Page 72 of A Vampire Bewitched
Lucian bared his teeth at her. “Yewilldo it. 'N' you'd better hurry, before th' moon rises.” It was the first time he’d spoken. His voice was raw and gravelly, and the sound of it raked over her like hot coals. Emma felt chills run down her spine.
Her eyes widened at the sight of his long canines, and she turned her terrified stare to Duncan, who gave her a confident smile. “We need th’ element o’ surprise. We'll be right behind ye. Ye can do this, lassie.”
Not seeing she had much of a choice, she walked jerkily toward the creek.
Chapter 40
Tears streamed unnoticed down Emma’s face as she followed the creek downstream, and her body shook so hard her teeth clattered. And not from the cold.
A quick peek over her shoulder didn’t reveal anyone following her. Were the dogs even there? Or were they only pretending to be friends with Nik and Aiden and sending her off to her doom? She may have signed her own death wish by not denying she was Nik’s mate.
Hurting—or killing—her would be the perfect way to destroy him. It would be a fatal blow. One that would make him suffer severely before he finally found his end.
Emma was getting closer to the mountain, and nothing and no one had leapt out to halt her progress. Where were these supposed guards?
She would kill those dogs. She really would.
If she made it out of here alive.
She thought about making a break for it. If the wolves were really following, she knew she wouldn’t get far. But at least then she’d know they hadn’t been lying.
And if they weren’t following? Well, she’d know that, too.
Nik would be looking for her now. He’d said he’d be able to find her as long as she wasn’t too far away. She tried to add up the number of miles they’d walked in her head. But she didn’t know how far was “too far”.
But, it didn’t really matter, did it? There was no way she was just going to willingly get herself captured. She knew what the guards would be like. Abnormal things with grey, rotting skin and red eyes.
I’d rather die from exposure in the wilderness than be taken by those—
She couldn’t even finish the thought. Mind made up, she took one last frantic glance over her shoulder, and took off running toward the thick trees.
She wasn’t even halfway there when she heard the unsteady footfalls of something behind her. Terrified, she pumped her arms and stretched out her legs, her mind telling her to look, but her body rebelling against the thought. She didn’t need to look. She knew what it was.
Emma never ran so hard in her life, but in spite of her best efforts, she could hear her pursuer gaining on her. The footfalls came closer and closer no matter how she pushed herself. Harsh, wheezing breaths sent chills down her spine, and she cut to the side.
Keeping her eyes on the trees, she hit her stride, giving it all she had. If she just made it to the cover of the forest, she could lose it, and she’d be safe.
She was only about twenty feet away when, from the cover of the trees, a pair of red eyes appeared straight from one of her nightmares, glowing eerily out of the darkness. Emma screamed as a loud hiss crawled over her skin, making every hair on her body stand up on end.
Running for her life, she didn’t notice the anguished roar that came tearing through the trees in answer to her scream.
Emma veered off to the left, hoping against hope the werewolves were actually there and would help her. Tears ran down her face, making it hard for her to see. Something burst from the trees on her right, lurching toward her, long arms spread wide to catch her. With a shriek, she veered off again in the opposite direction.
Directly into the beast behind her.
It grabbed her up in a bear hug, hurtled her roughly to the ground, and fell on top of her.
For a brief moment, she froze as terror overwhelmed her. But only for a moment. Emma flipped onto her back as she hit the dirt. Pushing on its chest, she kicked her feet and threw her head back and forth. Long, yellow claws sliced into her skin through her clothes. Saliva mixed with blood dribbled from its open mouth as it screeched at her, landing in her hair, on her face—
No! No! No! Please no!!She repeated the mantra over and over as she tried to fight it off. This couldn’t be happening to her again.
The urge to vomit was overwhelming as she felt the thing hump her, excited from her thrashing underneath it. But she couldn’t let it get a good grip on her. It would rip her apart. And this time, she had no doubt, she wouldn’t survive.
Pieces of its rotting flesh came off in her hands as she pushed and clawed at its chest and arms. Gripping her wrists, it tried to hold her arms down, its yellow claws slashing open her skin on the inside of her arms. But still, she fought. She didn’t know where her strength came from, but didn’t stop to think about it.
Frantically, she kicked and rocked her body from side to side, until she finally managed to get one of her legs between them. With all of her strength, she slammed her knee into its balls.
Throwing its head back, it shrieked in pain, but didn’t roll off of her. Emma sobbed uncontrollably now, but somehow managed to pull one of her arms from its grip. She slammed her palm into its exposed throat, but she couldn’t get her fingers far enough around the rotting flesh to cause any real pain.
