AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I still had to make my last drop of stow at the back of the restaurant, but all I wanted to do was run as far and fast as I could. I didn’t respond to his call, but he yelled out louder, forcing me to acknowledge him before he caused too much of a scene.
“What?” I barked.
“Why is everyone so hostile around here?” he demanded, losing the flirtatious act, a deep expression of annoyance overtaking him. “What is this place?”
I didn’t even know how to respond.
He’s determined to keep up with this babe in the woods routine, huh?
Scoffing, I whirled around again and headed into the back, fighting to regain my composure. Why now? What could he possibly want after all this time?
Two hundred years was a long while to keep a low profile, and when Orson learned that my mate had returned from the dead…
I shuddered and swallowed, trying my best to forget what I’d just seen. Maybe he had just come back for me, and he’d take a hint now and go home.
But I didn’t believe that for a second. Trouble was brewing in Pario City, and I had a terrible feeling that I was going to be caught up in the middle of it.
Chapter7
Elijah
Before the redhead had appeared, I’d had my foot halfway out the door, determined to return to Seven Rock where I belonged… at least in part. But despite her icy cold reception, the pull I had toward her told me that I was in the right place, at least for the moment.
Does she know me?
She certainly acted like she did, but gauging by the way she talked and acted, she didn’t like me very much.
I watched her disappear into the back of the diner, tempted to chase after her, but after what had happened at the last place, I didn’t want to push my luck. I could handle myself, but without having a proper handle on this city and the underlying animus surrounding me, I decided to leave her.
I had the distinct sense that I would see her again, however. I wasn’t going anywhere yet.
I paid my tab to the waitress who was considerably less flirty now, her gaze averted as she took my money, even with the handsome tip. I noticed she went out of her way to avoid touching me.
“What did you mean earlier when you said I was ‘one of those’?” I asked her.
She balked to a near opaque and physically stepped back from the table.
“I didn’t mean to insult you,” she cowered, fear coloring her eyes. “I just meant that you’re an Original.”
“Original what?” I snickered, bemused.
I’d been called a lot of things before, but that was a first. The bell dinged from the serving counter, and she rushed to address the order, rather than respond to me, leaving me to down the last sip of my warm beer and stare pointedly at the swinging door to the kitchen.
But as the minutes ticked by, it became abundantly clear that the angry, mystery redhead who sucked the breath from my lungs was not going to resurface.
Reluctantly, I stood and gestured for the nervous server again, and she begrudgingly trudged back toward me.
“Do you need something else?” she asked, still avoiding my gaze.
“Where’s the woman who was sitting with me? She went into the back earlier. Is she still there?”
“Abigail?”
Unexpectedly, the name sent spikes of pleasure through me.
“Abby,” I blubbered, the moniker falling off my tongue as if I’d whispered it a thousand or more times already. Blinking, I centered myself. “Yes. Her.”
The server shook her head. “She left a while ago.”
