Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
bloom
Once again, we woke up when the enforcers woke us up.
Maverick kissed me and thanked me. He looked a hell of a lot better than he had the morning before because of the extra sleep. I wasn’t nearly as worried about him when he left.
At Harper’s apartment, we invited the enforcers in again.
She was quiet enough to tell me exactly how she was feeling. We made pancakes and mimosas, and turned on Is It Cake reruns, followed by cheesy romance movies.
Harper cried discreetly when the happily-ever-afters played.
I did too.
She fell asleep early that night, and I headed out with the enforcers. They gave me food to take into my room with me, and I buried myself in work, trying to make sure everything was set up to get the company’s shit in order if I didn’t make it through the next night.
Phyllis and Carter were still arguing, so I sent each of them a strongly worded email about getting over their issues.
I also typed up a quick message for Maverick, leaving it open on my laptop so he’d find it easily, explaining and apologizing.
When he came stumbling inside, I was relieved. He looked a little better than he had either of the last two days. He was still barely functioning, but better was good.
I scrubbed him again in the bathtub, my throat swollen when I realized he would have to take care of his injuries himself tomorrow.
My eyes burned a little.
He told me I smelled like salt again, but he wasn’t coherent enough to realize my tears were behind it.
When we cuddled up in his bed together, him in his wolf form and me holding the warm, furry giant tightly, I waited until he was asleep.
And I cried.
So much.
He was so exhausted it didn’t wake him up, and I eventually fell asleep.
Maverick was aware enough to notice the smell of tears after the enforcers woke us up the next morning. I told him I was just emotional about him being injured because of me.
Even the lie didn’t make me feel any hollower than I already felt.
He bought it, and was in too much of a hurry to ask more questions. He just kissed me deeply, told me he needed the exercise, and left.
The aching pit in my stomach wasn’t hunger or bloodlust, but it felt surprisingly similar.
Harper looked like she was barely alive when she opened the door to her room. Maverick’s car keys were burning a hole in my bra, since my leggings didn’t have pockets, but the sweatshirt I’d taken from his room was baggy enough to hide them.
We broke out the hard liquor right away. I tried to hide it in mixed drinks, but the enforcers were a little suspicious about the serious day drinking. I could tell.
If Maverick hadn’t been so busy, they would’ve told him, and he would probably have intervened. We’d never talked about alcohol, but I had a feeling his stance on it was similar to his stance on energy drinks, if not stricter.
It didn’t matter though.
He and I would be over soon.
He might even be the one who killed me.
I drank almost as much as Harper, only stopping early so I’d be safe to drive when the time rolled around.
When it did, I tapped her arm lightly.
She was staring expressionlessly at the TV while her glass was clutched tightly between her fingers.
I waited.
When the episode ended, I gently took the cup from her hand and helped her off the bed.
She let me hold her upright.
I was positive she was fighting an intense urge to bite one of the werewolves. My blood wouldn’t smell appealing to her in the slightest.
Their foreheads creased as they watched us.
We’d be much better off if we drugged them or something, but I wasn’t going to do that. I’d rather have Maverick or his enforcers racing to catch us than to live with the knowledge that I’d basically poisoned someone.
I mouthed, “I’m sorry,” and we ran.
They didn’t have time to lock the doors.
It took all of two seconds to get her in the passenger seat of Maverick’s car and take the drivers’ myself. Even with the pack’s mental communication, the werewolves wouldn’t be fast enough to catch us or stop us, and I didn’t think they’d know how to track Maverick’s car immediately.
If they did, they’d learn what Harper was at the gathering, along with everyone else.
I didn’t think there would be time for me to feed on anyone else, but that was okay. I didn’t have the heart to bite anyone but Maverick anyway. I’d survive until they decided whether to kill me.
Part of me thought being murdered might be preferable to facing Maverick after he realized exactly what I’d been hiding from him, and how long I’d been hiding it for.
The other part of me knew that my immortality was probably worth facing the Alpha with the truth. I’d miss out on a lot of paperwork if I died this young.
Harper clutched my hand through the whole drive back to Vast.
I drove way too fast.
We didn’t see any sign of a werewolf tailing us, and we’d left our phones in her room so they couldn’t contact us or track us.
Neither of us said a word until we parked in front of the bar where the gathering was happening.
“I love you,” Harper whispered.
“I love you too. You’re the best friend I ever could’ve asked for.”
“I’m better than any friend you could’ve asked for, bitch.” There was little energy behind her words.
I laughed tearily anyway.
Her smile was wobbly. “I’m not stable, Bloom. We need to find my mom fast.”
I nodded.
This was it.
This was… the end.
I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to force myself to act normal while walking my best friend to her death.
We slipped through the front doors.
They checked our IDs, even though they greeted us by name.
Handed Harper a red wristband, too.
And we went inside.
It was uncomfortably normal.
Green Yellows waved at me from the booth. He hadn’t given up yet, apparently.
Timber sat in the corner, near the door. He stared at me, his gaze flicking between me and Harper and his forehead creasing.
Anyone who knew us would be positive something was wrong.
After a beat of hesitation, I waved him over. He was at my side in a heartbeat.
“Where’s your werewolf?” he asked.
“Otherwise occupied.”
AKA either fighting or driving far above the speed limit in an attempt to find me. They had to have figured out how to track his SUV by then.
Even if Maverick hadn’t been told that we were gone, the gathering would undoubtedly be swarming with werewolves soon, which would terrify the Guild and the founding families.
But the wolves wouldn’t kill them.
I knew that, even if the rest of them didn’t.
“Can you keep an eye on us? Just in case?” I wrapped an arm around Harper’s waist, catching her as she went slack. Timber studied her for a moment.
She was zoned out.
Paler than I’d seen her before.
Sweating, too.
The slight bulge in her lips told me her fangs had descended.
“Bloom.” His voice was low. Shocked. Horrified.
“It was Velour.” Mine was barely above a whisper. “She needs to say goodbye to Neve.”
I wanted to break down and cry again.
To scream.
To beg for help.
But there was no one there.
Just me.
So I stayed in control, like a good fucking vampire.
Feigning calmness.
Timber swore under his breath. “Fuck. I’ll do it.”
We both knew what he was talking about.
It took everything I had not to sink to my knees and sob.
Instead, I tightened my grip on her waist and walked her across the bar, all but dragging her toward the booth her mother occupied.
Her mother, who had repeated again and again that turned vampires were monsters who couldn’t be saved.
I hated that she was right.
That my ridiculous plan had failed, and that failure was going to cost my best friend her life.
My eyes met Neve’s despite the distance between us, and the look in hers was so dark, I’d almost call it hateful.
There was a vampire sitting beside her. One I knew. Holly Valenti, the oldest vampire in the city. Velour’s mother. She had light skin and blonde hair.
A human man walked by, bumping Harper’s arm as he passed us.
Just like that, she snapped.
Her fangs were in his throat too quickly for him to react.
He fell to his knees.
She fell with him.
Shocked gasps and panicked shouts echoed around us.
Feeding vampires was normal for the Guild, but this wasn’t.
Harper’s hunger kept the man alive long enough for Timber to rip her away from his throat and take her to the ground.
Someone kneeled next to the human man, their hand on his throat, trying to stop the flow of blood, but I didn’t see who.
I couldn’t see who.
Couldn’t look away from my best friend, who was… gone.
Timber wrestled her snarling, fighting form as he struggled to roll her over, pinning her face down on the tile.
Her fangs sliced his arms in the process, his blood dripping to the sticky tile on either side of her face.
The whispers and gasps morphed into screams and shouts of terror.
“Harper was turned!”
“She’s a monster!”
“She’s the murderer the werewolves are looking for!”
One voice rang out loudly, above all of the others.
A cold but familiar one.
“KILL HER, TIMBER.”
Oh, god.
It was Neve.
Timber looked at me, but I couldn’t meet his gaze, couldn’t look up from the woman on the floor—the one person I loved and trusted more than anyone else on the planet.
I was shaking my head.
He couldn’t.
“NOW.” Neve’s command
The bar’s doors flew open, crashing against the walls, just before the humans within the building managed to pour out.
I finally looked at Timber.
Apology and dread warred in his eyes.
He was going to do it.
He had to.
We both knew it.
I shook my head anyway, my tears surfacing and my heart pounding.
I wasn’t a fighter.
I wasn’t even a badass.
I was just fucking desperate.
I dropped to my knees at her side. She was thrashing and jerking.
Timber hadn’t done it yet, despite the wounds on his arms that were still bleeding.
I hoped he wouldn’t.
That he couldn’t.
Even though I knew she didn’t have a future.
Suddenly, a thick, tattooed fist collided with the side of Timber’s head, and he crumpled on top of Harper.
My gaze snapped up, my lips parting in horror as I found Rhone Longfang standing above my best friend, looking even more pissed than I’d ever seen him.
This was it.