The man seized hold of his calf and tried toyank Ian’s foot out from under him. He leaned more heavily into theman’s chest, feeling the satisfying collapse of ribs beneath hisfoot as bones gave way beneath the pressure of his weight. The manreleased a howl that would draw Bear’s attention, but he planned tobe out of here before Bear arrived. He wasn’t much for torture, hedidn’t enjoy killing, but he had to admit he’d been enjoyingthis.
Lifting the stake above his head, he wasabout to drive it into the man’s chest when the sound ofapproaching footsteps caught his attention. The man, takingadvantage of his distraction, jerked Ian’s foot upward. A startledcurse escaped Ian when his leg was knocked out from under him. Hefell back, and would have landed on the ground, if he hadn’tmanaged to flip himself around in the air and land on his otherfoot.
The vampire launched to his feet, his upperlip curled into a sneer. Instead of launching himself at Ian, heturned and fled into the shadows lining the alley. Ian took a stepafter him to finish what he’d started, but the dwindling beat ofthe woman’s heart brought him to a halt. He’d take care of the vamplater if he could find him, right now he had to get the girl out ofthis alley. She couldn’t stay here, not with the proof of theattack on her neck, and her life rapidly slipping away with eachdrop of her blood.
Spinning away, he raced toward her andcarefully lifted her off the ground. Her eyelids fluttered openbriefly, her dazed eyes met his before closing again. The sound ofthe approaching footsteps echoing off of the buildings and slappingagainst the concrete spurred him into motion. He cradled the girlagainst his chest as a figure came charging at him from around thecorner. He’d been expecting Bear, instead he came face to face withthe man she’d been inside the bar with. A thunderous expressioncrossed the man’s face when he spotted Ian with the woman in hisarms.
Thrown off by the arrival of the stranger,he didn’t immediately see the crossbow in the man’s hand until itwas rising up to aim dead center at his heart. The twang of thearrow releasing reverberated in his ears before he spun out of theway. He felt the brush of the arrow tip slice across his back. Thewarm trickle of his blood slid down his flesh from his splitskin.
He almost launched at the man but the womanin his arms, and his need to get her to safety, stopped him fromdoing so. If he went after this man, she would most likely die. Hislips skimmed back, his fangs elongated as the man reloaded thecrossbow and lifted it toward him. Ian didn’t stick around to seethis arrow fired. He spun on his heel and fled into the night.
CHAPTER 3
Ian ran faster than he’d ever run in his life withno idea where he was going. He couldn’t take her to the hospital,not with those marks so evident upon her neck, and not with theblood loss she’d sustained. The puncture wounds could be healedwith his saliva, but then there would be no explanation for theblood loss. He couldn’t abandon her without the doctors having someidea of what was wrong with her and the delay in getting her bloodcould spell the end of her life. The idea of sticking a note in herpocket fluttered across his mind, but he couldn’t leave her there,not without knowing how she fared and he doubted it would make thenews. If he just left her for someone else to find, he would alwayswonder if she survived.
He couldn’t take the risk someone might beable to figure out what had happened to her. Humans loved to livein the world of denial when it came to the supernatural and eventsbeyond their understanding. However, there were those who didn’tlive in the sunny state of denial, those who knew all about beingslike him, and they hunted his kind. Instinct told him the guy inthe alley with the crossbow was one of those people. He would bethis life the man intent on spearing him with an arrow was a vampirehunter.
He had no idea where her attacker had gone.He refused to take the chance the man would somehow hunt her downin the hospital and finish what he’d started. The scent of herblood on the air would be enough to keep the vampire on theirtrail, but he didn’t sense anyone else amongst the dense treeszipping by him in a blur.
He barely felt the weight of the woman inhis arms as he ran through the thick woods surrounding the campus.His mind continued to race through the possibilities of what hecould do with her. He couldn’t bring her back to the house, theguys there let a lot of things slide, but they wouldn’t overlookhim carrying an unconscious woman who was bleeding all over theplace into the house. And the smell of her blood…
His nostrils flared as he inhaled herdelicious scent. Her blood carried the faint hue of cinnamon andsurprisingly, apples. He’d detected a scent like cinnamon in peoplebefore, but never apples. Perhaps she ate a lot of the fruit, ormaybe it was her natural, heady scent. His mouth watered as hisfangs tingled. He felt like the worst sort of ass; the woman hadnearly been killed, and his mind was focused on what she wouldtaste like and how good her blood would feel running down histhroat.
Just as he cursed himself, her heart gave astuttering beat. Ian pulled up sharply to stare down at the bundlein his arms. The blood flowing from the gash on her neck hadslowed, as had her pulse. A hitching, rattling breath escaped her.Shifting her in his arms, he bit into his wrist. He stared down atthe blood beading on his skin before glancing at the girl again.He’d never shared his blood with another before, but as her heartgave another lurching beat, he knew it was either this, or shedied.
“Shit.” Before he could think too much aboutit, he shoved his wrist against her mouth.
At first the girl didn’t respond, but thenshe began to reflexively swallow the blood trickling into the backof her throat. He stared down at her, marveling at the paleness ofher skin that made the freckles dusting her nose and cheeks appeardarker and more obvious. As the healing ability of his blood seepedinto her system, color began to return to her cheeks, her pulsepicked up and started to smooth out. She still required medicalattention, but the jagged tears in her neck were knitting closedbefore his eyes.
He shut his mind down to the pathwaysopening between them due to the sharing of his blood. He neverallowed himself to see into another. She may be unconscious, but hecouldn’t take the chance she might learn anything detrimental abouthim. Besides, it was a habit of his to stifle the feelings ofothers; he didn’t really care what someone else experienced when hefed from them.
He knew he didn’t harm them, and he madesure they weren’t frightened while he fed by taking control oftheir mind and soothing them. Afterward, he erased all memory ofwhat had transpired between them. Even still, a glimmer ofheartache and suffering slipped from her mind into his that pulledat his heart inexplicably. He didn’t know what she’d experienced inher lifetime, but he sensed enough to know it hadn’t been good.
As the wounds faded more rapidly away, theyleft behind two diagonal scars on the right side of her neck thatran from the center of her neck toward her collarbone. At first heassumed they would heal too, but as the fresh marks vanished, herealized these scars wouldn’t heal. They were at least a couple ofyears older and located to the left of the deep wounds she’dsustained tonight.
A different vampire attack, herealized.What had this girl gone through, and what was shemixed up in?
Pulling his wrist away from her mouth, hestared down at her as he listened to the increased beat of herheart and tried to figure out what to do with her. Adjusting hishold on her, he dug his phone out of his pocket. Flipping throughthe numbers, he pulled up Ethan’s and hit send. He would havepreferred to keep his older brother out of this, would have calledhis younger brother Aiden instead, as he had no wife, but Aidenstill hadn’t reached maturity and lacked strength. Aiden waspowerful, but he was no match for Ethan’s capabilities. Ian knew herequired as much strength as he could get right now. On the thirdring a groggy voice answered the phone. “Someone better be dying,”Ethan grumbled.
“It’s a possibility,” Ian replied.
He could hear the rustle of sheets as hisbrother sat up and the thud of his feet hitting the floor. “Whathappened?” he demanded. Ian hurriedly filled him in on the eventsthat had unfolded tonight. “Where are you?”
“In the woods, by the campus.”
“Get out of there. Stay hidden and stay intouch.”
“Ethan, that man knew what I was, and thisgirl was with him earlier tonight. I also don’t know where theother vampire is. I think I lost him, but you could be walking intoa trap.”
“I’m on my way.”
Before Ian could respond the line wentdead.
***
Ian ran out of the woods when he saw theheadlights entering the back parking lot. He’d traveled more thanthirty miles away from his school, a school he didn’t think he’dever see again after this night. The Jeep pulled to a stop fiftyfeet away; before the headlights could turn off, he pulled the backdoor open. His eyes landed on his brother-in-law, Stefan, sittingin the backseat, a resigned expression on his face.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Ian told him ashe slid into the car with the woman still curled unconsciously inhis arms.
