Eternal: More Love Stories With Bite (33 page)

"Maybe
we
aren't." She reached past him and took my hand. "But I am."

Though her hand was cool, my whole body turned warm. I vowed to myself that she'd never regret this. Even if, every once in a while, it meant opening my own veins.

Michael stepped back, almost staggering. "Bridget,
you ...
you want to leave me? On our wedding night?"

"No, I don't want to!" Her voice choked with tears. "But they need my help. Cass and Liam were there for me after I was turned."

"So was I!"

"And I love you for it, and for a million other reasons. But Liam could die. You'll survive without me."

"I don't know about that." He raised his arms to the walls, like the house was already empty without her. "What about the family?"

"I'm your family, too," I reminded him. "You loved me enough to save Liam once."

He shut his eyes hard. I held my breath, waiting for his decision. We didn't need Michael to help us escape, but God only knew what they'd do to him if they thought he didn't try hard enough to stop us. And Bridget would be miserable without him.

Then he shook his head. "We can't take Cass away," he told Bridget. "That's kidnapping. They'll hunt us down and kill us. Just like we did to your maker."

"No, they won't." Liam appeared in the doorway, his face and eyes paler than ever. "Not if we're already dead."

* * * *

They let me light the fuse.

It was the safest bet, since one touch of flame wouldn't make me poof into nothingness. Besides, out of all of us, I had the most to lose from leaving this place. And the most to gain.

We parked on the far side of the marsh to watch Michael's house bum. Michael and I sat on the hood, with Bridget and Liam on the trunk. Like it was Fourth of July and the Kiwanis Club was setting off fireworks down at the park.

The trunk of Bridget's car held the cooler of blood, along with a pair of shotguns, three blackout curtains, and about eight grand in cash. Anything else we needed, we could buy, beg, or steal. Probably steal.

As the flames shot into the sky and sirens began to wail, Liam came to stand next to me.

"Remember when the bunch of us built that treehouse in Michael's backyard?" he said. "We said one day we'd live in it together."

"Yeah. Except the floor kept falling through when Gavin pulled out the nails." I bit my lip, wishing I hadn't said that name.

"I'll find him one day," he said, steady as the wind. "And I'll be more careful with him than he was with me." His pupils dilated suddenly, reflecting the distant flames. "Careful the blood runs slow while I'm taking him apart. Careful he stays awake till the very end."

The chill in his voice stopped my heart. I wanted to kill Gavin myself then, for turning my sweet, tender boy into a monster.

A monster I refused to fear.

"How do you feel?" I asked Liam. "Besides, you know .. ."

"Bitter? Desperate? Furious?" He drew his left hand down his right arm. "I feel perfect."

I took Liam's hand, wondering when I would stop expecting it to tremble.

Bridget hopped off the trunk and jingled her keys. "Let's roll before we get fried."

We got in the car, Michael and me in back and Liam up front with Bridget in case he got hungry and I started looking tastier than the blood bags in the cooler. She set the GPS for the vampire-safe motel in Summerville.

The road took us north a few miles and up a hill, so I could watch the black sky turn purple as dawn spread over the ocean. My heart twisted as I realized Liam was an hour away from his first missed sunrise.

We'd find our way back to each other, not as what we used to be—two Traveller kids destined to share a life—but as what we were now, a vampire and a . . . whatever I was. We'd mourn his life, for a long time. We'd mourn the lives we'd never create, forever.

Deep down I knew I was leaving home for myself as much as I was leaving for Liam. I needed my own life, even if I had to steal it.

We crossed the bridge and headed inland, putting the sun and sea behind us. I turned forward then, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

At least we were on the road, where anything's possible.

About the
Authors

Claudia Gray
is the Chicago-based author of the
New York Times
bestselling Evernight series, set in the present day, in which Patrice is a character—now as a 160-year- old vampire. You can learn more about her work at www claudiagray.com.

Lili St. Crow
is the author of the Strange Angels series and, as Lilith Saintcrow, the author of the Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet series. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, with her children, a houseful of cats, and assorted other strays. Visit her online at
www.lilithsaintcrow.com
.

Nancy Holder
is the New
York Times
bestselling coauthor (with Debbie Viguie) of the young adult dark fantasy series Wicked, which has been optioned by DreamWorks. She and Viguie have sold two more young adult dark fantasy series: Crusade, their vampire trilogy, debuted in September 2010; The Wolf Spring Chronicles will come out in December 2011. She has sold eighty novels, and written novels, short fiction, and episode guides for
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville
, and many other shows. She is the winner
of
four Bram Stoker awards. She lives in San Diego, with her daughter and coauthor, Belle.

Heather Brewer
was not your typical teen growing
up
and she's certainly not your typical adult now. When she's not writing about vampires, she's contemplating world domination. She carries a stuffed gargoyle, believes in the presence of ghosts, and is relatively certain that Gerard Way is actually a creature of the night. Heather is the author of the
New York Times
bestselling series The Chronicles
of
Vladimir Todd. She doesn't believe
in
happy endings . . . unless they involve blood. She lives in Missouri with her husband and two children. Visit Heather at
www.heatherbrewer.com
.

Rachel Caine
is the author of the internationally bestselling Morganville Vampires series, as well as the Weather Warden and Outcast Season series. She grew up in the wilds of West Texas, and swears that Morganville probably exists somewhere out there in all that unknown open country. She currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband, noted artist R. Cat Conrad, and their two iguanas, Popeye and Darwin.

Award-winning author
Jeri Smith-Ready
lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world's goofiest greyhound. Her novels include the Shade ghost series for teens and the WVMP Radio adult vampire series, the cast of which Cass and Liam will soon join. When not writing, Jeri can usually be found—well, thinking about writing, or on Twitter. Like her characters, she loves music, movies, and staying up very, very late. Visit her at
www.jerismithready.com
.

[End]