AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence.
I pulled back, searching her depths to find they’d gone pitch black. Her mouth widened, forming a smile that sent chills down my spine.
A figure appeared behind her, circling its arm around her waist and pulling her in close. It formed into the shadow of a man. He bent forward, twisting a strand of her hair between his fingers, inhaling. Then kissed down her neck.
She sighed. “Oh, silly, silly boy. If only I loved you.”
A blade shot through my chest, piercing my heart. The last thing I heard was her laughter, ringing, as a tear trickled down my cheek.
“Why?” I choked, the metallic tang of blood flooded my mouth. My vision blurred until all that remained was her hate-filled pitted eyes.
High-pitched laughter echoed in the darkness. “You abandoned us, Seth Draven. And now, we’ll get our revenge on you.”
I groaned as the sunlight blinded me. I threw my arm over my eyelids, attempting to shield myself from the brightness.
“Why the fuck is it so bright?” I grunted out, rolling over right onto another blanket. Squinting one eye back open, Erin’s spot came into view. Empty.
I shot up and barreled to her room. She wasn’t there either. I slammed open the bathroom door. It was empty too. “Fuck!”
I ran to my bedroom, grabbing sweats and a shirt, tossing them on and ignoring the still disheveled state of the room. I’d been far too focused on making sure we were all guarding Erin after we escaped that bastard Erebus and his lackeys to even care about the appearance. Keeping my people safe was more important than cleaning the place up.
The harrowing voice from my dream dug into me.
“You abandoned us.”
As I went to reach for the door handle to the front door, Derik yelled behind me.
“Bro, where the hell are you rampaging off to?”
“Erin’s gone. I need to find her. They could’ve—”
Libby cut me off, “Calm down there, Seth. She’s fine. Erin left a note saying she was going for a run.”
My shoulder slumped forward in relief. Then stiffened again. “She went running alone?” Panic laced my voice, even I could hear it. Libby thought it was hilarious. “What? Why is that so funny, Lib? She could get hurt. That shit head could be waiting to strike again.”
What if Erebus takes her?
“Seth, sweetie, as much as I’m sure you want to follow her like a lost puppy, she’s okay. We both know Erebus wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack this quickly. And she probably needs to clear her head. Think about how much she’s been through this last week alone. If you’re worried, text her. Or you know, check her location on your phone. There’s this amazing thing called technology.” I shot her a glare. She flashed me an overly bright smile in return.
“Lib, you can be as much of a pain in my ass as Derik sometimes, you know that?” I grumbled as I dragged myself into the kitchen.
Erin could’ve woken me up.
Why didn’t she?
“True, but you adore me for it,” she laughed. “Anyway, Josh messaged you not too long ago saying he’d keep an eye on her today.”
“Of course he will,” I sighed. “I’ll shoot him a text back. Can you toss me my phone?” It’d been sitting on the counter, how it made it there last night, I had no idea. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep listening to Erin animatedly give me a deep dive of her latest read. Something about one of the why-choose romances she loved so much with vampires and werewolves. Her voice sang as I drifted off, a smile plastered on my face. It felt like things were normal again. The haunted look that had plagued her eyes when she had finally awokenyesterday morning had been—for however briefly—replaced with pure book-obsessed Erin.
How often am I going to be able to see that now?
That light? Will it disappear if Erebus gets his claws into her again?
Or is she…is she already disappearing?
I texted Josh.
Hey, thanks for keeping an eye on her.
