She grabbed the board and pushed herself up as the beast fell on her. The weight of the creature knocked her back and shoved her into the ground. Somehow, she managed to get the board between them as it lunged at her.
The wood dug into her palms and she tried to resist the vampire’s weight bearing down on her, but she would have had a better chance of fending off a grizzly bear. Fangs snapped in her face as its warm, copper-tinged breath billowed into her face.
She realized the coppery tinge was the scent of blood. Her stomach churned, and the board bent beneath the monster’s weight before cracking. She cried out as the wood gave way, and the creature fell onto her.
Chapter Seven
The fingers of one hand encircled her throat as the man appeared over the creature’s shoulder and loomed over top of it. Callie found herself staring into his red eyes as he lifted a piece of broken board, spun it in his hands, and drove it through the vampire’s back.
The monster’s hand compressed on her throat; its back arched, and blood sprayed out of its chest before spilling from its mouth. Callie squirmed to get out from under it, but its weight kept her pinned to the ground. The man tore the board free of its back, seized its neck, and lifted it away from her as if the thing weighed no more than a doll.
She was still marveling over his strength when he spun and smashed the board across the face of the other vampire. She hadn’t seen that thing coming, but the sound was like the crack of a bat hitting a ball. Teeth flew out of its mouth and clattered against the wood as they scattered across the floor.
Using her elbows and feet, Callie propelled herself away from the two monsters as they fell on each other with the brutality of two tigers fighting over a piece of meat. She scrambled to her feet as she sought to flee the sounds of battle behind her. She didn’t look back as she ran toward the open doorway.
Lucien spun the board in his hands and brought it down on top of the Savage’s skull; it gave way like a grape beneath a boot. Lucien ignored the brains seeping from its flattened skull as he released the board, clutched its head, and twisted it to the side. A slurping, wrenching sound filled the air as he tore the head off before tossing it aside.
When he shifted his attention back to her, he discovered the woman fleeing out the door. Panic propelled him forward, and he raced after her. He should let her go, but he couldn’t. Not only had she seen too much, but the idea of having her out of his sight caused something more than madness and starvation to rise inside him.
If he lost her….
What? What would happen if he lost her?
He tried to puzzle out the answer, but processing his thoughts was far too difficult right now as blood consumed his mind.
Excitement swelled inside him as he chased her. He was hunting again and free to do as he pleased. He could sate himself on the delicious blood coursing through her veins.
Adrenaline coursed through him as he closed in on her. Her heartbeat thundered in his ears, and the scent of her blood drowned out the Savage’s stench as he followed her outside.
She was sweet, she was his, and she was running from him. He would not allow it.
She only made it three feet down the street before he caught her. Lifting her, he stifled her small shriek with a hand over her mouth before carrying her back toward the building.
He searched the street for any sign of humans nearby, but if someone watched them, this wasn’t the type of neighborhood where people reported what they saw. Still, he grappled to keep himself under control. The last thing he needed was a concerned citizen deciding to get involved.
Her feet kicked against his shins as he carried her up the stairs and back into the dilapidated building. He set her down and turned her to face him.
His eyes fell on the bite marks he left on her earlier, and hunger gushed like an erupting volcano. When he licked his lips, she recoiled. Guilt flickered to life within him, and somehow, he managed to regain enough control of himself to stagger away from her.
“Don’t run from me,” he commanded in a voice slurred by his fangs and his barely restrained impulses.
Callie grasped her elbows and hugged herself as he stalked away from her. When she took a couple of steps backward, his burning red eyes swung back to her. The look on his face halted her.
Every instinct she had screamed at her to run, but he was far too fast, and she wouldn’t get far. She also feared what he would do if she tried to escape again.
What will I do if I don’t try to escape? she pondered.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he muttered.
Even as he said the words, he questioned how true they were. He had no idea what he was going to do or who he was anymore.
“You already have,” she replied before biting her tongue.
She should have kept her mouth shut. Provoking the vampire was far from the best idea she’d ever had, but his promise not to hurt her pissed her off, considering he’d already inflicted a lot of agony on her.
Her gaze fell to the punctures on his shoulders and arms again. Someone had fed from him, she realized. Those bites were similar to the ones on her. Some vampire had decided to use him as a food source.
Despite her dislike of this man, she couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him. She knew how excruciating two of those bites were; she couldn’t imagine enduring a dozen of them.
Shuddering, she hugged herself as she tried not to give in to her growing unease. After Carter, she’d vowed never to fear anything again, but there was no way she could have seen anything like this coming.
Lucien flinched as her words cut deeper than he ever would have believed possible. “I’m sorry about that.”
Callie didn’t reply as she watched him prowl the room. He surveyed the walls and the bodies on the floor before glancing back at her to make sure she remained where he left her. He studied a couple of broken windows before dragging one of the bodies into a shaft of light.
Smoke spiraled from its back, and by the time he carried the other body and head over to the first, flames were dancing across its skin. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the fire, and the continued proof her life would never be the same.
“This can’t be real,” she muttered.
Lucien glanced at the woman as he dropped the head on the bodies and turned to study the building. They couldn’t stay here. As soon as night descended, the remaining Savages would be out in full force, and the stench of the blood permeating this room would draw them here.
It would draw his brother here. Yannis was still alive. Lucien’s teeth ground together as his nails bit into his palms. Blood welled from his broken skin and pooled in his hands as he stared out the window.
He should have known Yannis would survive their battle and the sun. Cockroaches could survive a nuclear war, and Yannis was no better than that filthy insect. Once this was over, once he got her out of here and somewhere safe, he would hunt and destroy Yannis. This time, he would make sure Yannis did not survive the atonement of his sins.
“What city is this?” he demanded.
“I don’t…. I don’t know,” Callie stammered when she heard the increased hostility in his voice and sensed the rising tension in his rigid body. The veins in his arms stood starkly out against his filthy skin.
“How did you end up in those tunnels?” Lucien inquired.
“They kidnapped me off the street.”