20. 19

19

Serina

I got dressed quickly, throwing on my normal all-black outfit before strapping all of my weapons quietly to their proper places.

I didn’t hear the guys downstairs, but I wouldn’t risk going downstairs to find out what they were doing. I moved to the window and lifted it easily. I carefully placed my feet on the roof and looked down, ready to scale down to the ground below.

I placed my hands and feet carefully between the vines and detailed stone as I made my way down the side of the house. Gently landing, I bent my knees to absorb the small drop before I started running through the woods.

I was instantly swallowed by the darkness. The sun was long gone now. Winter made the nights come sooner in the day; it was only six o'clock last I looked at the time, and Bastian had left about thirty minutes ago, but I could still track him.

I quickly ran in the direction he had gone, careful of how much noise I was making as I went. A fresh trail was easy to track.

I slowed down, paying attention to the debris on the ground.

When Vampires moved at their speeds, they created a disturbance along the ground; leaves and sticks shifted as they passed, creating an easy trail to follow, but not for very long.

I followed the trail for what seemed like forever until it became hard to read. Different paths were made like a three-way crossroads, and I didn’t know if he had been followed or if he had done it on purpose knowing I wouldn’t have listened to him.

I chose one and decided to test my luck until a voice echoed through the trees.

“Little monster,” Nox’s whisper caressed me through the woods, making a shiver skate up my spine. I couldn’t figure out where his words were coming from.

He was playing with me, something I knew Vampires loved to do with their prey.

So much for being sneaky.

I instinctively grabbed my stakes, placing one in each hand as I circled, peering through all the trees. Suddenly, I saw him appear from behind one of them and start sauntering toward me.

“You’re no fun,” he muttered.

“Why? Because I’m not running from your little show?” I quirked a brow, pointing my stake in his direction. “What the hell are you doing out here?” I asked.

“We could ask you that same question,” Thorne’s voice came from directly behind me. I turned to face him; I didn’t even jump from the sound of his voice so close to me.

“What the hell?” I said evenly as I faced Thorne.

“Bastian doesn’t want you to get involved.” Thorne shrugged.

“Why not? What is happening to him?” I pressed, and they only looked at each other as if trying to decide if they wanted to tell me anything at all.

Nox had said they couldn't. What the hell did that mean?

“Just know that he will be alright, he will be back soon, and he’s only doing this to keep you safe,” Thorne replied again after a few moments.

“I don’t need to be kept safe,” I gritted out. “I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, we know, but some things you won’t be able to go up against alone. This is one of those things, so let us handle it,” Nox tried to reason with me.

“And if I don’t?” I threatened.

“Here’s an idea, why don’t we turn around and go back to the house and stay there for the next few days until Bastain gets back,” Thorne offered, trying to put out the fire, but I interrupted.

“Or both of you can go back to the house and I can continue what I started,” I argued, narrowing my eyes.

“Or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and take you back home anyway,” Nox threatened, and I glanced between both of them.

I didn’t like either of those choices.

I wanted to help Bastian; something was wrong. I could feel it. He wouldn’t have kissed me as if it was the first and last time he’d ever do it.

“Or the third option,” I started.

“There is no third option,” Nox stated matter of factly.

“If you catch me, you can take me back to the house, and I’ll stay there until Bastian comes back, but if I get to the main road on the other side of the woods, I continue to go after Bastian, and you can either join me or leave me to do it alone.”

I glanced at both of them, noting the faintest hint of a grin curving on Nox’s lips.

I ran, not taking a moment to question it or look back.

I darted through the trees, gripping my stakes in my hands, readying for them to pounce from any direction as I made my way to the main road.

Outrunning a vampire would be impossible, but if I played my cards right, I could at least escape them, wound them to win my little bet.

Thorne tackled me first. We rolled through the damp forest floor, leaves and twigs getting caught on our clothes and hair. His grip on me was light; he wasn’t trying to hurt me. This was all a game that I planned on winning.

I wasn’t scared of hurting them. I knew they would heal as long as I didn’t stake their hearts. He watched me, his eyes staring deeply into mine, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me before I plunged a stake into his side.

He groaned from the pain as I shoved him off of me, taking my stake with me as I stood and started running again.

I heard Nox’s dark chuckle before he came out of nowhere, wrapping me in his arms and shoving me against a tree. Invading my space so closely I was instantly brought back to that moment in the alleyway.

The burning fire in his eyes seemed brighter in the moonlight glinting off of his irises. His hard cock rubbed against my abdomen, and I sucked in a breath.

I wanted to get lost in him. Right now, right here. Give in and let him kiss me, mold his body against mine and forget everything else, but I couldn’t.

Bastian…

I played into Nox, into his touch, the way he looked at me with hooded lids as he gazed down my body.

“I caught you, little monster,” he murmured against the shell of my ear as he leaned into me.

I lifted my arms up, running a hand up his back, bringing him closer to me. He practically purred from my touch, and then I used my other hand to shove a stake through his back.

He growled through the pain but stammered backwards, and I took the opportunity to run. Branches slashed at me as I rushed through them with no regard.

A sting erupted across my cheek, but I kept going, kept moving.

I saw a flash of darkness to my left and took another stake. I shifted, noting it was Nox, and sent it through the air. I heard a groan as it pierced him through the gut, and he stumbled to the ground.

I didn’t stop; I kept going. I could see the opening in the trees up ahead to the main road. I was so close.

But I ran straight into Thorne’s chest. He appeared in front of me like what seemed like out of thin air. His breaths were heaving, his wounds were still bleeding.

Why was he still bleeding? Vampires healed quickly.

Concern flickered across my face before I dropped it. Maybe my stake had just hit a main artery or something. I was sure he’d be fine after our little game was over.

There was no warmth to him. His eyes looked dark, and the strong lines of his face made him look more eerie under the moonlit trees. I side stepped, the crunch of leaves from my booted feet the only sound as I watched him with caution.

He lunged for me, and I moved swiftly to avoid him, shoving my stake into his upper thigh, and he grunted from pain and exertion.

I rushed to the forest’s edge. So close, I could taste it.

A firm grip grabbed my ankle, dragging me across the forest floor before twisting me over onto my back.

I shoved my foot backwards and kicked him in the face. Blood erupted from Nox’s nose as I scrambled to get back to my feet, but he tackled me, pinning me firmly against the cool ground.

“Thorne,” Nox grumbled through his bloody face, “get her weapons.”

Thorne immediately moved over to us to get the last few stakes I had strapped to my body.

“You got awfully close to my heart, and here I thought you liked me,” he said, his nose no longer leaking, or at least not as bad as it was.

I sniffed. “I do, but only a little.”

“Now… if I release you, can I trust that you’ll hold up your side of the deal?” he said, and I looked at him before craning my neck back to see the opening to the main road.

“Best two out of three?” I asked jokingly.

“If we did that, Thorne and I would be dead by the end of it,” he jested back, and I rolled my eyes.

“Fine. I’ll go back to the house,” I said begrudgingly with a huff.

“Good girl,” he whispered in my ear, and it made my breath hitch before he achingly slowly crawled off of me and helped me to my feet.

Thorne leaned heavily against a tree, his legs trembling beneath him. Each breath came ragged and shallow, and his face was pale, drained of its usual color. Blood trickled down from his wounds, leaving dark stains on his clothing. His eyes were unfocused, and his shoulders slumped forward, as if the weight of his injuries was too much to bear.

“Why aren’t you healing?” I asked both of them, the scrunch of concern growing between my brows.

“We’re fine. We just need to eat something,” Nox said with an unworried wave of his hand.

Vampires didn’t need to feed in order to heal. Sure, it helped them heal faster, but it wasn’t needed. Were they not eating?

I didn’t question it. Maybe it had just been too long since they had fed. I hadn’t seen them eat anything but normal people food the entire time I had been staying with them in the house.

“How long can a Vampire go without… you know?” I asked, looking over their wounds again with a frown.

“A few days, sometimes longer, but it’s never good if we go longer than that. Thorne here is the perfect example of what happens,” Nox said, nodding to Thorne, and I noticed the dark veins around his eyes, those black-red irises. He looked sharper, scarier.

I took a step toward him. Thorne had always been gentle and kind, and I refused to believe he would hurt me.

“Serina,” he said, his voice more deep and graveled, a warning, as if he couldn’t control the monster that he was.

Nonetheless, I continued to move toward him. Nox watched me with a satisfied grin on his face. I think it did something to him to know I wasn’t scared of them.

Thorne turned his head away from me, not wanting me to see him. I placed a gentle hand on his cheek, and he closed his eyes at my touch.

“Don’t hide from me,” I whispered, and he took a steadying breath, And then another and another. The veins slowly receded, and he looked more himself as if my touch had soothed him.

“I’m sorry. Nox is right; I normally have better control. I need to feed,” he murmured, and then he turned his head so effortlessly and kissed the inside of my palm. The warmth of his lips against my skin made my blood heat and flutters pulse low in my gut. His eyes watched me as he spoke. “Nox will take you back to the house. I’ll be there soon.”

I nodded, assuming he was leaving to feed as he released my hand and disappeared through the trees.

Nox and I headed back toward the house. I looked over my shoulder one last time at the opening and hoped Bastian would be okay.