Page 31 of Prey

Uneven breaths left her while she became more active in her movements. “Marko?”

“No,” I said, firmly. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt you anymore. Tessa, open your eyes.”

She kicked her legs, forcing herself to her side. The gagging had my eyes widening and she breathed in shakily while she thrashed even more violently. The scream that left her made the hair on my arms standing on end.

“Get me out of here!” The scratchy plea had Marko’s words coming back to me. She’d taken his blood. If he couldn’t be on holy ground, apparently she couldn’t either. But why didn’t he know that? Had he wanted her to die this way? In so much pain? “Hunter!”

I scooped Tessa in my arms, grabbing the sheet and throwing it over her as I sped past my uncle and bounded down the steps that took me to the first floor. She was beginning to claw at her face and chest. I tried pinning her arms between us while my shoulder dove into the large wooden, swinging doors that put us through the entrance.

“Please,” she sobbed.

Her voice was about gone by the time she finished. The cool night air hit us and I didn’t stop running until I made it to the sidewalk. My feet stopped abruptly at Marko’s stalking figure. His eyes practically glowed in the dimness and a deep sound that I knew was hostile was coming from him.

“Leave.” I receded to the edge of the lawn, battling on what I should do. I could avoid him easily, but that would possibly kill Tessa.

“I said leave!”

His stare stayed on her, the menacing sounds dying as her body calmed. She was unconscious again and it only worried me more. Apparently, the only reason she’d been awake to begin with was from the pain she had been feeling.

“Marko,” I said, louder, trying to break his fixation on her.

“I can’t leave her. It won’t let me leave her,” he said, more insistently. “Fucking…Christ. Her pain is mine. Her…” Words were broken as his hand came to his mouth. “She’s already dead. I should have just killed her when I had the chance.”

Had Tessa not been in my arms, I would have gone at him with everything I had. He deserved to die, but I wanted his death to be slow. Drawn out and torturous. “You come near her again, I will kill you. There has to be a way and you can bet I will find out what it is before the night is over. You’re going to be the one to die and I’m going to be the one who does it.”

Marko’s eyes rose to mine and he glowered as he came closer. “Someday, you may try, you may even think you stand a chance, but I assure you, you will not win.”

I studied his stature. The way the top half of his body was leaned more toward me. There was such confidence in his tone that I almost believed him. But he didn’t know me or what I was capable of. And it was only a matter of time before he found out.

Chapter 14

Marko

Bells rang out loudly, filling the street with the sweet sound of the hour. The night was almost over and the sun would soon rise, driving me back to my underground prison. Once a home I’d enjoyed, now…my eyes lifted from Tessa to the bell tower. Now I found myself wanting something more. Something I shouldn’t want.

I let the images of her singing in the choir project in front of me. She’d been happy to use her voice for something people enjoyed. It was the only place she’d allow anyone to hear her without fear of criticism. It kept her coming back. That, her love of Hunter’s uncle, and the aggravation of not understanding religion. She’d tried so hard to make sense of it, but the questions kept coming. The doubt. She’d been raised attending this very church and loved it. Now, she’d never be able to walk through those doors again. I’d hoped with her disbelief that it would allow her entrance, but I was wrong.

At the first ounce of pain her mind registered, I was pulled from the tunnel I held myself up in. My feet moved on their own accord and I let them as I tuned into her discomfort. The more she experienced, the clearer it became. There was nothing she could do about what she was feeling. She wasn’t conscious. Her mind wasn’t processing words…it left me in a panic. I felt the burn. It encompassed my insides like liquid fire traveling from limb to limb. That shouldn’t have happened. I could live through her death, but apparently not painlessly, if anything holy was involved.

The run to the church was a blur as my main focus became saving her and myself. I didn’t think I’d die, but my blood had been boiling within us both and that wasn’t a good sign. And then, my yells had started. They poured from me, laced with panic. I’d almost risked going to her. Had been right there and would have, had mon chaton not woken up and pleaded through her pain.

“Marko, you have to leave.”

He was right, I did. Not because he said so, but because it was getting too close to the sunrise and I didn’t want to risk getting caught in the first rays. It wouldn’t kill me, but it could weaken me if I stayed in it too long.

I lowered my gaze back to Tessa’s limp body. Her heartbeat was steady, even, but not nearly as strong as it usually was. Everything within me pleaded to take her back with me and it had nothing to do with killing her. I’d already been there tonight and repeating the experience surprisingly didn’t appeal at the moment. Not that I hadn’t been to heaven while listening to her flirt with death. It had been the happiest moment of my life….for all of ten seconds. Knowing I’d never get to taste her again, or even see her again, sent my heart plummeting to my toes. I’d stopped and held her, begging for forgiveness for who I was. But it didn’t matter. I’d be back to try again. I knew that just as much as I knew I’d do whatever it took to make it happen. Even risking holy ground if it stood between me and her.

My foot stepped forward and I caught the priest standing on the stairs. Muscles contracted in my throat and I swallowed past the sensation.

“I want to tell her goodbye.”

Hunter’s head went back at the snort. “I think you’ve already done that tonight. You’re not getting close to her again.”

My jaw tightened as I stared at the distance separating us. I didn’t feel comfortable getting any closer, yet I felt myself take two more steps. “I gave her back to you. All I want to do is tell her goodbye. You have my word that I won’t be back for a while.”

“No.”

My eyes rose to his and I used my pull to have him come to me. Stupid human. I’d given him a damn chance.

---