His fingers dug into her skin, hard enough to draw blood.
“Where. Is. She?”
“I-I don’t know. . . .”
Two simultaneous cracks resonated throughout the darkness, and with it, Emma’s scream. Both of her arms now rested at unnatural angles against the grass.
“I r-really don’t know! I-I haven’t heard from Elias since he took her. He s-said he would get rid of Kara, and then I would have you all to myself!”
He knew her well enough to see the truth in her eyes, but something inside Gabriel had snapped since Elias had threatened Kara in the woods by the cemetery. Gabriel had been surprised by the amount of self-control he could summon when he consciously made an effort, and reuniting with Kara had made the dark feeling recede somewhat.
But then she’d been taken, and Gabriel hadn’t been able to communicate telepathically with Kara because she’d stayed asleep for hours after her abduction, most likely due to Control. Even so, it hadn’t stopped Gabriel from pleading and even screaming at Kara as she’d slept, desperately trying to wake her.
And then the blood connection had painfully evaporated, snapping like a rubber band against his temple and heart as it had left. He would never forget the feeling.
Ever since Kara’s disappearance, Gabriel’s willpower was draining, exposing the raw monster beneath the surface. He had thought himself a terrible person before; now he was no longer sure what he was capable of, no longer sure of what lengths he would go to in order to get Kara back.
And to keep her alive? He would do anything. He would kill anyone who stood in his way.
Which was why he had no control over himself when he pulled back his fist. He could only watch as it smashed against Emma, breaking her collarbone. The crunch of bone against his hand made the monster inside writhe with satisfaction.
“Gabriel! Gabriel, please! It was for us! I did it for us!”
Gabriel leaned down until his nose nearly touched hers.
“Had you truly loved me, you would never have even dreamed of putting Kara into harm’s way! You didn’t do this for us! You did this for yourself!”
“Please!” Emma screamed.
He pulled a stake out of his black jacket and stabbed her in the heart. A single tear fell from her eye before her body melted to ash.
Gabriel got up off the ground and walked away without a backwards glance, the ashes drifting away in the wind.
Chapter 2 Dehydration
I didn’t want to open my eyes. I didn’t want to even be conscious. All I could picture was Gabriel’s blood and how much I had hurt him.
Inola and Thomas. . . Were they still alive?
I couldn’t feel Gabriel anymore. Just like those past three months, the longest months of my life, he was gone.
I made myself open my eyes; I at least needed to see what my surroundings were. Elias had Controlled me to sleep as soon as the car had taken off, so I had no idea where I was.
There were manacles on both of my wrists, and the manacles were connected to chains that were hooked to the ground. I had known that; I had felt them, but seeing the shackles made me nearly scream aloud with panic.
The room was large with wooden floors and wooden walls and no windows. It was completely bare except for two light bulbs on the ceiling and a single door on the far side of the room.
I stood up. I couldn’t even walk six feet because of the heavy chains. I tugged at them uselessly for at least five minutes before giving up.
I tried to slow my breathing, my heartbeat. It was all too familiar—waking up in an unknown place after being kidnapped, although Gabriel had not bound me. And this time, instead of a vampire who’d had extreme hesitations about killing me, the one who imprisoned me now held no qualms about my fate.
Gabriel had scared me nearly senseless, but at least with him, I’d had a fighting chance. With Elias, there would be none.
I looked myself over. I was still wearing my V-neck shirt, worn jeans, and running shoes. The shirt and jeans were heavily stained with Gabriel’s blood, making me dizzy with the memory. I was hungry and thirsty.
Why couldn’t I feel Gabriel? Could he not feel me either? How was it even possible? We had drunk one another’s blood at the same time, and blood sharing that way had increased our connection tenfold; it should not have faded so quickly. I was supposed to be able to talk to him telepathically, but I couldn’t reach him.
Maybe if I waited longer, I would feel him again. . . .
Then I noticed the needle marks on my arms, the skin around the holes deeply bruised in hues of purple and blue. I stared at them uneasily.
The door opened.
It took all of my willpower to not cower against the wall as Elias stepped into the room. He wore all black, and the dark color made his skin even paler.
I pressed my shaking fists against my sides, forcing myself to speak. “If you’re going to kill me, at least unchain me and give me a stake so I can go down fighting! Or are you too much of a coward to give me fair chance?”
Elias grinned. “And what makes you think you deserve to die a worthy death, little hummingbird?”
I swallowed fear. “Stop calling me that!”
Silver eyes swirled with sick amusement. “But just listen to your heart. How it flutters. How it flies.”
I stared at him icily. “Why can’t I feel Gabriel?”
He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “I couldn’t take any chances of his blood being in your system. I want you dead, not a vampire. There are three ways that I know of to break a blood connection between a vampire and a human. The first is simple—kill the human or the vampire. The second is time. And the third way is not known to many vampires—all
