with hope. “Go ahead. I want you to. I want you to do it so badly, Kara.”

Gabriel’s vulnerability made my heart throb. But even so . . .

I shot the stake gun. The wood found its mark in his thigh, making him stumble away from me. As soon as the tang of his blood hit the air, I ran.

Away from his empty promises. Away from his blood. Away from him.

***

In my worry that he was not far behind me, I bit my wrist and made my blood flow onto the ground, and then I went the opposite way of the blood.

And I ached. It was a dim echo behind my protective wall, but it was there.

I hated hurting him. I hated making a false trail, but the alternative was worse. I had given in to my feelings for Gabriel as a human, but I wouldn’t as a vampire.

I ran until I no longer knew where I was.

The forest was hours behind me, and there was not much cover anymore. There was no salt in the air; I had moved away from the coast.

And a huge problem was emerging. The sky was lightening and was free of clouds.

Weakness filled my limbs. Inola had told me the other day to be careful when going out on cloudy days. Even if clouds hid the direct sunlight, there was still enough sunlight filtering through to weaken a vampire.

I now understood. Dawn was going to break any minute, and I already felt like I’d been poisoned. I made myself run faster through the thinning trees on the side of the road.

I could make out a small town in the distance. I looked toward the sky. If I didn’t hurry . . .

Faint regret washed through me. Why did I never think anything through? What if Elias was nearby, his lust for revenge not yet sated? I wanted to go faster, but I was now running significantly slower.

I wasn’t going to make it. Instead, I went toward an old building on the outskirts of the town.

I jumped a rusted metal fence, the barbed wire tearing my jeans but leaving my skin unscathed. The first rays of dawn streaked the sky at the exact moment I dove into the shadow of the back of the building.

I took in my surroundings. A sign near the road indicated the place used to be an old-fashioned candy factory, but it looked as if it had been unused for many years. I could see no windows above me, and there was no door. The only windows and doors I had seen in my haste were the ones on the front side, the side that was now being bathed in the morning light.

I moaned, remembering how I had burned before. I couldn’t feel that pain again. . . .

“Ok, think quickly,” I whispered.

I put my ear to the bricks of the building. The place looked abandoned, but I needed to be sure. I heard nothing. Nothing human, anyway. I definitely heard the scurry of rats and the buzzing of bug wings.

I went to the right edge of the building and peeked around the corner. No windows or doors on that side, either.

Fear bashed against the numbing dam. What if the other side was the same?

I looked around the left corner and let out a sigh of relief. Windows dotted the upper story, and the sunlight hadn’t quite reached the last three windows near me.

I scaled the building and held the ledge of the closest window. It was covered by metal bars, but I knew I was strong enough to tear them away.

I grabbed a bar, surprised it didn’t budge when I pulled at it.

I had gone too long without blood. Not only that, but the sunlight was only inches away. I was pathetically weak right now.

I pulled again, every ounce of strength behind my actions. The bar pulled free from the window. It took me twice as long to rip out the next one, and I hurried to work on the third bar.

I tugged it from the wall just as the sunlight kissed my body. I screamed and dove through the window. The glass rained down around me as I fell down the two stories.

I landed on a pile of wooden pallets, my heavy fall shattering the aged, rotted wood. Shards of wood protruded from my body at various angles, and the pain rivaled my thirst. A strangled cry left my mouth as I crawled on all fours away from the death trap.

I pulled the piece of wood closest to my heart out first, and drops of bright vampire blood painted the dusty floor. My screams echoed throughout the empty factory as I pulled the wood out of my body. The one I pulled from my thigh caused my blood to shoot out and spray a nearby stack of moldy boxes.

I stared at the gory, crimson mess. I hadn’t had blood in days, and now here I was with severe blood loss.

Gabriel’s blood frenzy had happened because of blood loss. . . .

I felt the dam burst inside my chest. All of my emotions crashed together at once, and I screamed until I went cold.

Amidst the storm of pain, something dark clawed its way to the surface. An entity linked to me, but it was somehow separate at the same time. A frightening force I could not fight.

The monster inside of every vampire. The blood frenzy.

I felt myself slip away, as if I’d never even existed.

The Kara I knew was finally gone.

Chapter 11 Blood Frenzy

I could smell the humans in the town. They all smelled different. Some smelled sweet, and some smelled almost bitter. I could smell who was young and who was old. I could even tell if someone was male or female by their scent.

But they all had the tinge of iron. Sweet, invigorating, thirst-quenching blood.

And it was going to be all mine. I was going to rip their throats open and drink them dry. Every last one

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