Chapter Six
Lucas
Darkness pulled at me.
It was thick, suffocating, curling around the edges of my mind like smoke. I could hear voices. Annika’s, soft and desperate, calling me back. Kael’s, sharp and clipped, speaking words I couldn’t grasp.
But beneath it all, something else stirred. The monster inside me. It had been silent for too long. Too long.
I had ignored it, starved it, kept it chained in the depths of my being. I had convinced myself that I was stronger than the hunger, that I could control it. That I didn’t need to feed.
I had been a fool.
The wound in my throat burned. I was weakening my body, making it sluggish. I could feel my own blood soaking my clothes, pooling beneath me. I wasn’t healing. The wound was too deep. I wouldn’t be able to survive. I knew that.
A deep growl echoed in the hollow space of my mind.
You’re dying.
I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to focus, to push against the voice.
No.
Feed.
No.
But I was slipping. I could feel it.
A tremor ran through my limbs, that primal, aching need rising like a tide I couldn’t hold back. My fangs throbbed, my throat dried up. It was burning like hell. My instincts screamed at me.
Take, devour, feed, survive.
I gritted my teeth, trying to hold on, but the hunger was no longer a whisper. It was a roar. I felt my control cracking under the sheer power of the hunger. The monster inside me wanted out. It wanted blood, fresh and warm, pumping from a living body. It didn’t care who. Didn’t care how.
Annika.
The thought slammed into me like a dagger to the chest.
No. Not her. Never her.
I forced my eyes open, the world swimming in front of me. Blurred shapes, flickering light. I could hear her heartbeat. I could feel it, so steady, so strong.
Tempting.
I sucked in a shuddering breath, my vision tunneling. I needed to stop this. I needed to control it.
But my body would not last without blood. I had pushed myself too far, ignored the hunger for too long. And now… I had no choice.
I swallowed hard, my voice broken. “Annika…”
She was beside me in an instant, her hands warm on my face. “I’m here,” she whispered. “Lucas, I’m here.”
I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. Her scent was intoxicating, her magic a pulse of life beneath her skin. I wanted—
No.
I clenched my fists, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. “I… need to feed.”
A pause. Then, softly, “I know.”
I barely had the strength to lift my head, but when I did, our eyes met. There was no fear in hers. Just understanding.
And something else. Something devastatingly tender.
“Lucas,” she whispered, her fingers brushing against my cheek, grounding me. “Drink.”
She had already saved me once, had already given me her blood when I was on the edge of death. I had sworn to myself never again.
“I can’t,” I rasped. My voice was barely a sound, torn between pain and hunger. “I won’t ask this of you. Not again.”
“You’re not asking,” she said simply.
I felt her shift closer. The warmth of her body, the steady rhythm of her heartbeat… it was all intoxicating, maddening. And then, she lifted her arm, pressing the delicate skin of her wrist to my lips.
I trembled. The scent of her blood, so pure, powerful and all mine, wrapped around me like silken chains.
I turned my head away, fists clenched. “Annika…”
She cupped my face, her thumb tracing over the corner of my mouth, where my fangs had already lengthened in anticipation. I was losing the fight. My body was screaming, the monster inside me clawing to be set free.
“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want to lose you, Lucas.”
I looked up at her then. And what I saw in her eyes… it was love. Unshaken. Unbreakable. And it shattered me.
That was when a choking sound left my throat, something between a growl and a plea. My restraint snapped.
I grabbed her wrist, my grip trembling, and pressed my lips against her skin. A final hesitation, it was my one last shred of control, and then I parted my lips, sinking my fangs in deep. Her blood hit my tongue like wildfire.
Rich, electric, filled with power. I groaned, my body tightening as warmth spread through my veins, pushing back the creeping numbness of death. My wounds began to close, my strength returning with every pull of her essence.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away. She held me, letting me take what I needed, letting me live.
I drank slowly at first, trying but failing to be gentle. But the hunger was too much. The monster inside me was still clawing, still wanting more.
Her fingers curled into my hair. “Lucas…” she murmured.
That single whisper was enough to bring me back.
I forced myself to stop, to let go, my fangs slipping free from her skin. My breath was heavy and uneven, and my lips were stained with her blood.
I lifted my gaze to hers, my grip still tight around her wrist. Her face was pale, her lips parted, her pulse slightly weaker than before, but her eyes… they were still full of love.
“You’re mine,” I whispered back, overwhelmed.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Always.”
Suddenly, Annika swayed gently. I could hear her shallow breathing and I managed to catch her before she could stumble. She wasn’t as pale as I feared, but her heartbeat had softened. It grew weaker. Guilt pressed against my ribs like a vice.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said, but I knew better.
“I saved you,” she said with that melodious voice of hers.
I hated myself for it. My hands tightened around her waist, in an effort to steady her, even though she tried to brush me off. She was always so stubborn, always so damn willing to bleed for me.
I exhaled sharply. “You need to go back to town. You’re weakened, Annika. It’s not safe for you out here.”
Her eyes flashed, and just like that, that tender moment between us had disappeared. “I’m not going anywhere and you know that damn well.”
My jaw clenched. “Annika—”
“I just need to catch my breath,” she interrupted me, as always. “My magic will restore me. Slowly, but it will.”
I studied her, my instincts warring with her conviction. The logical part of me knew she was right. Her magic had always been a force of its own, capable of replenishing her body in ways human blood never could. But another part of me, the part that had nearly lost her too many times before, refused to accept it.
She must have seen the hesitation in my eyes because she reached up, her fingers brushing my jaw gently. “I’ll be fine, Lucas.”
I exhaled through my nose, my fangs still aching, my body still burning from the taste of her. My strength had returned. I could feel it in the way my muscles no longer trembled, in the way my senses sharpened again. But hers…
I pressed my forehead to hers. “You push me to the edge, woman.”
A breath of laughter escaped her, but there was something softer beneath it. “And yet, you still love me.”
I did. And that was the problem.
I lifted my head, staring into her dark, unwavering eyes. “If you so much as stumble, I’m taking you right back.”
She smirked. “Deal.”
Kael cleared his throat. “If you two are done making up, we should keep moving.”
Annika rolled her eyes, stepping back from me, though I kept my hand on her waist just in case.
I watched her closely, waiting for any sign of true weakness. She swayed slightly, but managed to catch herself. Her magic would restore her. Slowly.
I kept my hand on Annika’s waist as we started moving again. My senses were still heightened, scanning the area for any lingering threats. The scent of blood, mine, the shifters’, and hers, still hung thick in the air, even though the fight was behind us. For now, at least.
We rode in silence, listening to the sound of the wind through the trees. My body still burned with lingering hunger, and my senses were sharper than ever before. Annika’s blood had restored me. She was sitting behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist. I could feel her heartbeat steadier now, pressed to my back.
She should have stayed behind, but of course, she didn’t.
Kael rode ahead, his dark cloak billowing behind him. He hadn’t spoken much since we continued. The shifters had left a trail, and they were leading us somewhere.
I leaned back slightly, just enough for her to hear me. “How do you feel?”
Her voice was softer than usual, but firm. “I told you, I just need time.”
I clenched my jaw. Time. As if time could undo what had already been done.
Kael suddenly pulled back on the reins, bringing his horse to a stop. I did the same, scanning the trees around us.
The scent was stronger here. We were close, but to what?
Kael gestured at us to dismount our horses and we did so. I helped Annika down, after which we led the horses into the cover of the dense trees.
Kael moved ahead, his steps eerily quiet for someone who wasn’t a vampire. I followed, keeping Annika close behind me, with one hand on the hilt of my blade. The terrain sloped downward, leading to a clearing shrouded in mist. And beyond that, I could see something I shouldn’t have missed.
A stronghold.
Almost invisible, hidden within the landscape itself. Its walls were made of ancient stone, so weathered and overgrown with moss and vines that it blended into the rocky cliffs behind it. The structure pulsed with something unnatural, a ripple of magic woven into its very foundation. If Kael hadn’t pointed it out, I might have dismissed it as part of the land.
Kael crouched beside me, his eyes locked on the nearly imperceptible outline of a high archway. “There,” he murmured. “See it?”
I narrowed my gaze. Now that he had drawn my attention to it, I could feel it more than see it. I could see that faintest distortion in the air, like looking through rippling water.
Annika’s breath hitched behind me. “That’s not just an illusion.”
She was right. This wasn’t some simple shifter hideout. This was something else.
We watched in silence, waiting. If the shifters had come here, we needed to know why.