But she knew for a fact that it wasn’t her fault that he’d hit her. That was his choice, and a man who made those kinds of choices had no business being in her life. She would never regret her decision to leave him behind in Atlanta. She just wished that he wasn’t a few feet away, tramping around upstairs in her home.
Chapter 24
Gavin woke from his comatose sleep, and with his consciousness came the agonizing pain. It was the same pain he had endured before, but each night was worse than the one before. His bones were on fire; his flesh tingled and was sensitive to every little touch. His brain and organs felt as if they would explode, especially his stomach. And throughout his parched veins was a throbbing ache that often came with the hunger that had plagued him for the last three centuries.
His senses were attuned in a way they had never been before. But each sound, each overpowering scent was an assault on his mind and body. The darkness used to be his sanctuary, but now it had become his prison, locking him away from the very thing that could relieve his suffering. And he wasn’t thinking about blood. He wanted Chloe.
Nothing else brought him relief in this time of suffering except the sound of her voice, her strong heartbeat, the sound of her blood rushing through her body. Everything told him that she was alive, and he took heart in that fact. As long as Chloe was alive, there was hope for an end to this.
Gavin had often wondered, while he waited for her to come to the hatch and talk to him like she usually did in the twilight hours, if she had left him or abandoned what relationship they could have when this was all over. But as soon as her melodic words drifted down through the cracks in the hatch door, he felt the pain lessen, if only a little.
Letting Chloe take the manuscripts was perhaps the second hardest thing he had ever had to do, rivaled only by the decision to go through this detox. He felt naked and exposed without his life’s work as if a piece of him was missing and in the hands of someone else.
He didn’t fully trust Chloe with his work, but it was the only way to pacify her the night after they’d made love. He wanted her safe, and if that meant having to feel this momentary hollowness in his soul, then he would rather be in this cellar for decades.
On this evening, even before he opened his eyes, he knew that something was not right. Too many smells and too much tension stirred in the cabin above. He only heard one heartbeat, and it was closer than it had been on the previous nights.
His keen nose first singled out Chloe, her sweet magnolia-scented body wash was unmistakable amongst the other odors. But then he picked up another. It was more of an echo, a shadow of a scent that was stale and only a few hours old, but it was all over the cabin above him and the property outside.
It was a terrible scent. Car fumes, city smog, and a twinge of alcohol made up the bulk of it, and it was all covered by a veil of expensive cologne that reeked of unnatural chemicals. It burned his nose and made his eyes water.
He tried to ignore the stench and focused on why Chloe seemed so near. She seemed much nearer than even if she were lying on the hatch door, and it scared him.
When Gavin opened his eyes and pushed himself up from the mattress, he was shocked to see Chloe sitting there against the far wall near the ladder. He examined her figure hunched over her propped up knees, asleep and peaceful where she was.
Joy and fear mingled in his heart at seeing her there. The sight of her and her beautiful face, motionless in sleep, was a bright spot in the darkness of this horrible detox.
But the reason for his fears became all too apparent when the scent of fresh blood reached his senses. No, Chloe wasn’t bleeding, but with his olfactory senses exponentially amplified by his hunger, Gavin sniffed the air and smelled her blood in her veins.
The monster in him came alive; the starving beast they needed to kill came out in full force like a dark storm cloud over his mind. It took only seconds for Gavin to lose himself completely to the thirst.
He tried to fight it, to rebel against the nature of this disease that had tormented him for centuries. But it was no use. The hunger was too strong, and his body far too weak to resist anymore. It had been many nights since he’d had a meal, and the vampire in him would not settle for passing one up now.
***
“Chloe.”
The voice snapped Chloe awake after spending hours down in the cellar. Her neck and back were stiff from being bent over her knees when she fell asleep. The last thing she remembered was Brent still rummaging around upstairs, looking for her and probably her purse.
She was sure there would be a chaotic mess to clean up after her ex-boyfriend finished tearing up the cabin. From the silence above her, she knew that Brent was gone now. But how long had she been hiding?
“Chloe,” the voice said again.
She looked in the direction of Gavin’s voice but couldn’t see him in the complete darkness that surrounded them. There was no movement, no breathing except for her own, but she knew that he was there.
Gavin’s voice sounded so strange and yet oddly pleasant. The last time they had talked, his voice had been strained by the hunger and the struggle for control. But the way he said her name now reminded her so much of when he was fully fed and contented.
As she slowly rose to her feet, she hoped that, against all odds, they were over the worst. Gavin himself said that he had never made it this far in the detox and wasn’t sure how he would react. Perhaps, just like hunger in humans, after a certain time, he just became numb to the urge.
“Gavin? Are you ok?” she asked, her heart banging loudly in her chest. And she knew that he could hear it pumping away, skittering around like a jackrabbit while she tried to remain calm.
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. Come closer.”
Chloe caught something in his words that didn’t seem right—a quiver that she couldn’t quite describe or explain. Was it the hunger, or joy that she was close by?
But she would take no chances and took a step back. That’s all she managed before a feeling came over her that was all too familiar. It was the same mystic pull that had held her in place when she had been under Terrance’s control in the woods.
All of a sudden, Chloe couldn’t move, not even blink. Her body was not her own anymore. This wasn’t Gavin. This was the monster that possessed his body. Gavin would never have used his powers against her.
And then she saw them—two tiny stars in the darkness gliding toward her without a sound. Gavin’s eyes, she was sure. Or his fangs. But where the light source came from that reflected off his eyes or teeth, she didn’t know. All she knew was that he was coming closer, and there was no way to escape this hungry vampire.
“Gavin, snap out of it,” she whispered, fear stealing her voice.
He didn’t respond, and the diamonds in the dark were upon her now, and she could feel his body so close to hers. Even now, she held onto the hope that this was a farce, a joke, or that this was only a momentary rash of insanity that he would snap out of soon before he did something that he would regret for the rest of eternity.
“Gavin, please! Don’t do this.”
His hands reached out and wrapped around her arms just below her shoulders, his fingers shaking as they squeezed her flesh. It was only then that she knew he was fighting the hunger. If she just kept going, kept reminding him of who she was and what they wanted.
“Gavin, I know you can hear me. Remember when we kissed. Remember when we made love. Remember what you promised me. I love you, Gavin. Remember!”
His physic hold over her body began to weaken, whether from the toll that hunger was taking on his body or her persuasive words. With much effort, Chloe reached out, and her hand met his cheek, just under one of the diamonds that seemed to twinkle back at her.
“Think of the sun. Think of how fun it will be to sit by the creek. I promise we’ll go on a picnic as soon as you’re free of this. Won’t that be fun?”
Gavin shivered under her caress. He was getting distracted, and that’s just wha
t she wanted. His skin felt cold and damp with perspiration. Was it possible that the hunger was making him ill? Or was this the human part of him fighting off the vampire disease?
“But we just need a few more days. You can last that long. I believe in you. I love you, Gavin.”
The two diamonds disappeared and she could hear him shudder and tear away from her just before he let out a cry of anguish that sounded inhuman. Chloe thought she made out his plea for her to run, but she wasn’t about to sit around and ask him to repeat that.
She hurried toward where she thought the ladder was, stumbling in the dark while Gavin turned over his writing desk. The crunch of ancient wood made her cringe, thinking of such a beautiful piece of furniture being destroyed like that.
Her hands touched wood and clutched the rungs. Chloe frantically crawled up the ladder and opened the hatch. The amber light of sunset flooded the cabin and beamed down around her, providing sanctuary against the raging vampire in the cellar. By the vicious hisses behind her, she guessed that the rays must have singed Gavin, but only a little.
Chloe didn’t even glance behind her when she threw the hatch down. Her hands, alive with fear and urgency, grabbed for the padlock and latched it just in time before Gavin charged the trapdoor, nearly bucking her off.
She scrambled away to the kitchen cabinets and leaned against them, watching the hatch door rattle and jump with his efforts to escape. Obviously, the beast inside him wasn’t thinking about the sunlight that had just burned him seconds before.
Placing a hand over her racing heart, Chloe waited until Gavin quieted and slunk back down the ladder. She could still hear him pacing like a hungry lion trapped in a cage. Her face broke out in a cold sweat when she thought of how close she had come to death.
No, they weren’t out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.
All the doubts she might have had that he loved her were killed in that moment. If he didn't truly love her, he wouldn't have fought himself as hard as he had.
Chloe almost wanted to believe that she was just a convenient companion, a replacement for the wife that he’d lost so long ago. But she was so much more. She was the woman who he was willing to risk everything for, even his life, for the chance to grow old with her. Even when a monster lurked just beneath his skin, he fought it back to keep her safe and refused to give in. He was so much stronger than she could have ever imagined.
It took her a moment to calm down enough to take in her surroundings.
Brent had trashed the cabin, but his truck wasn't out in the drive anymore.
The sofa was tipped on its front, and the cushions spilled out over the fireplace hearth. The kitchen was a veritable catastrophe with broken mugs and dishes scattered across the floor. And just as she’d feared, so were Gavin’s manuscript pages. From her vantage point, they all appeared to be intact and not ripped to shreds by Brent’s rampage. She was thankful that she had numbered the pages on that first night. Her computer was on the floor but was also in one piece.
She reached up and used the edge of the counter to lift herself to her shaking feet, her system still in shock after facing Gavin and death itself. Funny how many times she had come so close to dying since she’d met Gavin, and it wasn’t getting easier.
Retrieving the broom and dustpan from the utility closet under the stairs, she swept up the broken pieces of glass and ceramic. It was then that she realized her clothes were filthy. Crouching down on the dusty floor of the cellar and being dragged down the gravel drive had left her slippers and pajamas covered with a thin layer of dirt.
But Chloe didn’t care. There was too much to set right, and there was too much upstairs that she didn’t want to look at just yet. She was sure fragments of clothing would be everywhere, and she didn’t even want to think about her books. Thankfully, she kept her prize copy of Jane Austen stashed away where no one would find it. It was hard to weigh what would be the worst tragedy: her book torn to bits, or her laptop destroyed beyond repair.
Setting her mind to cleaning would take her focus off of her brush with death and the disaster that Brent had left in his wake. With luck, this was the last she would see of him. And if she did ever see him again, Gavin would put him in his place.
After struggling with the sofa, she managed to get it turned back right side up and the cushions back in place. As she stooped down to gather together the manuscript pages, she heard her phone go off.
It was her mother’s ringtone.
Chloe rushed around, following the sound of her phone and pleading for it to keep ringing so she wouldn’t miss the chance to talk to her mother.
She found it underneath a small pile of parchment pages and quickly tapped the green button.
“Mom?” she answered a little too frenziedly,
“Hey, baby!” her mother replied cheerfully, her voice full of the motherly love she had missed. “Is everything ok?”
Of course, her mom would notice her tone immediately. Chloe took a deep, muted breath and nodded even though her mother couldn’t see. “Yes, I’m alright. How are you and dad doing?” she asked.
While her mother prattled on about the few trips they had taken in the past week or so while Chloe had been disconnected from the world, Chloe glanced around at the chaos and realized she couldn’t talk to her mom while the place was a mess.
Still listening to her mom, she slipped on her boots and stepped out the backdoor. The evening air was chillier than she expected, but she wasn’t sure if she had any jackets in good enough shape to put on yet. The upstairs remained unexplored.
Chloe leaned her arms against the porch railing and gazed out over the woods, letting her mother’s rambling take her far away from the cabin. It was good to hear her mother so happy, so carefree. It was a state so different from how she felt right now. All her life consisted of was panic, fear, unexplainable passions, and an out-of-reach hope for a future that wasn’t set in stone yet. All she knew was that she was in love.
“But enough about me,” her mother finally said. “Who’s this man you met?”
Chloe had almost forgotten that she had told her mother about Gavin. Under any other circumstances, she would have been willing to rattle on for hours about her handsome vampire lover. But in her current state of mind, she wasn’t so sure she could form the right words.
“His name’s Gavin,” she began, hoping that her mother would simply ask questions that she could answer rather than have to come up with things to say. She also hoped that her mom would not make the connection between her Gavin and the Gavin that her aunt had raved about years ago. If anyone asked, it was a coincidence.
“That’s a nice name. What does he do?”
Of course, her mother would be concerned with how her boyfriend made a living. It was only natural. Chloe paused to think of an excuse. “He’s a… a writer.”
“Oh, really? That’s nice. Maybe he can get you in touch with some publishers.”
Chloe rubbed her cheek and realized how tired she really was. “He’s not published just yet. But he will be. He’s going to be submitting his manuscript in the next week or so. We’re just working on the finishing touches.”
“Oh, you’re both working on the book?”
Chloe shifted weight from one foot to the other. “Well, kind of. I’m doing some editing work for him.”
“And what’s he doing?”
Chloe bit her lip and searched her exhausted mind for a viable answer. “Well…Nothing right now. He’s recovering from a… a bad fall.”
It was all she could think of.
“Oh, the poor thing. Is he alright?”
“Yes, he’s ok. He’ll be up and about in a few days. I’m taking care of him in the meantime.”
Her mother took a deep breath. “So, you’re editing his book and nursing him back to health?” Chloe agreed. “But how is your novel coming?”
“Uh… Well, I haven’t had a lot of time to work on it lately. A lot has been going on.”
Her mother gr
umbled the way she always did before she was about to give her blunt, honest opinion about something she disagreed with. “Chloe, I know you must like this guy a lot for you to drop your own novel to help him out, but I can’t help but wonder if this guy is going to be just another Brent.”
Chloe leaned her forehead against her arm and sighed. “He’s nothing like Brent, mom. Brent never helped me with anything in my life. Before Gavin had his fall, he was helping me with my novel, too. I was having problems writing the male’s part, and he gave me the input I needed.”
Her mother was quiet for a few beats, probably unsure of how to respond to her daughter’s comeback. Chloe understood why her mother would think that way about Gavin, but she was totally wrong in every way.
Gavin would never have trashed the cabin the way Brent did. Then she remembered how he’d turned over the writing desk in the cellar during his fit of rage against himself.
But Gavin would never hurt her like Brent had. Except he almost did. He almost did worse.
Chloe gritted her teeth in frustration. No, Gavin was not like Brent. They were completely different men, and she had far more in common with Gavin than she’d ever had with Brent.
But, there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind that whispered lies to her, telling her that she was making the same mistake again. It was only a matter of time before Gavin turned out to be just like Brent. He would prize and value her so highly that he would want to be the only one to spend time with her.
What would happen when Gavin became human and they got married? Gavin might not be comfortable around other people, and if Chloe wanted to go to town to visit people like Miss Rosie, maybe he would keep her from going by bribing her with working on their newest novel to trap her in the house. What if he became just as manipulative and controlling as Brent? What if he hit her the same way Brent had when she’d tried to leave?
Tears stung her eyes, and she lifted her head.
Passions Page 31