He set the bird down and opened his wallet at the window. "Right now? We're just getting out of here. We'll figure it out later." He looked at the attendant. "Two and a bird for…Colorado."
"Actually," we heard behind us, "four and a bird for New Mexico."
We looked back to see Finn smiling and Enoch looking around with disdain.
"What are you doing?" Eli asked him.
"Saving you," Finn said sarcastically. "We're going to The Wall."
"I don't need to go to The Wall," Eli argued. "I already told you-"
"But you didn't consider that maybe there's something you could gain from The Wall yourself." He smiled and looked at me. "What do you say, human? Want to see if there's a way to live forever?"
"What?"
"You're human. You'll die one day. Maybe we can work together to get to The Wall and see if someone there can help you."
"So…" I thought. "You want to go to The Wall to see if you can have me unbound from Eli, but you want me to think I'm going to The Wall to see about turning myself immortal."
"Now you're getting it. A common journey, no matter the outcome."
"What's The Wall?" I asked Eli.
"It's a meeting place for supernaturals." He glared at Finn. "A dangerous place where very few humans go."
"Maybe there's some magical thing that can be done to stop the Horde?" I offered. "I don’t know, but Enoch has to keep me safe and Finn, whatever his ulterior motive, wants to keep you safe. So it might not be a bad idea to let them tag along. I do want to find out…some things."
Enoch scoffed, "As far as I'm concerned, you're tagging along with us."
"Whatever," I disregarded. I heard him snort from behind me. "What do you think, Eli?"
"I think Finn convinced you that going to The Wall is a good idea and that you can find a fairy who'll grant you forever-life in a bottle." He sighed and held my face in his hands. "It just doesn't work that way."
"I have no idea how it works, but I'm in your life now, right? It wouldn't hurt to show me the ins and outs of your world. If for no other reason that I know who and what to trust."
"Trust no one, Clara. Trust no one or nothing but me." He sighed and looked back to the attendant. "Four and a bird for New Mexico, please."
Seven
"Gloating doesn't look good on you, Finn," Eli said from our seats.
"I have it on good authority that it does," he said with a smirk.
We were sitting across from a smug Finn and a pissed Enoch who couldn't be pleased no matter what you did. The train seats were two by two facing each other so we had some semblance of privacy.
Our bags were snuggly pressed into the overhead bin. I say ours as in Eli's and mine because Finn or Enoch brought nothing with them. I never saw Enoch with anything anyway. The bird was in another car with our other bag.
"Hungry?" Eli asked me as he turned from Finn. "You didn't eat much lunch today."
"I am actually. I brought," I reached up and grabbed my bag down, "cereal."
"Of all the food in my cabinets you brought cereal to eat dry?" he said amusedly.
"Yep," I grinned as I opened the seal. A waft of fresh cinnamon hit me and I groaned as I popped a few in my mouth.
Eli laughed and reached into the box to get a few himself. Our crunching couldn't be heard over the train's loud screeching and rumbling as it blared down the tracks. It had only been about twenty minutes since we left the station and we had a butt load of miles left to go.
I texted Ariel and told her I'd be out of town with Eli for a few days. She balked as much as one can through text and told me I was crazy. Missing school and going on strange, sporadic vacations with my boyfriend was out of character for me. Yeah, didn't I know it? But she kind of refuted all the maternal advice when she asked for details as soon as I returned. I smiled as I agreed.
After a while, I began to drift off. Eli pulled the armrest up from between us and leaned me to lay my head on his lap. He stretched out, crossing his ankles, and I didn't fight him as he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Go to sleep, love."
With one of his hands in my hair and the other on my back, I plummeted into sleep.
~ ~ ~
I woke to voices. Heated, straining, upset voices. I didn't open my eyes, I just waited to see what was happening.
"Yes, that's the only reason I'm helping you. I'm hoping that once we get there, and the bond is removed, that you'll be your old self again and the girl can be sent packing."
"And I told you," Eli argued back to Finn in a hiss, "that I'm not some ensnared animal. I chose her as my mate first. I'm not the same person I was forty five years ago when we plundered the clubs of Los Angeles!" He sighed. "I never understood why you were a little different from other Devourers, I still don't, but I accepted you as you were. You don't have to like it, but I'm asking you to do the same for me right now. I am not the same person anymore and won't be ever again, no matter what scheme you come up with. I changed before I even met this girl. You just weren't around to see it."
"But I heard all about it," Finn rebutted and then stayed strangely quiet.
"Angelina," Eli guessed and laughed under his breath. "So are you going to finally admit it?"
Finn hesitated before saying, "You never wanted her."
"Absolutely right, I didn’t. I still don't and never will. Have at it."
"That's such bullcrap, Elijah! You were set to take over everything. Why did you have to be so stupid?"
"I didn't want it," Eli growled, his grip on my arm tightening just a tad. "I didn't want any of it. And the only reason Angelina ever wanted me was so she could claim my family's fortune."
"You never wanted her? Really? The most perfectly proportioned woman made on this earth and below it wants you to be her one and only, and you want nothing to do with it?"
"You've got it. It had nothing to do with my parents. They didn't betray me until I ran. And I was running away from her, so shut up, Finn. I’m not joking. If you came to just talk me into going to Angelina you can just jump off now. As far as I know Angelina is in Resting Place with the Goblins anyway. Besides, I never was one for your sloppy seconds."
"You're such a bastard." I heard a scuffle of feet as he stood from his seat. "She only came to me because she missed you."
"Missed me?" Eli laughed humorlessly. "She never had me to miss me. And this is one of those times when you being soft really pisses me off, Finn. She used you and you know it. You need to just admit it to yourself so you can stop being obsessed with her."
"I knew she was using me to get to you, I just didn't care. She was a hot piece-"
"Don't. Care."
"Whatever. I can't wait until we get there and some grimy Witch lets us know that you can take that bond off of your wrist. Then you'll stop being such a pansy and start being the Elijah I always knew."
"That Elijah is gone," Eli said sternly. "Eli is all that's left."
I heard steps leaving. I kept my eyes shut, feeling Eli's hands smoothing and soothing me. He didn't seem upset by his talk with Finn. In fact, he seemed completely at ease. He even started to hum the words softly to Coldplay again, Green Eyes this time, as he ran his fingers through my hair.
Honey, you should know,
that I could never go on without you.
Green eyes
Honey, you are the sea
upon which I flow.
And I came here to talk
I think you should know.
Green eyes
you're the one that I wanted to find.
And anyone who tried to deny you,
must be out of their minds.
'Cause I came here with a load
and it feels so much lighter since I met you.
I just sat and listened to him, soaking him and his contentment into myself. I thought I was about to get hurt when they started talking about Angelina. I thought Eli was about to turn on the jealousy over Finn and her, but he wasn't jealous. He wasn't even angry
.
I chastised myself once again for doubting him. He always pulled through for me, always ready to take whatever I dished, always willing to risk everything for me. Finn and Enoch were on this very train because Eli was trying to please me.
Enoch? Where was he? I peeked my eyes open and saw the seats across from us were empty. The train's lights were off and soft snores could barely be heard around us.
I sat up, suddenly apparently, as Eli jumped in surprise.
"Hey," he said and smiled. "Did you sleep well? You've been out for a few hours."
"Where's everyone?"
He shrugged. "Who cares? You want something? I can go and get you a soda from the machine-"
I ended his sweet announcement with a swift kiss. I climbed over onto his lap. It was the very first time I'd ever been in a guy's lap where I hadn't been put there by grabby hands. Eli huffed a surprised breath against my lips and laughed nervously as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him like there was no one else there.
There was, though. There was a frigging train full of people, but it was dark and everyone was asleep.
His hands rested hesitantly on my sides as if he wasn't sure if I was even awake and knew what I was doing. I pushed one of his hands down to my hip, and brought the other up my cheek. That seemed to be a signal for him. The hand on my hip gripped and pulled as the one on my cheek caressed and made me feel infinitely loved and looked after.
And safe.
And his tongue was an entity all its own. I swear, once I opened my mouth to his, it was like another world was waiting there. He took over and gave me every kind of shiver, goose bump and moan I could imagine myself doing. When he pressed a finger to my lips, I realized he was telling me that I had to be quiet.
I nodded my agreement and he grinned, the moonlight from our window barely enough to see him, before he pulled me back to him and devoured me in the moonlight.
I felt myself shift; my beliefs and non-beliefs and comfort levels crashing down. What wasn't acceptable to me before was becoming something not only acceptable, but something I wanted. I let it all go and just felt everything. He sucked in that telling breath that told me I was giving him what he needed. Then he groaned against my mouth and pulled back. He touched my lips again, with his thumb this time, and smiled as he said breathlessly, "We've got to stop."
"I'll be quiet," I promised in a sultry whisper before kissing his neck. He groaned again and pulled back once more.
"You can, but I can't." He leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Do you have any idea what your tongue is doing to me?" I smiled slightly and waited for us both to catch our breath.
I was disappointed that we had to stop, but it could only go so far on a train anyway, right?
"What did I do to deserve that?" he asked as he leaned back and rubbed my arms.
"Nothing," I said, the grin unstoppable.
He thought with a frown and then smiled as if he understood. "Ah, you were awake and listening, weren't you? You little sneak."
"I love your accent when you say 'little'."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my ear. "Little." I groaned and giggled as he held me to him. "Are you satisfied that Angelina is history?" I nodded and felt him breathe deeply from my neck. "Good."
He leaned his seat back to recline a little. I thought that maybe I should get back into my seat, but he pulled me to lie on his chest. I sighed and rubbed the promise ring on my finger. It seemed to all be falling into place the way my mom always wanted for me. I smiled hugely against his shirt when Eli pushed my fingers away and took over the rubbing, like he understood that the meaning behind it, not just the ring itself, was precious and important to me.
"Thank you."
He lifted his head a bit. "For what, love?"
"For being exactly what I was looking for."
He sighed and kissed the top of my head. "You couldn't ever say anything better than that to me. Thank you, sweetheart."
I went back to sleep with his soft humming in my ear and his hands on me making me warm, safe and secure.
Eight
It was dark still. My head pounded behind my eyes and I was freezing. I opened my eyes to find I was alone in the train seat. I looked around, but saw no one. Not even any other passengers. I stood and peered over the seats, but saw no one. Hmmm.
I looked out the window and saw a red light way off in the distance. I squinted to see it as it got closer, my breath fogging up the glass. It was actually two red lights and they were moving quickly.
Eyes. They were eyes and the person careening towards me wasn't human. Angelina was laughing and her wild hair blew behind her. She stopped at the glass even as the train lurched on. She stared at me and I stared back in fright. She licked her lips and smiled before scratching her nails on the window. It began to crack with the movement of her nails and I tried to turn, but my feet seemed glued to the spot.
The window began to rattle and shake. Then it shattered, the glass blowing and cutting into my skin. I screamed in fright, but felt no pain. Then Eli's arms were around me and I felt really warm.
I opened my eyes again to find it was morning. The train was still moving, the sun peeking out over the horizon. Eli still had me on his lap and was looking at me strangely. I looked over to see our few neighbors looking around their seats curiously.
A quick look back at Enoch and Finn put my fear to realization as they both looked at me as if I were an idiot. Eli pulled me back to look at him. "Are you ok? You were just dreaming."
"I'm ok." I looked at the other train goers. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern," I said sarcastically when they all just kept staring.
"You're sure?" Eli held my face in his hands. "You screamed."
"It was a bad dream, like you said. Angelina…well, she wasn't being nice."
"Angelina is gone, love," he said. "I have no doubts that she is as dead as a Devourer can get."
"I know." I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
He scoffed. "Are you kidding? Come on. Let's get some breakfast from the Café car."
"Please."
He gripped my hand as he shielded me from eyes that looked at me with pity, as if I had something wrong with me. I glowered at them making them turn away. We had to go down a couple of cars before we reached the one with food. And when he opened the pressure door, the smell of coffee hit me. I groaned aloud and Eli looked back at me, a chuckle on his lips as he led the way to the bar.
"What'll it be folks?" the guy asked, his crisp bowtie and white shirt ridiculous.
"Coffee first," Eli said, hooking an arm around my waist. "We'll go from there."
"You got it."
"What'll it be, love?" He placed a menu in front of me.
"Wow," I said and I scanned the pages. "They've got everything. What are you having?"
"A pile of pancakes."
"That sounds good," I agreed as I closed the menu and accepted the coffee from across the bar. I sipped it and didn't even care that it burned as it went down. It was hot and strong.
Eli told the man what we wanted and he instructed us to find a seat. We did and waited. Eli asked me if I wanted to talk about my dream. I said I didn't. My head still hurt though; the same pounding behind my eyes as in the dream.
I rubbed them with my fingers and Eli sat in the booth next to me. "What's up?"
"Just a headache."
"Must be a bad one. You're pretty pale all of a sudden, Clara." He felt my forehead and it stung for him to touch me. I hissed. He jerked his hand back and eyed me with a clinical eye. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. It just hurts." I tried to smile reassuringly. "I’ll be fine, babe."
"Here we go," the waitress said as she gave us our plates. "Matching orders. How cute."
I could barely muster a smile, let alone manage friendly banter. Eli took care of that for me though and carried on a light conversation with the older lady as I dug into my flapjacks. I closed my eyes trying to ease the headache aw
ay. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see the waitress holding out her hand.
I put my hand under hers and she dropped a small packet of Excedrin Migraine into my palm. "Your boyfriend said you could use these. Drink lots of water with them."
"Thank you." I opened the packet quickly and downed the pills. When I glanced back at Eli, he hadn't even taken a bite. "Eat, you. I'm fine."