Chapter 7 Tobias
TOBIAS
Ipull my knees up, sitting on the ledge as I stare out the bedroom window. Outside, the wind is howling through the trees, and drifts of snow dance across the yard in elegant spins and swirls. I can’t stop watching, just like I can’t stop shaking.
But my shaking has nothing to do with the snow.
Even now, I can feel the echo of that moment in my bones—the way my body locked up when I saw him at the table. Jericho. The vampire.
Rowen had told me he was safe. That he was one of theirs.
But the word “safe” means little when I know what their kind can do.
I’ve witnessed their control vanish in a split second, felt their fangs pierce my skin—felt my own blood leave my body.
I’ve witnessed countless others die at their lips, and always wondered why I wasn’t one of them.
Jericho isn’t safe, no matter what they say.
I haven’t eaten since the chili Rowen brought me last night, and my stomach aches with hunger, but I can’t bring myself to go down there, afraid that I might see him. So I sit on the window ledge, wrapped in a blanket, and stare at the snow.
I saw three wolves and a man leave earlier. Only two wolves have returned so far. I wonder where the others are and if they’ll make it back safely. The storm is picking up.
When a knock comes, I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Yea—” The word gets lost in my dry throat. I clear it and try again. “Yeah?”
Red enters the room, holding a tray of food. Steam curls up from a bowl, and a thick slice of buttered bread rests on a napkin beside it.
“Sorry it took me so long to get up here. It’s been a crazy morning.”
I barely hear him, my attention on the man behind him. A pack member, maybe? He has blond hair that’s a little long around his ears and startling blue eyes. They seem to take in everything. Especially me. He’s staring at me as much as I’m staring at him.
Red sets the tray on the bed, then nods toward the stranger. “Tobias, this is Evan. Evan, this is Tobias.”
Evan? Why does that name sound familiar?
The man gives me a polite nod. “Hey.”
“Evan is Jericho’s mate. His human mate. He’s also our friend and someone we care a great deal about. I thought you might like to meet him.”
Of course.
The human who’s dating a vampire.
Rowen said they had a cool story or something. But what kind of story can be “cool” when you’re willingly fraternizing with the enemy? Doesn’t he care that Jericho is a dangerous predator?
When Evan tugs at his shirt, my attention slips to his throat, where a scar is just above his collarbone. It’s still a little pink. Fresh and deep. Too deep to be anything but a bite.
A really, really terrible bite.
“Did he do that?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
The man blinks, then lifts his hand to the scar. “This?” He touches it like he’s still getting used to it. “No. Breck did, actually. Before Jericho and Kaine killed him.”
That takes me by surprise. “Breck bit you?”
Evan nods. “Nearly killed me too.”
Red clears his throat. “Evan nearly died the night we broke into the club. We are very grateful he is still with us.” He touches Evan’s arm and gives him a small smile.
“He was hoping to talk to you for a bit. Thought maybe a human perspective would help you… understand things. One victim to another.”
Understand Jericho, he means. Nothing can convince me to like the monster.
But something he said sits like a stone in my stomach. Victim. I had it in my head that if Evan was going to be a victim to anyone, it would be Jericho. He’s just like them.
I look between them. Is this a trick to make me lower my guard?
“Fine,” I mumble. “I guess.”
Red nods graciously, then leaves.
Evan reaches for the chair that I tried to destroy in my panic.
“I wouldn’t sit there,” I say quickly. “It’s… broken.”
Evan leans against the dresser instead, folding his arms loosely.
When I see the tray of food, I move to the bed to eat. Honestly, I want to devour the stew, fill myself up as fast as I can to get rid of the pain. But I can’t risk taking my eyes off Evan.
He sucks in a breath, as if remembering he’s here to talk.
“Right. Sorry. I’m just not sure where to start,” he admits with a soft smile.
“You already know I’m with Jericho. As in, we’re boyfriends.
Or mates, or whatever you want to call it.
” His cheeks flush pink. “I’m still getting used to the terminology. ”
I don’t reply. He keeps going, his voice low.
“But what you don’t know is Jer was my best friend for four years before he was turned.
We met in college and just clicked instantly.
Spent all our time together. Then, he left for a job interview one day and never came back.
No call, no note. I knew something was wrong.
I spent months looking for him. Close to a year.
Used every penny I had to hire a private investigator too.
I gave up everything to find him. But when I finally did, he wasn’t… him anymore. Not the same way.”
His eyes drift somewhere far away.
“You figured out he was turned?”
He nods.
“Didn’t you fear him?”
Evan considers that. “Maybe a little. But I also knew Jericho, you know? Who he was before. He’d been my friend for so long that I couldn’t believe that part of him didn’t exist anymore. And I was right. He’s still him in every way.”
He picks absently at the edge of his shirt, a nervous gesture that makes him look younger.
“He hates what he is, Tobias. Like truly hates it. Every person he’s ever hurt…
he carries that. They haunt him, not the other way around.
” He shakes his head. “What I’m trying to say is, he never wanted this life.
The coven—Foxx, I mean—forced him into it, and now he hunts Jer too, like he hasn’t taken everything from him already.
Foxx thinks he owns Jericho, and all Jericho wants is to be free of him. ”
I swallow hard. That sounds dangerously close to how I got pulled into this. “They coerced him?”
Evan nods. “In a really horrible way, too.” His jaw ticks as he looks out the window. “I’ll let Jericho decide if he wants to share that much, but yeah. The point is, Jericho never chose this.”
It’s easy to believe, considering how many vampires the coven created in my short time there.
Created and killed.
It makes me shudder.
“But how do you… trust him? Rowen said you let him feed from you.”
Color rushes to Evan’s cheeks, and he drops his gaze, chuckling.
He rubs the back of his neck as he answers.
“Yeah. I do. Because he’s my boyfriend, remember?
” I must make some kind of face because he adds quickly, “I love him, Tobias. Deeply. When Jericho drinks, it’s not what you think or what you may have seen or…
experienced.” He says that word very gently, like he’s trying to protect me from painful memories.
“It’s different because I trust him. I chose him.
He doesn’t take from me without giving himself to me too.
” He laughs and blushes even harder. “Shit, sorry. That’s way more than you need to know.
But anyway, Jericho is honestly the best thing to ever happen to me.
Before and after his turning. I can’t imagine not being with him. ”
Evan glances around the room, toward the hall, and his voice softens. “I love this pack too. They saved my mom’s life before they even met her. That’s something I can’t ever repay them for.”
That makes me pause mid-bite. “Saved her life?”
Over the next few minutes, Evan tells me how someone broke into his mom’s house while trying to track down Evan and Jericho. The pack had only known them for a couple of days, yet they stepped in to help anyway. Calling in favors with other packs just to get her here safely.
It makes me nervous. If Foxx knows where Jericho is, does that mean Rip knows where I am?
Somewhere in the middle of his story, though, I realize my fingers have stopped shaking. The picture he paints, not just of Jericho but the entire pack, is so different from the one I had painted in my head. I don’t know what to think.
Part of me still wants to run. Pray I can get somewhere far, far away.
But another part clings to their courage like it’s a weapon.
If I can be as brave as they are, maybe I can face Rip and demand my freedom.
Because after all, they want to take down Foxx.
Isn’t that what I want too? To really be free of the monsters?
“Did you know he was the one who tried to free you?” Evan asks.
I snap my eyes up.
“Jericho, I mean. He tried to break your chains at the club.”
I nod slowly. “I remember.” It’s hazy and shrouded in fear from everything that happened, but I do remember him. “He told me he would help me.”
“Then you know what a good guy he is. He never would’ve left you with those assholes if he could’ve helped you.”
A soft knock comes from the door. I don’t jump this time.
Rowen fills the doorway, seeming a little too sure of himself, but there’s something different about him now. A spark in his eyes, maybe. Or the faint flush in his cheeks that might be from a run. He looks equal parts rejuvenated and uncertain, like he’s not sure if he should interrupt.
Evan straightens immediately. “If you’re here, that means Jericho’s back?”
Rowen nods. “Yeah. Just got in a few minutes ago.”
Evan seems to hold his breath. “And?”
“Everything’s fine. The snow snapped a tree. We think that’s what he heard.”
Relief rushes over Evan. He glances at me before heading for the door. “I think I’ll go check on him then. Nice to meet you, Tobias.”
“Yeah.”
The man I saw through the window with the three wolves—was that Jericho?
I want to ask what they were doing out in a snowstorm, but Rowen doesn’t give me a chance.
He crosses the room and drops onto the bed beside me, propping himself up on one elbow like he’s been doing it all his life.
His dark hair is messy and wild, sticking up in funny angles, and he smells like snow and pine and something warm. Rowen smells like Christmas.
Is it really Christmastime? All that time lost to my illness and the coven. Time I can’t get back.
“Have a nice chat with Evan?”
“He was filling me in,” I say quietly. “About Jericho.”
Rowen’s expression softens, that easy half-smile curving the corner of his mouth. “Do you believe me yet? That he’s a good guy?”
I open my mouth, ready to deny it out of habit. Instead, what comes out is, “Yeah. I think I do.”
The surprise that flickers across his face makes my chest lighten a little. Like he hadn’t expected me to give him—or maybe anyone—that piece of trust so soon.
“Or, I want to anyway.”
Rowen smiles.
He stays with me while I finish eating, sitting close enough that the mattress dips. Every now and then he taps his fingers against his leg, a quiet rhythm that only he hears.
When I set the empty bowl down, he stretches and grins. “So, do you feel like meeting everyone now? Because my sister is threatening to bite my head off if I don’t introduce you soon.”
I blink. “You have a sister?”
“Yep. Just one. No brothers. Her name is Ivy, and she’s younger by eighteen months, but she acts like she’s older.”
“Bossy?”
“No, just… protective. It’s a shifter thing.”
He leans back, resting on his palms. “She’s been dying to come up here, but Red insisted that we give you time to adjust.”
Evan was right. They really are incredible people. Giving me time without pressuring me. “How many of you are there?”
“Ten, but one is too young to shift. Plus, there are two humans and a vampire.”
He starts to list names, then shakes his head. “It’d just be easier if you met them. Do you feel ready?”
The idea of leaving this room again, of facing not only the strangers but their questions and potentially talking to Jericho, makes my heart skip a beat. But the walls of this room feel smaller now, after talking to Evan.
“Yeah,” I say finally. “I think I’m ready.”
Rowen’s grin widens. “Good.”
He stands and holds out a hand. I stare at it for a moment before taking it, letting him pull me to my feet.
I realize, as he leads me toward the door, that for the first time since I got here, I don’t feel like I’m walking toward danger.
Uncertainty, yes. But danger? No.
I still don’t trust Jericho, but I can at least trust the others to keep me safe. Especially Rowen. I’m not sure why, but I trust him the most.
It’s the first time I’ve felt even a little safe since… well, since everything changed.