IT’S BEEN A FEW WEEKS since we returned to Red Thorne, and I can finally say that I enjoy the place. It’s been different since I’ve been back. I know it’s me. I’m what is different. It just seems . . . better. Less lonely, less cold, less isolated. And it’s all because of the girl in front of me.
‘You know what the best thing about drawing you is?’ Raya asks, those hauntingly beautiful eyes peering at me over the edge of the paper, her sketchpad placed in front of her. It’s a relatively warm day for Red Thorne, but still no sunlight peeks through the dark clouds.
Glancing over at her, I offer her a lazy smile. ‘My perfect looks?’
She rolls her eyes. ‘That, of course, but not what I meant.’
‘What is the best thing?’ I ask.
‘You sit perfectly still. Makes it much easier to get your position right.’ She sits back, and the seat groans a little. ‘I’m done.’
Swinging my legs over the bench, I lean forward. ‘Can I see?’
She flips the sketchpad. She is so damn talented. Every stroke is precise and clear, capturing this moment so well it looks a little unreal. She beams at me, sensing my approval.
‘You’re incredible,’ I tell her.
‘Thanks.’
Placing it down beside her, she stretches, crossing her ankles. ‘So, can I know now?’
‘Ah, yes,’ I say, pushing to my feet. I’ve been dangling a secret over her head for the entire day now. Dropping into the space beside her, I pull out an envelope, handing it to her.
‘What is this?’ she frowns, narrowing her eyes at me.
I shrug. ‘Open it.’
Eyebrows drawing together, she gently opens the envelope, and slides the letter out. The frown deepens as her eyes quickly scan over the page. Her mouth opens and closes several times before she looks at me.
‘What is this . . .’ she whispers, too scared to assume the letter is what she thinks it is.
Grinning, I nod. ‘It’s an acceptance letter.’
‘I didn’t apply for anything . . .’ she trails off, eyes widening. ‘An acceptance letter to what?’
‘That art school you always wanted to go to. In London.’
Her jaw almost hits the floor. ‘What – how – ?’
‘The submission period had closed, but I managed to sneak your entry in.’ I say. ‘Other than a little nudge on my behalf, you got in purely from your talent. No tricks, no persuasion. All you. It’s yours. If you want it.’
Her eyes close for a moment as she gathers herself. Blinking at me with teary eyes, she gives me a watery smile. ‘I love you.’
‘I love you,’ I say softly. ‘You’re happy?’
‘Too happy for words,’ she whispers, and I lean forward, swiping my thumb across her cheek, collecting the tear sliding down it. ‘When does the program start?’
‘Not until early next year. I thought we could travel for a while. Start in Italy, visit my family, and then go from there. Wherever you want to go. And then we can move to London before your classes start.’ I lean back, resting on my elbow. ‘If that sounds like something you’re interested in.’
Although Cora and Raya’s relationship is on the mend, there’s still a lot of progress to go, and the thing the both of them need right now is space, but neither wants to make the first move. Their bickering has returned, and I worry it may escalate into something toxic if something isn’t done about it.
‘This is a dream,’ Raya says, shaking her head. ‘It’s too good to be true.’
‘It’s not a dream, legata una. Anything you want, is yours. All you have to do is ask.’
‘Everything I want is right here.’ She smiles, touching my face with her small, gentle hands. ‘I just wish Alex was here, too.’
Moving my lips to her hand, I kiss her.
‘He’s here. He’ll always be here.’ I lean forward, placing a hand on her chest. ‘Always with you. No matter what.’
The tears flow easily down her cheeks now and she nods. ‘Yes. He is.’
Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I draw her close to me.
‘So,’ she says after a moment, sniffling. ‘When do we go?’
‘I’m ready when you are.’
Theo is throwing us a ‘going away’ party. The house is filled with people I’ve never met. Some I recognise from classes, but mostly they’re people I’ve never seen before. Which isn’t a surprise. That’s Theo’s style. He likes numbers. The higher the better, he always says.
‘You know, I’m surprised you’re not throwing more of a fit,’ I say to Theo when he wanders over to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder. The top few buttons of his shirt are unbuttoned and his hair is tousled. Since he just came from his room and two human girls followed shortly after, I can only imagine what he’s been doing while I was out getting supplies.
Lucy left him. I wasn’t surprised. Their relationship has been a whirlwind of toxicity from start to finish. He’s not taking it well, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. He can’t even admit it to himself how much it hurt him.
‘I’ll miss you, but I’m happy for you. You were miserable here, and I know the power Kian has over me won’t work if I protest you staying. You’re better off gone.’ He smiles, and for once, he’s taking our conversation seriously. ‘I just wish I wasn’t stuck here.’
I don’t want to leave him again, but he has assured me it’s the right thing to do.
‘I wish I could track Kian down and convince him to lift this compulsion off of you.’ I exhale, shaking my head, feeling helpless and frustrated. ‘It’s not fair, binding you to this town, and for what? No fucking valid reason, that’s for sure.’
‘Well, you know your brother, he loves to have control over everything.’ Theo takes a long swig of his beer. ‘He probably has some fucked up plan for me. Something he wants me to do for him.’
Briefly, I wonder if Dante has had any success finding my brother, and acting out his revenge plans. My heart aches for him, and his loss.
‘How do we know Dante didn’t get him?’ I ask, spinning to face my best friend. ‘Have you tried to leave?’
‘I test it every night, brother.’ Theo sighs. ‘He’s alive. I’d know if he was dead.’
I nod. ‘One can only hope.’
‘Anyway,’ Theo says, finishing his drink and tossing it in the bin beside him. ‘Don’t stress about me. I’ll be fine.’
‘Hey,’ I say, lowering my voice, and leaning in a little, hoping the loud music drowns out this part of our conversation, if anyone happens to be listening in. ‘I actually have a favour to ask you.’
‘Anything,’ Theo says, looking at me curiously.
‘Will you look out for Cora? She’s planning to stay around, and since you’re here . . .’ I shrug. ‘I’d appreciate it.’
Theo looks over at Cora, who is doing a body shot off a shirtless guy on our dining room table. He raises his eyebrows.
‘Er . . .’ He clears his throat, looking a mixture between amused, a little reluctant, and also impressed. ‘Sure. I guess. Can’t exactly leave town to do anything better anyway.’
I nod at him. ‘Thank you.’
Leaning back against the wall, I survey the growing crowd. My eyes locate Raya. She throws her head back and laughs at something one of the other revellers say, and my heart feels full at the sight of her smile. She will be grieving and dealing with everything that has happened for a long time, but she is strong, and will get through it. Like she once told me, she’s got this.
‘It’s nice seeing you happy, man,’ Theo says, nudging me. ‘I can’t remember seeing you happy. It’s been . . . well . . . years.’
‘I’ve struggled a lot,’ I admit. ‘And I’m sorry that I took my moods out on you when you just needed your best friend.’
‘I wasn’t very considerate, or understanding of what you were going through,’ Theo says, and I turn to him in shock. He has never been honest with me like this. Or at least, not since we turned, and our lives changed so much. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’m sorry, too.’
‘I’m not jumping with joy that you are replacing me, but if I had to be replaced, she isn’t the worst choice,’ Theo says, his lips spreading into a thin line. ‘She would die for you. I like that.’
I snort. ‘How could I replace you, Theo?’
Theo smirks, lifting another beer to his lips. ‘Exactly. No one can compare.’
I laugh. ‘Totally.’
Theo reaches for one of the bottles in the bucket of ice near us, and silently hands me one. I take it, twisting off the cap, and take a long sip. The beer is cold and crisp, and I take long, greedy gulps.
‘How are you doing?’ I ask. ‘With Lucy gone.’
‘It’s done,’ he says dismissively, not meeting my eyes. ‘Time to move on.’
‘Right.’
Ignoring me, Theo pushes off the wall. ‘I’m going to mingle.’
‘Who are these people?’ I ask, arching a brow.
‘Don’t know.’ Theo shrugs. ‘Don’t care.’
He weaves through the bodies and pauses when he sees a girl dressed in a fiery red dress dancing. He smirks down at her, and I shake my head.
I’m alone for barely a minute before Cora strides up to me, shoving a shot glass in my hand. She smacks her glass into mine.
‘Cheers,’ she mutters, and throws it back.
I mimic her and then place the empty glass down onto the table. When I look back up, she is squinting at me.
‘Can I help you?’ I question.
‘You look after her,’ she demands, pointing a finger at me.
‘You know I will,’ I say flatly, noticing that she is swaying slightly.
‘I mean it, Hunter.’
‘So do I.’
She blows out a breath, moving to my side, and sagging back against the wall.
‘You okay?’ I ask, knowing that’s a stupid question when she clearly isn’t, but much like Theo, she would rather pretend nothing is wrong, rather than face the problem head on.
‘Yup,’ she says, rolling her lips into her mouth, and brushing the dark strands of her hair out of her eyes.
‘Are you okay with Raya going?’ I ask.
‘Yes.’ She nods. ‘It will be good for her. She deserves it.’ Running a tongue across her teeth, her eyes flick to mine. ‘You make her happy, and that’s what is most important.’
‘Are you still planning to stay here?’
‘Yeah. I don’t care much for where I live. I like it here. I want to get my head back on straight. Get a job, or go back to study. Or both. Just try to live as normal of a life as I can. That’s all I want right now.’
‘I think that’s the mistake most vampires make. They think they are beyond all the mundane day-to-day stuff. But life gets boring when you don’t do things to keep you busy.’
‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘That makes sense. The years just keep on coming when you’re a vampire. I can see how life could get dull if you get everything you want all the time.’
‘Exactly.’
I watch as Cora gazes over towards Raya and I see a little bit of her frostiness melt away.
‘Do you think we will ever go back to how things were before?’ Cora asks, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Between Raya and I?’
‘Maybe not, but I think you will resolve things in time,’ I reply honestly. ‘And time is something we have.’
‘I hope so,’ she murmurs softly, chewing her lip.
The front door swings open, and a prickle of awareness rolls down my spine. I stiffen, snapping my head up to see Dante step inside. He’s dressed in a casual T-shirt and faded jeans, his long hair pulled into a low bun.
‘What the hell is he doing here?’ Cora hisses, instinctively stepping closer to me.
Dante’s eyes search through the bodies and land on mine. He stills for a moment, and then nods, raising his hands in a peace-like gesture. Unhurriedly, he strolls toward me, and Theo and Raya flock to our sides instantaneously, sensing his arrival, too.
‘Evening,’ Dante greets us, his voice deep, rumbling from somewhere in his chest. ‘I don’t mean to intrude.’
‘Hi, Dante.’ Raya smiles kindly at him. ‘How are you?’
‘Been better.’ He smiles tightly. ‘I just wanted to let you know that Kian got away. I’ve lost all trace of him, yet again.’ He throws a hand through his hair, looking weary. ‘Wish I had better news.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I say to him. ‘I know how important this was to you.’
Looking down at his feet, he nods. ‘I’m hoping that if any of you hear anything about his whereabouts, that you might contact me?’
‘Of course,’ I say.
Dante looks relieved. Pulling out his phone, he hands it over to me, and I program mine and Raya’s numbers into it before passing it around the group for everyone to do the same.
‘Thanks,’ he says, shoving it back into his pocket. ‘That’s all. I guess.’
‘Stay,’ Cora suggests. ‘Have a drink. You look like you could use one.’
Dante looks surprised at this.
‘A friend of Hunter’s is a friend of mine,’ Theo says, clapping Dante on the back like they have been buddies for years. ‘Stay as long as you’d like.’
‘Thank you.’ Dante bows his head.
Cora and Theo disappear into the crowd while Raya and I pull up a chair at the table. Dante drops into the one beside me, resting back into it.
Raya pulls out a beer, passing one to Dante, and then one to me. Simultaneously, we crack it open. Dante tilts his drink toward me, and I clink mine with his.
‘To new beginnings,’ I say.
‘Cheers to that,’ he murmurs, and silently, we all take a sip.