The Blood Will Run (3 page)

“You came to this party just to meet a girl, you sly devil. I was wondering why you didn’t put up much of a fight when I invited you. So, who’s this green-eyed beauty?”

“What have I told you about reading my thoughts?” Devin asked angrily.

Come on
. Chace spoke to him with his mind.
I was
just curious.

Well, it’s really none of your business. Now is it?

That’s when Devin spotted her walking toward the bonfire.

Ah, I guess that means your green-eyed beauty has finally arrived
.

Devin glanced sideways at Chace. He was staring at the green-eyed girl, his green-eyed girl. But what was puzzling to him was the expression on his brothers face. Chace appeared to know the girl. When Chaces’ eyes darkened, Devin knew that his brother had strong feelings for her.

CHAPTER THREE

A
livia
made her way to the bonfire. Connor, who was Tuckers’ private math tutor in school handed Alivia a beer. She twisted off the cap and tossed it into the recycling bin.

She eyed a few of the people walking around and wondered if they were ever going to change. Growing up in a small town meant that there wasn’t much to do, except throwing a lot of after hour drunken parties. When she was sixteen the parties were fun, but now more than year later, she would rather be at home reading a good book.

She practically knew every person here. She glanced around and shook her head. That’s when she spotted Devin. He was never at any of the other creek parties. She usually had only seen Devin at the Grand Coffin Cafe in the mornings for breakfast or at school when he was teaching drama class. Then she averted her gaze to Chace. He was staring at her and he looked angry.

Chace was a regular at the Cafe. He ordered the same thing every night for the past few months. He spent hours sitting at table nine reading a book or playing games on his ‘iPhone’.

It was not long after Erica started waitressing at the Cafe a few months ago, that Erica began to pester her into talking to Chace.

Finally, three weeks ago, she caved in and started talking to him. They talked about different novels that they read and realized they had almost the same taste. He was a nice guy and was incredibly handsome. The more they talked and the more she heard his hypnotic voice, the more she found herself looking forward to their nightly conversations. He was such a beautiful person on the inside and she couldn’t help but feel attracted to him.

Within seconds, Erica was beside her and hugged her close.

“I’m so happy that you decided to come, Livy.”Alivia nodded, never once taking her eyes off Chace.

He was muscular, tall and his eyes were a bright blue. She could stare into those dreamy eyes and completely lose herself. Chace was the most handsome guy that she had ever seen.

When Holly Fletcher put her arms around Chaces’ waist, she felt an unexpected pang of jealousy rise up inside of her and she looked away.

Erica looked at her and frowned. “Come on Livy, the night is young and full of wonder. If you just loosen up a bit, you just might have some fun. Just like the old days, remember those?”

She remembered when her and her friends laughed and joked around.

They had fun doing just about anything or nothing at all. But fun wasn’t part of her life anymore. She had somehow managed to make herself feel guilty, if she were to have too much fun.

Erica had that concerned look on her face just as she had many times in the last several months. Alivia didn’t care. This was who she was now, she had changed and Erica just had to accept it. 

A few minutes later, Tucker grabbed Erica around the waist, lifted her off her feet, and swung her around.

Alivia saw her chance to escape.

She swiped a six-pack of beer from the cooler and headed to the edge of the water, glancing back at Erica.

Gratefully, Erica hadn’t noticed, her attention was solely on devouring Tuckers’ lips.

“Hey there stranger,” said Miles smiling as he plopped down beside her. “Hiding out from the rest of us crazies, are we?”

It was abundantly clear from the sound of his voice that he was well on his way to having one too many drinks.

He put a casual arm around Alivia and pulled her closer.

“I’ve missed you darling,” he said.

“Oh, sure you have,” Alivia elbowed him and giggled.

“No really, all these girls are such snobs and they’re all way too easy, if you catch my meaning. But not my darling Livy, my sexy hot goddess is nothing like these other girls.”

She laughed. “You’re such a flirt Miles.”

“Come on Livy.” Miles waved his hand over his body and grinned. “You know you really want a piece of this action.”

Alivia cringed at the very thought of being intimate with Miles.

“You’re one of my oldest friends, let’s not go there.”

“Okay Livy, have it your way, but you really don’t know what you’re missing out on. I’m quite a catch.”

“I’m sure you are Miles. But, I just want to be your friend, okay?”

“Okay,” he said. He reached out, grabbed the six-pack and took out a pint of beer.

She noticed the white gold ring gleam in the moonlight as he twisted the cap off and handed it to her.

“I love this ring,” Alivia said.

“Yeah, on my sixteenth birthday my dad gave it to me. He said that his father gave him the same ring on his sixteenth birthday too.” Miles took another sip of his beer. “My dad said that my ancestors were slaves. He said the wolf shaped ring represents our familys’ freedom.”

“That is so incredibly cool Miles.”Alivia glanced at her own moonstone ring.

It belonged to her mother. Alivias’ sister Jules gave it to her a few days after their mother died. Alivia remembered the stories that her mother used to tell her about the ring and how it reminded her mother of Alivias’ father. Alivia didn’t really remember him much because he died when she was two-years-old. Her mother told her that just before her father passed away, he said to look at the ring when she was missing him and always remember that he would be watching over her from heaven.

Alivia glanced up and stared at the sky.

Seconds later, Miles bumped her with his arm.

“You don’t have to worry Livy,” Miles said, slurring his speech. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Alivia blinked and glanced at him sideways. “And what secret is that?”

“You know the secret that must be kept very hush hush.” Miles brought his finger to his lips and made a shushing sound.

Miles leaned in closer. “You know the one where you blame yourself for the death of your mother and brother. I’d blame myself too if I were you.

If you didn’t have to go to the bathroom that night, they would probably still be alive.”

Alivia was on her feet in an instant glaring down at him.

She was about to tell him off, but then decided against it. Instead, she bit down on her lip and stared at him angrily.

“Relax Livy, I didn’t mean it quite the way it sounded,” Miles said, quickly scrambling to his feet.

“What I meant was that I watched that awesome gas explosion from across the street. The whole town shook when those pumps exploded. It was a sight to see, man. Who would’ve thought something like that would’ve happened in the small town of Newgrave. Actually, I’m surprised that you even survived. No one should’ve survived that.”

Rage entered her eyes. Her nostrils flared as her anger boiled to a terrifying almost inhumane high.  She clenched her right fist tightly and with every bit of force she had, she punched Miles hard in the mouth.

Miles stumbled back and fell onto the ground.

Alivia was trembling. She forced back the angry tears.

Miles rose to his feet as he wiped the blood from his mouth. He brought his hand up and smacked Alivia hard across the face. Alivia fell to the side and landed face first on the ground.

Jason Borden and Chace grabbed Miles and pulled him back.

“I would not think about laying another hand on her if I were you,” Chace said in an angry voice.

Miles’ face turned blood red. His eyes widened as he glared at her angrily. “I’m going to kill you. You dumb, crazy ass bitch.”

Miles struggled to break free, but Chace twisted his arm up behind his back.

“Do I have to remind you again,” Chace said furiously.

Miles struggled even harder and became more enraged when Chace wouldn’t let go of him.

“When I get my hands on your pretty little ass?”

Chace interrupted Miles. “You touch her, my friend and I promise you, I will end your life right here and now.”

Alivia got up and skimmed the ground around her.

She picked up an empty bottle and broke it against a large rock.

She held the bottle out in front of her. She planned to use it to cut him if he decided to attack her again.

Miles snickered. “Oh looky looky, here folks. Do you see this?

Little Miss Thang thinks she can take me on all by her pretty little self.”

Alivia didn’t care if she could take on Miles or not. All she wanted to do was hurt him. She wanted to rip him to shreds with the bottle that she gripped in her hand.

“Come on you nasty bitch, do your worst!”

Miles was fuming.

Alivia wasn’t afraid of him. All she wanted to do was make him suffer.

“Because let me tell you,” Miles said as he glared into her eyes. “If you don’t do anything about it right now, I will hunt you down and make sure you suffer.” Alivias’ mind was blank as she began to move toward

Miles.

☼

Devin watched Chace as he restrained the guy who hit the green-eyed girl. He couldn’t believe that such a bony girl had that kind of power inside of her. He was aware of the girls’ sudden switch in emotion. He cringed when he felt the hatred that she now felt for the human.

He sensed that the girl was about to do something terrible. Devin moved quickly and stood directly in front of her. He knocked the bottle out of her hand.

He grasped her by the shoulders.

The second his hands touched her, he felt an electrical surge of energy rush through his body.

Devins’ muscles tensed. He stared directly into her eyes and suddenly he began to feel strange. He couldn’t explain why her mind was blank. It was as if there was something or someone controlling her every move, causing her to act differently.

He could barely control his emotions. But he had too. She needed him to suppress her anger.

He drew in a deep breath as he held her gaze and concentrated.

Almost instantly, her eyes flickered under his control.

Alivia
… the name flashed in his mind.

When he had finally released her eyes from his trance, she turned away from him and ran toward the woods. His mind immediately began to probe for any signs of danger.

When he found nothing, he stared and watched her as she ran along the edge of the creek and disappeared in the woods.

It took every ounce of force that he had to stop himself from chasing after her.  If her friends hadn’t gone after her seconds later, he would not have been able to resist.

“Now, come on Devin,” Chace said. “That girl is quite out of your league.”

Devin shook his head and frowned.

“Oh, don’t look so heartbroken Devin.” Chace smiled. “Alivia Marks is not the girl for you. I’m only going to warn you just this once to stay away from her, understood?”

Chace walked off before Devin could say a word.

Devin could hardly believe it. It was his first night out in the moonlight and it had proven to be a strange night indeed. Even

Wolfjack who was setting up on stage during the fight bolted the minute the fight started.

His thoughts drifted back to Alivia.

That name…Alivia. That breath-taking beauty with the eyes of emeralds and that perfect olive skin had captured his very soul. He had to have her.

He would not stop until he did.

☼

The next day, Chace was sitting in the Grand Coffin Cafe with Alivia at booth nine. They were sharing an order of Blood salsa and nachos when they reached for the hot sauce at the same time and her hand touched his. Her touch caught him by complete surprise. His lifeless body could actually feel her slender fingers on his hand and it caused goose bumps to run up along his arm. Then the weirdest thing happened. Images of her life began to flash in his mind.

“Chace are you alright?” Alivia asked.

Her expression was full of concern for him.

Chace couldn’t handle it. All the emotions, all the pain that she was feeling for a long time rushed through him. What sent him spiraling out of control was how she really felt toward him.

“I’m sorry Alivia, I’ve got to go.” Chace slid out of the coffin booth and rushed out the door.

He sped through the woods at top speed. He could feel the raven inside of him struggling to break free. The gripping ache of hunger seized him and within minutes, he was a raven soaring through the woods seeking someone or something to satisfy his uncontrollable thirst.

Moments later, he passed in front of the Newgrave cemetery. The familiar thumping of a human heartbeat caught his attention.

The intoxicating scent of blood filled his long beak.

He landed on a slab of stone and eyed his prey. The girl was leaning against a headstone, surrounded by lit candles, reading a book and she seemed to be unaware of his presence. Her innocence disgusted him. Her fearless attitude made him furious. 

He moved in closer as he shifted back into his natural form. Only when he shadowed over her did she look up at him.

“You will not scream,” he persuaded gazing into her eyes. “You will not move or put up a struggle of any kind. I am going to kill you and you are going to let me.”