Page 55 of Hunted

Ellie: You’re the best. River made me soup. And fed the rabbits salad.

Three blinking dots appeared. My sister was typing. The dots disappeared. I waited patiently. The dots reappeared.

Hayden: You really think he’s your mate?

Ellie: I think some part of me has always known.

Hayden: I’m busy for the next week or two, but I’ll text him and tell him to meet me for coffee so we can talk. No promises. But I’ll hear him out.

I was just typing out a response when River came back in, his face a dark mask. I scrambled up.

“Is everything okay?”

His expression softened. “No one’s been hurt, but I have to go. August found something on the hard drive that could be an important lead. We need to follow up on it.”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “You’ll be careful?”

He pulled me into his arms, kissing me gently. “I’ll always come home to you. I promise.”

After his taillights disappeared at the end of the driveway, my phone buzzed.

Rowan: I shouldn’t have shot your idea down without listening. I think it’s worth exploring, trying out the vaccine on vampires. But the thing is, with the history of medical experimentation on feral wolves and lower caste vampires, it needs to be us, too, children of the aristocracy taking the risks, not just those who historically have had no other choice.

Ellie: What are you saying?

Rowan: That if you decide to go forward with this, Vlad and I want to be first in line.