The sound of branches snapping in the distance has me stopping cold in my tracks. My eyes dart through the thick trunks surrounding me, listening for more sounds.
Murmurs drift through the air, as if there’s people talking just beyond the brush. I don’t know if I should run toward them or turn back the other way.
A woman screams, and I flinch, stumbling backward until I hit the rough bark of a pine.
“Shh, no need for all that,” I hear Rao’s voice in the distance.
It’s definitely Rao, and my mind spins in a million different directions. What is he doing?
Should I try to help?
I shake my head, nope. Fuck. That.
I head in the opposite direction, darting through the mist, but the voices sound like they’re getting closer. Before I know it, the noises are all around me. Up ahead, a light slices through the night, and I duck into a dense thicket.
My heart pumps furiously as I crouch and try to peer through the tangle of leaves, sweat forming on my upper brow.
Nothing.
Curiosity wins out, and I slip closer, moving through the bushes like a ghost until I see Rao in the distance, with someone else flanking him. It’s hard to see from here, so I inch closer, trying my best not to make a sound.
It isn’t until I get a few feet closer that I see him.
Draven.
A sudden coldness hits my core as I let out a blood-curdling scream at the sight of them hunched over two crumpled bodies… sucking from their necks like vampires.
Draven and Rao stop what they’re doing, whipping their heads to me, and I see their victims.
A lifeless woman lies curled into a ball next to a man, flat on his back. Both have faces frozen in terror.
Tears well in my eyes, as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing.
“Allison,” Draven says, blood dripping down his chin as he rises.
I back away. “No,” I whisper, wondering how on earth I can get out of here in one piece. This sadistic thing is happening right before my eyes. I can’t make sense of it.
My mind tries to think of reasonable possibilities.
Are they a cult that drinks from the blood of virgins? Or are they devil worshippers?
Pieces of the puzzle click into place. The powers. The superhuman ability of Draven flying. Talking to me in my mind. Their pale skin and otherworldly beauty.
Vampires exist?
I’m a stupid, stupid girl for coming here. I pivot and sprint away, but it’s no use because Draven lands before me, a dark angel with no chance of redemption.
“Allison, wait. I can explain.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor in any of this. “Explain? Get the hell out of here with that. I want to go home.”
I have to go home.
My fight-or-flight instinct has kicked in, and I take off running once more, knowing I’ll never be able to get away from Draven.
However, I keep trying.
Thirteen