“Ruby?”

In a flash I was on my feet and crouched low, ready to fight. In front of me, Aunt Jen dropped her small bouquet of tulips and they landed on the freshly mown grass. I turned my sights to Camilla, whose pretty eyes stared at me like I was some kind of wild animal ready to attack her. In my chest, my heart hammered against my ribcage like a jack hammer on concrete and I felt sick. I felt like vomiting over every square inch of grass in this cemetery. After all these years, they looked exactly as I remembered. Camilla’s strawberry-blonde hair was tied up into a messy bun and she wrapped her arms around her waist, clearly uncomfortable with this whole thing. Aunt Jen flicked her short, caramel brown hair over her shoulder and her big brown eyes surveyed me in disbelief. I wanted to run from them, not because I didn’t want to see them, but because I was afraid they’d reject me.

“Ruby… you’re… you?”

Tears welled in Aunt Jen’s eyes and I straightened my stance. We stared at each other for a few long, painful seconds then I opened my mouth to speak.

“I’m so—”

Camilla turned on her heel and stormed off, cutting my apology in half. Her blue, summery dress flailed out behind her and I watched until she disappeared behind a lining of trees by the parking lot. Aunt Jen cheerfully sobbed, letting a few tears fall onto her cheeks. She lurched toward me and pulled me into a tight hug. I inhaled deeply, fighting against my own flood of tears. I remembered the last time I hugged her. All I could smell was her blood and all I could feel was the overwhelming urge to taste it. Now, all I could smell was her frangipani perfume. I squeezed my eyes shut, happy that I’d never have to feel like that again.

“You’re so… alive. How is it possible?”

I pulled away from her. “The night of my birthday, I was taken back to Sage Sanctum and they brought me back…”

“You’ve been there ever since?”

I shrugged. “It’s kind of a long story.” And she had no idea.

“I have today and tomorrow off. How long are you in town for? Come over for lunch and see if you want to stay the night. You room is exactly—”

“I’m not in town for long,” I interrupted, fiddling with my fingers. “A few hours, tops.”

I wanted to end this encounter quickly and I hated myself for thinking that way. Aunt Jen’s gaze flicked over my shoulder.

“She’d love to,” a familiar deep voice said.

I turned to face Eli. He stood a few yards behind me, arms crossed over his chest. Thank god he wasn’t wearing his uniform. That’d freak Jen out regardless of how nicely it clung to his arms and chest or how deliciously sex—

“Ruby?”

I glanced back at Aunt Jen, embarrassed that I’d missed what she said. “Hm?”

“Who is that?”

Her ‘holy crap’ kind of tone made me smile. I couldn’t imagine any human to be immune to Eli’s godly good looks. “Oh, that’s—”

“Eli De Luca,” he said, interrupting me and stepping forward to shake my aunt’s hand. “I’m a friend of Ruby’s.”

I smiled politely at them both, knowing very well that Eli and I are a hell of a lot more than friends.

“Eli, this is Aunt Jen.”

Eli flashed her one of his swoon-worthy smiles that exposed all of his white teeth. I’m surprised she’s still standing after that, even my knees felt a little weak.

“So, you two can come to lunch?”

“No.”

“Yes,” he answered over the top of me. “We’re due back at two, but I’m sure it won’t hurt to be a little late.”

I glowered at him and he returned my glower with a smile, which made me even more frustrated. He knew how I felt about keeping my loved ones safe and this was not keeping them safe.

“It’s settled, then,” she said, bending over to pick up her flowers.“I’ll pay my respects and then meet you in the car park. You can follow me to Bridgewater.”

Bridgewater was forty minutes from Lake Thanton, a distance I now found inconvenient. Eli and I walked away from Aunt Jen and my mother’s grave, and made our way back toward the parking lot. Before we got there (and we were well hidden behind a huge oak tree) I punched Eli in the arm. Hard. He barely flinched.

“What?” he asked, still smiling at me.

“Why did you do that?” I demanded, my voice low and deep.

“She’s your family. I feel like you should spend some quality time and let her know what happened to you two years ago so she doesn’t blame herself.”

“We’re putting them in danger.”

Eli leaned against the tree, his green eyes dancing in amusement. “Danger from what? Hank is gone. Lucian is gone. No one else is after you. They’re safe.”

He was right—as usual—but I wasn’t so sure. I ran my fingers through my hair, clearing out some of the knots that had formed.

“What are you really scared of?” he asked.

I glanced up at him and he folded his arms across his chest. “Nothing.”

His green eyes narrowed, forcing me to sigh in defeat.

“I don’t deserve them. I left them.”

“Ruby, it wasn’t—”

“Ask me how many times I’ve called them since being revived. Ask me how many times I’ve visited or even asked about them.”

He kept his eyes locked onto mine as he flexed his long, tanned fingers against his arm muscles, saying nothing.

“None, that’s how many. I’m selfish and I’m not worthy of their love.”

“You’re worthy of plenty of love. So you got caught up in life—a very complicated and hectic life—big deal. They’re your family. They’re not going to hold it against you.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t see Camilla’s face. She hates me. We were best friends and I treated her like she meant nothing to me. She’ll hate me even more when I tell her that I have another best friend at Sage.”

He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Camilla will come around. I’m sure she’d rather spend this short time with you rather than avoid you. Trust me, I know.”

“You really think so?”

He nodded and pulled me into him. The side of my face pressed firmly against his hard chest. He smelt so good, like ocean and a fresh spring forest rolled up into one. The dread of not being accepted back into Aunt Jen and Camilla’s life lessened and it was all because of what Eli said. He always could make me feel content, no matter the situation. If it wasn’t for him, god knows where I’d be right now.

Chapter Two

Eli was wrong.

The sound of a slamming door echoed through the house. Camilla was still pissed.

“She’ll come around.” Aunt Jen smiled, placing her handbag on the kitchen counter. She ran around the kitchen, pulling out ingredients for salads, pasta and who knows what else.

“So, tell me how you two came to know each other.”

What the hell was I meant to tell her? ‘Eli kidnapped me from my bedroom on my birthday, but don’t worry—if he hadn’t come, I would’ve been staked by Darren or torn apart by another vampire.’

“We met at Sage,” Eli said, looking sideways at me and sensing my unease. “Ruby was enrolled there and I was her guardian angel.”

Aunt Jen stopped cutting the spring onions and stared at him. “I knew it! I knew you weren’t human… I mean, you sure don’t look human.”

I arched an eyebrow at her as Aunt Jen flushed and flicked her caramel hair over her shoulder, clearing her throat.

“I’m not saying you look like an alien or weird or anything—you’re handsome, much more handsome than most human men with your flawless skin and hard—”

“Okay, Aunt Jen,” I interrupted, saving her from her own embarrassment. Eli smiled politely as he watched Aunt Jen lose her mind over him.

She clasped her hand over her lips and laughed through the baps between her slender fingers. I’d never seen Aunt Jen so overwhelmed. A pink flush flared through her cheeks as she giggled like a school girl.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “I don’t mean to objectify you.”

“It’s all right.” Eli chuckled, pulling a knife out of the block to help Aunt Jen cut vegetables.

“So, are you two bonded? Is that what they call it? Forgive me. I only know what Meredith told me. Things might have changed since then.”

“Things are still the same, but Ruby and I aren’t bonded anymore.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

I shifted nervously in my seat. I didn’t want Aunt Jen to know of the horrible things that I’ve done. I knew she wouldn’t find killing vampires a horrible thing, but I still didn’t want her to know that side of me. She knew me as the gullible, scared little girl who couldn’t stand up for herself. Not the goddess/heelian that has killed countless vampires—my stepdad included.

“Long story short, she wasn’t being targeted specifically after Hank was killed, so they ended our bond.”

I thanked him with a nod of my head for leaving out the parts about our romance. I don’t think I could stomach a butt-load of questions about that on top of everything else. Thankfully, Aunt Jen didn’t ask any questions about Hank or his death and I was glad. I’d be happy to never speak his name ever again.

I watched as Eli and Aunt Jen bonded over cooking. I felt normal for a change, like I was bringing a boyfriend home to meet my parents for the first time, but something was missing. I couldn’t sit here and enjoy myself without Camilla. Knowing she was upstairs purposely avoiding me hurts and I felt bad because this is exactly how she must have felt when I hung up that morning in the cell.

I left the kitchen and headed to Camilla’s room. My nerves ate at me and I played all of the things she’d probably do to me over and over in my mind—slam the door in my face, punch me, or swear at me. None was better than the other, they all sucked. Despite my apprehension, I knocked softly on her door, but there was no answer. I opened it slowly and stepped inside. Camilla lay on her bed with her back to me.

“Cam?”

“Go away, Ruby.” Her voice was soft, yet demanding.

“I want to talk to you.”

“I have nothing to say.”

I closed the door behind me and approached the pink double bed she laid on anyway.

“Look, I know I hurt you. I shouldn’t have hung up on you when you called me years ago and I should have made the effort to get into contact with you, but I couldn’t. I was in a really bad place, Cam. I had so many people after me—dangerous, evil people that would use anything against me. I was afraid that if I contacted anyone I knew, they’d be taken from me.”

“That doesn’t make you any less selfish.”

Frustration pricked at me and I folded my arms tightly across my chest. “You don’t know the whole story.”

I’d been through too much and sacrificed enough to know that I wasn’t selfish. She’d understand if she went through even half of the stuff I went through.

“What story can change the fact that you ditched us after everything we did for you?”

I stormed around her large and surprisingly clean room to face her. Her violet eyes narrowed in on me.

“You talk as if I chose to leave you. I was taken, remember?”

She exhaled in annoyance and closed her eyes.

“Do you think I’ve been off having the time of my life? I’ve been stuck in a school in the middle of nowhere with people that don’t even like me. I’ve been fighting vampires that want my blood and I’ve been in love with a guardian angel, which—as you obviously don’t know—is illegal in my world. I’ve done horrible things—I’ve killed vampires and people have died because of me…life was—is—hectic, but at the end of the day, when I’m alone and the craziness dies down…I always think of you and Aunt Jen. Life hasn’t been a walk in the park for me. Every day I live is a day that I had to fight for. I haven’t been having fun, Camilla. I’ve been trying to stay alive.”

Her face showed no emotion and her eyes remained closed.

I exhaled. “I’m sorry. What more can I say?”Silence.

I walked to the door and as my hand reached out for the cool handle, she spoke.

“Is he the guardian angel you’ve been with?”

I turned to face her and cringed. I really didn’t mean to say that to her. “Yeah…”

Camilla rolled off the bed and launched herself at me. I stumbled backwards as I took on her weight.

“Wow. Way to go, you whore!”

I smiled at her. Camilla has never been one for emotional conversations, so I guess this was her way of saying she forgave me.

“So we’re okay?” I asked. Just to be safe.

“We are far from okay, but this is a start. I missed you!” She pulled me into her and I almost cried. I missed Camilla so much.

She let me go and sat on her bed, patting the empty space beside her. “Tell me about being away from this crappy town. I don’t want to hear about the creepy vampires and death, just the good stuff.”

I told her about my elemental magic and what I could do. I told her about my other best friend, Mila, and to my surprise, she barely batted an eyelid. Hunter, Mr. Aleksandrov, Xavier, and everyone else had their part in my story, too.

“Will I ever get to meet them?” she asked when I finished telling her.

“I doubt it. They stay at Sage full time, but who knows. Maybe fate will throw us a curveball and we all will come together.”