AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And truthfully, I thought the same. I almost didn’t recognize myself in that moment. In the blink of an eye, I was a whole new person. Human me was long gone, and that scared me more than I thought it would.
The next night, my parents died in what I was told was a car accident by the police, but I knew that wasn’t possible. Not when vampires can only die by being staked through the heart or decapitated. They were killed and the scene was staged to appear as an accident. But why? To this day, I don’t know. At first, I was adamant that I would find whoever did this, but I quickly came to the realization that they were either killed by a hunter or another vampire. Either option wouldn’t be beneficial for me to look into because it could bring me more harm than good. But I haven’t forgotten about them, and I never will.
After that night, I was alone in the new life I had just started. Lost and confused. And I needed to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully, that light was Ethan and his family.
“Slow down, cowboy,” Ethan says, biting back a smile. “You’re going to give yourself a tummy ache.”
I roll my eyes and toss the empty bag beside me. Running both of my hands through my wet hair, the curls gliding against my skin, I release a deep sigh. The fresh blood flowing through my veins is what I needed after today.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Ethan says.
I lift my eyes to meet his. “You don’t want to know.”
He shuffles on the seat and folds his hands in his lap. “Try me.”
With a sigh, I sit up straighter. Ethan may get on my nerves at times with his witty remarks and joking personality, but he is a great listener. Even when I don’t want to talk, he somehow finds a way to force whatever thoughts I have been keeping locked away out of my mouth. With Ethan being a vampire, he has been the only person I can turn to whenever I have issues that Miles cannot know about.
I remember the first time I met Ethan during the first day of practice in my freshman week. His scent stood out among the rest of the team when he walked into the locker room. Vampires can sense other vampires. It’s hard to explain, but there is a difference between vampires and humans. Let’s just say vampire scents smell like what a decomposing body would smell like. It took me a little while to get used to the specific scent of vampires, but soon enough, it just became another scent on the long list of things I could smell. And no matter how much cologne a vampire uses, we can always sniff out our kind. Now, I hardly notice it.
But from that day on, Ethan took me under his wing. His family helped me through a time in my new life that was meant to be my parent's job, and I couldn’t thank them enough. They didn’t have to do it because I was their son’s new friend and barely knew me, but when they learned of what happened to my parents, they made sure to teach me everything I know now about vampirism. If it wasn’t for them, who knows what my life would be like now?
“Okay,” I say slowly. “I have a problem.”
“What’s the problem?”
The images of my little angel on that motherfucker’s phone flash before my eyes again. I screw them shut, hoping it’ll erase them from my mind, but that’s wishful thinking.
“Roman is blackmailing Evie with some not appropriate photos, and I’m trying so hard not to rip his fucking head off his shoulders.”
Ethan’s eyes go wide at my words. He leans back in the chair and releases a long breath, nodding slowly. “Okay, yeah. That is a problem. Does Miles know what’s going on?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want him to find out. I know what he’s like with his sister, and I know he’ll blow his fucking top if he learns about what’s happening. He’s overprotective to the point that I think Evie doesn’t tell him certain things because she’s afraid of what he might do.” She has never told me this directly, but I would like to think I know her well enough to make the assumption, especially if her wanting to keep Roman cheating on her a secret is anything to go by.
Ethan chews on his bottom lip and nods slowly. “Okay, yeah, that’s fair. But don’t do anything stupid, Jay. What Roman is doing is terrible, but you need to control whatever it is you’re feeling toward the situation. I know you want to protect Evie, you always have, but you need to keep a level head.”
I understand what he’s saying, but I can’t ignore the rage building deep in my chest the more I think about what Roman is doing to her. No one fucks with the people I care about, especially not that piece of shit. He’s a waste of fucking space on this earth.
“Just don’t do anything rash until you know more, okay?” Ethan continues, holding eye contact. His relaxed posture and kind eyes remind me that I do need to think logically about the situation. I can’t go in guns blazing until I know more.
You can bet your fucking ass I’m going to be keeping a close eye on him from now on.
I close my eyes and exhale slowly. The rage in my chest simmers to a dull ache, allowing me to think more clearly. “You’re right.”
Ethan grins and waves me off with his hand. “Oh, you’re too kind. But you’re absolutely correct.” He stands from the chair and closes the lid on the cooler where we store our blood bags. “We’re getting low on our supply.”
I nod, thankful for the change in conversation. “We’ll plan a trip to the hospital soon. I’m sure if we take it easy, we can draw out the last few bags.”
I watch Ethan as he walks into my closet and gets to his knees with the cooler box in hand. He lifts the loose floorboard in the center of my closet and lowers the box into the small space. Oddly enough, the carved-out space was already here before we moved in freshman year. I don’t want to know why or when it was made, but all I can say is I’m glad I picked this room over the one Miles ended up with.
Ethan gets to his feet and turns to me. “Whenever you feel the anger building again in your chest, just remember the breathing exercises my dad taught you, okay?”
I nod. “Okay,” I lie.
I don’t think breathing exercises are going to erase the deep desire I have to make Roman hurt as much as he’s hurting Evie. No one fucks with my little angel. And if he doesn’t stop harassing her, he’s going to find that out the hard way.
10
Jaylen
