Eternal

New York, New York

Chapter 22: New York, New York

It lasted no longer than a few seconds but it left me tingly and completely shocked. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights when Keegan suddenly jumped up and offered me his hand. I took it because in all honesty I wasn’t entirely sure I could stand on my own right then. And just like that it was like it never happened. Keegan didn’t drop my hand as we walked back through the woods but neither of us spoke the entire way.

When we reached the green Audi there was no sign of Atticai. Keegan raised an eyebrow at me, “Do you still want to go home?”

The question brought me out of my muddled thoughts, instantly making me shake my head. No way. If I went home then who knew how long it would be before I next saw everyone. “No. I’m not ready to go home yet.”

He smiled warmly, scooping me up in a tight hug. “Good. Cause I’m not ready to let you go home yet.” He put me down and opened the door for me, sweeping into a low dramatic bow. “Your chariot awaits, Milady.”

I snorted as I climbed in, “You are most definitely not a ‘kind Sir’ so I won’t answer that.”

“Woe is me!” He cried, placing a hand over his heart and leaning heavily against the car.

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from my face, “You are such a dork.”

“But you love me anyway.” He winked, looking rather proud of himself.

I just shook my head, “Whatever makes you happy. Where are we going now? I assume we’re not going back to the Pack land?”

Keegan nodded, “Yeah, I think we’ve caused enough trouble for the Pack. Fike was about ready to spontaneously combust when I walked out the house having spent an hour baking brownies.”

I laughed, picturing the grumpy old Alpha throwing a hissy fit over chocolate squares. “You can’t really blame him. You did destroy half his land last night.”

He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, all humour gone from his voice as he said “He knew the dangers of hiding us. He knew what could happen but he agreed anyway. We’ll take care of all repairs and organise temporary housing for everyone caught in the crossfire. There’s not much else we can do.” His lips turned down and his brows furrowed when he spoke.

I rested a hand on his arm, “I know you’ll do everything possible to help them, Keeg.” Wanting to lighten up the suddenly tense atmosphere I added, “He was probably too scared to say ‘no’ to your dad. He may act all big and scary but he was about to run with his tail between his legs when your dad told him off yesterday.”

Keegan chuckled sadly, “Fike’s bark is much bigger than his bite. How he’s stayed Alpha for this long is quite beyond me. If he continues down this path he’s going to destroy his whole pack.”

“Can’t anyone do something about that?”

He shook his head, “No, not unless he’s challenged. Since he has everyone on such a short leash – no pun intended – they’re all too scared to stand up to him. And besides, it’s against the rules to plot against one of the Five – especially since I’m part of them now.”

I don’t know why that shocked me. It made total sense that Keegan would take his father’s place on the Counsel. Still, it felt wrong that Keegan would become a Vampire King of sorts. He was only seventeen, after all. Vampire or not that was way too young. “Wow. He’s going to hate that.”

Keegan grinned, “Which is just going to make it more fun.”

“Back to my original question – where are we going?”