Page 3 of Undying
I’m screwed.
Vampires took over the city fifteen years ago, irrevocably changing our world forever. They claimed the dark, roaming the streets like a pack of animals on the hunt for their prey.
The trail of blood I leave behind might as well be a neon sign that says, “Come and get it—free food.”
I hobble down the side alley, my every breath sawing in and out of my chest. As I pass a rusty dumpster, the rot nearly knocks me on my ass.
Then I grimace when a horrible idea strikes.
It’s my only chance.
Even though the smell is atrocious, my will to survive is stronger. Without hesitation, I climb inside the container and tumble into the mounds of trash. I wait, huddled in the filth and rot, barely daring to breathe. The smell slowly permeates my pores, seeming to reach inside my senses and take up residence.
If the vampires don’t kill me, infection and sepsis definitely will.
Blood loss—or the smell—leaves me lightheaded, and I struggle to stay conscious. Not even five minutes pass before an eerie, high-pitched male giggle echoes down the alley. I still, not even daring to breathe, a silent prayer on my lips. Footsteps pound along the alley. Hoots and hollers boom in the confined space, and my heart sinks.
Though I might still have a heartbeat, I’m a dead woman.
It’s only a matter of time before the vampires find me.
As they run past, I close my eyes, almost too afraid to hope.
For the space of a heartbeat, I think I’ve escaped.
That relief fades when fists pound on the dumpster, the hollow gong so loud, it reverberates in my chest. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, little mouse.”
Refusing to cower, I push myself upright, my limbs trembling, and I nearly topple onto my ass when the adrenaline finally wears off. Unless I want ferals to tear me apart, I have only one option remaining. I shove open the lid and take a desperate gamble. “Take me to Charles Dafoe.”
Now that I’ve invoked his name, they won’t dare take my blood without the master vampire’s approval.
Rough hands yank me out none too gently, clearly not pleased at being thwarted. I shudder when they lick the blood from my skin, leaving behind a trail of cold saliva that feels like a thick coating of slime. The venom in their saliva stings, like sandpaper being dragged across my nerve endings, leaving my skin so raw, I feel like a lobster slowly being boiled alive.
I swallow hard, curling my hands into fists against the need to struggle. Any sign of resistance could trigger them, and I would become a human juice box. As they drag me down the street, I ignore their lewd comments and too intimate touches and focus on staying conscious.
As the pain threatens to drown me, I wonder if it wouldn’t be a mercy to have them kill me fast. Charles Dafoe has been obsessed with me for years, his infatuation only increasing after I repeatedly refused his courtship. I very much fear he’s now going to make me pay for my defiance, one drop of blood at a time.
ChapterTwo
JOLIE
Two Weeks Later
Igain consciousness slowly, the world around me so dark, I’m not sure my eyes are even open. When I try to lift my arm, pain slices along my nerve endings, shooting agony through my limbs. A scream lodges in my throat, but the sound emerges as nothing more than a mewl of distress.
I desperately try to think back to what happened, but a gaping black hole lives where my memories should. Every time I probe my mind, pain spikes, as if my brain is trying to spare me the horror of what happened.
The last thing I remember is…
Being kidnapped!
Fucking hell!
Bones creak when I finally work up the strength to move, my joints so stiff, they refuse to function properly. My body is so cold that I’m beyond shivering, my clammy skin like ice. If I could see, I wouldn’t be surprised to find my breath fogging the air.
Thirst sears along my throat until it feels like I swallowed razor blades, and my stomach cramps in hunger. I lie there for another five minutes before I force the pain away to a manageable level. Images bombard me like a camera flash going off, just quick flickers of memories.
I remember being run over, the overwhelming pain just a small echo of what I feel now.
