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We’re coming, Elijah.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Elijah
Istraighten as the pain from seeing Saylor running away from me almost brings me to my knees. It was the only option. She will go to our friends. She will find the vampires. I’m afraid they are the only ones that can take Tiffany. I have no doubts about my strength, but I can admit that a vampire is more powerful than I am. I have tried to avoid all vampires until I moved here. I had hoped to never see Silas again, but I had no idea that Tiffany would be the one to worry about.
Tiffany isn’t a young innocent girl anymore. She is still thin but her posture is tall and confident. Her hair is short and she’s dyed it red since the last time I saw her. She’s wearing a tight, long skirt and a tank top.
I feel nothing but anger and sadness.
“You look even better than you did in high school.” She saunters over to me.
“You do to. The last time I saw you, you were tied to a tree,” I say dryly. I had just turned eighteen when I left. Sixteen years isa long time, yet the memory of it is still so vivid. I pick up my hat from the ground.
Her tinkling laugh echoes around us. “Walk with me,” she offers, which isn’t really an option. She sees my hesitance. “Elijah, you know I could break your neck with a flick of my wrist.”
I fall in step beside her. She is taking me further away from my mate. “Why are you not dead?”
“Did you know that I can hold my breath for a very long time?”
“No, that’s not something we shared with each other.” I pull my hat low.
“I can. As a vampire, it’s even longer.” She twines her arm through mine as if we are two friends taking a stroll, and I have to hide my disgust at her touch. “I was so in love with you. You were everything to me. Did you know?”
“I knew you had a crush,” I respond carefully.
She laughs. “So much more. I knew that you were hiding something. It was in the way you carried yourself. You were so confident. So agile and fierce. You were not a normal boy. I would have never guessed at that time that you were a cheetah.”
“Silas told you.”
“He did. He told me when he shared his feelings for me. I was shocked on both counts. I felt nothing for him, and his revelations about you made me want you more than ever.”
“Where is Silas?” I need to be prepared if he is hiding in the shadows.
“You’re skipping forward in the story,” she scolds, digging her nails into my arm. “But he’s dead. A man lets his guard down when a woman is fucking him. I cut his head off.” She giggles. “He lost his purpose. I needed him until I didn’t anymore.” She sighs. “A man in love will do just about anything to make the woman happy.”
“Right.” I know the feeling. I feel no sympathy for Silas.
“I waited for you to return my love. I waited for you to do something to show me you felt the same way,” she hisses. “But no, you saw me as this little poor human that needed your protection.”
“I saw you as a friend,” I correct her.
“You saw me as a fool,” she spits. “I gave you everything. You had every opportunity to love me as I did you. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t you love me? I was completely devoted to you.” Her nails dig deeper with every word, and I hide my wince of pain.
“Do you know about mates?” I ask.
“I’ve heard something about them. Why? Do you think that woman is your mate?” she asks harshly.
She may be within the same world as I am, but her knowledge is seriously lacking. This is a good thing.
“No,” I lie, so bitter on my tongue. “But every shifter is waiting for their mate. You were not mine.”
“So that is the only reason you didn’t love me?” she pouts.
That is a loaded question. I could tell her the truth but I want to stay alive until my mate comes for me. “Is that why you pretended to die? How did that happen?”
“Silas came to me. He told me what you were, what he was. He professed his love and told me how I could get back at you but at the same time live forever. He lured me in with the talk of power. I would never die. I would be able to see the world, and never have to worry about anything. He wanted to be with me and I let him think that was what was going to happen. I felt less than excited to spend so much time with him when all I wanted was to get back with you.
