Page 7 of Blood Lust

Wren’s bag.

I know it must hold her entire life, wallet, and personal items. Taking it from the cart, I rush outside just in time for them to peel away. She is shouting at him to stop so she can get her bag, but he ignores her, running off with my little human. My eyes narrow. I don’t like his temper.

If this hadn’t been so public, she would not be in his car right now.

Clouds above that have threatened to storm for the last few hours are finally making good on that promise.

No, this is the wrong time to have a temper with a fragile human in the car.

It doesn’t take much effort to follow them.

The storm overhead churns and begins in earnest as I make my way down the mountain, the little bird's bag still in hand. I track their progress, growling when I notice he is going much too fast.

It isn’t long before the worst happens, and I watch as their car careens out of control and goes down the mountainside.

Fear streaks through me as I rush to follow. The sound of groaning metal and shattering glass is cut off by a plop into the water. Goose Lake has a hold of them now. The car is upside down and sinking fast. I hear coughing and sputtering and spy the male dragging himself from the water, head bleeding and looking like he was half drowned. That’s when I hear her.

“Spencer… Spencer!”

The fuck?

He’s left her!

“HELP!”

Wren’s plea for assistance flutters across my mind and through my ears. My pace falters only for a moment. I hear it distinctly from the car sinking into the lake below me. Faintly, but I hear it. How the hell do I hear it in my mind as well?

“HELP ME, PLEASE!”

The male is still alive but passed out on the shore, and somehow my honeysuckle human is sending her screams directly into my mind. Confused, I shake my head but quickly continue my trek down the mountain.

This isn’t normal.

Humans don’t have telepathy.

Vampires get a mental connection with their mates and their mates only. Never while that mate is still human. Typically, there is a heightened sense of attraction, like the spell we were under back in the store. This is most unusual.

I reach the lake’s edge, but the car is fully submerged. My little bird is nowhere to be seen on the bank. I scan the depths of the dark lake, and I see her. Arms extended above her head, eyes closed, as she slowly sinks deeper into the water.

No!

Have I lost her so soon?

A hole is carved in my chest at the thought of losing her. I can feel madness creeping into my brain. If she is gone, my entire reason for being is gone with her. I will devolve into a creature that can only feed and wander the shadows. I will embrace my baser instincts and everything that ever made me a person will be gone. I will be nothing more than an animal.

Shaking off the darkness working its way into my mind, I drop her bag, dive in, and quickly close the fifteen-foot distance. Grasping hold of her tightly, I swim upward, breaking the surface in no time.

Propping her head against my chest, I swim back to shore, taking great care with her delicate human form. I lay her body on the ground and listen for a heartbeat that isn’t there, and the darkness threatens me again. I push it away because she’s not gone for good, not yet.

She is beautiful, even in death.

She is mine.

And I refuse to let her go.

What a strange way to find my mate.

I place my hands on her chest, pushing down and pumping her heart for her. I stop and lower my lips to hers. I can taste her blood… It is unlike any blood I’ve had before.

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