Blood Lily (Lilith Adams Vampire Series Book 1) (28 page)

Spencer laughed on top of her, a high, hysterical laugh like the sound of nails on a chalk board. He jumped to his feet with his hands still bruisingly locked around her wrists. With the weight off
her chest, she pulled in a huge breath that left her choking. “You might be smart but you sure aren’t tough are you, bitch?”

“Why?
Your own sister? Her Husband? Your Dad? They’re your family!” Tears were stinging her eyes and her throat felt impossibly raw.

Spencer snarled. “They didn’t give a shit about me.” He leaned down closer to her face, spittle flying out of his mouth as his pure anger lashed out. “Duncan was holding me back, lying to me, keeping me from what’s mine!” His hands gripped painfully tight around her wrists, m
aking her hands tingle numbly. “He’s the only one that wants me to succeed. You keep your lying piece of shit father, you’ll both be dead soon anyway. You’ll scream, you’ll bleed, you’ll suffer, you’ll beg for mercy and eventually you’ll die, you meddlesome little bitch. Just not until we get what’s ours.”

His blue eyes narrowed at her and all Lilith could see in her mind was Miriah’s lidless blue eyes. “I enjoyed every second of killing Malachi. He was a smug bastard anyway. If you knew…if you knew how it felt, you’d want it too.” There was a dark satisfaction in his eyes as his tongue wetted his thin lips in a hungry smile. “It’s like nothing you’ve ever felt before and it’s all mine!” His nostrils flared with his toothy, savage grin.

She whispered in a hoarse hush something Spencer couldn’t quite make out. This had to work. Spencer was too determined to find any kind of acknowledgement, good or bad. He craved the attention like a dying man craves salvation.

“Oh you have something to say? Speak up!” His open hand cracked across her cheek like liquid fire.

Once Lilith caught her breath from the stinging hit, she whispered again, keeping her voice as quiet as possible. She closed her eyes as she choked on another harsh breath.

“I still can’t hear you.”

Lilith cracked her eyes open enough to see him lean closer, but not close enough. She whispered again, choking and coughing in between hushed words. Her throat felt like it was on fire from all the bile so it wasn’t much of an act.

Spencer leaned right down near her mouth just as she knew he would. He was looking for validation. A pathetic excuse for a person that had to know w
hat everyone thought about him. He’d feed on negativity, brandishing it as a reason in his mind for the vicious things he’d done.

Lilith’s eyes flashed open and she snarled at him. “I said is BITCH the only word you know?” When his eyes widened in shock, she threw her head forward, cracking him right in the nose. Fresh waves of pain m
ade her eyes swim with spots. She already had a concussion, but this was all she could do. She wasn’t going to let this monster take her anywhere!

Spencer dropped her wrists and jumped back howling and screeching as he covered his nose. Blood was pouring down his face, soaking his shirt. She was pretty sure she’d broken it, but she sure as hell wasn’t sticking around to find out. She fought through the wavering vision and clawed at the grass, pulling herself up on her shaky legs. The heels definitely
didn’t help, so she kicked them off and pushed herself forward. She ran with every bit of energy she had, straight into the corn fields. Rocks, twigs, burrs, everything bit at her bare feet, but none of it mattered. She had to keep moving. Run or die.

Spencer was still howling in pain, cursing in a long stretch of
obscenities that she couldn’t even understand as words anymore. Her chest was burning with the effort and leaves of corn plants whipped viciously at her, actually slashing her skin and drawing blood at times. Still she kept running as fast as she could, even as every muscle in her body screamed and burned in agony. She could rest when she was safe.

Then she heard Spencer screaming behind her. He sounded far off, maybe still by the trashed truck. “You and everyone you love are gonna die slow! I’ll be there when it happens.
You’ll end up just like Miriah! And your precious Daddy will be next, bitch! Don’t think I won’t find you! You’re gonna fucking pay!”

She could hear leaves rustling far behind her and a fresh wave of panic urged her on. She fought past the burning in her muscles, the tightness of her chest. She struggled for each panted breath and sprinted as fast as she could to the edge of the corn field. Tears were stinging at her eyes and she wiped them away as fast as she could.
She couldn’t fall apart now. She had to get to help. They were all dead if she didn’t. She knew Spencer was right. It wouldn’t end with her. It had nothing to do with her. Somehow, for whatever reason, this was all about Gregor.

She burst out of the cornfield, into a clearing. She slowed down long enough to weigh her options. There was a small house just ahead, but there were no cars parked outside, no guarantee anyone would even be home. A little closer to her sat an old barn that was probably painted red about fifty years ago
, judging by the faded, peeling paint. She couldn’t see any other buildings, no main roads, no people. The barn was her best bet. She could try and hide long enough to call for help or at least grab something that might make a decent weapon. She veered full speed towards the barn with every inch of her body crying out in pain.

Lilith skidded to a halt at the hay-covered floor of the barn. She looked around desperately, pawing through anything she could find. Finally, she uncovered a pair of rusty hedge clippers and snatched them up. The sound of leaves rustling in the cornfield still echoed in her pounding head. He was still out there. She scrambled
behind the tall bales of hay, just barely squeezing her skinny body between them and the wall. When she was far enough in, she dug her phone out of her pocket, which was thankfully not broken, and hit redial.

He picked up on the second ring. “Cohen.”

She kept her ragged voice to a whisper. “It’s Lilith Adams. I need help. Use a GPS tracker on my phone, whatever you need to do, but get someone here now, please!”

Spencer was shouting again and he sounded a lot closer. Her heart was tripping in her throat, making it hard to breathe. Cohen’s voice almost startled her. “What’s happening? You need to tell me.”

“I can’t right now. Get here or you’ll be putting me on a slab next to Miriah.” She hung up and shoved the phone back into her pocket.

“Come out, come out wherever you are!!” Spencer’s shrill voice rose and fell in sharply melodic tones that just terrified her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her breathing even, not panicking. It was too late for her to try to run now, he was too close. She gripped the shears tight in her hand and prayed that he’d give up, prayed that he wouldn’t smell the blood. It was just wishful thinking.

Her head was still throbbing with a violent pain that was churning her stomach.
Her face felt burning hot with sharp aches that probably meant hairline fractures. A sharp pain in her right side flared with every little breath. Every single muscle screamed in protest. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her conscious. She couldn’t run anymore. In fact, she needed a hospital, but right now she had to keep it together, she could fall apart later.

Every silent second that passed felt like an eternity. Her hands started to tremble from the effort of clenching the rusty shears. Then his voice boomed so close that she almost jumped, terror making her heart race a million miles an hour.

“I know you’re in here. I can smell the blood.” Spencer’s voice was a vicious sneer of tones. He had to be just outside the barn. Her heart sank. There was no way he wouldn’t find her. All she could hope for was that Spencer wouldn’t be able to really grab her back here, wedged behind the huge bales of hay. She still had the sheers too. At least she could fight back, hopefully, if her body didn’t just give out. On top of all the injuries, she knew she was losing blood. The blood she’d gulped down at the lab was probably the only reason she was still alive at this point. Still, if she lost too much, she’d either die or attack the first human she came across out of shear animalistic desperation.

Footsteps crunched across the hay, getting closer, then farther. He must have walked all the way across the barn. Lilith squeezed her eyes
shut, focusing everything she had on the sound of his footsteps. Her nerves were rattled so she eased her grip on her weapon, hoping she’d have enough time to snatch it up if she had to. The footsteps were coming closer again, terribly close, and then they stopped.

“You saw Miriah’s body. You know what’s going to happen to your father, Chance, you, maybe even those detectives. They begged to die, both of them. Of course, leaving Miriah in her office wasn’t part of the plan…He has his reasons though. Soon, you and your precious loved ones will be fuel for my fire.” He was standing just in front of the hay bales, judging by his voice.

Blood pounded in her ears, filling the deafening silence. What was he waiting for? This close, he had to smell her. Maybe he was just trying to push her buttons. If he could piss her off maybe she’d just come to him. Yeah, well, she wasn’t that damn stupid. She was more terrified than pissed off anyway. She just kept thinking about her nightmare, seeing her father burn, the lifeless look of Chance’s eyes.  Her skin broke out in a cold sweat and she almost dropped the shears.

“Your father is gonna beg for his life too, like the spineless coward he is. Guess it runs in the family
. I hope you haven’t bled out back there. It would be a pity if you died too soon. I have plenty of things I want to do to you, starting with that smartass mouth of yours.”

There was a faint sound somewhere off in the distance, but she couldn’t hear it well enough to recognize it. Suddenly the footsteps sprinted across the floor, out the barn door and then she heard the rustling of leaves again. She just sat there dumbfounded. Spencer ran off into the cornfield? The distant sound was growing louder, getting closer but
she still couldn’t place it.

What would actually scare Spencer away? Then she suddenly recognized the sound of tires crunching on gravel. That’s why he ran. He didn’t want to be seen. Down here, in the south,
if someone found him beating the crap out of her, he was more likely to get shot than hauled off to jail. Saved by redneck justice. She almost laughed with tears of hysterical joy as she dropped the sheers and started to slide out of her hiding place. It couldn’t be Cohen, he may not be human, but there was no way he could get here that fast. It didn’t matter, any person that wasn’t Spencer, meant a chance of survival.

As soon as she wasn’t being supported by a wall and
bales of hay, she fell painfully forward to her hands and knees. Her muscles didn’t want to work and every inch of her body screamed in pain. She choked back more bile as her head spun so fast that she almost collapsed right there on the floor of the barn. No. No! She had to get to the person in the approaching truck. Spencer may not be attacking her right now, but he wasn’t gone. He’d linger in the corn, waiting to see if the person took off again or just drove through. If she missed this chance, she was dead.

Lilith crawled up a hay bale, pulling herself up on her shaky legs and pushed forward again. She stumbled through the barn door and out onto the
crude driveway. As soon as she touched that gravel, she felt safer. It was like stepping out of the dark into the warm, brilliant sunshine.

There was an old red pickup truck cruising up the long drive. Relief flooded through her so powerfully that she just sank to her knees in the gravel, not even feeling it bite uncomfortably at her
skin. The truck screeched to a halt a few yards in front of her and finally she took in a gasping painful breath and closed her eyes with tears streaming down her cheeks.

The driver’s s
ide door popped open and footsteps crunched across the rocks, running toward her. “Oh god, are you okay, Ma’am.” Strong hands were suddenly helping her up to her feet again. She blinked her eyes open and almost couldn’t focus on the weatherworn face in front of her. “I gotta get you to the hospital.” He was saying it more to himself than her. His voice was older, and his thick accent made it a little difficult to understand. When she tried to open her eyes again, she finally focused on his face. Years of being in the sun made him almost look like an entirely different race. Deep wrinkles and sundried skin covered his face, even though his eyes seemed to say he wasn’t all that old.

Her legs gave out
and he hauled her up again. One strong arm slid behind her knees and suddenly he was carrying her to his truck. “Police station.” She just managed to croak out. Her throat was raw from all the bile and now that the adrenaline was leaving her system, she was reeling from all the pain. Her head spun like a merry-go-round on crack. Definitely a concussion, if not worse.

“I have to get you to the hospital. I’ll call the cops once we’re there. I promise.” He stuffed her into the passenger side of his truck and carefully pulled the seatbelt across her.
As soon as the belt touched the center of her chest, she yelped at the flare of pain. “I’ll just try and drive slow.” He left the seatbelt dangling and ran for the driver’s side.

Lilith managed, just barely to struggle through all the pain,
nausea and dizziness. She blinked and focused as hard as she could. “Thank you, for helping me. I do need a hospital, but I need to get to the Police Station first.” She paused, drawing in a shaking breath. “Someone’s after me. I need Detective Cohen. Please, promise to take me to the station first?”