Black and chrome glinted in the sunlight beyond that. Swallowing her fear, she forced herself to assess the situation when all she wanted to do was run full speed ahead, screaming out his name.
From the corner of her eye, she caught movement by the water’s edge. There, lying on the ground with his blue shirt soaked in blood, was Luca. She knelt beside him. “Tell me what to do. How do I help you?” she asked him.
Even as she spoke, her gaze flitted around. Desperate to get her eyes on Niko.
“Go,” Luca told her, his voice weak. “We’ll slow him down so you can get away.”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. “Not a chance. Where are they? Where’s Niko?”
Luca grunted and curled his body onto his side. “The forest. Niko’s got him running.”
He reached down and pulled a small black square from his boot and pressed it into her palm. “Go,” he ordered again.
The hard drive. As much as she wanted to get the job done, she wouldn’t leave Luca to die, and she sure as hell wasn’t leaving Niko behind, either. Nothing the stupid bit of technology held was more important or worth losing either one of them.
“How did you get this? Where’s Manchester?” she asked.
“He’s dead.” Luca sucked in a wheezing breath and coughed for his effort.
Before he could say anything more, a growl erupted from the forest a short distance away.
Luca forced himself to his knees even though his face contorted with pain and his whole body shook. “Go. Now,” he commanded, his voice stronger than it had been moments before.
Another growl came from the tree line, this time closer. A second later, a hulking form, all in black from his leather boots to the impenetrable shade of his polycarbonate visor, the vampire emerged, coming straight for her.
In a move that required more energy than she suspected he had, Luca stood, then staggered before shoving her toward her bike. Did he really think he could hold the vampire back in the state he was in?
Niko burst through the trees at that moment, his gaze zeroing in on her. “Run,” he screamed as he plowed into the vampire’s back, sending them both crashing to the ground. In less time than she had to take a single step, the vampire hauled himself onto his feet and grasped Niko by the throat. With that one leather-clad hand, he lifted Niko until only the tips of his toes scraped the dirt at his feet.
All she could do was stare in horror as Niko’s eyes rounded, and his face went from a bright red to a dark purple.
The vampire was going to kill him. Her vision narrowed on that spot where the bastard’s fist choked the life out of her mate, one horrendous second at a time. She might not have the strength to fight the asshole, but she had something better.
“Stop,” she yelled. The panic slamming through her made her shrill voice carry over the lake to echo around them. “I have it.”
“No,” Luca screamed, but he was a second too late. The vampire turned his head to her again. She couldn’t see the red, gleaming eyes, but she could feel the burn of his gaze on her just the same.
If the bastard wanted the hard drive, he’d have to let go of Niko.
Running with all her might, she crossed the distance to her Ducati, shoving the hard drive down the front of her shirt and into her bra as she ran. She flung her helmet to the ground. “You want it, you fucker, you come and get it,” she yelled over the roar of her engine coming to life.
Twenty-Two
Trees whizzed past in a fiery blur of red, orange, and yellow leaves. Only the fact that the air was clean cemented the reality that there was no fire in the forest around her. The reason for her burning lungs was the strain of the ride and fear of what was on her ass. Strands of hair broke free from her braid, whipping at her face, but Rylee didn’t take her hands from her handlebars to push them back. Doing so would be suicide, and although she’d goaded the vampire into releasing Niko and giving chase, she didn’t have a death wish.
The road was rougher than she remembered, more twisted. Each curve she took at breakneck speed led into another. Damn it. This wasn’t right. The way had been bumpy, but not this rough. Somehow, she’d missed a fork in the road or a turnoff. She wasn’t heading toward the highway, where she’d be able to lose the fucker. No, she was going deeper into the forest. She hit a hole hard, sending the bike off balance. The only things keeping her from crashing into the trees on either side of her were her hard-earned skill and a bit of luck as she managed to right it again for what had to be the tenth time since she’d taken off.
She couldn’t see behind her for all the dust she kicked up, but the dull roar of another engine followed, telling her the vampire was still back there, trailing her. Waiting for her to lose control of her machine. The bastard wouldn’t even have to kill her himself. The crash would do the work for him. All he’d have to do would be grab the hard drive and leave her to rot where she lay.
She took the next curve a little bit faster than most would dare. Anyone who wasn’t in tune with their bike would have spun out, but Ursula responded to the demands Rylee made, keeping her off the gravel, if only just, until she pulled out of the skid on the other side of the bend.
Once she righted herself, and she spotted the straight stretch of road ahead,
