Page 34 of A Debt of Darkness

My hands curl into fists as the three of us step into sunlight and walk down the steps leading out of my castle. I’m going to find my wife and we are going to have a reckoning of epic proportions. One which will make her think twice about pulling anything so fucking stupid again.

“Let’s focus on finding her,” Ryan says, reading my thoughts with his usual unnerving accuracy.

Her scent leads down the driveway and towards the woods. If I were her, that’s exactly where I’d run. I’d expect the trees and undergrowth to give me cover and make it harder to track me. Ivy doesn’t know there are more things in the wood than she’s dreamt of, and most of them are the things of nightmares.

She jumped out of the frying pan and waltzed right into the fucking fire.

Matt grabs my shoulder as I step forward and I snarl, angry he’s dared to hold me back.

“The wind will spread her scent. We’ll be faster if we split up. Whoever finds her can call to the others.”

We nod in unison and at least he had a sensible reason for risking my wrath. The three of us move forward together, keeping pace with each other and tracking Ivy’s scent until we hit the edge of the wood. Her trail fades as it merges with the other scents hidden under the trees and her pace will only thin the scent out.

The longer we leave this, the harder it will be.

The longer our hunt takes, the more frenzied I’ll be when it ends.

The longer it takes, the bigger the fallout will be.

Matt races ahead, always the fastest of the three of us. His legs cover the ground faster than any other vampire I’ve known, and he isn’t holding back. I’m grateful and I push myself, determined not to flag too far behind.

Ryan bears right and I swerve left. I’m leaping over banks and brambles, ignoring the branches trying to stop me. Ivy’s scent is fading already and if it fades much more, we’ll be tracking her by guesswork or footprints, and that’s a fucking laborious task.

I pull on our bond, hoping Ivy sees sense. I should have thought of this earlier and I curse myself for being stupid and forgetting the control it should let me exert over her. If she hesitates, she’ll slow down and we can gain ground. If I can turn her around, then that’s even better.

We should be gaining ground anyway. Vampires easily outpace humans, and although Ivy runs, she’s on unfamiliar ground. She’s had a week with little exercise and food, and she’ll tire soon.

But I’ve never been one to underestimate the ability of humans to surprise. They’re resilient as fuck. Persistent. Annoyingly so. They cling to life and if they think it’s threatened, they’ll surprise you nine times out of ten. They’re capable of greatness and it’s a pity it usually happens when they’re backed into a corner, in the final few seconds of their fleeting lives.

Ivy won’t have that.

I refuse to let her life be meaningless or brief.

I refuse to let her be anything other than the marvel she is, and I won’t let her be taken from me.

And if she’s badly injured when I find her, I won’t hesitate to turn her and deal with the goddamn consequences later.

My feet fly over the ground and we’re miles from my castle when her scent strengthens again. It’s a moment of heaven in an afternoon from hell, and the vanilla and roses drive me crazy. She smells divine and any other creature in these accursed woods would be mad not to be attracted to her.

I leap across a small stream and scramble up the small rock face. There’s a hint of iron and copper in the air, and the trace of blood sets my senses alight. It sends me into a fucking panic and I roar, terrified Ivy’s hurt herself. Or worse, been hurt.

Fuck, she’s driving me insane.

I’ve got to get her under control.

Ryan’s right. I should have been firmer. Harder. I should have taken the harsher route, been confident a short, sharp shock would be less painful than a drawn-out and agonizingly soft approach.

She fucking moved for me this afternoon. I know she did. It wasn’t easy and she struggled, but we’d made the breakthrough I’d wanted. Needed. She’d stopped fighting anddiscovered it wasn’t the sum of all her fears. She’d given in and instead of finding more pain, she’d found relief. Pleasure even.

A tree branch strikes me in the face, and the pain is a reminder that discipline is important. It’s fundamental. It establishes the limits of what’s permissible and I should have implemented it earlier. I would have done with any other pet. With any pet who wasn’t my wife. Who wasn’t my mate.

There’s no going back from this. Not now.

Ivy needs discipline.

Birds scatter as I charge through a clearing and I press on, determined to catch the rebellious, ruthless girl who belongs to me. This has gone on too long and I need to claim her. She might not like it, but it’ll be for her own good. It’s the lesser of two evils and the best thing for everyone.

A call sounds through the woods, and I stop, listening for a second roar from Matt. He’s found Ivy and I don’t like the edge of panic in his cry.

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