Pulse (On Hold)

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

I watch silently, my stomach churning and my bottom lip taken between my teeth, as the two brothers change with anger. The muscles in Jared and Michael’s arms tighten and their shoulders stiffen. Both of their eyes close, focussing hard to stop their body from shaking so hard with fury. Jared’s eyes shot open suddenly, then he spits on the carpet.

“I’m okay now though,” I try to assure them, although it isn’t hard to miss the lie in my voice. To be perfectly honest, I’m still terrified after what happened.

“Filthy parasite!” Jared grunts, spitting again as if the word turned to bile in his mouth.

“So he took you to the ceiling of a building and scared you half to death?” Michael asks sceptically, and I nod slowly, looking down to my fiddling fingers in my lap. I really don’t want to have to talk about this, but I put his brother in danger and they deserve to know. “I never would have put it past a leech to leave a human alive without feeding.”

“Especially with a scent like Emeralds,” Jared agrees, pacing back and forth as his mouth pulls into a sharp grimace.

“I don’t think we’re seeing the bigger picture here bro,” Michael says to Jared. “A normal bloodsuckers couldn’t resist her. I think we’re missing something vital. Especially since it’s not just Logan-” Michael almost hisses the word, as if he can’t believe the bloodsucker has a name, “-after Emerald.”

“There’s also that blond one Em just told us about… The one that took Renee,” I don’t miss the worried lines that form above Jared’s forehead when he says this. I’m clearly not the only one about to explode from stress.

I just had to deal with calling Caroline and I hung up just as she started sobbing. It was hard enough having to lie to her, to tell her that I have no idea what’s happened to Renee, so it would have been impossible to tell her that in reality her daughter’s been taken by a vampire… A vampire that could have killed her by now.

“Okay so we know that Logan took something from some random vamp chick, but why would she involve Renee, a human, to deliver the message?” Jared grunts, his jaw clenched in disgust.

“And why would the blond vamp take Renee? Vamps aren’t capable of feeling remorse, so why would Logan care if an insignificant human went missing because of him? Surely the vamp chick would know that…” Michael trails off, somewhat dumbfounded.

Suddenly Jared stops pacing and becomes still like a statue. He takes three deep breaths, his lungs filling deep with air, before he turns to me and looks me strait in the eye. “Emerald,” he says my name almost doubtfully, his eyebrows furrowed into a thick knot. Then he turns back to his brother. “I think the vamp chic knows that by getting to Emerald she’s getting to Logan.”

“What?” Michael demands, his hands shaking so hard he takes them into fists by his sides. “You’re saying the vamp chic knows Logan has been harassing Emerald?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Jared says bitterly. “Only I think it’s a bit crazier than that. I think Logan has become obsessed with Emerald, that would explain why he kept interacting with her and didn’t drain her dry in the process, and now the vamp chic thinks she’ll be getting her revenge by hurting Emerald.”

I stare at him, my eyes wide with disbelief. I never thought of it that way. I know that by being involved with Logan I’ve put the people I care about the most in grave danger, only I never would have imagined that it was another vampire’s intention to drive me insane with guilt. I feel my head grow heavy with dizziness and Jared’s living room begins to spin around me.