“Night,” I said, and followed them with my eyes until the shadows swallowed them. Eli and I were left alone by the fire.
“Were you making fun of my father?” Eli whispered. I sat between his thighs, and his arms slipped around my waist. “Shame, shame, Riley Poe.”
I tilted my head upward to look at him. The glow from the fire flicked shadows against his face, and I swear, I’d never seen a more beautiful soul in my life. “I’m not. It’s just . . . funny. I’m used to seeing him dress so formal. Those flip-flops are a kick in the ass.”
Eli’s arms tightened around me, pulling me close. “Yeah, I know.” He settled me in a way that I didn’t have to crank my neck at such an awkward angle to see him. “How do you feel?” he asked seriously. “Ready to go home?”
I thought about it. I’d experienced short bursts of weird feelings, and I couldn’t describe them if I tried. They were almost like little electric jolts. But I didn’t want to attack anyone anymore, so that was a good thing. “Yeah, I am. Ready to see Nyx and my dog—so ready to get back to work,” I said. I twined my fingers through his. “I miss my artwork. The smell of the ink. My music.” I laughed. “I even miss the hum of the Widow.” I met his gaze. “Just keep an eye on me for a while, huh? I don’t wanna slip up and accidentally hurt someone.”
“I guess I can do that,” he said with a grin. He nuzzled my neck, and his mouth brushing my skin gave me goose bumps. “I’ll be glad to have solid walls, a solid bed to take you in,” he whispered, his gaze locking with mine. “Water sex is great, but I’m ready for a soft bed.” He shrugged. “Or a hard brick wall.”
Memories of Eli taking me against the wall in my bedroom rushed through me, followed by a thrill that made my skin flush. “All that nasty sex will have to be tuned down a bit, Romeo,” I said. “My brother lives with me. Remember? Don’t wanna gross him out and scar him forever.”
His fingers splayed against my bare stomach, caressing my hip. “I guess we’ll have to go to my place.”
I studied his face for several moments, enjoying the rush of sensation that came with his fingers dragging across my skin. “You don’t feel the urge to drain my blood anymore?” I asked. “Like before?”
Eli shook his head. “It’s still there, just not as compelling as before,” he answered. “Your DNA has changed, Riley. Your blood type is still unique, but it doesn’t make me crazy like before.” His eyes grew dark as they searched mine. “You make me crazy now. Insane-crazy. And I crave you instead of your blood.”
I leaned into him. “I think I dig that, Dupré,” I said, and slipped my hand up to grasp the back of his neck, pulling his mouth closer to mine. I grazed my lips against his, and it caused an immediate reaction in Eli. His tongue swept over mine, caressed, and he kissed me long. An acorn popped in the fire, breaking our trance. I pulled back and looked at Eli.
“Hey,” I said, scooting back and smiling. “Make the face.”
“What?” Eli said, then rolled his eyes. “Come on, Riley. Jesus.”
“Make it,” I egged. “Please?”
Eli studied me for a few seconds, grinned, then shook his head. “God, you’re a freak—you know that, right?”
I smiled and tucked a long fuchsia red strand of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, and proud of it, too. Now, come on, do it.”
Eli’s face contorted in the blink of an eye; jaw unhinged, fangs long and exaggerated, eyes pure white with a red pinpoint pupil. I jumped, then stared in fascination.
“Whoa,” I said in a low voice, completely enthralled. “Wicked.”
Just that fast, his features relaxed and transformed back into the beauty of Eli. He again shook his head. “You are one cheap date, Poe. A freakishly cool, cheap date.” He leaned down and kissed me breathless. “I like that about you.”
I have to admit—I had no complaints. And the way Eli made me feel? It was indescribable. He literally made my heart soar, as if my heart had a motor on it and were flying up an empty highway. As I leaned back against his chest, his steely arms wrapped completely around me and his chin propped on my shoulder, I closed my eyes. Pretending was easy enough—I was a young girl in the prime of my life, with a hot, devoted boyfriend, a rockin’ tattoo shop, booming business, a loving, extended Gullah family, and an adorable brother whom I loved with all my heart. I could pretend everything was normal and the world at my fingertips. I could actually almost forget that two strigoi vamps had bitten me, introduced their wicked-strong venom into my body, and left me with unpredictable tendencies—and that one of the vamps wanted me. Badly. And that he would not stop until he had me.
At some point, I fell asleep; so relaxed and exhausted that I didn’t remember Eli carrying me to our tent. I don’t know how long I slept. But I damn sure remember being awakened....
“Riley, wake up.”
I darted straight up and looked around. “What?”
Eli laughed. “Sorry—I didn’t mean to scare you.” He pushed my disheveled hair off my face. “Father and Mother are up. Pacing.” He grinned. “Time to train.”
Putting on my best poker face, I shrugged off the heady dream-conversation—one-sided though it may have been—with Victorian Arcos, pulled on a clean bikini top and board shorts, and ducked out of the tent for two more days of training. I wasn’t positive how long I could hide the messages I’d been receiving from Victorian, and I wasn’t sure how it was that Eli hadn’t detected them yet. He often slipped, uninvited, into my thoughts. To be frank, I usually didn’t mind. It was kind of ... a turn-on. Kinky, I know, but I’d never been accused of being prim and proper. This was one time, though, I was glad Eli had stayed out of my head. When the time was right, and if I thought he proved a real threat, I’d let Eli and his family know of Victorian’s torment of my private thoughts. For now, though, I could handle it. I’d dealt with horny pervs nearly my entire adult life, and while Victorian Arcos was a bit . . . stronger, when all was broken down, he proved to be nothing more than a horny twenty-one-year-old dude. Add in the strigoi aspect of it and, okay—you had an extremely powerful, horny twenty-one-year-old dude. But I was no longer a mere mortal. I had strigoi tendencies. And I could damn well handle my own freaking self. I knew if I told Eli, he’d go ballistic, and there was no telling what he’d do. I wanted this right now. Peace; the newness of our relationship and all that it entailed. In other words, I was selfish. I wanted Eli to myself for at least a little while, and minus the stress and anger of dealing with Victorian. I knew it wouldn’t last long, anyway. All in all, though, I felt a little down. I knew the past few weeks had been unrealistic and idyllic, living on a barrier island far away from the reality of strigoi, Arcoses, newlings, and a world where human life meant nothing, their blood consumed in the most gruesome of ways. I had a gut feeling nasty changes were upon us. A fresh batch of newlings had suffered and survived a strigoi quickening; they’d be hungry and out of control. They’d feed, kill, as well as change other humans. It was time to step back into reality, and this time, I’d go in with my eyes wide- open. I had tendencies. And I was freaking ready to use them.
It felt funny being back on the mainland. This was maybe because I knew I had emerged a different sort of human, or maybe because I was keeping a big-ass secret from the mortals of Savannah. I knew what Seth and I were, what Preacher and his family were, and what the Duprés were. I knew Riggs and the other boys were no longer regular teenage guys. I knew Zetty was more than a big Tibetan bouncer from Kathmandu with wicked tats on his forehead. We’d all changed. Maybe just knowing that made things seem so . . . weird. I hoped like hell I’d get used to it.
Seth rode with Gilles and Elise (yes, vamps drive and they have a kick-ass liquid silver Lexus) while I rode on the back of Eli’s bike. Phin and Luc drove the boys all home, and, as far as their parents were concerned, they’d all been away at a special camp. At Gilles’ request, they’d all—Seth included—continued their schoolwork so they
