“Stay here,” Eli whispered, his lips brushed my ear as his hands gently gripped my hips. “Let me and Julian go after him.”

“Like hell,” I said.

He should know better than to even suggest such a thing to me. There was no way I’d let him and Julian take down Roman without me. I hadn’t come along tonight for moral freaking support.

When Eli moved forward, so did I.

Eli could have argued with me, but he knew once I made my mind up about something there was no changing it. Besides, there wasn’t time. Roman was within sight, and we needed to act. Now.

Roman didn’t move as the three of us made our way to him, but the smirk on his face did become more prominent. My wolf snapped at me. She wanted free. Her desire to tear into him for all the pain he’d caused those we cared about pulsed to life. She didn’t give a damn if there were witnesses.

Seconds before the three of us reached the bleachers, Roman took a step forward.

A challenge was reflected in his eyes as he shifted his gaze to each of us. He laughed once, and then was gone in a blur of vampire speed. I spun around, searching for him, but he’d disappeared. The marching band played a challenging tune to the opponent’s team. Cheerleaders shouted. And Roman was gone. He’d vanished in the midst of the noise and people.

“We lost him,” I said. Anger burned through me. I couldn’t believe how close we’d been, but I wasn’t nearly as pissed as my wolf. She howled out her rage.

“No, we didn’t.” Julian nodded toward the chain link fence along the opposite side of the football field.

Roman leaned against it, watching us. There was a wide smile stretched across his face.

He was toying with us. Typical.

I opened my mouth to say so, but Julian dashed away. He’d given into his vampire speed and raced through the crowd to catch his brother.

“We need to get over there,” Eli insisted. His hand clasped mine, and he pulled me with him through the crowd.

We moved fast, but not fast enough. By the time we reached the fence, Roman and Julian were both long gone.

“Shit,” Eli muttered. “Where did they go?”

“They could be anywhere by now,” I said.

My cell chimed in my back pocket, signaling a new text. Maybe it was Julian telling us where Roman was headed now. When I pulled my cell out, Julian’s name didn’t light my screen—Ridley’s did. I read her text.

Benji is awake.

Those three words had my heart skipping a beat. I reread them as disbelief and happiness warred within me.

Benji was awake!

That meant he’d survived the transition of becoming a vampire. Normally I wasn’t overly emotional about things, but this news brought tears to my eyes. I’d been worried about him. About Ridley too. I wasn’t sure what would happen to her if he didn’t pull through. She was strong, but I knew being the reason someone you cared for was no longer in your life could break even the strongest. I’d seen it happen with my dad.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Eli asked. Concern flared within his tone. “Is it Julian?”

I lifted my gaze to lock with his. “No. It’s Ridley. Benji is awake. He’s okay!”

The tension melted from Eli’s face.

“That’s good.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You should go be with Ridley. Be with Benji. I’ll see if I can track down Julian and Roman.”

“Are you sure?” I didn’t know if that was the best idea.

Eli licked his lips. “Absolutely. You should be there, if not for moral support for Benji, then for Ridley.”

“Okay.” I directed my attention back to my cell and tapped out a message to Ridley.

I’ll be there as soon as I can. — Mina

“How are you going to find Roman and Julian?” I asked Eli. Was he planning on using his newly gained ability to feel them out? I didn’t think that would work all that well. He didn’t know how to use it to his advantage the way Julian did.

“I’m not sure.”

“Maybe I should text Julian,” I suggested.

“That’s probably a good place to start. Why didn’t I think of it?” A smirk twisted his lips, but I could tell it was forced.

“You sure you’re okay with me going to Ridley’s? I can always swing by there later.”

He shook his head. His index finger and thumb pinched at the bridge of his nose. “No, you should be there. I’m fine. Or at least I will be once I get out of this crowd. Text Julian, please.”

“All right.”

Where are you? — Mina

“Let’s get out of here,” Eli said. “Head to the parking lot. It’s hard to think in the midst of all these people.”

“Yeah, sure.” I walked beside Eli as we headed that way.

My cell chimed.

I tracked him to Love Street. Wasn’t able to capture him though. He tricked me.

Love Street? That was almost on the other side of town. There was no way Eli or I would have been able to keep up with him. Not in human form.

“He’s on Love Street,” I told Eli.

“Damn, they made it far in no time at all.”

I nodded and shifted my attention back to my phone to send Julian another text.

Ridley just sent a text. She said Benji is awake. — Mina

I knew he would be soon.

Where do you think your brother went from Love Street? — Mina

No telling. He won’t go back to the game. Not after he was spotted there. That much I know.

“Julian says he doesn’t think Roman will come back here,” I said, relaying the text to Eli.

“I don’t think he would either. He’d either return to his hiding place, or try to grab someone from somewhere else.”

A new text came through from Julian.

What does Eli want to do?

“He wants to know what you want to do next,” I said to Eli.

He sighed. His hands moved to cup his head, and he spun around searching the area as though he were out of ideas.

“All I can think to do is keep someone here, a group maybe, just in case, and send another group to search around Love Street for him.”

“That’s probably a good idea. Are you staying here?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah. I’ll call Dorian and tell his group to move to Love Street. Then I’ll tell Tate to head my way with his, and we’ll make sure Roman doesn’t come back.”

“You sure you’re going to be able to handle being around all these people?”

“When I’m here in the parking lot, I’m okay.”

“All right, just checking,” I said.

“Julian should go with you to see Benji,” Eli suggested. “I’m sure he’ll be looking for answers to what he is and what happened.”

Crap. I hadn’t thought of that.

I shot Julian a text.

Care to head over to visit Benji with me? — Mina

Eli okay with that?

It was his idea. — Mina

What’s he doing about Roman?

Continuing the search. — Mina

Okay. Yeah, I’ll come with you. Benji will be confused. He may also be aggressive.

I didn’t want to think about an aggressive Benji. He was too sweet of a guy. However, I knew waking as a vampire might make another version of him shine through.

Meet me in the parking lot of the high school. — Mina

I tucked my phone away and glanced at Eli. He stood with his arms folded across his solid chest. His eyes darted from person to person as he continued to search for Roman.

“Julian is coming with me. He’s meeting me here in the parking lot.”

“I think that’s probably for the best,” Eli said. His gaze softened as his eyes locked with mine. “Look, I know Benji is your friend, but please be careful around him. He’s new to the vampire thing and might not be able to control himself.”

I stepped closer and placed a kiss to his lips. “I will be. Promise. You be careful too. If you find Roman, text me.”

“I will.” Eli grabbed my waist and pulled me flush against his body. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” I said just before Julian appeared at our side.

“Ready?” he asked, oblivious to the moment Eli and I had been sharing.

I nodded. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. An empty feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Eli behind when he seemed to be having such difficulty being in a crowd of this size. However, the feeling was also because I had no idea if Benji would be the same person now that he was a vampire.

Would he be out of control and consumed by bloodlust? Would he remember who everyone was? Would he be pissed because of what happened? What would he say to Ridley when he found out she’d been the one to give the go-ahead? Would he try to hurt her for what she’d agreed to?

God, I hoped not.

As I walked with Julian to his car, my insides quivered with more what-ifs surrounding Benji. I prayed he would still be the same guy I’d always known.

For Ridley’s sake.