Shaking the entire way.
So much for being “fearless” and “unafraid” like she’d declared to Marex with such conviction. It wasn’t true at the moment, not when she didn’t know why they had to run from the sanctuary so fast or why they were going ninety miles an hour out of the city.
An hour or so later, when he turned left to an unpaved road, she prayed it was to a place where Marex would be waiting for her.
Did he even know where to find her? Or had this been his plan all along?
Her mind raced with the possibility he’d lied about them running away to some house in Canada, all to pacify her defiance, and keep her calm. On the other hand, he could very well be in danger himself.
She closed her eyes at the burning thought of him walking into a trap set by a shifter, who’d only faked his interest in meeting Marex. Had Kane been deceiving them all along, too?
Oh gods, she was going to be sick. As soon as he slowed the motorcycle down, she hopped off, tore the helmet from her head, bent over and heaved for breath.
He turned off the engine and lowered the kick stand, removing his helmet, too. “You okay?”
She took a few, slower breaths and nodded. “Where are we?”
“Another safehouse.”
“Can you please talk to me?” she begged him, on his heels as he strode to the small house ahead of them. “I deserve to know! Surely you can reach out to Kane now that we’re out here.”
“You need to chill.” He skimmed his hands along the top of the door, and checked under a mat. “And we need the key. Will you help me find it?”
She suppressed the need to stomp her foot and scream, scrambling around the front porch to help him. She found a key under a pot with a rotting plant. “Here. At least tell me why we had to take off like that.”
He took it from her and opened the door. “Tony can smell trouble long before it comes. I was ordered to bring you here if there’s even a hint of it. He wouldn’t have warned us over a false alarm. Could’ve been anyone coming down there.”
“What about Kane and Marex? I want to know they’re okay. Please. I’m begging you.”
He sighed, digging in his pocket for a cell phone. “Okay. I’ll call them.”
Thank the gods. That was all she wanted.
Half a minute later, he said, “No answer. Don’t worry, he’ll call me back.”
But he didn’t. Not that night, not the next morning. The protection of thick trees kept the sun out of the cabin’s windows for most of the day, and she was free to walk around it, like a caged animal, unable to sleep, unable to relax.
When Reed’s cell phone finally went off, her heart stopped, watching him with tired, red eyes as he answered.
“Hey, Chase.”
Her heart plummeted.
Reed turned his back, answering Chase with one-syllable responses, muttering questions in French, a language she didn’t speak. She waited, hugging her middle, hoping against hope there was some news.
He hung up. “No word from Kane or Marex.”
He relayed it so matter-of-factly. Like it was no big deal. “Are they missing?” she exclaimed. “What else did Chase say? What about the Blackmore guy? Did he have something to do with it?”
“We’re trying to find out.”
“What if—?”
Reed shot his hand up to indicate silence, his brow furrowed.
She obeyed.
He turned his head and sniffed.
“What’s—what’s wrong?” she whispered.
He went to the windows, gently moved the curtains aside, looking out. “Whatever happens, stay inside.”
She gulped as he dashed out the door, and despaired when she realized he’d taken his cell phone with him. Gods. She was in hell, not used to depending on others, and thrust into the role of damsel in distress. There had to be something she could do to defend herself. Like improvise a weapon. She went to the kitchen area and pulled out all the drawers, finding a short paring knife.
Another search got her a long piece of twine, which she used to secure the knife to her ankle. There. Better. “Even Reed might be impressed. If he ever comes back.”
Oh, but was she ever sorry she’d uttered those words, because an hour later, Reed hadn’t returned. She even dared to go outside and call his name, as though he were a pet dog off his leash, but she didn’t receive so much as a bark in return. Had someone out there hurt him? Was he lost?
The anxiousness was eating her. “I can’t stay here another minute.” She grabbed the motorcycle keys from the table and ran toward the rod, shoving the long sleeves of her hoodie off her forearms. She started the motorcycle and it roared to life, reminding her she’d only been at the helm of one once, a long time ago. But what was the alternative? Her guard had left her. She had no cell phone.
And apparently, no sanity.
It was an awkward start down the dirt road from the cabin, and her arms ached just trying to keep the heavy machine upright, but eventually, she got the hang of it.
She turned right on the main road, hoping she’d recall every turn that would lead her back to civilization. The speed she determined she could handle was fifty-five, and the bike vibrated between her legs, almost like a growling animal itself.
About ten miles down the road, she had the very dreadful, sickening feeling that what she was doing was stupid and careless. But she couldn’t turn back. Not now. What if fleeing was the best thing she could’ve done?
Out of nowhere, a deer leaped across the road. She screamed, trying to brake too late, turning the bike into the ditch. It careened upward, throwing her off, sending her flying into the brush.
When she came to, her body ached from head to toe, especially her head. She sat up with a flinch, felt blood oozing from somewhere around her temple. She touched it, hissing when she felt a pain rocket through her skull and spine. There was blood on her fingers, and blood coming from her nose. She tested her limbs and was elated to see she was able to move her arms and legs. Nothing seemed broken, which was a miracle.
Covered in dirt and leaves, she stood up, thanking the gods her healing abilities probably saved her life.
And then she smelled it.
Sunrise.
How long had she been out? At least two hours, it seemed.
“Damn it!” She scrambled out of the ditch and started to run. The bike was on its side near a tree, clearly too wrecked to ride. And she didn’t have much time anyway. If she didn’t find cover in a few minutes, the breaks through the trees would become searing lasers of death she would never survive.
She started running, searching, praying. If she burned, Marex would never find her, would never know what happened to her. She’d fall to bones and eventually those would disintegrate to ashes in the wind.
Pushing branches out of her way, feeling the heat gather, the lightened sky, she almost gave up hope, when saw it. A large dark entrance to what looked like a cave, tucked into a hill. She dashed for its cool, sweet darkness with a sigh of relief, crouching down and hugging her legs. It wasn’t very deep, but it was enough to keep her from certain death. As the sun rose and peeked its rays through the trees, she shrank further in the cave, exhausted, with nowhere to go until night took its turn.
Eventually, sleep claimed her as she curled to a ball.
Her slumber was restless, waking her every few hours with nightmares about Marex’s fate. That he’d been captured. Tortured. Killed. She cried herself back to sleep, and was rewarded with a beautiful dream of them together, reuniting, embracing, making plans. She opened her eyes, and pushed up off the ground, swiping at a spider crawling on her hand.
The orange glow of the ground beyond the cave told her the sun had set, and in a few minutes, she’d be able to get out and head for the road, hopefully to flag someone down.
She pulled the leaves from her hair, wondering on what level of frightening she must appear—
“Grrrr. Grrrr.”
She slowly lifted her gaze, her hand
frozen, her entire body still as stone.
She was very familiar with that sound and what kind of creature it came from.
A wolf. A threatening one.
Eyes wide, she held her breath as it glared at her with eyes glowing like yellow fire, its teeth bared in a menacing smile.
He was huge.
She stood no chance. The only thing she could do was try to defend herself, and pray she’d be the one in a million to survive a wolf attack.
On and on it growled, even when she slowly reached for the knife tied to her ankle.
It could very well be her lifeline.
She gripped it, hoping that it would somehow deter the wolf.
“Get out,” she said, trying to sound brave. “I won’t hurt you.”
As if he understood her at all.
And then, he started to back up and out of the cave. She waited, not moving, not even blinking, to see if it would come back.
It didn’t.
Night fell dark enough that she could finally flee. It was now or never. Wolf or no wolf. Gathering her courage, she scrambled out of the cave and started to run. From the corner of her eye, the wolf leaped from nowhere and knocked her down, making the knife fly from her hand. Stunned, she kicked him, getting him right on the nose, effectively igniting his anger and revenge.
She held up her forearm to protect her face as he sprung toward her, clamping his teeth on her arm. Nadine screamed in horrified pain. He let her go.
Was he toying with her?
Suddenly, they were surrounded by more wolves, and she wildly look around, and cried out in despair.
One, two, three, four more of them.
A smaller, dark red one came around her right, looked right at her. Then set its gaze on the wolf who’d attacked her, crouching low, and snarling at it.
The gray wolf’s ears went down, and he whined, submitting to the red wolf that advanced on him, then barked three times. To Nadine’s shock, the rest of the wolves ran off with the gray one, and she was left alone with the one that defended her.
The wolf studied her for a few moments, cocked its head, walked around, sniffing her, causing her to jerk back in confusion, holding her bleeding arm.
And then, the paws turned to hands, the head transformed to a human, the feet and legs going from fur to skin. “It’s you.”
Mouth open, Nadine watched as a woman stood up, naked, looking down at her with pity.
“Oh, my gods. Lila?”
Seven
“Are you okay?” Lila asked, offering her hand.
Nadine nodded in shock, giving her good arm and allowing her to pull her up. “I…think so.”
“No, you’re not. You’re bleeding.” Lila looked around, then called, “Yuri!”
A black wolf came around then transformed to a giant of a naked man. Nadine tried not to look lower than his wide, hairy chest.
“Get her to the house,” Lila commanded.
Yuri picked her up without a word, as if she weighed no more than a piece of paper, and carried her through the woods, Lila at his side. Nadine said nothing, just relieved in the fact she hadn’t been eaten alive.
She was brought to a spacious, modern country house with a wraparound porch. As soon as they walked in the front door, Lila reached for a silk robe hanging off a coat rack and tied it around her slender body. She had Yuri bring Nadine to the kitchen and set her on the counter. He did as told, and grunted with a nod when Nadine thanked him.
He wasn’t even out of breath after that long journey of carrying her.
Lila brought out a first-aid kit. “Let me see your arm.”
Wincing, Nadine carefully got out of her hoodie, and held out her left forearm. Some of it had healed, but the cuts were deep, and continued to ooze. The wound on her head didn’t hurt anymore at least.
“You need stitches,” Lila observed.
“It’s okay. Wrap it for now. I just need fresh human blood, and I’ll be fine.”
With a skeptical raise of her brow, Lila dabbed the wound to clean it, then wrapped white gauze around her forearm. “I’m not even going to ask how you ended up out here.”
As soon she was done, Nadine couldn’t help it, she threw her arms around her. “Thank you, Lila.”
The woman seemed taken aback, then slowly wrapped her arms around Nadine. “You’re welcome.” She patted Nadine’s back and withdrew from the embrace. “I’ll be right back. Go rest on one of the sofas. I won’t be long.”
Nadine curled up on the plush couch, watching the fire in the fireplace, finally feeling safe for the first time all day.
Lila returned. “I called Kane. He’s on his way.”
“Kane?” She sat up quickly. “How—how were you able to find him?”
With the grace of a queen, Lila sat on a high-back chair, crossing one long leg over the other, the silk robe barely covering her chest. “How? I called his phone. That’s how. He sounded vastly relieved we’d found you.”
“What about Marex? Is he with him?”
“I’m assuming so.”
A teenaged girl came in and set down a pile of clothes and a brush on the glass coffee table.
“Thanks, Alice,” Lila said, dismissing the girl. “Fresh clothes. They should fit. That sweatshirt is practically swallowing you. The wings are cute, though,” she teased as Nadine stuffed it into a plastic bag Alice had left.
She told Lila what happened at the sanctuary tunnel, the cabin, and why she left. Lila sympathized, but offered no explanation as to why Nadine and Reed might’ve had to flee the tunnels.
“I should’ve stayed at the cabin,” Nadine grumbled, fraught with guilt.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Had I been in your position, I probably would’ve done the same.” She folded her hands on her knee. “Unfortunately, you won’t get an apology from the wolf who attacked you. He was only doing what he thought he should do: kill a vampire unwanted on our property. It’s divine intervention that you ended up here on my territory. We were out on a hunt when I caught your scent. It’s very distinctive and strong. We never forget a scent. It probably helped that you’re newly mated.”
“I don’t want nor expect an apology. What happened to me was my fault.” She stood, realizing how close she’d come to her own death. “Where’s the bathroom?”
She was directed to a half-bath where she washed her face and hands, brushed her hair, and changed into the jeans, a white, long-sleeved shirt, and a zip-up jacket Lila offered. The cut on her head had shrunk, but was still there, too deep to seal. Hopefully she could get to some fresh blood by sunrise or else she was going to have several scars to remind her of her error.
The moment Kane arrived, Lila’s demeanor changed completely. He charged in the front foyer and called her name. She answered, closing her robe modestly, and rising with absolute awe in her gaze as he marched in.
Nadine rose, hoping to see Marex with him. He wasn’t.
He came over to her, assessing her. “Are you hurt? Your arm…”
“It’s just a dog bite.” She flinched. “I mean—gods, I’m sorry.”
For some reason, he and Lila found that amusing. “Lila told me what happened. You are one brave vampiress.”
Not really. She glanced around him, hoping her fated was with him. “Where’s Marex? I don’t want to hear anything or go anywhere until you tell me what’s happened to him.”
“Nothing’s happened to him. Except total cataclysmic madness since we were told you were missing. In fact, he’s closer than you think—”
“Marex is okay?” she exclaimed.
“Of course.”
Of course? As if there was no way he’d been anything else? “Where is he?” She rushed around him down the hall and out the door. The car he’d arrived in was unoccupied.
When Kane caught up with her, he explained, “I couldn’t bring him with me. Get in. We have to go.”
She hastily opened the door to the passenger side, and he went to the driver’s seat, lifting a hand t
o wave as Lila came out to the porch. She hesitantly waved back, then turned around.
“I couldn’t bring him with me, much as I would’ve preferred to,” Kane explained, backing the vehicle out. “Lila’s pack doesn’t know about our—relationship, or about my affiliation with your mate. Bringing him here would’ve caused confusion, possibly a rebellion. I had to protect her.”
A vampire on hostile shifter territory hadn’t even crossed Nadine’s mind. To her, after spending every day and night with shifters, growing to care about them more and more, there was no differences between them, but she’d forgotten others didn’t feel that way. Yet. “I’m so sorry, Kane. I wasn’t thinking. Everything was just happening so fast, I didn’t know what to do. Is everything okay at the tunnel?”
“Seems so, but it’s not secure enough to go back. Tony caught the scent of an unfamiliar close by, but he or she fled before Tony could track them down, which leads me to believe it was a vampire, and that they blurred before they could be caught.”
Some vampires had the ability to move fast, and hence were impossible to catch. A lot like comic character The Flash on TV. She had no such gift, neither did Marex, and she didn’t know very many who did.
“Kane, I thought something had happened to you when you didn’t return by midnight. And when Chase told Reed there was no word of you two, that’s when I panicked. I thought…maybe that meeting was a trap.” Not that that was any excuse for her causing all this trouble.
Kane shook his head, gripping the steering wheel with one hand. “You’ve got to learn trust me, Nadine. I would’ve never met up with Blackmore if I didn’t know him better than I know myself. The meeting went too good, actually.”
“Too good?”
“He and Marex hit it off like a couple of frat boys. Blackmore has always had an open mind about vampires, but he’s also a very prideful shifter. We all are, naturally, but as he gets older, he gives less fucks what others think.” He smirked. “He insisted we stay and drink, and got us wasted on their liquor, and we had to stay at the camp and sober up. To make matters worse, my cell phone died, and we weren’t exactly near any outlets. When I got in touch with Reed this afternoon, he told me you’d ditched him, stolen his bike, and disappeared. I actually kept the information from Marex, since we couldn’t leave Blackmore’s place in the daytime. But once we left, I told him what you’d done, and we’ve been sending out search parties ever since.” The car jostled about on the bumpy road as he drove.
Marex: Immortal Forsaken Series #1 (Paranormal Romance Novella) Page 9