“Thank you,” he says and kisses me lightly as my brain is working furiously to come up with a plan. “I’m sorry, I got mad. Sometimes it still creeps up on me that it’s all of us, not just you and me.”
“No worries,” I say, distracted by something I can see over by the woods. I step closer to the railing and squint, trying to get a better look in the almost dark.
“What is it?” Cole asks, looking where I am.
“I don’t know. I feel like we are being watched. There is someone out there.” I Astral off without thinking, just determined to find out who this creep is that keeps peeping on me. I land on the outskirts of the woods alone and I look around, catching a glimpse of Cole leaping off the balcony and landing gently on the terrace below before he sprints in my direction. “Liv!” he shouts. “Liv!”
His cries get the attention of everyone else, who swarm out of the house almost instantly. I roll my eyes at them and turn back to the woods, hands on my hips. The prickling in my shoulder starts up again and it feels like a hundred bees attacking me. I scratch at it fiercely, drawing blood.
“Don’t ever fucking do that again,” Cole snaps at me as he reaches my side. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“What is it? What is going on?” Devon asks.
“Liv and I were talking on the balcony and she said she thought someone was watching us and then she just Astralled down here, without a word or a thought for her own safety,” Cole says as if I am an irresponsible little child.
“Sweetie, I am more than capable of taking care of myself,” I assure him. “Besides, there is no one here. They left as soon as I turned up.”
“Can you get a feel of what it was?” Xane asks, stepping up next to me, staring into the woods.
What, not who? Interesting choice of word.
“No. Should I be able to?”
“Don’t see why not. Try.” He shrugs.
I do try, but sense nothing. “Nothing at all. Well, I can sense all of us and even the animals, but nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever it was, it’s gone.”
“Was it The Thirteen?” Lincoln asks.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t think so. I mean he hasn’t been shy about sneaking up right next to me, why would he watch me from afar?”
“Do you think that whatever it is, is the same thing that was watching you when you were at…, um, in Italy the other week?” Cole asks, clearly not happy to use the castle name.
That gets CK’s attention, who had up until now been scanning the woods like his eyes were some sort of laser. “You felt you were being watched?” he asks.
Cole looks smug that I had mentioned it to him and not CK.
“Yes, when we were outside…walking,” I say with a slight pause, “I felt we were being watched from the terrace. That rise in Power I had? It came from that. I thought it was The Thirteen at the time, but I don’t think so now.”
CK looks smug now as he knows we were not walking when that rise of Power came up, in fact we weren’t even upright at the time. “Interesting,” he muses. “A new player?”
“Another creep you mean,” I grouse. “Let’s go back inside, it clearly isn’t here anymore.”
We all turn to go back inside except Lincoln, who grabs my hand and says, “I’ll stay out for a bit. I could do with a run.”
“Okay,” I say easily but know that a large part of his reason for staying out is so that he can roam the woods and scare off any potential stalkers. CK sees through this as well as he nods approvingly but then stops when I catch his eye. “I’ll see you later.” He bends down to give me a swift kiss on the forehead and I mumble, “Take care.” He looks busted but then just shrugs it off and heads into the woods.
Chapter 18
Cole and I disappear back upstairs as soon as we get inside and he makes love to me slowly, I think in response to our quarrel earlier. He takes his time with me and I fall asleep feeling very loved.
In the dream, I am running. Well, no, more like gliding, my feet skimming across the ground as I pursue a woman who is running for her life, screaming as she looks back at me and stumbles. I let her fall to the ground and stand over her, my long white dress drifting ghostly around me as my hair floats up in the magickal wind.
I smile a predatory smile at her and she screams again as I drop my fangs. I lean over her and take her arms in my hands, bringing her neck closer to my mouth. All I can hear is her screaming as I pierce her soft skin and drink. I keep drinking until the screaming stops and her head lolls back and she goes limp like a rag doll. I let her go and she slumps to the wet ground, the rain lashing down now soaking her dead body as I wipe my mouth delicately and walk away.
I awake at 4 AM drenched in sweat, my heart pounding from the nightmare but at the same time the urge to Hunt and kill washes over me. I swallow and slow my breathing. I am feeling stifled. Cole’s arm is draped over me, pinning me to the bed and something heavy is lying on my feet.
I remove Cole’s arm gently and lift my head. The sight at the foot of the bed makes me smile, and I instantly feel better about the nightmare I just had. Lincoln, in Wolf form, is curled up fast asleep on my feet. I like the feeling of safety his presence brings. Tonight, is the full moon and he will probably stay this way now until dawn tomorrow. Not out of necessity, but out of choice. He is less likely to rip someone to pieces if he is in the form he is supposed to be in today. I carefully pull my feet out from under him and wiggle them to get them working again. I slip out of bed and out onto the balcony to look out over the dark, misty grounds towards the woods. I don’t expect to see anything and am not surprised when I don’t. I turn and smile as I feel Cole drape my robe over my shoulders.