11. Chloe
Eleven
Chloe
Every fiber of my being drawn to the door like an irresistible magnet, I turn my head to see my shadow stalker staring back at me.
And my world is turned completely upside down for the millionth time tonight.
Tall, with broad shoulders, and intense green eyes, he’s everything I’ve ever feared. So beautiful, the sight of him alone makes me want to both weep and scream at the same time.
But I can’t look away.
My eyes drink in every detail of him. Converting what I know of the shadow into flesh and bone reality.
His hair, the color of dark honey, is short and mussed, like he’s been flustered or running his hands through it.
His face is so perfect, sculpted with high, sharp cheekbones and a strong, chiseled jawline, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t altered or created with a knife.
It’s his body, though, that truly calls to me. Beneath the black slacks and the wrinkled charcoal shirt he’s wearing, I know there’s a landscape of hard muscles and smooth planes.
The same body that covered me and relentlessly drove me to the highest peaks of pleasure in my dreams…
The urge, the need , to run to him, to be near him, to ease the emptiness that’s been slowly sucking my soul dry, makes every other desire I’ve ever felt seem paltry in comparison.
He is completion.
My completion.
“Asher,” Nikolaos snarls, the sound animalistic.
Then the two vampires are across the room, locked in a vicious battle that moves too quickly for my weak eyes to follow.
Left on the couch, dizzy and reeling, I struggle with the impulse to throw myself at the creature that’s been stalking me since the day I was born and the instinct to run far, far away.
In the end, when Asher throws Nikolaos so hard it sends him right through the wall, the instinct to run wins.
What little bit of self-preservation I still have left helps me unlock my muscles and stand from the couch.
The moment I do so, though, my shadow stalker’s green eyes are upon me.
“Chloe,” he says, and there’s so much hurt, so much longing in his voice, I find myself freezing in place at the shock of it.
The way he spoke my name, the sheer reverence, reminds me of the all-consuming pain I felt just minutes ago. As if the syllables themselves are echoing it.
Walking toward me, he reaches out his hand. “Chloe, my love, come to me…”
Every little atom that makes up my being wants me to place my hand in his.
In a daze, I feel myself moving toward him.
Moving toward the destiny I’ve been fighting my entire life.
We’re almost touching when Nikolaos reappears and shouts, “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
A breeze whips by my face and my monster disappears with a loud crack.
Spinning around, my eyes search the room and land on a new man-sized hole in the wall behind me.
From the hole I can hear the sounds of beastly growls and hissing. Sounds that cause my skin to tighten and prickle with gooseflesh.
I stand in place, wondering if my shadow stalker will come back…
Content to wait until two vampires I’ve never seen before burst into the room. Panting as if they’ve been running.
Then I realize what I’m doing.
I’m being a dumbass.
Getting a grip on myself, I shake the fogginess from my head and eye up the two newcomers.
The first vampire is gigantic… Seriously, he’s so big and tall, I find myself taking a step back and craning my neck to look up at him.
The other vampire is smaller, with a thick beard, but no less imposing.
Especially when they both look at me.
Pinning me with their eyes, I watch confusion then realization wash over their faces.
The giant vampire begins to move toward me with purpose but stops abruptly.
Turning to face the hole in the wall, he inclines his head as if he’s listening closely to something then curses. “Fuck. Asher and Nikolaos are fighting.”
The giant walks over to the hole, unblocking my path, but the other vampire seems less inclined to follow him.
Sniffing the air, the shorter vampire moves in my direction.
“They’re going to bring the whole place down if we don’t stop them,” the giant vampire says.
When the other vampire doesn’t respond, choosing instead to keep coming for me, the giant twists around. “What the fuck, Vaughn? You need to help me break up the fight.”
Vaughn continues to ignore him, focused on cornering me until I can’t escape.
When I bump against the couch and Vaughn grins, knowing he’s trapped me, the giant seems to realize what’s going on.
Moving in a blur, the giant shoves Vaughn, sending him tumbling to the floor. “She’s Asher’s mate,” he thunders at the smaller vampire. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“She…. smells… delicious,” Vaughn huffs and springs up from the floor, trying to slip around the giant.
Throwing his arm out to stop him, the giant knocks Vaughn back down like he’s a sack of meat.
“ She’s not yours ,” the giant booms, “stupid idiot.”
Landing flat on his back, Vaughn glares murderously up at the giant.
Then he lurches up again, this time launching himself at the bigger vampire.
I watch them fight in disbelief, wondering if this is real life, and realize I’m being a dumbass again.
Edging around the two as they growl, snarl, and try to rip out each other’s throats, I quickly slip out the open doorway.
Too busy trying to kill each other, neither tries to stop me.
Once I step into the hall, I notice moving and breathing has become a little easier.
It’s almost as if the more space I put between me and my monster, the less effect he has on me.
The hallway stretches to both the left and right.
Afraid he might reappear and bewitch me back into stupidity, I try to quickly pick a direction.
I don’t know exactly where I am, and I don’t know how far away the bar area is, but I do know that the throbbing in my thigh is pretty much a homing beacon.
Moving to the left causes the throbbing to become stronger so I choose to go the right.
Running like I’ve never run before, I quickly reach the end of the hallway and end up in another intersection.
I can turn right and go down another hallway, or I can take the stairs in front of me and go up.
I was completely out of it when Nikolaos moved me to the room we were in. I don’t remember going down any stairs when we left the bar, but something tells me up is the way I want to go.
Grabbing the rail, I take the stairs two at a time until I reach another floor. On this floor, the stairs continue up and a hallway stretches to the right.
This hall is familiar somehow.
Deciding to trust my instincts and where my feet lead me, I follow the hallway until I hear soft, muffled moans and skin slapping against skin.
Pushing through a door to the right, I find myself exactly where I want to be—back in the club.
The patrons seemingly oblivious to what’s going on beneath them, the club looks almost the same as I left it. The booths are still full, overflowing with vampires playing with humans, and Ambrose is twirling Charity around the dance floor.
The only difference is there’s now a blond vampire I don’t recognize sitting at the empty bar, watching the very door I just stepped through.
Hoping he’s waiting for the bartender to come back and wasn’t left on guard duty, I skirt to the left, venturing closer to the booths.
Keeping my eyes trained on the vampire at the bar, I tune out all the wet disgusting noises coming from beside me. Prepared to run if he so much as twitches.
The vampire doesn’t twitch. Watching me for a moment, he looks back to the door I came through and frowns.
Thinking he’s not interested in me, I risk taking my eyes off him and look to Ambrose and Charity.
If I run now with no one really paying any attention to me, I could probably make out the door.
But I’d have to leave Charity behind…
I’m not going to lie, running and just saving myself is tempting at this point.
She is, after all, the reason I’m in this situation in the first place.
I know though that I could never live with myself if I did that. If our roles were reversed, I hope she would try to help me.
Trying to think up a way to get Charity away from Ambrose, I move closer to them.
Once I move closer though, the vampire at the bar looks at me again. Face tightening with concern, he practically jumps up from his stool.
My pulse quickening with the fear that he’ll come for me, I make the mistake of taking a hasty step back.
This draws Ambrose’s attention.
Head twisting in my direction, Ambrose’s red eyes lock on me and he comes to a complete stop.
I have one heartbeat to feel my soul leaving my body in pure terror before Ambrose pushes Charity away and jumps on me.
Launching through the air like a pouncing big cat, Ambrose grabs me by the shoulders and takes me down, pinning me beneath him.
“ My Marked ,” he hisses in my face, his fangs dripping with streams of salvia.
Temporarily stunned from my skull connecting with the floor, I can only stare helplessly at him.
Receiving no resistance from me, Ambrose drops his head and sinks his fangs into my neck.
The pain is instant and excruciating.
When my shadow bit me in my dreams, the pleasure I felt was orgasmic.
Here, in reality, there’s only burning agony.
A burning agony that makes me writhe beneath Ambrose and scream.
Rearing back, Ambrose looks down at me in horror. He has just enough time to lift his fingers to his bloody lips and touch them in dismay before he’s tackled by the blond vampire that was watching me from the bar.
The two roll away from me in a ball of hissing fangs and claws.
My arm trembling, I lift my hand and gingerly touch the wound on my neck. Yanking my fingers away when I feel a sharp, stinging sensation.
Looking at my fingers, at my blood, makes my head woozy and my stomach twist.
My mouth fills with spit and I have to swallow it back as I slowly get to my feet. I don’t know if I’m going to puke or…. need a drink of water or something…
Shaking the pain and haziness from my brain, I force myself to get another grip.
I still need to grab Charity and get the hell out of this place before someone else tries to stop me.
Resisting the urge to look back, I tip-toe around the two vampires rolling around on the floor and walk over to Charity.
Abandoned by Ambrose, she just stands in place where he left her, completely motionless.
Grabbing her by the arm, I pull her with me, dragging her to the doorway that leads to pure blackness.
I’m terrified I’m going to get lost in the darkness, but the faint increase of the throb coming from my mark propels me forward.
Closing my eyes because I can’t see anyway, I decide to just walk straight ahead, figuring that’s naturally where the door to the outside would be.
I end up walking face-first into a wall, and it hurts like a bitch, but it gives me something to work with.
Running the hand that’s not gripping Charity along the wall, I slide to the right then back to the left until I touch what feels like a seam.
Nails scratching against wood, my hand fumbles around until I finally find a handle.
Squeezing the handle tight, I pull so hard I nearly break the door off the hinges.
Stepping out into the night air, I take a deep breath, my mouth tasting relief.
I made it out.
And I have Charity with me.
God must truly be listening to my prayers.
I send up a quick, silent thanks and glance around.
All the humans that were waiting to enter are gone, and so is the bouncer that was at the door. The street in front of the den is completely empty.
It’s strange, but not my problem. I don’t really care why everyone has disappeared. All I care about is making it home in one piece.
Looking to the left then to the right, I try to get an idea of where we are in the city. Unfortunately nothing around me looks familiar. I’ve done very little traveling outside of going to church once a week.
We could be uptown, downtown, in a suburb…
I just don’t know.
Worried I’m wasting time trying to pick a direction yet again, I think hard and fast. The buildings around me tell me we’re not in a suburb. There would be more houses, not businesses.
Saint Benedict’s is downtown. It’s doubtful the vampires would be bold enough to have a club downtown.
We must be uptown somewhere, and if we’re uptown I need to go south.
Glancing up at the sky and ignoring the blood red moon looming over me, my eyes seek out the brightest star. Finding the North Star in the sky to my right, I grip Charity’s arm harder and tug her left.
I know the North Star doesn’t always point north, but at this point I’m desperate and all out of other ideas.
Charity walks obediently beside me as I lead her down the street, and it’s more than a little unnerving to have her so close to me, not saying mean things.
It’s downright freaky.
But the growing throb coming from thigh is even more worrying. No longer faint, it seems to thunder to life.
My monster is in pursuit of me.
Panicking, I quicken my steps, but the throb doesn’t lessen.
It increases.
The walk home from here is probably a few miles, at least. There’s no way I can outrun him. Not while dragging Charity with me.
Unless…
Yanking Charity into me, I wrap my arms around her and look far down the street ahead of me, focusing on a streetlight.
I have no idea how or why it happens, but I pretty much teleport down the street, ending up right next to the streetlight.
Like earlier, I’ve covered a great distance without actually doing anything.
The throbbing becomes a little fainter, so I do it again. Looking far down the street, I focus on an object and think I want to be there.
Then I’m there.
I do it five or six more times, covering at least a mile or two with ease. But after the seventh time, I start to feel a bit fatigued.
Pausing beside an overflowing garbage can, I have to stop and take breath. My lungs and heart working like I’ve just run a marathon.
The steady thrumming coming from my mark, however, doesn’t let me rest for long.
Pushing on, I manage to teleport three more times, fighting past the pain and fatigue until it finally gets the best of me.
Letting go of Charity and nearly dropping to my knees next to a beeping crosswalk light, my head spins and sparks dance in front of my eyes.
When the dizziness passes after a few deep breaths, dread fills me.
I’m never going to outrun him and make it home if I have to physically move the whole way.
Grabbing Charity again, I stare hard into her face then give her a little shake. “Wake up.”
Eyes vacant, expression blank, she doesn’t acknowledge me.
Shaking her harder, I shout, “Wake up,” in her face.
She doesn’t even blink.
On the verge of bursting into tears, I desperately try to think of a way to save us both.
But there isn’t a way.
I can either wear myself down to the point of exhaustion trying to teleport us both home and still get caught…
Or I can choose to save one of us.
Spinning around in a small circle, I take in my new surroundings carefully.
Noticing a small alley between two buildings, I grab Charity’s hand and lead her that way.
The alley is only wide enough to fit a single car or truck and there’s only one dim light. Trash litters the ground and I can hear rats scurrying about. Their little nails tapping against the cracked, broken concrete.
But there’s a small rusting dumpster that’s more than big enough to fit Charity’s body.
This is not payback , I tell myself as I tug her over to the dumpster.
This is the only way I can protect her and help her survive the rest of the night.
Grabbing the lid, I throw it back, banging it against the wall, and rock back on my heels as the smell hits me.
It freaking reeks.
And that’s what makes it perfect.
If the smell makes me want to hurl chunks, a vampire will surely stay clear. They’ll never scent her out over the stench of rotting food and dirty diapers.
In a hurry, I don’t bother trying to gently lift her up. I just grab her around the waist and toss her over the edge.
Charity lands with a soft thump in the middle of the garbage, bits of paper and candy wrappers fluttering up around her.
Gripping the rim of the dumpster, I lean toward her and say, “Stay here and be quiet. Don’t come out until the morning.”
Then I slam the lid down, hoping today isn’t garbage pickup day.
“Saint Benedict, protect her,” I murmur quietly as I jog back down the alley. “See her safely through the night, for she is innocent and one of God’s most devoted. Amen.”
The moment I step back onto the street, my mark flares to life.
He’s close… too close…
Alarm buzzing in my veins, I don’t think I just act. Fight or flight sending me teleporting down the street.
When I reach the next intersection, I notice I’m not nearly as tired as before. Perhaps having Charity with me was draining me of energy…
Still afraid I won’t be able to make it all the way home and focused on simply leading him away from Charity, I teleport over and over again. Not even thinking about the direction I’m going in.
All I’m doing is picking the furthest object I can see and willing myself next to it.
The lights of the city pass by me in a fuzzy blur as I run for what feels like hours. With my mark throbbing the entire time.
The knowledge that’s he’s still closely pursuing me both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because I know he didn’t go after Charity.
And a curse because my energy is waning.
I’m running myself haggard, past the point of exhaustion.
Reaching a four-way intersection, I grab onto a pole and lean against it to catch my breath.
Should I stop here? I wonder and sweep my eyes over the area around me.
Is this the place I die?
Or should I push a little more?
Push until I’m so tired I won’t even be aware of what he does to me?
Every bone and muscle hurting, I notice a bench and consider sitting down on it to meet my fate.
What a way to die… my butt sitting on a bus bench, waiting.
Hysterical laughter begins to bubble up inside me, pushing against my lips to be free.
All my life I’ve been running only to be caught where I spend once a week waiting for the bus to take me to church.
Jolting, I look at the bench more closely then glance down the street in shock.
Somehow I’ve managed to find my way back to my neighborhood.
Too relieved to worry about how such a thing could be possible, I gather up the last of my strength and will myself home.
Appearing in front of my house, I let out a small cry then fling the door open. Stumbling inside, I slam the door behind me, lock it, and lean against it.
I made it home.