CHAPTER ELEVEN || BRYAN
T he drive to Portland was easy and surprisingly… almost fun. I played music from my phone and Tobias drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the beats, as if he knew every single song by heart. This was confirmed for me when I noticed him lip syncing the refrains from all of my favorites, so unconsciously that I doubted he was even aware he was doing it.
Until, of course, I started singing along.
Becoming a vampire hadn’t improved my singing voice any, despite the enhanced hearing, and I was extremely off-key. Then Tobias joined in at full volume, until we were singing together at the top of our lungs. And that was when I discovered that he was just as terrible of a singer as me.
Which probably sounds pretty awful. But it was kind of perfect, because neither of us had to be the least bit self-conscious about it. We could just cut loose and be terrible together. For the entire drive, I didn’t worry about hunters, or my bloodlust, or ghosts.
I had agreed to head to Portland the moment Tobias suggested it because I wanted to get my warlock as far away from those hunters as possible. In my efforts to plead for his understanding of why I was really doing this—and, more importantly, why I was so broken that whatever kept trying to happen between us never could—it seemed I had somehow accidentally convinced him that I had to stay the course, no matter what. Even at the cost of his safety. And now he seemed even more dead set on doing this with me, hunters be damned.
But still, with my admission, something had changed between us.
A part of me had expected him to realize how broken I was. Or how hopeless this thing between us was. Or maybe both. I had expected him to finally give in when I had explained with full earnestness that I had a hole in me now and I was here doing all of this because I was trying to do something even remotely good with it. It probably would have caused most guys to back away slowly. Or maybe not so slowly.
But that’s not what had changed between us.
What had changed was now that he understood where I was coming from, he seemed even more relentlessly determined to join me for the ride. Certain that we needed to do this. Ironic, given the fact that now I had more than just a sliver of doubt about what we were doing.
The fact that he knew about the very real danger the hunters presented to us and he had weighed that side-by-side with my emotional well-being, and he had chosen me anyway…
Well, that glimpse into who Tobias really was told me just about everything I would ever need to know about him. As if I hadn’t already been shown that a hundred different times, in a hundred different ways.
I had been right before.
There was no falling for him. I was already in love with Tobias. I probably had been at least halfway there since the first moment I’d laid eyes on him. From the first moment when he had thought I was a ravenous killer and he had protected me and comforted me anyway. There was no denying it, especially not now, and I didn’t even feel the urge to try.
Yep, I was in love with Tobias Hawthorne.
Because how could I not be?
But even at the cost of my own emotional well-being, I could never knowingly place Tobias into danger. I didn’t know what that meant for me , but I damn well knew what it meant for us.
If this situation might hurt Tobias—or worse—I needed to put a stop to it.
Tobias thought he was protecting me. And, hell, maybe he was. I already understood that he would give me anything I wanted from him, no questions asked. He’d give me his heart, his blood, probably even his life.
But who was going to be there to protect him ? Who would make sacrifices for him when he needed it? Who would be willing to give up everything they had for him ?
Me, that’s who.
I couldn’t be with him the way he wanted or the way he deserved, even though I wanted that more and more with each passing moment. That had certainly changed too. Even if a relationship wasn’t going to happen, I could do the right thing for him.
He had come to protect me. But I could protect him too.
No. Not ‘could.’ I would, simple as that. Because I couldn’t do anything else.
The mountains gave way to forest as we drove west through the Columbia River gorge, then to squat buildings and houses, and then at last to skyscrapers, overpasses, and a truly ridiculous number of bridges as we entered the city of Portland.
When he pulled into a parking lot deep in the city, I stayed in the car while he got out to make a payment at the small gray booth on the other side of the lot.
I pulled my phone out and called Veronika.
My maker answered immediately. “What’s wrong? Where are you? Are you safe?”
“I’m fine so far,” I told her, watching Tobias through the windshield. “But we encountered two hunters in Poplar Creek. I need to know if you’ve heard of them.”
“Describe them to me.”
When I did, Veronika went silent for a long moment afterward.
Tobias had made it back to the car at that point, but he hesitated when he caught sight of me on the phone through the window, like he wasn’t quite sure if he should interrupt or not. He settled for leaning against the side of the car, giving me the few moments of privacy I hadn’t even needed to ask him for.
“You need to leave Poplar Creek at once,” Veronika told me, after several long moments had elapsed. She sounded more worried than I had ever heard her. “They’re seasoned hunters and extremely dangerous. And they don’t shy away from using magical objects. They’ve got more kills under their belts than most.”
“Oh.” My heart sank. I had been half-hoping she would tell me she’d never heard of them before. Or that they were totally incompetent or something.
This was far worse than I had feared.
“You’ve met them, then? So, they know that some vampires are cool.”
“No, I’ve only heard of them. They’re reclusive—they don’t even talk to most other hunters. Bryan, listen to me. The thin one—Danny—he’s the more level-headed of the two. But he’s from a family of hunters. He was raised to fight the supernatural. His brother and father were killed years ago, on a case. But his partner, the pale one who looks like a bodybuilder—”
“Michael,” I put in.
“Yeah, Michael,” she agreed. “The way I’ve heard it, vampires killed his boyfriend in front of him. He became a hunter to get revenge. It’s possible he doesn’t know that there are vampires who still possess a conscience. It’s also possible that he just doesn’t care. Regardless, he kills us on sight now, no questions asked.”
Ice formed in my chest at her words.
Yeah, she was right. We needed to leave Poplar Creek.
She paused, then added, “How did you get away from them?”
“They think I’m a warlock.”
She paused again, for longer this time. “Why would they think that?”
“Um. Tobias is here. He’s, uh—”
I broke off, not sure what I should tell her. If I gave her the whole truth about the visions Tobias had seen, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d jump in the car, drive for hours, and put herself in danger by coming here, too. And she’d probably haul me out of Poplar Creek by the scruff of my neck.
“He thought I might need some help,” I finished, wincing a little at the huge omission. “The hunters saw us together and they caught him doing a spell. I guess they figured we must both be warlocks.”
“Your mate is there?” Veronika demanded, sounding incredulous.
After leaving Seattle, I had stayed with her for a little while. During that time, I had told her almost everything. The rough sketch, at least. I had glossed over the part where I had been forced to kill a double handful of innocent people, but she knew enough.
“He’s leaving. Once I’m not in danger any longer.”
“Bryan…” She let that hang there for a moment, like she was trying to figure out something to say, maybe to talk me out of how I felt. Then, after a moment had elapsed, she seemed to decide against it, because she let out a short huff before adding, “You know what? That’s your business. Live your life however you please. But I’m telling you right now, you both need to get away from those hunters as soon as possible. You don’t want them to catch wind of what you really are. And if they do, you and anyone standing too close to you is going to be in serious danger.”
“Right,” I told her, feeling numb and a little sick to my stomach. With that, I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone, staring at the screen for a long moment in stunned disbelief.
This was so much worse than I could have imagined.
“Who was that?” Tobias asked when I exited the car. His eyebrows drew together as he studied me, taking in whatever expression must have been plastered across my face. “Err, is everything okay?”
“That was my maker. She knew who the hunters were based on how I described them to her. She said they’re bad news. Really bad news.”
“I mean, they’re hunters and you’re a vampire. Of course it’s not a good match-up.”
“She said we should leave town.”
Tobias scowled at that, and his aura literally crackled with pure magic for an instant. It looked like streaks of violet lightning. “They won’t fucking touch you. But we’re not letting them run us out of town.” He paused, letting out a breath, the flash of magic fading. Then he added, “I’ll call Ethan and have him check the mirror. After we’ve had donuts.”
I stared at him, trying to make sense of what he had just said to me.
Why were we suddenly talking about donuts?
After a long moment, it clicked. Earlier, I had enthused about Voodoo Donut—mainly because I had wanted to seem really excited about the prospect of going to Portland. I didn’t fully trust Tobias not to place himself in serious danger on my account and the further we were away from the hunters, the better I’d feel.
“You promised to show me the wonders of a bacon maple bar,” he reminded me.
“I totally did. And you owe me a good cup of coffee.”
“I mean, you had the best coffee ever, courtesy of yours truly. But I’ll definitely caffeinate you some more if you want.”
“Now you’re speaking my language,” I shot back. The wheels in my head started spinning. “And, actually, you know what? Maybe we could make a day of it. I mean, we still have a witness to question, but it’s not like she’s going anywhere. Neither is the ghost.”
“Bryan, this isn’t even subtle.”
“And I don’t get a chance to come to Portland often,” I pressed on, flashing him a winning smile. “We should check out the city before we go back. It’s not like we’re on a schedule or anything.”
“You don’t want us to go back yet.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. Tobias frowned. “Whatever she said really rattled you.”
“Completely true,” I replied, because I wasn’t sure I could lie to him even if I wanted to. “But I also wouldn’t mind feeling like a normal guy for a couple of hours. You think you might be up to that?”
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Absolutely not. This is a strictly…”
I trailed off, floundering. Because what, exactly, were we? We sure as hell weren’t just friends. And we weren’t dating, either. And we definitely weren’t shacked up. I mean, okay, currently we actually were shacked up, but that was extremely temporary. And I didn’t think ‘mate in waiting’ worked either.
After a long pause, I went with, “Platonic? Yeah. Yes. This is all strictly platonic.”
“A platonic date?”
“You keep forcing that ‘date’ word in there, don’t you?”
“Guilty as charged.” Tobias flashed me a totally unapologetic grin. “And hell yeah, let’s go out on a platonic date. But Bryan?”
“Yes?”
“This doesn’t mean I’m going to put out,” he informed me gravely. “You’ll need to buy me dinner first.”
“Noted,” I laughed. It was a stupid, corny joke. But I couldn’t help myself. “Let’s get you acquainted with a bacon maple bar.”