Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“She’ll be all right here.” He gestured for her to follow him inside.
The cabin wasn’t some rustic building in the middle of nowhere. It had a large open-plan living room/kitchen with a log-burning fire in the center. The kitchen was modern and well appointed. Throws and cushions decorated the large leather sectional, the room warmed by area rugs and paintings on the walls. It was as if someone had truly made a home here.
“You set up this place well, son. How did you manage it?” Bill asked as Nancy fussed over Odette. Elijah’s father looked at Echo. “There’s a basement filled to the brim with long-life food and a ton of dry wood already cut for the burner.”
Elijah shrugged. “I paid someone to have it ready in case I needed an escape from the world.”
“We’ve been very comfortable here. There’s even Wi-Fi via satellite dish and smart TVs in every room.” Bill’s smile fell. “We saw on the news the boys are distraught about your disappearance.”
Elijah closed his eyes briefly. “I feel terrible for putting them through this.”
“You’re keeping them safe,” Echo reminded him. They hadn’t had time to look at the news in the mad dash to save Odette. “Is it a big news story?”
“Oh, yes.” Bill nodded. “Apparently, everyone is talking about it on social media. There are a ton of conspiracy theories. Especially because we’ve gone off the radar too.”
“Shit.” Echo scrubbed a hand over her face. “That will only fuel the Blackwoods and William. We’ll stay until tomorrow’s sunset, but then we have to leave.”
“So soon?” Nancy spoke up.
“I’m afraid so.”
Odette’s lower lip trembled, and guilt clenched Echo’s stomach.
“I will get back to you as soon as I can.”
“And we’ll take the best care of you until then,” Nancy promised, smoothing Odette’s hair back from her face.
The child nodded but appeared to be seconds from bursting into tears.
“Let’s eat.” Elijah clapped his hands, trying to defuse the tension. “I’m starving.”
15
Odette fell asleep on the couch not long after Nancy and Bill fed them a dinner of tinned spaghetti on toast. They then updated Elijah’s parents on what had happened in Canada, about Odette’s parents, and what their plans were next. Then Elijah offered to help Echo daylight-proof the guest room she would share with Odette. Bill had found them masking tape so they could secure the curtain edges to ensure Echo could sleep safely during the day.
Elijah suddenly spoke, soft and low, “What you said in the car to Odette … is that true?”
Echo couldn’t linger too long on those thoughts, those feelings. It was a survival thing. “About hating being a vampire? About missing the daylight? Yes.”
Her abrupt tone didn’t put him off. “I … I know it is. I feel … I feel your grief. I just … I just don’t understand why I can feel it, and so I wanted to confirm it with you.”
Unable to answer the underlying question because it was something else she couldn’t think about, Echo remained quiet.
“I hate that for you,” he whispered gruffly. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“No one can help me, Elijah. I’m a lost cause.” She met his gaze. “And I can’t dwell on it too long, or I won’t be able to do what needs to be done next.” Taping down the last corner of the curtain, Echo moved to stride past him to exit the room.
But Elijah grasped her wrist, stopping her. “And what happens once you’ve taken your revenge and we’ve stopped The Garm? Once Odette is safe with her parents? What happens to you?”
His questions nudged at a thought she’d kept buried. “I won’t go anywhere while Odette needs me.”
His grip tightened. “And when she’s gone?”
“I … I can’t live like this forever. I’d rather die.”
Something like panic flashed across his face. “So, when Odette dies, hopefully after a long, natural life … you …?”
Echo tugged her hand from his hold, ignoring the awareness that tingled through her. “I die.”
He flinched. “Echo—”
“I’m going to put Odette to bed. She needs a good night’s rest.” She walked out before he could take the conversation any further.
By the time Elijah woke the next day, it was past lunchtime. When he’d laid his head down in the second of three bedrooms at the back of the cabin, he’d thought he’d drift right off, having had such little sleep these past few days.
However, he couldn’t get the look of despair on Echo’s face out of his mind. He couldn’t stop feeling that sharp, hollow pain that was her grief. And it disturbed him beyond belief that Echo had tied her existence to Odette’s. That she planned to leave this world once her sister died because she couldn’t bear her life as a vampire.
He wanted to fix it all for her.
He wanted her happy and safe, and he couldn’t understand why he felt so much for her when they’d known each other for such a short time. Not to mention the way they’d met. He literally had scars from their encounter.