Chapter 17: Chapter 17

And then, there was the issue with Ryder. While she did know his name, she had no clue where he lived, and they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers either. Now, she came to regret it since she couldn’t contact him. It was he who had sought her out all this time. But he wouldn’t do it anymore.

With her budding unease came an ever-growing concern about her soulmate and his current state. What if Willow was right and he really was unwell? What should she do? She had gotten an ominous sense of foreboding upon hearing his last words before he had left, and she was convinced that she was overlooking something important.

Elena’s hands were tied, however, so she stayed in her shop and tended to her customers for the remainder of the day. When she was about to close, one last person entered, and his presence caused her entire body to freeze up. It was a vampire, and it wasn’t Ryder.

He was tall and intimidating, wearing an authoritative expression on his attractive features. His dark hair was combed, and his clothing consisted solely of designer brands. The terror that grasped her upon seeing him was so strong, even her flowers felt it. They closed their blossoms, hiding away.

“Are you Elena?” the vampire asked. At first, she couldn’t process his words because her panic was too much, but once she realized that he had called her by her name, she lost it. He had to be part of the vampire clan she had been running from all these years, and he was here to take her away.

“No, I’m not.”

“Don’t play games with me,” he countered impatiently. “It is you.”

“Who are you?” she whispered. Her mouth was dry, and she kept swallowing, but the lump in her throat didn’t disappear.

“My name is Edgar,” he said. “You have to come with me.”

Her eyes were impossibly wide, and her face ashen. Her lips parted, but no sound left her mouth.

“Calm down, I won’t do anything to you. I’m one of Ryder’s friends, and I’m here on his behalf,” Edgar went on to explain. “He needs your help.”

“What happened?” she burst out, her concern briefly outweighing her fear.

“Aren’t you already aware of it? He is starving himself for you,” Edgar growled and glared at her in an accusing manner. “And he will die if he keeps it up.”

“Why doesn’t he drink blood when he needs it so bad?” she stuttered.

“Because he can’t. Shouldn’t you know this as a witch? Once a vampire finds their soulmate, they can only drink their soulmate’s blood. Nothing else sates their thirst. Ryder hasn’t consumed a single drop of blood ever since he met you.”

Her breath hitched. She hadn’t known about this—it was new to her, and once she realized what it meant for her and Ryder, her stomach dropped. “Anything but that,” she whispered. Her green eyes overflowed with terror.

Edgar clicked his tongue and stared her down angrily. “Doesn’t it bother you that your soulmate will die? Because you refused to do something so simple?”

She didn’t want Ryder to die, vampire or not; nobody should die because of her. But to save him, she would have to do something unimaginable. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Last time had been torture—she had slowly been drained of her blood and gradually lost control over her body. For the longest time, she had been sure she would die. And waiting for death was the most horrible thing someone could endure.

Edgar studied her conflicted expression and knitted his brows. She looked like he had just spoken her death sentence, even though what she needed to do didn’t entail dying. It seemed like she was so scared she couldn’t even answer him.

“He won’t kill you,” he assured her. “All he needs is some of your blood. You won’t die because of that.”

Elena’s body shook so much that Edgar was worried she would faint, but she met his eyes, and this time, her voice didn’t crack. “I will go with you. Please show me where he is.”

He let out a breath, and the iciness in his gaze faded. His voice softened a tad when he said, “Thank you, I appreciate it. Please follow me, my car is right around the corner.”

Elena grabbed her purse and hurried to lock the front door of the shop. Then, she walked next to him as they made their way to his car. It was parked one street away, so they didn’t need long to reach it. Edgar surprised her when he opened the passenger door for her before he sat in the driver’s seat. He started the engine, and they left her shop behind in no time.

Edgar’s attitude towards her had shifted after she had agreed to see Ryder, so she figured that they were close friends. He appeared worried. There was a crease on his forehead that didn’t disappear, and a constant reddish tinge in his iris showed his agitation.

“I’m glad I found you,” Edgar said. They left the city center, and traffic flowed faster on the outskirts of town. “Ryder can be insanely stubborn, too much for his own good. I don’t know what happened between you two, but he didn’t want to meet you another time. It’s a relief you came with me right away.”

“What did Ryder tell you about me?” she asked. The staccato of her heartbeats didn’t cease—she was afraid for a multitude of reasons, but she would rather fill the silence in the car with small talk than remain quiet. Besides, this was a good opportunity to get to know Edgar and to find out more about Ryder.

“He tends to ramble when he is excited, so he told us a lot of random things,” Edgar said and glanced at her for a moment. “Nothing bad, though. Just that you own a flower shop and that your magic is tied to nature. He mentioned something about buying camellias for you, too. I think he had trouble finding a place that sells them.”

“I see,” she answered, frowning once she remembered the sad fate of her camellias. Her heart sank. “Are you and Ryder part of the same clan?”

“Yes. I established it around two hundred years ago, and Ryder was one of the last to join us.”

“That makes you the leader.” She eyed him cautiously, unsure what to think of him. While he had been intimidating when he first entered her shop, he now acted cordially towards her.