Consume (The Devoured Series) (25 page)

"Huh. Well, at least they believed it." I touched my eyes again. "So I'm back to normal? My eyes are back to green and my blood is good old red?"

He nodded and gulped as he let his eyes roam my face. "I am…so sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." His brow bunched. "I didn't get a chance to ask you about Enoch. About choosing me over him. Wait…where is he?"

"He's gone," Eli said casually. "He left as soon as the…bond broke."

I started to sit up, but the lancing pain was enough of a reminder that that wasn't a good idea. I groaned, but tried to keep it to a minimum. I knew who'd be feeling a double dose of guilt over this one. He pressed my shoulders down and grimaced. I said, "What do you mean the bond broke?"

"The Devourer blood is gone. He left as soon as the string left his wrist." His breath stuttered and one tear slid down his face. "You…died, Clara. For one minute, you were dead." His face twisted and he wiped his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I thought I killed you."

"So because I died, the bond broke?" I lifted my arm to see my own wrist. The bond was still there, connecting me to Eli. I looked at him in confusion. He cracked his first smile that made my heart leap and bound.

"You and I are still bound," he said and his voice almost growled in that happy way when he was thoroughly pleased. "But Enoch is free."

I thought about what he was saying. Why would the bond release Enoch? The bond was a connection from one human to one Devourer…I gasped. Eli wasn't a Devourer anymore…was he? I took in his appearance. He looked terrible. He hadn't slept, that I could tell, and his lips were dry and cracked like mine, like he hadn't drunk anything. He looked so tired…

"Eli, you're… You… I'm so sorry!" I said and reached out my arm. "How long have I been out?"

"Only a day," he comforted and kissed my palm. "But why are you sorry?"

"You've been human for a whole day? And all alone, no one was here to help you?"

"You were here." His thumb rubbed under my eye, wiping away my errant tear. "You were all I needed."

"But-"

"But nothing." He smiled. "It happened here, at the hospital. The blood was coming out of you, but by the time we got here, most of the Devourer blood was gone. And when the last drop left you, I felt it."

"Felt what?" I said enraptured.

"Hunger." He laughed. "I was hungry. As the day wore on, I felt tired and sleepy and then exhausted, too. It was wonderful."

"Did you sleep?"

"Not a wink. I couldn’t stop looking at you."

"Did you eat?" I asked.

He laughed. "No. I didn't want the growling in my stomach to stop. I wanted to feel it; to know I was human and it wasn't a dream. I wanted to wait for you to wake up."

"Well, I'm awake." I smiled, though my face hurt to do it. "Are you still hungry?"

"Famished." His grin was beautiful.

"Eli…" The tears came once more. "You risked everything for me."

"You
gave
everything to me," he groaned happily and kissed my forehead. "You saved me again, Clara Belle."

"You saved me."

He scoffed, but smiled sadly. "By stabbing you?"

"By doing what needed to be done." I groaned. "Ah, they called Pastor didn't they?"

"Uh…no." He looked guilty. "I lied. I told them we were married and here on our honeymoon."

I smiled. "You did? You persuaded them?"

"I can't do that anymore, love."

Oh, yeah. "Right."

"I just used my natural charm." He kissed my forehead again and stayed close. "It works on the ladies apparently."

"Hey," I complained softly.

He laughed soundlessly, his lips curving in a smile against my skin. And then he did something that had me smiling as the tears made their way down to my lips.

He sang me back to sleep.

Honey, you should know,

that I could never go on without you.

Green eyes

Honey, you are the sea

upon which I flow.

And I came here to talk

I think you should know.

Green eyes

you're the one that I wanted to find.

And anyone who tried to deny you,

must be out of their minds.

Because I came here with a load

and it feels so much lighter since I met you.

Honey, you should know

that I could never go on without you.

Green Eyes.

Twenty Two

We spent the next few days doing just that. We watched bad Spanish soap operas because that was all that was on. We talked about everything that had happened and nothing of what was to come. We drank. We ate. The first thing I did the day that I woke up in the hospital was get Eli to order us both a tray of food. I barely touched mine, I just wanted him to eat. And he did. I made a joke about how he had to start watching himself or he'd get a burger gut now that calories counted.

The train ride home five days later was torture. The hospital tried to get me to stay longer, but I refused. I had slept most of the time anyway and poor Eli just stayed in my room in that horrible chair. Eli had been speaking to Mrs. Ruth. He wanted to wait for my go ahead, and once he had it he called them. The hospital was a bare minimum kind of place and didn't have phones in the rooms. Or bathrooms, or windows. So, I couldn't speak to her myself as I was confined to my bed. I was glad to go to say the least.

But Mrs. Ruth had apparently run Eli up the river. He could no longer persuade her that everything was fine and they wanted to drop everything and come and get me. I told him to please beg her not to come. He managed somehow to convince her that by the time they got their emergency passports and got here, it would be time to go home again.

She wasn't happy. We were in another country for crying out loud. I wondered how long I'd be grounded for this.

And now, on the train ride home I was anxious. I thought about what my mom would have done with this situation. She would have been worried, but she would have also made a comment about how this stunt would ruin my reputation. I would have rolled my eyes and she would've said she was serious. That my reputation as a lady hinged my future.

I shook my head. She had been a small town thinker through and through, but I'd gladly listen to a lecture about my reputation right now just to hear her voice.

"Hey," he said, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked his way and smiled as he munched on a bag of Doritos. "You ok? The train's jostling isn't too much, is it?"

I shook my head. "I'm good," I told him and leaned my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arm around his. "Just thinking."

"Mrs. Ruth and the Pastor will be waiting for you at the station," he said carefully.

"Waiting for us," I corrected. "I may be grounded for the rest of my life, but they are going to just have to accept you. You're mine now, Mr. Thames."

He grinned and leaned his head to mine. "I sure am. And you're mine, Mrs…" He opened his eyes and sat up. His face took on a brightness that could only be described as joy. He slid down to his knees on the floor before me. My smiled slipped. What was he doing? He pushed my knees apart to kneel between them and took my face in his hands. "CB. It's crazy. It's stupid. The Pastor will probably never allow it. You're too young and I'm too old. It's…" He chuckled, his happy breath on my face. "It's everything that I want and everything I don't deserve." I waited, my lips parted. My eyes flicked to the others near us on the train and saw they were watching us. We all waited for Eli to finish, to say that one thing. "Clara, will you be my Mrs. Thames?"

Wow. He was right. It was stupid. It was crazy. We hadn't even graduated yet. And the Pastor was going to murder him for sure... I couldn't stop my grin as I nodded. My tongue refused to say the words, but he seemed satisfied with my answer. He pulled me to him and kissed me gently.

The claps resounded around us and I felt my blush under his hands, but I still found myself pulling his shirt front in my fingers and dragging him to me. Then I winced at my stupidity as the stitches in my chest pulled. I laughed as he fussed over me and I kissed him again. He tucked me into his body and I fit perfectly there.

We fit
together
perfectly.

~ ~ ~

"Here we go," Eli said in my ear and let me loose from his arm so Mrs. Ruth could hug me.

I warded her off with my hands in an effort to slow her advance. She gripped my arms first and slowly brought me in for a hug. Pastor stared at Eli with barely contained anger. Eli offered his hand to him, and a sincere apology with a promise to explain everything later. Well, not everything.

Pastor sighed and shook his hand. Mrs. Ruth hadn't released me yet and I patted her back to get her to. She leaned back. "Are you ok?"

I nodded. "I am. I know you're mad-"

"Mad?" She shook her head. "Clara…you're practically a woman. You're graduating, you've made your choices for your future and there's nothing we can do to stop that. We just want you to know that we're here for you. I don't know what you have planned, but we have no intentions of tossing you to the world as soon as you graduate. You're always welcome with us…and we love you, honey."

Well didn’t that just make the guilt taste sweeter. "I know you don't understand." I bit my lip. "But I…" I looked at Eli. "Eli's… We had a few things we needed to do. Important things that changed everything for me. Eli saved my life."

"What?" Pastor barked and came to stand in front of us. "What did you say?"

"Eli saved me in Arequipa. More than once."

"But the news said you were mugged and taken to the hospital."

"They didn't have all of the facts. Eli carried me- carried me in his arms all the way to the hospital and never left my side for a second."

I looked back at Eli and almost laughed at how human he looked. He was blushing and it made him so irresistibly cute. He looked around uncomfortably and when Mrs. Ruth launched herself at him, I thought he'd bolt. But he hugged her back and let her faun on him with her 'Oh, thank you's. But then she leaned back and said sternly, "However, you're not off the hook for taking her there in the first place."

He nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Pastor wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. "So this is what I have to look forward to when all my other kids are teenagers?" he joked.

My other kids…he called me his kid.

I hugged him hard, taking him by surprise. He seemed to understand it was what I needed. He hugged and rocked me gently, letting me bask in the first moment of calm in a long while.

~ ~ ~

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Ariel cried when I called. "I can't believe that! Did they find the guy who did it? Were you really hurt? Where was Eli? How did I not see this on the news!"

I told her what I could and lied about the rest. She told me about her and Patrick. They were a thing now and she was as giddy as I'd ever heard her. I couldn’t wait to get back to school - and it sickened me to say that - but it was true. Mrs. Ruth said I could go back at the end of the week.

And Eli.