Dare to Bleed (Emily Sullivan Series) (14 page)

Finally he bent down and whispered into my ear, “I could give a rat’s ass about that car, and this is only a job” It sent chills down my spine. He was good. He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. I tried coughing and clearing my throat to get my voice back.

“
Shouldn’t we go after Damon?” I said, turning in the direction Axle and Damon had gone. I was wondering what the catch was.

“
Em, you are out of breath from running through the house. How far do you think you will get? Plus, what do you plan to do if you catch him?” I’m sure he was poking fun at me but it was bad timing.

“
I was just strangled, Ezra, that’s why I was out of breath. I was half dead when you walked in.” We returned to the living room, where Gavin leaned over Vicky, cutting her lose.

“
Axle went after Damon. How is she?” Ezra asked Gavin, nodding at Vicky. It made me sick that he actually cared. He gave my hand a squeeze in response. I really couldn’t get mad at him ever again for… well, anything. I did steal the guy’s car and probably destroyed it. I was just getting used to driving it without making the grinding noise.

“
She’ll be fine. I’ll make her think this was all a bad dream.” He smiled in my direction. Ezra stood between us, and I glared at his back.

I noticed the book Damon had brought was on the floor across the room. I released Ezra’s hand and walked over to pick it up. As my fingers touched the cover, I felt a tingling run through my body. Like my body had fallen asleep and was now filled with pins and needles. A sigh escaped my lips, I felt like either dropping it quickly or holding it close forever. I had never had such a reaction to any object before in my life. A strange feeling coursed through my veins... I ran my hand over the cover like it was a baby I was trying to comfort. I figured this was an out of body experience, since I had almost just been killed and oxygen was returning to my blood. I turned around to find both guys staring at me with big eyes, like I had just stolen the crown jewels from the Queen of England.

Chapter Fifteen

“
What?” I asked Gavin and Ezra, wondering why they were looking at me so strangely.

“
You are holding the oldest, most powerful book in the history of the world,” Gavin replied as he helped Vicky to her feet.

I shrugged and handed it over to him. As soon as it left my fingers, my body returned to normal, almost like it had not happened.

I bet Vicky felt silly for wearing those shoes today. Gavin and Vicky walked out of the front door. He had his arm around her and she was totally playing it up, limping on one foot. I had just been beaten and strangled half to death and still got up to run for my life. She was tied and tripped and was acting like she broke her leg.

“
So how did you find me?” I asked Ezra as we walked to his car. He stopped before getting in.

“
Emily, I am a powerful vampire who loves his car. Do you really think I wouldn’t have a tracking system installed?” He glared at me.

I heard rustling in the bushes on the side of the house and turned to see Axle galloping back empty handed. He was missing his shirt, which I was happy to see, but I was disappointed he wasn’t still a werewolf. That I really had to see. I wondered if it would be rude to ask if I could pet his head.

"He got away about a mile north of here. I have his scent. I think we should send out a search party." All of that running and he didn't look sweaty or out of breath.

I’d made it two feet out of the house and had bruises on both elbows, a tear in my new favorite jeans and was sweating profusely. I gave Axle my best "I hate you" face, but he ignored me and waited for orders.

"You and Gavin take your car and call it in, keep patrolling the area after you take Vicky home. I'm taking Emily back to my house." The way he said my name made me want to hide under a rock and die a slow and painful death. It made me wish Damon had finished me.

Axle gave me the all-knowing grin and a wink, I winced. Ew, gag me. Axle was hot, no doubt, but even if he was the last man on the planet... Ok, if he was the last man on the planet and only if, then I would hit that. I heard a growl behind me and suddenly remembered my thoughts were not my own anymore. Mother trucker.

"Well, if you don't like what I think, then maybe you should stay out of my head," I said as he pushed me back toward the opened back door. He had a tight grip on my shirt, and I wasn't too happy. Nelly picked this shirt out just for me.

It was a quiet and awkward drive back. You could feel the tension between us in the air. I tried to think about anything I could say to make things better, but thought it would be wiser if I kept my mouth shut. Ezra was gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles were white. I was itching to thank him for saving my life.... again. He let out a groan and I took that as permission to speak.

"I—" was all I got out of my mouth before he rudely interrupted.

"Don't" he yelled, keeping his eyes forward. His yelling hit a nerve. I decided I would, as usual, ignore his request.

"Are you mad?" I asked softly. He was quiet for a moment before he took a deep breath, let it out and answered me

"Emily, you already know the answer."

I was about to ask if there was one main thing that I did to piss him off so much or if it was an accumulation of everything.

"What were you thinking?" He started yelling again. "Seriously, do you not understand how close you came to dying
, again
?"

I had bats in my stomach that he was so upset with me. I really did care for this man, and he was never going to trust me again.

"But—" I tried again, feeling the tears filling my eyes.

"No, you don't get out of this one. What you did was reckless and stupid." He got louder and louder as he went on. I was praying that I didn't cry. I felt like a child getting scolded. I had disappointed him, and that hurt worse than anything. I knew I would lose him before I even had him, and it literally made my heart ache. The tears were finally too heavy and cascaded down my cheeks, nothing I could do would stop them. Ezra glanced in my direction. I tried to act as if none of it was bothering me. I studied my fingernails and stared out the window. I didn't want him to see me crying but that was not going to happen.

He sighed and his face softened. "Aw, man, please don't do that." He pulled over to the side of the interstate.

"Emily, I was so worried about you," he said as he pulled my face up to look at his.

"If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do." He wiped the drops off my cheeks. I finally got the courage to look him in the eyes. His beauty took my breath away. His perfect bone structure was incredible. He looked like he was a model who had just stepped off the runway. His blue eyes were mesmerizing. He looked down, and I caught a sense that he was actually embarrassed.

"Stop reading my mind, and you won’t have to hear these thoughts," I replied, aggravated.

"I can't help it. I have insight into your mind, and it’s amazing to always know what you’re thinking. It’s the greatest gift and perhaps the worst."

We got back to his road and this time he didn’t groan when the rocks started assaulting his car, guess it was time for a new one anyways. We parked and did the whole scary shack routine again.

As we walked into the living room, Robert was seated on the white couch, watching the fire roar. As soon as I saw him, I had a hard time swallowing. My butterflies had grown to full sized birds.

He stood as we entered. “Thank you, Ezra, I’ll let you know when the others arrive and we can all meet to discuss our next step,” he stated, still not looking at me. Ezra didn’t even glance down at me before he stormed out. I took up my favorite activity, studying the floor.

“
Emily, please sit,” Robert requested. I really didn’t want to have this talk with him, I despised the man.

“
I know I’m not your favorite person in the world, but you need to understand that everything I have done was to protect you.”

“
That’s bullshit,” I stated and surprised myself. Looking at his face, it surprised him too.

“
Please let me explain—” he started, but I interrupted

“
No, you know what, Robert? You are not my boss nor my father so you don’t get to say jack crap to me.” I got up and stormed out. What a jerk for thinking he could lecture me. He was my sperm donor, not my dad. A dad is a man who takes his little girl to the father/daughter dance, or teaches her how to fish. Not the guy who shows up after I have a death threat on my head twenty two years later. The only reason I had a killer on the hunt for me was because of him. He may have started out by trying to protect me, but he did the opposite. He practically gave the killer my address and blood type.

I just wanted to be alone and wait for this whole situation to blow over. They would catch Damon soon, and my life could return back to normal. I would never have to worry about any of the supernatural creatures ever again. I could pretend these past few days never happened.

Not that I wanted to forget about Ezra. If anything, he would be the only person I couldn’t forget. I was falling hard for the guy. I completely destroyed his one love, his car, and he wasn’t even mad. I would have killed someone over a car like that. So far he had no skeletons in his closet…ok, bad example. I hoped after all of this he would want to continue whatever was going on with us. I didn’t even know if that was a good idea.

I returned to my room to find my bags unpacked and a plate of warm cookies waiting on my nightstand. The entire room was filled with chocolate cookie smell, nothing beats this. I grabbed the plate and laid down. The bed felt like it understood my distress and was comforting me. The cookies were so delicious, warm and gooey, just the way I like them. I ate three cookies before I fell fast asleep.

I dreamed I was in the shower. The water steamed the glass walls surrounding me and felt good on my tired, aching body. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone. I felt hands on my waist, slowly creeping to my breast. I wasn’t afraid, it felt amazing and I knew it was Ezra. I knew his hands, this was my fantasy. It was nice to have a sweet dream about the man when I couldn’t have a life with him. This would have to do. I turned to look into those big beautiful eyes.

My heart stopped when I found Damon standing there instead, with a wicked smile on his face.

I woke drenched in a cold sweat. I couldn’t shake the nasty feeling of that pervert’s hands on me. I know it was only a dream but it felt so real. I had to take a shower before getting dressed, and it was the most uneasy shower I’ve ever had. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I got out and finally took a look at myself in the mirror. I almost screamed when I saw I had a nasty dark brown bruise on my neck in the shape of a hand print. I also had a pink tint to my cheek where he had slapped me. I felt sick. I had a constant reminder of that stupid youngster on my body.

I searched my entire wardrobe for some scarf or something I could use to cover it up. I would look like a big dweeb, but I couldn’t let Ezra see the marks or know about the dream. He would freak out on me and then make me speak with Robert. Thankfully, I found a thin grey turtleneck in the closet and threw it on. I slipped on a pair of jeans, ran a brush through my hair and applied some mascara. I found some black boots in the closet that fit and went on my way to look for food. I was starving.

I followed my nose to the dining room and walked into Ezra on the way in. He looked like he had just stepped out of the shower. His hair was still damp like mine but his was dripping down his broad chest. I had to try so hard to keep my mind from thinking about licking the water rolling down his abs. He was wearing only a pair of pajama pants, and I’m sure nothing more.

He gave me a wink to confirm. I had to learn how to block him. I had to learn quickly, I couldn’t let him know about my dream.

We walked in together. Everyone was seated around the table, even a few people I didn’t recognize. Everyone stopped their conversations and looked up at us with questioning eyes. I was confused. Why would it matter that we walked in together? Ezra slapped my ass and took a seat at the table. I was mortified. We both looked like we had just stepped out of the shower, and everyone was assuming we had showered together. I sat down quietly next to Gavin. Robert was seated directly in front of me, studying me very closely.

“
What?” I whispered, giving him a ‘mind your own business’ look. He shook his head and continued his conversation with Gavin as I filled my plate with an assortment of fruit and grabbed a yogurt.

“
As I was saying, I still consider him a small threat even if we have the book in our possession. So we will keep him on the records.”

I found I could no longer hold my spoon and it clinked down to my plate, making a clatter. Everyone’s attention went immediately to me again.

“
You guys didn’t catch him?” I squeaked to Gavin.

“
Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. We have the book. He can’t do anything without it.”

My heart felt like it burst into flames. I slammed my hands down on the table. Good thing I still had everyone’s attention. “Maybe not to you, but he can still go after my friends and family, jerk-offs.” I know it wasn’t called for, but I was so angry I stormed out of the room. I could hear him trying to reply but I was no longer listening.