Chapter 3
JERICHO
My heart is heavy as I walk toward the front door, replaying our conversation in my head. Twenty minutes with Evan has me feeling like everything is right in my life again.
Except, Evan almost died. Almost bled out in front of me.
If I hadn’t gotten there when I did, we never would’ve been able to talk at all. It’s a sobering thought.
I stayed away from Evan to keep him safe. I hoped that someday, when my blood lust is under control and Foxx is over his obsession with me, we could’ve talked things through. But he ended up nearly killed by someone else anyway.
I almost missed my chance to ever see him again.
As distracted as I am, I nearly miss the subtle tugging at my heart telling me something is wrong.
I pause to listen, but aside from Evan’s heartbeat and easy breaths, I hear nothing. Reaching for the curtain on the living room window, I peek outside and my stomach sinks.
A familiar white sedan is parked on the opposite side of the road, taillights glowing a bright red.
Shit.
I let the curtain fall, hesitating before turning around. I never should have come here. Not when I knew Foxx’s men were still looking for me.
Rip is probably on the phone with Foxx right now, trying to figure out why I stopped here.
As Foxx’s right-hand man, Rip is the one who’s been chasing me these last ten months.
The sadistic vamp is as ruthless as he is dangerous, and if he ever learns about my history with Evan, he won’t hesitate to start hunting him too.
Rip would torture him just to get information about me.
So much for keeping Evan safe.
“Ev,” I say quietly as I turn around.
His shoulders are tense, eyes narrowed, like he’s analyzing me. Reading me like a book. At least that hasn’t changed.
His gaze shifts to the window before returning to me. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
“Of course I do, but why are you asking?”
I fist my hands, willing myself to stay calm, but my fangs descend anyway. “I need you to come with me. I don’t have time to explain.”
Again, his attention goes to the window, his jaw ticking. “Is someone after you?”
“Yes, and they’re here. Please, Ev. We don’t have long. I’m sorry I’ve brought you into this.”
Evan’s face pales, but instead of backing away, he steps toward me without any hesitation at all. He only looks around his house to snag his coat off the hook. “Okay. Let’s go.”
It shouldn’t surprise me. Evan is the one person that’s always been there for me. The one person who chose me over anyone else, which is why I stayed away. Deep down, I knew he’d follow me straight into the unknown.
Please, let me keep him safe.
I take another peek behind the curtain again, trying to gauge the distance between us and the van.
Our only advantage is that Rip is parked in the opposite direction, and he won’t come after me on foot.
He never has. Probably an order of Foxx’s, but I can’t figure out why. What the fuck do they want with me?
“We need to be fast.” I reach for the key fob in my pocket to unlock the doors. Thank God the lights don’t flicker, or Rip would know I’m about to leave.
“Vampire fast, or you know, weak little human fast?”
I shake my head with a controlled grin. I really have missed this fool. “I don’t know. I might need to throw you over my shoulder.”
He chuckles, but it’s strained.
“The black van at the end of your driveway is mine. Passenger side is facing your house. I’ll protect you, but get in and lock the door as fast as you can. Got it?”
He nods and takes another step closer. There are so many questions in his eyes, yet he doesn’t ask a single one of them. It makes my stomach knot. I don’t deserve his trust.
“Ready when you are,” he says.
I open the door, and we head out. I stay to his left, shielding Evan from view. But as soon as the other car begins to move, I nudge him.
“Now. Run!”
Tires squeal down the street as we throw open the doors and climb in.
Evan locks his door just as I asked. The moment I hit the push start, the engine roars to life.
Thrusting it into gear, I slam my foot into the gas pedal.
We make it about fifty feet before something rams into the van from behind.
“Shit! Hold on.” Loose gravel kicks up as we fishtail around a corner.
The sedan swerves to follow as we fly down the residential street, blinding me with its high beams. Just as I’m about to turn left, a truck pulls out in front of me, forcing me to cut the wheel in the opposite direction.
The driver lays on their horn, the noise slicing through the quiet night like a tornado siren.
I punch the gas, pushing my van to the limit while keeping a close eye on the side mirror. “Fuck! He’s still tailing me.”
Evan points to the sign up ahead. “Take that street. We’ll go through the new part of the subdivision and cut across to the highway on the other side.”
I do as he says, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.
Evan grabs the handle above the window and mutters a curse under his breath.
I cannot lose control. I can’t. I did not go through the effort of staying away from him these last ten months only to end up killing him in some stupid car accident.
Dammit! Why did I have to check in on him? I never wanted to pull him into this sadistic game of cat and mouse, especially when he has no way of defending himself.
Why couldn’t I have just stayed away?
A flash of Evan bleeding out reminds me it really doesn’t matter; he could’ve died anyway. Now it’s up to me to make sure that doesn’t become his fate.
I make every turn Evan suggests, trusting him to know all the possible exits through the subdivision. I had no idea it’d gotten so large, or that there was now an elementary school in the center of it. Good thing it’s the middle of the night—there are no kids to worry about.
“Do you see the Dodge up there?” Evan points to a white truck just down the road. “The exit is just past it. Turn right to get out of the subdivision. That street will take you straight to the highway.”
With every corner, the sedan seems to fall further and further behind. When we pull onto the highway, we both hold our breath and look in the mirrors.
“I don’t see them,” Evan says after a minute. “Do you?”
“No, but we need to keep going.”
Evan huffs and throws me a look that says, “Ya think?”
I almost laugh. Some things never change.
After about twenty miles, I finally relax. “I think we lost him.”
“Good,” he says. But his voice is still tense, his body rigid.
I glance over at him. “You okay?”
“Me? Oh, I’m great,” he deadpans. “In fact, I should probably thank you.”
I raise a brow. “Thank me?”
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to go on a high-speed chase. Now that I have, I can cross it off my bucket list.”
I know he’s trying to lighten the mood, but the joke falls too close to home. Bucket lists are for people who are thinking about death, and I can’t handle that. Not today. Not ever. It’s the whole reason I’ve stayed away so long. To keep him alive.
Evan finally lets go of the Oh Shit Handle and shakes his hand out, rubbing the palm against his pants. He’s trying to put on a brave face, but I can see the tension in his eyes. The underlying fear. The curiosity of what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.
I watch as he takes in my messy living space, more cozy than cramped in the low light. “Holy shit. Have you been living in this thing? There’s a bed and everything.”
I shrug. “It’s cheaper than a hotel.”
“And easier, if you’re living on the run.”
I fixate on the highway to avoid answering him, but it’s no use.
“That explains why Davey had such a hard time finding you.”
I shake my head. “No. I’ve only had it a few months.
Before that, I drifted between places.” Sleeping on the streets, supe shelters, wherever I could hide from Foxx’s men.
The van had been a saving grace, even if it did come with its own risks.
I hadn’t been certain Rip knew what it looked like, but apparently he does if he found me just minutes after arriving on Evan’s doorstep.
He must’ve been a lot closer than I thought these last few weeks.
Evan shakes his head, humming. “It’s nice, though. I’ll give you that.” He reaches back to brush his fingers on a switch above an outlet. “You even have a generator for power?”
I nod.
He whistles. “How’d you pay for all this? The Jericho I knew didn’t have BMW kind of money.”
I avoid his question, which only makes him more curious.
“Did you steal it?”
“Do you really wanna know?”
“Yeah.”
“I compelled the sales guy to give it to me for a hundred bucks.”
To my relief, Evan bursts out laughing. “Seriously?”
I shrug. “I needed it, so I don’t feel a damn bit guilty about it. The title says it’s paid for. Even if he realizes what happened, he can’t come after me.”
It’s not entirely true. He can turn me in for compulsion, but I doubt he will. Not when he was running a shady business anyway. It’s why I risked it. I figured he’d save his own butt over chasing me.
Evan laughs again, still amused. “Makes sense, I guess. But damn, Jer. I don’t know if I would’ve had the balls to do something like that.”
If he had the balls to enter into the largest paranormal city in the U.S. just to track me down, then he definitely would’ve had the balls to compel a lonely sales guy for a vehicle to stay alive.
An awkward silence falls between us with each mile that passes.
Eventually, Evan reaches for a stray rubber band in a cup holder and begins playing with it between his fingers.
The gesture is oddly comforting. He has always fidgeted with things, especially when his brain is working overtime. Like now.
“You gonna tell me who they were?”
I don’t reply.
“I’m guessing it’s the vamp who turned you?”
“No, but he’s part of his coven.”
“And that coven obviously wants you for something. What is it? To come back? Join his ranks? Something like that?”
I tighten my hand on the steering wheel. “I think so, yes.” Though I’m still not entirely sure why.
Evan waits for me to say more. When I don’t, he huffs, putting a foot up on the dashboard and staring out the window.
“Look, I’ll tell you everything, okay? I just need a minute to pull my shit together.” When he doesn’t relax, I add, “I almost saw you die tonight, Ev. Can you just let me process that?”
“Like you let me process your disappearance?”
I groan. “I said I was sorry.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” He fiddles with the rubber band in silence for a bit, but I know it’ll be short-lived. Evan rarely lets a problem go, picking at it until he finds a solution—or blood, whichever comes first.
Like when he hired a private investigator to track me down. I still can’t believe he did that. He must’ve spent his entire savings on it, all the money he was saving for a new truck.
“We can’t go back,” I say, glancing in the mirror again. “They’ll be watching your house now, and—”
“I know.”
I turn to look at him, surprised.
He just shrugs. “I assumed as much when we left, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t have anything to go back to.”
“What about your job?”
He snaps the rubber band against his leg, shrugging again. “Guess I’ve been too distracted lately, because they fired my ass today. And I’m broke now after hiring Davey, so I’m gonna lose the lease on the house. But whatever. I don’t give a shit.”
So I was right. He gave up everything just to find me. And for what? To end up with a bullet in his chest?
I’m such a shitty friend.
“I’ll call someone to get the body at your house. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”
“Don’t bother. We can blame it on the asshole who chased us. Might get him off your trail.” He drops his voice. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
That goes for both of us. God, I came so close to losing him tonight.
He flips the radio on, and we drive in silence for a while.
The winter fog is especially eerie on the empty highway, with only the glow of the moon reflecting in the dew.
When we reach a small mountain town, I notice a 24-hour diner with a glowing neon OPEN sign in the window.
Evan’s stomach gives a demanding growl at the same time, so I pull in.
It’s probably been hours since he last ate.
“What are you doing?”
I throw the van into park. “Getting you food.”
“I’m not hungry.”
I roll my eyes at him and point to my ear. “Vampire hearing, remember? Your stomach says otherwise.”
He grumbles.
“Just accept the stupid hamburger, will you? I’m trying to be nice.”
“Fine. But only if it comes with a strawberry—”
“Milkshake. I know.”
When he grins, I can’t help but grin too. Burgers and shakes were always our thing after a college exam. Well, until we learned to enjoy beer.
He opens his door to follow me inside, but I stop him with a shake of my head. “I’ll grab it to go, then we’ll go somewhere private.” I raise my brows, hoping he understands.
Evan’s shoulders drop as he leans back against the seat. “Okay.”