“Leave Eli inside the realm?” I ask.
“Until you kill Arcos.” Athios glances up. “I must go. ’Tisna safe. For any of us.” He kisses me again, briefly, and nods. “Until—” he says.
The light snuffs out, and we’re alone once more.
“Why does everyone love you so much, Riley?” Rhine asks in the shadows. “Have you bewitched every male around you?”
“Nah,” I answer, and I’m searching for the way out. “It’s the ink.”
Noah chuckles. “This way, Poe,” he says.
We find our way out of the darkened complex and run the streets until dawn. Now that I know Carrine, originally controlled by Valerian Arcos, has been pulling away from his control. Causing the disturbances in the city without his command.
And Eli is trapped in the middle.
All because of some insane obsession Valerian Arcos has with me? Rather, my blood. That’s the trigger. Not me, Riley, the person. Arcos doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know that I love The Goonies, can quote most of Young Guns, and like to bake. He doesn’t know me at all. It’s all warped and twisted around my dumb-ass blood. He’s always wanted it, even while entombed in Savannah, before he and Vic were set free. And now that my DNA has Strigoi and Black Fallen traits, he’s insane with wanting it. He’ll never get it.
Some of the other Ness boys had called it quits earlier. Jobs. Real life. I’m pretty impressed they’re all juggling it so well. So organized, for such a young group of humans. Males at that. The rest of us, Rhine included, encountered a few stray rogues Carrine had set upon us earlier. Two more innocents had died while we fucked around in that complex. We ran until we flushed them out. One male, one female. Rhine shocks me with his speed and accuracy with the silver. The Inverness police were already busy at the scenes, and by the time they find the vampiric remains, they see it as nothing more than little piles of ash. It’s all over the news, and even in the café we stop in to grab coffee, it’s the talk of the shop. Serial killer running amok in Inverness.
People are scared. I can smell their fear.
“You look tired, Ri,” my brother says as we walk up the sidewalk. He drapes an arm over my shoulder. The people of Inverness are hustling about, going to work, school, getting on with their lives.
“Yeah, I’m feeling it,” I answer, and meet Seth’s worried gaze. “How you holding up, bro?”
Seth ducks his head. “Holdin’. Riggs told me to tell you he misses you,” he says with a grin. “Zetty, too. And of course Preacher and Estelle, and Nyx.” He scratches his head. “And all of the Duprés, I guess.” He chuckles. “Pretty much everyone.”
With a sigh, I lay my head on my brother’s shoulder. “I miss them all, too.” Sliding an arm around his waist, I squeeze. “I’ve missed you most, though.”
Seth kisses the top of my head. “I’ve missed you, too, sis. All this will be over soon. It’ll be right again. I know it.”
“Gosh, you two are just so darn sweet,” Noah says from behind us.
Rhine chuckles.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck bristles. My gaze lifts, away from the sidewalk I’m walking on, and it cuts across the street.
Nothing.
But everything inside me screams Eli. He’s watching me, curious.
Back at the Crachan, I shower, change, and in thirty minutes meet the others downstairs. I’m starting to wind down, feel weary, but I want to go with Seth, Noah, and Rhine to pick up Eli’s brothers at the airport. I’ve missed them. And, I confess, there’s some comfort in having Luc and Phin close. Almost like having a piece of Eli with me.
We take two Rovers, and I ride with Rhine. Although the sun is hidden, the gray-white of daylight is bright. He wears a dark pair of shades as he weaves through the streets to Inverness’s airport. Noah and Seth follow behind us in the other Rover.
“I can go wi’ you, ya know,” Rhine says. “Inside the realm.” His gaze is straight ahead, on the road, but I can tell by the clenching of his jaw that he’s worried.
“It’s too dangerous,” I tell him. “You’re strong, and fast as hell with the silver.” I cover his hand with mine. “But no way could you keep up in there. I’d constantly be worried about what you were doing instead of concentrating on what I had to do.”
An amused grin lifts one side of his mouth. “You worry about me, Poe?”
I punch his arm. “Hell yeah, I worry.”
I can’t see his eyes behind the shades, but his mouth gives it all away. He full-out grins. “That makes me sor’ o’ feel like a baby. Havin’ a lass worry o’er me so much.”
Rhine’s accent is heavy, and at times I have to concentrate on what he’s saying to get the meaning. “Get used to it,” I say. “It’s what I do. Ask anyone who knows me.”
Rhine hits the volume to the radio, and a tune filters through the speakers of the Rover. His gravelly, unique voice overtakes the artist’s, and he claims the song. I listen, amazed, and when he pulls into a parking spot and shoves the Rover into park, I smile at him. “I think I could listen to you sing for hours,” I admit. “You’ve got to send me some music when I leave.”
Rhine takes off his shades, and green eyes study me. “I’m gonna hate tae see you go.”
I shake my head. “You probably say that to all your band groupies.”
Opening the door, he steps out. “Only tae you.”
Noah and Seth join us, and together the four of us hurry into the small airport to await Phin and Luc’s flight. It’s on time, thankfully, and just hit the tarmac. I stand, staring out of the huge Plexiglas overlooking the runway, and watch other planes land and take off. Memories assault me, and I can’t help tracing time back to the day I first met the Dupré family. The first time I understood that vampires existed. Luc and Phin were both so eager to show off their skills. I remember how they leaped like frogs on crack across Gilles’s parlor. Scared the holy shit out of me back then. Cracks me up to think about it now. Seems like I’ve known them all for years. Eli? Forever.
“Hey, come on outta there,” Noah says by my side. “Before you start bawling all over the airport.” He drops his arm over my shoulders and gives me a shake. “Look at Luc and Phin. They’re tripping over each other to get to you first.”
My memory of Eli and our first official introduction simmers inside me as I focus on the present, and Eli’s two younger brothers pushing past each other and the passengers filing out. Each has a duffel swung over his shoulder. Phin’s dark blond buzz cut and black shades stand in contrast with his perfect pale skin. Luc, whose hair is longer, brushing the collar of his black leather jacket, has a wide white smile. Both are making a beeline straight to me. When they reach me, they drop their duffels in unison. Phin reaches me first, throws his arms around my waist, and picks me off the floor. I fall into his embrace and squeeze.
“Jesus Christ, Poe,” he mutters against my neck. “I’ve missed the holy hell outta you!”
A wash of emotion hits me, and I breathe in his familiar scent. “I’ve missed you, too.”
In the next instant, I’m pulled directly out of Phin’s arms and am now enveloped into Luc’s strong embrace. “Sis,” he says against my hair. He’s a little quieter than the rowdy Phin, and his French accent is a little stronger. Every feeling he has rushes through me, too. He pulls back and kisses me on the cheek. The trademark Dupré cerulean blue eyes stare down at me, so much like Eli’s it almost hurts to see them. “It’s not been the same without you guys around.”