The Story Of Sarelle: The Immortal Years »

Chapter 45

AsloPOV

4th July 2048

As soon as she disappeared, I felt the ache in the pit of my stomach as she took a part of me with her.

I had battled that ache for five years when we were apart. I had wanted nothing more than to be back by her side but I knew I couldn't. Not until I was the kind of man that could keep her safe. I had watched for decades as she struggled with what we were. And I knew it hurt her more than she said when I slipped. So, I promised myself I would never put her through it again. I would do whatever it took to protect her, even if it was from myself.

Now I was helpless. She was running headfirst into this thing and I couldn't do anything to stop her. And I knew what she was like. She thought she had fooled us all, pretending she would say her lines and play her part. She had no intention of doing any of it. I could see it clear as day.

"Aslo, calm down," Kate hissed, her eyes wide as I threw a nearby chair against the wall. "Sarelle will come for us when she needs us. We've gone over the plan a hundred times." She looked around the room, confirming her thoughts with the group.

They all looked so sure; it was frustrating.

"If you honestly believe that, Kate, then you don't know her at all," I said as I tried to control my rage. My fear.

"What do you mean?" Carmen asked in a small voice. I bristled as I looked into her anxious eyes. Of all the Denalis she had been the one I had warmed to least. I couldn't place my finger on it but there was something about her warmth that seemed superficial. I didn't trust it, or her.

"She's never going to come back for us, because she's going to try to save us all by herself." I spat, my hands dragging through my hair as I thought of the fastest way to Volterra.

"She wouldn't do that. She knows we would never allow it," Tanya declared. I shot a look in her direction. She knew as well as me what Sarelle was capable of hiding. She could be so stubborn when she thought she was doing the right thing.

"Then how convenient the plan relies on us waiting for her to come for us," Eleazar said as the pieces started to fit together.

"Exactly," I affirmed.

"But it was Carlisle who explained this," Tanya pushed. "Him and Jasper thought it was the best way to keep our element of surprise. To stop things from escalating if they didn't need to."

"And who wants to bet that it was our Tinkerbelle who planted that idea in the first place." Garrett said using his pet name for Sarelle.

I looked at the group before me. They weren't my family, or even my coven, but they were hers. They might not have known her well enough to see this coming, but they cared for her. I could see that much. I just hoped it would be enough. Because when push came to shove I would do anything for that girl. I just wasn't sure if they would.

"We have to get to Volterra. Now." There was no margin for debate in my words and by the look in their eyes they knew it.

The car flew silently across the tarmac, eating up the road before us at an insatiable rate.

Tanya sat in the passenger seat next to me, my only companion on this journey. The others were following in the car behind. She had been the only one to approach the car with me and I thought maybe it was because the others were uncomfortable in my presence. I had never shown them this side of me, but then again it only ever came out when Sarelle was involved. Like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, she triggered something in me.

"She'll be OK, you know," Tanya said softly as she turned away from the italian landscape outside the window.

I knew she was trying to console me, but her blasé tone irritated me. She couldn't know what was going to happen, whether Sarelle would be OK or not. It wasn't her assertion to make.