No, she hadn’t drank that much. Okay, maybe she did. She sniffled and went back to the faucet, turning on the water. She checked to make sure it was clear out the window, then she unlocked it and slowly lifted it.
The window made an awful squeak and she winced, pausing. When no one came banging on the door, she lifted it all the way. She glanced down at the drop and swallowed hard. Tossing first one leg out the window, then the other, she took a seat in the window, then jumped down.
The fall went by quickly. Now her heart was pounding hard and fast and loud in her ears. She looked left and right, then focused on the sentry. Using her vampiric speed, she raced across the field to the sentry and tackled him straight to the ground. He moved to attack her, and she stifled her surprise. Well of course he was going to fight her back!
She had no clue how to actually fight a trained warrior like this. Quickly, locking her arms and legs around his big body she looked into his eyes and quickly said, “Please don’t tell anyone. I just want to go. Darien can’t know. Please.” The sentry stopped what was probably going to be a painful attack and relaxed against her.
He looked from her, back to the window that was still open. What seemed like forever later, he finally shook his head and said, “Go but I make no promise. My loyalty is to the Kategans. The first thing I will do is tell Vane. If you want to leave then I suggest you hurry.”
Instead of feeling a burst of happiness at her freedom, she felt overwhelming sadness. She nodded her thanks to the guard and sprinted into the forest.
It was dark and her vision wasn’t the greatest at night. That coupled with the amount of alcohol she’d drank, and she’d pounded them back, had her tripping over tree limbs and her own damned feet.
She kept looking back over her shoulder, panic making her think that at any second she’d see the big lykaen barreling after her. Her heart was tightened with pain, and tears fell faster the further she got from the cabin, from Darien. Soon the tears were cascading down her face.
She tripped over a fallen tree and went flying through the air. Her stomach bottomed out from her like she was falling on a roller coaster. She skidded against the dirt with her landing, scraping her cheek, hands, and legs against the wet dirt floor.
She started to lift herself back up, but collapsed back down with bone-numbing exhaustion. She was pathetic, a miserable weak woman that couldn’t even run.
She smelled him first. Her heart stuttered in her chest and the tears flowed faster.
A big hand grabbed her shoulder and turned her over. His smile was cruel and very happy.
“I told you, I’d get you back, Cassandra.” She saw the fist flying at her but didn’t move. For once in her life, the fresh pain was welcoming. She saw blurry trees before her eyes, and then another hit rocked the other side of her face and she was out.
Chapter 14
Darien slammed the cabin door behind him. It croaked in protest and shuddered at the treatment.
What’s wrong with her? What did she expect from him? That she’d spout her love for him and he was supposed to forget about the past and mate with her right there. God dammit, she’d be a good mate too. He couldn’t deny that, even his beast agreed.
His mind flashed with the image of her holding a small baby with a full head of dark, Kategan hair. He held his breath, the image seemed so real. He could easily see her kissing the baby with that big beautiful smile of hers. He roared, turning and slammed his fist into the wall. The wood crack and splintered, bloodied his hand.
He’d protect her from Daniel and see to it that she got her happy life with a good male. He just couldn’t be that man for her.
A rapid knock at the front door had him flinging it open. It wasn’t the face he was hoping to see though. He recognized the hard look on Vane’s face.
“We got a problem.” His gut tightened so hard that his heart restricted in his chest, it was a wonder he could still breathe.
“What happened to her?” A part of him already knew. Could feel the wrongness of the situation. His beast was whipping its tail back and forth in agitation and crying out in pain.
“She left.”
“What do you mean she left?” he growled, his beast garbling his words.
“She climbed out the bathroom window, tackled Mike at his post, and ran off into the woods.”
Darien was already walking past him. He’d get her back if it were the last thing he did. Vane grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going after her.”
“She doesn’t seem to want to be around you.”
“Fuck off, Vane. She’s drunk and hurting.” Because of me, he thought. “She doesn’t need to be alone right now.”
Vane shook his head and softly said, “And can you give her what she needs.” Darien’s chest expanded and slowly he exhaled.
“Yeah, I could at one point in my life. But now, Vane? I’m not so sure.” It was the truth, which was startled the hell out of him.
Darien started on a run back to Vane’s house. He knew her scent as good as his own. He’d track her down, kiss her for scaring the shit out of him, and then carry her back to his cabin. Vane’s feet pounded next to his.
“I’m coming with you.” Darien’s head snapped towards his.
“Why?”
“Because she might not want to come back with you,” Vane said simply. Vane was right, and the thought was like taking a knife to the heart. God dammit. He was such a fucked up asshole. He had to apologize. He had to get her back. He...cared for her.
He ran around the back of Vane’s cabin and looked up at the bathroom window.
“Jesus that’s at least a twenty foot drop.” Vane nodded grimly then pointed out to the forest. “Mike said he was on post there when she tackled him, asked him not to tell you that she was leaving.”
“She was trying to get away from me.” He froze. The realization ripped a burning hole in his chest. It was his duty, his honor to protect her, and yet all he’d done was drive her away, possibly into danger.
He took off running. He caught her scent easily—flowery and fresh. Lovely just like her. He opened up his scenes and followed the scent like a tracking hound.
He leaped over a particularly large fallen tree and came to a hard stop. He walked past the spot just behind the tree, but the scent wasn’t there. It lingered only here in this one area. An entirely new fear swept through him.
He took in the area like it was a crime scene. She’d tripped over the tree and skidded along the dirt. The earth was shoved like someone had slid hard against it. Dropping down on his knees, he felt his breath whoosh out of him at the sight of three single drops of blood.
His hand was shaking as he touched them. He brought them to his nose and sniffed. It was hers.
“Do you smell that?”
“She was here,” Darien said. “This is her blood.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Darien looked up at his brother. Vane looked around the perimeter of the forest. “It’s vampire.”
“Of course it smells like her, Vane.” He growled the words, anger suffusing his words. He didn’t have time for this shit. He was losing minutes already. Guilt overwhelmed him, eating away at him.
“God dammit, Darien, get over here and stop thinking. Use your fucking senses.” Darien growled but came over. The scent struck him so fast, it was like a blow to the face. His head snapped to the left.
“Another vampire. It’s got to be him. He took her.” An incredible force filled Darien, so powerful, so tremendous that his beast tightened against his skin, and his eyes glowed in the night. He took my woman, was his only thought.