“Charity?” I gasp. “What are you doing here?”
Furrowing her brow as if she doesn’t understand the question, Charity frowns. “I don’t know.”
Having already made the mistake of being caught unaware too many times, I reach out with my senses, searching for the presence of others near me.
I sense nothing but the weak, sluggish heartbeat coming from Charity’s chest.
That doesn’t mean this isn’t a trap intended to catch me…
Why else would Nikolaos take Charity?
Fearing I’m missing something, again, I stare hard at Charity, taking in every little detail.
The sallow color of her skin. The murky white that’s starting to cloud her eyes.
The fact that she’s wearing my t-shirt…
Shoving the blanket all the way down, Charity slowly slides out of bed. Her movements not as stiff as when she was beguiled, but still off somehow.
When she gets to her feet and takes a stumbling step toward me, I realize she’s not only wearing one of my shirts, she’s also wearing my panties.
Sniffing the air, I can smell Nikolaos on her, thick and musky.
What the fuck has he been doing?
“I want to go home,” Charity says, slurring a little. “Will you take me home, Ch-Chloe?”
What’s wrong with her? I ask Asher, showing him what I’m seeing.
She’s been turned into a ghoul, my love, Asher answers immediately. There is nothing you can do for her.
What the fuck is a ghoul? I demand, stepping to the side as she almost reaches me. Is it like some type of zombie?!
In a way, yes. A mostly conscious zombie…
“Ch-Chloe, take me home now,” Charity pleads and slowly turns.
Lurching forward until she’s falling into me, she grabs onto my arms.
Her fingers dig into my flesh with such strength, I fear she’s going to bruise me.
She’s already dead, leave her, Asher says.
I nod my head and do my best to push Charity gently away. Afraid I’ll break her with my new strength.
Letting out a shrill cry, Charity throws herself back at me, catching me by surprise. “Take me home, Chloe! I’ve been a good girl! I want to go home!”
“Yes, you have been a very good girl, Charity,” Nikolaos says.
Jerking my head to the right, I see him standing in the doorway.
Nikolaos smirks at me before he makes a big show of smelling the air. “I thought I smelled you, Chloe. What a lovely surprise.”
Crying now, Charity clings desperately to me.
Eyes lighting up with a manic gleam, Nikolaos says, “I’ve missed you dearly.”
Then he moves almost too fast for me to follow, appearing behind Charity.
Panicked now, I try my best to push Charity away without hurting her. But when she refuses to let go, I have no choice but to shove her hard.
Charity crashes into Nikolaos, forcing him to take a step back.
Well, most of Charity…
Unfortunately, it seems my hard shove caused her arms to rip away from her torso at the shoulders.
Looking down in horror, I see her hands still gripping me. Her fingers digging into my skin and still moving as if nothing has happened.
My stomach clenches hard and I immediately reach down, trying to pull her hands off me.
All I end up doing is disconnecting her arm from her hand at the wrist, making it harder to get a good grip.
“You broke my toy.” Nikolaos laughs as I struggle with Charity’s palm and fingers.
The blood on my hands is thick and sticky, and the damn things won’t stop moving and wiggling.
“But it’s okay. I don’t need her now that you’re here. Though, I did work so hard to make her look just like you… The necklace is a nice touch, don’t you think?”
I glance up at Nikolaos just in time to see him reaching into Charity’s shirt. He pulls out the cross he took from me and holds it up to the light.
Too late, I try to look away.
Twenty-Nine
Asher
Without thought or reason, my body is flying across the field we’ve stationed our starting point at. My vampiric claws bursting through my skin, my eyes instantly filling with the red haze of seething fury.
Chloe’s in danger, and it’s completely my fault.
How fucking stupid can I be? How fucking naive was I to think she’d be ready for something like this?
All around me I hear roaring.
Is it me? Is it my children?
No, I can hear it’s different than ours, it’s more guttural.
Deep primal roaring.
Dav and his men have begun their attack.
Even in my raging bloodlust, I have the presence of mind to remember them. They’ll be wearing bright red bands around their waists. I questioned it at first, not wanting them to give themselves away so easily. But after it was explained that it would be us vamps who need the distinction between the two packs, I agreed. They can smell a different pack easily enough it doesn’t matter what they’re wearing.
The distance between me and the bowling alley is quickly covered as I use every ounce of my enhanced abilities to reach Chloe.