Page 9 of Crimson Mourning

CASSIE

I was stunned by what happened. Whoever had me made an unbelievably bad move, and an even bigger mistake. Putting their hands on me warranted a minor scuffle. Physically taking me? That was grounds for final death, and once Damon found me, he would bathe the streets in their blood.

I fought back as much as I could. The adrenaline coursed through my body and caused the blood to pump out of the bite marks at a faster rate since Damon had no time to seal them. If I didn’t calm myself, I would bleed out before Damon had a chance to find me.

My screams fell upon the deaf ears of my captor. The more I screamed and struggled, the more agitated he became. The grip around my waist became tighter the more I struggled. At least there was a blood trail for Damon to follow.

“Would you please stop with that incessant screaming?” My captor demanded. “Shut it already!”

Hearing the voice made me fall silent, as it sent chills down my spine. It was a voice I’d never thought I’d hear in this type of circumstance.

“Lawrence! What the hell are you doing?”

He didn’t answer.

“Lawrence!”

“Something I should have done long ago, my love.”

My chest was on fire. As Lawrence sped forward, I looked backwards and mentally begged Damon to race through the darkness and rip me from Lawrence’s arms. The darkness met me with nothing but silence.

“Lawrence, I am not your love,” I said. His grip around my waist tightened. I tried to pry myself loose, but his strength was overwhelming, and my blood loss weakened me more by the second. I had no choice but to try to appeal to him.

“Have you gone insane?” I asked. “You know you’re a dead man, right?”

As far as appeals go, I probably could have chosen better words, but I was growing light-headed.

“Damon is the one who’s dead, Cassie.”

I wasn’t that light-headed.

“You’re crazy, Lawrence,” I pressed my hand to my neck to try to jumpstart the clotting. “You’ve lost it.”

“I said what I said, Cassie. Your beloved husband is dust, and this is something that should have been done a long time ago.”

Lawrence had sealed his fate whether he realized it or not. I was not about to go down without a fight. I would face my own final death first.

Lawrence continued to whisk me through the woodlands that butted up to the backyard of the home that Damon and I created. Lawrence had clearly thought this through. He chose to take me from the place where he knew Damon was most vulnerable. How long had he scouted? How long had he schemed and planned? A small part of me, buried deep within, respected the effort.

A few minutes, and many miles later from where I used to be, we came to a rest. The sliver of respect he’d earned from mefor his careful planning evaporated as fast as the liquid from my blood trail. The moron had brought me straight to his place.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I said as he gently set me down.

The blood loss was greater than I had anticipated, and the moment my feet hit the ground, my head started swimming. I was near collapse in my weakened state, so Lawrence picked me up and carried me to the guest house on his property. He laid me down on the couch situated on the far wall, then grabbed a towel from the bathroom and placed it under my head to catch any blood drops.

“Lawrence,” I said, my head still swimming. “Help me understand this.”

“Understand what?”

“Why? Why take me? You’re Damon’s best friend. More than that, you’re his brother.”

“Damon’s best friend and brother,” he echoed. “Yes, I was.”

“What do you mean, ‘was’?”

“Cassie, try to understand. There is nofriendship. There is nobrotherhood. Damon is gone. It’s you and me now. The quicker you accept that, the quicker we can move forward. Together.”

“No. You’ll be lucky to be alive after all this.”

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