Page 51 of A Vampire Bewitched
“Wait a minute.” Emma had just grasped what Aiden had said. “We’re storming the sadistic bitch’s lair with only three others to help?” She’d been nothing but a mass of nerves since leaving the apartment, but she’d been consoling herself with the thought they would be meeting an army of vicious vampires who were going to storm in there and rescue Luukas and Keira—all cavalry style—while she stayed safely in the background until if/when the time came that she could go get her sister.
No one would get hurt except the bad guys, and she and Keira would hug and cry and go back to their normal boring lives. They’d forget all about the past seven years, and all this witch nonsense. And most especially, one particular vampire. Blood bond be damned.
Was that really so much to ask?
With a quiet sigh, she knew it was wishful thinking. She’d never condemn Nik to die. No, she would do all she could to figure out some kind of arrangement between them. One they could both live with. “Live” being the prominent word there.
“Five of us are normally more than enough to get the job done. Besides,” Nik suddenly turned off onto an even smaller road, more like a trail actually, right through a thick stand of trees. “A large party is more easily spotted. Easier to surprise the enemy this way.”
They drove another 20 minutes or so before Nik finally slowed and pulled off to the side. Turning off the engine, he looked back at Emma, a finger over his lips indicating for her to keep quiet.
Sitting very still, she listened with them. She didn’t know what she would hear or see before they did, but she tried anyway.
Suddenly, without a look or word between them, Nik and Aiden opened their doors and got out of the vehicle. Quietly telling Emma to “Stay here, and lock the doors” they melted into the night, leaving her alone in the dark. Crawling up to the front seat, she locked the doors as directed and tried to see where they’d gone, but there was nothing but blackness. They’d disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After ten of the longest minutes of her life, her breath caught on a scream as they suddenly appeared again in front of the Hummer, scaring the hell out of her. She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the speed of vampires.
Nik came over to her side and indicated for her to unlock the doors while Aiden went to the back to get their packs out. Opening the driver’s side, he grabbed her by the waist and effortlessly plucked her out and set her one the ground. “Looks clear. Go with Aiden while I camouflage the vehicle.”
She started to ask him why it was okay for her to be alone with Aidennow, but not at the apartment, but changed her mind when she noticed the lines of strain around is blue eyes, still bright even in the dim light coming from the vehicle. Instead, she just nodded and decided to save her teasing for another time.
Emma tromped through the undergrowth after Aiden, branches and wet leaves whipping against her legs. She was glad she’d put on her heavy jeans, and not her more comfortable yoga pants.
She wanted to ask him if they’d heard or seen anything to indicate the others were in the area or on their way, but didn’t know if it was safe to make any unnecessary noise, so she held her tongue.
Aiden moved silently through the brush in front of her, like the predator he was. Following close behind him, she sounded like something more along the lines of a large elephant, or maybe even an entire herd of them.
“Through here, love.” Holding back a bundle of lush, green branches, Aiden ushered her through an opening in the side of a large rock face. It was so well hidden, she would’ve never noticed it there, which she guessed was the point. Once inside, she walked forward a few paces but couldn’t see enough of where she was going to continue, so she stopped and waited for Aiden. He re-covered the entrance, and the darkness became absolute.
She jumped as she felt him slide by her. “Hang on to my backpack and stay behind me. Watch your step. I dread the talking to I’ll receive if I return you to Nikulas with so much as a skinned knee.”
“You make me sound like his property.” Reaching out blindly in front of her, she found his pack and held on.
“Youarehis property now, love, no matter what he wants to believe. Don’t delude yourself into thinking otherwise.” They started walking slowly through the tunnel. “Until he dies, or you do.”
“Will he really die if he doesn’t feed from me?”
“Yes. Eventually.”
“And he knows this?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn’t he spoken to me about it?”
“Because he’s a bloody Estonian bastard, that’s why.”
She wasn’t sure what his heritage had to do with Nik’s reluctance to feed from a live person, but all conversation was put on hold as she concentrated on following Aiden without falling on her face.
After about 2 minutes of walking blindly through the tunnel, he stopped. “Let go of my pack Em, and stay here.”
“Where are you going?” she squeaked. Her voice echoed, and she could hear the constant “drip, drip, drip” of water somewhere off to her right. When he didn’t answer right away, she began to get anxious. Chewing on her bottom lip, she tried to see something, anything, around her that would give her an indication of where she was. But there was nothing but blackness, and her imagination went into overdrive. What if there were rats down here? Oh, God. She hated rats. Or spiders? Or worse, snakes??
She could feel herself starting to go into a full-blown panic. “Aiden!”
“I’m just going to get us some light. I would imagine you can’t see very well in here.”
He didn’t sound very far away, and she took a halting step toward him before remembering he’d told her to stay where she was.
