, but I knew that they had to think that Eli was leaving me. If I started the bond then couldn’t I stop it somehow? Not that I wanted to, but if he left, then they’d stop coming after us right? He could come back for me later.

They had to believe it though; the Horde, Enoch, Angelina, everyone.

I came back into my yard just as Eli and Enoch were coming around the back. Enoch looked all too smug and it clicked into place for me. Him and Angelina planned this whole thing. He had come and gotten Eli, knowing I’d go looking for him when I got up, and Angelina set herself up at Eli’s house.

Bastard and witch! It wasn't too hard to portray feelings of anger for Enoch to feel because I was pissed.

“Where have you been?” Eli growled as he came to me. “I was just about to follow the string to you. I thought we talked about this? You can’t just wander around by yourself!”

“Oh, like you care,” I said and even though it wasn’t real for me, it hurt so much to see the rejection on his face when I said, “Like you were really waiting here all night for me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I know about Angelina! I went to your house, I saw her in your bed. I know everything.”

“Clara, you have to see this for what it is. I was not with Angelina, I was here, all night, like I promised you. They’re trying to trick you.”

“The evidence speaks for itself, I think. I’m so done here,” I said and pushed between them to go to my back door. Eli grabbed my arm and when I turned, it was almost too much. His face was twisted in horror and disbelief. He begged me silently to hear him out, that he could explain everything, but I couldn’t. If we were going to trick Enoch and Angelina into thinking that they had tricked us first, then I had to go inside away from him. Now.

“Let go,” I said and when he continued to stare, I yelled it, “Let go!”

He did immediately and watched me go inside my house. I leaned on the door with my back and slid down. I knew I was going to be late to school now, but I didn’t care much about that. I needed to get Eli to follow me into a Reverie so he knew what I was doing.

I closed my eyes, tight. I waited. He didn’t come. I figured he needed time to get rid of Enoch, first. I waited some more but he still didn’t come. I almost stood to go and find him, to tell him it was all just a hoax on them but we needed them to believe it. We needed them to leave town.

The next time I glanced at the clock, it had been twenty minutes.  I could take it no longer. I ran back outside but they were gone already. I searched everywhere, even called his name a few times, risking to blow my plan, but never heard a sound. I ran into the street and followed the string with my eyes but it just went on and on.

I ran back inside to my room, closed the door and sat on my bed. I begged him in my mind, forced my thoughts to be his. I threw myself back onto the bed and felt a hot angry tear as it slid from my eye down into my hairline. I said things in my mind to him, begging him to come to me as I squeezed my eyes shut so tight it hurt.

“Clara?” I heard and jerked up to see Eli in my room. I jumped up and threw my arms around him. “Clara, I thought you…”

“That I what?” I asked and leaned back. “That I hated you? I’m not sure that’s possible.”

“But you…I mean you were so… And how did you pull me into a Reverie?”

“I did this?”

He nodded as he said, “I was burning sheets one second and the next, I was here watching you on your bed.”

“Burning sheets?”

“You said Angelina was in my bed. She wasn’t there when I got there but I took your word for it and got rid of them. I wasn’t about to keep them after that. I was thinking about you, maybe that’s how you pulled me to you.”

“I wanted you here pretty badly so… I’m just glad you are,” I said and hugged him tightly. “I couldn’t let Enoch see me like that, so I came inside as fast as I could. I’m sorry, it was the only way it would work.”

“What are you… Oh. You want them to think we had a fight over this, and that I left,” he realized. I nodded to him. “They’ll leave, thinking we’ve ended our human\Devourer relationship and they’ll both be back to chasing me across the country and the Horde will move on. That’s actually not bad.”

“I have my moments,” I chimed and he smiled as he bent down to be closer to me.

“So, you didn’t think I’d slept with Angelina, even with the evidence right there in front of you?”

“No,” I snorted, “of course not. The Angelina ship has sailed.”

“But how? How did you know the truth?” he asked softly.

“I trust you,” I answered as if it was as easy as breathing. It was.

His hands rested on my lower back and he swallowed hard as he spoke.

“But how do you know I won’t go back to my old ways,” he said sadly.  “I am a Devourer after all, and we are made to deceive and manipulate. I want it more than anything, but how can you trust me after everything I’ve done in my life, after everything you’ve seen from my kind the past few days.”

“It’s not about how you’re like the Devourers, Eli…it’s about how you’re not.”

“You are a magnificent creature,” he murmured before kissing me gently. “Thank you, Clara.”

“For what?” I asked dazed.

“For being level headed and not flying off the handle and taking the bait that Angelina fed you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said and smirked, but it spread back into a frown. “Now comes the hard part.”

“I have to actually leave,“ he said in understanding and nodded. “I wondered if you’d thought that part through. They’ll see the string. They’ll know if I’m still here.”

It was my turn to nod.

“I know, and I don’t like it at all, but I don’t see any other way right now. You don’t have to stay away long, just a few days.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “And then what?”

“Come back here and finish school with me,” I spouted causing him to smirk.

“I don’t actually need to finish school, again.”

“But you want to be with me,” I said coyly.

“I do,” he agreed and then chewed his lip. “It’s for the best, for me to leave, to keep you safe.”

“It’ll work,” I agreed.

“I won’t go too far. I can’t, and to be honest, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to leave you alone anyway.”

“I’ll be fine. You can make sure they’re following you out of town first and when they are, you’ll know I’m safe here. With the Horde gone, too, I’ll be safe. I’ll just wait for you to come back.”

“You realize I can’t come to physically see you before I leave. They’ll be watching now, they’ll know.”

I nodded.

“This is goodbye, I know,” I said softly

“You are so incredibly smart and lovable. You know that?”

“It doesn’t hurt to be told,” I said to him, but it was hitting me that he was leaving. Because of my stupid plan. Why did I open my mouth!

“Hey, you’re right,” he told me as he took my face in his hands, “this’ll work. It’s a genius plan that I’m sad to say I hadn’t thought of. As long as the Horde stays away, we should be fine for a while once I come back.” He let his lips touch mine softly. “I will miss you something fierce, CB.”

“Me, too. It doesn’t seem right; you leaving the day after I ultimately pick you out of every other guy in the world. You should feel pretty special,” I quipped; my survival tactic. When things got tough, I got sarcastic.

“Don’t I know it,” he said gently and kissed the edge of my lips. “It’s alright if you miss me, Clara.”

“I will miss you.”

“It’s ok to say you will, and to be vulnerable with me.”

“I’m going to miss you,” I squeaked. “Please come back,” I said against this chest. “Be careful and don’t stay gone too long.”

“I will do all of those things,” he promised.  “And of course I’ll visit you in our Reveries. Until then, I hate to say it, but you’re already late for school and if I don’t leave soon, they may get suspicious.”

I knew it was true, but I wasn’t ready for him to go yet.

I pulled him down to kiss me. He was just as needy as I was, but I took as much as I gave. I pressed, he pressed. He groaned, I groaned. I dipped into him and gripped him for support, he did the same. It was torture in its truest sense. Way before I was ready, he pulled back and licked his bottom lip.

“Be cautious. Even though the Horde may not be waiting around the corner doesn’t mean that it’s safe for a girl to walk the streets at night.”

“Ok. Wait- you’re going to miss the Sweet Grass carnival,” I whined. It was only two nights away.

“And the dance.”

“I told you, I’m not going to that. But I did want to go to the carnival with you. Oh well,” I said and put on a brave smile. “It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “If I could be here by then I would, but-“

“I know. It’s ok.”

“I’ll be back before you know it. And I’ll see you tonight in the Reverie.”

“Of course.” I accepted his kiss once more. “Please be careful.”

“That goes double for you.”

“Deal.”

“Deal. Bye, Clara.”

“Bye.”

And then he was gone. I was alone on my bed, late for school, and I felt as empty as I’d ever felt.

 

 

I trudged to school. Yes, trudged. I was late already so it didn’t really matter. And if someone was watching me there was no way they’d miss the dejected look on my face. It was ridiculous, really. I‘d never had someone consume my thoughts like this before. I looked at my wrist and the string was still there, as real and alive as it had been yesterday. Only now, it’s stretched out to Eli who was no longer by my side but off somewhere without me.

I sighed, but stopped in my tracks. I thought I saw something white jump out of my vision into the bushes. I looked closer, but saw nothing now. I imagined Enoch, or Angelina even, following me to make sure Eli wasn’t with me. I stood straighter and huffed my way across the street. I wasn’t about to get caught in some word play with one of them.

I made it to second period just as it started. The rest of the morning was blurry and meaningless. I sat and tried to listen but ultimately didn’t retain much of what was said. I made an effort not to look at people directly so they wouldn’t question me about my eyes all day.

I did stop by Mrs. Gibbs’ classroom and tell her I was quitting spirit squad. Of course, she’d heard all the gossip around school about everything that  happened, but she was anything but sympathetic. She said she was disappointed in me for letting them drive me away from my dreams. I let her think what she wanted instead of trying to explain that it was never my dream to begin with.

Then lunch came. I made my way inside and got my tray of pizza and juice; a winning combination. As I squeezed through the kids to get to Patrick’s table, I was stopped by a big body suddenly in front of me.

Tate.

“Clara, hey,” he said casually, as if nothing had happened between us. He even smiled a little before it slid away. “What did you do to your eyes?”

“Contacts.”

“Why? Your blue eyes were so gorgeous, why would you change it?” he asked with a hard edge, like he already knew the answer.

“They’re my eyes. I think I can handle what color I want them to be.”

He shuffled his feet for a few seconds and rolled his shoulders.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me?”

“No,” I said and tried to go around him.

He grabbed my arm, forcing me to drop my entire tray onto the floor. I stared at him in disbelief, but he seemed just as stunned.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you that hard. I just wanted to talk,” he asked and looked around embarrassed as everyone stopped to see what the ruckus had been about.

“Are you still using?” I asked quietly. His silent, hard stare was my answer. I started to walk off again, leaving my tray behind as collateral damage, but he grabbed me once again.

“Stop walking away from me!”

And just when I realized that the entire lunchroom was going to watch him grab me and spill my food and not do a thing about it, an unlikely hero abounded.

“Let her go, man,” Patrick said from behind me. I looked to see Patrick, Ike and that guy they called Buzzer all standing there. Buzzer was still chewing on his pizza. I turned back to Tate, not quite sure of what to make of the situation myself. He glanced them all over and decided they were no threat and went on.

“Go to the dance with me.”

“No, I’m not going. If I was, I’d go with Eli.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not my boyfriend anymore, Tate.”

“You can’t be serious, Clara. Ok.” He raised his hands. “I get it, you made your point.” He stepped a half step closer and whispered, but it was harsh and angry. “You wanted me to beg, to make you feel important and desirable? Ok fine, I’m begging. Now stop being stupid and come back to our table. You’re just making a fool of yourself hanging out with these freaks.”

I had thought I was helpless. I thought I needed Eli here, that he was my strength, my protector. But in that moment, I realized that though Eli was those things, I had learned something from him that I could now do on my own; stand up for myself.

“Screw you, Tate!”

I then walked into Patrick’s congenial arm out for me and we walked back to his table with the buzz of laughter and ‘Oh snap!’s and “Shot down!’ around us. It hit me then how juvenile this place was and how I was so very ready to leave it behind.

“Wow, kitty,” Ike said and made claws at me. “Raer!”

“Bite me,” I laughed and took their good natured jabs gracefully.

The rest of lunch was spent cutting up and trying to munch down my new tray of pizza that Pat had gotten me in between questions about my eyes and where could they get contacts like that. The nose chain girl, whose name I learned was Ariel, was actually really cool. She worked at a clothing store in the mall and we both loved the same bands and foods. It wasn’t everyday you found someone else who loved Ramen Noodles and fried egg sandwiches.

They were both something my mom had gotten me started on, her growing up in the south being the cause. She had been a Georgia Peach, through and through. Then she moved to Big Timber, Montana with my dad. They’d met at college and the rest was history.

“Ok, if you say your favorite book is by Jane Austen, I’m going to throw a fit,” she said and looked really serious. I laughed and when I told her I didn’t read in my spare time she gasped and looked like she wanted to slap me a little. I inched back. When I brought up my favorite vamp shows, she settled and was once again back on my side, though she argued that all those shows were based on books and that I should read them. I respectfully declined.

Math was brutal and long. Art was a disaster without Eli there to help me. When I eventually slinked into the house to find it once again busy and unruly, I rolled my eyes. It was beginning to be so hectic around there, I could disappear and they’d never know. I stopped and thought. Maybe that was a good thing, if impending doom found Eli and I in the aftermath of everything that happened.

“Can you watch the babies tonight, Clara?” Mrs. Ruth asked. “If I don’t get out of this house, I’m going to go crazy.”

“Sure,” I answered, happy for a distraction.

They left and after a couple hours of building blocks and play dough, I put all the babies to bed. I then went to my room and got ready for bed myself, but it wasn’t sleep I was ready for. I was nervous, I realized. I hadn’t seen Eli all day and I was about to see him in the Reverie. I lay down and the second my eyes closed he was there. And we were in the sunshine in the park.

“Finally, Clara,” he said and hugged me to him tightly. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Sorry. I had to watch the babies for Pastor and Mrs. Ruth. I do it once a month.”

“No, it’s ok. I was just worried. And I missed you.” He pulled back and then pulled me down on the grass next to him. I lay my head on his stomach and looked at him as he leaned back on his elbows. “Tell me all about school today.”

So, I did. Even the Tate stuff as I said, “And so Patrick came up and was going to defend my honor, but it turns out, I could handle it myself.”

“Tate is testing the limits of my patience,” Eli growled, flopping back in the grass and running his hand through my hair. “I thought we only had to worry about the Horde and Angelina, but no, your idiotic ex has to rock the boat when I’m not there.”

“I handled it.”

“But don’t you see? You shouldn’t have to handle it. I should be there to protect you.”

“But you can’t always be and I need to learn to do things for myself. I’ve always let people do my deeds for me my whole life. It’s liberating and exhilarating to tell someone to screw themselves,” I said through a grin. “I feel all girl-power right now.”

He laughed in an exasperated and indulgent way that told me he didn’t like it, but was going to let me have it this once. I thanked him with a smile and ran my hand over his chest. I felt something. I lifted his shirt up to his chin. He started to back away, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. It wasn’t like I could physically stop him, but I was asking him to let me. He did with a heaved breath that meant a conversation was coming.

I saw the scar over his heart, the one I’d seen that day he gave me his shirt in the bathroom. I’d been curious about it ever since. I rolled to my stomach and ran a tentative finger over the large circular brand. The skin was raised and although it was healed it looked angry; like it once had been a very ugly wound.

“What’s this from?”

“A parting gift from my parents,” he muttered.

“What?” I asked horrified.

“I’ll tell you,” he said and nodded as if to talk himself into it.

“You don’t have to,” I said, but he spoke anyway, his voice haunted and shadowed with ghosts of his past.

“My parents were pretty angry at my lifestyle choices. After I left and ran away, they found out I wasn’t forcing emotions to feed anymore. Angelina told them about a Sage, or a shaman priest, who performed exorcisms, but he performed them on those of us who are evil who may have been swayed or cursed by good.” He laughed like it wasn’t funny at all. “He called it Demoralizing. Funny right?” He shook his head and put his hand over mine over the scar on his heart. “They caught up to me, dragged me back to one of our homes in Amsterdam and chained me upright to an oak tree. Angelina, Enoch, Mara, my parents…they all just stood and watched as he burned and branded me over and over. We heal fast, so he’d wait for my skin to stop bleeding and then start again. It went on for days. Finally, he said there was nothing he could do, that I was a lost cause. My parents said that I shamed them and my mother actually spit on me. They left me there, chained to a tree in the valley of the mountains near our home, hanging by my wrist for five days. Then someone…found me. He got me down and I left, was able to evade them for a few years before they found me again, but not my parents. They gave up on me becoming the prodigal son.”

“Eli, that’s-“ I sighed. “That’s terrible. No one should have to go through something like that.”

“It was a long time ago,” he said and waved my fears away. “I’m over it.”

“Really? I remember some guy telling me once that it was ok to be vulnerable with him. Well, I repeat that sentiment.”

He let his smile cause me difficulty in breathing before pulling me up to lay on his chest. He stroked my hair, and inhaled long and deep before exhaling in a groan.

“You even smell good in my Reveries.”

I let it go, he apparently wanted to change the subject. So I just said, “Eli, I just want you to know that they are the worst kind of scum for doing that to you. You and me, we’re going to leave all this behind soon and you’ll never have to think about it ever again.”

“You’re very set on leaving,” he musing. “You won’t miss it here? The Pastor and his family?”

“Of course, but I can’t stay with them forever. The court agreement was only until I graduated high school anyway. And as far as this town? No, I won’t miss it. The only good thing about being here was my parents and they aren’t here anymore.”

“Where do you want to go first?” he asked quietly.

“I’ve never been anywhere. Where do you want to take me first?”

“As long as I’m with you, it won’t matter where we are,” he answered and pulled my chin up as he seared me with a promising kiss.

 

 

“So who was the person who saved you?” I asked as he walked me back to my house. In the Reverie it was daylight, but we were all alone and the temperature was perfect. I marveled that I had the best dates with Eli, though we never actually went anywhere.

“Hmm?” he asked distractedly.

“You said someone saved you from the tree that day. Who was it?”

“Oh. No one. We’ll save that part of the story for another night, ok?”

“Ok,” I answered. “So…the carnival is tomorrow night.” I produced a pout that would put Shirley Temple to shame. He laughed loudly and shook his head as he sat on my porch steps and pulled me into his lap.

“You’re very good at that.”

“At what?”

“Pouting,” he said pointedly.

“Oh. Well, yeah.”

“I would be here if I could. You know that.”

“I know. I’ll just go by my lonesome.”

“No, you will not Miss Hopkins. You are on house arrest until I get back,” he ordered sternly.

“Eli, I can’t just sit at home. This is the last time I’ll get to go. I’ll go with the Pastor and his family.”

“Oh, they go to the carnival too? That should be fine then. Just stay with them at all times.”

“What are you so worried about? Didn’t Enoch and Angelina follow you out of town?”

“Yeah, they did. I just don’t want to take any chances. I don’t want you alone.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“CB,” he chided. “Don’t worry so much, love.” I gulped at that word and then took a deep breath. He slid his hand up my spine and back down again as I stared at him. “It’s my job to worry.”

“I thought I saw someone following me today,” I said, but his hand stopped moving on my back and I regretted bringing it up. “Something…I don’t know. It may be nothing, but I could’ve sworn I saw something white moving and following me in the bushes.”

“Well, more reason to be extra careful. Please, Clara.”

“Sure,” I said and was a little confused at how he didn’t flip out about it.

“I better go and let you sleep.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m not going to say, just in case. But not too far. I couldn’t go very far from you.”

“Aha. Will I see you tomorrow night? When I get back from the carnival?”

“Yep, I’ll be right here waiting . Be careful.”

“I will. You, too.”

He leaned down and kissed me, his fingers circling my wrist lovingly. His thumb rubbed my skin as his mouth moved and took mine deliciously. He then lifted me from his lap and with one final kiss to the top of my head, he turned to go.

He stopped to call over his shoulder.

“Have fun tomorrow night, why don’t you?”

“I’ll try,” I shot back. “My boyfriend’s out of town so it kind of sucks.”

He smirked and waved as he said, “Bye, Clara Belle. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

Then I opened my eyes to the plaster ceiling above my bed. After a few minutes of sulking, I fell asleep.

 

~ ~ ~

 

The next school day was pretty much the same, minus the lunchroom Tate scene. I talked to the Pastor and he said they were going to the carnival and I was welcome to tag along. He was surprised I wasn’t going with my friends. I said I was looking for a quiet night out.

On the way to the carnival as we walked, I could have sworn I saw that white thing again in the bushes as we passed. I looked closer but never saw anything and it would have been suspicious to go check, so I let it go. Reluctantly.

The Sweet Grass Carnival was in full swing when we arrived. The Ferris Wheel was the main attraction as always, with the line all the way back to the funnel cakes. I followed them around for a while before needing a break from the begging for more cotton candy. I went and got myself a diet soda and leaned against the side of the booth as I sipped it.

“Hey, Hopkins.”

I turned to see Ariel and Patrick sidling up to me. It was dark by now and the pavement under our feet looked as black as dark water under the dim lights of the booths and rides.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?”

“Waiting for the Ferris Wheel to open up a little,” Patrick explained. “They really should bring two. It’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah,” I answered, “I know. I didn’t get to ride at all last year.”

“Well, come with us. Where’s Eli?” he asked looking around for him.

“He’s not here.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Nah. He just had some things to do out of town,” I said quietly and decided to change the subject. “So, does Mrs. May have a booth? I could chow down on some sweet potato fries right now.”

“Yeah she does,” Ariel said and looped her arm through mine, “and they’re just as good as last year.”

Patrick flanked my other side and we laughed at some mimes who were horribly impersonating a cheerleading squad. I guess that was the point. Then we passed Mike, Dee and Sarah. The dance must have been over already.

Mike was throwing rings onto glass milk bottle necks and cursing every time he missed one…which was every time. Dee and Sarah saw us and I knew an altercation was inevitable. I sipped my soda and looked away but that only made it worse.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Dee yelled and slammed down her drink. “Really, Clara? You’re taking this whole revenge thing a little too far I think.”

“Excuse me?” I said, removing my arms from Pat and Ariel’s and made my way to stand in front of her. “Revenge?”

“We all get it, ok? You want revenge for what happened so you’re trying to embarrass us all by hanging out with freaks to diss us.”

“And what exactly was it that happened, Deidre?”

“You and Tate. That doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of us. We were your friends,” she said, too softly and slowly for effect.

I laughed. Actually laughed. Patrick smirked in an ah-man-you’re-gonna-piss-her-off-so-bad way. Ariel just watched with a curious expression.

“Are you joking or are you really that delusional?” She started to speak, but noticed my eyes then. She squinted and leaned in a little. “Contacts,” I muttered to her.

“So now you changed your eyes color, too,” she mused to herself. “Where’s Eli?” she asked her voice sweet. “Did he get tired of you already?”

“He didn’t want to run into you,” I said and smirked to goad her. It worked as she then took to yelling instead of sweet talk.

“You’re ruining your senior year! It’s not like we’re Juniors and you can just make it all better next year. You’re tanking your reputation!”

“Are you for real right now?” My voice was shrill and confused.

“Of course I’m serious. Do you think your parents would be proud of you right now?” she asked and though all the breath left my body as if she punched me in the gut, I still saw her show coming into play. She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and scratched the toe of her shoe on the pavement as Mike and Sarah stood behind her, watching as always. “All this; missing school, worrying the Pastor and his family with your erratic behavior, and this unfortunate business with poor Tate. He needed you, Clara. He’s hurting right now and you just threw him away because he made a few mistakes. We’re all just human, but that apparently isn’t good enough for you.”

I felt my eyes pop out, but I held it together. Mostly.

“After everything you did to me, you think I’m going to fall for that act?”

She looked back at Sarah and they shared a sympathetic glance at my expense. Then she looked back to me and said, “Deflection of responsibility is one of the steps of denial, I’m pretty sure.”

“Yeah, but you skipped a few,” I spouted back sarcastically. “Tate was my business and it was my decision how to handle it, not yours. Just because you screwed him behind my back doesn’t mean that you had a say in our relationship.”

Sarah’s eyes went wide for a second. Mike just laughed. He loved conflict and goading, no matter where it was directed.

“Why don’t you just go public with that, Clara!” she yelled and then took a small step forward, visibly calming. “Besides, it’s your boyfriend’s responsibility to be faithful to you. I didn’t make him cheat, I was just the means. He used me, too, you know.”

“And now you want my sympathy?”

“I miss you. We used to be friends.”

“Before you slept with my boyfriend! No, scratch that. Way before that did you stop being my friend. I can’t even remember when the last time you were actually my friend was. Probably in seventh grade, before you got your boobs.” Patrick and Mike burst out laughing as Dee gasped and covered her chest in instinct. “But then you became a royal witch. You think you can do whatever you want to whoever you want and it’s all ok just because you are who you are and your purpose is the only one that matters. That doesn’t make you special, it makes you a terrorist.”

She began to boil, I could see it, and the others had long since stopped laughing. I was hitting a nerve now, and I wasn’t about to stop.

“And yes, it was Tate’s responsibility to not cheat on me. But it was your responsibility to be my friend the way you say you are. And friends don’t sleep with each other’s boyfriends and friends don’t pour chili on the heads of guys that our friends have secret crushes on.”

Sarah’s mouth opened, but she kept silent as she glanced at Patrick and flushed bright enough to see in the dark. I glanced at him to apologize bringing up the chili thing, but he was looking at Sarah with a little smile. Ok… moving on.

“You were never my friend. Stop being a pretender, Deidre. You’re a nasty witch, just own it. Let’s go,” I told Pat and Ariel, who had stayed strangely silent the whole time.

Patrick waved to Sarah who pressed her lips to stop a smile and waved her fingers discreetly at him before turning to a fuming Dee. She marched towards us.

“You don’t get to walk off like that! I haven’t had my say yet!”

“I’m done with it.”

“But Tate will be here soon. He was supposed to meet us. Don’t you want to see him or are you too guilt ridden to see the hurt you put on his face?”

I turned, rolling my eyes, and as if fate was playing a lead role in the Broadway production that was the night so far, Tate was there already. He was standing against the spinning paint booth and he wasn’t alone. Megan was grinding against him in a way that should be private and not seen with eyes that could sizzle into oblivion for it. He wasn’t exactly fighting her off, given by the hands on her butt and the way his lips were giving her neck a massive hickey that would be impossible to cover up the next day.

Deidre saw at the same time I did and yelled at him.

“Tate!”

He jerked his attention towards us and pushed Megan off, who straightened up and tried to appear normal as she flounced towards Dee.

“Dee-“ he started, but then saw me and he really did look guilty. It was ridiculous. He wanted me back, but couldn’t stop making out with the school easies!  “Clara,” he sighed. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

I chuckled and glanced back at Dee. “Oh, yeah, he’s really hurting. And he’s all yours.”

I looped my arms through Pat and Ariel’s once again and kept walking amid their yells and fighting behind us.

“Good work, Hopkins,” Patrick praised. “Nicely done.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Ariel agreed. “That was better than watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

I laughed, though I had no idea what she was talking about, and took another sip of my soda, but almost choked on it when I saw someone in front of us that I hadn’t expected.

“Clara,” Mara sang. I stared in silent disbelief. Eli’s sister was still here? Why? “Hi, there.”

“What are you still doing here?” I asked and came forward a little to stand in front of Pat and Ariel. It was weird how I had become some kind of protector for them. “Why aren’t you with the tramp?” I sneered and she slapped the soda from my hand to the pavement. “Hey!”

“I suggest your friends run along and play unless you want them to join us.” She gave a cursory glance to Ariel, but lingered on Pat. “Mm. He’s pretty yummy.”

I turned to them as I said, “Go ahead and get in line for the Ferris Wheel, why don’t you? I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Are you ok here?” Pat asked.

“Yeah, just an old…friend. I’ll be done in no time.”

He nodded and they walked away as I turned back to her.

“Does Angelina know you’re still here?”

“Stupid feeler. You have no idea how big this is. This is not about some age old squabble between my brother and Angelina. This is about this,” she said and grabbed my wrist, but very gently. I saw our wrists were connected by the string. “You’re bound to him and you sealed both of your fates.”

“He left,” I said steadily, proud of my composure. “He spent the night with Angelina. I told him to go away and he did.”

“Wow. You really think we’re stupid don’t you? Surely Elijah can’t be this stupid, too. He had to know the Horde didn’t leave.”

“They didn’t?” I said and couldn’t hide my fear any longer. The proof was when her lips opened and her tongue snaked out to lick them. ”Why not?”

“Because they knew he was lying. And now here’s the proof.”

“You’re going to turn us into the Horde?” I asked and racked my brain for a plan.

“I won’t have to.” She grabbed my sleeve and turned me to face the back of the building we were next to. There stood Hatch. “Not only are they here, but I’m one of them,” she whispered into my ear from behind.

“You work for the Horde to kill your own kind. Charming,” I said and let the sarcasm wash over me to keep away the shivers of fright.

“Clara, I presume,” Hatch said.

 

 

I had to do something, had to get them to believe me. I broke down and cried a little, which wasn’t too hard given the circumstances.

“He cheated on me. I thought we had something, but I guess not,” I croaked and peeked to see if he was buying it. I couldn’t tell.

“We know he left town, this isn’t about that.” He crossed his arms. “Binding yourself to a demon,” he mused and whistled. “Not too smart in my book. And he left you here, alone. So what does that say about him, huh? You thought you could wrangle an already tame demon, but even with all Eli’s faults, he still couldn’t be the human you wanted him to be, huh?”

“I don’t care. I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Well, you see, you know about us. I warned him that humans who knew about us were to be executed.”

I was beginning to wonder the same things he was. How could Eli leave if he knew the Horde didn’t let humans go who knew about them? It had seemed strange last night in the Reverie, too, how Eli was so nonchalant about it when I said someone was following me. It confused me, but after everything we’d been through so far, I refused to give up faith in him.

He moved with a swiftness that I missed until it was too late. He jerked my arm in his grasp and Mara’s arm snapped out in front of me. They stared at each other and she removed her arm and muttered a ‘sorry’ as she looked at the ground.

He started to pull me towards the woods at the end of the pavement. I jerked against him, but he tsked me.

“Uh, uh, uh.” He pointed to the other end of the lot, to where Patrick and Ariel were standing. They were laughing and talking, completely oblivious as he threw popcorn at her that there was a Devourer behind them. I watched as Ariel’s face changed from one of laughter to one of horror. She even grasped Patrick’s collar as she looked around. He was confused, but held onto her.

Hatch looked back at me with a knowing look. He’d won and he knew it.

“Come with me quietly or Demarcus will torture her until she never comes back from it.”

What could I do? I went with him. 

I walked in between Mara and Hatch to a group of five Devourers about twenty feet into the woods. The grass was long, up to my thighs, and it scared me to walk in it in the dark. Although, with my new vision my sight was better, I still couldn’t see my feet.

“So Mara was right. He did leave her here,” one of them said.

“Yep. Let’s take care of this quickly,” Hatch answered.

But I wasn’t going down without a fight. I turned to Mara.

“How can you betray your brother like this?” I asked loudly and they laughed even louder, except Mara who continued to stare at me as if I were disgusting.

“How do you think she got into the Horde?” one of the men said, but Hatch snapped at him.

“Be quiet!” He looked at me and cocked his head. “Mara, I wish you could do it. That would put the final stake in Eli, but I know the bond won’t let you.”

“I wish it were so, too,” she spat out her words and looked at me. “Please get rid of her so I don’t have this disgusting thing wrapped around my wrist anymore.”

Hatch nodded and said to her, ”We’ll put your mark on her for you. Eli will know without a doubt that he is denounced and an abomination to our kind and better hope that we never find his traitorous hide again. Demarcus,” he called to someone behind Mara. The one that had messed with Ariel was back so at least they were safe. “Hold Mara back.”

Mara actually grinned and let him grab her arms from behind. I knew what was coming. They were restraining her so her instincts wouldn’t kick in through the bond and she couldn’t save me. One of the other men came forward without any further hesitation and yanked my hair to pull my neck back. I saw Mara jolt, but Demarcus held her tight. Before anything else could happen a flash of white caught my vision off to the side. I heard Hatch yell and curse before the Devourer let my head go. I stepped back, but we all stood still and watched as the grass around us moved in trails but there wasn’t anything there to see. Another one of the Horde men yelled and went down into the grass. Then another. I waited for it to take me and grab me too. Whatever it was, was apparently strong enough or dangerous enough to take down a big Devourer.

When Hatch groaned I looked over at him and watched as he strained and fought against his legs. They buckled under him and he fell into the grass.

What in the….

I walked cautiously to Hatch and peeked at him through the fallen grass. He was completely still, eyes wide open…and they were black; completely, disturbingly, wholly black and bottomless. Then I heard a commotion off to the side but before I could see behind me, I was yanked down and dragged through the grass by my arm over my head.

I wanted to scream but for some reason, my vocal cords were frozen, in fear I guessed. It felt like I was dragged forever before it finally stopped abruptly. I lay in the grass, the sky above me. The stars and moon were shining through the canopy of the trees and in any other setting it would have been beautiful. And then a pair of beady eyes were above me too. I gasped and tried to scramble back, but it stopped me with a hand on my arm. It was surprisingly strong.

“Be still, feeler,” it hissed in a high pitched and scratchy voice. “Those thieves will kill you if they find you. Be still and wait for the traitor if you know what’s good for you.”

I looked at it, or um, him. He was about as tall as my thigh with a white bohemian looking shirt on with his white pants and bare dirty feet. His eyes were beady and black. His hair was red and scraggily on the sides with none on the top at all and his skin had a greenish hue to the pale look of him. I had no idea what he was, so I asked him.

“What are you?” I whispered.

“Be quiet you stupid girl!” he hissed loudly through a mouth that was covered in blue goo. Devourer blood, I realized. His sharp little teeth were covered in blue, too. “What will it matter if you find out what I am if you are dead!”

“Sorry,” I grumbled and that earned me a glare. At least I think it was a glare. His eyes were impossibly small.

So I lay silently and listened with a gangly miniature monster holding me down with his arm. I stiffened hearing the noises off in the distance, grunting and huffing. Then my heart stopped beating when I heard a voice I knew - Eli. And he was yelling.

I pushed the creature away and took off running. I heard him behind me, hissing and calling me names, but I kept running. I had told Eli that I wasn’t into playing hero but apparently, for him, I was.

I arrived on the scene to see no one there but Mara and Eli. He had his arm wrapped around her neck from behind and there were several patches of grass around them that were depressed and indented so I knew there was a body there. I swallowed and focused on Eli, who had just now seen me. He first looked ecstatic at seeing me, then turned angry; the veins in his neck blue and raised.

“I told you to keep her away from this, Bengal!” he growled at me. I was confused, but looked beside me to see he was growling at the little person.

“She’s stubborn and stupid,” he said. “What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected you to do what we agreed upon.”

“Never do deals with a Goblin. Didn’t your mother every teach you that?” the little person sneered at Eli.

“Did your mother tell you to never cross a Devourer?” Eli rebutted.

“No, my mother said to bite first and ask questions later.”

Eli sighed and gripped Mara tighter as she tried to twist away. I started to ask what was going on, but she elbowed him in the stomach and bent under his arm. She grabbed his head, bringing his face down to her knee. I started to scream, but the Goblin…Gnome…thing grabbed my hand jerking me to the ground and putting his scaly dry hand over my mouth.

“Stupid girl. Don’t alert the humans with your high pitched screams.”

I looked at him in disbelief and then back to Eli as he slammed her to the ground by a hand around her throat, but she didn’t stay down long. She jumped up with a quick move back to her feet and then jabbed a blow to his neck with the back of her fist. I cringed, covering my face and turned away. I turned back just in time to see him as he grabbed her head from behind. He met my eyes from across the expanse and grimaced.

“Look away, Clara.”

I obeyed with the quickness and through my squeezed shut eyes I still heard the crack of her neck and then the rustle of grass. I opened them to see him watching me, but he didn’t move towards me. I wanted to run to him, but I felt vulnerable and strange. The way he was looking at me…I realized he was waiting to see my reaction to what he’d done; my reaction to the monster he thought he was.

So I ran to him. His face released all the tension, the blue veins on his neck and arms settled back into his skin and he opened the circle of his arms up to me. I collided with him and felt him lift my feet from the ground as he plunged his face into my neck and hair.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“You came back,” I said breathlessly.

He pulled back to look at me and said, “I never really left. I just went far enough that the Horde would think I was gone and Angelina and Enoch would follow me.”

“Really?”

“Of course, CB. I couldn’t leave you.”

“But you knew the Horde was still here?” I asked as he set me back to my feet.

“I figured. “

“But…” I was confused. “You left and knew they were still here…I don’t understand…”

“You ‘re wondering why I would leave you in danger?” he asked with a little smile.

“A little,” I said quietly.

“Well, that‘s where Bengal comes in.” He turned me to the small man in front of us. “Bengal, this is Clara. Clara, this is Bengal. He’s a Goblin who owed me a favor and has been shadowing you for two days.”

“Um…” I turned to Eli so the Goblin guy wouldn’t hear me. “No offense, Eli, but that guy’s as tall as my knee. Why would you think he could protect me from-“

“Goblins have excellent hearing, human,” Bengal said and crossed his thick arms in insult. “And how do you think I saved your bony backside the first time, hmm?”

 

 

“Um…” I scrambled for something to say, but Eli helped me out.

“Goblins are toxic to Devourers. Well, their bite is.”

That explained the blue mouth and teeth. Eew. But it all fell into place.

“You bit Hatch,” I said as realization hit me. “That’s why he fell. You killed him?”

“I wish, but alas we are toxic not deadly to their kind. He’s paralyzed. And he’ll stay that way for all of eternity so he may as well be dead.”

“Ok, that’s enough for now,” Eli insisted and pulled me to his side, his arm wrapped around my waist. “Bengal, once again, it’s been a pleasure,” he told him, but it sounded grated and forced.

“Bah, I hate you, traitor, as much as you hate me. We don’t have to pretend.”

“It’s a strange partnership,” Eli agreed, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. He flicked it to the Goblin and he snapped his hand out to grab it. He grinned, his blue small sharp teeth blazing as he bit the coin, testing to make sure it was real, I assumed. Then he licked it and nodded, slipping it into his pocket.

“Business has commenced, traitor. The bodies will be taken to Resting Place by morning. My services are always open to you, for a price.”

“Like I could forget that part,” Eli answered. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”

“Don’t get soft on me!” Bengal spat and inched away backwards. “Business is business.”

He continued to walk and watch us until he got to the edge of the clearing. Then he turned and ran. I looked up at Eli with a million questions in  my mind.

“I know,” he insisted and lifted his hands. “I know, there’s so many things I need to tell you.”

“The first one being, why did you concoct this whole plan and not tell me!” I said and pushed his chest a little to drive home my point. “Why couldn’t I be in on it?”

“Because I wanted you to think you were completely safe. And you were,” he said quickly, “I want you to understand that you were safe. I would never have left had I thought for a second that you would be in harm’s way. But you gave me the idea. When you said I should leave and pretend to follow along with that for a while so Angelina and Enoch would back off, it was clear to me that the Horde hadn’t left. See, the Horde took Angelina from the park that night remember? They don’t take prisoners. Once you told me that she was still here, and free, I knew the Horde was onto us. I didn’t want you to worry. I wanted you to feel safe. So I let you think that your plan was the plan. When in actuality, I called in reinforcements.”

“Bengal,” I answered as he pulled me through the grass towards the carnival. I noticed how he kept his arm around me the entire time as he steered me through the ones on the ground that I didn’t want to think about. “How do you know him?”

“He’s the one who found me chained to the tree. He’s the one who saved me, for a price. I had to fulfill him a deed of his choosing. We’ve been…uneasy allies ever since. Goblins and Devourers have always been enemies.”

“What did you mean their bite is toxic?” I asked and stopped him when he would have emerged from the woods. I had more questions still. “He said the bite paralyzes them?”

“Yes. They are paralyzed, aware and alive, but unable to move, and there’s never been a cure. The Goblins have a place they take the bodies. They call it Resting Place. It should really be called Bragging Rights. That’s all it is. There are hundreds of them all laid into the bowl of a valley. They go there and boast about how many they’ve taken down over the years. See, Devourers are Immoral, can’t be killed at all. But, a Goblin’s bite has been the only thing to ever take us down.”

“And you brought him here, knowing he would follow me and bite whoever messed with me and that they would be paralyzed, unable to harm me,” I worked out and he nodded.

“I knew they’d ambush you. So I made sure to come back and be here when they did.”

“When did you come back?”

“This afternoon.”

“Why didn’t you come see me?”

“Because you needed to think I was gone for the plan to work. I needed them all together so that Bengal and I could take down the whole pack of them at once.”

I sighed and put my hand on his chest. His heart beat against my palm and he was so close I could feel his breath on my face as I stared at his shirt front. It was black and plain to blend in with the dark. He’d planned this whole thing.

He lifted my face and ducked his at the same time to look at me. He smoothed the bunched skin between my eyes with his thumb.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” he whispered.

“I was so scared for you. One second I was so glad to see you and then the next I was horrified thinking that you’d get hurt or…worse. And then that Goblin dragged me off,” I scoffed. “And insulted me.”

He laughed and pulled to him as he said, “I’m glad you’re still the same funny Clara that I left here two days ago.”

“What have you been doing all afternoon?”

“Watching you.” I peeked up at him to see what his smug tone was about. “I saw you take Dee down a few notches. I almost blew my cover to go and tell you how proud I was of you.”

“You saw that?”

“Oh yeah, I saw that.”

“And you were proud of me?” I whispered.

“Very,” he whispered back. “I know you think that you are this weak, human, spoiled girl who has let people trample on her, but you are anything but that. That’s the product of the life you’ve led, that’s not who you are. Not anymore. You’re capable of many things, standing up for yourself being one of them. I’m so glad I got to see you realize that for yourself.”

“Thank you,” was all I could say in response. “I missed you.”

“Mmm, I missed you,” he groaned and pulled me up on my toes to kiss him. He kissed me fiercely, but gently and when I felt his tongue ring against my tongue my restraint dropped from the picture. I pulled him tighter, causing him to groan which just fed my fire as he tasted my want for him. I don’t even remember how long we stayed like that in the edge of the woods and kissed, but he suddenly jerked back and licked his lip. It seemed to be just out of habit because his face was serious.

“My sister,” he said quickly.

“What?” I was confused why his sister came up in the middle of our necking session.

“My sister,” he said harder. “Bengal didn’t bite my sister.”

He put his arms around me and shot us swiftly across the woods back to the spot we’d been before. He bent down and I didn’t even have to look to know what had happened. She had awakened sometime while we were talking and sprinted away. He pounded his fist on the ground then looked back up to me and shook his head.

“I was careless. I was wrapped up in paying Bengal and making sure you were ok and forgot about her. She’s long gone, back to the Horde headquarters I’m sure.”

“They’ll come back for us,” I guessed.

“With a vengeance,” he confirmed. “They’ll know we ambushed them with a Goblin. They hate Goblins. This will be a worse betrayal than a bond to them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have be thorough. And I wasn’t blaming you,” he insisted and came to me. “They would have eventually heard of it anyway. I just hoped we’d have a little more time, that’s all.”

“What will they do? Just come back here and look for us?”

“I’m not sure. The Horde is in Amsterdam so we have some time. Don’t fret about it. I’ll figure something out.”

“Why did she join? I know you don’t view family like we do, but how could she do that to you?”

“It wasn’t just me,” he said thoughtfully. “In order to join the Horde you have to prove you’re serious. The initiation ritual is to bring someone in to have tortured by the group, while you watch.”

“Angelina?” I guessed in horror. “You think she brought in Angelina?”

“I think so. Only Enoch was on my tail this morning. That was another reason I came back today.”

“You thought she was going to come at me, but instead she’s… Wow.”

“Ok, well there’s nothing else we can do now, not tonight anyway. And you were pretty adamant about some carnival you wanted to go to…”

He smirked and held his hand out for me like a gentleman.

“You want to go play and celebrate after everything that happened tonight?” I asked him and heard my voice reaching for incredulous.

“You have to live for today, CB.” He ran a finger across the length my jaw. “God forbid, there might not be a tomorrow.”

“You’re right,” I said and put my hand in his. I sighed to calm myself. “You’re right. Let’s go.” I looked at my clothes and was pretty clean for someone that had been dragged through the woods. The tall grass had helped I guess.

So, he walked me from the woods to the carnival. Once my feet hit pavement a calm settled over me. It was over, at least for right now. Eli was back and we were safe for the night.

We walked passed all the booths and a few rides before Pastor caught up with us.

“Clara. Eli, I thought you were out of town.”

“I was. I surprised Clara by coming back early.”

“Aw, how sweet,” Mrs. Ruth chimed. “We’re going to head back to the house. The kids have had enough.”

“Ok, I‘m going to stay, if that’s ok,” I said as I looked up at Eli. There was no way I was leaving him yet.

“Of course,” Pastor said, “just be sure to be home before-“

“Midnight,” we all chimed and then laughed.

“I guess I’ve said that a few times, huh?” Pastor said with a chuckle.

“A few, honey,” Mrs. Ruth answered and started towards the house. “Come on then, let’s go guys,” she said to the kids.

“Have a good night you two,” Pastor said over his shoulder. “And don’t get into any trouble.”

“We promise,” I answered and muttered under my breath, “at least not anymore.”

Eli chuckled as he pulled me to a hotdog stand, going on about how hungry he was. Which was impossible, Immortals didn’t need food. He bought himself two chili dogs and I got a plain with just ketchup.

“I don’t understand why you eat food if you don’t have to,” I mused and took a big bite as we sat at one of the picnic tables.

“Well, I started eating a few years ago when I began to go to schools. If I didn’t eat at lunch people would get suspicious, so I ate for my cover. But I liked it. My first food ever was a cheeseburger. So now, I just eat because I want to. It’s good.”

“So you can scarf all the food you want and never gain any weight?” He shrugged and grinned right before taking a monster bite and then groaning loudly at how good it was. “Oh, bite me.”

“It’s not my fault,” he said muffled through his bite. “I’m just lucky, I guess.”

“Oh, you’re lucky alright,” I said and then laughed as he took my hands in his and took a big bite of my hotdog, too. “Jeez! You’re such a pig!”

We laughed and wiped our faces before he asked me what I wanted to do next. I grinned. “The crazy house, of course.”

“Of course.”

As we stood in line I discreetly and quietly asked him the question buzzing annoyingly in my brain.

“So…Goblins.” He nodded solemnly. “And witches and sorcerers.” He nodded again. “What else?”

“There’s many things out there, Clara. Sadly, I run into quite a few of them from time to time.”

“But what about-“

“Can we just be normal high school sweethearts on our way up the bouncing stairs to the crazy house and not worry about that, just for tonight?”

“I think-“ I laughed as I almost fell on the spinning wheel tunnel and he had to catch me. “I think I can do that.”

“Good. Go! Go!” he yelled and laughed as the pendulums were swinging and he timed them for me.

Once we made it through the shaking ground, the room of mirrors and the quicksand bridge, we burst through laughing out the other side.

“We’re alive!” I yelled.

“Where to next?”

“Thames!” We turned to see Patrick. They bumped fist, slapped hands… something. “I thought you were out of town, man?”

“I was, but I couldn’t miss this. Where’s everybody at?”

“Well, the guys had some World Of Warcraft convention tonight and Ariel was here, but I guess she wasn’t feeling well so she went home.”

“Huh.”

“Well, you want to hang with us?” I asked though I really wanted Eli all to myself. But Patrick was alone.

“I’m gonna try to catch a ride on the Ferris Wheel. I’ve been waiting all night. Getting out of line probably doesn’t help the cause though,” he said and chuckled. “Wanna come?”

“Maybe later,” I said. “There’s something I want to do first.”

“Alright, I’ll save you a spot.”

I nodded to him and then peeked around and saw one of those photo booths, the ones that draw your pictures instead of taking it to make it look like an artist drew you. I grinned at finding my prize. I remembered throwing away all my pictures of my life up until then, especially the ones of Tate. All the memories that I thought meant something, but were just a prelude to my real life; the one that mattered right now.

It was time to make some new memories.

I pulled Eli with me to it. There was no line so we climbed right in and Eli stuck some money in. It warmed up and counted down sixty seconds.

“I’m so glad you came here,” I told him.

“Where else would I be?” he answered.

“No, I don’t mean tonight. I mean…I’m glad you came to this town.” I looked at our wrists, the barbed string still right there where it had been for days now. “You saved me from my life.”

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, and do so with all your heart.” I gaped at him and he smiled. “Marcus Aurelius said that, and he was right. I’m glad I came here, too. I would have never met you.”

Although things weren’t solved and we were far from done with this whole Horde thing, and lions and tigers and bears, oh my; I felt good. I knew things would be hard and dangerous in the days to come and I had no idea what to expect, but I knew if I was with Eli, we’d be ok.

“I feel like I…” I started, but stopped.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I said. I was not going to tell him I loved him, not yet. I looked at the timer and smiled as I ran my hand up his arm to his neck. “It’s almost time. Are you going to kiss me?”

As the timer beeped for us to be still and pose, his lips fell onto mine. We remained still until it beeped again, signaling us that we could leave. But we didn’t.

In the booth, with a curtain covering us, Eli moved one of his hands to my cheek and one to my back to press me closer. He opened my mouth with his and ravished me in a tame and loving way that made me feel as safe as ever. And I let him. I let the emotions wash over me, so he’d feel the strength and truth behind them. I could tell when they were strong enough for him to pick up on. His grip tightened and he groaned the tiniest bit against my lips. I loved that I was the only thing he needed in the whole world, so I moved to sit sideways in his lap.

And I let him devour me once again.

 

The End For Now…