Page 118 of Taste of Forever
“I really don’t know.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, feeling both exhausted and wired. “It’s within driving distance. Probably within an hour of Eureka. But there’s so much wilderness. So many hidden mountain roads and so many cabins. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“We’ll have to start somewhere. And you have to come with us. If he’s in bad shape, he’ll need your blood immediately.” Thorne scratched his neck. “Worst case, we’ll have to call off thesearch during daylight hours and go out again at dusk tomorrow night.”
“Why can’t you take that stuff that lets you go out in the daylight?” I said. “Draitrium, is it called?”
All the air seemed to get sucked out of the room. Every single vampire looked to be holding their breath.
“I know you guys don’t like it, but this is Laith we’re talking about. He’s one of you. You’re all family, right? If it gives you a few extra hours to look for him, isn’t it worth the risk?”
Cyan stepped forward. “I know you mean well, Heather. But the only reason you’d suggest that is because you don’t know any better.” He glanced at Thorne before speaking again. “Draitrium is a non-negotiable for us. The attack on you by that addict was terrible, and it still only scratches the surface of what that drug has done to our kind. Laith knows that. We all owe centuries of pain and trauma to draitrium. Laith and I were orphaned juveniles together, and I promise you he’d rather die than see any one of us use it, even to save him.” Cyan pinned me with an intense look. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes. I…I think so.” Shame heated my face. “I’m sorry I suggested it. I?—“
“You’re new to us. You didn’t know any better,” Thorne cut in sharply. “And you definitely won’t suggest such a thing again.”
“No. No, of course not.”
“Good.” Thorne paused, his cheeks hollowing as he took a drag on his cigarette. “I guess the best place to start is the gas station where you were dropped off.”
“Heather, can you feel Laith right now?” Cyan asked.
“I don’t…what do you mean?”
“You’re his blood mate. His blood is in you. Every time he feeds, he also leaves a little of himself in you. The blood mate connection is like an invisible thread connecting the two of you.” Cyan’s eyes shifted to the side. “Right now, I know that Tavia isnearby, most likely in our suite. She’s with someone, probably Bea. She’s trying to stay upbeat, but she’s worried. Probably about Laith and you. She’s holding something warm, most likely a coffee mug.” His gaze returned to me. “Our connection has gotten stronger since our ceremony, but it was still there in the beginning. You just have to focus on it.”
Des’s eyebrows went up as if something dawned on him. “That’s probably how Laith found you at the cabin. If he did it, it has to work the other way, right?”
“I mean, wouldn’t you guys know better than me?” I looked around nervously at the surrounding vampires.
“It should.” Cyan’s gaze remained fixed on me. “Focus on Laith, Heather. Imagine where he is. Try to feel what he’s feeling at this exact moment.”
“She can do it on the road.” Thorne exhaled a plume of red smoke. “We need to get going if we have half a chance of finding him. Heather and Rhain will go in the van. Cyan, Des, and I will go on bikes. We’ll start at the gas station, then see if Heather can trace Laith from there.”
The vampires moved swiftly into action, filing out toward the garage for their vehicles. Des stopped in front of me and held out his hand.
“Come on, girl. Let’s get your mate back.”
I nodded and accepted his help up from my seat, but struggled to find the bravery and confidence he and the other vampires had.
It felt like we were going in completely blind. How exactly was I supposed to lead them to Laith? What did sensing him through our bond even mean or feel like?
All I knew was I had to figure it out, and fast.
Chapter 33
Laith
Numbness. Pain. Exhaustion. My perception of the world reduced to those three sensations.
It felt like an eternity. How wasn’t I eight-hundred years old already? Why was I still alive?
“Why do vampires carry silver weapons?” Soren, the human with the cold, dead eyes, sat in front of me, examining my silver knife covered in my own blood.
“We’re pretty fond of irony.” I had refused to scream throughout any of the torture sessions so far, so my voice still worked. My tongue was sore and swollen though from how often I’d had to bite it.
Every injury on my body, even the surface wounds, were healing slower than normal. The silver must have contaminated my bloodstream.
“You kill lots of other vampires?” Soren tapped his index finger on the tip of my knife. “We keep hearing stories about warring clans.”
