Aunt Jen and Camilla sighed, infatuated with Eli's declaration. He smiled at me and a tell-tale blush sprang to my cheeks.

"Well," Aunt Jen began, taking slices of cooked chicken off her grill. "You have our support, now let's eat."

As we ate, the clock struck twelve. Our time was running out and I hated it. I wanted to stay here forever. Eli sat across from me, and under the table he entwined his legs with mine. I was happy. Aunt Jen and Camilla seemed to really like him-even if they were a bunch of creeps. Lunch conversation was heavily filled with all the things I'd missed since being away, including Kyle-and Camilla's brief dating period with Darren. I gritted my teeth.

"You can do better than Darren Jolter, Cam. He's such a douche bag."

"Yeah, well, Bridgewater isn't exactly filled with Elis." I rolled my eyes and Eli laughed. "You had to go to the middle of G.o.d knows where to find him. All I have are Bridgewater boys."

"Come on," Aunt Jen exhaled, seeming quite offended. "They aren't that bad."

Camilla took a sip of her water and placed it back on the table. "You're only saying that because you're dating the manager of the bar down the road."

"What?" I searched my mind, trying to remember who managed the bar. If I recalled correctly, he's a tall, scruffy looking man that always wears tight business clothes, never in a shade lighter than black. "Bob? Bruce? Barry?" Names rolled off my tongue as I tried to find one that suited the face.

"Bryant," Aunt Jen interjected. "He's a gentleman and he's very interesting."

Camilla rolled her eyes, exhaling dramatically. "In his spare times he's a DJ and goes by the name DJ BryBry."

Laughter explodes from around the table and Aunt Jen looked anything but pleased.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. So he has a few childish hobbies, who cares? He's handsome and he's fun."

"Aw, it's okay, Aunt Jen. I'm just glad you no longer have to go see a movie with that creepy guy just to get blood for me."

"Yep," she agreed, smiling widely. "Life is good."

After lunch, we sat around the lounge room talking. Well, Aunt Jen and Camilla were talking, sharing all of the embarra.s.sing stories of me as a child with Eli, before my mother died. I loved it. I was having the time of my life and when the clock struck three, Eli rose to his feet, thanking them for their hospitality.

"We're late and it's going to take another four hours before we get back to Sage." Eli pulled his phone from his pocket and I glanced at the screen. He had so many missed calls from Mr. Aleksandrov. I grew worried. Eli was going to be in a lot of trouble for this.

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Aunt Jen said, pulling Eli into a hug. She winked at me and I rolled my eyes. "Hopefully, we get to meet again in the future."

"I hope so."

Camilla and Eli hugged briefly and he stepped out of the house, giving me a few moments alone with my family-my only family. Tears suddenly rolled down Camilla's cheeks, causing her mascara to run.

"Don't cry!" I sobbed as few of my own hot tears burned down my face.

"I'm going to miss you..."

"And I'm going to miss you, but you gave me your number and I promise I'll call you regularly." She nodded and Aunt Jen stepped in front of me, pulling me tightly into her. She planted kisses on the top of my head.

"We love you, Rubes. We never stopped." She pushed me away, but kept ahold of my face. "You're welcome back here anytime. We'll always have room for you...and him, if he's ever in town." She gave me a tight smile and giggles erupted from my throat. I turned from them and exited the house. In the driveway, I saw Camilla's pink Barina and I cringed inwardly. Those were the days...I couldn't say I missed that. Eli leaned against the pa.s.senger side of the car on the phone. His brows pulled together as he listened to whoever was talking-Mr. Aleksandrov, probably. He hung up and watched me intently, clearly upset with something. I turned around and Aunt Jen and Camilla were holding each other, crying like babies.

"I love you guys."

"We love you, too."

I walked away from them toward the car. My feet felt heavy-like I had bricks in my shoes. I didn't want to go. Eli opened the door for me and I turned around one last time. Hot tears dropped onto my cheeks and I waved goodbye climbing into the car. Eli beeped a few times and then sped off down the road.

"Is everything okay?" I asked when I was absolutely certain he was p.i.s.sed off.

He scratched his brow. "I'm not sure. I'm trying to make sense of it."

"Sense of what?"

He sighed, squeezing the steering wheel with both hands. His knuckles went white before he flexed his fingers, allowing the blood through. "Apparently, there's a problem with the serum."

My stomach dropped. "What is it? Is Hunter okay?"

I waited as Eli worked his lip between his teeth. His frustration relaxed me. Hunter couldn't be dead. If he was, Eli would no doubt be a little happier than he was now.

"As you know, Hunter is pretty much back to his old self and they're thinking of releasing him this weekend..." I nodded. "Well, today, he's been showing signs of...separation anxiety."

My brows furrowed. "And?"

"He refuses to tell anyone anything about it, but they believe he's sired to you."

I relaxed in my seat. "What? That's ridiculous. It doesn't work like that."

"Think about it. When someone is turned into a vampire, the vampire forces venom into their bloodstream. With Hunter, your blood-mixed with whatever else, was forced into his body, so it's very possible."

I crossed my arms over my chest. It just didn't sound believable to me. How could he be sired to me? I didn't create him, I just bought him back.

"How am I not sired to Mila, then? She used her blood to bring me back."

He exhaled, running his hand over his face once. "I don't know. They're looking into it. If I had to guess, I'd say you were only half a vampire. Hunter was a full vampire and it wasn't just G.o.ddess blood that went into him, it was Heelian blood, too."

I was trying to think of something-anything that made sense, but it all seemed so complicated.

"Hey," Eli caressed my thigh through my jeans. "We'll figure it out. We always do."

We drove for hours. We didn't speak about the Hunter-sire thing and we wouldn't again until we had more to go off. We were deep into the forest now, with only an hour left to go until we reached Sage's gates. Daylight was gone. The sun had just disappeared under the horizon, leaving an inky mess of dark navy blue and pink. My attention flicked from the sky to the flashing indicator light in front of Eli as he pulled over to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" I asked, suddenly nervous about being out at night.

"I want to kiss you before we get to Sage," he said, putting the car in park and pulling up the handbrake. There's no doubt we'll be ushered to Mr. Aleksandrov's house to explain our absence as soon as we arrive."

I couldn't stop the smile that spread so effortlessly across my face. I leaned toward him, placing my hand on his cheek. His skin was warm and smooth under my hand.

"Maybe I should be the one kissing you. You did an amazing thing for me today."

I moved my thumb up and down slowly as his deep, green eyes pierced my soul. I unclipped my seat belt and pressed my lips to his. Almost immediately Eli pulled away, unclipped his seat belt, and flicked a switch beside his seat so it slid backwards. He grabbed me by the wrist, pulling me onto him. It was so unexpected that I gasped loudly. Thank G.o.d the car was s.p.a.cious, otherwise I would've gotten stuck somewhere between my seat and his. I straddled him as his lips travelled along the outline of my jaw to my ear and then down my neck. Gooseb.u.mps erupted as my senses reeled out of control and the windows began to fog up from our labored breathing.

"I've always tried to be careful with you, but that's not what I want right now."

My breath caught in my throat as he spoke against my burning skin. "What do you want?"

A cheeky smile tugged at his lips and l.u.s.t tore through me, exposing every nerve in my body."I want to show you just how d.a.m.n irresistible you are to me." He kissed my bottom lip, softly.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're stalling our return to Sage."

He laughed once. "Maybe. I hate not being able to have you whenever I want. It frustrates me."

Today, Eli had been so playful-less reserved. I don't think I'd ever seen him so careless about rules and I was going to take advantage of it. I was usually the one eager to break the rules. Now it was Eli. Oh, how times had changed.

"You have me now..." I said, running my hands through his dark hair and bringing my mouth closer to his. "We're alone."

His eyes were smoldering at me with a darker intensity than I had ever seen before. They locked onto my lips for a second before I pressed them against his. He didn't respond at first and I knew it was because he was thinking-he was always thinking. He'd already come as far to tell me he wanted me, why stop now? I bit down on his bottom lip, causing him to gasp, and then I ran my tongue over it. A tight groan released itself from Eli's throat and it was obvious that this was exactly what he wanted. Our tongues intertwined in a dance as his hands trailed impatiently up my slim hips and then past my narrow waist before resting on the b.u.t.tons of my shirt. Becoming quickly annoyed with them, he tore my shirt open, sending b.u.t.tons everywhere and exposing my yellow, lacy bra. I pulled away from him and scowled at the wide, c.o.c.ky smile plastered on his face.

"What? I said I was frustrated."

"I know, but you just ruined my-" His warm hands went into my shirt and wrapped around my waist, pulling me tightly against him and cutting my words off with a hard kiss. His hands traveled up the back of my neck and into the base of my hair. He tugged it hard and I gasped as a new wave of sensation flooded me. s.e.x with Eli had been great-better than great. It'd always been loving and tender, but this time...this time I could tell it was going to reflect our more animalistic nature and I was excited in more ways than one. Eli bit me. Nipped at me. His hands moved quickly, roaming everywhere, squeezing and pinching. The whole time we sighed each other's names and swore under our breaths. It wasn't the most comfortable place to be intimate, and after a while you kind of run out of creative ways to get comfortable, but it was an experience I'd never forget. It was unforgettable, just like he said our trip would be.

Locating clothing was difficult and it took a while, but we managed...eventually. I slid back into my seat as he adjusted his. I slipped my coat on and used the big, black b.u.t.tons to seal it shut. The shirt I was wearing was ruined and because of Eli, it had no b.u.t.tons... not the worst way to destroy a shirt, I suppose. The warm back of Eli's hand caressed my cheek and I leaned into it.

"Are you ready?"

"Sure, it's been a while since I've been chastised for breaking rules. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

He released a deep, smooth laugh and I was grateful that I could draw such a beautiful sound from him. We drove deeper and deeper into the ma.s.s of trees. I glanced out the window. There were no stars in the sky tonight, just a dense layer of clouds. I'd be okay with it raining. Nothing could ruin today, not even the rain. It might even ease me into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"You took her from the school? Do you have a death wish?" Lyric snapped at Eli.

Eli and I stood opposite Mr. Aleksandrov, who rested his head in his hands, with his elbows firmly on the table. It appeared that our disappearance had caused some kind of ma.s.s panic.

"Relax." Eli's voice was deep and demanding. "She was with me, nothing would have happened to her."

"I think it's a nice gesture," Mila interjected, pulling Lyric's angered gaze on her. "Ruby hasn't seen her mother's grave before today. She deserves that after everything that has happened to her."

"I agree," Xavier said, glancing at Mila with a subtle gleam of hope in his eyes.

Poor guy still hadn't been able to tell Mila how he felt, and as far as I knew, she was still dead against dating a guardian angel-emotional baggage and all that. Lyric's dark, chocolate gaze fell onto me and I hugged my coat tighter around me. I had a nervous feeling that they'd ask me to take it off. Wouldn't that be embarra.s.sing? I don't think me or Eli had the ability to talk our way out of that one.

"What are you doing, Eli?" Lyric asked, shifting his attention.

Eli's jaw tightened under his skin.

"I fail to see how that's any of your d.a.m.n business," I snapped, stepping in before Eli got a chance to.

"Ruby," Eli warned me. I rolled my eyes. "It's okay."

Inside me, my blood simmered. Why was I getting treated like I didn't deserve a break, after everything I'd done?

"We went to see her mother's grave and have lunch with her family. We were back just after dark. No harm done."

Lyric scoffed and crossed his arms tightly over his chest. Tired bags hung under his eyes and I could tell he just wanted to go to bed. "Since when did you become the reckless one?"

Eli's brows pulled together and he stared at Lyric with a glare so dark it made me a little fearful.

"All right, all right," Mr. Aleksandrov exhaled, pushing off his desk and rising to his feet."The main thing is you're back now. I know that Ruby's t.i.tle is guardian, but she still has G.o.ddess blood coursing through her veins, not to mention that she's the only chance at curing vampires the council has. They would have my head, your head, and everyone else's head if they knew you took her away today."

"I understand," Eli replied casually.

"I also told you that you two," he pointed a long finger at us. "Aren't meant to be alone together."

I felt heat pool in my cheeks, knowing exactly why he put that rule in place.

"If the council knew about what happened or is happening between you two, you can kiss your guardian life and Ruby behind. Shape up, Eli, because you didn't work so hard for everything you have now just for the council to take it away."

He nodded without a flinch. "Yes, sir."

Mr. Aleksandrov continued. "As a result, you'll be doing the late night shifts indefinitely, starting tonight."

Eli nodded again, but I protested. "It isn't his fault. I was the one that wanted to go."

Eli glanced sideways at me with a warning look. He didn't want me to take the fall for him.

"He should have known better," Mr. Aleksandrov countered.

"But-"

He raised his hand to silence me before falling back into his chair.

"Sadly, this isn't the worst thing to happen to me today." He exhaled and closed his eyes briefly. "The council knows that Lucian broke into the school. It got back to them and they've requested hearings."

I stiffened, and beside me, Eli did the same.

"What do you mean?" Mila asked before anyone else could. Even Lyric looked frightened.

"They want to know exactly what's going on here. I'm trying to pa.s.s it off as nothing now that the students are back and resuming their cla.s.ses. I have a group of wizards and witches living in the school, protecting it with extra charms, but they aren't satisfied with that. They heard about Eli choosing Ruby over his charge and they heard about the success of the serum. They want us to travel to the council city and partic.i.p.ate in a series of hearings."

"And if we don't go?" I asked.

Mr. Aleksandrov chuckled. "We don't have a choice. Pack your things, we leave in two days."

He rose from his chair and his grey robe flailed behind him as he stormed from the room.

"Well..." I exhaled. "That sucks."