Dead silence came across the line, and it was almost a full minute before Liam spoke again. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Liam’s breath exploded out of him, and Mike heard the cushions of a couch sinking. “Oh shit.” Grief laced Liam’s voice as his breathing became labored over the line. “What happened?”
Mike filled him in on the details in a flat, monotonous tone. If he allowed emotion to get involved, he’d tear this room to shreds. He was almost done with the story when the door opened and Mollie walked over to sit beside him. She rested her hand on his thigh and her head on his shoulder while he spoke.
The warmth of her body helped calm him; he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. On the other end of the line, he heard someone enter the room as he finished speaking with Liam and then the whispered voices of David and Sera, but Liam didn’t respond to them.
“We have to get Jack,” Liam finally said after at least another minute of silence.
“We will,” Mike said. “We’re going to need a lot of help to do it and to eradicate every bastard on that island.”
“I’ll bring help,” Liam said. “Do you think the ones who caught you will flee now that you’ve escaped?”
“No. I think they believe they’re untouchable. It will only be more of a game to them when we return.”
“Assholes,” Liam breathed. “Where are you?”
Mike told him the name of the town in northern Labrador.
“We’ll leave soon.”
It would take them over a day, possibly two to drive there, but they would get there as fast as they could.
“Your mate,” Liam said. “Are you going to change her before you go back to the island?”
Mike’s hands clenched on the phone and Mollie’s knee. He longed to take her mortality from her and make her stronger, but he couldn’t. “No.”
Mollie frowned when Mike’s tension ratcheted up, but she hadn’t heard what irritated him.
“That’s probably not a good move,” Liam said.
“It’s the one I’m going to make,” Mike stated. “I have to go now. We still have a lot to take care of here. I’ll call you when I get a new cell phone; if I can find one in this town.”
“Be careful.”
“I will,” Mike said and hung up.
He kissed the top of Mollie’s head before rising. He couldn’t stand to be apart from her but being too close was also difficult as she was a temptation he had to resist.
“We have to get supplies,” he said, and she nodded.
Chapter Forty-Six
He took the two of them to the clothing store the clerk told him about earlier. He didn’t dare leave the sisters alone in the motel while they were still so close to the island. There could be more possible enemies here, or the Savages could send out humans and security in search of their escapees.
Mollie picked the lock on the back door of the small clothing/grocery store that also sold bait and feed for livestock. They each took some clean clothes from the racks, sneakers, and Mollie stole some bandages for her arm before they returned to the motel to shower.
Hopefully, no one would notice the missing articles of clothing. The last thing they needed was to be seen around town wearing stolen clothes. Staying here would attract the attention of the locals, as he doubted they got many visitors in town, and being labeled as thieves would not be good as he couldn’t change the memories of everyone here.
When they were showered and changed into their new jeans and long-sleeved shirts, they went in search of food for Mollie and Aida as well as himself. The only restaurant in town, a small diner named Musco’s, was still open; two other customers were inside.
Mike’s wounds were healing, but he required blood. While Mollie and Aida ate pancakes and sausages, Mike fed on the staff and the customers before erasing their memories of the encounter.
Back at the hotel, he left Mollie and Aida in the third room while he returned to the second and closed the door. Glutted on blood and healing fast, he called Liam back to tell him he hadn’t been able to locate a cell phone. Mike doubted there was any cell phone service here as, after capturing them, the Savages took them further north.
* * *
Mollie sat on the edge of the bed as she rested her hands on her knees and gazed at the closed door between her room and Mike’s. Ever since they arrived in this town, she’d felt Mike pulling away from her, but she didn’t know why.
“He’s a good man, for a vampire,” Aida said as she sat on the edge of her bed and flipped idly through the three TV channels.
“Would you stay with him and his family?”
Aida’s hand stilled on the remote as she gazed at the TV. “Do we have any other choice?”
“We could figure out something else.”
Aida started flipping through the channels again. “As long as they don’t try to eat us, I’ll be fine staying with his family.”
“They won’t.”
“That’s what they said about the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park too.”
Mollie chuckled. “Mike’s older than us, but he’s not Jurassic old.”
A small smile curved the corner of Aida’s mouth before it slid away. “He wants you to stay with him forever.”
Mollie took a deep breath before plunging in. “I want that too.”
Aida’s hand froze on the button before her head turned slowly toward Mollie. “As in you want to be a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
Aida tossed the remote aside before scrambling over the bed to sit across from Mollie. “Do you understand what you’re saying? What that would make you? What you would have to do, forever?”
“I do. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.”
And, deep down, she’d known this was the path she would take. She loved Mike, and in the end, it was as simple as that.
“I’m not going to leave you. I’ll stay close by while you’re at college…” Her voice trailed off when Aida winced. “Aida?”
“College seems so silly now, doesn’t it?” Aida asked. “After everything we know and everything we’ve been through, how can we go back to normal lives? Or as normal as we’ll get once we enter the vampire equivalent of witness protection.”
“Because we have to return to as much normal as we possibly can. That’s the way life goes. Big things happen, but the world keeps turning, and we have to keep going with it because there is no other choice.”
“You’re not returning to normal; you’re saying you plan to plunge into the insanity.”
“Yes, but I’m not giving up my dreams. I’m still going to college, whether online or at a university, it doesn’t matter, but I still plan to help people. Besides, an eternity of sitting on my ass without anything else to do would get rather tedious after a while, don’t you think?”
“I think you could find plenty to do with tall, blond, and gorgeous over there,” Aida teased.
Mollie forced a smile, but Aida’s words caused jealousy to twist through her. It was unreasonable, given that Mike was precisely as Aida described, but she didn’t want anyone looking at him like that. He was hers and hers alone.
“When would you do this?” Aida asked.
“Soon.”
Aida’s eyebrows drew together as she gazed at Mollie. “But you barely know him. Why don’t you wait and see if you can still stomach him a year from now when the lust burns off, you’re asking him to wash his hair out of the sink for the thousandth time, and you can’t stand each other anymore?”
She knew Aida couldn’t possibly understand, she barely understood, but she would never grow tired of Mike. He would annoy her, as she would him, but she would never stop loving him. She felt the truth of that in every inch of her body.
“There’s a reason why waiting might be impossible,” she said.
Mollie filled Aida in on the things Mike had told her about
mates and what they meant to a vampire. Her sister’s mouth fell further open, and her eyes got bigger as Mollie spoke. When she finished, Aida sat for a few minutes before responding.
“It’s almost romantic considering how bloodthirsty some of them are and how vicious they can all be.”
“Mike’s not like the ones who held you captive,” Mollie said.
“I know, but I’ve seen what he can do, and he’s vicious. He beat that one guy’s head off with his bare hands.”
Mollie inwardly cringed at the reminder. “I was there.”
“Will you be violent like that?”
“I’m sure I will be if anyone threatens someone I love.”
“And do you love him?”
“More than I believed I could love a man, and I want a future with him. Before Mike, I never saw myself trusting or loving someone enough to settle down with them.”
“That’s because our sperm donor was an asshole, and you never got over him walking out on us.”
“Thank you, Dr. Freud,” Mollie retorted.
Aida laughed and held up her hands. “Just calling it as I see it, and I don’t have the psych classes you have.”
“Hmm,” Mollie muttered as her thoughts turned to their father.
For years, she’d refused to admit her father leaving had any effect over her relationships, or lack thereof, with men, but Aida was right. However, she would not let her father taint what she had with Mike.
There were lots of good men in the world, and Mike was one of them. Mollie brushed her fingers over her watch as she recalled her grandpop, the only man before Mike who never let her down.
“I don’t want to lose you,” Aida said.
“You won’t,” Mollie vowed. “I won’t do this unless I have your blessing.”
Aida blinked at her. “But you love him and can envision an eternity with him when I can barely see past three months with any of the guys I’ve dated. And before you try to analyze me, it has nothing to do with our donor; I get bored easily.”
It was true, Aida preferred to play the field and didn’t stick to a type as Mollie had before Mike. However, none of the guys Aida dated held her attention for long. The same with subjects at school; Aida wanted to learn it all, but she couldn’t settle on anything she loved enough to do it for the rest of her life. Her plan with college was to study everything and hopefully decide on something.
“I do love him, very much,” Mollie said. “I want to spend an eternity with him, but I love you too, and I won’t lose you.”
Aida’s eyes filled with tears before she flung herself across the space separating them and into Mollie’s arms. “You’ll never lose me,” she sobbed. “No matter what, I’ll be here for you.”
Mollie lowered her head to Aida’s as she ran her hand over her sister’s silken hair. “And I’ll always be here for you.” Mollie braced herself for Aida’s reaction to her next words, but she had to tell her all of it. “Mike also said mates can’t live without each other, they either go mad or die if something happens to the other.”
Aida lifted her head from Mollie’s chest and blinked at her. “So, if you become a vampire, if he dies, you die or go bonkers, and vice versa?”
“Yes.” When Aida stiffened in her arms, Mollie rushed to get her next words out. “I’m hoping Mike can wait for a little bit. He said it would become more difficult for him not to complete the bond as time progresses, but I have to make sure you’re safe and settled before we do anything just in case something does happen to one of us.”
“Well, if something happens to you while you’re mortal, then I lose you anyway, and becoming a vampire would make you stronger. Plus, I’ve seen him in action; not much is going to take that guy out, so I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
“Aida—”
“You love him, Mollie, anyone can see that. You’ve put your life on hold for me since Mom got sick, and I won’t let you do it anymore. I’m eighteen; I have a plan in life, sort of, but I’ll figure it out as I go, I always do. However, I’ll never forgive myself or you if you use me as an excuse to keep putting your life on hold. If this is what you want, do it and do it tonight before he snaps, because that won’t be pretty.”
Mollie didn’t know how to respond, and she was saved from having to do so by Aida’s next words.
“It’s not fair; I’m going to get old and wrinkled while you stay forever young,” Aida muttered.
“Who knows, maybe you’ll become a vampire too,” Mollie teased, and Aida shuddered. Mollie’s amusement vanished when she recalled the agony of Raul’s bite. That pain was something Aida experienced for days at the hands of the monsters holding her captive. “Do you want to talk about what happened while we were apart?”
“I don’t… don’t know if I can,” Aida said in a hitching voice.
A knock on the door separating their rooms brought Mollie’s head up before Mike cracked it open and peered inside.
“Everything okay?” he asked when he spotted Aida clinging to her.
“Fine,” Mollie said, giving him a small smile, which he didn’t return.
“I have to step out for a minute; I’ll be in shouting distance. So if you need me, for anything, scream,” he said.
“We will,” Mollie assured him as Aida pulled herself from Mollie’s arms and sat beside her on the bed.
“I won’t be gone long.” Mike closed the door behind him when he left the room.
Mollie yearned to go after him and comfort him too, but Aida needed her, and Mike didn’t seem ready for that.
Aida lay on the bed and rested her head on the pillow. “I do like him,” Aida said. “And I really like that he’s not your typical wimpy guy. About time you stepped outside the box and found yourself a hottie.”
Mollie grabbed the other pillow and playfully hit her sister with it. Aida smiled as she batted the pillow away.
“So, do you want to talk about it?” Mollie asked.
Aida shrugged. “You saw it. They kept us in that room, Scott took pleasure in humiliating us, and they fed on us. It hurt.”
“I know.” Mollie’s hand went to Raul’s marks on her neck before she yanked it away. She didn’t want any reminder of that guy. “Did they do anything else to you in there?”
“They didn’t rape us. That would have made us damaged goods.”
Mollie did a double take at her words. “What?”
Aida sat up beside her. “Scott informed us we were all going up for auction when the hunt was over, and whoever purchased us would be able to do anything they wanted to us. Until then, only feeding was allowed as the vampires didn’t want damaged goods. They didn’t care if we were virgins or not, but they would not pay for us if any of the other vampires there raped us; that was for our purchaser alone to do. Raul and some of his cronies stood guard to make sure feeding was all that transpired before the auction.”
“Monsters,” Mollie muttered.
“Definitely,” Aida replied and curled up against Mollie’s side.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Mollie waited until Aida was asleep before carefully removing her sister’s arm from her belly and tiptoeing over to the adjoining room. Mike had poked his head in when he returned a couple of hours ago then retreated to his room. She hadn’t seen or heard him since then.
She didn’t knock on the door; if he was still awake, he knew she was coming. If he was sleeping, Mollie didn’t want to wake him, but she needed to see him.
When she opened the door, she discovered him on the bed with his back against the headboard. His clasped hands rested on his stomach, and the glow of the TV flickered over the planes of his handsome face.
Mollie froze as she took a moment to take him in. He was magnificent, but the strain of the past few days and the loss of Doug had etched lines around his pinched mouth and created a ruthless air about him that wasn’t present when they first met.
Mike didn’t move as Mollie stepped into the room and closed the door. The stolen blue
shirt she wore was baggy on her slender frame, and the jeans rode high on her ankles, but she was still the most enticing woman he’d ever seen. He desired her, but he didn’t dare make a move toward her. With the state he was in, he had no idea what he would do to her.
When Mike remained motionless as she crept toward him, Mollie felt her confidence about their relationship wane. Maybe now that they were off the island, he’d changed his mind about being her mate. He certainly wasn’t acting like the warm, passionate man who had held her for hours and protected her life above his.
He’d said he would keep her safe on the drive here and wanted her forever, but had he changed his mind? Had he, after some time alone, concluded Doug’s death was her fault and hated her for it?
“Are you… are you okay?” she asked tremulously.
Mike was about as far from okay as it got; he’d spent part of his evening hauling ice into the room next door to dump it in the tub and onto his friend’s body. He did not want to bury Doug here, but he didn’t know how they would get his body home before it became necessary to bury it. The ice would only hold off decomposition for so long, and he couldn’t stand the idea of Doug rotting in this place.
Not to mention, the scent and sight of Mollie were working the demon inside him into a near frenzy as it clamored in his head. He waged war with what he craved versus what was best for her.
Mine! Claim her. She’s yours. Give her immortality; protect her!
Yes, because immortality worked out so well for Doug.
Mike closed his eyes as a fresh wave of grief broke through his incessant, claiming instinct.
“Mike?” Mollie whispered when he grimaced.
When she rested her hand on his arm, he flinched from her. Unable to suppress her dismay over the reaction, Mollie snatched her hand away. Had he been playing with her on the island so he could have her blood?
No, that made no sense. He may have needed to feed, but he wouldn’t continually defend her and risk his life just for her blood; she was sure of it. He’d had plenty of other options for a food source with the animals running around. But even if he hadn’t been playing with her, he was still pulling away, and she had no idea why or what she could do to stop it.
Consumed: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 8 Page 28
