The Survivor (Book 2)

Chapter 3

I was quiet the rest of the day, and all through dinner, for the sake of the boys that went on my adventure. The image haunted me, though, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Mainly because it didn’t make sense. Demon wings and Incubus/Succubus eyes. It didn’t connect.

I wondered if the thing I saw had killed the vampire, and why she was there in the first place. Was she running? Was it only a decoy to get out attention? What the hell was the message behind it?!

My mind raced through dinner, and Zack noticed by my silence. He leaned over, “You’re not still scared about the woods thing, right?”

“No,” I smiled. “No, I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

“Are you gonna be awake when we get home?” he asked with a small smirk. I shrugged, biting back a smile. “What’re the chances?”

“Fifty-fifty,” I couldn’t help but grin.

“I like when you tease me,” he kissed my cheek before taking another bite of whatever it was he ordered. I could barely remember my own name my heart was beating so fast. “Treble,” he sang in my ear, getting me to pull my head back onto my shoulders and lose it completely at the same time.

“Eighty-twenty,” I corrected the chances. “I’m awake,” I patted his knee under the table, digging into my steak. Not nearly as good as Zack’s, but still mouth-watering. Zack pressed breathy kisses into my jaw, fingers trailing up the skin of my thigh until he reached the hem of my dress.

“Hey, prince charming,” Taylor chuckled across the table. “I know she’s delicious, but save it for the bedroom.”

My eyes widened and I blushed as fits of laughter erupted from the table. Eros nudged Taylor in the ribs with a soft grin on his lips. Zack’s teeth tugged on my earlobe, and I bit my lip. “Seventy-thirty.”

He stopped immediately, and I took another bite of food. “Tease.”

“Hotshot,” I rolled my eyes, and he choked on his drink. Everyone at the table burst in another fit of laughter at Zack’s small outburst. “Eighty-twenty.”

“You are,” he rubbed his forehead, “such an ass.”

“Yes, you’re welcome,” I nodded, finishing off my steak. His thumb rubbed circles into the outside of my thigh. “Taylor and Eros haven’t seen each other for months, and you see me every single day, and you can’t keep your hands off of me for five seconds.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Nope. Just making an observation,” I shrugged. I watched Taylor twist the ring on his finger, the one Eros gave him before we left. Taylor said yes, of course. He winked at me across the table, and Eros punched him in the arm. The two eyed each other’s lips hungrily, and Eros got up. Tay pulled him back down, whispering something into his ear, and Eros sat and tapped his fingers on his chin.

Dinner went on, and the laughs got louder. Taylor and Eros rode home with us, hanging all over each other in the backseat. I was quiet, and Zack noticed again. I could hear it in his thoughts, but he didn’t say anything. He waited until we were upstairs, watching me change into running shorts and a tank top.

“I saw it,” I said softly. “In the woods. Before we left. I saw it.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know. It had white eyes like an Incubus, but it had demon wings,” the image of it popped up in my head. “I gotta see it again. I gotta know why it’s in your backyard.”

Zack shuddered, “Please don’t remind me.”

“We need to go to my house,” I nodded, tugging on a pair of jeans. “I’ve got a bunch of books there. There’s gotta be something in one of them.”