Chapter 11 - Byron

I'm not watching Olivia. I'm just going through the standard surveillance for the town, checking on the pack center, monitoring outside Aris's house. After the vamp attack, I've been extra careful to watch the surrounding area for any weird movement.

But I'm switching cameras right when I catch movement outside of her apartment, and it makes my entire body go on high alert. I sit there for a moment, staring at my monitor, willing it to be fake, willing it to be a mirage from the pixels.

And then I see it. Three figures emerged from the dark and headed straight for her apartment building.

I'm out the door before I have a chance to shut my applications or power off my computer, sprinting as fast as I can toward her apartment, which is just a street away. When I get to the front of the building, I look up at her window, heart pounding.

She told me not to watch her anymore. If I go up there, and nothing's wrong, I will have completely shattered her trust.

But, if I don't go up there, and something is wrong, I'll never forgive myself for not checking. She's already been through enough the past couple of days, with the curse and the blood bond.

Remembering the blood-bond, goosebumps break out over my skin. In the moment, all I'd wanted was to save her, but now, I'm thinking it through, and the consequences of that choice are sinking in.

If she dies, I'll die. If I die, she'll die.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly tap into the security system for her apartment building, bypassing the code and popping open the front door. As I run up the stairs to her floor, I reach for my throwing knives.

When I get to the landing outside her unit, the door to her apartment flies open, and she comes out, two vamps on either side of her, their arms hooked around hers, wrestling her away.

"No!" she shouts, kicking one in the shin. When he drops her, I let my knife loose, catching him right in the heart. Maybe it'll have the same effect as a stake through the heart.

The other sees I'm there and tightens his hold on Olivia, moving like he's going to take her down the stairs.

"I don't think so," I mutter, throwing two knives—one for each of his Achilles. He yells in pain—he may be immortal, but you can't walk if your ligaments are sliced clear through. He tumbles to the ground, and I run forward.

"Byron!" Olivia shouts, rolling to her feet and backing against the wall. "Behind you!"

I turn just in time to catch the arm of a third vampire, swinging to try and throw me down the stairs. With the two knives still in my hands, I dance around him, slicing at his major arteries.

Vampires bleed for days, and it makes a mess all over the hallway. This guy is a beast, and I can see from his forming black eye and the way he favors his right arm that Olivia already did a number on him.

I'm faster than him, but he's stronger than me, so when he gets a hit on me, it knocks my brain loose for a moment. I'm still recovering when Olivia appears again, wielding a frying pan. She hits the guy over the head as hard as she can, and then, to my surprise, she plants a foot in the middle of his chest, launching him down.

He stumbles back and trips over the other vamp, who's still on the ground, trying to figure out how to stand.

I hear the flick of a lighter, and I realize what Olivia is going to do. Planting my hand on the wall, I kick the second vamp down the stairs, so he lands on the first one just as he's trying to get up.

"Shit," Olivia says, tossing the lighter toward them. "I wanted to whisper something clever."

They go up like flash paper, their screams swallowed by the smoke.

"Shit," I say, "this building is going to burn down."

"Shit," she says, turning to me, the two of us realizing at the same moment that, as cool as it is to kill vamps via fire, we're on the third floor, and there are humans in this building to evacuate.

I send out an S.O.S. through the pack link as Olivia runs to pull the fire alarm, then races back into her apartment.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I ask, running after her. The last thing she should be doing is going back into her apartment. Those vamps are like gasoline, meaning this building won't last very long.

"My things," she hisses, grabbing a bag and reaching her desk. She grabs several vintage video games from the shelf, sliding them into the bag before moving to her TV. She unplugs a vintage console and tucks it in the bag, too.

I stare at her as she grabs several hard drives from the shelf. If the situation were different, if we weren't in this colossal mess, watching her save video games from the fire would be enough for me to profess my love.

"Okay," she says, after a moment, her eyes flicking up to mine. "I got the essentials."

***

"Okay, honey, everything is going to be okay," Linnea says, her arm around a woman who's sobbing, okay but scared. "We'll move you into the shelter until you can chat with insurance and find a new place to stay, alright?"

The woman nods tearily. I'm sitting across from Olivia's building—or, at least, what remains of it—sipping the energy drink Percy brought me.

"I don't approve of it," he'd said, "but I figured you were probably having withdrawals by now."

When the pack showed up, it was quick work to clear out the building, trying to shield the humans from the worst of the vampire remains. They're so oily that they tend to melt more than burn, and their remains turn to a special type of fuel. I can only imagine what raises the flames in hell.

I clear my throat when Rafael walks past, raising a hand to me.

It takes everything in me not to hate him for what he is. Every time he's around, I find myself on high alert, nervous that his stories of not needing blood are untrue—that it's all a plot to get to us. To hurt us.

"Byron."

When I turn and look up, Olivia is standing in front of me, her bag of video games hanging on her back.

"Olivia."

"How did you know?"

I sigh, closing my eyes. I had hoped the fighting and the fire would be enough to make her forget about my sudden appearance, that maybe she would just be grateful I had shown up.

"If I told you I was just doing a routine—"

"I told you to stop fucking watching me, Cox!"

"Olivia—"

"No. It's a violation of my privacy. It's a violation of my rights. Fucking stop . Or I'm going to Aris about it."

I look away from her. I know he's not happy with me for the last time, but surely, we can all see how this is another example of me protecting her—and everyone—through surveillance?

"You need to come and stay with me."

" What ?" she whispers, rearing back away from me, her hand going to her chest. "You can't be serious."

"To stay safe."

"Oh, fuck you."

"You would have died."

"I was fine !"

"Liv," I snap, turning back to her. "They had you out your front door. What were you going to do? What was your plan?"

"I don't—I got the one—"

"But there were three of them. And if I hadn't been watching, you'd be gone !"

"And why the fuck do you care about that?" she asks, going quiet, and I realize we're standing chest-to-chest, breathing heavily, staring at each other. I can't look away from her, but I'm sure everyone is staring at us. At the spectacle we're making.

I can't tell her the truth. That I love her, that I care about her more than I've ever cared about someone else. The first time she showed up in Rosecreek, it was this kick to my chest, like she had activated a muscle I didn't know I'd had. One that had atrophied long ago.

And then, when she started talking about families—I was already terrified about showing her enough love. Scared that I was going to mess it up between the two of us.

But to add more to that? To need to be a good dad and a good husband and a good pack mate all at once? I close my eyes, shaking my head and thinking back to that moment on the pavilion.

Sure, it was a shitty move to run away from her.

But I knew I wasn't capable of what she was asking for. That with the limited amount of love inside me, I had to be careful with her. Remind myself that she wouldn't leave, that I could love her.

I'm incapable of loving another person as much as I love her—and that includes children. Family.

"Oh," Olivia says, and my eyes fly open, meeting hers. A rush of terror runs through me. She can see what I'm thinking? I look back and forth between her eyes, my heart skipping in my chest. I rub at it.

Does she know that I love her?

"I get it," she says, quietly, laughing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "We're blood-bound now, so if I die, you die. Right. You're not protecting me; you're protecting yourself.

"Olivia," I breathe, shaking my head, wanting to tell her that it would be that way, blood-bond or not. Protecting her would be the same as protecting myself.

Because we're mates. I knew it the moment she said it, but thought that denying it would cause her the least amount of pain. Now, with the hurt in her eyes shining up at me, the fire blazing behind her and casting her in an orange glow, I realize that might be what hurt her most of all.

"Don't worry about it, Byron," she coughs, shaking her head again, turning her head from me, and I realize she's crying. I open my mouth, but I don't know what to say. I want to take her in my arms, hold her tight.

"Liv," I whisper, stepping toward her, but Rosa appears at that moment, tucking her away and glaring at me over her shoulder.

"I think you've done enough," Rosa says, her eyes sharp, and then, to Olivia, "come on. You're staying with us."

I stand there and watch them disappear, my body aching for her, begging me to run after her and bring her home with me. At least I know she'll be safe with Bigby there to watch over her.

Laughing, I drop my head into my hands, thinking about how I used to sit in the lab with Rosa, watching her while Bigby was out doing other things. How stuff comes full circle.

"Hey, man," Percy says, clearing his throat and touching my shoulder. "Things will get better."

"Right," I croak, rubbing my eyes and taking another pull from my energy drink. "Right."