Chapter 6
The weight of danger hung heavy in the air. I kept each breath small and quiet, hoping my heart wouldn’t give me away. Could they hear it thundering?
Dawn light filtered through the windows, sending golden patterns across the hallway floor. My footfalls were muffled by carpeting. It caressed my feet, soft and plush. Opulent, like everything else.
I’d waited until the sun rose, sitting at the window seat in my room, watching the manor’s grounds saturate with light. I hadn’t slept for even a moment. How could I?
Before leaving my room, I’d rummaged through the pile of clothes from Zola and changed into soft leggings and a T-shirt. It pained me leave Ania’s gown behind, but she would forgive me. As for the heels? They had to go.
I didn’t need a broken ankle.
Going barefoot wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t letting that minor detail stop my plans. I might never get a better opportunity to escape. I was a fighter. Rolling over and giving up? That wasn’t in my vocabulary.
Sucking in a breath, I darted toward an enclosed stairwell. I listened at the top, straining to hear any sign of movement, then descended. The cold wood was a direct contrast against my bare feet. I emerged into another hallway and kept going. The silence was almost…eerie.
That was a good sign, right?
I couldn’t take the sunlight rule for granted. There was a reason Zola hadn’t confirmed which rumors about vampires were true. I really had no idea, but I’d take my chances.
Not all of the manor’s doors were closed. I paused before an arched set leading into a drawing room. My eyes lingered over the furniture, snagging on the grand piano. Its wood was white, the top propped open revealing its strings. The brand wasn’t visible, but I knew what something like it cost.
I pulled my gaze away and moved on. Eventually I found the giant staircase leading down into the entryway. There was no movement, no sound. Was the manor as dead as the vampires occupying it?
I crept down and quickened my pace toward the front doors.
Every muscle in my body was clenched tight, ready for action. The doors opened with a loud click. I froze, my heart taking off into a gallop.
Seconds ticked by as I waited, but nothing happened. The door swung open on silent hinges. I fought the urge to sprint through it, everything within me screaming to run. Taking a deep breath, I listened. There was still nothing.
Could it really be this easy?
Slipping out, I paused on the wide steps. There was a ready excuse on my lips. I wasn’t running away. I was out for a casual morning stroll. Fresh air and all that.
As I crossed the lawn, each breath came faster. I didn’t break my stride.
My muscles trembled as I hauled my body up and over the decorative rod iron fencing. Some of my tension eased when my feet hit the ground. I glanced behind me. The manor stood silent, like a sentinel guarding the landscape.
The road was nearby, disappearing into the woods. That was where I needed to go for cover. The tree line was two hundreds yards, perhaps a little more.
I just needed to cross this field. Its soil was uneven and rocky. I winced, my feet struggling with each step, picking up speed as desperation took hold.
I started running, stumbling, gasping for breath, until the shade of the woods swallowed me up.
My belly swooped, a hint of lightness overcoming my limbs.
Tears blurred my vision, accompanied by absolute, profound relief.
I leaned against the nearest tree, keeping my gasps quiet, catching my breath.
I could literally taste it now—freedom.
Everything would be all right. I’d get through these woods, stay out of sight, find the road further ahead. Back on the main interstate, there’d be someone, a car I could flag down. I’d call the police. I’d call Ania. This whole thing would be over in the next hour or two.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I set off through the maze of woods. My surroundings were alive in the early dawn. Birds chirping, squirrels darting from tree to tree, insects buzzing. I just had to—
A branch snapped. I froze, pawing at my eyes to clear my vision. Silence fell. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted.
I held my breath as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, life returned to the woods. I stepped more cautiously this time. The ground was a mix of pine needles, twigs, and rocks. Each step was uncomfortable, but I ignored the pain.
Far to my left, I caught sight of a break in the trees—the road leading to the interstate. I debated, lips pressed into a thin line. The asphalt would be easier to traverse, but I’d be more exposed. I shook my head, deciding to remain hidden.
I took a step forward and cursed, coming down hard on a jagged rock. A flash of pain radiated up my leg, followed by the welling of blood.
The cut was deep.
The woods had gone completely silent again. This time, a sudden urge to flee settled heavy in my limbs. I glanced toward the road again.
Time seemed to slow, my breaths lengthening—
My body reacted before my mind, jumping forward. One moment I was standing still, the next, my legs were pumping into a full sprint for the road. As if that would save me. There was nothing logical in my movements.
Just the urge to go.
I stumbled, pushing off the nearest tree, forcing my legs to pump harder.
The road was there—just a few more feet.
A weight slammed into me from behind. I gasped, flying through the air before hitting the ground. Pain lit up my body as I rolled over, knocking the air from my lungs.
There was a blur of movement right as a heavy body fell upon me.
I struggled to push it off without success.
White hot pain exploded in my neck followed by a feminine groan. I went utterly numb, my shocked eyes fixed upon the leafy canopy above. Then a scream tore from my throat.
Time rushed into whirls of action and sensation. Blurred bodies. Agony, as teeth were ripped free of my throat. My own strangled cry, foreign to my ears. The feeling of my sticky blood coating my skin. The smell of iron in the air. A loud, furious growl that made me shiver with terror.
The scene materialized, dreamlike in its quality. My hand went to my neck, pressing against the liquid spilling out. I felt the torn flesh beneath my fingers, but refused to process the damage.
Laurent stood nearby, his expression frigid. He held an unfamiliar vampire at arm’s length, hand wrapped around her throat. Her feet dangled, fingers clawing at his wrist. “That was very stupid, Henrietta.”
Henrietta’s eyes were completely black, her skin marbled. Her face was a mess of blood. My blood. My stomach roiled.
“Fortunately, I’m still stronger than you, even with her amplifier blood coursing through your veins.”
I barely had time to swallow against my nausea before Laurent’s other hand shot out, fingers plunging through Henrietta’s ribcage. She gasped, a single choked word falling from her lips. “Sire!”
Next came a squelching sound as he ripped her heart free, holding it in front of her before dropping it to the forest floor with a nauseating thud.
Almost instantly, her body began to desiccate.
There were others here—Laurent’s vampires—standing in a loose circle around us. Silent sentinels watching motionlessly.
Laurent shot me a single glance. This is what happens, it said. The accusatory depths of his eyes made me shiver. I wanted to protest that this wasn’t my fault, but the words wouldn’t form in my throat.
He released her and she crumbled to the ground. Her body continued to wither until she looked as if she’d been dead for decades. I rolled to my side and vomited, one hand still pressed to my neck. This was…the lowest of low for me.
When I finally caught my breath and tried to scuttle backwards, everything was spinning. The trees moved all on their own. I lurched, trying to steady myself.
“Perhaps I was not clear,” Laurent said to the others. “Anyone who touches her, dies. Get back to your posts.”
He whirled toward me and I flinched. Our eyes connected. There was nothing in his empty gaze, a window into a soulless vampire. Except his jaw twitched, betraying his anger. “Marco,” he snapped, nostrils flaring.
My breaths came faster. I couldn’t pull my eyes from his hand. His bloody hand, still dripping with what was left of the heart he’d stolen. I swallowed down more bile. He’d warned me not to run.
Marco materialized beside him.
“Get a doctor—now,” Laurent barked.
I blinked in confusion.
“Yes, Sire.” Marco disappeared.
Suddenly, we were alone.
Laurent grabbed the neck of his charcoal colored T-shirt and slipped it over his head, balling the fabric in his hands. I caught a flash of his torso, rock solid muscles perfectly shaped. They shifted as he crouched before me.
A tiny whimper left my mouth, betraying my pain, my fear, my helplessness. I couldn’t move. Even if I’d wanted to, I’d lost too much blood. Already, darkness was seeping into my vision.
“You’re all right,” he said, his voice softening in a way I hadn’t heard. He wrapped his fingers around my wrist, gently pulling it away to replace it with the fabric of his shirt. “Press there.”
“I…” My eyes darted over to Henrietta’s desiccated body.
“Yes, an unfortunate casualty.” His voice chilled again. “I ought to kill you here and now. Already, you have cost me. This will not happen again. Your pain will be lesson enough, I think.”
A small, mournful noise came from the back of my throat. He flinched, eyes darting between mine. Then his hard features softened again.
“I know, little flower. I know it hurts. Now, come.” He scooped me up, cradling me to his bare chest.
I couldn’t follow it—his ricochet between hot and cold. One moment he was soulless, the next, soft. My eyelids fluttered and I struggled to keep them open. I couldn’t fight him anymore, so I let myself sink deeper against his chest.
“Marco is bringing the doctor,” he rumbled, the words distant to my muddled mind. “He will see to your wound.”
“I…don’t want to…die.” I managed. Each word clung to my bloodied throat, a weight to wrench free.
“Then fight.” His arms tightened.
“I always…fight,” I managed. Right now, it didn’t matter that he was my enemy. It was a moment of weakness, but I let myself cling to him.
I was vaguely aware of the manor looming before us, then swallowing us up. The warm, dimly lit hallways were suddenly comforting, when they should have felt constraining.
“There will be no more attempts to flee,” Laurent said, his words sounding far away.
I tried to focus on them, to keep the darkness at bay.
“I have increased the number of patrols around the manor. You had the unfortunate luck of meeting one. They are here for your protection. I cannot risk others discovering your existence, attempting to steal you away from me.”
“No one has ever tried to keep me.” The words came out slurred. My eyelids fluttered again. The fight to remain conscious overpowering me.
He made a noise. “I will not let anyone have you.”
Or that’s what I thought he’d said. Perhaps it was just my imagination. A dream already taking form behind my closed eyes as my body went slack and I sank into oblivion.