Page 41 of Stormbinder King
Jack was an expert archer, and even though he barely looked at the target beyond making sure that it was clear, his lazy shot still hit the center of the target.
She laughed and threw up her hands in mock disgust, while Jack shook his head.
“Was yourmatevery angry to find out?” Aurelia asked teasingly.
My stomach clenched as he pounced on her with a little nip to her throat.
“She’ll get over it.”
He was clearly more interested in getting a quick fuck in than talking about it, but Aurelia pressed, even as I saw her bite her lip as Jack moved behind her.
“Are you sure you shouldn’t go find her? She might wander off, after all?”
“She’ll be fine,” Jack said. “I want you right now.”
“I’m flattered,” Aurelia said. “When you’ve been spending all your nights withher.”
“When I want an exciting dirty fuck I come to you,” he growled inexactlythe tone he used for me.
Only the words were different.
Suddenly I needed water.
I couldn’t breathe.
Turning, I fled further into the dense forest, brushing heedlessly past the heavy leaves, my eyes blurred with tears.
It was a lot harder going through the forest by myself, the trees dripping stinging liquids into my eyes, slipping wildly across the moss-slick surfaces.
I ran until I smelled fresh water, and then I knelt down to scoop up huge handfuls of the crystal-clear, sparkling water.
After I had a long drink, I threw myself down beside the little brook. The water here tasted so much sweeter than the water back home. As the sun tipped to the hottest part of the day, and the trees began to bow with the weight of the sticky, humid heat, I felt drowsy.
Curling up in the shade of a big tree, I stared up at the sky and let the heavy leaves bow down toward me.
How could my fated mate act like this? How could the man who said we were eternal soulmates treat me like this?
I felt so exhausted from crying that I began to get drowsy. My eyes fluttered closed and I fell into an uneasy sleep.
My dreams were strange, chaotic things, and I woke to my heart pounding. Unsettled, I sat up and looked around. As I blinked the heavy sleep from my eyes, I saw a vampire standing in the middle of the pathway.
Right between me and safety.
The creature would have been instantly recognizable in any world. He was tall, with dead white skin and the uncanny constantly moving pinprick pupils common to their kind. All the air seemed to leave my lungs in one burning breath, then Iscreamed in a breathless squawk and scrambled awkwardly to my feet.
The vampire moved with terrifying speed. One moment I was looking uncomprehendingly at him, and in a blur the monster was standing directly in front of me.
“What do we have here?” he hissed, his voice sounding curiously snakelike and reptilian.
He circled me, his body moving so fast I could only catch the motion out of the corner of my eyes.
A flash of a tall, old-fashioned white collar, lace, dark pants, dark circles under his eyes.
This creature was hungry.
“Leave me alone!” I cried, my voice trembling.
The vampire sniffed, a long, depraved sound that was measuring, assessing.
