Page 30 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Heather

L eaving was both exhilarating and terrifying.

As soon as I got in my car and left the complex, I didn’t know where to go or what to do. So I just drove. I rolled down my windows, opened my moonroof, and hit the freeway.

The cold night air rushed in and washed over me, stinging my skin and making my hair blow around wildly. The wind tempered my anger and brought my mind into sharp clarity.

I had done it. Actually done the thing that had been buried under excuses, fears, and justifications for months. I was free. I was also alone and without a place to stay.

As the sky began to lighten with oncoming daytime, I realized I was approaching the same park I hiked through to reach Sanguine. How funny that my internal autopilot would bring me back here.

I entered the park but took a different route, choosing to stop at a lookout spot to watch the sun rise and figure out my next moves. I kept the windows open as I turned the car off, letting the fresh air and sounds of birds and animal calls fill my senses.

Tonight I had to work. When I got off, I needed a place to stay. A hotel room would work for a little while, but I’d have to figure out long term housing soon. Maybe someone at work could use a roommate. It would be a good place to start.

At some point I would have to go back to the apartment to retrieve my backpack, since I slid out of it to escape Justin. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too quick to sell my laptop and headphones that were in there.

I pulled out my phone and cursed. “Shit.” The battery was running out and my only charger was in the backpack too.

The phone vibrated to life in my hand, startling me. Justin was calling. I swiped the red button to end the call, but then the texts started flooding in.

Justin: Heather, please answer the phone. I just want to know you’re okay.

I rolled my eyes at that and stuck the phone back in the cup holder.

Justin: I will be patient and wait for you to come home. This is not the end of us.

Justin: We have a life together. I made mistakes, but don’t throw us away like this.

Justin: Just let me know you’re alive and I’ll give you the space you need.

He called a second time. I ended it without answering again, then turned my phone off to save the battery.

Motion flashed in my rearview mirror and I froze, wondering if it could be Soren or even Laith, following me from home and stomping all over my boundaries as usual. I reached for my keys, ready to stick them in the ignition and stomp on the gas pedal to get away from all prying eyes.

But it was only a flock of wild turkeys emerging from the brush and I sighed out my relief, sagging into the seat.

The sun rose slowly through the trees, casting long, orange shadows and I huffed out a laugh at my stupidity. Laith wouldn’t be out here in daylight. But Soren? Who knew. He might have a GPS tracker, cameras and microphones in my car. Shaking him wouldn’t be easy.

Unless you stayed in Sanguine.

The voice in my head now sounded less like resentment and more like a bolder version of me with dangerous, wild ideas. Where would I even stay in Sanguine? With the vampire who admitted to stalking and spying on me?

A thought came to me then, one that might have been pure coincidence but it held enough weight that I sat with it a while. Soren had never bothered me at home after that first night. He came up to me at work because he could get past the gate. Laith couldn’t.

Could Soren have been keeping his distance because of Laith? Was there actually a kernel of truth to Laith’s claim that he was protecting me?

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, glancing at my blank, silent phone.

It was too early to call my apartment manager or check in to a hotel.

I had hours to kill, needed sleep, and wasn’t too keen on napping in my car.

Even if I closed all my windows and locked the car, I felt too vulnerable, too exposed.

There were a few coworkers I could call and ask to crash on their couches, but the idea was…

off-putting. No one had any idea that Justin and I were rocky, plus they were just now getting off the night shift and had their own families and lives to manage.

And if Soren had bugged my car, I didn’t want any more innocent people getting caught in his crosshairs.

Where else could I go?

The more my thoughts tumbled around, the more Sanguine and Laith seemed like the best of my shitty options.

Despite what he’d done, I got the sense that his intentions had been pure.

There was almost an innocence about him, a genuine earnestness that I wanted to believe in.

But then again, I was clearly a shitty judge of character.

He’d at least come clean about following me, and didn’t try to deny it or twist my words into a situation that made me sound crazy.

I absently watched the family of turkeys cross the road, unable to believe I was making excuses for a guy who literally stalked me. But of the three men I was fed up with, Laith seemed the least likely to be using me for his own gain.

Well, aside from taking my blood. But at least he was honest about that.

After a few more minutes of hemming and hawing, I turned my phone back on. It buzzed and lit up with notifications, all texts and voicemails from Justin, of course.

“Motherfucker,” I hissed. My battery dropped to three percent.

I swiped away all the messages from Justin and paused when I saw one from Soren.

S: You missed our check-in. Message me ASAP. Better have info for me or I’ll come find you. :)

My stomach knotted with anxiety as I remembered his threat that night he grabbed me. How in the world would I get him to leave me alone? Would the cops even be able to do anything?

Laith can help. He told you as much.

I scrolled to the end of my notifications. There was nothing from Laith except that message with the vampire emoji. God, was that just a few hours ago? How had my whole life flipped on its head between then and now?

It had to be a good sign that he never texted or called, right?

That meant he was honoring my wishes about being left alone.

I didn’t know for sure if he’d followed me home or not, but if he had, would he have appeared if he heard me and Justin fighting?

If he saw me leaving the apartment with a packed bag, would he have checked on me?

All my instincts said yes, he would have. In every interaction we had, Laith did seem to care about me. Maybe even a little too much for someone he barely knew.

He was…a lot. But I was exhausted, raw, and wrung out. And being around someone who cared and knew how to make me feel like myself seemed like exactly what I needed right then.

My battery dropped to two percent and I called his number before I could second guess any longer.

It took a while before I heard the line ring, accompanied by soft static. The ringing went on until I got his voicemail.

“What’s up? This is Des. You’ve reached Laith’s phone. Laith is busy trying to balance a teacup on his ass, but if you ask me, he does not have enough junk in the trunk to compete with a Kardashian.”

In the background, I heard Laith’s voice call out, “Hey, what are you doing with my phone? Give me that!”

Even with my raw, frayed feelings, I managed to smile at the scuffling noises that followed. Then too soon, I heard the beep that signaled me to record a message and I had to remember why I was mad at him.

“Hey, it’s me. It’s Heather, I mean.” I paused to chew my lip. My impulse was to apologize for my outburst last night, but was I really sorry? No. Getting chewed out was a light punishment for stalking. But, unlike with Justin, I wasn’t completely ready to close the door on Laith yet.

“I was wondering if we could talk,” I said.

“I’m still upset about what you told me, but…

some stuff has happened and I could use a friendly ear right now.

It’s morning now, so you’re probably asleep but maybe we can meet at our usual spot tonight?

I have to go into work so it’ll have to be earlier.

Maybe 8? My phone’s about to die so you might not hear from me until—shit! ”

A series of warning beeps sounded in my ear and I pulled the phone away to see a dead, blank screen. “Goddamn it.” I pressed on the power button, but my phone was well and truly dead.

I thought of returning to the apartment right then for my charger, but quickly nixed that idea. It was too soon to face Justin again. I’d be better off buying a new one, but again it was too early for any stores to be open.

“Well.” I turned on the car and started backing out of the parking space. “Might as well explore a vampire city in the daytime, I guess.”

There were humans in Sanguine, after all.

Some places had to be open during the day, right?

Maybe I could borrow a charger while grabbing breakfast in a cafe or something.

Hopefully no one would mind if I put my head down for a nap.

I was so accustomed to being a night owl at this point, it was a wonder how I wasn’t a vampire myself.

I drove to the parking lot at my usual trail head. After making sure my duffel bag was locked up and secure, I shouldered my purse and headed off into the woods.

Before, I had only seen the fringes of Sanguine by the light of day. That felt so long ago—back when I’d been too afraid to actually set foot in the city. Now, I walked through what truly felt like a ghost town.

Not a soul was out on the streets. The rising sun illuminated wooden and metal shutters sealed tightly over the windows of businesses and homes. Nothing stirred. There wasn’t even a breeze.