Blood: The Third Course

Chapter Four

"And who told Kaleb?"

Priya leaned further away from Matthew and tipped her head back to look up at him. His hair was scruffy and he had more like a ten o'clock shadow than a five. He'd not fallen into the routine as easily as she had, especially since he was used to being up at the crack of dawn at the farm, but their differing body clocks had never been an issue before.

"Carson," she said.

Matthew rolled his head and rested his head back against the wall. Stroking her hand across his stomach, she pushed the blankets further.

"Sonny's trying to save his place in the pack, there's nothing to say they're back in the city."

"Kaleb said there had been two murders, and the vampires are adamant it wasn't them. So that leaves—"

"A hundred people, Priya, a thousand even."

"But Carson told Kaleb that the wounds on the necks look like a vampire covering their tracks."

"And maybe it was, but that doesn't mean it's Spencer."

Priya turned her face towards his chest, inhaling the soft masculine scent.

"It could be," she whispered.

His fingers combed through her hair, pulling it back until it slid from her shoulder and fluttered down across the pillow. Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head.

"Even if it is," he said against her hair. "It doesn't mean he's coming back, Pri."

"What?"

"After everything that's happened, Vince can't just come waltzing back to his life like it was nothing."

"Sure, but it's his family, surely he—"

"Vince was angry for a long time before this," Matthew said, his voice emotionless and blank. "He won't come back."

Pushing herself up, Priya propped her weight on her hands and stared at him. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at her, giving her a soft smile as he cupped her face in his hands. When he tried to pull her forwards, Priya slid from his grasp and moved up onto her knees.

"So, what? You think we'll never see him again? That we should stop looking?"

"No, of course not."

"He's your friend, Matt."

Matthew dropped his hands into his lap and huffed.

"I know he is, Priya, don't talk down to me. I never said we should give up. I'm saying that Vince won't come back willingly, and we should be prepared for a fight."

Ruffling a hand through his hair, Matthew sighed and shoved the blankets aside. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he turned away from her. He still had red half-moons in his shoulders where she had clung to him, and yet he'd never seemed further away. Priya shuffled closer, but he got to his feet.

"I should get back to the farm, they'll need me."

"Oh, come on, don't. I barely get to see you anymore."

He glanced over his shoulder.

"You should come out to the farm more."

Priya slumped back onto her heels and crossed her arms over her bare chest. He padded across the room, collecting up a towel from where he'd slung it over the back of a chair in the corner.

"Arnesen threatened that I would be the first to die if that girl wasn't back. You think they've just forgotten?"

"So, what? Your plan is to spend the rest of your life paranoid? I thought you were better than that, Priya."

"You saw what they did to Jack," she cried. "You saw how fast he went. They barely stopped him from killing a co-worker and biting them. It was the middle of the month, Matt!"

"I'm well aware of Jack's condition," he said. "I'm the one who had to haul boxes from the cellar so they could keep him safe, remember?"

"So why are you having a go at me? Calling me paranoid? The only reason they haven't gotten to me is because I'm staying here with the vampires."

"Bullshit," he said, hanging the towel over his arm. "Everyone knows you're here. I knew."

Priya sat on the edge of the bed, straightening the blankets beneath her.

"I told you," she said.

"And who's to say one of the vampires didn't tell someone? Maybe the girl in the next room mentioned it to a friend or something?"

"A friend who told Arnesen?"

Matthew rolled his eyes.

"I'm saying it's not a secret that you've been staying here, and if they're as powerful as you keep going on about, it wouldn't take a lot to get to you. You should stop worrying about stepping out of the door. Look, I should grab a shower and get back."

He turned away without another word, disappearing into the adjoining bathroom and closing the door behind him. Priya stared at her knees, her teeth gritted to the point of pain. He was wrong, she was sure of it. Jack had been a warning shot, a proof of what Arnesen was willing to do to get his daughter back and a punishment for the time lost. The next, she knew, would not be so easily caught, and she didn't want to be the one who went feral and killed someone before she could be stopped. She wouldn't be another victim in her family to Arnesen.

The water began running in the bathroom, the smell of soap wafting out from beneath the door. The air became thicker by the second, filled with the wet breath of steam. Getting to her feet, Priya tiptoed across the room and plucked Matthew's phone from his jacket pocket. She'd never spied on him before, she'd never had a reason to, but something was prodding at her and wouldn't quiet.

Swiping her thumb around the dots making up the passkey, she opened the phone and went to the call logs. There were the usual calls from her and out to the farm. A couple of unrecognised numbers that called once and never again, cold calls most likely. It wasn't until she came across the same number a half-dozen times, each one in the middle of the day, and regularly too, maybe once a week or so, that the voice in her head began shouting.

Grabbing her own phone, Priya typed in the number and saved it with three question marks as the name. She checked Matthew's texts for the number, but there was nothing. She closed the phone and put it back in his jacket, dropping her own phone back on the side table, and waiting for Matthew to finish his shower.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys, sorry it was a little late this week. I have just moved, and I lost track of days. Hopefully I'll be settling in more now.

Remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter.

Chele