All Chapters of LOVE, LIKE BLOOD : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The car was quiet, except for the hum of the tires and the soft, steady click of the turn signal as we rolled through town. Streetlights passed in long, slow stretches of gold. Aiden's hands gripped the wheel too tightly, like letting go might make the world fall apart.I didn't speak.Not at first.Sometimes words feel useless. Sometimes silence feels kinder. More honest.Because what could I even say?I knew who killed Ash.I hadn't seen it with my eyes, but I knew. In my bones. In that place in me that had changed when I drank blood for the first time and never looked at the world the same again.It was Sebastian.It had to be.The way he'd asked about it earlier, calm, collected, but underneath it... Something else. Something primal.Maybe it was to protect me. Maybe it wasn't.But Ash was dead.And Aiden was in the middle of it.My throat tightened.I turned my face to the window so he wouldn't see the anger stretching across it.I turned my face toward the window so he wouldn't

My throat tightened. "He doesn't know anything."The words tasted like ash on my tongue. A prayer. A warning.Sebastian scoffed, the sound low and sharp, like flint striking stone. His eyes caught the porch light just right-just wrong-gleaming with something cold and unreadable."Ah," he said, voice curling with amusement, "so that's what this is."He took a step closer. The night around us seemed to lean in, like it, too, was holding its breath."You think I killed him."It wasn't a question. It was a charge. A taunt. A mirror held up to the worst thing I hadn't said out loud."Why would you do that?" I said, my voice quieter than I meant it to be. "To protect me?"Sebastian smiled. Not like someone who was amused. Like someone who had already won."To protect you?" he repeated, almost laughing. "Come on now, Noah. Don't act like you're so special."My jaw clenched, but I didn't speak."You think this is about you? You think I'd snap a neck over some half-warm flicker of affection?"

The car pulled into the driveway just as the first streetlamp flicked on, casting long shadows across the yard. My parents' SUV was already there, headlights off, engine quiet. The second I opened the door, a thread of dread unraveled inside me.My mom appeared at the front door, phone in hand. Her eyes went from me to Noah, who still wore my hoodie, and back again. My dad stepped off the porch behind her, face tight, arms crossed."Who's this?" my mother asked before either of us could speak, voice clipped. Concern had settled into accusation. No trace of the warm welcome I'd hoped for."That's... Noah," I managed. My voice sounded thin in the stillness of the driveway.Noah stepped out of the car beside me, steady, quiet, but I knew my parents noticed the dark ring under her eyes. I wondered what they mistook it for.My father's gaze narrowed. "Noah who?" he asked."She's a... friend," I said, trying to keep it in my voice, but I heard the tremble anyway.My mother caught it. She re

The lights in this room made my skin feel too tight.Buzzing. Cold. Flickering like they could cut right through skin if you sat here long enough.I was on my second glass of water. The detective hadn’t touched his.He just sat there with his notebook open like it mattered. Like anything he wrote down would actually make sense of what was happening.“This is just routine,” he said, again. “You understand, right?”I didn’t answer. I nodded once. That was safer.Routine. Sure.They wanted to see if I’d flinch. See if I’d lie.But the truth? I didn’t have the energy to fake anything today.I was tired. And more than that—I was confused.Because ever since that night, things hadn’t felt normal. Not just in a “someone died” kind of way. But in a something’s wrong in the bones of this town kind of way.And maybe it started before Ash even died.Across the table, the detective scribbled something into his notebook, eyes flicking up to watch me like he could catch a lie on my face before it e

She walked beside me—but not with me.I could feel it. The stiffness in her spine, the slow-burning defiance in every reluctant step. She was done moving on my command. She’d let the scene play out to end Aiden’s questions, but the fire under her skin was for me now.Not desire. Fury.Good.Let it burn.We reached the alley behind the station, empty and shadowed. I stopped. She didn’t.“Noah,” I said flatly.She spun around, eyes lit like the sky before lightning cracks.She slapped me.The sound echoed through the alley like a shot.My head jerked sideways, not from the force, but from the fact that she did it. Her hand lingered in the air for a second—shaking. Not with fear.With fury.“Don’t you ever touch him again,” she hissed.I blinked. Blood buzzing behind my eyes.“You’re defending him? A human boy who can’t even tell the difference between danger and desire?”She crossed her arms. “I thought he was your friend.”“You should stay away from Aiden,” I said, stepping closer.She