She wrapped a warm arm around my shoulder. “Do you have to leave today? Can’t you stay?”

“I’d love to, but the rules are pretty strict and god knows I’ve broken enough of them.”

Camilla took me by the wrist and dragged me from the room.

“Where are we going?”

“You’re not staying for long, so it’s a good idea for all of us to hang out together, and besides, I can’t perve on Eli all the way from up here.”

I scoffed. “You’re as bad as your mother.”

***

Wide smiles were plastered on Eli’s and Aunt Jen’s faces when Camilla and I walked into the kitchen, happy and chatting.

“I knew you two would make up,” Aunt Jen sang, dropping Feta cheese into the salad and putting it in the center of the table. Camilla grabbed plates from the cupboard and set them out on the small, circular table. I grabbed clean glasses and sat them beside the plates. I pulled the jug of cold water from the fridge and filled the cups up before dropping into my chair.

“So,” Camilla breathed, dropping into the chair. “How long have you two been sneaking around?”

The water I was drinking went down the wrong pipe and I ended up spluttering everywhere like an idiot. Camilla erupted into laughter and I looked at Aunt Jen, who stared at me wide-eyed. Awkward. I looked to Eli to save me, but he had a cocky smile on his face, clearly enjoying every second of my discomfort.

“You two are involved?” Aunt Jen asked, incredulously. “Isn’t that illegal in your world?”

When I finished my coughing fit, I opened my mouth to explain, but I just didn’t have the words. Eli put down his knife and leaned against the sink.

“What Ruby and I share is very…complicated. Our world is stuck in the dark ages. They believe that I’m not ‘pure’ enough to be with her.”

“They contradict themselves, a lot,” I cut in.

Eli nodded. “What she means is, although her title is guardian, they still treat her like a goddess.” Camilla looked at me quizzically and I shrugged. “I love her…and we will be together freely, eventually. But for now, I’m content with what we have.”

Aunt Jen and Camilla sighed, infatuated with Eli’s declaration. He smiled at me and a tell-tale blush sprang to my cheeks.

“Well,” Aunt Jen began, taking slices of cooked chicken off her grill. “You have our support, now let’s eat.”

As we ate, the clock struck twelve. Our time was running out and I hated it. I wanted to stay here forever. Eli sat across from me, and under the table he entwined his legs with mine. I was happy. Aunt Jen and Camilla seemed to really like him—even if they were a bunch of creeps. Lunch conversation was heavily filled with all the things I’d missed since being away, including Kyle—and Camilla’s brief dating period with Darren. I gritted my teeth.

“You can do better than Darren Jolter, Cam. He’s such a douche bag.”

“Yeah, well, Bridgewater isn’t exactly filled with Elis.” I rolled my eyes and Eli laughed. “You had to go to the middle of god knows where to find him. All I have are Bridgewater boys.”

“Come on,” Aunt Jen exhaled, seeming quite offended. “They aren’t that bad.”

Camilla took a sip of her water and placed it back on the table. “You’re only saying that because you’re dating the manager of the bar down the road.”

“What?” I searched my mind, trying to remember who managed the bar. If I recalled correctly, he’s a tall, scruffy looking man that always wears tight business clothes, never in a shade lighter than black. “Bob? Bruce? Barry?” Names rolled off my tongue as I tried to find one that suited the face.

“Bryant,” Aunt Jen interjected. “He’s a gentleman and he’s very interesting.”

Camilla rolled her eyes, exhaling dramatically. “In his spare times he’s a DJ and goes by the name DJ BryBry.”

Laughter explodes from around the table and Aunt Jen looked anything but pleased.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. So he has a few childish hobbies, who cares? He’s handsome and he’s fun.”

“Aw, it’s okay, Aunt Jen. I’m just glad you no longer have to go see a movie with that creepy guy just to get blood for me.”

“Yep,” she agreed, smiling widely. “Life is good.”

After lunch, we sat around the lounge room talking. Well, Aunt Jen and Camilla were talking, sharing all of the embarrassing stories of me as a child with Eli, before my mother died. I loved it. I was having the time of my life and when the clock struck three, Eli rose to his feet, thanking them for their hospitality.

“We’re late and it’s going to take another four hours before we get back to Sage.” Eli pulled his phone from his pocket and I glanced at the screen. He had so many missed calls from Mr. Aleksandrov. I grew worried. Eli was going to be in a lot of trouble for this.

“It was a pleasure to meet you,” Aunt Jen said, pulling Eli into a hug. She winked at me and I rolled my eyes. “Hopefully, we get to meet again in the future.”

“I hope so.”

Camilla and Eli hugged briefly and he stepped out of the house, giving me a few moments alone with my family—my only family. Tears suddenly rolled down Camilla’s cheeks, causing her mascara to run.

“Don’t cry!” I sobbed as few of my own hot tears burned down my face.

“I’m going to miss you…”

“And I’m going to miss you, but you gave me your number and I promise I’ll call you regularly.” She nodded and Aunt Jen stepped in front of me, pulling me tightly into her. She planted kisses on the top of my head.

“We love you, Rubes. We never stopped.” She pushed me away, but kept ahold of my face. “You’re welcome back here anytime. We’ll always have room for you…and him, if he’s ever in town.” She gave me a tight smile and giggles erupted from my throat. I turned from them and exited the house. In the driveway, I saw Camilla’s pink Barina and I cringed inwardly. Those were the days…I couldn’t say I missed that. Eli leaned against the passenger side of the car on the phone. His brows pulled together as he listened to whoever was talking—Mr. Aleksandrov, probably. He hung up and watched me intently, clearly upset with something. I turned around and Aunt Jen and Camilla were holding each other, crying like babies.

“I love you guys.”

“We love you, too.”

I walked away from them toward the car. My feet felt heavy—like I had bricks in my shoes. I didn’t want to go. Eli opened the door for me and I turned around one last time. Hot tears dropped onto my cheeks and I waved goodbye climbing into the car. Eli beeped a few times and then sped off down the road.

“Is everything okay?” I asked when I was absolutely certain he was pissed off.

He scratched his brow. “I’m not sure. I’m trying to make sense of it.”

“Sense of what?”

He sighed, squeezing the steering wheel with both hands. His knuckles went white before he flexed his fingers, allowing the blood through. “Apparently, there’s a problem with the serum.”

My stomach dropped. “What is it? Is Hunter okay?”

I waited as Eli worked his lip between his teeth. His frustration relaxed me. Hunter couldn’t be dead. If he was, Eli would no doubt be a little happier than he was now.

“As you know, Hunter is pretty much back to his old self and they’re thinking of releasing him this weekend…” I nodded. “Well, today, he’s been showing signs of…separation anxiety.”

My brows furrowed. “And?”

“He refuses to tell anyone anything about it, but they believe he’s sired to you.”

I relaxed in my seat. “What? That’s ridiculous. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Think about it. When someone is turned into a vampire, the vampire forces venom into their bloodstream. With Hunter, your blood—mixed with whatever else, was forced into his body, so it’s very possible.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. It just didn’t sound believable to me. How could he be sired to me? I didn’t create him, I just bought him back.

“How am I not sired to Mila, then? She used her blood to bring me back.”

He exhaled, running his hand over his face once. “I don’t know. They’re looking into it. If I had to guess, I’d say you were only half a vampire. Hunter was a full vampire and it wasn’t just goddess blood that went into him, it was Heelian blood, too.”

I was trying to think of something—anything that made sense, but it all seemed so complicated.

“Hey,” Eli caressed my thigh through my jeans. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

***

We drove for hours. We didn’t speak about the Hunter-sire thing and we wouldn’t again until we had more to go off. We were deep into the forest now, with only an hour left to go until we reached Sage’s gates. Daylight was gone. The sun had just disappeared under the horizon, leaving an inky mess of dark navy blue and pink. My attention flicked from the sky to the flashing indicator light in front of Eli as he pulled over to the side of the road.

“What are you doing?” I asked, suddenly nervous about being out at night.

“I want to kiss you before we get to Sage,” he said, putting the car in park and pulling up the handbrake. There’s no doubt we’ll be ushered to Mr. Aleksandrov’s house to explain our absence as soon as we arrive.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread so effortlessly across my face. I leaned toward him, placing my hand on his cheek. His skin was warm and smooth under my hand.

“Maybe I should be the one kissing you. You did an amazing thing for me today.”

I moved my thumb up and down slowly as his deep, green eyes pierced my soul. I unclipped my seat belt and pressed my lips to his. Almost immediately Eli pulled away, unclipped his seat belt, and flicked a switch beside his seat so it slid backwards. He grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me onto him. It was so unexpected that I gasped loudly. Thank god the car was spacious, otherwise I would’ve gotten stuck somewhere between my seat and his. I straddled him as his lips travelled along the outline of my jaw to my ear and then down my neck. Goosebumps erupted as my senses reeled out of control and the windows began to fog up from our labored breathing.

“I’ve always tried to be careful with you, but that’s not what I want right now.”

My breath caught in my throat as he spoke against my burning skin. “What do you want?”

A cheeky smile tugged at his lips and lust tore through me, exposing every nerve in my body.“I want to show you just how damn irresistible you are to me.” He kissed my bottom lip, softly.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re stalling our return to Sage.”

He laughed once. “Maybe. I hate not being able to have you whenever I want. It frustrates me.”

Today, Eli had been so playful—less reserved. I don’t think I’d ever seen him so careless about rules and I was going to take advantage of it. I was usually the one eager to break the rules. Now it was Eli. Oh, how times had changed.

“You have me now…” I said, running my hands through his dark hair and bringing my mouth closer to his. “We’re alone.”

His eyes were smoldering at me with a darker intensity than I had ever seen before. They locked onto my lips for a second before I pressed them against his. He didn’t respond at first and I knew it was because he was thinking—he was always thinking. He’d already come as far to tell me he wanted me, why stop now? I bit down on his bottom lip, causing him to gasp, and then I ran my tongue over it. A tight groan released itself from Eli’s throat and it was obvious that this was exactly what he wanted. Our tongues intertwined in a dance as his hands trailed impatiently up my slim hips and then past my narrow waist before resting on the buttons of my shirt. Becoming quickly annoyed with them, he tore my shirt open, sending buttons everywhere and exposing my yellow, lacy bra. I pulled away from him and scowled at the wide, cocky smile plastered on his face.

“What? I said I was frustrated.”

“I know, but you just ruined my—” His warm hands went into my shirt and wrapped around my waist, pulling me tightly against him and cutting my words off with a hard kiss. His hands traveled up the back of my neck and into the base of my hair. He tugged it hard and I gasped as a new wave of sensation flooded me. Sex with Eli had been great—better than great. It’d always been loving and tender, but this time…this time I could tell it was going to reflect our more animalistic nature and I was excited in more ways than one. Eli bit me. Nipped at me. His hands moved quickly, roaming everywhere, squeezing and pinching. The whole time we sighed each other’s names and swore under our breaths. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to be intimate, and after a while you kind of run out of creative ways to get comfortable, but it was an experience I’d never forget. It was unforgettable, just like he said our trip would be.

Locating clothing was difficult and it took a while, but we managed…eventually. I slid back into my seat as he adjusted his. I slipped my coat on and used the big, black buttons to seal it shut. The shirt I was wearing was ruined and because of Eli, it had no buttons… not the worst way to destroy a shirt, I suppose. The warm back of Eli’s hand caressed my cheek and I leaned into it.

“Are you ready?”

“Sure, it’s been a while since I’ve been chastised for breaking rules. I’m kind of looking forward to it.”