The rush of light and euphoria that his bite caused made me weak and unable to even stand. He held me up. His name escaped my lips, a whispered scream that begged him to drink more, to take more, to make me his completely.
I could feel bits of him flowing into me once again, and the despair he had felt from me nearly dying and the love he had for me made tears blur my vision. My throat choked with unnamable emotion.
His weight pinned me to the wall as his hands moved to the hem of my shirt. He began to lift the fabric up, his skin electric on mine, but his fingers froze, and his head lifted from my neck. He twisted around too fast for my eyes to process.
A rush of his fear swept into me, so strong my heart throbbed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, bewildered.
He moved like mist to the couch, reaching under it and pulling out a black duffel bag.
“I heard something outside,” he said as he unzipped the bag.
All of his movements were a blur. A stake gun was strapped onto my wrist before I could count to two. He closed my fingers around a stake.
I stared at the sharp piece of wood. “Maybe you heard an animal?” I was trying to stay calm.
He grabbed his cell phone off the coffee table and pressed a button. “Animals don’t laugh, Kara.”
Ice froze my veins. Without thinking, I brought my free hand to my neck where Gabriel had bitten me. I raised it in front of my face. Red stained my palm, giving me tunnel vision.
Gabriel spoke quickly into the phone. “Inola, I need both of you to get here now. He found us, and I have no idea how.” He looked at me desperately before turning away, his voice small and half-crazed as he spoke into the phone. “Mom, I shouldn’t have asked you to leave. I cannot kill him. I cannot protect her. I thought we were safe. I wanted to give Kara . . .”
He nodded at whatever she said and hung up the phone. He grabbed me, running me into his bedroom so fast bile rose in my throat. He shoved me into the walk-in closet and closed the door.
“Gabriel?” I managed to say.
Something thumped against the door, making me scream. Darkness swallowed the light at the edges of the door, and I realized the thump had come from Gabriel moving furniture in front of it.
“I can’t risk taking you to the car. I do not know if he’s alone.” Another thump vibrated the wood. “Kara, I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot. Thomas and Inola never should have left.”
“I don’t blame you for anything. I understand what you were trying to do for me.”
Another thump. The sound went into my bones, and a deep calm filled me.
Something was different this time. A gut feeling inside of me, something telling me that this was finally it—the last moments of my life were here.
And Gabriel was with me this time. Gabriel was with me. . . .
The calm shattered. Elias would kill him to get to me.
I tried to open the door, but it felt like it was cemented shut.
“Gabriel!” I pounded the wood.
Another thump went against the door. “If I can hold him off for twenty minutes, Inola and Thomas will be here.”
Every breath was metal shards to my lungs. “He’ll kill you before then!”
Gabriel’s silence was enough of an answer. We had lost, and he knew it.
“Don’t you dare die for me! Get out of here!” I screamed.
He didn’t answer me. The silence fueled my panic.
“There’s no reason for both of us to die! Gabriel, if you love me, you’ll live for me. Please . . .” My head dropped against the cold door. “Please live for me.”
I heard the faintest sound of him taking a ragged breath. “There is nothing without you, Kara. I will never leave you.”
I threw myself against the door, pain lancing its way through my injured shoulder. My stiches ripped. Warm blood dripped down my arm and chest.
My dogs growled and barked angrily, and I thought I heard voices, but there was no way to tell with my dogs.
I pressed my ear to the wood as hard as I could. The barks and growls were cut off abruptly. My stomach lurched, and a flash of Gabriel’s anger and sadness cut into me.
Before I could analyze his feelings, I heard the one I feared more than anything speak.
“That’s better. Always hated dogs.”
The implication of his words made my knees quiver. Slowly, I found myself on the ground.
“Elias, you have done enough to her. You have hurt her, both physically and emotionally, more than you know. She will know a lifetime of pain and fear because of you. Let that be enough. Kill me, and spare her, and your revenge will be fulfilled.”
“My revenge should have already been fulfilled,” Elias hissed. “In all honesty, I can see now why you care for her so. She has a talent for snaking her way into your mind, of making you think there is something inside of you that was never even there.”
“Yes, she can see the light inside of others. One would think you would be grateful she showed you not all was lost. Take her gift, and go start over.”
“It was lies,” Elias snapped. “You honestly think there’s more to you than a predator that enjoys taking the lives of others? You seriously believe you are not just a weak boy? Because of your weakness, you allowed your sister to burn alive! Your sister—the only family who ever loved you! You no longer think Lucy’s blood is on your hands? Kara has you cocooned in a web of illusion. I lost my purpose because of her silver tongue, but now I’m glad my offer of peace was refused. The opportunity for a sweeter
