His smirk falls to a mock glare. “Come on, have some faith in me!”

  “Don’t eat the neighbor.”

  “The neighbor is like ninety and shriveled up and probably has old blood.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “And you know what the neighbor looks like because?”

  River stares at me with wide eyes. “I… like… watching blood bags—people… walk around outside as my mouth waters.”

  I’m quite terrified of this fact. “Oh my god, you’re going to eat someone!”

  He starts laughing. “I’m joking! I was just testing my ears out. I could hear something and saw him taking out the trash. I won’t leave the house.”

  “Okay,” I say before giving him a squeeze. “I can’t lose you.”

  He gives me another kiss before I head back to get a shower and get ready to go. Once I’m dressed and positive he’s not gnawing on the cat, I head out. When I reach the meeting location, I immediately hunt for Marcus and Alexei, so I’m at least with people I know.

  “This needs to end,” Marcus growls as he anxiously begins pacing. He’s rightfully concerned about leaving Finn alone when that monster is still after him. But the monster has been quiet for a bit, so I understand him doing so.

  “Calm down, I’m sure Finn will be fine. It’s honestly a surprise anyone would even want that annoying thing,” Alexei says, trying to lighten the mood.

  Marcus grumbles at Alexei, but it at least distracts him momentarily. I can imagine the stress he’s going through with Finn at the moment. He hasn’t let him out of his sight in weeks as far as I’m aware.

  “Claude is watching him, right?” I ask.

  “Yes. Claude,” Marcus growls and Alexei’s face scrunches up.

  I happen to find Marcus’s brother Claude rather nice but these two have anger management issues and Claude’s happiness seems to ruin their lives.

  “Church,” Wren says which just adds to Marcus’s bad day. I forgot that he’d be here, since it’s a requirement for all the vampire units in the state. Foster and Grant are trailing behind him but before Marcus can take his bad day out on anyone, the chief of police, Bowman, takes the stage and begins talking. Could Bowman have more of a hand in this than I ever imagined? Could he be Corbyn?

  All I know is that tomorrow, River and I are going to talk about this, and I hope he trusts me enough to tell me the truth.

  RIVER

  I’d assumed Bentley would have been back by now. I anxiously look at my phone, hoping for some reply. I know Corbyn said he’d be patient with me, but he’s clearly getting tired of my excuses. I guess “recovering from a brain tumor operation” wasn’t enough for him.

  I hear a noise outside the door and slowly walk toward it. Is Bentley home?

  He has blankets over all of the windows so the sunlight can’t leak in, but now that it’s night, I can push it to the side. The driveway is empty, so it must not be him. Maybe it was just a dog or a cat or something because I can’t hear them anymore.

  Suddenly, the front door slams inward and Corbyn smiles at me. “I wondered where you’d gone but of course you’d be here with your new detective. And that’s when I realized just why my sweet little prodigy is avoiding me.”

  I stare at him, unsure of what to do. Now that I’m a vampire, I’m stronger, but can I protect myself? And at what cost? He swears he’ll have someone kill my family if I don’t listen to him, so it’s probably best to just let him do as he wants.

  He grabs me by the throat and slams me against the wall. “Did you think you could just stop listening to me?”

  “I told you about the surgery. And you’ve been watching what I was doing. Like you were there the night I had White—”

  He gives me a fang-filled grin. “Oh, but you didn’t tell me about this. I see the detective turned you. When were you going to mention that?”

  “He didn’t! It wasn’t him,” I say, anxious that he could now hold this over our heads.

  He yanks my head back as he leans over me. “Don’t lie to me.” He grabs my throat and digs his fingers into my neck, nails sinking into my skin as fear rises inside of me. I was an idiot to think I could avoid him, to think I could stop doing what he asked of me.

  I shove him back and he swipes my abdomen with his free hand, making pain spike inside me. Quickly pushing the front door open, I rush outside and start running toward the backyard, hoping to get away from him. My legs are moving faster than they’ve ever moved, but it’s nothing compared to him as he slams into me and drives me to the ground. He grabs my neck as I kick and fight against him.

  “Stop fighting or I’ll kill that sweet detective the moment he steps into his fucking driveway.”

  I force the fight in me down as I stop what I’m doing and look up at him. “Please! This is your fight! Let me go.”

  “This is not just my fight. This is your fight too, is it not? Do you want others to go through this?” Corbyn asks.

  I don’t, I really don’t, but I know there are better ways to do this. Ways that will help them faster. If he’d just help me or go to the police it could end. “No! But the way you’re doing it is all fucked up and wrong! Why can’t you just help me?” My stomach is aching as it slowly heals, but I can feel my shirt wet with blood.

  “Because I wanted to watch their fucking faces as a human tore them apart, but you couldn’t even do that right!” he growls as he hits me.

  His weight keeps me pinned down as I watch him close his eyes and take a deep breath. It’s like he’s trying to think about something, and all the while I’m left wondering what I should do to keep from him killing me or someone I love or care about.

  His eyes open and they instantly drop down to mine as he leans over and grabs my face in his hand. “Alright, I see you love making things difficult for me, but this will be fine. I’m going to give you a list of people you’re going to kill. And if you don’t kill them, I’m going to kill your brother, and then your father, and then your mother. I’ll probably even kill that cute little dog of yours too. And then I might as well kill that stupid detective you’ve become so smitten with. Really, maybe I should just kill him now. You were listening so well until he popped up on scene. Is he the issue?”

  I try to shake my head, but his grip prohibits it. “No. I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt him. I promise I’ll listen.”

  “And you haven’t told him who I am, right?”

  “No! I swear. He doesn’t know.”

  “Because he’s awfully suspicious as he wanders around, and we can’t have him sniffing too hard now, can we? And if you do tell him, that’s the end of everyone you love.”

  “No. I’ll listen.”

  “I will be in contact with what I want you to do next. Okay?”

  I nod. “Yes.”

  “That’s my good boy. Now don’t piss me off again or you know what happens,” he says before leaving. I roll up onto my side in the backyard of Bentley’s house. My stomach aches where he cut me open, but I’m still healing. I stagger toward the house as I realize how unbelievably hungry I am. When I look down, I see all the blood soaking into my pants and shirt and my desire for blood spikes.

  I just need to get into the house and chug whatever blood is in the fridge.

  “Hey, there!”

  My head snaps around as my eyes fixate on the neighbor taking his trash out. He looks a bit confused by my fixation but shrugs and drops his trash in. Blood… so much fresh blood running through his veins.

  I move toward him, unable to tear my eyes away as he closes the lid and continues up toward the house, not understanding what’s happening. My nails bite into my palms as I take a step in his direction.

  And then I begin to run toward him.

  No! I can’t kill him. I can’t kill the neighbor. If I bit him, would I stop? I sidestep to the right and slam into a tree. Desperately, I grab onto it, aching to keep it between us as a way to keep myself from looking at him. I couldn’t live with myself if I killed him.

  Oh, but the blood. I need the blood more than I’ve needed anything in my life.

  That’s when I see someone walking toward me.

  BENTLEY

  I can’t believe the vampire attacked Finn. He knew Marcus would be gone and waited until he was just out of reach before attacking. It’s like he’s toying with him, but at least Finn’s safe and no one died. When I pull into my driveway, I instantly know something’s wrong. From here, I can see that the front door is cracked open and panic fills me.

  Did something happen? Did River run off? What if he hurts someone? What if someone hurts him?

  I rush out as the smell of blood fills my nose.

  “No, no, no,” I whisper as I run toward the back of the house. That’s when I see someone leering over River as he holds his stomach coated in blood.

  Without thinking, I grab them and drive them to the ground. They’re quick as they slip to the side and knee me hard before flipping me onto my back where they pin me down.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” Alexei growls, and I still instantly.

  “Alexei?” I ask in surprise.

  “You have a baby vampire and you’re going to attack me over it?”

  I shove him off me before turning to face him. “Why are you here? Why are you on my land?” I growl as I flash him my fangs.

  His eyes narrow as his expression tightens. “Ah, just going to turn into a jackass, are we? You have no right to snap at me when you’ve created that.”

  “You act as if I had a choice. I had no fucking choice, and if you try to hurt him, you have to go through me,” I growl.

  There’s a flash of hurt on Alexei’s face that startles me and I realize how insane I’m acting. I don’t even know what’s happening here, and I’m pointing all fingers at Alexei? Did he even attack River? I’m threatening him, and why? For what?

  “Fuck you, DeGray. Fuck you,” he growls before heading to his car.

  I rush after him and reach for him but he sidesteps me as his eyes narrow. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  “Fuck you,” he says as he gets into his car and slams the door shut before taking off, tires squealing.

  I run over to River who is huddled on the ground, arms wrapped around his legs as he rocks slowly. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” River just keeps rocking until I say his name louder. This time he jumps and looks up at me. “Did Alexei hurt you?”

  “N-No, he didn’t hurt me, he was trying to help me. I almost attacked the neighbor,” River says as he looks up at me with clear pain on his face. “I almost killed the neighbor.”

  “And… Alexei stopped it?” Why the hell did I attack Alexei? I feel like the biggest asshole ever. I don’t even understand why I did it. I just rushed him without thinking.

  “Yes… fuck… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Who attacked you?” I ask.

  River hesitates and then shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing to me and tell me some fucking truth, River! You know who this guy is, so tell me and this can end!”

  He keeps shaking his head as his hands ball up into fists. “But it won’t end! He has people working for him. He has the ones he turned, and he told me he’d kill my entire family and you. He’ll do it. I know he’ll do it and I can’t, Bentley. I can’t lose them.”

  “I know, but—”

  River grabs onto me, his eyes locking on as he shakes me. “I can’t do this. I can’t let my family die.”

  His fingers dig into my arms as he rocks back and forth. “River, we need to end this. Please. People are dying and we can stop it.”

  He turns his head away from me. “Well, aren’t I fucking selfish then because I just want you and my family to keep living! Why can’t you just drop it? Please! Forget about it!”

  Why is he being so unreasonable? “He attacked you. I’m not going to just forget about it!”

  “Because I wasn’t listening to him!”

  I hear a noise behind me, and River’s eyes immediately latch on to the neighbor.

  “Everything okay?” he asks softly.

  River moves toward him, like he’s going to attack him, and I grab him in my arms. “Everything is fine,” I assure him. “He just fell and sprained his ankle. We’re good, thank you.”

  I pick him up and quickly carry him into the house before there can be an accident. His nails dig into my back as he longingly looks toward the area the neighbor was. I carry him straight over to the fridge and grab some blood. I move to warm it, but he’s on it instantly. He chugs it down as I realize how low I’m getting on blood. He’s going through it far too quickly and I have no way to get it once it’s gone, beyond hunting for animals myself. They don’t take too kindly to handing blood over, and I’ll probably have to kill them, which I hate doing.

  River cradles the empty bottle against himself as he looks at me. “I’m sorry I almost attacked the neighbor. I’m so sorry. What if I’d killed him?”

  “It’s okay. You didn’t. You did good,” I assure him as I wrap him up in my arms and hold him against me while I realize that I really don’t know what he could’ve done. And River wouldn’t have handled the guilt of killing him.

  I keep his head tucked tightly against me as I kiss his forehead and beg that I can figure out what to do. I want to keep him safe and I want to keep him happy, but I feel at a loss on how to do either. He’s going to eat himself up about this when I just want everything to be normal for him and for him to be happy.

  “I promise I’ll make everything better. I promise everything will be okay.”

  And I really hope I can keep that promise.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  BENTLEY

  I hate leaving River alone, but the case with Finn is getting more and more dicey, and I know my team needs me. There’s no one to help us and no one to watch Finn in case the man who attacked him returns. River asks that I keep him handcuffed so he can’t go anywhere, so that’s what I do.

  “Are you positive you’re okay?” I ask as I run my fingers through his hair. I tug gently on the white patch.

  “Positive! I have a TV remote, a book, another book, some video games.” He looks around the king-sized bed laden with items. “I’m almost positive there’s not room for anything else. You’re only gone for like eight or nine hours, right?”

  I smile as I lean over and kiss the top of his head. Understanding what I want, he tips his head back and smiles in return before kissing me. I savor the feeling of his soft lips on mine before I sigh. “I hate leaving you alone.”

  “He’s not going to touch me or hurt me. He told me he’d send me some information and he’s never sent it. So he can’t get pissed at me if he’s never sent me anything. And I promise I’ll let you know exactly what he asks for. I’m sure he won’t get upset if you’re helping me.”

  I nod, even though I don’t like this and he knows it. “Yeah… be good.”

  “The absolute best. Your fish are just out of reach.”

  “They would barely have enough blood to even taste it!”

  “I’m going to be real honest and say that when you were in the shower one time, I grabbed one but the moment I tasted the fish water on my tongue, it snapped me out of it and I put it back. We’re friends now,” he says.

  “You are out of control,” I realize.

  He starts laughing. “Not anymore.” He jingles the handcuffs I got from work that were specifically designed to hold a vampire. “Please be safe. I won’t do anything stupid. I’ll watch porn, and you just need to remember that I’m handcuffed and waiting for you to come home.”

  I stare at him as he gives a fucking wink. “You’re seriously going to say that as I’m walking out the door?”

  River gives me a grin. “You’re the kinky boy who tied me up.”

  “Oh, fuck me, no.” I give him one last kiss before rushing for the door. I can’t be late; I’ve already missed enough work that I don’t need anyone saying something to me. Especially when Alexei knows.

  Once at work, I try to corner Alexei to apologize, but he quickly sticks to Marcus’s side, so I head to my desk. I pull out both versions of River’s journal and study them closely. One thing that stands out to me is the bullets and drugs he has. River claims this Corbyn man is getting them for him. There was speculation that the bullets were similar to the ones we confiscated from Perry, the man who’d been trying to create chaos between the humans and vampires. Wren’s crew assumed River had been buying them from somewhere, or that perhaps he’d been in contact with Perry or his group at some point.

  But River stating that Corbyn was getting them for him tells me the man really is working law enforcement.

  I head to the evidence room before stopping in front of Li, the woman in charge of it.

  “Good morning, Li, I had a question.”

  She gives me a smile. “Of course.”

  “So when they analyzed the drug I was injected with, they found components similar to the bullets that were used during Perry’s case. Is there a way you could tell me where those bullets went?”

  “I can… are you looking into Huang’s case again? I thought they closed it.”

  “Just something’s bothering me about it.”

  “Of course,” she says as she turns to her computer. “If I remember right, we did take in some of the bullets, but the majority went with Wren’s analyst crew.”

  “And the ones here are still accounted for?” I ask.

  “Of course,” she says as she turns away from the computer. “Seems everything is in order.”

  “Could you double-check?”

  “You’re speculating they’re gone? But if they were the bullets used to shoot Huang, the analyst team would have identified them,” she says.

  “Just for fun,” I say. Even if they weren’t the same bullets, someone could be duplicating them.

  Li shrugs and gets up before heading over to the evidence room. She unlocks the door and we walk inside to where she goes over to their exact location. She opens the box, and I don’t even have to look inside to tell they’re gone. Her face tells me just that.

 

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