There were only a handful of vampires left. They saw they were outnumbered and they fled, disappearing into the forest.
n.o.body relaxed until the sun poured into the harbor. I don"t know how it"s possible, but the warehouse and neglected harbor seemed more deserted and creepy during the day.
Guardian angels that weren"t cleaning up the mess were ordered to bring the cars they had abandoned down the road into the harbor. I heard Mr Aleksandrov tell another guardian we had to get out of here now if we wanted to make it back to Sage before nightfall. His robe was torn and dirty. He walked over to me. I was sitting on a not-so-comfortable rock by the edge of the forest.
"It"s good to see you again, Ruby," he greeted.
"You too."
He sat down beside me.
"Thank you for rescuing us."
"I told you I wouldn"t let any harm come to you. I wish I could have helped you sooner but I needed to make sure the school was secure and the students were safe before I could do anything."
"I understand."
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Lucian said he"ll come back for me."
"I a.s.sumed as much."
"I can"t go back to Sage ... That"ll be the first place he"ll look. He"ll hurt Mila and Eli... and you. I can"t let that happen."
Mr Aleksandrov reached into his pocket and pulled out a small necklace. It was the ruby one Camilla got me for my birthday.
"I had a hunch you wouldn"t want to come back to Sage, so I charmed your necklace. When you wear it, vampires that know who you are won"t be able to recognize you."
"What do you mean?"
"It works as a hallucination in a way. If you"re wearing it and Lucian happens to spot you, he won"t know it"s you because the charm projects a new image, changing your appearance. To everyone else you look the same, but to vampires you"ll look completely different."
I took the necklace from his hand and ran my thumb over its warm surface. This was all I needed to start a new life... a life without death, vampires, and magic... without Eli.
I watched Eli as he strolled toward us.
"Everyone is ready. We should probably leave now, we can"t waste any more time. Even if we leave now we still might not make by nightfall."
"Yes, well, I"ll round everybody up. Let me know when you"re ready, Ruby." Aleksandrov rose to his feet and walked away.
I knew I had to talk to Eli about my decision to leave but I couldn"t find the words. If I left him now, I"d lose him forever. Is being miserable worth his safety? What a silly question. I"d rather be depressed and alone than have his death on my conscience. When Lucian discovered I wasn"t at Sage, then he"d leave them alone. Hunter"s words rang in my mind, "this has nothing to do with them, this is about you. If you want to protect the ones you love, then you need to face this on your own."
If I stay away from Lucian and keep him away from Eli, Mila, and Mr Aleksandrov, then that"s all I could ask for. That"s all I want.
I wasn"t oblivious to Eli"s presence but I pretended I was.
"You did well."
"Thanks."
He crouched down and briefly my eyes fell onto the dry blood stain on the front of his shirt. Eli was as good as dead, I knew it and he knew it, but Hunter saved him. Hunter gave me a chance to say goodbye.
"Eli, there"s something I need to say to you."
I glanced at him, his green eyes were watching me intently. There was a sadness on his face, as if he knew what I was going to say. There was no easy way to say it. I needed to get it over with.
"I"m leaving." I forced down the lump that formed in my throat. "I"m going to live my life away from all of this. It"s best for everyone involved."
"It"s best for everyone involved? Do you think it"s best for me?"
I bit the inside of my lip. I was so heartbroken. His brow furrowed but he kept his eyes on me.
"It"s not safe," he added.
"I think by now I"ve proved I"m more than capable of taking care of myself."
"Ruby, why are you doing this?" He took my hand in his, caressing it gently with his thumb. "Once we get back to the school, you"ll be safe."
"No, I won"t be." A single tear rolled down my cheek. "Lucian won"t stop and I"m not going to be the one preventing everyone from living their lives in peace and happiness."
"We"ll be fine, let"s sort out the details tomo -"
"Eli, you were as good as dead and it was my fault!" My voice got the attention of a few nearby guardians but it didn"t matter to me anymore. "I saw your life draining from you drop by drop... I can"t go through that again."
"What about us?" he asked, his voice was low and urgent.
"The way you said that says it all. If we go back to Sage, we go back to our old semi-professional relationship of brief discussions and longing stares from across the dining hall. After all we"ve been through, I can"t go back to that.
"Let"s go!" Aaron, the guardian with the scar down his face, called to us.
Eli and I didn"t budge. Instead, we stared into each other"s eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move. It was obvious he wasn"t going anywhere, he was too stubborn, so I rose to my feet and trotted off toward Mr Aleksandrov.
Without a glance behind me, I climbed into the back seat of Mr Aleksandrov"s car. It was a lot like Eli"s, only the insides were dark grey instead of white. Mr Aleksandrov got into the pa.s.senger seat and Aaron was driving. All the doors were shut and the car roared to life.
Slowly the car rolled forward, my teary gaze fell on Eli, watching me drive away. His face had returned to its usual hard stare, a stare that watched nothing but everything at the same time.
"You"re doing the right thing," Mr Aleksandrov said over his shoulder.
"Then why doesn"t it feel like it?" I mumbled.
"Someday you"ll be able to return ... and maybe you can be with the person you want to be with. There"s a change coming, Ruby, and it"ll help people in your situation and Mila"s."
His words. .h.i.t me. He knew about Mila"s and Gabriel"s love ... perhaps he could change things. If he did, Eli and I could be together freely, but until then there was no happy ending. I could feel it. The love that Eli and I have was great, but when has any great love in history ended well? Romeo and Juliet, Cleopatra and Mark Antony, or Tristan and Isolde? Each and every one ended in tragedy, be it death or banishment.
Once again I was leaving everything behind and starting a new life, and yet somehow it seems harder this time around. The thick forest whipped past me and the car picked up speed as it rolled onto the smooth highway. The harbor was disappearing rapidly behind me and I couldn"t help but let the tears fall. Letting Eli go was the biggest regret I have made in this life.
"It"s all for the greater good," Mr Aleksandrov mumbled.
I guess only time will tell.
About the Author.
Skyla Madi was born in the small town of Port Maquarie, New South Wales in 1993. She spent half her life growing up in Wauchope, a thriving rural town at the heart of the Hastings River Valley before making the leap to the busy city of Brisbane.
Whenever this young Australian writer isn"t changing diapers, watching cartoons, cooking for her husband or doing other motherly-wife things, she is actively working on her writing and improving her writing skills.
Skyla loves to read just as much as she loves to write and since discovering that YA/paranormal romance/urban fantasy/ are her favorite genres, she has embarked on her own writing journey and is currently working on a YA series t.i.tled "The Guardian Angel" series."
Twitter: @Skyla_Madi.
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