Vampire Forgotten

by Rachel Carrington

  Hunger burned within Rhad. From the short distance which separated him from Mischa, he caught the scent of her blood on the wind, but it did little more than nauseate him. He needed sustenance but not the kind she could provide. He’d made sure of that shortly after he’d been sired.

  He stopped walking and called out to her softly. “Mischa.”

  She spun around quickly. In the darkness, her eyes appeared almost luminous and though the moon barely lit the sky, the glow was enough to enhance the beauty of her soft features. “What is it?”

  Rhad had to swallow several times to find his voice. “I must leave you for a few moments.” The words came out on a croak.

  “We’re in the middle of nowhere! What do you mean you have to leave me now?” Her fingers dug into his arm. “It’s growing darker by the minute, and while you may have eyes that glow in the dark, I don’t. I need you to stay with me.”

  “Will you offer me your blood then?” He knew his words would prove the catalyst she needed to release him.

  Her hand immediately fell to her side while the other went to her throat as a protective shield. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

  He took a step toward her, and Mischa stepped backwards so quickly she almost fell. Rhad’s hand shot out to keep her upright. “You know what I am. I will not deny it. I cannot deny it. I must leave to feed my hunger.”

  Reading the horror on her face, he hesitated. If only he could tell her more about his existence, but perhaps this way was for the best. There were things the living wouldn’t understand. One with a soul as pure as Mischa’s would find it difficult to fathom Rhad’s choices in life.

  While his mind raced with the thoughts, Mischa shook his hands away from her arms. “You’re telling me you’re going to kill someone and then come sauntering back here like nothing has happened?” She blew her bangs out of her face and circled around him. “And I’m supposed to be okay with that? No way. I can’t do that. I won’t do that. I’ve got to get out of here.”

  Rhad sighed and held out his hand. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have used his abilities against her, but he could not allow her to leave by herself. The night held too many dangers.

  He watched her feet began to move though she struggled against the power propelling her backwards. When she was close enough, he closed his hands around her shoulders and drew her flush against his body, lowering his lips to her ear.

  “Mischa, you will stay here until I return. You would not want to risk my anger.”

  She tried to fight against his hands. “Let go of me, Rhad. This isn’t funny. I don’t like mind games or mind control and…and…it’s ludicrous that you would think I’d stand here while you go pick up an innocent person for a late-night snack.”

  He had no more time to try to convince her. His blood stores were dropping low, and his fangs ached from need. He released her and took a step backwards. “You have heard my instruction. You will not disobey me.” With a sweep of his hand, he left her, moving through the mountainous woods with inhuman speed.

  My apologies, Mischa, but what I do, I do for your own good. Perhaps one day, you will understand my ways…and you will understand me.

  Mischa paced a circle around the base of a tree stump several times, her arms folded over her breasts. How much longer was the vampire going to take? She could eat a seven course meal in the time it was taking him to find one slow-moving human.

  She shivered at the thought. While she was standing here waiting for Rhad, some poor, unfortunate soul was giving his life’s blood to sate the monster’s lust. The knowledge made her stomach lurch in protest, but as much as she wanted to storm off and leave him behind, she’d soon discovered she couldn’t.

  Apparently, Rhad’s mind-game had worked, and she couldn’t refuse the hypnotic command. So instead, she remained stuck, circling a tree and waiting for the vampire’s return.

  Her eyes searched the darkness, seeking Rhad’s broad shoulders. She’d barely known the man a day and already she was waiting for him. She tapped her foot against the frozen Earth and glared into the inky blackness.

  “Will you hurry up?” she groused. “I’m freezing my butt off out here while you’re enjoying a midnight snack.” Her face tipped toward the sky where a lone star winked down at her. “And you, Rianna, once I find you, I’m going to drag your ass back to Boston and chain you to the friggin’ mailbox. You’re never leaving the city again. God knows, I shouldn’t have let you go this time.”

  Grumbling below her breath, she wrapped her arms around her waist to ward off the chill and heaped curses on Rhad’s ancestors. He might have to be a vampire, but he didn’t have to be a discourteous one.

  A snap of a twig broke the silence before a low, threatening voice followed. “Oh, look, the little lady is all alone out here.”

  Chapter Three

  The words sent a spike of fear straight to her heart, but Mischa whirled around, ready to face her opponent. A black belt in Karate, she knew she could hold her own if necessary, but one look at the creepy face standing in front of her told her this was no ordinary man.

  And he didn’t travel alone. Their sallow skin told her all she needed to know. Vampires. At least five that she could see, probably more she couldn’t. Had they all caught the scent of her blood?

  Heart racing, Mischa took a backward step. “Hello, fellas. Fancy meeting you here.” Would Rhad hear her if she screamed? Her mind whirled with options.

  She doubted she could outrun any of them, but perhaps she could talk her way out of this situation. Her father had always told her she could sell sand in the desert.

  “I’m just waiting for a friend. He’ll be along any moment.”

  The leader of the pack grinned, revealing snowy white fangs. Her words had little effect on him. “And he left you all alone? What a pity.” There was a general chorus of sympathetic noises behind him. “Perhaps your ‘friend’ isn’t schooled in the ways of the forest.”

  Mischa clenched her hands into fists at her sides as the vampire licked his lips. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m an easy target.”

  Three of them moved forward in unison, eyes glittering, saliva dripping from their mouths. One began to hum a low, hypnotic tune.

  “You will make a fine supper,” another one spoke.

  Mischa struck immediately, delivering a center kick to the leader’s stomach. He grunted and doubled over, giving her enough time to spin and trade blows with the next in line. She knew she wouldn’t win in the end, but at least she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  Fear almost blinding her, she fought with determination, unyielding, relentless. If nothing else, she might make them give up on a supper they had to fight so hard to take.

  “It is useless to fight us.”

  Two of the vampires ducked behind her, and Mischa felt the heat of the fetid breaths on the back of her neck while two more approached her from the front. Though terror clogged her throat, she knew she wouldn’t scream. She would face death bravely, defiantly even, never admitting defeat.

  “Get away from her.” A loud snarl followed the sharp command, and Mischa’s knees went weak.

  “It’s about time you got here,” she whispered.

  Rhad launched himself into the center of the nest, his fangs glistening in the light of the moon, and with his face contorted, he looked the like the monster Mischa knew him to be.

  “You didn’t scream,” he chastised her.

  “I was a little busy,” she snapped back.

  The vampires rallied together, muscles bunched, grunting and hissing with each step.

  “Just stay back.” Rhad directed the order at her, though he never took his eyes off the approaching pack.

  She ignored the command and stood beside him. “I can help.”

  Rhad gave another snarl. “I said stay back.”

  “Who do you think was holding them off before you got here?” Mischa launched a kick at one vampire’s shin.

  As the creature screamed
in pain, Rhad gave her an assessing look. “Okay, you can stay, but be careful.”

  Now wasn’t really the time to smile at the concern in his voice, but she did anyway. It shouldn’t matter that Rhad was growing fond of her.

  He fought like a demon, using super-human strength to rend and snap until all five of the vampires lay stacked atop one another like discarded rag dolls. Breathing hard, he leaned against a tree and watched Mischa. She sensed his eyes moving in tune with her body.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she finally asked.

  “You handled yourself very well.”

  “You mean for a woman?”

  Rhad grinned. “That wasn’t what I was implying.” He jutted his chin toward the pile of limp bodies. “Those are vampires.”

  Mischa dusted the dirt from her jeans and shot him a disbelieving look. “Really? No kidding? I didn’t know.”

  Pushing off the tree, he walked toward her. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”

  “I’ve taken Karate classes since I was a kid. I was lucky enough to know a guy in the neighborhood who taught the stuff. We traded skills.”

  “Where were your parents?”

  Mischa adjusted the buttons on her shirt. “They died when I was young.”

  “So what skills did you trade?” It didn’t surprise her that he didn’t offer condolences for the loss of her parents. Rhad apparently wasn’t a man who wasted many words.

  She looked up. “Obviously, not what you’re thinking. He needed help with Algebra.”

  Rhad placed one hand at the small of her back and guided her away from the fallen vampires. “We should get going.”

  “Where did those guys come from any way?”

  A trail of blood seeped from the bottom vampire on the pile and created a pool amidst rocks and shrubs. They stepped around the sticky fluid and continued up the path toward the mountain.

  “They’re all around here,” Rhad finally responded.

  Mischa shivered. “I’ll have to admit. For a minute there, I was scared.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “But I’m not scared of you,” she pointed out.

  Rhad slanted a look at her. “Maybe you should be.”

  She stuffed her hands into the pockets of the jeans the housekeeper had left inside the armoire. She hadn’t thought to ask how the woman had known her size.

  “You think I should be scared of you because you’re a vampire?” There was a thought.

  “Most people would be, yes.”

  Falling into step beside him, she considered his words for a long moment before responding. “Well, I’ll admit I was at first, but,” she nudged him in the side with her elbow, “I’ve seen your softer side.”

  His brows lowered, giving him a darker look. “My softer side?”

  Mischa smiled. “You don’t think you have a softer side?”

  He met her gaze. “No. I don’t.”

  “What makes you not want me the way those other vampires do?” An owl hooted in the distance, the sound an eerie testament to the night and their reliance on nature’s mercy.

  She shivered, and Rhad took a step closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Another strange moment to include in her journal.

  To take her mind off the warmth of his arm, she continued the conversation. “You haven’t answered my question.”

  “What makes you think I don’t want you?”

  She swallowed hard. Okay, so perhaps she should have changed the subject or simply remained silent. “You do?”

  “I’m a vampire, Mischa. You know what we need to exist.”

  Her blood ran cold in her veins, and she pulled out of his embrace, coming to a stop a few feet away from him. “So what are you doing? Just toying with me until you decide it’s time for your next meal? If that’s the case, I say stop playing with your food and just make your move. Because as you can see, I can hold my own in any fight.”

  Rhad pivoted slowly, the movements controlled “Do you really think so?”

  “I survived those guys, didn’t I?” Her voice challenged him to deny the truth.

  His lip curled. “Those vampires back there were new. They’d probably only been turned a few months back, and they did not have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with their new skills. In another year, you would have already been dead, with or without the black belt.”

  “And I suppose you know they were new by the length of their teeth?” Her skin iced. If Rhad was only trying to scare her, he was doing a damned fine job of it.

  “Vampires know vampires, Mischa. Just as you can look at an elderly person and know they’ve lived a long life, we can judge one another, gauge the length of time since their spawning.”

  Mischa dropped her hand to her side and nervously rubbed it against the side of her jeans. “If that’s the case, and seeing that you’re considerably older than those guys, why haven’t you made your move on me?”

  Rhad walked toward her until his hip bumped hers. “What kind of move would you like me to make?”

  “I didn’t say I wanted you to make a move,” she snapped.

  “Then why are you pushing me?”

  She tried to shove him away, but the difference in their sizes and strength kept him firmly in place. “I don’t think I want to have this conversation any longer.”

  He yanked her closer, cupping one side of her face. “Then perhaps you should think about the ramifications of a conversation before you begin it.”

  His lips came closer, yet she was powerless to stop him. She didn’t deny she needed his touch, though she had no explanation for the craving.

  Meeting him halfway, she stood up on her tiptoes to slide her lips across his. She knew the danger; yet, she didn’t deny the burning within her. What was it about the man that could make her ignore the vampire? Any ordinary woman would be running for her life.

  She slipped her hands around his back as he pulled her closer. Her breasts pressed against his chest, and Mischa heard the low moan in the back of his throat. Just as her toes began to ache, Rhad slid his hands to her hips and lifted, bringing her level.

  His thick hair beckoned her touch, and she fisted her hands in the length. She tasted him, and her heart pumped faster. She felt him, and her temperature rose. She pushed closer, willingly falling into the web he wove. Without thought, she tipped her head back, her body aching, need a gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach.

  Instantly, Rhad lowered her to the ground and stepped back from her with a harsh, “no!”

  Startled and confused, Mischa pressed her hands against her cheeks. “What? What happened?”

  He stepped back, putting more distance between them. “I should not allow myself to touch you.”

  “Funny. I didn’t seem distasteful a few moments ago.”

  Rhad rubbed the back of his neck and spun around, presenting his back to her. “This is not about whether or not I want you, Mischa. This is about preservation.”

  “For me?”

  He began to walk. “For both of us.”

  “Wait a second.” Mischa had never been one to let a matter drop, especially when the subject involved her. She walked faster and caught up with him, grabbing his hand. “I said, wait a second.” When he stopped walking, she spoke again. “What’s going on here?”

  His eyes raked over her face, her hair, a lover’s caress. She knew he wanted her. She read everything she needed to know on his face. He shook his head and removed her hand from his. “Mischa, please. Let us not discuss this further. Though we want, we cannot have.”

  She clamped her hands on her hips. “So vampires don’t have sex?”

  His eyes sparked. “Is that what you’re offering?”

  Her jaw clenched, and for a moment, she contemplated hitting him. “This isn’t about what I’m offering.”

  “No?” He circled around her. “Then tell me you weren’t giving yourself to me when you tipped your head back, knowing it was an enticement?”<
br />
  “Did it ever occur to you that I was in the moment, that maybe, just maybe I had forgotten you were a vampire?”

  Rhad whipped back around, catching a hand full of her hair. “Never. I mean, never forget that I am a vampire. Such a mistake could be detrimental to your health.”

  She stared up at him, her eyes clashing with his. Though his hand was a little tight in her hair, she didn’t try to break free. Instead, she squared her shoulders and thrust out her chin.

  “Don’t try to threaten me, Rhad. You offered to help me. This was your decision, not mine.”

  “I dare say ‘twas not so much my choice since you arrived at my doorstep in such a beguiling manner.”

  The jibe was ignored. “So if you want to help me, fine, but you will not,” she thumped his chest, “and I repeat, will not, wave your blood-thirsty ways in my face in an attempt to keep me in line.”

  Rhad released her as if her hair had just singed his hand. “You know nothing of my ways.”

  Snorting her derision, Mischa plunked herself down on the ground, drawing her knees closer to her chest. “You’re a vampire. What’s not to know? You sleep during the day, hunt at night, and you snack on innocent people. You can be killed with a stake to the heart, and sunlight isn’t particularly beneficial to your skin.”

  She peered up at him though the shadows hid his face from her eyesight. “As those guys we left back there,” she thumbed back down the path, “you survive by drinking human blood. Am I close?”

  Rhad grabbed her upper arms and dragged her to her feet, pinning her between a tree and his body. “As I said, you know nothing about me. Nothing about my ways. Do not attempt to segregate me into a category simply because I had the choice taken away from me. I didn’t get to decide how I would live the rest of my life, the rest of my very long life.”

  Mischa struggled against him. “Let go of me.” She kicked at his shin, but he only held her higher. Then, with only a small twinge of guilt, she resorted to the helpless female tactic. “You’re hurting me.” She injected just the right amount of fear into her voice.