Lost to the Night (The Brotherhood 1)

He looked so terrified she felt nauseous.

“No!” The word came out as a shriek, and she was suddenly overcome with a strange sense of foreboding. No, stronger than that … more akin to dread, to panic. “Don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. Let us leave it in the past. Let us leave here, forget everything that has happened before this moment and never speak of it again.”

“We can’t.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters a great deal.”

She heard anguish, a deep sense of sorrow and her heart was beating so loudly she feared her chest could not contain it. Perhaps fear had clouded her vision for she failed to notice Mr. Sutherby lunging at the bed.

“You’ll not take her,” Sutherby yelled, slashing at Alexander’s arm and face with his knife. The material of Alexander’s coat took the brunt of the damage, yet she noticed the thin line of blood across his cheek.

With a loud roar, Alexander flew off the bed, knocking the knife to the floor.

Mr. Sutherby shuffled back, his eyes large and wild, his bottom lip quivering. “No … no … don’t touch me. Don’t hurt me,” he muttered, but Alexander grabbed him and sank his teeth deep into his neck.

Evelyn screamed as Sutherby’s eyes rolled back in their sockets, as he gasped and heaved in sheer terror.

The door to the chamber burst open, and Lord Markham rushed in, stopping dead in his tracks. “Bloody hell.” He raced over to Alexander. “That’s enough,” he bellowed. “Leave him, Alexander. Leave him be.”

Alexander ignored his plea.

She could see trails of blood trickling down Mr. Sutherby’s yellow waistcoat.

Lord Markham grabbed Alexander’s arm. “Don’t do this. You’re scaring Miss Bromwell.”

Evelyn scrambled off the bed. If he killed Mr. Sutherby, their lives would be forever tainted by such an evil deed. “Please, Alexander. Let him go.”

The sound of her voice seemed to have some effect. He released Sutherby, the man collapsing to the floor, limp and listless. Lord Markham bent down and examined the wound, licking his fingers and dabbing at the holes in Sutherby’s neck.

Nothing could have prepared her for the terrifying sight that greeted her when Alexander turned around.

His beautiful blue eyes were a lifeless black, the rest a mass of scrawny red veins. Blood dripped from the points of two sharp fangs, running down his lips and chin, staining the collars of his white shirt. His breathing sounded wild, hoarse, a dreadful hissing.

She shrank back from him in horror.

“What … what are you?” Her voice was barely a whisper, and she gulped down a breath to stop a sob from escaping.

He took a step towards her, and she backed away, her legs and arms shaking so violently she felt dizzy. She rubbed her wrists, the stinging pain proof that the devilish vision before her was real and not some figment of her overwrought imagination.

“Eve. Let me explain.”

His voice sounded strange, far too deep, foreign to her ears. “Stay … stay back. Stay away from me,” she stuttered, her hands held out in front of her as she backed out of the chamber door.

He blinked rapidly, and she saw faint flickers of blue streaking through his eyes. The blackness passed quickly, and he appeared more like himself. Yet he was changed in her eyes. The man she knew and loved was now lost to her, relegated to a pile of distant memories.

The pain in her chest grew more intense, choking as it rose up to her throat and her only thought was to run, to run far away from the evil nightmare. Turning on her heels she raced out into the hall and down the stairs, checking over her shoulder in case he followed her. Relief coursed through her as she ran out into the cool night air.

But she didn’t stop — she couldn’t stop.

The need to be free from the ache in her heart was overwhelming, and she kept running, across the dew-soaked grass, through clusters of shrubs and trees — for a mile or more. When her legs could no longer support her weight, she collapsed in a heap on the forest floor, the world around as dark and as black as her soul, and she sobbed until the tears stung her skin.

“Why!” The mournful cry echoed through the forest, and she glanced up at the thick canopy, hoping to find a ray of light.

Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she rocked back and forth in a bid to calm her breathing. The grief was immeasurable. A vast hole had opened in her chest. She felt so cold, so utterly alone.

“Alexander,” she whispered. “I love you.”