Page 3 of Lost Girl

?Lux Aurumque - Eric Whitacre?

We’re definitely not in London anymore.

That’s all I can think to myself as Tinksley drags me through a dense forest, the man Peter referred to as Hook stalking behind me.

I mean, I knew it the moment that purple orb appeared in Hyde Park.

From there, it all happened so fast. One moment we were standing before the Equestrian Statue of Duke Wellington and the next, it felt like my entire body was sucked through a black hole. I couldn’t see anything, hear anything. If any time passed between then and when we dropped into this forest, I haven’t a clue, but this isn’t home.

Far from it.

“Where are we going?” I ask again, head snapping around as I try taking in my new surroundings. It’s dark and eerily quiet, save for the crunching of our shoes as we step through the lushest grass I’ve ever felt.

Neither one of them answer me. She and Hook have been ignoring me since we left my flat...with Peter’s decapitated, castrated body strewn in his own pool of blood inside. May God be with whoever stumbles upon him, whenever that may be. That’s an image they’ll never be able to erase from their minds.

I know I won’t.

Just the fleeting thought of it is enough to make me shudder, one that rattles down my spine in an icy drip, prickling every inch of my skin with goosepimples. Tears well at the surface, momentarily distorting my vision, but I will them away, breathing through the overwhelming sense of dread and grief threatening to consume me.

I’ll cry eventually, but I can’t right now. Now isn’t the time for that. For all I know, I may never get the time. They may kill me the second we get to their destination.

“Where are we going?” I’m all the more insistent, hackles raised at the urgency my current situation presents.

I just want to know where we’re going. That’s it. Nothing less, nothing more.

Tinksley stops abruptly, whipping around to face me. Her grip tightens, too; it hurts. “Do you always ask so many questions,” she hisses.

“I, uh…I...ow.” I try pulling free, but it’s useless.

She’s so strong and, while she’s my height—maybe even a couple inches shorter—I’m no match for her. She’s intimidating as all hell.

Because she’s a vampire.

I still can’t believe they’re more than just a lore.

“Baby,” Hook’s voice booms behind me, “you’re hurting her.”

Very slowly, her dark head pivots toward him, aquamarine eyes flashing in a way I’ve not seen before. “And? At the rate she’s going, she can expect far worse soon.”

“Please don’t kill me,” I whisper, eyes clamping shut as pure and utter fear racks my spine.

I hadn’t meant to say it, but it doesn’t surprise me. I’m not brave, never have been. Yeah, I’mthatgirl—the damsel. I’m not proud of it, trust me, wish I weren’t, but I’ve never had a reason to be brave.

My life back in London was simple. Easy. Even when Peter was tak—when Peter left, yes, I was devastated, but I hadn’t a reason to be valiant. His disappearance and his mother’s death was nothing more than a brutal reality my father and I had to grieve for years to come.

After a beat or so, Tinksley’s grip loosens enough that my arm doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap in half. I don’t know what prompted her to do so, but we’re off again without another word, stalking through the obscure forest.

The further we tread, the more I note how the tops of the trees begin changing as well. From perfectly peaked pines and rounded oaks to tall, grand palms. The pungent scent of salt water fills the air, distant sound of turbulent waves crashing against the shore.

Cicadas.

Frogs.

Ravens squawking.

Their nightly calls only add to the soundtrack of this unfamiliar place, somehow timed with the unsteady tempo of my pulse.

“This would be so much easier if I could flash us to the doors,” Tinksley grits, picking up the pace.

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