Page 19 of Vampire Blood

I didn’t want pity. I wanted blood.

“I have to go.” I turned toward the door, but Callum stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“You can’t.”

“Get out of my way.”

“No.”

My muscles tensed, sharp and ready to fight, but he didn’t back down.

“She needs you alive, Lucas,” he said. “Not charging into a trap because you can’t control yourself.”

“Don’t—”

“She needs you to think.”

I froze.

The words cut deeper than I expected because they weren’t wrong.

I wanted to run, to tear through that camp and rip every shifter and vampire apart until I found her, until I had her safe in my arms. But that wasn’t what she needed. It wasn’t what she’d want.

I exhaled slowly, fighting back the urge to lash out. “And if Kael’s dead?”

Callum didn’t answer right away. When he did, his voice was low. “Then we’ll find another way.”

I forced myself to stand still, even as every muscle in my body screamed to move.

Callum was right. Charging in blind wouldn’t help Annika. It wouldn’t save her. But that didn’t make it easier to stay rooted in this damned room, waiting for a sign that she was still alive.

I turned away from him, fists clenched, trying to breathe through the storm in my chest. My thoughts circled back to Kael. Five days. Too long. What if he’d been caught? What if he’d betrayed us?

I tried not to think about that. The truth was we didn’t know if we could trust him, but we did. And now it was a decision I had to live with.

That was when a knock interrupted us. It came hard and fast, rattling at the door. Callum and I both spun toward it.

The door burst open, and one of the guards stepped inside, breathless. His eyes flicked between us, wide and uncertain.

“There’s a messenger,” he said. “At the gate. He says he has a message for you, Lucas.”

I was moving before the guard finished speaking, pushing past him and striding into the hall. Callum was at my side, matching my pace.

“Who is he?” I asked.

“Don’t know,” the guard said, trailing behind us. “He wouldn’t give a name. Just said it was urgent.”

Urgent.

The word hit like ice in my veins, and I pushed faster. My boots echoed against the stone, each step sharp and deliberate.

We reached the courtyard in seconds. The guards were already there, forming a loose circle around a figure cloaked in black. The hood obscured his face, and he stood too still. Unnatural, even for a vampire.

“Who sent you?” I demanded.

The figure turned slowly, and when he raised his head, I caught the sharp gleam of fangs. A vampire. Not one of mine.

“I bring a message,” he said, voice flat, emotionless.

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