My eyes fled his. My lips parted with unspoken words.
His hand found the doorknob. “We all do.”
I missed you, too.
After he left, I spent hours researching, and then I grabbed my laptop and stowed it in my tote. The cream envelope glared at me. Shit. I’d forgotten about the darn thing. Two days from now, I should be at the Thanksgiving for Christmas party with some man candy on my arm.
I had no clue where to get that. Tinder? Ugh. Dating apps were the worst. Perhaps I should hire an escort plain and straight.
In the car, my reflection in the rear mirror begged me for some care. The black circles under my eyes showed underneath the makeup layers. My skin was pale, desperate for some sun. Even my teeth were yellow from all the caffeine I’d been pumping into my veins.
I needed to get out more. Locking myself in the hotel room wouldn’t solve any problems. Maybe I’d go for a walk and have a drink at a bar after. If I was lucky, I could find a fake date for the party, too.
I drove for a while, deciding which hiking trail I should follow. I ended up choosing the one closest to our old house, secretly wishing I would come across Malcolm or any other Blood Demon.
You’re pathetic.
Promising myself it would be a quick stroll before dark, and after changing into an old pair of tennis shoes—not the best for hiking but better than heels—I kept in the car, I struck down the unpopular trail. The more coveted ones were those near the creek and the mysterious Beast Clearing. No one actually went to Beast Clearing. They just took a photo under the sign, which was half a mile away from the actual spot. It was said that bears and wolves in uncommon sizes liked to chill there among other unpredictable beasts. I’d always thought it was a myth. Now, I knew exactly what liked to chill at Beast Clearing.
The wind was calm today. The smell of rain lingered in the air from earlier, but it was dry now. A wooden bridge arched over a narrow stream feeding into the little pond and offered a view through the trees of the clearing behind.
I crossed it and looked up at the reds, yellows, and oranges splashed over my head. Then I soaked up the gorgeous scenery before me. I could lose myself in it and let the stress roll away for a while. It felt so good to just be out there. No wonder Malcolm and the boys liked to ride.
As I gained elevation each step became spongier; the mud and dirt underneath seemed to hug my tennis shoes with each step before gently releasing them to move forward.
My mind drifted with the chirps and buzzes. The trail narrowed, and the air got cooler, thanks to the thickness of the trees and foliage above. It was getting dark already, and glancing at my watch, I realized I’d been walking for almost two hours.
“Shit.” I checked my phone, and the piece of shit had died. No GPS. No light. Couldn’t call for help. Fucking great.
I traced back my steps through the dark as best as I could, but I still veered off the trail. I found myself deeper into the thicket of trees, completely alone, no clue how I managed to put myself in a situation where people wound up eaten or brutally murdered. I could get attacked and just die out here. It would probably take months or even years for anyone to find my body, if at all.
“Okay. Deep breaths.” I listened for the water as I breathed deeply in and out. If I could find my way back to the stream, I would find my way back to the car.
I sifted through the sounds of the squirrels and the birds, hoping I wouldn’t hear something more…nocturnal, and focused all my senses to find that trickle.
Suddenly, everything went quiet. Eerily quiet.
Then oak leaves swirled in the air behind me, and the trees lashed their branches together in the abrupt gust. “Hello?” I spun, my hands cold, my lips and cheeks numb.
A dead leaf like a withered brown hand skittered up to my foot, but there was no answer. Above, the sky was as gray as tombstones. Panic stung my throat as I heard a twig break behind me.
I twisted and gasped. A man was there, so close that my clothes brushed his as I turned. At that distance, I should have sensed another human being standing there, should have felt his body warmth or heard him. But this man, this shadow towering over me with eyes aglow, wasn't human.
Every instinct begged me to run, but all I could do was reel back a couple of steps before long, ugly fingers were squeezing my throat.
“Your blood smells the same as one of them.” He—it—leaned into me, his nose on my neck, sniffing. “And you have a faint trace of the miserable fuck I’m going to slay lingering on you.” He leaned back. “Are you his mate?”
My eyes bulged as I took in the figure choking me. Dressed in all black. Straight, black hair. Pale skin. Crooked nose. Cruel mouth. Stinky breath. I had no idea who he was talking about, but it was clear it had something to do with Malcolm and the Blood Demons. “I’m nobody’s mate.”
He hurled me against a tree. “Don’t lie to me!”
My back smashed against the solid trunk. I sagged on my butt, crying out in pain. “What the hell?”
“No. Hell is yet to come when I drink you just enough to leave you desiccating every fucking night. Until Slasher comes begging to release you. Only then, I’ll snap your neck in front of your precious mate and end your misery.”
I cringed, my bones screaming in both pain and fear. “You’re a vampire?”
“The name is Venom. You’ll remember nothing but it till your very last day on this earth.”
