Chapter 18
Alice
David hadn't come home.
I paced our kitchen as I dialed his number again.
I'd already left two frantically worried and apologetic messages, plus the numerous texts. Where was he? We didn’t take our car to the party because we planned on taking advantage of the free drinks on offer.
His car was still in the driveway, so he hadn't stopped by.
There were a few friends he could've gone to, but none I knew well enough to have their number. And even if I did, what would I say? "Have you seen my husband? He's very upset because he's just found out that I cheated on him."
There were his parents and sister, of course, but I wasn't particularly close with them, despite being their foster kid for a brief time.
They'd always been distantly polite with me; upset that I'd dragged their son and brother away from home.
His sister had even told me that she used to hate me because David had been so obviously in love with me.
They assumed I knew and was purposely leading him on.
I suspected they still held this opinion.
So, no, I didn't want to ring them yet.
I ran an agitated hand through my hair as I checked my phone again for the hundredth time.
Tears blurred my vision as I remembered the look of devastated betrayal on David's face.
I hated to think of him out there somewhere, hurt and angry, questioning everything in the face of my confession—a confession that he wouldn't have been confronted with yet, if not for David putting two and two together.
How was it possible that I'd been saying Acheron's name in my sleep…
for years? I wanted to believe that it was a coincidence, but David was right—it was an unusual name for where we lived.
And the fact that my dreams had ramped up around the time Acheron came into my life, was that another coincidence?
Not to mention that the only memories I had left of my dreams were vivid blue eyes…
the same shade and shape that Acheron Angelou had.
I rubbed at my forehead, unable to figure out what was going on.
How could this be? It almost felt…supernatural.
And the scary thing was that it didn't feel that unbelievable.
A lot of strange shit had been happening to me since I was a teen.
The daydreams that seemed real, the feeling that something or someone was watching me.
The sensation that something in my life was missing.
I pushed the troubling thoughts out of my head. I couldn't think of any of that right now. Not when David was out there, doing and thinking god knows what. I finally sat down at the kitchen table, staring at my phone with red-rimmed and swollen eyes, willing it to ring.
My head jerked up when I heard the creak of our front door opening. Relief flooded me, and with my heart pounding with nerves, I immediately rose to greet David. Thank God he was finally home.
"David?" I softly called out.
My brow furrowed as his footsteps grew closer. His movements sounded heavy and slow, almost dragging against our floorboards.
"D-David?" An acrid taste filled the air, and the tiny hairs on my arms stood in alarm. My heart jumped to my throat, and a forewarning stabbed me, just as a figure came into view.
I gasped and fell back, my hip crashing hard against the corner of the table.
Red eyes.
That was the first thing I saw. His eyes were blood red. Not the sclera, but his irises. It stood sharply against the white of his eyes. He had long, white hair and a face so pale it almost matched his hair color. He smiled and his teeth…oh god…his teeth. They were—
"Wh-what are you doing in here? Get out!" I tried to sound brave, but I couldn't keep the quiver out of my voice.
"Alice, Alice, Alice." His voice was deep, gravelly, and frightening.
He stalked toward me like a sleek predator, his sharp teeth flashing under the harsh lights of our kitchen. I stumbled back, fumbling for a chair and shoving it in front of me. His demeanor scared me, but I didn't want to take my eyes off him.
"Shall we sit?" He gestured to the chair held firmly in front of me like iron armor. His tone mocked me as my breath hitched in terror.
"H-how do you know my name?" My trembling fingers gripped the wood, ready to throw it at him. I eyed my phone lying between us. Dammit, I couldn't reach it. I hoped he hadn't noticed.
"I know everything about you, Alice Harper," he snarled. "I've been looking for you for a long time."
"Stay back!" I warned. "Or I'll call the police."
He gestured to the phone in front of me before holding up his hand. "Go ahead." He grinned at me, his teeth growing longer in front of my horrified eyes. "They can hear you scream."
I sucked my breath in before lifting up the chair and throwing it at his head. It bounced off his chest and crashed loudly onto the floor. He didn't even flinch.
Next, I grabbed my phone and threw it at his head. It simply bounced off his cheek as if I'd thrown a piece of foam.
Low laughter rumbled through him as he stalked closer to me, taking his sweet time. Terror snaked through my chest as I fumbled for the fruit bowl and chucked it; all the while moving back to get to my knife block. I clutched the handle of the biggest knife and held it out toward him in warning.
"Stay back, or I'll hurt you. I mean it!"
He tipped his head back and cackled maniacally. "Oh, Alice. I am going to have some fun with you."
The scream died in my throat as he lunged forward.
***
Acheron
Her scream was the first thing I heard. I crashed through her front door, blurring to the kitchen where my heart almost stopped in my chest.
Vladimir had his hand under my mate's chin, her body slammed up against the fridge. Sobs were wrenched from her throat as her fingers tore at Vladimir to release her.
Red hot fury poured over me, and I felt my teeth lengthen in full.
"Let. Her. Go."
Vladimir turned, his face twisted in an ugly snarl.
"Acheron," he spat out. "How lovely of you to join us."
My fingers flexed with the urge to kill. "Your time in hiding has done you no favors. You look like shite."
He laughed harshly before he roughly grabbed Alice. He brought her to his front with his arm wrapped around her neck. She whimpered in fear, tears tracking down her cheeks. Her mouth murmured my name.
Acheron. Help me.
I could hear her sweet voice as clear as day in my head.
"Careful, King," Vladimir hissed. "One wrong move, and I'll rip the head clean off your precious Queen."
The fear of Alice being hurt, or worse, choked me with fear, yet I remained outwardly unmoved.
Alice continued to stare at me in wide-eyed terror.
Wisely, she remained quiet apart from soft, quickened breaths.
Vladimir was so unstable that one word from Alice could cause him to tighten his grip, effectively breaking her neck.
"What is it that you want?"
His eyes flashed black before returning to red. "Your head on a platter, for starters."
I beckoned him. "Here I am. Come and get me."
My eyes bled dark, and my teeth grew to their full length.
I ignored Alice's gasp of shock. Vladimir snarled, flashing his fangs at me before he threw Alice aside and lunged for me.
We clashed midair. I grabbed his neck, crashing through walls as I flew to the living room before I tossed him to the ground.
His head bounced off the floor, sending cracks through the floorboard. He was no match for me. And he knew it.
I jumped on top of him and sank my fingers into his neck, digging through the tendons.
His eyes bulged and his hands gripped mine, attempting to throw me off.
But I remained unmoved. With one hard yank, blood sprayed everywhere.
I carelessly tossed his head to one side with a mighty and triumphant roar.
Finally.
Vladimir had been defeated. Surprisingly, without fanfare or much effort. Just like that, the BloodKin's leader was gone. He was no longer a threat to Alice.
Alice!
I turned and hurried to find her. She was still where Vladimir had thrown her, but instead of crying in hysterics as I'd expected, she was simply staring off into the distance.
Her face expressionless, her eyes wide and unblinking.
The only sign of life was her chest that moved up and down in rapid beats.
I approached her slowly, willing my body to return to its human-like form. Unfortunately, now that my creature had been released in front of her, it resisted the urge to turn. It was still wired from seeing my woman threatened.
I held my hand up as I inched carefully toward her.
"Alice." It came out as a command, but it had her snapping out of whatever trance she was in.
She stared at me as I cautiously moved closer, her eyes glazing over once more.
"My King," she whispered to me.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her body slumped.
"Alice!"