“Where’s Drew?”
Minty paled visibly. “He- he—”
“He what?”
“He went to take a leak right after you left.”
Minty was afraid Drew might be in danger. After learning that Drew had disappeared into the woods shortly after I had, I was even more afraid that Drew might be the danger.
“Minty, we’ve got to get out of here.”
“I can’t leave—”
“Minty, there’s nothing we can do for him now. We’ll never find him in the dark.”
I saw the indecision on Minty’s face as he warred between self preservation and loyalty to his friend.
“Minty, he wouldn’t want you to die looking for him.”
I hated to be the one encouraging someone else to leave a friend behind, but Minty had no idea what Drew might have become, what he could be capable of.
And unfortunately, he would never know that I wasn’t intentionally sacrificing Drew’s life for his, that I wasn’t a coward. He would just have to think poorly of me. It was the only way.
Finally, after a few more seconds of hesitation, Minty nodded and we quickly hurried after the crowd.
As we walked, neither of us said a word. We were both lost in thought, though I doubted the same thoughts. He was feeling guilty for leaving his friend, yet afraid for his own safety. I was wondering how in the world I could’ve missed that Drew was a vampire.
CHAPTER FIVE
It took some fancy talking to get Minty to forego taking me to the hospital himself. I knew he felt indebted to me, like I’d saved his life and he needed to return the favor. But I finally got him to see that I would get into huge trouble if I left my car abandoned by the side of the road.
Reluctantly, he dropped me off at my Civic. He wanted to follow me to the hospital, but I deterred him, telling him he needed to make sure that as many people as he could find got out of the woods without harm. I could tell by the determined look on his face that he would take that mission seriously. I almost expected him to salute me or say “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”
Once I was alone, I hopped in the car, jerked out my cell and started speed dialing. I tried Summer’s phone and got no answer. I tried Aisha’s phone and got no answer. Then I tried them both again. And again. And again.
When it became glaringly obvious that redial wasn’t going to magically make them pick up the phone, I started the car and headed home. On the way, more than ever, I wished that I had some way of reaching Bo. I had questions, concerns, doubts. I needed to feel that amazing buzz of his closeness, to let it drown out everything but Bo and the overwhelming feelings that I had for him.
I drove to the house, hoping that Mom and Dad would be asleep. And, much to my relief, they were. Dad would be tired from his flight and Mom would be fighting an addiction. Both led very fatiguing lives, but in two totally different ways.
********
The next morning I woke with my cell phone plastered to my face where I’d slept on it. I’d apparently fallen asleep between my every-ten-minute calls to Summer and Aisha. At least I’d gotten hold of Minty, though. He’d spoken to nearly everyone he’d seen at the party and they were all fine. Except Summer, Aisha and Drew of course. He’d asked if I’d gone to the hospital. I didn’t want to lie, so I told him that I’d come home and that my injury wasn’t as bad as we’d thought, certainly nothing worthy of a trip to the ER.
And that was the truth. As soon as I’d crept past my parents, I’d gone straight to my bathroom to assess the damage. My sweater was shredded, but my skin, though deeply scratched in four long gashes, wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. In fact, it looked to have already begun healing. It didn’t even bother my sleep (obviously, since I’d slept with a phone as my pillow).
Before I sat up in the bed, I sniffed. For the first time in weeks, I couldn’t smell Bo. I could only assume he hadn’t visited me, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. Since my unwanted female vampire visitor, I’d been keeping my window closed. Unfortunately, that barred Bo from entry as well, unless of course he wanted to break it, which he would only do if I was in imminent danger.
Unbidden, Lucius’s story popped into my head. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d found that mate that was somewhere out there, waiting to rescue him. With a growl in my throat and an ache in my chest, I pushed that thought aside and dialed Summer for the zillionth time.
Still no answer. Same with Aisha. I wasn’t going to call Drew, of course.
I’d be avoiding him like the plague in the future.
I was lying in bed, debating on how best to spend my day when my phone chirped. I nearly dropped it in my haste to answer. I didn’t even check the caller ID; I just hit the button and said hello.
“Ridley, the nicest, sweetest, prettiest girl in the whole school. How are you, my friend?”
It was Savannah on the other end of the line, laying it on thick. That could only mean one thing.
“Uh-oh. What are you getting ready to ask me to do?”
Her last idea had involved breaking into the marina, stealing a boat and launching a lantern out onto the water to honor her dead mother, a felony that never happened because we were accosted by vampires en route.
“Oh, come on. It’s nothing that bad.”
“That bad?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s bad at all.”
I sighed. “Alright, spill. What is it?”
“I want you to go with me to the Halloween dance tonight. Since we are both, like, almost widows, I think we should go together. I think it would be fun, and we both need to get out and do something carefree.”
I couldn’t argue that point. I needed some fun. And some “carefree.” I could barely remember what that felt like. Anymore, my life was consumed with an aching need and an ever-growing hole in my heart. And sprinkled between those two were spots of fear and depression, frustration and loneliness. My life had been no picnic since I’d met Bo. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t even think of giving him up.
As if on cue, my chest squeezed at the haunting prospect of losing him to someone he couldn’t deny, someone he’d be bound to in a way that he’d never be bound to me.
Like I’d done a hundred times already, I refused to let my mind travel that path. Instead, I did the unthinkable. I agreed to go with Savannah.