As he watched them, one of the Savages crept into the day. Smoke rose from its hair as its skin blistered, and it squinted its eyes against the burning sun. Despite its burning flesh, it didn’t duck back inside. He was close enough to withstand the pain if it meant recapturing him.
When it charged at him, Lucien grasped its head and shoved it to the side. It released a startled cry as it bounced and flailed down the rocky embankment. Flames licked over its back and consumed its clothes when it came to a stop at the bottom.
When another Savage poked its head out of the tunnel, everything around Lucien screeched to a halt. The sounds of the battle, the hunger churning inside him, and even the woman faded away as he gazed at a face he hadn’t seen in hundreds of years.
It was a face he’d hoped never to see again. A fiery rage rose to replace his astonishment as he gazed at the man he’d hoped he killed centuries ago. Thrust back into the past, he felt the fingers clawing at his flesh and the punches pummeling his ribs while battering his torso. Slick blood coated his back as he and his brother rolled across the floor.
He recalled his struggle to breathe and his determination to kill as his fingers bit into his brother’s throat and his thumbs pushed under his chin. Flesh gave way as he dug his thumbs into his skin to tear his brother’s head free.
Then something went wrong, and he found himself staggering toward the open doorway as the retreating figure of his brother fled across the field of their family estate. Fire leapt from his back as he ran into the sunlight.
“Yannis,” he breathed.
A cruel smile twisted his brother’s mouth before he couldn’t tolerate the sun anymore and vanished back into the tunnel. For a moment, Lucien remained unmoving as the past and present collided.
Without thinking, he lunged forward to go after the bastard and tear him apart. Yannis should have died all those years ago, he shouldn’t be here now, but since he was, Lucien would make sure he finished what he started so long ago.
The woman slipped on the rocks and cried out as stones clattered away from her feet. His concern for her rushed to the forefront. Yannis would die, he would make sure of it now that he knew the evil fucker lived, but he had to take care of her.
For the first time in his life, his need to protect someone overrode his obsessive impulse to kill. When no more Savages poked their heads out of the tunnel, Lucien sprinted across the opening.
His toes curled into the slippery rocks, and he used his hands to help keep him stable as he pursued the Savage closing in on the woman. The Savage had one hand extended toward her, and little flames danced across its fingertips when Lucien snapped its neck. He kept twisting until he tore the head free. He kicked the body into the ditch and threw its head after it.
The woman turned back and squeaked when she spotted him. He heard the frantic beat of her heart as she fled up the rocks, but she wouldn’t get away from him. Winding his arm around her waist, he clasped her against his side as he lifted her off the ground.
Looking back, he spotted two more Savages coming after them.
Chapter Six
Callie bitback a cry of frustration when the man locked his arm around her waist again. However, she couldn’t be that upset as he propelled her up the rocks a lot faster than she could go herself. His chains rattled, but he had enough room in them to grab her with ease.
When they arrived at the top, he hurried her forward, but when she didn’t move fast enough for his liking, he lifted her over his shoulder again. As she found herself staring at his lower back once more, the blood rushed back into her head, and she slapped her hands against his back as her irritation over being treated like a sack of potatoes mounted.
Don’t hit the vampire.It was probably some pretty sage advice, and she decided to take it. However, when this was over, she’d… she’d what? Kick him? Hit him? None of those things would have any effect on this beast.
More than likely, when this was over, she’d be his breakfast. That possibility didn’t sit well, so she decided not to dwell on it. Right now, all that mattered was getting away from those things. And though he was as deadly as them, he seemed like the lesser of two evils.
But when both of those evils are after your blood, does it matter which one is the lesser of them?
She had no answer for that question, and she also had no other options as he had a good grip on her, and she was no match for his strength.
Lucien’s feet slapped against the pavement as he ran between buildings and into a street. Despite the fact it was still early morning, tires squealed and cars screeched to a stop as he plunged into traffic. One of the vehicles didn’t stop fast enough; a bumper grazed his leg and knocked him back a couple of steps.
The woman cried out, but Lucien continued running as behind him footsteps rebounded off the pavement. He raced between more buildings and out into another street. This time, he managed to avoid the cars screeching to a halt around him as horns blared.
He didn’t stop to get a good look at his surroundings, but the tall buildings and the amount of traffic at this time of the morning made him realize he was in a city. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, could see him.
There were probably dozens of cameras on him, but he didn’t stop running. There was nothing he could do about the cameras, and the buildings and traffic had already slowed him enough.
Most humans couldn’t run as fast as he was, especially with a woman slung over their shoulder, but many of them wouldn’t guess anything supernatural. And they certainly wouldn’t think it was vampires running across the road.
They would most likely think his dealers or gang members were chasing him after a drug deal went wrong. If he was high on something, it could give him added strength and speed. He didn’t know how they would explain the chains rattling with every step he took, and he didn’t care. Humans were good at making up lies or burying their heads in the sand instead of facing reality.
They would have his face on camera, but there were no files on him, so they wouldn’t know who he was. Despite that, when he reached the shadows of more buildings, he tried to stay hidden by them instead of exposing himself to more cars and people.
However, the buildings probably had security cameras on them, and he had to get rid of his pursuers before they were joined by more Savages who hadn’t killed so much that they couldn’t tolerate at least a little sunshine.
As he tried to plot his escape, madness seeped in to cloud the edges of his mind. His fangs throbbed, and the scent of the woman’s tantalizing blood did little to help his increasingly incoherent thoughts.
