Page 27 of Bitten By Chaos

“He’ll find you.” She set a little hand on my arm. “Don’t feel bad, though. It’s not your fault. They didn’t listen to me.”

“Who didn’t?” I asked, afraid of whatever she was referring to.

“That’s where everyone went,” she said. “To kill the demons. But like I said, two people are going to die.”

I stood too fast, but Em didn’t startle, just watched me carefully. “He’s not with them.”

“You knew I wondered if Julian had gone too,” I said, with an incredulous laugh.

“He didn’t. But everyone else did. They didn’t want you to worry.” Em stood on tiptoe to turn my face toward her. “Just the sword,” she cautioned, then threw her arms around my waist, hugging me with all her strength. “You should take Poppy back. She followed you.”

I hadn’t even thought about what it would mean if I portalled more than a mile away from my equine shadow. Hurrying to the closest hall window, I peered out of eyelet curtains to find the snowy steed nickering and skipping around like she was antsy to go.

“So pretty!” Em peered through the bottom of the glass to see her.

“Come on. I suppose you can meet her since she’s here.” I took her hand and led Em down the steps and outside, where Poppy had cantered around to meet us.

“Em this is Poppy. Poppy, Em.”

The animal reared up on its hind legs as though showing off and then moved forward to scoot her snout under Em’s outstretched hand. Em giggled. “She feels like Karma.”

She wasn’t wrong. The unicorn felt more like a rabbit’s soft fur than a horse. I went to mount her, but Em tugged on my hand, halting me. “It’s sad,” she said, staring with those wide eyes. “But remember, she made a choice.”

I nodded, not a hundred percent sure I understood but anxious to go. She smiled back at me as I leaped lightly onto Poppy’s back and tangled my fingers in her mane. Em waved goodbye as we set off into the woods at a gallop.

“I need to find Grival,” I whispered against the mare’s soft face, and her ear twitched in response. “It’s not that I want to—it’s that I have to,” I explained, sensing her judgement. Or maybe needing to convince myself.

We turned, leaning left so far that I hung sideways, never at risk of falling as she raced through the trees with ease. The sky above may have been clear, but the foliage was so thick that only occasional slices of moonlight managed to cut through. Soon, the tangy, sweet scent of blood hit me. The familiarity of it caused my legs to squeeze against Poppy’s hide until she was moving at a speed that felt more like flying than riding.

But as we leaped through the brush toward a clearing, a set of strong arms caught me about the waist and spun me off the animal, setting me on the thick layer of leaves and twigs on the ground.

I spun around to confront my attacker and found Julian standing there, face flushed with someone’s blood just as mine was. We stared at each other for a good minute, both silent and still.

“You left me,” I said finally, the hurt digging into my flesh, but not my words.

“Never. I had to check to confirm my suspicion.” He waited, not making a move toward me.

“Which was?” I prompted.

“Kayora,” Julian said. “She disappeared two weeks ago by all accounts. I believe she was the witch Elsa drained to absorb her power.”

My eyebrows rose. She was as powerful as Merlin according to him. It would make sense. But… “Why couldn’t you just have told me?”

Julian pursed his lips. “I did need space as well,” he admitted finally, looking down and away.

“You have no right to be angry when you?—”

Julian’s grip on my arms stopped me as he leaned in, eyes glowing deep purple. “I am not angry with you, Charlotte. I am angry at myself for not giving enough credibility to the stories. Not anticipating the sheer strength of the sire bond when it comes to mates.” The passion with which he met my lips stole all breath, all thought, from my body. He kissed me with bruising force, teeth clacking and tongue sweeping so deep inside my mouth that I would have been unable to breathe had I needed to.

As fast as the kiss happened, it stopped, and he stepped back.

“The sire has as much impulse to consume his or her mate as the mate does to be consumed.” He quieted, waiting for my response, hands fisted at his sides.

I swallowed, forcing myself into scientist mode to consider his words. My attachment to Julian was a bit…overkill. I’d assumed it was the mating bond as he said. And mates were driven to turn the other if they weren’t already both vampires. But maybe that also explained my crazed anger and desperation when I thought he’d gone off somewhere.

Julian nodded when I looked at him, silently encouraging me to keep reasoning. He was obsessed with me as well. We’d proven already that we would do anything to protect the other. And a sire bond made the new vampire bound to the sire’s wishes. But it also stood to reason that the sire on his end would desire to command his new progeny. To feel some sort of ownership in a way. I hadn’t thought of it through his side. There was a drive of a sire to control which Julian had no trouble ignoring until it came to me—his mate. Now that he’d turned me, and the mating bond was complete, it must be driving him mad to see me so close to danger, not to mention coveted by others. I widened my eyes with understanding.

“When Elsa threatened you this morning, it took everything I had to control myself.” He dipped his head in shame. “And when the conversation continued, visions of tearing every one of their throats out plagued my mind as well as—” He stopped.

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