Eleazar crouched low, prepared for an attack. “I intend to walk away from this, which means you will not.”
Disinterested in conversation, the vampire drew in a saliva-drenched breath and lunged.
Chapter 26
The sudden impact threw Eleazar to the ground, his back skidding across the forest floor. The vampire snarled and snapped, swiping claws sharp enough to slit an immortal’s throat, prepared to destroy.
Survival instinct kicked in, and Eleazar sprung to his feet, centuries of pent-up control exploding with one lethal thought: nothing would harm his mate.
The male darted at him with a snapping jaw and dog-like intent to maul. Eleazar balled up the rabid energy charging him, and with his wide-spread fingers, flung it back at its host.
A sharp grunt coughed from the rogue, the blow throwing him to the ground and driving him hard into the bark of a nearby tree. The collision shook the earth, and Eleazar growled, his claws and fangs extending as his hackles rose and he prowled closer.
The creature, a true and wild rogue, lay hunched and filthy on the soil floor. Hair matted around its face, hanging in long, dreaded hanks. Its skin was discolored from dirt, grime, and the blood of its prey. The low, purring growl that hummed from its chest was not a natural sound nor a welcoming one.
Feral and delirious, the beast needed to be put down. Eleazar approached slowly, muscles bunched, mind intent.
Eleazar, what’s happening?
He slammed down a wall on his thoughts. Larissa would be safest if she stayed out of his mind—
Eleazar?
Startled once more by her stubborn and surprisingly strong cognitive skills, he gave her a firm reprimand. Stay put and keep out of my mind!
Her shock registered as hurt and the connection severed. Distracted by her reaction, his mind retraced their link—
The blow knocked him back, throwing him several feet and the rogue sprung at him with shocking speed. Wild animals skittered, swarming around them. Not animals.
The imposing presence of something out there crowded his intuition. It wasn’t human, and it wasn’t vampire. It was something altogether other.
His mind sharpened with the now familiar jolt of Larissa nearing. She was on the move.
Fury spiked as he understood she deliberately disobeyed him.
Larissa! I order you to go back—
The sharp, piercing sting of his command deflected and stabbed his mind. Wincing, he gripped his head.
The distraction was enough time for the rogue to swipe a claw down Eleazar’s front, cutting him open from jaw to stern.
He hissed, baring his fangs. His attention back on the wild enemy as he swept an arm out and cleared the forest floor. Sending hurricane-force winds outward, he knocked down trees and threw his enemy down as if he were as inconsequential as the fallen foliage.
The chatter of the approaching creatures grew. Their excited cackles rung like deranged voices, speaking in tongues. His mind tried to latch on to the threat, but there were too many moving in and not a single natural brain wave for him to read.
The rogue climbed to its feet, intent on Eleazar and snarling. Shadows disguised his face, but there was no mistaking the rumbling growls as a threat. Then a ban of light crossed its face and the beast hissed, pulling away from the approaching sunlight. But Eleazar saw a glimpse of the familiar and recognizable profile of the beast.
Spine stiff, Eleazar froze and tried to rationalize the sight, but there was no logical explanation. It couldn’t be. It would have been impossible for such a wild threat to survive all these years. Yet, there was no mistaking those haunting eyes of his old friend, Isaiah Hartzler.
Staggered and stunned, he drew back. He’d assumed it was merely a rogue in the wild. He never actually believed Isaiah might have survived all this time. Now, this was personal.
“Hello, old friend.”
Saliva clung to Isaiah’s fangs as he snarled, lurching closer, drawing no nostalgia from Eleazar’s presence. It was clear the male only understood that of a wild, territorial predator. Eleazar was trespassing, and Isaiah was prepared to assert his power and claim his territory.
So be it. Crouching low, Eleazar bent for battle, certain this conflict would still end in one of their deaths.
Isaiah circled and snarled, creeping closer and snapping his jaw as he swiped gruesome claws through the air. Then something in the air caught the male’s attention. Isaiah sniffed and smirked, a low purr rumbling from his filthy chest.
Eleazar pulled a breeze from the south and recognized Larissa’s scent right away. But Isaiah recognized it first.
“No!” Eleazar bolted after the rogue. “Larissa, run!”
The speed of a vampire far surpassed his own. Their kind grew unstoppably strong when they fed on pure human blood, which Isaiah clearly had been ingesting for some time.
The chatter in the trees grew louder. Whatever was following them screamed like monkeys as branches shook overhead.
Larissa! Answer me!