Vampire vampire, p.11
Vampire, Vampire, page 11
It won’t work, she thought. Christopher Thorn could track anyone – anywhere. He’d proven himself the best literally hundreds of years ago.
But it didn’t matter. She was about to take the situation into her own hands. The problem is that those hands were still manacled, and falling on metal cuffs would either cause so much pain that her hands would be useless or it would break them altogether.
It was worth the risk. If she continued to allow the colonel to spur them to some unknown destination, she may well be dead within the hour.
It was up to her to save her own skin.
With that thought and a sudden surge of blinding courage and Empyrean strength, Anna twisted, draped her bound arms around the colonel’s shoulders, and then dug her heel into the stallion’s side. It bucked, she shifted, and the two riders were thrown violently toward the ground.
In the brief moment before they impacted, Anna imagined how it was going to happen. She saw the hardened dirt, the rubble from horses’ hooves in the past, the brambles that snaked over the edges of the trail from the forest line. She saw her elbow smashing solid against the ground, just before her shoulder and hip would join them. So she adjusted, turning in the air, wrapping her leg around Dax’s thigh enough to gain leverage.
They hit hard and fast and even though the colonel’s tall, muscled body buffeted her from the main impact, the air was still knocked from her lungs and her neck instantly ached from where her head had snapped to the side. She heard herself make a sound, but it was drowned out by the pounding of hooves and the stream of curses coming from Dax’s mouth.
He must have been in pain and more than a little stunned, but he rolled with them both, taking them to the edge of the trail so that they wouldn’t be trampled by his horse. Anna used the opportunity to pull her arms away from his shoulders.
Dax quickly took hold of her upper arms and attempted to roll on top of her, but she concentrated hard, using the strength in her legs to brace them against the ground. She grabbed for the dagger he had tucked into his belt and yanked it out, holding it to his throat as they came to a rough stop, she straddling him.
Her hair was in her eyes and they were both breathing hard, but he remained still, obviously unsure as to whether or not she would do what she threatened.
“Colonel!”
Darianna winced. One of Dax’s men had been following them, despite the injuries he’d sustained.
Anna didn’t dare take her eyes off of Dax, but she could hear the other soldier dismount and run in their direction. She listened with her Empyrean senses, and caught the pull of a bow string. Her heart did a flip in her chest. The arrows the Knights carried were covered in sleep poison. He would only need to graze her to take her down.
She gritted her teeth, grabbed the key that Dax kept around his neck, and got her boots beneath her. There was nothing for Anna to do but run.
She turned, her long hair flying, and ducked the first of the Knight’s shots. It whistled past her head and embedded itself in a nearby tree trunk.
Her boots ate up the ground beneath her; she leapt over exposed tree roots and ducked beneath branches as she sprinted through the dense forest. She knew the colonel would be hot on her heels, and she didn’t waste time looking over her shoulder; that was always a bad idea. Instead, she concentrated on putting as much distance behind her as possible.
She was able to get her manacles unlocked as she ran, freeing her arms for added balance and speed. She dropped the manacles and the key and kept running.
In her right hand, she still held Christopher’s wedding gift. Children were always taught not to run with sharp objects. She ran for all she was worth now, blatantly ignoring the rule. The dagger was light in her grip, but it also felt sure and right, and she swore that if Dax caught her a second time, she would use it on him without hesitation.
*****
Alexander jumped to his feet and managed only a few running strides in pursuit of Grace’s fleeing form before something slammed into him from the side with such force, his head was instantly throbbing and lights swam before his eyes. He hit the ground hard. It was the second time in as many minutes that he’d been knocked nearly senseless.
This time, it was General Christopher Thorn who had taken him down. The man’s tall, strong body was impossible for Dax to dislodge; his arms felt numb in their sockets and his legs were tingling. He’d been hit too hard, too many times. He gritted his teeth and growled in mounting fury as Thorn managed to get his gloved hand around his throat.
“Traitor,” Dax ground out through clenched teeth. “Your men trusted you,” he hissed as the general lifted him by the throat and slammed his head back down onto the ground. Stars exploded, and dizziness swept over Alexander. Thorn didn’t bother replying to him; there was a madness in the general’s eyes that Dax had never seen there before. He was beyond reason.
Thorn didn’t normally kill his opponents, but the black rage that swirled in the glowing depths of his inhuman gaze told Dax this time would be different. There was nothing he could say that would keep the general from killing him. I’m going to die, he thought. If he didn’t do something now to save himself, his life would end.
He glanced at where the other Knight had been moments before and confirmed that he was gone. The soldier had taken off after Grace, as per his instructions should she flee. He couldn’t very well blame the man for following orders.
Those orders would now be the death of Alexander.
Again, he tried futilely to dislodge Thorn, and again he failed. His vision was tunneling; he could no longer feel his legs. Even the general’s grip around his throat felt faint and indistinct. He was going numb.
There was comfort in death sometimes. It was something one never learned until the moment it was upon them.
*****
Christopher had driven the stolen horse mercilessly. There’d been no pause, no consideration as he’d taken off after Dax. The colonel had managed a head start; Christopher had been forced to traverse the ledge around the lake and take out the remaining Knight before he’d been able to take chase.
But the colonel had honestly had no idea what was coming hard on his heels. It was more than worry that drove Christopher. Seeing Anna again after all of this time – feeling her… kissing her – had awakened his beast.
And then she’d called his name, and he’d looked into her eyes from across the lake and he’d known that she remembered. Finally she was herself again, his little Anna. And Dax was trying to take her away from him.
Again.
There would be no placating Christopher’s monster now.
He glared down at the man beneath him and almost didn’t see him. He didn’t see the young man who had worked hard all his life to earn the position he now held. He didn’t see the colonel who had faithfully served under him. He didn’t see Alexander Dax. He saw only Darianna’s abductor.
All he could think about was that too many men had taken his bride from him, shuffling her from one rough handler to another as if she were a prized piece of meat. The vehemence that spun through his blood at that moment blinded him to everything else. There was nothing else.
Only hatred. Revenge.
Until Dax closed his eyes and went still beneath his grip.
Christopher blinked and, after a brief hesitation, he reared back, his hands dropping from the colonel’s throat. He frowned, feeling confused… and shocked. Had he just strangled a man to death?
Christopher got to his feet and watched Dax’s chest. It didn’t move. He wasn’t breathing. Christopher waited several seconds. Still no movement. Just as he was about to kneel and attempt a resuscitation, Dax’s chest expanded violently.
The colonel coughed and rolled onto his side.
Christopher took half a second to thank the gods – before the rage was on him again, his monster once more in charge. With unnatural speed, he turned and plunged through the tree line where he could tell Anna and her pursuer had disappeared into the forest beyond.
Chapter Fifteen
Darianna waited in the high branches of the large oak tree, stifling her breathing as her heart pounded and her lungs fought for more air. The sound of boots running drew nearer. The Knight who had tried to poison her with his arrow was coming fast.
Just as he shot into the small clearing and raced across the broadened trail beneath her, Anna dropped from the branches. She timed the attack perfectly and landed on the Knight’s back with enough force to knock him to the ground. She then wasted no time in yanking one of the poisoned arrows from the quiver on his back and stabbing it through his right shoulder with all of her strength.
Beneath her, the Knight roared in pain, but Anna stayed put long enough to push the arrow all the way through. It would be easier for him to remove later that way.
Then she hastily got to her feet and backed away, ready to continue fighting if the poison didn’t do its job.
Fortunately the poison worked quickly. The Knight got to his hands and knees and wobbled slightly. Then he groaned and slumped forward as sleep dragged him under.
“You always have been able to take care of yourself.”
Anna spun around, still slightly out of breath from her run. Christopher stepped out of the tree line across the clearing, his hair still damp from the falls.
“Christopher,” she breathed, relief flooding her. She ran to him, and his arms were around her, strong as steel bands. She felt his breath at her ear, heard him inhale her scent, and felt his grip tighten as if he couldn’t get close enough.
“Anna,” he whispered. “Did he hurt you?” His voice shook, and Anna felt an aura about him that gave her pause. Her relief was muted by worry. She recognized that sensation. It wrapped around him like a cloak, thick and dark.
“No,” she said, shaking her head against his shoulder. She hoped to reassure him, to calm a bit of the tempest she sensed raging inside of him.
He seemed to digest her reply, and a small portion of his tension slipped away. But what remained was decidedly raw and edgy. “We need to keep going,” he told her, his voice strained. But he didn’t release her, and his words whispered across her neck. She felt him tense… and then felt the tips of his fingers as he slowly and gently pulled her hair away, exposing the skin over her throat.
Her breath caught. Warmth flooded her stomach. She thought of that first night he’d tasted her, what those teeth of his had felt like as they’d pierced her skin and sunk deep, claiming her. She shivered; there had never been anything in life more delicious.
But this was neither the time nor the place. He was right; they needed to keep moving. Please give me strength, she thought and tried to pull away.
Christopher growled, the sound an animalistic warning. She stilled in his grasp, torn by trepidation and longing.
“Christopher,” she pleaded softly, her own voice shaking. “Please.”
For a moment, she couldn’t be certain whether she was begging him to let her go – or to bite her then and there. She wanted him, wanted to feel him take her, wanted it more than she could fathom. His arms felt so good around her, so strong and sure and right.
But Christopher knew what she was asking, and fortunately for them both, his will was currently just a little stronger than his need.
Tenderly, meaningfully, he placed his lips to her throat. Anna closed her eyes, her heart aching as he left a kiss. Then he pulled away, letting her go.
Anna looked up at her king. His beautiful eyes were radiating a surreal glow. They looked like the center of an anvil cloud during a thunder storm, shot through with purple lightning, unpredictable and dangerous.
A muscle ticked in his jaw, his tall form towering and tense. He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly through his nose, clearly trying to regain his composure. “We’ll head off through there,” he said, his deep voice gruff. He gestured to a small opening in the underbrush a few feet away. He still hadn’t opened his eyes, so Anna realized that he’d spotted the opening previously. “We should be safe to open a portal back to Empyrea by night fall.”
Open a portal? she thought. She blinked as she realized that she could, indeed, do such a thing. They only needed to make certain that no one would follow them through.
Anna frowned as a spike of panic stabbed at her chest. Open a portal, she thought again. Gods…. I can open portals. She’d always been able to. She’d just forgotten – over and over again. Rafe had made her do it hundreds of times, and each time, he’d wiped her memories afterwards. She’d been to so many places…. And suddenly there was so much there, vying for space in her mind, fighting to be remembered all at once.
It was overwhelming.
Anna put her hands to her face; she felt hot, flushed. Without warning, the world tilted a little under her feet. She heard underbrush crunch and felt Christopher’s hands on her arms. “Anna….”
She removed her hands. Eyes filled with torment and regret caught her own, holding them in a kind of empathy. “Breathe,” he told her softly.
Anna took a deep breath.
“Again.”
She took another – and then another, until the world was horizontal once more.
“Can you walk?” he asked, still holding her arms.
She nodded. Come on, Anna, she told herself. You’re stronger than this.
He slowly let go of her arms, but Anna was more grateful than words could say when he ran his fingers through her own, taking her hand in his. He looked down as he brushed over the ring she wore. Her wedding ring. He frowned, and something flashed across his features, something she couldn’t decipher. But he said nothing, and she let it go as he turned to begin leading her through the forest.
They didn’t move as fast as Empyreans are capable of moving. They were both tired; neither had fed in a long time, and they’d been through a lot over the last few days. The forest was also very overgrown, and they were attempting to be careful not to leave too much of a trail behind them.
They didn’t speak. It was odd; so much time had gone by, and so much had happened, yet Anna couldn’t think of anything to say. She imagined Christopher felt the same, for as the hours climbed and the day waned, the only thing that filled the silence between them was the sound of the grass and dirt beneath their feet.
Finally, as the sun was kissing the horizon, Christopher drew them to a halt. Anna looked around. They were in a small clearing. A fire pit, old and disused, sat at its center. A massive oak tree shaded the area, its branches so high overhead, they formed a distant canopy.
“Rest,” said Christopher. “I’ll start a fire.”
“Shouldn’t we open a portal?” she asked.
Christopher hesitated, his back to her. “I’m not strong enough right now,” he admitted. “I haven’t fed in too long.” He hesitated, glanced at her over his shoulder, and asked, “Can you open one?”
He asked it as though he already knew what the answer would be. The question was rhetorical and slightly short-tempered. It had been forever since Anna had opened a portal. Even if she didn’t feel as weak as she felt just then, she doubted she could do it.
Christopher turned away from her and began gathering kindling. The conversation was apparently over.
Chapter Sixteen
Anna turned a slow circle and then sat down on a stone beside the tree. She thought about her powers and her need for blood. She glanced at Christopher as he worked, unable to do anything but notice the grace of his body, the finely tuned musculature that flexed and stretched beneath his armor. He had always been beautiful.
Anna licked her lips as desire spiked inside of her. She caught a glimpse of his throat beneath his thick black curls and her fingers curled into fists in her lap. If I feel like this, she thought, I wonder… how he’s feeling?
Eventually, one of them was going to have to feed. The knowledge gave her both a thrill of anticipation and a shudder of fear. They stood a better chance of opening the right portal if Christopher fed from her. It would leave her weak and drained, but it would make him strong – and he could take them home, provided that the enemy was nowhere nearby.
Portals remained open for a certain amount of time, and people could unwittingly follow travelers through. Travelers could also be tracked through portals with certain kinds of magic. It was probably how Christopher had eventually found her in Wolfen Down – no matter how many times Rafe had moved them.
“Rafe,” she whispered, again feeling a little overwhelmed.
Across the small clearing, Christopher stilled, one hand poised over the fire pit, a make-shift log clutched tightly in his strong fingers. “What of him?” he asked, something nasty flickering in his gaze.
Anna shook her head, taken aback. “Nothing.”
Christopher watched her for a moment, his silence wrapped around him like a shroud. And then he looked down, tossed the log in the pit, and dusted his hands. He stood, his gaze still trained on the ground.
“Why did you agree to marry him?”
He’d asked the question so softly, if Anna had been human, she might not have heard him.
“What?” she asked as if she hadn’t.
Christopher’s gaze cut to her, spearing through her from a good ten feet away. That lightning was back, that ominous glow in the darkness of his pupils. The air between them was charging up. “You heard me, Anna.”
Anna hesitated, her mind stalling. What is he talking about?
And then she remembered – Rafe forcing her to take his hand in marriage in exchange for Christopher’s life. She felt a wave of something wash over her; it was hot and prickly. It was a warning, and she caught it only a split second before Christopher’s power surged out from him, at once angry. No – furious.
She stood, only managing to come to her feet before he was on her. He’d moved so fast, his form had almost blurred. Anna inhaled a gasp and stared up into the galactic depths of eyes that shifted menacingly into red.
