The Vampire Next Door (19 page)

I sat down on an old bucket in the storage room, debating about what to do.

Reeve’s logic was impossible to argue. We weren’t going to be the saviors of the universe. He was an amnesia-stricken mechanic, and my only real experience at anything, pre-apocalypse, had been giving investment advice to conservative retirees.

I washed my hands in the half-bathroom and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were strikingly blue in the harsh light of the naked bulb above me, my skin pale. I thought back again to how Reeve had remembered the color of my eyes while we’d lain on the mattress in his room, watching the projected stars shift above us.

Cole had made a joke of the fact that he couldn’t remember my eye color. He’d been completely unashamed of his poor memory, regarding his total lack of knowledge on anything about me as something funny instead of something hurtful. But it had been hurtful, and I’d endured his callous attitude for far too long.

I looked down at my wedding ring. I’d spent so long believing that I was less important than everyone else around me, that I didn’t deserve what I truly wanted.

I walked out into the basement. “Who says?” I asked Reeve, propping my fists on my hips.

He had been looking over my bookshelf in the corner, but at my words, he turned around. “What?”

I lifted my chin. “Who says we’re not the chosen ones?”

For a few seconds, his handsome face was blank, and then his expression turned wry. “You think we’re the chosen ones? We’re destined to save the world from a vampire apocalypse?”

“Why not?” I limped over to him and swept my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck. “Could I do this with any other vampire?” I asked, tilting my head to the side and looking up at him.

Reeve stared at my neck for a moment, then lifted his hand and stroked his fingers across my collarbone. It was an affectionate gesture, and one that made my heart do a little jump inside my chest. “No.”

“Could you do this-“ I put my hand over his, pressing his fingers against my skin- “with any other human?”

The bottomless depths of his eyes were shifting, crimson tinges warring with warm sable. “No.”

I managed a slight smile as I stared up at him, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart. “Then I’m going to ask you again. Who says we’re not the chosen ones?”

He shook his head and pulled his hand from mine. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack. Or a vampire attack.”

“Or a road trip to Phoenix to face down certain death at the hands of vampire hunters,” he muttered, and ran a hand through his hair.

“Trust me,” I said. “I’ve got a plan.”

Our eyes met again, and before I had time to react, Reeve had leaned down, wrapping his arms around me as he pulled me close.

“I trust you,” he whispered against my ear.

I slid my arms around his waist and hugged him back, knowing that everything had changed since I’d met him. For the first time in my life, I was taking control of my own destiny.

EPILOGUE

“Holloway, you are not sitting in the front seat,” I told my dog sternly.

True to form, Holloway ignored me and turned around one more time before curling up on the passenger seat of our Mitsubishi Lancer. I glowered at him, but he only sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

“I need to be more intimidating,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “He doesn’t see me as an authority figure.”

“Holloway, move,” Reeve ordered from behind the car, where he was loading my suitcase into the trunk.

Holloway immediately stood up and jumped over the cente
r console into the backseat. I clucked my tongue in annoyance. “What is that about? It’s like I’m not even here. He only listens to you.”

“You’re too nice to everyone,” Reeve replied. He slammed the trunk and grinned at me. “You need to stop being a doormat.”

“I’m working on it.” It was true. My self-esteem had grown in leaps and bounds over the last several weeks. If I had been this person during the first four years of my marriage to Cole, the progression of our relationship would have gone much differently.

Reeve and I were getting ready to leave for Phoenix. It was less than an hour after nightfall, and we planned on arriving in the Phoenix area and finding a place to hide out from the sun before starting our search for my dad.

I would have been lying if I’d said I wasn’t nervous, but I had a newfound confidence within me, and I knew that it had everything to do with Reeve’s presence in my life. We hadn’t kissed again since the day that Eddie had returned, almost a month ago, and although my heart still threatened to jump right out of my chest every time he was near me, I counted Reeve as my best friend, and nothing more- yet.

He treated me like an equal instead of patronizing me, and I was beginning to like the new me…the girl who had no qualms about sharing her opinion, and didn’t second-guess herself constantly.

I was so happy with the new me, in fact, that I’d briefly toyed with the idea of staying here, in my hometown. The local vampires all steered clear of Reeve, and we hadn’t seen any other survivors since Eddie had left.

But I knew that my heart wouldn’t be able to rest until I found my family.

“I think that’s it,” Reeve said, moving up next to me. He held out the keys. “Want to drive?”

“Sure.” Smiling up at him, I accepted the keys and walked around to the driver’s side.

I paused as I opened the door, and looked up at my house, faintly illuminated in the light of the moon. It was shut up tight, sitting patiently, waiting for someone to come along and reclaim it.

I had so many memories in that house, both good and bad. I’d watched the girls grow up, celebrated birthdays and Christmases.

The hardest thing at all about going to Phoenix was leaving my house behind.

Reeve paused on the passenger side of the car, and followed my gaze to the house. “It’ll be here if you want to come back someday,” he told me softly.

“Yeah.” I blinked away my tears and smiled. “I know.”

I sat down in the driver’s seat and turned the keys in the ignition.

It was time to start a new adventure.

**

Dear reader,

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Want to know what happens next in Kennedy’s story? View the updates as they happen at my blog (
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Have a wonderful day!

Love,

Charity