Elle Jasper - Darklove

No sign of Eli. Or anyone who even remotely looks anything like him.

I wave at the graying woman, and turn to leave. I almost knock into Noah.

We both head outside. “What’s up?” he asks.

I stare across the street, then up and down the sidewalk. I shrug and walk on. “Nothing. Thought I saw something.”

We’re moving through the afternoon crowd now, and Noah is a half step behind me. Kids in school black-and-white uniforms are weaving with us, as well as a few tourists and locals. I wish I could send out one big mental warning, a juju heads-up, saying Everyone stay inside after dark! so that no one here gets butchered. I don’t like not knowing what’s what. And I seriously don’t like having the cold sensation of sensing Eli’s presence in a threatening way. It’s leaving an aftertaste in my mouth that’s beyond hideous.

“Riley?”

I glance up at Noah, then back to the sidewalk. “What?”

When we round the corner, he pulls me to a stop. “You thought you saw Eli again.”

A man passes by, and his eyes are level with mine. He spares Noah a brief glance and almost pauses, as though worried we’re having a domestic dispute. I can see it in his aging blue eyes. I smile at him and nod, and he returns the gesture and moves on. Nice to know chivalry exists still in humans.

I sigh and meet Noah’s penetrating gaze. “First, you have to stop glaring at me like that in public. And stop grabbing me, too. That old guy was an inch from busting your ass right here on the sidewalk.”

Noah’s body relaxes, and his eyes soften, just a little.

“Yes, I thought I saw Eli again,” I answer him. I shove my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket. “When I glanced at the store window as we passed that kilt maker’s store, I saw his reflection in the glass.” I looked up at him. “The second I turned my head to search the street, he wasn’t there. I think I’m losing my mind,” I finish.

Noah studies me for a second or two. His jaw muscle tightens. “I wish you were. That’s fixable.” He glances out over the cobbled street, and his gaze scales the building in front of us. He studies the skyline for a moment longer. “What scares me”—Noah looks back at me—“is that you’re not losing your mind.” With a nod, he inclines his head. “Let’s get back to the map. We’ve got about an hour and a half before nightfall.”

We start back up the street and head to the guesthouse. Noah’s words have bugged the hell out of me. He left his meaning unanswered, but I knew it, no matter how hard he disputed it. Knew it just as my body knows how to breathe without conscious thought. Yet his words claw at me the whole way back, and even while we’re sitting at the kitchen table, hunched over the map and planning our route for the night’s hunt, it bothers me.

He’s scared Eli is back from that alternative realm.

And that he’s not the same Eli.

A cold shiver runs down my spine at the thought. I try to push it aside, that thought, but it lingers, and soon it feels like fire ants are pinching and biting my insides. I need to get out. Get some fresh air. Just be alone for a few minutes.

I push away from the table and stand. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“Riley,” Noah warns, and rises with me.

“Don’t even,” I warn in return. “I have to get some air. Clear my head.” I frown at him. “Alone. Kinda like peeing without someone standing there, watching. I need a little alone time, Miles. Seriously.”

Emotion flutters across his handsome features, and I know he’s struggling with letting me out by myself. He wants to protect me, be by my side continuously to make sure nothing happens.

Well, that’s all great, but I gotta have a breather.

“Half an hour,” I say. “I’m just walking up the street to the market and back.” When his face still pinches with confliction, I force a small smile. “Promise. Back before dark.”

It’s almost funny to see a vampire imitate a sigh. It’s breathless, only going through the human motion he did for so long. Noah rubs his eyes and nods. “It’s not that I don’t think you can handle yourself. There’s something out there, Riley. And we don’t know exactly what yet.”

“Vampires,” I offer. “We knew that coming here.”

He frowns. “Smart-ass. It’s more than that and you know it.” He stares at me. “Call me if anything goes on. And I don’t mean on my cell phone.”

Pushing my arm through the sleeve of my leather jacket, I nod. “Will do.”

“Back in thirty,” Noah reminds me.

“Yep,” I agree, and close the door.

Outside, the shades of late-afternoon drift over the cobbles. It’s crazy here in the winter months. November, and it gets full-on dark at four thirty in the afternoon.

As I walk, it starts to drizzle a freezing, misting rain. I briefly meet the friendly gazes of passersby, young and old, as they hurry home, hurry to the pubs, to the market. A gray haze hangs in the air, so thick I have to fight not to swipe it away with my hand.

Suddenly, memories of home, of before Edinburgh and Eli’s . . . whatever that was . . . happened. I miss home. I miss Preacher and Estelle, my wonderful surrogate grandparents. I miss Nyx, my best friend. Seth, my baby brother. Eli’s family.

I miss that time. Living on the salt water surrounded by oaks and Spanish moss, tattooing people for a living. Eating Krystal hamburgers until I thought I’d puke. The pungent scent of the marsh at low tide. Having tea with Preacher and Estelle every morning.

And when I first fell in love with a vampire. When Eli was well, strong, and determined to guard the lives of Savannah’s mortals. I miss my tattoo shop, Inksomnia, and I miss creating, the artwork, the hum of my ink gun. How life has changed since then.

If I could only have Eli back, the rest I could deal with.

Almost finished with my self–pity party, I turn the corner and the open market is before me. Although the shadows from the building and pending nightfall stretch long over the row of flower bouquets and fruit containers, people mill about making their choices. I look out of place, dressed in all black with a wing inked at the corner of my eye. Long dark hair with a few random fuchsia chunks added in. And although people can’t see them, I have just under a half dozen blades sheathed beneath my clothes. Yeah. I love open markets, too. Flowers, food, and random stuff. Takes my mind off all the bullshit. . . .

Then, as I’m sifting through the hoards of gorgeous flowers, a sensation crawls over me. Without much thought, I glance over my shoulder. Through the crowd, his height and stature rises above everyone else. Everyone mortal. His gaze locks on to mine.

My slow-beating heart plummets to my stomach, and I drop the flowers back into the bin and move toward him. Don’t take your eyes off him this time, Poe. Keep staring.

I stare as long as I can. My eyes start to water, burn. Then I can’t help it—I blink.

And he’s not in the same place. Shit!

My eyes search the crowd frantically as I weave through them, dodging shoppers and market workers packing up for the evening. Then I see him again. He’s standing beneath an awning, and I hurry toward him. Eli! I scream his name in my head. Eligius Dupré, goddamn it! I see him. I see people stepping around him to pass by. I’m not imagining this. He’s not a mirage. He’s really here. And I’m not losing my fucking mind.

A slight smile touches his mouth. At first, my heart melts at the sight of it. The memories. The familiarity.

Then it changes. Something snaps in his eyes, and his smile contorts.

The absolute coldness of it sends a feeling of dread clear to my bones. It chills me.