AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah fuck.”
“Yeah.” I pulled free and ran on.
He followed, keeping even closer. “Is that what’s killing her?”
“No. Whatever is killing her caused the heart attack.”
Aiden swore. I didn’t bother echoing it, though I wanted to. I leapt over a log and ran on, my steps sure and light over the forest floor. The pain echoing through the watch was now so strong that I had to flip the watch out of my palm and hold it by the very end. It eased the strength of the waves but didn’t hinder my ability to track her.
Death remained closer than we were.
There was nothing I could do to stop it happening. Nothing other than run on and hope.
We crossed another dirt road and ran into a pine plantation. The soldier-straight lines allowed little in the way of undergrowth, which made running a whole lot easier, but didn’t mean I increased speed. I was already at my limit.
The pulsing began to falter, but we were close to her now.
The watch didn’t tell me that. The faint, flowery scent riding the air did.
Aiden made a low noise behind me, indicating he’d caught the scent. He didn’t race past me, though the rush of anger and frustration that briefly caressed my senses said he very much wanted to.
We hit a fire track that divided one section of the pine forest from the other, and I slid to a halt.
On the other side of the road, lying in a small, semi-cleared byway, was Rosie.
She wore a pink nightie and fluffy slippers that were all but destroyed by her walk through the forest. She was fully clothed, lying on her back, with her arms crossed across her chest. At first glance, she looked to be asleep.
But she wasn’t.
She was dead.
And the two small but very swollen red marks visible on the side of her neck said she’d been attacked by a vampire.
ChapterFour
“This is not the result I was hoping for.” Aiden glanced at me grimly. “Is it worth trying to resuscitate her?”
I crossed my arms and briefly studied the dead woman. Her expression was one of pain and confusion—no surprise given a vampire’s bite generally wasn’t orgasmic, despite what fiction might say, though there were obvious exceptions. Maelle had a long list of lovers who were also willing blood suppliers, and I couldn’t imagine that would be the case if the experience was nasty.
Unless, of course, they were into nasty.
But Maelle didn’t drain her lovers to the point of death, and that was what had happened here. Rosie’s soul had already departed, and that meant this death had been ordained.
“She’s gone,” I said softly. “Attempting resuscitation would be pointless.”
Aiden swore softly. “Is it safe to approach her? There’re no magical traps or whatnot around?”
I scanned the trees behind Rosie’s body. There was no magic, and no sense of movement or danger. Our vampire had fled.
Whether that vampire was Maelle’s creator had yet to be discovered, but it was highly unlikely that two new vampires would enter the reservation at the same damn time.
But then, as I’d noted before, fate did like playing her games in this place.
“It’s safe.”
He nodded and moved closer. I followed, but stopped a meter or so away. Rosie had long copper hair that even in a tangled, sweaty state looked luxurious and, aside from the small dark freckle near the corner of her mouth, flawless skin. And while her face didn’t have Maelle’s perfection, put Rosie in Regency riding gear, and from a distance she could easily have been mistaken for her.
Thiswasn’tan accident.
