It was just past four, the sun has been setting later and later the closer we got to summer so I still had another three or four hours at least. The short skirt and light sweater I’d worn were a bit rumpled from my nap but that couldn’t be helped. It’s not like I could risk running back to the house for a change of clothes.
My fairy self hates to be anything but perfect when out in public but her natural distaste didn’t stand a chance against the persistent hunger rumbling in my tummy. I grabbed my purse from the nightstand and headed for the door. I’d rented the room for one night, hoping against hope that come morning this whole thing would be over.
As long as I could stay out of his reach until daybreak I should be fine, at least that’s what I gathered from what he’d said. Or had I misunderstood? He’d said we had seven days, which had been cut short because my egg had dropped which meant the time had been cut considerably.
But did that mean that after tonight he’d leave me alone, or that he’d become rabid? Crap, why didn’t I think about this? How could I have overlooked something like that? Raw panic dogged my steps as I left the little hotel in search of sustenance.
The food looked and smelled delicious but I didn’t taste a bite of the seafood pasta I usually love. As I sat there in the little out of the way restaurant staring down at my plate unseeingly I felt myself grow short of breath of all things and that tingling beneath my skin only seemed to be getting worst.
I left the restaurant and headed for the busiest place in the little square. It’s easier to blend in amongst a crowd than to stand out alone. It was Monday so there was nothing going on but people were out and about enjoying the unseasonable warmth of the late spring evening.
As the sun started to make its descent in the sky I stopped into the nearest grocery store and stocked up. I bought every bulb of garlic they had in the place before heading for the church at the other end of the town square. A bottle of holy water could be bought these days for a pittance when once it was priceless but I didn’t have time to worry about the incongruity of that now.
Even as I gathered this stuff I knew there was a good chance none of it would work. This was all that my sisters and I had come up with when we were looking for ways to escape him. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that he’d already entered my bedroom without an invitation and that most of the lore we’d read might be nothing more than drivel.
I regretted the fact that I’d never taken the time to learn much about them, but we’d been estranged for so long who could know that a time would arise when I’d need to know every little detail? As I left the little church I felt as though there were eyes watching me through the growing dark.
Of course it was just nerves, he couldn’t find me that easily even with his mark on my neck I’m sure. I’d put my shields in place and now with my extra protection it wouldn’t be that easy surely. I lifted the bag with the raw garlic closer to my chest even as that feeling of breathlessness assailed me again.
I hurried my steps as the sun seemed to have disappeared faster than normal and for a split second became disoriented. I looked around when my head cleared and didn’t recognize the place where I stood. I turned in a full circle and did not recognize any of the landmarks from before.
Before I could go into a full-blown panic there was a soft caress, like someone had blown a kiss against the mark on my neck and it started heating up again. This time not only my neck, but there seemed to be a heat radiating throughout my body, concentrated in my chest and making its way down between my thighs.
My pulse raced and my limbs felt heavy as if I couldn’t take another step. ‘Lucien!’ It could only be him taking over my senses this way, making me feel needy, hungry. My nymph rolled awake even as my fairy self tried to hold on to my sanity.
I felt a force holding me back, keeping me from moving too fast as I tried to make sense of where I was. That force field from before was even stronger now and in my head the words ‘no escape’ kept repeating themselves. ‘He’s here!’
I didn’t see him, couldn’t hear him, but I knew he’d caught up with me. If I were honest with myself I’d admit that I knew it was inevitable, that maybe the reason I hadn’t put up much of a fight is because I knew that this would be the end result. But I can’t just stand here like a stupid lamb to the slaughter.