Eternal Read Online Free

hurried to my room and grabbed my phone, quickly typing out the message and hitting send. She answered before I’d even made my way back to the living room.
    “She’s on her way,” I called out.
    “Great. I’ll stay till she gets here, and then I’ve got to run.”
    “You really don’t have to stick around,” I said, wanting toavoid the awkwardness of a Sophie/Dr. Byrne meet-and-greet. “Seriously, she’ll be here in half an hour. I think I can survive on my own till then.”
    He just glared at me, unmoved.
    I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Wow, you really take this whole ‘protector’ thing seriously, don’t you?”
    His phone began to buzz, the name “Charlie” emblazoned across the screen. “Sorry,” he said, rising and moving toward the window. “I’ve got to take this.”
    “No problem,” I said with a shrug. Hurrying over to the dining table, I busied myself with the remains of our dinner, closing up the containers of food and moving everything into the kitchen.
    He kept his voice low, but I couldn’t help overhearing little bits and pieces of his conversation. “I know . . . didn’t forget . . . I told you, it’s complicated. Just give me a half hour, okay?”
    “Sorry about that,” he said at last, looking a little discomposed as he followed me into the kitchen.
    “Everything okay with him?”
    “With who?”
    “Your friend,” I clarified. “Charlie. Sorry. I saw the name on the screen.”
    “Oh, right.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Yeah, she’s fine.”
    She ’s fine?
    “Her apartment’s around the corner,” he continued. “I can wait for Sophie. I want to see what she has to say about your shoulders.”
    “Suit yourself,” I muttered, my cheeks flushing hotly as I fought back unwelcome stirrings of jealousy. Who was this Charlie, and what did she mean to my Megvéd ?
    And more to the point, why did I care?
    *  *  *
    “Okay, that was kind of weird, right?” Sophie said as soon as the front door closed behind Matthew.
    “Welcome to my world.” I collapsed onto the sofa, frustrated. Matthew had made Sophie check my shoulders the minute she’d walked through the door, but she hadn’t found anything that would explain the pain I’d experienced. Apparently, the joints were free of inflammation, the muscles and tendons perfectly normally.
    Which meant it was all in my head. I really was losing my mind. “Thanks for coming over,” I said, scooting over to make room for her beside me.
    She kicked off her shoes and sat, folding her legs beneath her. “Hey, no problem. Trust me, I’ve had just about enough of my parents.”
    “How was Saint Bart’s?”
    “Nice. The weather was great. Anyway, where’s Aidan? I thought you two were supposed to stick together over break?”
    I took a deep breath, bracing myself. I hadn’t called her to tell her what had happened. I couldn’t. After all, I knew that she genuinely liked Aidan. They all did, my friends, but Sophie most of all.
    And, okay, there was more—the more people I told, the more real it seemed. Besides, I had hoped to have some answers before I told them that Aidan was the Vampire Stalker. Instead I had nothing.
    “What’s going on, Violet?” Sophie asked, her brow knitted. “You just went ten shades of pale. Is Aidan okay?”
    I shook my head, my windpipe constricting painfully. “I don’t know. He’s at the Tribunal right now. For all I know, they might have destroyed him.” But they hadn’t—couldn’t have. I would have felt it. I was sure of that.
    Sophie’s eyes went wide, the color visibly draining from her face. “Destroyed him? What? Why?”
    I swallowed hard. “Tyler was right. Aidan is . . . he was the Stalker.”
    “No way.” Sophie shook her head. “Not Aidan.”
    “He had no idea what he was doing, Soph. It was the serumhe was working on, doing something awful to him. He was in a trance, completely disassociated. It was Aidan, but it