by E. J. King
“Class is over.”
I looked up and the professor was standing in front of me, the rest of the room empty.
“Sorry.” I packed up my books and headed outside. The sharp contrast of the dark lecture hall to the bright, cloudless day made it hard to see.
“Red!”
I recognized Rafe’s voice before my eyes found him. He was leaning against the side of the building, looking very much like a male model in his casual jeans, t-shirt, and shades. His dark hair ruffled in the breeze.
“The name is Kaylie,” I said. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing research?”
“Ethan’s taking care of it.” He pushed himself away from the wall lazily. “I thought you might like some company on the way home.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “Why in the world would you think that?”
“Because you’re tired of being a recluse with no friends,” he answered confidently.
While I wanted to object and tell him that he couldn’t be more wrong, the truth was that he had me completely figured out. Having Ethan and Rafe around had reminded me of what my life had been like before everything changed. I’d had a loving family and I’d had friends. I missed both of those things.
“From what I can tell, the only friend you have is Ethan,” I pointed out smugly, starting down the path away from campus.
“That may be true, but I’m a terrible monster. So I’d say I’m doing pretty good considering the circumstances.” Rafe’s smile was humorless as he fell into step beside me.
After a long pause, I said, “I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“You don’t even know me.” Rafe’s hand brushed against mine and he jerked it away. “Sorry.”
“Is it hard to be around me?” I was scared of his answer.
Rafe smirked. “You’re a little annoying, but you’re decent enough to look at so that helps.”
“You know what I meant.” I elbowed him hard in the ribs. “The whole blood-craving thing. Is it hard to be close to humans?”
“Sometimes.”
“What’s it like?”
Rafe thought for a second. “Do you ever get a random craving? Like out of nowhere, you want something salty or something sugary.”
“Sure. All the time.”
“It’s like that. Except my craving is blood, and I feel it all the time.” He added, “They say that the craving will get even stronger the longer I go without feeding. When it gets close to the end, I probably won’t be able to be around humans.”
My heart ached hearing him say that. Rafe knew that he was going to die soon, and he also knew that he was going to die alone.
“Rafe, we’ll find a cure. I’m certain of it.” My words sounded hollow though.
As we turned onto the street where I lived, I was surprised to find the front door to my house wide open.
“Did you leave that open?” My stomach twisted into a knot when I saw Rafe’s face.
“No.”
He was inside in a flash and I hurried to follow him. The house was two-stories, but my apartment was only on the first floor. I had a living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. It took less than a minute to search the entire floor.
“Where is he?” I asked, starting to feel panicked. There was no sign of a struggle, but he had left a book open on the bed. “Ethan!”
“I’m going to check outside.” Rafe turned to me. “Stay here.”
I started to argue with him, but now wasn’t the time. Besides, Rafe was already on his phone, trying to reach Ethan. I paced around the house while he walked around the perimeter. After a long minute, he called out to me.
My backyard was small and overrun by tall grass and poorly landscaped bushes. The landlord wasn’t into keeping up appearances. I found Rafe kneeling next to Ethan’s prone body.
“Ethan!” I fell to the ground next to him. “Is he…”
“He’s still breathing. I need help getting him inside.”
Rafe turned Ethan over and I saw that aside from a gash on his forehead, he appeared to be okay. We lifted him carefully, throwing his arms over our shoulders and dragging him inside. I insisted we put him on my bed as it was bigger and more comfortable than the one in the guest room.
While I cleaned Ethan’s wound, Rafe went around the house making sure that the doors were shut and locked.
“How is he?” he asked when he returned.
“Still out of it.” I carefully placed a bandage over the gash. “He’s been mumbling a bit, though, so that’s a good sign.”
Neither of us bothered suggesting that we take him to a hospital. Hunters knew better than to draw attention to themselves voluntarily.
Since we both were worried about Ethan, it was an easy decision not to bother with training tonight. It wasn’t possible to leave him unattended for any significant amount of time. Rafe and I settled into the guest room, reading more journals and taking turns checking on Ethan. At dinner time, I threw together a few sandwiches and we drank a couple of beers that I found buried at the back of my fridge. I had used one of my many fake IDs to buy them.
“It’s getting late,” I said when I caught Rafe yawning for the tenth time. “We should try to get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” Rafe got off the bed. “You should take this one since Ethan’s in yours. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Before he could leave, I did something that shocked us both. “Would you stay in here? With me?”
It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I was scared. Whatever had attacked Ethan hadn’t been a normal Soul. One of those would’ve drained him dry, not left him with a bump on the head. It was likely that whatever it was had come looking for me and Ethan had surprised them. I would sleep better with someone like Rafe by my side.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Rafe answered through tight lips.
“Oh. Okay.” I tried to pretend like it wasn’t a big deal, but my hands shook as I put the books back on the shelf.
Rafe hesitated in the doorway. “The bed does look more comfortable than the couch.”
I smiled gratefully. “I promise to keep my hands to myself.
“Well, now you’ve just ruined the invitation.” He returned my smile. “I’ll sleep on top of the covers.”
“Deal.”
When we finally got settled, me sandwiched between the wall and Rafe’s long body, it occurred to me that I hadn’t felt that protected since losing my parents. I had been alone for so long I’d forgotten how nice it could be to feel safe.
“Thank you, Rafe,” I murmured into the darkness.
“Yeah, I’m pretty much a hero. It takes a lot to crawl into bed with a pretty girl.”
I could see his gold eyes flash in the darkness when he looked at me. Even though I knew at that very moment he was fighting the urge to drink my blood, I couldn’t think of any place I would rather be than in that bed with him.
‘I’m going to find a way to save you,” I whispered urgently.
He tensed. “You shouldn’t make promises you don’t know that you can keep.”
“You don’t know me very well.” My eyelids drifted closed and my exhaustion pulled me under.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up. Not from a nightmare though. Instead, it was a strange sensation I couldn’t quite place. It took me several seconds to remember that I wasn’t sleeping alone. In our slumber, Rafe and I had drifted closer together. I was on my side and my hand actually rested on his chest, just over his heart. His hand rested on top of mine.
It was an incredibly intimate thing to feel a person’s heart jumping beneath your hand. As if he sensed that I was awake, Rafe’s rolled onto his side. His gold eyes were bright as he looked at me, even in the dark room.
His heart rate increased as he took his hand off mine and reached through the darkness to stroke my cheek softly with the tips of his fingers. Then his hand moved along my jaw and down my neck. All the while, I stared into his eyes, hypnotized. His hand jumped to
my hip, fingers slipping under the hem of my shirt and caressing my skin. My breath hitched as his hand slid upward, along the curve of my side.
Just as his hand skimmed the flesh along the curve of my breast, he stopped. Leaning close, he pressed his warm lips to my forehead. Then he retracted his hand and pulled back. He settled onto his back and closed his eyes, his hand finding mine again where it was still pressed to his chest. As he gave it a gentle squeeze, I knew that for the first time, I had seen the real Rafe- unguarded, gentle, and intoxicating.
I wanted more.
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, I woke to rumpled, empty sheets. Stretching, I smiled as I remembered the intimate encounter with Rafe. My skin still tingled where he had touched me. After another long stretch, I padded down the hall, stopping in the doorway of my bedroom. Ethan was sitting up in bed, looking much better than he had the night before. Rafe sat in a chair next to the bed, chin on chest and snoring softly.
“You couldn’t have offered him the couch?” Ethan joked softly. “He snores.”
“I did.” I stared at Rafe, wondering at how gorgeous he looked even when he was sleeping. “How long has he been in here?”
Ethan shrugged. “I woke a couple of times in the night and he was here.”
Rafe must have snuck out shortly after I drifted off the second time. I wondered if his exit had anything to do with our bedroom activity.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, trying to recover from my uneasiness before Ethan noticed. “I can make you some breakfast.”
“Coffee would be good.”
“I can handle that.”
By the time I returned with his coffee, Rafe was awake and they were chatting quietly. I tried to catch his eye, but he avoided me.
“I’m going to run to the motel and pick up some things. Change of clothes, toothbrush.” He slapped his brother on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll grab your hair products, too.”
“Funny,” Ethan said, grimacing and touching a hand to his bandaged forehead. “We’ll miss you terribly while you are gone.”
Rafe brushed past me on his way out of the room, still not making eye contact.
“I forgot to tell Rafe something. Be right back.” I hurried down the hall after him, catching him just as he was about to leave.
“Wait.”
He turned reluctantly, eyeing the object I held in my hand. “What is that?”
“A key.” I held it up, dangling it from the keychain. “It’s my spare key.”
“And?” Rafe stared at it like he had never seen a key in his life.
“And you should take it. I might not be here when you get back, and you’ll need it to get in.” I pressed it into his hand.
“Right. Thanks.”
I struggled to figure out how to ask him about what was bothering me. “About last night.”
“I’m sorry. I should never have agreed to sleep in that bed with you.” Rafe finally looked at me. I caught remorse in his eyes, buried behind the blinding gold. “It won’t happen again.”
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?”
Rafe frowned. “We got too close, Kaylie. It’s my fault, I should’ve known. But it can’t happen again. I have to keep my guard up at all times.”
Now I understood. Even though we hadn’t done anything wrong, what we had done- sleeping so close together- had put me at risk. Rafe was battling an inner-demon, literally, and I was bait for that demon.
“I get it,” I said, and I did. “You should know that was the best sleep I’ve had in two years.”
Rafe smiled at that. “Good. Now go inside and take care of my brother. He’s a whiny patient.”
I had a couple of hours before I had to get to class and I spent them chatting with Ethan. His memory of the previous night was hazy. He heard noises outside, went to check it out, and got hit over the head.
“That’s pretty pathetic,” I said, attempting a lame joke. “Maybe I should find a new trainer. Seems like you are out of practice, too.”
“I’m your patient. You’re supposed to be nice to me.” Ethan pouted adorably.
“Will you be okay here alone while I go to class? Rafe should be back soon.” I smoothed the blankets around him and made sure he had a full glass of water in reach. “My class is only an hour-and-a-half, but if you need something you can text me. I wrote my number on this piece of paper-”
“Go! Get out of here. I’ll be fine.” Ethan brushed away my fretting hands.
I started backing toward the door. “Rafe will be back soon-”
“Go!”
Our campus wasn’t very big, so it only took a couple of minutes to walk to class. I bumped into Owen while I was walking. Even though we went to the same school, it was rare for us to see each other outside of work.
“You’re working tonight, right?” he asked, flashing an Owen-smile.
“Until close.”
“Maybe your secret admirer will make an appearance again.”
I remembered Rafe, my hand on his chest, his hand under my shirt, and I blushed. “Maybe. I’m late for class. See you tonight!”
I hurried away from Owen, rounding the corner at full speed. It wasn’t until I stood outside the door of the classroom and saw the sign that I remembered our professor had canceled class today.
After cursing myself for being so flaky, I headed home. Only ten minutes had passed since I left. I came in through the alley, letting myself in the backdoor quietly in case Ethan was sleeping. When I turned down the hallway, I heard hushed voices coming from my room.
As a child, whenever I heard hushed voices in the other room I couldn’t resist sneaking up on them, always wanting to know everything I wasn’t supposed to know. Habits are hard to break and I found myself tip-toeing down the hall.
“They said they were looking for her?” Rafe’s voice, even deeper than usual, was almost impossible to hear.
“It’s just like you said, man. They know about her.” Ethan groaned. “When I wouldn’t tell them where she was, they hit me and took off. But they’ll be back.”
“It was a group of them?”
“I counted four.”
A pause from Rafe. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Lost Souls aren’t always thinking with their brains, Rafe. You should know that. The blood craving probably took over.”
“But if the cure is draining her blood, only one of them can be saved.”
The bed creaked as Ethan shifted. “Maybe they know something we don’t. I mean, the idea that draining Kaylie’s blood can save a Lost Soul hasn’t exactly been proven. Maybe we’re missing something.”
My heart pounded and blood rushed to my head, making me dizzy. I put my hand on the wall to keep from falling over. Ethan and Rafe thought that my blood could save Lost Souls which meant they thought my blood could save Rafe.
“Let’s hope so,” Rafe said. “I was never a fan of the idea of draining her blood anyway.”
I had been doing so good, keeping quiet. But I had forgotten about my phone and because the universe hated me, my phone started to ring.
“Damn it,” I hissed, hurrying to silence it.
“Who is that? Kaylie?”
Rafe moved quickly and suddenly he was standing in front of me, blocking the path to the front door.
“Kaylie? I thought you were in class.”
Ethan appeared, looking tired but stronger than he had just a few hours ago. Now it was two of them against one of me.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, noticing my distress.
“Nothing,” I shook my head, trying to shake away what I had just overheard, but it was impossible. “I forgot that my class was canceled today. I just got back.”
Ethan and Rafe exchanged a look. “How long ago?” Ethan asked.
“A few minutes.” I took a hesitant step back. “I just remembered that I need to go to the library for some research. For a paper.”
“Kaylie.” Ethan stepped forward and I turned to run.
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Rafe, quick on his feet, lunged forward and grabbed my arm. “Stop.”
“Let go of me!” I jerked my arm, but his grip was tighter than a steel trap. “I trusted you! I let you into my house.”
“We’re not going to hurt you, Kaylie.” Ethan put his hand on Rafe’s arm. “Let her go, Rafe. She’s not going to run.”
Rafe reluctantly dropped my arm.
“I heard you,” I said softly. “My blood... you think my blood can cure Rafe.”
Ethan sighed and I noticed that his skin had turned a sickly shade of pale. He was still feeling the effects of his attack.
“We don’t know that for a fact. It’s just a rumor in the Hunter world.” Ethan leaned against the wall for support. “But a lot of people think it might be true, including the Lost Souls that came looking for you yesterday.”
“You’ve know about all of this since we met and you didn’t tell me.” I crossed my arms over my chest, hugging them around my body to chase away the chill that had settled over the room. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time.”
Rafe shrugged like it was no big deal. “We knew you couldn’t handle the truth, that you would overreact and yell, or try to run away. Looks like we were right.”
“I’m still standing here, aren’t I?” I spat, glaring at him with fury. “I haven’t killed you yet, so that’s something.”
“Look, not to change the subject but would it be possible for us to all sit down and discuss this without insulting each other?” Ethan looked like he was close to passing out.
“I’m not really in the mood to have a heart-to-heart talk with the guys that might be planning to drain my blood. Thanks for the offer though.”
“At least let us explain, Kaylie,” Ethan pleaded.
Rafe had gone quiet, staring at me with his unblinking, unnatural gold eyes.
“I’m going to work. When I get home tonight, I expect you to be gone.” I held up a hand to stop Ethan. “I trusted you and it was a mistake. Get out of my house and get out of my life.”
Since I was still nervous to get close to them, I had to leave through the backdoor. Getting to my car would require me to walk all the way around the block and I was anxious to put space between me and the brothers. I decided to walk to work, which was less than a mile away. My shift didn’t start for a couple of hours and it was still light out.
