That piqued Eric’s interest. He tilted his head. “Sorrel, are you sure your father was mortal?”
She leaned away from him. “Of course. How could he be anything else?”
“I don’t know. But we don’t have time right now to discuss him. Please stay here.”
“What if something happens to you?”
He placed his hand over her heart. “Then find the light within you and run like hell.” He reached under the seat of the car and, like magic, pulled out a book too thick to fit under it. The moonstones sparkled in the light of day. “Take my book, and if I don’t come out in ten minutes, leave. Use the book for leverage if you have to.”
Sorrel hesitated to reach for it.
“I trust you.” Eric tried to coax her while inching the book toward her.
“How can you? We’re born enemies.”
“Maybe we were born that way, but that’s not my choice.” He pressed his lips hard against hers without warning. “I choose you.”Chapter Twenty-SixI kept looking between Eric’s book in my lap and my mother’s house, shaking where I sat. It was mostly out of fear of who Eric might find lurking within, and partially because of the feelings I was having for the man I watched disappear into the shadows. I couldn’t think about those feelings, no matter how strong they were, when I knew my mother was probably dead inside that house. My only consolation was that she’d spent her last days in this beautiful oasis with an ocean view. She’d loved white sand beaches and the water. And while this place wasn’t exotic, it was serene with sand grass blowing in the breeze and blue, blue skies.
I feared that Eric’s family had followed us here or worse, beat us to the punch. I hated to think what they would have done to my mother had they found her alive. What they would do to Eric if he walked in on them. And though Eric promised me I had the power to fight them off, I had no idea how that was possible. Eric had my mind reeling with so many questions. The biggest one being, Why did I survive? I had no idea where to get the answers.
The clock on the SUV seemed to be broken. It was the longest ten minutes of my life, waiting for Eric. I clutched Tara, who purred against my chest, like his book seemed to purr on my lap as if it recognized who I was. So weird. I wanted to peek inside the ethereal-looking book made of what looked like moonstones, but now wasn’t the time. And it almost seemed like a violation of Eric’s privacy. Though he had apparently searched through mine. But mine was broken. Another question I had no answer to.
With the final minute ticking down, I got ready to go in and find Eric even though he had told me to leave. In good conscience I couldn’t do that, despite the fact that if he hadn’t come into my life none of this would have happened. I couldn’t exactly blame him though. He was bound to obey his book. And he had been nothing but kind and attentive ever since he’d kidnapped me. I glanced at the keys in the ignition and at his book. He was the worse kidnapper ever. Although he was a pretty good knight in shining armor. The thought made me smile. Knight had double meaning for him. I wondered if he chose that last name or if the book had.
I was about ready to rescue Mr. Knight, or at least pretend to, when he came walking out of the garage door with a regretful look on his face. He came directly to the passenger side and opened my door. The way his head hung, I knew he had found my mother.
Tears trickled down my cheeks. “She’s dead.”
He only nodded.
“Does she look like she was in a lot of pain?”
“She looks peaceful, as if she had fallen asleep. In fact, she’s wearing a designer suit and heels, and her makeup looks flawless.”
I laughed through my tears. “That sounds like her. But . . . does she, you know, look dead and discolored? Does she smell?” I wanted to brace myself. The last dead body I had seen was my father’s, right after he’d died.
“You don’t know a lot about our kind, do you?”
“Not really.”
He gave me a small smile. “Since we aren’t exactly human, our bodies don’t decay like mortals. She looks perfect.”
I let out a sigh of relief until I remembered, “Did you see any signs of your family?”
“No. I think we’re safe for now, but we should probably pull the car into the garage. The less people to see us the better.”
That sounded like a good plan. While I wanted to rush in to see my mother, it was also the last thing I wanted to do. She should have lived for another 150 years. I would miss her snarky voice in my head. Even all her warnings that I never listened to. That I should have listened to.