The Vampire's Love (19 page)

Authors: Ramona Gray

BOOK: The Vampire's Love

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“Abby?”
She called softly. “Abby, are you there?”

There was
no reply and she pinched back the moan of dismay and cleared her throat.

“Abigail?
Can you hear me? Abigail!” She shouted this time and cringed when
something in the dark answered with a loud and raucous cry.

“Okay, it’s
alright.” She murmured to herself as she wrapped her arms around her thin
body. The night air was cold and she was soaking wet and already
beginning to shiver uncontrollably. “Don’t panic. They probably
aren’t far.”

You
don’t know that. You don’t even know where you are. For all you
know, Darius and his men could be closing in on you right now. You need
to get moving before they find you.

She
squinted at the trees. They didn’t look particularly familiar to her but
until Darius had raided their village, she had never really been outside of it
before. Besides, the last thing she remembered was stepping into the
light with the man Abby had called Michael. She didn’t have a clue how
she could be in the arena one moment and then in the middle of the forest the
next, but what was important was finding Abby and the others before Darius
found her.

Gathering
her courage, she moved away from the tree she was leaning against and stared up
at the sky. She could just see the moon filtering through the trees and
she sighed softly. At least it had stopped raining, she was grateful for
–

There was a
soft rustling behind her and she swung around, her heart beating fiercely and
the coppery taste of fear flooding her mouth.

“Wh-who’s
there?” She whispered.

There was
no response and she took a step backward as her heart began to slow to its
normal pace. It was nothing. Just the wind perhaps.

What
wind?

Never mind
that, she really needed to –

The
rustling happened again and she gave a soft shriek of surprise when a large
bird emerged from behind a tree. It was huge, well over nine feet tall,
and its plumage was a rich, dark, green. Its head was a lighter shade of
green and its red eyes stared curiously at her.

She blew
her breath out in a relieved little rush as the bird shook itself and spread
its short wings. It didn’t look like it could fly at all with such short
wings but its legs were long and powerful looking and ended in thick, sharp
talons. It tapped one talon against the ground as it cocked its head and
studied her silently.

“Go on,
bird. Shoo!” She waved her arms weakly at it and it took a step
backward, shaking its body in a disgruntled manner. Feathers floated to
the ground and she clapped her hands over her ears when the bird opened its
beak wide and let loose with an eardrum shattering cry.

“Stop!”
She shrieked. “Stop it!”

The bird
continued and, feeling like her ears were bleeding, Sara groped on the ground
for something to throw at the bird. Her fingers swept past a large stone
and she gripped it firmly and threw it at the bird. The stone hit the
bird dead center in the chest and it gave a startled squawk and closed its
beak.

“Get
lost!” She shouted at it.

Her eyes
widened when the bird lowered its head and scratched at the ground with one
large talon again. It looked like a bull getting ready to charge and she
backed away as it made a high-pitched humming noise.

“Get out of
here.” She whispered.

The bird
scratched twice more and then, with a quickness that surprised her, charged
toward her. She screamed shrilly and sprinted through the trees.
She could hear the bird closing in on her and she dodged around the trees and
thick bushes, looking desperately for a hiding spot, as she forced herself to
run faster.

She risked
one terrified glance over her shoulder and screamed again in sudden
terror. The bird was nearly upon her, and its large and ridiculously
sharp beak was opening and snapping with deadly force.

Her foot
hit an exposed root and she went sprawling, landing on her belly with a hard
thud. The breath was knocked out of her and she stared mutely at the bird
standing over her. It made another screeching cry and then it was pecking
at her, its beak tearing through the soft flesh of her side.

She
shrieked and beat at its feathery body with her fists before trying to crawl
away. The bird clamped one talon around her calf and dragged her back as
easily as a mouse, before pecking viciously at her once more.

She curled
into a ball and covered her head with her arms as the bird pecked at her
exposed back. Each peck of its beak was like a hot needle in her flesh
and she screamed again, the sound muffled by her arms.

She was
going to die. She was going to be pecked to death by some weird giant
bird and no one would ever know that she –

There was a
loud growling and the bird suddenly made its own terrified squeal before it was
ripped away from her. It hung on grimly to her leg with its talons, and
she cried out in pain when its sharp nails dug into her skin and tore it open.

There was
more growling and snarling and she lowered her arms and sat up, staring in numb
shock at the giant, black wolf that was ripping and tearing into the bird’s
belly. The bird squirmed and twisted but the wolf held it down
easily. It tore a large chunk of intestine from the bird’s stomach and
the bird made one final scream of pain before collapsing.

The wolf
leaped from the bird’s body, raised its snout to the sky and howled deafeningly.
Sara moaned and scooted backward on her butt as the wolf lowered its head and
stared at her.

“No,
please, no.” She whispered, holding her hands out pleadingly in front of
her as the wolf stalked toward her on stiff legs.

She closed
her eyes in defeat as the wolf bent its head and sniffed at her face. If
she was lucky the wolf would end her life more quickly than the bird would
have. She jerked in fear when the wolf chuffed loudly and his warm breath
washed over her face.

There was a
moment of silence and she opened her eyes warily. The wolf had moved away
from her and her eyes widened in surprise when it abruptly shifted into a
man. He was the biggest man she’d ever seen, his shoulders broad and his
arms thick and powerful. His hair was short and a slightly darker shade
of blond than hers, and his eyes were dark brown.

His skin
was tanned and the muscles in his abdomen rippled as he walked toward
her. He looked like he had been chiseled out of granite and he was, she
thought dimly, the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was
also utterly and completely naked and she blushed furiously as her gaze dropped
to his penis. She had never seen one before and her eyes widened at the
size of it. How on earth would that ever fit into a woman? She
wasn’t naïve, she knew how sex worked, but there was no way something that size
could fit into –

He crouched
in front of her and she raised her eyes to his face. He was frowning and
she gave a soft whimper of fear when he leaned forward and inhaled again.
A brief look of distaste crossed his face. “You are human.”

“Y-yes.”
She whispered. “My name is Sara. What’s yours?”

“How did
you travel so deep into the woods, human?” He asked.

For some
odd reason his low voice sent shivers down her spine.

“I – I was
with some friends and we got separated.” She said nervously.

He
continued to stare at her and she gave him a weak smile. “Thank you for saving
me from that bird. Wh-what was that?”

He frowned
again. “How do you not know what a floran is? Have you been living
under a rock?”

“A
floran?” She gave him a puzzled look. “I’ve never seen one before.”

He grunted
in annoyance before standing and walking away. She staggered to her feet
and yelped loudly as pain coursed down her leg. She could see the blood
flowing from the deep scratches left by the bird’s talons and her entire back
felt like it was on fire.

“Hey, don’t
leave!” She called. “Please!”

He sighed
and turned back around. “Go and find your friends, human.”

“I don’t
know where they are, and I don’t even know what part of the forest I’m
in. Could you – do you think you could help me find them?”

He
hesitated and she gave him a pleading look as she balanced carefully on one
leg. “Please? I’m sorry. I hate to ask you for help but I’m –
“

“No.”
He interrupted. “I have helped you enough.”

He expected
her to beg, perhaps to start crying and wailing like so many humans were prone
to doing, but she only nodded and gave him an oddly gut-wrenching look of
resignation. “Alright. Thank you for your help.”

He frowned
when she turned and began to limp deeper into the woods. She should have
been heading for the edge of the forest, not deeper into it. A floran
would be the least of her worries if she continued on.

“Human!”
He shouted.

She flinched
and gave him a tentative smile. “Yes?”

“Do not go
that way. Go in that direction.” He pointed behind him and she
nodded before limping toward him.

“Right,
okay. Thank you.”

He frowned
again as she moved slowly past him. Her face was unbelievably pale, even
for a human, and he could see the blood flowing steadily from her leg.
She was dressed in an astonishingly tiny skirt and odd-looking shirt that
barely covered her small breasts. Her skin was covered in goose bumps,
and he winced when she passed by him and he saw the multiple puncture wounds
from the floran’s beak. All of them were bleeding freely and he couldn’t
imagine how much pain she was in. The way she was bleeding she was lucky
she hadn’t passed out.

As if she
heard him, she stopped abruptly and swayed alarmingly before reaching for a
tree with one shaking hand. She gripped the bark and dropped her head
forward, taking a few deep breaths before coughing lightly.

“You’re
okay, Sara.” She whispered to herself. “You’re okay, just – “

She swayed
again and, as she crumpled to the ground, he ran forward and caught her before
she could hit the hard floor of the forest.

She stared
up at him with hazy eyes. “What’s your name?” She whispered.

“Radek.”
He grunted.

“Radek.”
She breathed before her eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted.

He studied
her pale face before cursing loudly and lifting her into his arms. With a
soft grunt, he carried her deeper into the forest.

* * *

“Rescued by the Wolf” will be available in the fall of 2015
on
www.amazon.com

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