Page 84 of Burn Falls

“Nope. Just Athan’s, and the fucker’s making kissing noises to fuck with me.”

I turned my head toward Athan, who was now sitting in the backseat of my car. He was puckering his lips before he burst into laughter. “Thank God we don’t have to deal with him in the cab of the truck,” I said.

“Heard that,” Athan stated as he cracked the door just enough for me to hear.

Fucking vampires and their super hearing.

“Time to head to your place and say our goodbyes so we can get in a few hours of driving.”

“You know,” I started to say, still looking at Athan even though I was talking to Draven. “I can always drive during the day with you in the back of the truck, and we can leave Athan at a hotel.”

“Heard that too.” Athan chuckled at my joke.

“Don’t fucking tempt me.” Draven laughed and grabbed my hand, steering me to the passenger door of my car.Guess he’s driving.

“I’m doing you guys a favor. I can stay here and—”

“You’d miss me too much,” Draven teased right back and shut the passenger side door. He rounded the hood and then slid into the driver’s seat after tossing his bag in the backseat. “Let’s do this.”

Tears were shed as we said our goodbyes.

Valencia promised to come visit during the summer, and while I told her I couldn’t wait, I had to still talk to Draven about what he did during those months. If he went back to Seattle, I’d have to figure something out. I’d probably need to spend every weekend there or work remotely if that was possible. I wasn’t sure given my father had worked ten hour days, five or six days a week for as long as I could remember.

We headed north on Interstate 5.

“How far do you think we’ll make it tonight?”

“Williams Lake. It’s about seven hours, give or take. This truck can only go so fast, but we’ll be there before sunrise.”

“Do you think in about an hour we can get me something to eat?”

“Right, you need food.”

“Speaking of, I’ve seen you eat real food.”

Draven cracked a smile. “It’s all for show, but the blood from the steak is always the best part.”

Thinking of it, the only thing I’d seen him eat was steak, and both times it was rare. “Do you—you know, go to the bathroom?”

“No. We have no waste. Our bodies absorb the blood and the food we have to occasionally consume for show.”

A few moments later I asked, “Will you tell me about the night you were turned?”

Draven looked over at me for a brief second and then back to the road. “Not yet, sweets. You’re not ready to hear it.”

“I’m not?” My forehead scrunched in confusion. While at work the last few days, I’d Googled all there was to know about vampires. Granted all of it was based on the fictional creatures, and there was never evidence that a vampire was or wasn’t real, but I wanted to know all about them. Wanted to know who Draven really was.

“It’s not a pretty story.”

“Of course not. You were killed that night.”

“Okay. When you’re ready, I’ll be ready.” Even though Draven had said thatIwasn’t ready, I figured there was something that madehimnot ready. I could only imagine what it was like to be turned into a vampire when he didn’t know they were real. Or to give up sunlight, food, breathing.

Just before Marysville, Draven pulled into a McDonald’s for dinner. It was the first place we found after my stomach growled. “What are we doing here?” Athan asked, getting out of my car after parking next to our truck.

“Calla’s hungry.”

“Ah. Food.” Athan nodded. “I could go for some.”