Page 36 of To Love a Vampire
I’m thrashing in Kaino’s arms before Declan can even finish speaking. The wolf releases me and I stumble, my feet slipping against the dry leaves as I race to the clearing. Tree limbs tear at my skin but the pain doesn’t register. I run out into the opening just as tail lights turn out of sight.
Heading toward the compound.
Seventeen
In the Dead of Night
The warm airburns my lungs as I trail after the truck that hauled him away. Panic grips my chest, making the simple task of breathing even harder. I force my feet to move faster, faster to the one place I never want to see for the rest of my life.
It’s then that I know.
I love him.
The thought knocks me off balance and the ground greets me as my feet stumble in their pace. The fabric of my dark jeans rips at the knee, scuffing the hard earth against my flesh. My palms brace me above the dry dirt.
Luca touches my shoulder lightly, her warm palm slipping over my sweaty skin. “You need to think about what you’re doing. You’re putting us all in danger by not thinking this through,” she says in a calm voice. Her hand drifts up and down my spine, comforting me as I fall apart.
“They took him… Again,” I say in a gasp.
“I know. We’ll get him back.”
Her hand drifts to my upper arm and she lifts me from my defeated slump.
I take another shaking breath and try my best to listen to her reasoning. We need to think this through. We can get him back. We will. We have to.
“How many of them were there?” I ask, turning toward Declan.
He stands at Kaino’s side, the two commanders waiting for my instruction.
“One.”
My back stiffens as anger fuels my body. “One?” I repeat in an exasperated tone. “How did one human overpower the two of you?” I’m striding toward him, adrenaline and irrationality controlling my heavy steps.
“He shot off a dart into Asher’s shoulder. I…I didn’t stick around to wait for the dart with my name on it.”
Kaino remains standing with perfect posture as he turns his head slowly toward the hybrid at his side. “You left him there? You left a fellow warrior behind?”
“He isn’t a warrior,” Declan replies, his eyes narrowing to thin slits. “I could have gotten us all captured if I had stuck around.”
My fists clench at my side but I don’t have time to discuss this right now.
I trail down the dirt path, the deep divots and rough rocks disrupting my determined pace. Luca, Kaino, and Declan follow close behind. The four of us cling to the shadows, which isn’t hard to do in the dead of night.
The towering brick walls of the compound come into view and a bit of respite seeps through me. The white truck that took him away is parked outside. A single guard stands watch at the entrance of the building.
We assess the area from a few yards away, crouched behind a large and pungent smelling garbage bin. It reeks of rotting food, and… carcasses. My stomach churns, threatening to throw up the smell that’s strangling my lungs.
“Kaino, do you think you can manage the guard?” Luca asks, leaning around the dumpster for a closer look.
The warrior nods, his face stern as he begins to stand.
“I’ll do it,” Declan says, taking a single step before my hand wraps tightly around his wrist.
“No, Kaino will manage,” I tell him through gritted teeth, not chancing a glance at the hybrid I’m now beginning to doubt.
Kaino stalks through the night, his boots picking up pace the closer and closer he strides toward the man. In a flash, he appears before the guard. His large hands covering the man’s mouth and majority of his face as muffled screams are heard.
The two of them stand like that for several moments, the sounds becoming more and more faint with each passing second until the man’s body loses strength. He slumps forward and Kaino finally releases him. He drops to the ground, his legs crumpled awkwardly beneath him.
