Page 12 of Entranced By the Immortal

He would be hopelessly lost, entirely at my mercy.

I fought a moan fighting its way up my throat and gnawed on my bottom lip to relieve the ache in my fangs. Soon, very soon, I’d sink them into Ever Briggs and relieve this inferno of desire within me.

“My Lord?” Edith’s voice nearby startled me. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t heard her approach. Had she been standing there this whole time? Had she seen us wrestling like teenagers in the foyer? “Should I go after him?”

“No.” I shook my head and straightened my coat jacket. “No one is to lay a finger on the mortal. He is mine and mine alone.”

CHAPTER 7

EVER

It was dark. Slivers of moonlight peeked down through the trees above, but it didn't illuminate much. Everything around the manor was a blend of black, twisting shadows, and there was no telling how far they stretched into the distance. I’d walked for two hours before I was even attacked.

How much further had I been dragged after I was knocked out?

Without time to contemplate, I rushed across the porch, flew down the stairs, and raced into the trees. I didn’t even have time to get my bearings. I had no plan, other than to get the fuck away from the manor and Corvin Dupont. I would use every second of my twenty minute head start to put as much space between me and him as possible.

Pumping my limbs as hard as I could, I weaved through the trees and stumbled over the uneven underbrush. My heart jack-hammered in my chest, and I was so focused on running, onsurviving, that I could hardly think about everything I'd seen and heard.

Corvin was a vampire, which should have been impossible, but I'd seen enough to make me a believer.

It was probably all the horror movies I'd watched, or the time as a teen I spent wishing mythical creatures were real, that made the information easier to digest. He was a monster intent on capturing me, on sinking his fangs into me, and I was the prey trying desperately to get away.

If I was honest, the odds weren't in my favor, but I refused to give up or slow down. If I was going down, I was going to give it everything I had to get away. If it still wasn't enough, then I would have to accept my fate as the monster's pet.

My lungs burned and my muscles ached, but I kept running, not worrying about which direction I was headed. Distance was my number one objective, masking my scent being the second. If I could find some kind of water, maybe a creek or a stream running through the woods, that would definitely help to throw him off my scent. That was, assuming vampires could track using their sense of smell.

At this point, I wasn't sure what all he was capable of, and I didn’t want to find out.

"Son of a bitch," I hissed between gritted teeth as I frantically checked my pockets. It appeared they'd taken my phone when I was dragged to the mansion too, so there was no chance in hell of calling for help.

Go fucking figure.

I ran for my life, wondering how many minutes had already passed and how many more I had before the vampire Lord would come looking for me. The smallest, most deranged part of me wanted to be found. I wondered what he would do with me, how he would use those fangs to torture me.

Would it hurt? Would I wish for death? Or would I...enjoyit?

"Fuck!" The ground disappeared from beneath my feet and I fell through the air. The next thing I knew, my boots made contact and a spray of cold water soaked my clothes. I stumbled on shaky feet and pitched forward, landing in a stream.

Yes!A wave of relief washed through me, drowning some of my panic. I could hardly believe my luck, but there it was, like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

This was good, very good. Corvin wouldn't be able to track my footprints or my scent in the water. At least, I hoped. I knew how predators worked in the wild, but Corvin was a very different kind of animal.

I decided to cross my fingers and hope that he was no different from a coyote or a bear, clinging to the hope that I would manage to get away.

I was exhausted, but a new burst of energy had me scrambling to my feet and wading downstream in the almost knee-deep water. My clothes stuck to me, my boots heavy as I sloshed around, moving quickly but trying to limit how much noise I made. My haggard exhales were louder than my movements, and I tried to catch my breath.

As I hurried through the water, my mind raced and my heart slammed against my ribs. Hope and doubt clashed together in a brutal fight, consuming my thoughts, jacking up my adrenaline. I thought about my mother and how pissed she would be at me if I died in the woods, how much she’d lecture me if I survived. They were quick, fleeting thoughts that were immediately swallowed by my determination to keep going.

I dug my hands into the soft bed of the stream, coating my skin in a thin layer of mud that I hoped would be enough to smother my scent. I did everything I knew to do, treating the vampire like any other predator I might encounter in the woods, but one question remained:Would it be enough?

Would all this be enough to save my life? Or would it all be for nothing in the end?

A hundred yards or so down the stream, I climbed out onto the opposite bank, and kept running. I was drenched, rivets of water dripping from my clothes, my feet squishing in my shoes. I strained my eyes against the darkness, trying to see anything through the trees, but all I could see were more woods.

Fuck.

"Everett," a faint voice carried on the wind, shocking me so badly I nearly tripped and fell.

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