Page 71 of Abiding Blood

The only option was to go back home.

If I could get back to our house, or even partway, I could postpone this for another day or two. Maybe Vincent would be in a better frame of mind. At least I’d have time to try again to talk him around. It wasn’t a solution, but it was better than letting this happen—letting us be separated.

There were still hours before the sun rose. I knew I should wait until dawn before acting, but now that I’d made up my mind, I was too anxious to stay put. There was no way I’d be sleeping here, alone or not. I carried my things back to the car, pulled the spare key from my pocket, and unlocked the doors. As I climbed behind the wheel, I scanned the darkness. Part of me was disappointed that Vincent didn’t appear out of the inky black night. I half expected him to be watching the house—watching over me.

Heading back the way we’d come, I turned north toward home. Running off in the dark was reckless, but he’d left me with no choice. He might not be willing to fight for us, but I was. I wouldn’t just sit around and wait to be handed off like an unwanted pet. I loved him, and I believed he still loved me.

When a figure appeared on the road ahead, part of me melted just a little. He’d come after me. Sooner than I’d hoped, but it was a start. I braced myself for the confrontation I knew was coming. But as I neared the figure, my body grew cold.

It wasn’t Vincent.

A woman stood in the middle of the road, spotlit by the headlights. I slammed on the brakes more out of reflex than out of conscious choice. As she ran toward the car, her speed confirmed my worst fear. She wasn’t human. Worse, she was the same woman from the night I’d met Vincent—Anna, Nathaniel’s ex, who’d tried to take me months earlier.

I stomped on the accelerator and tried to avoid the oncoming disaster, but I was too late. At the last minute, she jumped, soaring through the air and landing on the hood of my car. I swerved left, and the front of the car dipped as I went over the edge of the road and into a ditch. My head barreled forward and was punched back by the airbag as the car slammed into the ground.

And then everything went black.

40

VINCENT

When I opened my eyes the next evening, everything was pitch black. The scents around me were unfamiliar, and I struggled to remember where I was. I reached for the flashlight I kept on the bedside table, but my hand hit a wall instead. I wasn’t home. I remembered now. I’d slept in the basement of a small house—alone.

I’d made it through the day. Although I had no way of knowing for sure, I could tell from decades of experience that the sun was down and it was safe to emerge from my makeshift bunker. It was time. This was the last night I would see my mate. More than anything, I wanted to go back to sleep and delay what I had to do. Instead, I threw off the quilt and rose to face the evening.

I unwound the chain on the door and stepped out to find everything just as I’d left it. Would someone come back to claim this home, or was it destined to fall into ruin? I would have liked to be hopeful, but I wasn’t. I was out of hope. I exited the front door and didn’t bother closing it on my way out.

Even before I approached the house, I knew Julian was gone. My stomach lurched when I noticed the car was missing. I checked the house, just to be sure, before taking off toward the main highway. I should have known Julian would have another key. It was stupid not to do more to disable the vehicle before I left. There was only one place I suspected he’d gone. And sure enough, the smell of exhaust and tire tracks pointed back the way we’d come. Julian was headed home.

I cursed under my breath. This was a waste of time. Julian had to know he’d be dragged back here again. He was only delaying the inevitable. And now he was out there, unprotected. I shook my head and took off down the road. It wouldn’t take me long to catch up, even if Julian had made it back to the house. I was annoyed, but part of me was glad for the chance to spend a little more time with my mate. God, I already missed him.

The night air was warm, and the run eased my agitation. I knew this act of defiance stemmed from Julian’s desire to stay together. I understood. I felt the same way, but it didn’t change our reality. I moved faster than I thought I could. My concern, along with Julian’s blood in my veins, propelled me onward. It was only minutes before I reached the crash site.

I saw the tire tracks first. I’d been following the highway and had gone about forty miles north when I saw the black rubber marks on the pavement. The marks drew my eyes to the rear end of Julian’s car, sticking up over the lip of the embankment. I thought I’d been moving quickly before, but I covered that last half mile faster than I’d ever moved.

The driver’s door was open, but Julian wasn’t inside. There was a crack in the windshield and the scent of Julian’s blood, but the airbag had deployed, and there was no sign he’d been ejected. I might have thought Julian had walked or crawled away from the accident, but another scent left little doubt about what had happened to him. The smell of vampire was all over the driver’s side of the car. And it wasn’t mine. But I recognized it. Anna had come back for him. Julian had been pulled from behind the wheel, injured, and she’d taken him.

Rage, unlike anything I’d ever known, filled my chest and sharpened my vision. The world tunneled down to a single point. Julian. A great scream tore from my throat, and my teeth punched out of my jaw. I would get Julian back, and this time I would kill Anna and anyone else who got between my mate and me. There was only one way for this to end.

I paused only to grab Julian’s rifle and ammunition from the back of the car before taking off. The trail was easy to follow, and Anna’s scent burned in my nostrils. But it wasn’t fresh. This had happened hours ago, which meant I was almost a full day behind my prey. I berated myself anew for not keeping a closer eye on Julian the night before. I should have stayed until just before dawn. It was Anna who’d snatched him, but it was my fault for lacking the imagination to anticipate the danger. I’d been so wrapped up in my misery and the threat I posed.

As I sped along, the scent grew stronger. I was moving faster than the pair would have, and I knew I’d catch up before long. They would have had to stop for the day, and she would have had to carry Julian. The thought of her hands on him sent pain rolling through my body. I’d never prayed, but in that moment I sent up a prayer to whoever might be listening, hoping I’d find Julian unhurt.

Before long, I arrived at a small valley. Several scattered buildings dotted the landscape, but there was no real town. I noticed one stone structure larger than the others, the only one with light spilling from its windows and smoke drifting from its chimney. She wasn’t concerned about hiding her location. The implications churned in my mind, forcing me to slow my pace.

I paused and took a deep breath. Here, the invisible trail I followed intersected with others. The air carried the scents of at least two other vampires. One was Richard; I was almost certain. I would have recognized the other anywhere. I couldn’t decide whether to feel hopeful or afraid for Julian’s safety.

There was a light breeze, but I was downwind of the stone building. As I approached, I saw it was a large house with a garage and what looked like a workshop or outbuilding off to one side. A few vehicles sat out front. There were no other signs of life, but I smelled vampires and the heavier stench of nearby humans. The scent told me volumes about the humans’ condition, and I knew the three vampires were using the same playbook as before.

It took all my strength not to rush to the house and rip off the front door to reach Julian. Somewhere in the back of my mind, my better judgment was yelling at me to check things out first and see what I was dealing with. Had I not been well-fed, I might have lost control right then and there. As it stood, I headed for the workshop first; if this was anything like the lodge, that would be where the humans were kept.

41

JULIAN

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was sunlight filtering in from a window somewhere above me. I lay on my side; my head was splitting like a hangover from hell. The pain in my head urged me to stay still, but memories of the previous evening made me want to jump to my feet and run. I tried to reach up and brush something off my face, but I realized that getting up would be a challenge. My hands were bound painfully behind my back, and my feet were tied together. But the ache in my shoulders paled in comparison to the pounding in my skull.

Groaning, I tried to push myself upright. After several attempts, I sat with my back against the wall of my prison. I blinked and glanced around. The light made me wince, sending a fresh stab of pain through my head.