Endless by Marissa Farrar Read Free Book Online Page A

likely someone else would be able to stay one step ahead and find him.
    However much he missed Serenity and Elizabeth—and he did miss them, missed them with a deep yearning that encompassed his whole soul—he was also relieved that they now lived a relatively normal life. Removing himself from the equation had allowed such a thing to happen.
    After he’d left and started calling home to make sure they were all right, Elizabeth had initially been upset, then angry, and for a while even refused to speak to him—something that hurt more than any physical pain he’d ever experienced. But now when they spoke, she chatted happily about her day at school, her friends, what book she was reading or bands she liked—just like, he imagined, any normal girl would. She no longer needed to live her life explaining the lie of her father’s severe allergy to the sun, the fictional reason for him to always stay in the dark, something which automatically made her stand out from others at a time she only wanted to fit in, labeling her a freak simply by association. Now she could tell friends the truth—her dad was no longer around. An absent father was hardly an unusual occurrence these days. Not that this made him feel any better.
    Speaking to Elizabeth always helped confirm in his head that he had done the right thing by leaving. There was no talk of blood or strange things happening, and though it had taken a long time to reach this point, he now at least felt at ease that removing himself from their family life had been for the best thing for their daughter.
    Serenity however … Serenity was different. They didn’t speak as openly as he was able to with Elizabeth, their tone always somewhat guarded. They carefully skirted the topics of other people or places Serenity might have been, and he knew she never asked about his feeding for the same reason—a need to simply not know.
    Sebastian had no doubt that there would never be another woman in his life. Even the beautiful ones he occasioned across, who smiled and flirted with him, not knowing who or what he was, did nothing for him. Instead, he comforted himself with the memory of being with Serenity, falling into a trance-like state where he seemed to exist only in his memories. He brought to mind the warmth of her skin against his. The way her dark eyes lit with life when she smiled. The softness of her curls as he ran them through his fingers. Her fierce love for both him and Elizabeth.
    How he’d given all of that up.                            
    Years had passed now and he wouldn’t have blamed Serenity for moving on, though the idea filled him with a crazed, all-consuming jealousy. The thought alone of another man’s hands on her hips, his lips against her skin, another man pushing into that most private part of her, felt like a white-hot flame sweeping through his entire being, consuming all other emotions. He could imagine no other mortal man being good enough to even breathe in her direction, never mind being held in the warm circle of her arms. The possibility of being forced to confront such a man also left him crazed, especially if Serenity had feelings for him or Elizabeth had started to think of him as a father figure. While no part of Sebastian would ever want to cause Serenity pain, he couldn’t imagine not ripping the man limb from limb and bathing in his blood.
    He forced the image from his head. He knew such a thing was possible—he’d sensed the occasions where she’d distanced herself from him, both mentally and physically, taking, he suspected, another vampire’s blood. Yet, she’d still come back to him the next month and he’d sensed their blood bond renewed. She’d not given up on him completely.
    Elizabeth was thirteen now. She was growing up so fast and he’d only caught glimpses of her childhood—during the time Serenity had been taken, and then the glorious year after she’d been returned. Soon, their daughter