Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
The casino soon opens to the enormous, echoing lobby. Kyle’s eyes fall upon Elias standing at the reception desk. Elias notices him right away, too, and at once, they’re running toward each other. “Kyle!” he cries. “Are you okay? We’ve got to go. Now. Cade and Layna are—Wait, who’re …?” His eyes quickly take in the crowd around Kyle. “Who’re these people?” Then his eyes fall to the one in Kyle’s arms. “Who’s this?”
The question hits Kyle with so much more weight than he imagined it would. Elias doesn’t know a thing yet. “Survivors,” is all he can manage to say for an answer. “What’s going on?” Suddenly he picks up dread in Elias’s heart. “What happened to Cade and Layna? Did the vampires do something? Are they—”
“No, no, none of that. All the vampires left as soon as you did. It was eerie as fuck. Even Lazarus left after a … somewhat bitter scene with his brother. I’ll get to that later, that’s not our issue at all. Babe …” Elias grips him by the arms. “Cade and Layna, they finally figured it out. That book, they’ve made it work. The whole town, Kyle … they’re creating some kind of seal around it, a big fucking seal. They’re calling it a shrouding spell, I think. It’s like a barrier to keep anyone from finding us.”
Kyle doesn’t see the problem. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“That includes keeping us from finding it,” he finishes, “if we don’t get back there right the fuck now.”
37.
Maybe Freedom, Maybe Hell.
—∙—
The engine of the bus roars in Kyle’s ears.
Not unlike a lion.
His brother’s head is cradled in his lap, the rest of him stretched out on the seat with a jacket draped over his body.
Kyle stares ahead at the dark road, the vast emptiness of the night that surrounds them, stretching on forever. Even with Elias driving the shuttle bus as fast as he can, Kyle feels like it’s not fast enough. Until they’re back in Nowhere, until his Kaleb wakes up, until that protective barrier stands between them and the vampire world, nothing is okay.
“I still can’t believe it,” says Elias from the driver’s seat. “Your brother. This whole time. Alive. I just can’t wrap my head around that.” He peers partway over his shoulder, eyes still on the road. “You have to be feeling so many things right now.”
Kyle gazes down at his brother. With the bandages over his face, it’s easy to think this isn’t real, this isn’t him. Maybe a part of Kyle is still in denial any of this is happening at all.
“And Tristan,” sneers Elias, as if in response to a bad taste in his mouth. “Just one more reason on top of a mountain of reasons to despise that twisted fucker.”
Kyle can still see the tears in Tristan’s eyes. Hear the sound of Tristan’s voice—his real voice. Feel Tristan’s soft arms squeezing around him from behind, not wanting him to go, desperate for the good days they had together in that cabin …
All of those days, when Tristan secretly knew Kaleb was alive.
All of those kisses they shared, when Tristan knew Kaleb was rotting away in a cell, alone.
All of those years of life, decades that were stolen from Kaleb.
Because of Tristan.
“Once I’m home,” says Kyle, feeling as if his words are meant for Tristan, “I’ll never have to see or hear the likes of anyone from that place ever again.”
“Got that right.” After a second, Elias adds, “Well, assuming we get back in time. Fuck. I told them to wait on the spell,” he explains over his shoulder again, “but no one wanted to risk the vampires coming back in the meantime to finish the job. Cade and Layna, Chief Rojas … they were all so freaked-the-fuck-out.”
Kyle nods. “I understand.”
“I told Cade I was coming after you. She said she had some vision of fire and demise. It terrified her. I left anyway.”
As if Kyle needs any more proof of Cade’s abilities. Even still, he suffers the stench of smoke and fire on his skin, in his clothes. He could take ten showers and still reek of it. “You’ve always been reckless,” he says, distracting himself from the thought, “since the day I first laid eyes on you through a police station window.”
“Good thing I am.” Elias smirks. “I’m so reckless, I stole one of the hotel’s airport shuttles right out from under their noses.”
“Borrowed,” corrects Kyle, “and it’s a hotel your family owns. Let’s not pretend we’re committing grand theft auto here.”
“What? Can’t I be your badass boyfriend who just rescued you and a bunch of people from an evil vampire castle? Let me have my moment of unhinged heroism.” Elias puffs up, his grip on the wheel tightening. “Not gonna lie,” he adds with a smirk, “but I feel pretty fucking sexy right now.”