Earth: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Elements Book 1)

by Ava Hardy

  Chapter 6

  Staring up at the ceiling of the SUV, I thought about sitting up and searching for Blake out the window. I didn’t bother as I knew that Chris was in the driver’s seat, already staring out the windshield. Because my head was on the seat behind his, I could only see his head shifting from side to side now and then but I could tell he wasn’t pleased. He wanted to be on the road shortly after sunrise. Everything inside me wanted to protest at that ungodly hour. Somehow I managed, and yet I was already planning a nap as soon as we got on the road.

  When I woke up, Chris said that Blake had gone out to run. It was something that they enjoyed doing. His emphasis on they made me understand that he meant werewolves. I wondered why he didn’t go with Blake but didn’t ask. As soon as he had reached the motel, he had gone off by himself and did whatever it was that he had to do. Chris had no idea what it was that he was doing and neither of us asked. I had to bite my tongue though because I was so curious to ask him what he had been up to.

  I had to smile to myself as I thought about the start to this incredible journey that was promised to me. It was only the second day and we were already delayed; not to mention that we had spent half a day driving in the wrong direction. Thankfully, we were quickly corrected by the mystery that was an Elder. I don’t think he even had a name. If he did, I had no idea what it was. At the time, it didn’t seem appropriate to ask. Not that it mattered, but you know my curiosity. It’ll kill me one of these days.

  Hearing Chris letting out a deep breath, I sat up a little and saw Blake jogging back towards the vehicle. He was covered in sweat and a little dirty. I put my head back down on the seat with a bit of a chuckle. It would be at least twenty minutes for him to shower and get ready. I doubted that Chris was going to let a dirty, stinky man climb into his brand new car. Not even the back storage area deserved that kind of gross.

  “Ten minutes,” Blake said to the open window, not bothering to stop as he made his way to the motel behind us.

  Chris held out a room key, and within thirty seconds, Blake was running back to grab it so he could get inside. No more words were exchanged and they didn’t have to. Chris wanted to leave at least an hour ago. I had felt his mood shift with each passing minute. It wasn’t that he was angry. He was just...anxious. Saving the world was kind of a big deal and other things needed to take priority in his eyes.

  I glanced at my phone, noted the time, and then decided to close my eyes. The weight of not sleeping much kept my eyelids closed tight and I wished that I was one of those people that could fall asleep anywhere. If that was the case, I’d probably fall asleep at my desk or in the middle of a movie when it was extremely boring. Maybe if I was able to control it a little bit. Yeah, that would be better.

  It was two seconds shy of ten minutes when Blake tossed his bag with the rest of the luggage in the back and then slid into the passenger seat. He announced that he had made sure nothing was left behind and then tossed the room key on the dresser for the housekeeper to pick up. Chris didn’t respond as he started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

  Blake glanced back at me and we held eye contact for a few seconds before he turned to look back out the side window. It kind of felt like he was being scolded for being late due to Chris’s silence. Then again, the man wasn’t much of a talker. Blake was an open book. He’d tell anyone and everyone that would listen all about his childhood and how he grew up. His story transitioned to him in the present day and how he works full-time as a firefighter. The front desk clerk took interest in that right away. Her fake smile grew into a real one and her eyes drifted over the front of his body. I had to bite my lower lip to keep from laughing.

  He was a sweetheart, Blake was. His rough edges and how he sometimes spoke before thinking took some getting used to and I was sure it would still catch me by surprise for a while. Chris, on the other hand. That man, even with all his all-American goodness, was still such a mystery. Whenever I started to think about these two, I had to remind myself that I didn’t know them that well. The last few days had been a whirlwind of information, and yet the fact remained the same; I had only known them for about 48 hours. That wasn’t a lot of time. There was still a chance that I’d end up in a barrel in some field.

  A smile spread across my face again as I thought about another way my body would be discovered and I suddenly realized I needed to stop thinking like this. So far, everything they had told me was being proven correct. Even if it was just meeting with the Elder. If they wanted to kill me, that would have been the perfect spot to do so. And really, how else would someone know of that place? And why would Chris buy a brand-new car? It didn’t make sense. The man wouldn’t have stolen it. Last night at dinner, he was undercharged for something and insisted on paying the difference. He puts the G in good. I’m sure he had some flaws though. I just needed to find them. And Blake...I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like he was in this for the wrong reasons. Gram told me to always trust my gut and that was probably the biggest reason why I was lying in the back seat of this SUV.

  Blake’s hand moved to fiddle with the radio dial and I opened my mouth. I wanted to stop him from finding some melodramatic tune that would bore the crap out of everyone but him. It would put me to sleep but then again, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. I could use the rest.

  “Neither of you talk very much,” I stated into the silence, right as the radio clicked on. Blake clicked it off as soon as he heard my voice and glanced back at me with a little smile.

  “What do you want us to talk about?” he asked curiously.

  Shrugging, I turned my head to look at him in the front. “I don’t care. Anything. I feel like you both still know so much about me and yet you’ve only scratched the surface about the two of you. It doesn’t really seem fair.”

  “I didn’t realize this was a competition,” Blake laughed. He shifted in his seat so he could look at me better, his smile growing a little more.

  “It’s not a competition per se but the thought still crosses my mind that I might end up on the five o’clock news,” I smirked. Chris made a soft grumble at my statement and I had to roll my eyes. “I was joking.” I knew he couldn’t see the smile on my face, but I had hoped that he would pick up the tone of my voice.

  “You seem awfully obsessed with murders and true crime elements.” Chris’s statement wasn’t a question, and yet I felt like I had to explain the truth that he spoke.

  I shrugged again. “I’ve always been fascinated by it. There have been cases where people have been found dead after thinking they could solve things. There was even an episode of Criminal Minds where...”

  “Criminal Minds is a fictional TV show.”

  Chris wasn’t fun sometimes. He was so literal and I wanted to reach up to smack the back of his head.

  “I know that but they pull a lot from real cases,” I tried to explain. Looking back at Blake, I stayed stretched out in the back seat and took notice of the way he looked over me. It sent a flutter of butterflies down to my toes.

  “So what do you want to know?” Blake asked curiously in an attempt to bring the conversation back to the main point.

  “Does this have to be twenty questions? Do neither of you just have conversations about anything or everything? I’m not an investigator, even though I love those shows. I don’t know the right questions to ask.” I was about to give up on trying to get either of these two to talk. I’d probably have better luck with a brick wall at this point.

  It was Blake’s turn to shrug. He didn’t really have an answer as he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

  “I’m focusing on the road.” Chris’s voice sliced through the brief moment of silence and I was tempted to roll my eyes again.

  I knew it was true; he had to drive. Yet I think there was more going on in his head than staying between the lines. Was he thinking about what the future held? Did he know the difficulties that we’d come across? I wished I could get him to open up and s
hare his thoughts so the three of us could prepare. We could help each other see that we had this and nothing was going to stand in our way. Or was that just me being a little too optimistic? What if we didn’t have this?

  I didn’t say anything else as I rolled over and reached for the blanket I had kicked off. It was bunched up near my feet. Once I had it covering my body, I noticed that Blake was still watching me. I gave him a small smile and he returned it with one of his own. He took notice of what I was doing and turned back around in his seat so he could face forward. The radio came on a few second later, but instead of his usual indie rock, the channel said it played soft hits from every decade. It made me smile as I curled up and got comfortable.

  My eyes closed instantly and my brain started to go back over the thousand what ifs. What if we failed? Would the earth really be destroyed? It was a scary thought that sent waves of dread down my spine. No. It wasn’t going to happen. Chris, for one, I knew would die before he let anything happen to anyone else. His military persona screamed that he would sacrifice anything and everything before he allowed something to happen. Blake too. He might not seem like it but I bet that he had a heart of gold.

  Taking a deep breath, I pushed out all the negative thoughts from my mind and told myself that everything would be alright. Just as I felt myself drifting off, I could hear the soft hum of Blake’s voice as he started to sing along with the song on the radio. Yes, everything right then, in that moment, very perfect. We’d figure out this whole saving the world thing.

  Chapter 7

  The vehicle slowed down and the bright lights were enough to wake me up enough to peek out with one slitted eye. I felt extremely groggy, a fog hanging over my head as my blurry vision started to become clearer. It took a moment for me to realize that I wasn’t at home, sleeping soundly in my own bed. Rolling my head to the side, I groaned slightly from sleeping on the backseat without a pillow.

  Chris’s voice could be heard talking with another person. It wasn’t Blake’s voice so I slowly sat up. Blake was sitting silently in the passenger seat, rummaging through some papers. I looked over towards the driver’s side window and it was then that I realized we were at a border crossing. Chris was talking with one of the agents who had three passports in his hand. Because of my movement, the agent stopped and looked back at me. His flashlight came up to meet my face. My hand came up to shield my eyes from the bright light and Chris explained that I had been sleeping. He mentioned my passport that was in the agent’s hand.

  We were all asked to step outside of the vehicle and to stand near the podium. Chris didn’t argue as he opened his door and Blake did the same. The paperwork was left on the seat before he headed around the front. Both men left their doors open and I wondered how often they had to go through this.

  Still feeling like I was half asleep, I slipped my shoes on and climbed out of the SUV. I moved to stand near Blake. He took one look at me and chuckled softly. Looking at him curiously, I reached up and started to run my fingers through my hair, realizing then that I had a big snarl of hair on the back of my head. I worked on straightening it out as my eyes went to Chris. He was focused on watching the agent. Out of instinct, I turned my head and watched as the man opened the remaining closed doors and checked to make sure there was nobody else inside. I suppose he was also looking for anything that might be a bit suspicious. I wondered what one would consider suspicious, as it seemed kind of objective.

  As we stood there near the little building that was the agent’s office, so to speak, there were several other lanes with agents checking passports and allowing cars to pass through to Canada. Some took longer than others, but some seemed to buzz right through. I watched them closely for a moment before I heard the agent speak and I turned my head back around to look at him. He handed Chris our passports and welcomed us to Canada.

  We climbed back into the vehicle and my eyes stayed on the agent as Chris pulled away from the terminal. There was something about that man that seemed unusual. Looking back towards the front, I watched Chris and Blake exchange looks and I wondered what was wrong.

  “Was he a hunter?” I asked with a soft whisper. It was almost as if I was afraid that someone would be able to hear us as Chris hit the main highway and sped off in the opposite direction of the border.

  “No,” Chris answered, his eyes flicking up to look at me in the rearview mirror. I held his gaze for a moment before he looked back to the road. I wanted to know who or what that man was, but I was starting to think it was just another thing that was going to be kept from me.

  “You should tell her,” Blake whispered as he looked over at Chris. There was some urging in his voice and I wanted to know why things were still being kept from me.

  Chris was quiet so I shifted to the other side of the seat, sliding over so I was behind Blake. It gave me a better view of the side of Chris’s head and I hoped that he could feel my stares burning a hole in the side of his head.

  “It was a vamp.”

  Short and simple but it could have knocked me off my feet.

  “A vamp?” I questioned. I was confused and my mind struggled to think of what he could possibly mean. Then my eyes went wide. “You mean a vampire?!”

  Chris was nodding his head when I looked up at him. Slouching back in my seat, I let out a rush of air and ran my hand over my face. Now I understood why he was hesitant in telling me. First werewolves and saving the world, now vampires. What the hell else was out there that I and the rest of the population didn’t know about it?

  “Shifters and vamps don’t always get along. We’re lucky that we met him at work or else things could have been more intense. It also looked like he hadn’t eaten enough so things would have gotten really hairy.” Blake was trying to explain it more for me but I wasn’t really listening. My mind was still reeling over the whole “vampires are real” thing.

  I was about to ask about vampires and being out in the daylight when I realized that it was dark out. Waking up surrounded by all the stadium lights around the border crossing, I had just assumed that the day wasn’t over.

  “How long did I sleep?” I asked no one in particular as I grabbed my phone. “It’s nearly eight o’clock. No wonder I’m starving.”

  “We can stop in a little bit. I want to put some distance between us and him,” Chris explained, changing lanes so he could pass an older minivan. Blake chimed in to say he was hungry as well. I think it was so that I wouldn’t feel alone, but Chris didn’t respond.

  “Where are we going anyway?” I asked, staring out into the darkness through the window. We were in a wooded area so I was only catching shadows from the headlights of the cars behind us. Shuddering, I wondered how many other creatures were lingering out there.

  “You’ll see.” Blake grinned.

  Oh great. Another surprise. I hoped it wasn’t another Elder’s house. The last one wasn’t all that great. I was pleased that he hadn’t done any major jabs or pulled some stupid stunt. In fact, the warnings I got were a bit overkill and the Elder really wasn’t that bad. Weird, but not bad.

  Crossing my arms, I slouched down a little and kept my eyes staring out the window. Vampires were real. Why didn’t get they get along with the shifters? Was it all shifters or just the werewolves? There were so many questions and I wondered if I could get any answers out of either of them. Something told me that I shouldn’t even bother. Chris seemed to have a lid on any important information and Blake had to get permission first. Access denied.

  Up ahead, I could see a glow in the distance. I sat up a little and looked at it more, realizing that it was city lights reflecting off of the clouds that blanketed the sky. Right on cue, my stomach growled and I was literally crossing my fingers in hopes that we were stopping to eat. I didn’t care if it was a day-old hot dog from the deli section of some gas station at this point. Just thinking about that hot dog made my nose wrinkle up in disgust but my stomach was saying “yes please.”

  Chris took the first exit off of
the highway and I was surprised to see that the city wasn’t as large as I had originally thought. The glow made me think that we’d be driving into another Seattle, but this was at least half that city. No complaints from me though. I was already seeing fast food signs on both sides of the street. I didn’t care which one he pulled into, as long as he stopped at one of them.

  He turned onto the main street and merged into traffic. Blake was quiet as he stared out his own window. It looked like he was studying everything as we slowly rolled past buildings, restaurants, and other cars. I wanted to ask but figured I could later. He seemed so interested in seeing our new surroundings that I didn’t want to interrupt him.

  Leaning over a little, I glanced out the front windshield and started to wonder exactly where Chris was taking us. The way he drove made it obvious that he had, in fact, been to this town before. He was going somewhere specific. All I cared about was that this somewhere had something to eat. At the mention of food, my stomach growled again.

  When we were near the other end of town, Chris finally pulled into the parking lot of a sit-down style diner. It reminded me of a Denny’s but it was a local joint. The name, Ruth’s Place, was probably the owner or owner’s mother or a grandkid—something. There was always a sentimental attachment when people opened places. And I got it. You cooked dishes people loved and you wanted to feed them; food brings people together. You wanted it to feel like home so you named it after yourself or someone important. I just hoped Ruth had a good selection on the menu ’cause I might be ordering twice. Damn these boys for not waking me up for lunch.