Page 27 of Vampire's Bite

"I was supposed to be able to take my time with you. Enjoy myself. But it took us too long to get to your grandmother." I flinched and his lips curled at my response. "You know I'm the one that killed her. She thought I was someone named Fumbles at first, then screamed for you when she saw the dagger."

Fumbles was what she used to call my dad. All because he dropped a plate the first time he offered to do the dishes when he was dating my mom and it shattered. It meant that what he'd said about seeing her was true at least. Suddenly I couldn't take it. The idea that he'd been the one to hurt Gran made a rage ignite inside me. I tried to launch myself forward to bite him, anything to make him feel an ounce of the pain that was tearing at my heart.

The whole chair started to tip, but he caught it with surprisingly fast reflexes and pushed it back into its correct position, making me jerk around.

The faint sound of his phone buzzing in his pocket was the only thing I could hear past my harsh breathing. This time he didn't even glance at it. He stood over me, looking bigger than I knew he was, and said, "I'm curious who you're going to call for. Your grandmother? Your mom? Your vampire?"

Before I could respond he raised the dagger high over his head. True terror rushed through me, the likes of which I hadn't experienced in a while. The kind I'd hoped I would never experience again.

The joke was on him though because as he drove the dagger into me I didn't call out for anyone. The blade went deep into my chest, and he was clearly aiming for my heart, too bad he didn't know it had already broken into a million pieces.

23

Rook

"Something is very, very wrong," I announced to Cross as he continued to drive us along the winding country roads. The confusion, pain, and fear coming through the bond I had with Cordie were overwhelming. Cross glanced at me from the corner of his eye and I felt the car accelerate a little more.

Whatever expression was on my face, must have been enough to worry him, otherwise he would have just kept going as normal. The fact that he was speeding and glancing at me frequently was more than a little telling, and I had a second to wonder if he could feel any echoes of what Cordie was feeling since he'd had her blood, even though she hadn't had his.

Cross and I had been following the bond since it first flared to life again, and I had realized that Cordie was on the move. Just because they'd given me a meeting location didn't mean Cordie was going to be there, so I'd rather follow the bond and find her than go to the address they'd given me. Cross has agreed.

The hunters must have decided to transport her early, which wasn't a good sign. Extra time gave them extra opportunity to set traps, to wire the place, to foolproof their plan, whatever it was. I knew they were gunning for me and would do anything to take me down, I just had to hope that I was strong enough to counter it, or at least survive it.

When the confusion stopped, the fear began. It built and built, and when it reached a crescendo, I thought I was going to lose my mind. It was pure unadulterated terror.

That was when it changed and the grief hit.

Honestly, it was the grief that scared me more. My heart felt like it was being torn apart, and if that was what I was feeling, I could only imagine what Cordie herself was feeling.

If something had happened to Cordie I wouldn’t be able to go on. She was all that mattered to me now. More than my status at court, more than my own life. She was my air, my sun, my moon, life itself.

I only had a moment to exist before the pain took over. I could sense Cordie trying to reach me, but I knew that if I let her in, then I would lose my grip on my control and turn into the raging beast that had partially led to my exile from court. When I turned into that monster, I was useless to everyone around me, unable to control my words and actions.

"Drive faster," I yelled at Cross. I was so close to losing the fight, but I clawed, fought tooth and nail to keep the sliver of control I was hanging onto.

Cross knew better than to ask questions. This situation required speed, and he punched his foot to the floor on the gas pedal. When the bond seemed to shift directions I began to direct his turns. The last thing I expected was for us to be driving around in the middle of nowhere. Cow fields and farmland surrounded us on all sides. Soybeans as far as the eye could see in some places.

I hated all of it. Everything that was between me and the woman I loved could turn to ash for all I cared. I just needed Cordie.

As though the fates had heard my thoughts and decided to mock me the air sucked out of me. It was more than a punch to the chest, it was something that was trying to crush my very soul. A second later I realized why.

Cordie's life force was fading.

She was dying.

And I wasn't there to stop it.

I lost all the control I was trying to hang onto. It snapped like a rubber band stretched too far, turning me into the beast I tried so hard to avoid. A roar ripped from my chest and I tore the seatbelt from the bolt that held it onto the frame of the car, pounding my fists into the dash. The strip of material slapped around as I got free of it.

"Pull over," I told Cross. "Now."

Cross didn't say anything as he was already slamming on the breaks thanks to my outburst. He pulled the car to the side of the road. He knew better than to argue with me when I was like this.

"I can feel her dying," I told him as I opened the door and leapt from the passenger seat. "We have to run." I didn’t care if someone saw us. What was the worst they could do? Notify the court? Nothing mattered if Cordelia didn’t make it. And I couldn’t live with myself if the reason she died was due to my lack of speed.

Cross, being the smart man that he was, nodded and slid out of the car without a word. We both knew that if Cordelia was truly my Blood Heart and she passed away, I would be lost to the madness of grief for eternity or until someone pushed me into the sun.

The last few rays of the setting sun stung my skin. The car windows were tinted to protect against it, but rushing out like we had when the bond with Cordie snapped back into place meant that I hadn't prepared to be exposed to the sun.

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