Page 30 of Prey

My cry of frustration filled the living area and Marko stepped even closer to the door. I could tell he wasn’t right. His deep breaths, the way he kept his fingers on her neck, only to lift and begin to kneel as if he wanted to put her down. He was torn on what to do and I had to try to convince him to let her go.

“Listen to me,” I said, quietly. “You’re here. You came back and she’s not dead. Just put her down and leave. I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”

“I don’t want you to take care of her,” he exploded.

My hands shot up as I clenched my teeth. “Someone has to. She’s hurt. Let me get her help.”

Marko’s eyes closed and he brought her head up to lean against his. French poured from his mouth while he began to rock back and forth. There was such anguish in his tone that it only made me angrier. My steps closer brought his eyes snapping open and they held a warning that caused me to pause.

“Take her to holy ground and keep her there for as long as you can. I’ll be back and next time, there will be no stopping me.”

Fuck holy ground, I had to get her to a hospital. I’d worry about a church after she was well enough to leave. Then, I’d take her. First, I had to get to her.

“Let me have her.” I stepped even closer, holding my arms out toward him. Cautiously, he made his way to me and I watched his fingers tighten on her as I got within distance. I swallowed hard, lunging forward and pulling against her arm. He held onto her for another split second before letting go. Tessa’s weight came crashing into me and I lowered her to the ground, checking her pulse first. She didn’t move. Barely looked like she was getting any air.

“Wait!” Marko lowered, shoving his hand into my chest hard enough to make me fall back. His eyes came up to me as he lifted her head and ran his tongue over the large wounds of her neck. Within seconds, I watched as it began to disappear.

No wonder…

Deep breaths left me while I stared in shock. Even the bruising in the general vicinity was beginning to disappear.

“She needs time, but she’ll live. Her heart already beats stronger. If she didn’t have so much of my blood in her, she’d be dead right now. Get her to holy ground and fast. Not the hospital. Holy ground.”

Marko stood, spinning for the door.

“Your blood? What exactly does that mean?”

He opened the barrier, looking back over his shoulder toward me. “It means, she belongs to me.” The deepness of his tone had goose bumps rising on my skin, but it didn’t stop me from shaking my head.

“Tessa was mine before you ever came along. You can’t take that away.”

His lip peeled back while he narrowed his eyes. “I already have.”

****

“Tessa?” My hand held onto her tighter as I looked up into the candlelit room my uncle had set us up in. Deep breaths and groans came from her mouth. I could tell she was dreaming, but she had yet to wake up. “Tessa, honey.”

Her lips separated, free from the blood that had been smeared around them when we’d left her house. The moment I had her in bed, I’d made sure that I cleaned all of the dark substance from her body. It made me sick to imagine what she must have gone through. How terrified she must have been before and after I’d shown up. God, they’d just…disappeared when they flew out the door. I searched everywhere around the grounds and they were gone. How did he do it?

“Marko?” The nearly silent plea grated my ears. Surely she hadn’t meant that the way it sounded. She should be screaming his name in terror, not looking for his assistance.

“Tessa.”

My uncle’s presence moved in from behind the chair I was sitting in and I glanced back, frowning at him.

“You’re positive it was a vampire?”

My head nodded and I looked back toward her. “I saw his fangs. The bite was horrible before he made it disappear. I can’t believe this is happening.”

Silence met me and I didn’t turn back to see if he was still there. He seemed to come and go, hovering just far enough away where I felt I had my space. My world was falling down around me and nothing was processing right.

A painful sound was accompanied by her features drawing in tight. My hand settled on her chest, trying to calm her. I could hear what sounded like yelling in the background, but I ignored it as I focused on her.

“Tessa, honey, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

“No.” Her head shook back and forth and I could tell she was coming to.

“Shh.”

---