by Amy Sparling
“You’re absolutely right about that,” I whisper as I press my hips into his.
His arms are around me in an instant, and I’m lifted off the floor until I’m eye level with him. His mouth crushes into mine, and I kiss him hard, thinking of all the times I’ve wanted him in the last few days but was too scared to make a move in that little room.
I feel his hand slide down my thigh and then he pulls my leg up and around his waist. I do the same with my other leg, holding onto his shoulders for support. When he presses into me, I shudder with bliss and hold on to him tightly, like the only thing that matters in this world is him. We make love until the water runs cold.
Chapter 7
Theo is all business in the morning. While I’m lying in bed, snuggled up in the motel’s soft bathrobe, he’s up, pacing the floor and making a plan. We’d slept pretty well last night, all things considering. There’s something about knowing you’re in a room with a door you can open anytime you want that really puts the mind at ease. I’m not sure if these beds are amazing, or if I was just sick of sleeping on the floor in that underground room, but I feel like I slept on a cloud last night. All the aches and pains in my body evaporated over the last few hours.
The phone on the nightstand rings and Theo answers it quickly. I turn around to watch him.
“Yes,” he says to the person on the other line. “Perfect, thank you.”
“Who was that?” I ask when he hangs up.
“Good, you’re awake.” Theo smiles, then leans over me and goes for a kiss. I slap my hand over my mouth and he kisses my knuckles instead.
“Morning breath,” I say under my hand. “Get away from me.”
“I never want to get away from you,” he says, but he does lean back and lets me get up and push off the covers.
“Trust me, morning breath kissing is not something we should do this early into our relationship.”
“But me being alive solely because I’m sucking the life from you is okay?”
I give him a look.
“Sorry, love.” He sits on the bed and leans his head back, looking at the ceiling. “Not something to joke about. As soon as we get home, I’ll be calling every immortal on the planet to find a way to save you.”
“Who was on the phone?” I ask again.
“Room service. They’re bringing breakfast.”
“There’s room service in a place like this?” I say, remembering the little seating area off of the lobby and the sign that advertised complimentary breakfast. Usually free breakfast is something you have to get yourself.
“There is when you offer the sixteen year old kid at the front desk a hundred bucks to run some errands for you.” Theo winks. “Are you going to brush your teeth or just leave me here longing for a kiss from my girlfriend?”
I throw a pillow at him as I stand up. “You are such a nerd.”
He grips the pillow to his chest. “A nerd that’s in love.”
I roll my eyes as I make my way to the bathroom. The motel-provided toothbrushes kind of suck and the toothpaste is so not the quality kind I have back at the mansion, but it works.
As I’m rinsing my mouth, there’s a knock at the door. Theo answers it. “Thank you, thank you,” he says.
“Anytime, man,” says the voice on the other side of the door. “You’re my favorite guest.”
When I step out of the bathroom a short while later, Theo is standing stark naked at the foot of the bed. I choke on my own spit and then try to compose myself. I shouldn’t be so blown away every time I see this gorgeous guy, but I am.
“Breakfast first, sex later,” Theo says, his smile brighter than the sun. Damn, he’s in a good mood today. I can see why.
The kid from the lobby brought us a huge tray of assorted breakfast items from the breakfast bar. There’s also two brown paper bags on the floor in front of the TV.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“It’s what a huge tip will get you,” he says, tossing his wadded up bathrobe at me. He reaches into the bag and pulls out two cell phone boxes. “I had him run to the electronics store down the road and get us prepaid cell phones. The numbers are untraceable. I almost went out this morning to get them while you slept, but then I remembered there’s a psycho immortal bitch after us, so I thought it would be better if I didn’t leave you alone.”
“I like that plan,” I say, swallowing back the fear of being separated from Theo. Knowing he won’t leave me in a time like this is pretty damn comforting. “Please tell me there’s clothes in the other bag?”
Theo grins, putting his hands on his hips, his manhood on full display. “Why? You’re not a fan of walking around nude all day?”
I give him a look. “You’re free to show off your junk, babe, but I’d like some clothes.”
“Your wish is my command.”
He reaches into the bag and pulls out a package of men’s boxers, which he tosses on the bed. There’s a pair of men’s shorts, a shirt, and some shoes in there for Theo, all brand new with tags. Underneath that, the kid from the lobby has chosen a pair of Converse, Roxy brand shorts, and a matching purple T-shirt for me.
“I guessed your size,” Theo says, holding up the shorts to my bathrobe. “Do they fit?”
“You guessed right,” I say, blushing a little. “There’s no underwear in there for me?” I feel stupid asking, but come on. I need them.
“Hell no,” Theo says as he puts on his clothes. “I wasn’t paying some teenage kid to pick out panties for my girlfriend.”
I put a hand on my hip. Theo grins. “But I did pay the housekeeper, who is a woman, so she’ll be here soon.”
My worry melts away. I’m not exactly a fan of hitchhiking back to Texas in short shorts with no underwear. Yuck. “When did you do all of this?” I ask. The last thing I remember was Theo and I falling asleep together on the bed.
“While you were sleeping. You we’re pretty knocked out, which I guess is from a few days of not sleeping.”
“You’re not tired?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m focused.” Now fully clothed, he walks up to me, his hands cupping my cheeks. “We’re going to make it through this. I know we will.”
I try to smile, but the fear of failing is hard to shove back. I mean, we’re just two people and Lady Em has the power of twelve immortality stones. Plus, no one seems to know how to separate me from the bracelet without killing myself in the process. All that hope I’d had when we first learned about the stones is quickly fading away.
“How do we know she’s after us?” I ask. “We haven’t seen any signs.”
“She’s probably not.” Theo leans down for a kiss and then brushes my hair out of my face. “At least not right now. Immortals don’t see time the way we do. She might not come back to check on us for a while, so we need to use that to our advantage.”
The housekeeper drops off a Victoria’s Secret bag for us and Theo tips her a hundred dollars. She’s chosen a beautiful pink lace bra that makes me feel prettier than I’ve felt in ages, and a variety of underwear. She also included a backpack so we can put our stuff in it, which wasn’t on Theo’s list, but it’s very useful.
After I’m dressed, I feel like a normal person again. We take out the cell phones and save each other’s new number into our phones while they charge.
Then I call Riley and Theo walks to the other side of the hotel room to call Kyle.
“This better be Cara,” Riley says as she answers the phone, her voice sounding raspy with sleep.
“It is. Are you still sleeping?” I ask, looking at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s ten-thirty California time, which means it’s past noon in Texas.”
“I had a long night,” she says, yawning.
I’m instantly irritated. “You’ve been out partying all night and I’m stuck here with my life in chaos? Ugh, Riley.”
“Hey now,” she says, sounding hurt. “I was not partying all night. I miss you a ton.”
The pain in her
voice makes me feel bad for my outburst. “I’ll be home soon, I hope. I think we’ll be hitchhiking back to Texas.”
“Oh, gross.”
“I know,” I say with a sigh. I glance back at Theo and he’s deep in conversation. He doesn’t even notice me looking at him. “Try to be fully rested when we get home, okay? I have a lot to tell you. How’s everything going there?”
“Same as usual. You sure you’re okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. I’ll explain later. Just—don’t do anything suspicious.”
“Now that’s impossible,” she says, and I can picture her sly grin.
“Riley!”
“No worries,” she says. “I’ll be patiently waiting for your return.”
“Good. Call me on this number if anything weird happens.”
When I hang up the phone, Theo ends his call too. He saunters over to me, his eyes filled with desire. “Did I hear you say the word hitchhiking?” he asks, his hands sliding around my waist and pulling me close.
“Yes you did, you big eavesdropper.” I poke him playfully in the chest.
His thumbs tuck into the waistband of my shorts, the sensation of his hands sending a warm tingle down to my toes. “You’ll be happy to know we aren’t hitchhiking, love.”
I lift an eyebrow, and focus on keeping my breathing steady which is hard to do because I can feel his erection pressing into my belly. “We’re not?”
“I rented a car that will be dropped off in half an hour,” he says. His tongue flicks across his bottom lip and then he kisses me quickly. “I used the fake name Brian Smith, so when they call me that don’t look surprised.”
“Could you have picked a more generic name?” I ask, laughing.
He tightens his hold around my waist and I slide my hands up his neck, pulling him close to me. “I tried John Doe, but that asshole already rented a car today. I had to pick another fake name.”
His eyes crinkle in the corners and I lean up on my toes to kiss him. “I am so glad we have a car now,” I say, running my tongue along his bottom lip.
“Thought you’d like that,” he whispers. “We have twenty seven minutes until it gets here.”
“Oh? Whatever shall we do to pass the time?” I say as I run my hand down the crotch of his shorts.
Theo’s playful grin turns sultry. “Let me show you.”
Chapter 8
It’s a beautiful California day. The sun is shining, and the grass is green. Even the people seem friendly as we check out of the hotel and walk to our rental car. It’s warm, and the air feels great on my face. California summers aren’t anything like the humid, awful summers in Texas. Maybe after all of this is over, and if I survive of course, maybe Theo and I could move to California one day. We could get a beach house or live somewhere more secluded. Just the two of us.
“You look very introspective.” Theo nudges my elbow as we put our stuff in the trunk of the rented Ford Focus. “What are you thinking about?”
I shrug. “The future, I guess.” Or one that I’m imagining because the way things are right now doesn’t seem like I’ll ever get to live happily with Theo on some beach house. At this point, I’m not even sure I’ll see my next birthday.
“The future,” he says, closing the trunk. “The only thing no one knows.”
We get into the car and crank the air conditioning. It smells like cleaning chemicals and the fake pineapple scent of the air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. As Theo pulls out of the motel’s parking lot, I feel a surge of excitement. We’re finally on the road, in a car. Finally going somewhere. We’re no longer at the mercy of kind strangers, or pushing our bodies to run through rain and mud.
We are no longer trapped and helpless.
“I feel very free right now,” I say, rolling down my window. I let my fingers fly along through the air as we pick up speed on the highway. The light catches my bracelet and I frown. “Well…mostly free.”
Theo squeezes my thigh. “Mind if we stop for a snack? You wore me out back there.”
Memories of our love-making just a short while ago make me blush from head to toe. We are getting very good at showing our feelings for each other.
Theo pulls into a gas station and we load up on sugary soft drinks and salty snack foods. It’s totally not healthy in any way, but it feels good not to care about that right now.
The car has a GPS, so we set it to Texas and then cruise on the interstate. Theo and I talk occasionally, but mostly we just jam out to pop music on the radio and share a bag of M&Ms.
It feels good to be a normal person, if only for a little while. We pull over at stores to take pee breaks, and around three in the afternoon, we find a little Mexican restaurant off the highway and we stop for a late lunch.
The waitress treats us like everyone else. It feels good to order food and eat it and just chill out for a while. The enchiladas are incredible and their homemade sweet tea is the best drink on earth. I soak up these feelings and hold onto them, because as soon as we get back to the mansion, who knows what’ll happen.
When we’re back on the road after lunch, Theo tells me a little about the clans. He knows the most about Embrook, since that’s his true clan. They were founded at the same time America declared its independence, and most of the elders of the clan were masons, and the very founders of the whole USA. He tells me they don’t have any famous people like George Washington in the clan. The names everyone knows from the history books were just regular humans. It’s the immortals who controlled them behind the scenes.
The Embrook clan was founded on the basis of hope and prosperity, and as Theo points out, independence. Their clan comes together for meetings and to help one another, like how Michael did for us by giving us cash. But the Embrook clan doesn’t live together, or even near each other. They keep to themselves, each choosing to live their life the way they want. Theo says most of the Embrook clan still lives in America, but some travel around from time to time, like his friend Damien who lives in Greece.
Then there’s the Dover clan, which Theo explains is the original clan. They’re from Europe and were founded in the year 1200 by a man who was a direct descendant from the alchemist who invented the original two hundred stones. Back then, the stones were kept for only the elite, a few men of power or clergy of whom the creator felt was worthy. After he had been dead several centuries, his heir decided to form the original clan.
Dover clan is headquartered out of the Dover Castle in Kent, which is in the United Kingdom. Theo tells me the castle is a tourist spot right now, but what the tourists don’t see is the clan members who live there in secret. Apparently, they’re all pretty ancient, having been transformed into immortals once they were already middle-aged or older. According to the Embrook clan, the Dover castle is home to several immortality stones and their lifeblood stone mates. They’ve been hoarding them for centuries because Dover doesn’t like the idea of expanding the number of immortals on the planet. It’s because of this that the Dover Castle is heavily guarded from intruders.
As for the Rosewater clan, I already know a lot about it. It popped up recently, only a few decades ago. There’s only a handful of members, one of which I killed. And now, thanks to Theo and me spying on the library’s balcony, we know who’s actually in charge of Rosewater.
A woman called Lady Em.
“Now it makes sense why Embrook wanted you to spy on Rosewater,” I say. The sun is starting to set and we’ve crossed state borders into Nevada. “Rosewater just doesn’t make sense. Especially since there have only been two clans for so long.”
“Since the beginning of everything,” Theo says, his hand on the wheel. “There’s been two clans forever, until Rosewater. No one knows how they got the stones, or how they rose up into a clan. Obviously, the first thought was that they stole them from Dover Castle, but the Dover clan swears all of their stones are accounted for. They’re quite pissed about the Rosewater clan as well.”
“Did she make her own?” I ask.<
br />
Theo’s eyes shoot to me. “That’s impossible.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
“So we know who runs Rosewater now,” I say, looking out my window at the desert terrain outside. “But we don’t know exactly why she does what she does.”
“That’s what’s so worrisome. The guys at the mansion all seem like good guys. You know—for the most part. We need to get back home and I’ll poke around and see if they know about her. Now that Alexo is gone, we could go through his room as well.”
“That’ll be pointless,” I say with a snort. “His room is empty.”
Theo gives me a disapproving look, probably because of how I stupidly went through his room without telling Theo about it. But it wasn’t my fault Theo was gone for days on end doing immortal stuff with Alexo. I saw my opportunity to dive into Alexo’s personal life, and I took it. And that’s exactly what led me to watching Jayla get murdered.
I smile a little. It’s kind of morbid to think like this, but Alexo killed Jayla and I killed Alexo. You’ve been avenged, I think. Alexo won’t be killing anymore girls.
A commercial comes on the radio station and Theo turns it off, filling the car with silence and the steady hum of the tires on the road.
“We’ll get home and we’ll act normal. Give it a couple of days, and I’ll start prying around. We need to know where the guys’ loyalty lies. If they know Lady Em, then we’ll be screwed the second we walk onto the property.”
“And if not?” I ask.
“They’ll probably be pissed that they were led into the clan by Alexo under false pretenses. I was recruited, and I wasn’t told a damn thing about her. I’m guessing the other guys don’t know either.”
“And if they don’t...?” I say.
Theo grins. “Maybe they’ll be on our side.”
“The more people we have, the quicker we can defeat this bitch.”
Theo grabs my hand. “My thoughts exactly.”
Chapter 9