He is completion.
My completion.
“Asher,” Nikolaos snarls, the sound animalistic.
Then the two vampires are across the room, locked in a vicious battle that moves too quickly for my weak eyes to follow.
Left on the couch, dizzy and reeling, I struggle with the impulse to throw myself at the creature that’s been stalking me since the day I was born and the instinct to run far, far away.
In the end, when Asher throws Nikolaos so hard it sends him right through the wall, the instinct to run wins.
What little bit of self-preservation I still have left helps me unlock my muscles and stand from the couch.
The moment I do so, though, my shadow stalker’s green eyes are upon me.
“Chloe,” he says, and there’s so much hurt, so much longing in his voice, I find myself freezing in place at the shock of it.
The way he spoke my name, the sheer reverence, reminds me of the all-consuming pain I felt just minutes ago. As if the syllables themselves are echoing it.
Walking toward me, he reaches out his hand. “Chloe, my love, come to me…”
Every little atom that makes up my being wants me to place my hand in his.
In a daze, I feel myself moving toward him.
Moving toward the destiny I’ve been fighting my entire life.
We’re almost touching when Nikolaos reappears and shouts, “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
A breeze whips by my face and my monster disappears with a loud crack.
Spinning around, my eyes search the room and land on a new man-sized hole in the wall behind me.
From the hole I can hear the sounds of beastly growls and hissing. Sounds that cause my skin to tighten and prickle with gooseflesh.
I stand in place, wondering if my shadow stalker will come back…
Content to wait until two vampires I’ve never seen before burst into the room. Panting as if they’ve been running.
Then I realize what I’m doing.
I’m being a dumbass.
Getting a grip on myself, I shake the fogginess from my head and eye up the two newcomers.
The first vampire is gigantic… Seriously, he’s so big and tall, I find myself taking a step back and craning my neck to look up at him.
The other vampire is smaller, with a thick beard, but no less imposing.
Especially when they both look at me.
Pinning me with their eyes, I watch confusion then realization wash over their faces.
The giant vampire begins to move toward me with purpose but stops abruptly.
Turning to face the hole in the wall, he inclines his head as if he’s listening closely to something then curses. “Fuck. Asher and Nikolaos are fighting.”
The giant walks over to the hole, unblocking my path, but the other vampire seems less inclined to follow him.
Sniffing the air, the shorter vampire moves in my direction.
“They’re going to bring the whole place down if we don’t stop them,” the giant vampire says.
When the other vampire doesn’t respond, choosing instead to keep coming for me, the giant twists around. “What the fuck, Vaughn? You need to help me break up the fight.”
Vaughn continues to ignore him, focused on cornering me until I can’t escape.
When I bump against the couch and Vaughn grins, knowing he’s trapped me, the giant seems to realize what’s going on.
Moving in a blur, the giant shoves Vaughn, sending him tumbling to the floor. “She’s Asher’s mate,” he thunders at the smaller vampire. “What the hell are you thinking?”
“She…. smells… delicious,” Vaughn huffs and springs up from the floor, trying to slip around the giant.
Throwing his arm out to stop him, the giant knocks Vaughn back down like he’s a sack of meat.
“She’s not yours,” the giant booms, “stupid idiot.”
Landing flat on his back, Vaughn glares murderously up at the giant.
Then he lurches up again, this time launching himself at the bigger vampire.
I watch them fight in disbelief, wondering if this is real life, and realize I’m being a dumbass again.
Edging around the two as they growl, snarl, and try to rip out each other’s throats, I quickly slip out the open doorway.
Too busy trying to kill each other, neither tries to stop me.
Once I step into the hall, I notice moving and breathing has become a little easier.
It’s almost as if the more space I put between me and my monster, the less effect he has on me.
The hallway stretches to both the left and right.
Afraid he might reappear and bewitch me back into stupidity, I try to quickly pick a direction.
I don’t know exactly where I am, and I don’t know how far away the bar area is, but I do know that the throbbing in my thigh is pretty much a homing beacon.
Moving to the left causes the throbbing to become stronger so I choose to go the right.
Running like I’ve never run before, I quickly reach the end of the hallway and end up in another intersection.