THIRST (The Elite Book 3) by Hanleigh Bradley (read the beginning after the end novel .txt) 📕

vampire compassion. “This existence, no matter how long it lasts, is far too long to be alone.”

“He loves you. He’ll probably not say it until he has no other choice. Everette isn’t one for sharing his feelings, but he does love you. He doesn’t know what it means. Or what he’s meant to do about it. Or even how to enjoy it. But eventually, he’s going to realise that his entire existence revolves around you and everything will change.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Farah

Jessamine’s words are still going through my mind later that night when I finally go to bed. Everette’s bed is too big and empty without him, and so I find myself standing at the window, the curtain pulled back so I can look outside.

I can’t really imagine Everette’s world revolving around anything, let alone me.

The house is deadly quiet. I’ve never particularly liked this house, but with Everette gone, I think I might hate it. It’s too quiet. Too dark. Too big. Too cold. I’ve never felt less at home within its walls than I do right now.

My palms are sweating slightly, and my heart feels like it’s in my throat. I keep telling myself that Everette will be fine. He’s a vampire, for heaven’s sake. He’s not exactly a damsel in distress that needs rescuing. No. That would usually be me.

But no matter how much I try to remind myself that Everette is perfectly capable of dealing with whatever is out there, it doesn’t stop me worrying about him.

Resting my forehead against the cool glass, I close my eyes and take a deep, steadying breath. He is going to be fine. But I can’t get the sight of Hestin’s blood splattered on the wall out of my mind.

What if…

“No!” I try to banish the thoughts. Everette will come back. I just need to lie down and go to sleep and before I know it, he’ll be waking me up. He promised as much, after all. Fancy worrying about a vampire. I must have the most overactive imagination known to man.

With one last look out the window, I draw the curtains and pad across the room back towards the empty bed. Settling under the covers, I resign myself to a sleepless night.

Everette

“Rule number one of being stealthy… Don’t use the front door,” I say sarcastically as we circle around the back of the pub.

“I’ll have you know I wasn’t aiming for stealth when I came here.” I do my best to ignore Hestin’s mutterings as I look around for the best way to enter the building. “I was told he had information. I didn’t realise this was their bloody headquarters.”

“Rule number two of being stealthy…” I mock, before pointing up at a window on the second floor that is slightly ajar. “I think we’ll go in that way.”

“If you like.” Hestin shrugs his shoulders, clearly put out with my mocking. It’s nice having the tables turned. I’ve had to put up with his blather about Farah for the entire car journey here. The least he can do is be a good sport.

Just then a handful of people exit the public house through the rear door directly underneath the window, talking loudly as they settle at one of the beer tables.

“Well, that complicates things, doesn’t it?” Hestin grumbles.

“No. We’ll just have to be extra…”

“Don’t say it,” he groans.

Laughing under my breath, I search for another way to enter the building unseen. But I can’t see another way in.

“We could just wait,” I say quietly, although I’m silently thinking that it is a terrible idea. For one thing, I really don’t want to be out here longer than we need to be in case someone spots us. And for another, the sooner we get in, the sooner I can go home to Farah.

“You don’t want to do that.”

“No, I don’t.” There’s very little point in denying it. Waiting isn’t really an option.

“You want to get back.”

“Yes.”

“To Farah.” I can practically hear the laughter in his voice. If it wasn’t imperative that we stay hidden, I’d clobber him over the head.

“Alright, who’s going first?”

“Don’t mind.”

“How many vampires did you say were here earlier?” I turn to look at him for the first time, briefly taking my eyes off the pub.

“More than twenty.”

“Right… So, enough to kill us both.” I’m proud of myself when I somehow make it sound like I’m comparing being murdered to something significantly more enjoyable. Something like… Well, I don’t know. There really aren’t that many things vampires enjoy. “I’ll go first. Wait until I’m inside and then follow after me.”

Hestin doesn’t respond except with a minute nod of his head. And then I’m moving quicker than the humans in the beer garden could possibly see, all the while hoping that there are no vampires staring out one of the windows. That would definitely remove the element of surprise.

Gripping the wall in a way no human ever could, I begin to scale the building, until I’m clinging to it just beneath the window. The voices of the humans beneath me carrying on the wind, and their asinine conversation bores me almost immediately. Humans are so rarely original.

Except Farah.

Farah is as unique as humans get. I catch myself just before I let out a little lovesick sigh. God, I’m going to get myself caught, all because I can’t keep my mind off Farah.

Glancing over the window ledge, I’m happy to discover that the room is empty, so I slide the window up. When the window creaks, I pause for just a second to make sure no one heard it. The voices below are still talking about the barmaid’s big tits and the room inside is still quiet, so I continue to push the window open, being extra cautious not to let