Page 123 of Taste of Forever
“Hang on, Heather.”
The van started to move again. My hand shot out and landed on Rhain’s arm. “Wait.”
His heavy foot hit the brake and the van lurched to a stop. “You okay?”
I was absolutely not, now that I knew what Laith was going through. But I needed to go straight there.
“I know how to find him.” My voice somehow came out stronger than I felt. “Get out of this lot and go straight through that traffic light.”
A smile touched Rhain’s lips as he cranked the steering wheel. “Fuck yeah. Now we’re in business.” He nodded at the cell phone. “Call Thorne and tell him to follow us, yeah?”
I made the call and then sat back, trying to keep my worry in check. We had to make it in time to save him. We just had to.
The van’sdashboard clock read 4:21 a.m. when Rhain pulled the van over to the side of the road several houses down from the cabin. Dawn would come just after 5 a.m, and I was a ball of nerves in the passenger seat.
I couldn’t see where they kept Laith from here, but knew it was just over the crest of the hill in front of us. My stomach remembered the climbing sensation from when Soren’s men brought me, and the descent when I left.
Laith’s presence felt close, but weak. I hadn’t felt any emotions or even pain sensations from him for at least fifteen minutes. He wasn’t dead, though. He couldn’t be. I would know, wouldn’t I?
“We’ll have to leave cleanup for another night,” Thorne was saying through Rhain’s phone speakers. “And hope human cops don’t find any remains in the meantime. Get in, kill them all, grab Laith, and get the fuck out.”
“I’m ready.” Rhain was strapped with weapons, mostly knives. “Where do you want Heather to be?”
“She stays in the van.”
“I’ll need to give him blood right away, right?” I piped up. “What’s the best way to do that?” I would be useless in a fight, but my blood was literally key to Laith’s survival, and I intended to be ready.
There was a pause on the phone as Thorne considered. “Hang out in the back. That’ll probably be the safest place to put him.”
“Got it. You guys be careful,” I said. “I’ll be here.”
“Keep the van parked and the doors locked,” Thorne added. “I don’t expect any humans to escape but in case one does, I don’t want them getting to you or sabotaging our vehicle.”
“Got it.”
“Let’s go, Rhain.”
Rhain ended the call and placed the van keys in the other cupholder. “Unlock only when you see me.”
I nodded. “Please bring him back to me.”
“I will.”
Rhain pulled a small knife from some hidden sheath and pointed it toward a spot on his forearm. Faster than I could blink, he cut two small symbols just below his elbow. His skin reddened and swelled angrily around the shallow cuts.
“In our language, these letters translate to the phonetic L and H sounds,” he said, sheathing the knife. “This is my vow, Heather. To ensure you and Laith are together again.”
My throat closed up with emotion as I remembered Laith telling me how solemnly his clan took their vows.
“Thank you.”
Rhain nodded curtly before slipping out of the van and jogging into the darkness.
Eerie silence settled in as I drew my knees up, hugging around them. The only illumination came from a few dim porch lights in the spaced out cabins. I couldn’t see Rhain or any of the other vampires. It was like they’d melted into the shadows.
My hand rested over my chest, the edge of my palm pressing against the tender bite marks I’d asked Laith to not heal. I tried to listen, to feel him through our connection that went far beyond a chemical bond. I didn’t know when I’d accepted our connection as something more than physical chemistry, as something magical, even fated, but after he showed me what real love could be like, I’d believe in anything that would get him back.
That connection now felt like a tender thread unraveling while I desperately grasped to keep it in tact. Every eternally long minute I waited in silence put more stress on that thread and brought it closer to severing.
