Page 52 of Fated to Them

Cyrus nods. “Go to sleep, Addie,” he says, and I close my eyes, rolling back to face the bedroom door.

I wait for them to fall asleep. I wait longer till it is 11:40PM before quietly hopping out of bed. Cyrus rolls over while I stand frozen on the spot to see if he will wake.

I throw on some pants and grab my jumper before walking downstairs. Every noise and creak under my feet make me hold my breath, wondering if they have heard it.

Getting to the front door, I quickly open it before gently pulling it shut behind me. The soccer fields are at the end of my street, backing onto the wetlands. The ground feels cold under my feet as I walk across my neighbors’ dew-covered lawns.

I see Sam’s car at the end of the street, but he isn’t inside it. So, I head for the grandstands. Sam is sitting on one of the benches.

Chapter Eighteen

Adeline

Sam stands up when he notices me. “You must be freezing,” he says, looking down at my bare feet.

“I can’t stay long. They might wake up.”

“They’re at your place?”

I nod.

“I was talking to my boss. We might be able to do something to get rid of your mark.”

“You told your boss about them?”

“If you sit down, I will explain, Addie,” he says, and I sit down.

Sam looks around nervously. “I don’t work for no tech company, Addie. Your father didn’t work for one either.”

My father? Sam has never met my father, so why does he mention him?

“My father? What’s he got to do with any of this?”

“Your father worked with mine. I knew your dad. He was a good man. He was also a hunter like me.”

“A hunter?”

“Yes, we are raised to hunt down the likes of them. Usually, the oldest of each generation takes over from their parents when they turn eighteen. Your father would have introduced you to our world when you were old enough like my father did.”

“Wait, that makes no sense, Sam. My dad died in a freak accident.”

“A freak accident where they never found the body?” he says, making me think.

So much didn’t make sense about his death, but I couldn’t believe he would keep this from us.

“He was killed by a vampire, Addie,” he says, making my head snap toward him. “You wanted to know why I came back. It was because of your bosses. I have been back for a while. We have been trying to track them for months. This is the first time they have stayed this long, so I was sent back to see why. Then I noticed you started working for them.”

“Wait, why are you tracking them?”

“We like to keep tabs on them, make sure they don’t slip up. If they do, we step in. As long as they control themselves, we usually don’t seek them out and leave them be. Well, until I found out you were their mate.”

“So, you know what mates are?”

Sam nods, cocking his head to the side, looking at my neck. I pull my hair forward, covering it, not liking how he stares at it.

He drops down in front of me, placing his hands on my thighs. “I can help you be free of them, Addie, before your bond kicks in. As long as Cyrus hasn’t marked you, the bond can be reversed.”

“How?” I ask. None of this really makes sense.