Page 37 of Saving Sarah (Blissful Bets)

“Sarah, I think you need rest. You’re really not feeling well.” Gavin’s soothing voice had her leaning toward him.

“Yeah, that’s because she fought the glamour.” Brandon said softly. “If she wasn’t marked, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. It’s just a headache. The pain should subside soon. I need to make some calls and Evelyn needs rest. If Tom is stupid enough to come over here, then he deserves what you two do to him, but do not leave Sarah. If you do, you’ll regret it. He’s watching at all times. I guarantee it.”

Brandon took Evelyn’s arm and led her to the bedroom door. “Oh, and there’s one thing I know that Sarah couldn’t, and that’s his determination to have her. When a vampire locks a human’s mind, they leave an imprint. His allowed me to see what he thought at the exact time this took place. She knocked him down a peg by not begging him to stay like every other girl does. He’s used to them pleading him to either change them over or be with them forever. That’s why he wants her. He knows she won’t submit. It’s a challenge.”

“We won’t leave her,” Devon said, sitting on the other side of the bed.

Nothing had turned out the way Sarah expected it to. Besides Channing’s name, they didn’t know anything new. Now, not only was her head pounding away, her stomach still felt heavy with nausea and the effects of Gavin’s kiss. The combination wasn’t something she liked very much. At least she knew an aspirin would take care of the headache. As for her craving, well, she’d take care of that as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

“Ev, go get some rest. I’ll call you later. And, I want details of everything you’ve thought of so far, names, ideas for a nursery, everything.”

Her friend laughed and leaned her head on Brandon’s chest. “I’d be happy to go over everything with you later. Right now, I’m going to nap. It seems lately I can’t get enough rest.”

“No joke. She’s been sleeping all the time. I’ve never known anyone to not hear an alarm clock in the morning, take a nap during the day, and still want to go to bed early. She sleeps more than a newborn,” Stephen said, teasing her. “Anyway, we’ll see you all tonight, right? It’s movie night at Ayden’s. He called me just before we got here. Nicole is anxious to meet Sarah.”

“We’ll be there,” Devon said.

Everyone said their goodbyes, and Gavin quickly locked the front door behind them and brought Sarah medicine. Thoughts of movie night set her heart racing and her head throbbing harder. Finally, she’d really get to meet Nicole. Evelyn spoke of her so frequently, she felt like she already knew her. Sure, they’d spoken on the phone, and been introduced before, but it wasn’t the same.

Evelyn and Nicole were a part of something so big, a culture humans never even really thought about—vampires and werewolves. Would the gathering be just like any other, just movies and a group of people hanging out, or would she be walking into something unexpected? Maybe movie night wasn’t really a movie night at all. What if the words were code for something else entirely?

“What are you thinking about?” Devon asked. Sarah jumped. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“No, it is something. You looked somewhere else entirely. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“I’m fine, I promise. But about this movie night. It is a movie night, right? I mean is that a code word for something else?”

Devon laughed and looked at Gavin, who took Sarah’s glass of water and sat it on the bedside table.

“It’s definitely code,” Gavin said seriously.

Devon’s eyes shot to the floor and then looked back up. “Yeah, we should have told you sooner. What we wolves call movie night is really hunting/orgy night.”

Sarah looked at Devon and then Gavin, and then back at Devon. “No. No way. You said hunt. Hunting what? And…orgy. I can’t see that happening. I mean…I’m not so sure I’d be comfortable with that. I don’t know these people and…You’re joking, right?”

The guys burst out laughing. “Sarah, honey, no one is going to be hunting or participating in an orgy. We were just messing with you. It’s movies, that’s all. Don’t worry. We’d never stay anywhere you would feel uncomfortable.”

Heat moved to Sarah’s cheeks. She should have known. Devon always did this to her. Why hadn’t she remembered the playful side of him? “I knew that,” she said, hitting both of them with her pillow.

“Oh, did you now? You should have seen your face.” Devon laughed.

“Do I need to smack you with my pillow again Devon Lewis or are you going to quit teasing me? How am I supposed to know what werewolves or vampires do? Besides, you haven’t been to one of these movie nights. How do you know that’s what they really are?”

“She has a point,” Gavin said, his smile slowly falling.

“If it would have been anything besides what Stephen said, he would have mentioned it. We’re watching movies and nothing else. You both act like we’re walking into an ambush of some sort from our own leader.”

No one said anything as they all stared at each other. Why did Sarah feel that’s exactly what they were doing? The thought was beyond ridiculous. Evelyn would never let anything happen to her, but the twisting of her stomach didn’t calm her suspicions that something was going to happen tonight.

Chapter 16

The two-story, red brick home sat nestled in an upscale Corpus Christi neighborhood, in a subdivision anyone would dream of living in. Dark green shutters trimmed every window facing the cul-de-sac. Hedges lined the walkway that reached a large oak door. The door alone looked impenetrable. It certainly didn’t come with the house when Ayden and Nicole bought it. Being a real estate agent, she knew that for a fact.

“Calm down, Sarah. I can hear your heart from here.” Devon pulled her body against his while he held her close. “I promise Gavin and I won’t let anything happen to you. We’re here for movies, nothing else. Whenever you’re ready to leave, just signal. I’ll think of something.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what it is. Evelyn would never let anything happen, but I can’t shake this feeling like we’re all in for a surprise.”

Gavin cleared his throat. “Either I’m picking up what Sarah is feeling, or I can feel it myself, but I think she’s right. Something doesn’t seem right.”

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