Page 109 of Taste of Forever
“You’re dead.” My rage burned hotter than the agony in my eyes and throat. “All of you will die.”
“Gonna have to catch us first,” one of the humans taunted.
I lunged blindly in the direction of the voice, running full-force into a fist at my gut.
The humans laughed while Heather sobbed my name. She sounded further away. I had to reach her.
“Heather!” I went toward her voice, my arms slashing through the air in front of me. Glass crunched underneath my shoes. I swung one hand to the side and promptly felt the edge of the broken window cut into my palm.
“What do we do about him?” I heard one of the humans ask. They sounded even farther away now, and calm, like they had just walked out with her while I couldn’t even get a sense of my surroundings.
“Not our problem. Orders were just for the girl.”
“Someone might see him. See what he is.”
“I don’t get paid enough to give a shit.”
A car door slammed, abruptly cutting off Heather’s screams. An engine started up, sending my panic to a new height.
“Heather!” I ran as far as I dared in this state, which was only a few feet.
I couldn’t chase after them, not like this. The sound of that van driving further and further away was a knife carving deeper into my chest. How could I just listen to them take her?
Don’t lose your head. You’ll get her back. Just need to calm down.
I blinked rapidly, fighting the urge to rub my injured, useless eyes. I could catch up to the van quickly on my bike, but could barely see my hand in front of my face.
“Come on.” My eyes squeezed shut, teeth grinding in my jaws. “Get it together.”
I had never needed my accelerated vampire healing more than right fucking now. But if it really had been silver in that spray, I was at a disadvantage.
“Come on,” I repeated. Every blink of my eyes brought on a fresh, stabbing pain, but I had to flush this shit out.
Heather’s blood was fresh in my system. As long as there wasn’t enough silver to kill me, I knew her blood should counteract the effects and speed up my healing.
“Any fucking day now,” I hissed, pounding my fist into the ground. “Come on.”
The pain ebbed slightly, but I couldn’t tell if it was due to healing or adrenaline. I blinked some more, and my blurry vision showed what appeared to be red spots on the pavement.
I felt Heather’s distress in my chest. It choked me, holding strong like a fist around my heart. What I’d felt that first day I followed her home was an echo compared to this. Our bond had strengthened to the point where her blood showed me what she was feeling in real time.
“Don’t worry.” I brought my palm to my chest as if that could somehow soothe her. “I’m coming for you. Just hold on.”
Time barely moved as I waited. Every few minutes, I lifted my head and tried to make out details in the distance. My vision was healing, albeit slowly. Too fucking slowly.
When I could finally read the numbers on the nearest apartment building, that was good enough for me. I got to my feet, headed to my bike, and followed the call of her blood.
Chapter 30
Heather
They tied my wrists and ankles in the van, and put a hood over my head. The whole situation was beyond terrifying, but I could only think of Laith. He’d been bleeding from his eyes and face when they dragged me through the window and tossed me in their vehicle.
He had to pull through. He was a fucking vampire after all. Surely he’d be able to recover, find me, and we’d leave this shitty world full of humans for the last time.
Regret filled my chest and burned its way up my throat. This never would have happened if I hadn’t insisted on coming to the apartment. He hadn’t wanted to come. He’d only agreed because I wanted that photo, which felt so insignificant now. He had found it. I saw it in the bathroom sink when he told me to lock myself inside.
And it was because of that photo that he’d never seen those men coming. So fucking stupid. I shut my eyes against the scalding tears. I’d choose him over that photo in a heartbeat. My parents had lived a full life and were at rest. I had plenty of happy memories with them. If either Laith or I ended up dead, there would be no sweet photo of us to look back on.
