HerVampireLover (2 page)

She glanced at the diminishing bundle of wood by the fireplace. She’d need to run an errand first. The nearest town was only fifty miles away and she’d take the morning to fill up on her supplies. When she returned, she’d get back to her writing.

Thankfully, Mel had the foresight to leave the keys to the black Hummer, because Cat didn’t think her BMW would make it through the winding, snow- packed roads.

She slipped into her warm parka and pulled on her boots. If all went well and the roads weren’t too bad, she could be back by lunchtime.

Within the hour, she parked the vehicle in front of the nearest town’s general store. The street was quaint and picturesque with little stores lined up along it and Christmas lights decorating the trees and shrubs along its sidewalk.

She smiled, thinking she would love to live in a quiet town like this. Since her break up with Simon, and with no real family or friends back home apart from Mel, nothing really held her back. Maybe a change would be good for her and she wondered if she should give the thought serious consideration.

After she purchased her wood, she carried it out of the store. Without warning, a heavy-set man walked into her and the wood tumbled out of her arms. She shot him an annoyed look.

“I’m sorry, Miss. Let me help you.” The stranger bent down and started arranging the wood into a pile before he picked it up.

Cat smiled stiffly at him. “It’s no trouble. I should have been watching where I was going.”

She noticed the man didn’t return her smile. His gaze kept darting behind her and he appeared anxious, excited.

“My fault, Miss. Let me help you get this to your car. It’s the
least
I can do.” His offer carried a curious thread of resentment beneath its tone.

He was probably having a hard day.  He couldn’t possibly think it was
her
fault they ran into each other. “My car’s just across the street,” she said. Again, his eyes continued to dart behind her. What was wrong with him?

He carried the wood to the curb and stopped. “Where is it?” His tone was abrupt and she started to get annoyed.

He was obviously not in the mood to help her and she made a move to take the wood from his hands. It appeared chivalry was dead, even in small towns. “It’s the black Hummer. Here, let me take that. I can manage.”

He took a step back and glared at her. “No. It’s…it’s the least I can do.”

She bit back a scowl, deciding a few moments of this man’s time wouldn’t kill him. “The car’s this way.”

She crossed the street and began walking toward the Hummer, reaching into her purse for her keys. Suddenly, she heard an engine roar and a woman scream. Cat looked up to see what the commotion was and froze, staring at a truck barreling its way toward her.

“Look out!” a woman from the sidewalk yelled.

Panic filled her legs with lead and she couldn’t move as the truck sped toward her. Suddenly, a dark shadow moved with lightening speed toward her, lifted her in his powerful arms, and carried her off to the side as the truck sped over the spot she had been standing on.

The man who saved her continued to hold her firmly in his grip as her put her down and looked down at her face. “Are you all right?”

Cat looked up, ready to thank him for saving her life, and her breath caught, stunned as she flicked her gaze over his face. This couldn’t be, she thought wildly. She was staring at her fantasy man. Dazed, she ran her gaze over his longish black hair, his eyes the color of the midnight sky, his incredibly sexy mouth. Then her gaze screeched to a halt on his skin. It was smooth, translucent, as though there was a faint glow about him.

She tried to find her voice. “I’m…I’m fine. Thank…thank you.” Their gazes locked, and she caught the look of recognition on his handsome face. “You saved my life,” she whispered.

His expression was grim, darkening the hypnotic glow on his skin, and he looked over her shoulder and glared at the man holding her wood. “Drop it, Granger,” he said.

Frowning, Cat looked at the heavyset man and watched him drop the wood to the ground. Her frown deepened. Did they know each other?

“It’s not over, Knight,” the heavyset man said harshly. “You and your demon bitch will soon go back to Hell.” Without another word, he jumped into a silver four-door sedan that skidded to a halt beside him. The car sped away, leaving Cat bewildered and not a little afraid.

She stared up the stranger. “Do you know him?” His arms were still around her, holding her against his chest, and he stared deeply into her eyes.

“Yes,” he said.

Cat tried pushing away from him, but his hold on her was firm. “You can let go of me now.”

He released her, grimacing. “It’s not safe for you here. You must come with me.”

She didn’t like his commanding tone and a thread of fear ran up her spine. “Are you telling me that truck was trying to run me over?”

“Yes.”

“And you know that man who carried my wood?”

“Yes.”

“Can you give me more information than one word replies?” She looked around for a policeman. “I’m calling the cops.” She reached into her purse for her cell phone.

He grabbed her hand. “Don’t. Cat, I’m here to help you.”

“You’re serious, right? That man tried to kill me? Why? I’ve never seen him before in my life.” She suddenly felt queasy with fear.

“They’ve been following you.”

“Why?”

“This could be a case of mistaken identity, but now I’m not so sure,” he murmured in a deep, hypnotic tone, his dark, smoldering gaze running over her features. He seemed disturbed, surprised at some private revelation. The hazy clouds shifted and a ray of sunlight fell on them. He flinched, his jaw tightening, and Cat frowned as she watched him cast an irritated look up at the sky.

She ran a frantic glance around her for anyone who could help her. The distant sound of a siren calmed her down. “Why have they been following me? And how do you know my name?”

He glanced toward the sound of the police siren and gave her a dark look. “We have to leave. I cannot explain everything to you now. We’ll go back to your cabin.”

Her fear turned to panic. Did this man know where she was staying? She heard the siren grow closer and relief washed over her when she spotted a cop car slow to a stop a few feet away from them.

“I don’t know who you are, but you obviously know
me
. I want you to leave me alone before I tell the cop to…to arrest you for attempted murder.”

The man reached for her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes. “No, Cat, you won’t,” he murmured.

She wanted to run, but she couldn’t move or speak as she stared up into his dark gaze, his pupils so black they looked opaque. A strange peace enveloped her as the cop neared her side. A veil of calm draped her body and soothed her tension away, pacifying her, relaxing her. Her mind warred with the heady calm surrounding her, and a small recess at the back of her mind jolted in surprise. His eyes. Oh, my God, was he doing this to her with his eyes?

“Miss, we got a call that there was a possible hit and run. Are you all right?” the policeman asked.

The stranger put his arm around Cat, and she continued to feel mesmerized, drugged, as if her actions weren’t her own and someone—or something—was in complete control over her. Cat looked up at the cop and smiled stiffly. “I’m…I’m fine. This man saved me. I didn’t get a look at the truck’s license plate, but—”

“The plate was six seven four R T three,” her rescuer told the cop. “It was a two door, blue ninety-eight Ford, and the passenger door had a dent.”

The cop jotted everything down in his black notebook. “Thank you. I’ll run this through dispatch and see if we can come up with anything.”

“I appreciate it.”

Cat couldn’t find her voice. She couldn’t move. She tried to get the cop’s attention with her eyes, but he was looking at the stranger, asking him if he had a good look at the driver.

“Where can we reach you?” the cop asked him after jotting more notes in his pad.

“About fifty miles out at six-seven-five Newberry Road. The phone number is five-five- five- nine-zero-seven-eight.”

Cat would have gasped if she hadn’t felt so leaden and trapped. The cop went back to his patrol car and drove off. Slowly, she felt her body return to normal, and she gasped for air as she stumbled out of his arms. What had he done to her?

“Don’t come any closer—”

“Cat, wait—”

“No. I’ll scream.”

She ran to the Hummer and jumped into the driver’s seat. She had to get the Hell out of here. When she returned to the cabin, she was going to pack her bags and leave. He knew where she was staying.

She glanced at her rear view mirror and saw the stranger standing where she left him, his tall, muscular frame motionless as he watched her start the Hummer. Another ray of sunlight hit him, and she frowned as he covered his face and disappeared from sight. She floored the gas.

The drive back was a blur. Cat tried calling the cops on her cell phone, but she couldn’t get a connection, and she threw the phone in disgust on the seat beside her. What a perfect time to lose service. As soon as she reached the cabin, she went straight for the landline. It was dead. A cold dread crept up her spine. She knew Mel always paid her bills on time. She was one of those people who were meticulous with their personal affairs and Cat knew Mel would never allow her phone to get disconnected.

She ran to lock the front door, checked all the windows, and scrambled through Mel’s cabin as she grabbed all her things and threw them in her suitcases. By the time everything was packed, a good thirty minutes had passed and her heart was racing a mile a minute.

Cat carried her bags to the door and stepped outside, locking the door behind her. With her heart lodged in her throat, she carried her bags to her BMW and threw them in the trunk. She jumped into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition. Nothing. The engine rolled and rolled without starting. She started the car again and still nothing.

Cat took a deep breath, trying to calm her frayed nerves.

Quickly, she decided to take Mel’s Hummer. After a few more minutes of gathering her bags, she tossed them into the vehicle and stumbled into the front seat. She turned on the ignition, and again, nothing happened. The engine turned, but didn’t start. Paranoia settled in. Cat didn’t think this was a coincidence, and she choked back on a rising sob as she jumped out of the Hummer and ran to the hood. She popped it open and gaped at the hatchet job someone had done to the engine. She looked around her, her eyes wide with fear.

Her gaze froze on the heavyset man standing a few feet away from her. He held a gun in one hand and a sharp wooden stake in the other. Slowly, he raised the gun and pointed it at her, and Cat screamed at the top of her lungs.

Terrified, she ran behind the Hummer as the man fired a shot. It missed her and hit the windshield, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Oh, my God! He was going to kill her! “What do you want?” she yelled from where she crouched behind the Hummer.

She heard him crunching through the snow as he made his way toward her. She had nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. What was she going to do? She couldn’t outrun a bullet. She couldn’t vanish into thin air. Cat saw her life flash before her eyes and began to sob.

He loomed over her as she stared up at his face, her lips trembling with her unspoken plea. His expression was filled with such malevolent hatred, her legs gave way, and she fell on the snow.

“Why are you doing this to me? What do you want?” she cried.

He tucked the gun into his pocket and raised the stake. “To rid the world of foul, evil creatures like you. And after I kill you, Tobias Knight will be next.”

“No!” She screamed again, shrinking back with terror. At the back of her mind, she registered the heavyset man had called her rescuer Knight.

He came closer, his expression darkening with hate and rage as he raised the stake above his head. “Die, bitch.”

Cat’s heart stopped as a familiar flash of darkness swooped down on the man. She choked on a gasp and stared at the handsome stranger who’d saved her earlier.
Tobias Knight
. She didn’t have time to register where he had appeared from or how he moved so fast. All she could do was gape at him as he grabbed the heavyset man by the hair and pulled his head all the way back.

“It’s over, Granger,” he growled.

Tobias’s face glowed with danger, his eyes flashed fire, and he opened his mouth, baring two long, pointy incisors. Something dark and sinister registered at the back of Cat’s mind, but she couldn’t believe the implication. His eyes were wild with rage as he bit down on the man’s neck. Paralyzed with fear, she gaped at the scene.

She caught another movement behind Tobias and saw two men coming into view, a young man in a dark parka and an older man wearing a thick blue coat. They both carried crossbows with wooden stakes.

“Father!” the younger man yelled. He pointed his crossbow at Tobias.

“Look out!” Cat yelled. She couldn’t fathom why she was helping—tremors ran through her—a…a…vampire? What else could he be? Who had two-inch long fangs and moved like lightening? And what about the glow around his face? That eerie, pale, radiance that made his skin gleam. What about earlier, when he had done some weird mind meld thing and she couldn’t speak to the policeman? Cat began to hyperventilate.

Tobias let the limp body of the heavyset man fall to the ground and he spun around to the young man pointing the crossbow at him.

She gaped at Tobias’s pale face and bloodied mouth. He looked more animal than human, wild and dangerous as he hissed at the two men.

“I didn’t kill him,” he said harshly, “but he will be out for a few days. Take his body back to where you came from and hope you never see me again, because the next time you do, I
will
kill you.”

She watched him spring with inhuman speed toward the men and disarm them of their weapons. Then he returned to the heavyset man’s body and lifted him with one hand, flinging him at the two men as though he weighed no more than a bag of feathers.