by Lori Devoti
“And you made it,” he replied, the closest words to assurance he could give her.
“I made it,” she whispered, but there was failure in her voice.
“It’s all you could do,” he murmured.
She was hurting. He ran his fingers through her curls again, brushed his thumb over the lump. “What’s your name?” he asked. He hadn’t wanted to know before, hadn’t wanted that connection.
“Rachel.”
“It’s a pretty name.” Biblical, a sign he was making a mistake.
“What’s yours?” She sounded calmer now. The ordinary talk was helping.
“Cameron.” He watched as she digested that, and then added, “Have you lost consciousness?” If she had, if there was risk to her from her injuries, then what? He couldn’t leave his hunt to take her to a doctor.
But she shook her head. “No, why?”
He smiled. She wasn’t even aware of her own wounds; she was too caught up in worrying about her friends. She needed someone to worry about her.
He ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. A bit of mud clung to her cheekbone. He swept it aside. Then he tipped her face up to his and stared into her eyes.
“Everything will be okay, Rachel. You did the right thing.” He willed her to believe him, to trust him.
Her teeth sank into her lower lip; a line formed between her brows.
“You did the right thing,” he repeated.
She stared at him as if not understanding his words. He waited. The vampire talent for mesmerizing had never failed him, but the bump on her head, perhaps—
Her lips parted; she expelled a breath. “I did the right thing. Everything will be okay.” Her gaze flickered, and then her eyelids lowered. Her face slipped to the side, so her cheek was nestled against his chest. Concern that she was losing consciousness caused him to stiffen, but as he moved, her eyes flew open.
She stared at him, the intensity of her gaze matching his. “You’ll make sure of it, won’t you? You’ll make sure everything is okay.”
And without thinking, without pausing, he slowly... surely... nodded his head.
As she closed her eyes and sighed, he closed his too and wondered who was mesmerizing whom.
o0o
Everything would be okay.
As she stumbled over the rough ground, the words echoed through Rachel’s mind. Inexplicably, she believed them. She had since Cameron had held her against his chest.
Now he walked only inches from her side. Through sheer will, she managed not to glance in his direction.
Being near him made her feel alive and exhilarated.
Her body tingled with the kind of awareness you felt when walking beside a precipice, knowing that with each step you could trip and fall.
She stared at the ground, checking. It was solid here. The cliff’s edge was far to their left now. They were weaving their way down the slope, heading to the bottom where the road and Nancy’s car lay.
So the feeling wasn’t from the risk of a fall or even the wreck.
It was Cameron.
He strummed with energy. So much that when she had placed her hand on his chest, she had expected to feel it vibrating against her palm. But she’d felt nothing unusual, only the raised design on his shirt.
And then as she looked into his eyes, she had begun to calm. His assurance that everything would be okay had wrapped around her like a warm blanket, encouraged her to relax and trust.
Deep in her thoughts, her toe again caught on a root or some other object not visible in the darkness. Her body catapulted forward. Cameron’s arm looped around her waist and stopped her descent. She was pulled backwards, until her spine rested against his chest.
Another wave of peace settled over her. She rolled her head to the side. She felt as if she was sinking, like she was immersed in a tub of warm water.
Behind her, Cameron stiffened. Somewhere in her brain, she knew his response should worry her, but luxuriating in the safety that came with his touch, she couldn’t latch on to why.
Besides, he had done that a lot, stopped and studied things, as if he could hear or see something she couldn’t. And nothing bad had happened.
She was growing used to his cautious behavior. She’d decided it was just his way.
Her fingers wandered to her cheek where earlier he had brushed away some bit of debris. His touch had been so gentle and reassuring she couldn’t remember why she had doubted that he would help her.
Nancy would laugh when Rachel told her about him, chortle that “Miss This-Can’t-Be-Safe” had fallen into trusting a stranger so easily.
Nancy. Rachel tensed. She had forgotten why she was wandering through the dark, forgotten her friends, pale and lifeless in the torn metal mess that had been a car.
A tremor took control of her frame. The need to retch doubled her over. She wrapped her arms around her body and took a step back.
Cameron had moved. He was standing two feet away.
Trembling with cold and the returned memories of the wreck, she straightened her body to a stand. The feeling of peace fled. Her hands shaking, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and slid open the cover. With the light glowing from her hand, she studied the man she had begun to trust.
He was tall and looked... strong. Not big and broad, although his shoulders were wide, just strong. It was how he stood, his feet braced as if prepared for attack, and how he walked. He moved a few steps to the side and then back. No, not moved, prowled, like a tiger in the night, aware and confident, capable and willing— eager even— to face any adversary.
Another shiver shook her body, this one so violent she almost dropped her phone.
He stared at her as if surprised. Then he sighed.
“So, you came out of it.”
Not a question, a statement. One she wasn’t sure was really meant for her. She didn’t reply, and she didn’t put her phone away. She wanted to see him, needed to make sure the memory she had from her brief glance earlier was real.
He crossed the few feet between them, his hand outstretched. He was going to touch her. Something basic and primal told her to run, but her feet stayed firmly planted on the ground. She realized, despite whatever instinct or intuition warned, she wanted him to touch her.
His eyes were hard, like the tiger’s, or how she imagined the tiger’s would be right before it pounced. She licked her lips and waited for whatever was to come.
Cameron’s hand stopped short, hung in mid-air in front of her before slowly drifting back down to his side. With a curse, he turned away.
Confused, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Something had happened, but she had no idea what. She raised her phone again and directed its glow toward his turned back. Cameron shoved his fingers through his hair, then, in a flash of his white shirt, he spun.
Her phone flew from her fingers.
The unending black of the canyon engulfed her.
Chapter Three
Damn the little human for making him think of her as someone to care for.
Cameron pulled back his lips and hissed. Rachel didn’t move.
He flicked his tongue over his canines and felt the caps he had slipped over them earlier.
“It isn’t true, is it? Everything isn’t going to be okay.” Her words caused him to shrink, to think about what he was doing, what he was thinking of doing— attacking her.
He pushed his thumb against one cap. It would be so simple to pull them off. She wouldn’t see him in the dark, wouldn’t suspect, and even if she did, he could mesmerize her again. She would walk into his arms, stand there mindlessly as he fed... devoured.
Hunger surged inside him.
Devour. He would devour her. He should. She was a human, nothing more. He was a vampire, a predator... the predator. None were stronger. His satisfaction, her demise, it was how things were meant to be.
He pinched the cap between his fingers, pulled it free, and then repeated the process on the other side.
&nb
sp; “You shouldn’t have lied to me.” The words were soft. “I can face the truth. I’ll have to.” Her hand tugged at his sleeve.
He spun, his canines fully exposed.
She stepped into his arms and angled her head to look up at him.
Her neck was pale and smooth. The scent of vanilla and cinnamon hit him anew. Flashes of warm kitchens and mothers welcoming their children home from school raced through his mind. He’d had no such comforts, no one to soothe his hurts. Just a father who thought hurts built strong vampires and stronger sons.
“You know something, don’t you? You’re looking for something. What is it? Some animal? Have there been attacks?” She moved her hands to his shirt and bunched the material in her fists.
“Attacks. Yes... probably.” He was distracted by the sight of her neck, by the blood he knew pulsed beneath the skin, but he also couldn’t imagine Dorian had been roaming the canyon as long as he had and gone without attacking something, or someone.
“My friends... do you think…?”
The emotion in her voice pulled him out of his fog. He stroked his fingers down her face then her neck. “Everything—”
She slapped his hand away. “Don’t. Don’t lie to me.” She twirled to the side, tried to break away, but he grabbed her by the arm and jerked her back against him.
Her heart thumped in her chest, making him aware again of the blood that coursed through her veins. Hunger returned, but this time he had no urge to devour her, at least not as he had before.
“Just a taste,” he murmured. Then, his fingers lost in her hair, he bent his head and dragged his fangs over her skin.
She clutched his shirt again. Her head tilted back, and her spine stiffened.
He expected her to fight him or faint, but she did neither. She waited as if she was as encompassed by the feel of his teeth pricking her skin as he was by the scent and feel of her in his arms.
He paused, waiting again for her to object. She rose onto her toes and pushed his fangs into her neck.
Blood dribbled into his mouth. It tasted like she smelled, of vanilla and warmth, of comfort and love. She, he knew, had never been the child standing out in the cold looking in on that scene in the kitchen. She had been in the center of the room, dipping cookies in milk and feeling loved.
He should have hated her for it, but it only made her unexpected acceptance of him all the sweeter.
He plunged his fangs into her vein.
o0o
Pain shot through Rachel’s neck, like two needles jamming into her flesh. She jerked, and a cry exploded from her lips. Then Cameron’s tongue lapped at her skin, and the pain was gone, was replaced by need... the need to be near him, to cling to him.
She wriggled her body to get closer. Her breasts brushed his chest. Desire wrapped around her core and squeezed until her knees collapsed, and only Cameron’s arms around her kept her from falling.
“What...?” This was no simple kiss. She knew that, but what she was thinking— that Cameron was biting her and she was enjoying it— that was impossible.
His mouth was pressed to her neck. She slid her hands up his chest and held on, willed him to keep doing whatever he was doing, not to stop, not to give her a chance to come out of this spell. Pleasure swelled inside her. Her eyes drifted closed, and she moaned. In the recesses of her mind, the knowledge that she shouldn’t be doing this, that she should be hurrying to her friends’ aid instead, flickered, but she couldn’t make herself pull away.
She sighed and gave up the fight. Cameron murmured something against her neck. His breath was warm. His tongue lapped at her skin slowly, almost reverently, like she was an exotic ice cream that he wanted to savor. His hands stroked her sides, moved to the undersides of her breasts. She arched her back and rubbed her sex against his thigh.
She was lost. The world was dark. It was as if nothing existed outside the circle of Cameron’s arms, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
In the distance, something roared. The eerie, unearthly sound sliced through the cocoon of desire that had formed around Rachel. Her eyes flew open, and her hands dropped from Cameron’s neck.
She glanced at the man who held her, immediately unsure whether to step away or move closer. What she had been doing, what she had been feeling... Shame warred with fear. What was happening to her?
There was another roar, this one louder... angry.
Cameron stared over her head, out into the darkness.
Shaking, she pressed her cheek against him. He pulled her closer, until her face was so tight against his chest she could hardly breathe.
Then he growled. The sound was almost as unnatural as the roar that had caused it.
Pinpricks of unease danced over her skin. She tried to step away, but Cameron’s arm was like iron holding her in place.
“Dorian...” The name was a whisper.
She licked her lips and glanced to the side, but there was nothing to see, nothing but darkness. This Dorian could have been standing inches away, and she wouldn’t have known it.
“What are you doing, Dorian? How far gone are you?”
“Cameron?” Her voice was shaking. She hated that, wished she could make her words come out strong, but any pretense of strength had disappeared long before.
He didn’t answer her. He pushed her behind him instead.
Afraid he would step away and leave her alone in the darkness, she clutched at the back of his shirt.
He inhaled and for a second said nothing. Then he reached behind and found her hand. “We have to go.”
Rachel’s knees locked, but Cameron didn’t slow his steps. He jerked her along behind him.
And with nowhere else to go, no will to stay alone in the darkness, Rachel followed.
o0o
Dorian was close.
As Cameron pulled Rachel down the weed- and snow-dotted slope, he heard his brother moving, sniffing, hunting.
Hunting Rachel’s friends, he guessed.
He stopped and pulled her close, so he could whisper in her ear. “Does this look familiar?” he asked.
She blinked. “It looks like everything looks... black.”
He bit back a curse. He’d forgotten she was mortal, couldn’t see through the canyon’s cursed perpetual night.
“Smell then, or feel. Does anything seem familiar?” he asked.
Uncertainty was written on her face, but she turned and stilled, seemed to be studying her surroundings with the senses she did have. When she spoke, there was hope in her voice. “Water. I heard water, like a stream, when I got out of the car.”
A stream. Cameron closed his eyes and listened. The sound of water tinkling over rocks sounded to his left. He grabbed Rachel’s hand and kept going, faster this time.
He had little hope her friends were alive, had little hope he would reach his brother before he made the change from vampire to lost soul either, but he wasn’t ready to give up on either.
He cared about both. Not just his original mission, saving Dorian—he cared about saving Rachel’s friends too. He cared about saving her friends because he cared about Rachel.
The realization shook him.
Vampires didn’t care about humans. Vampires didn’t even care about other vampires, not like humans cared about their own kind. Cameron’s need to find his brother was driven more by duty than love, or that is what he had told himself.
A hundred feet farther, they found the car. It was lying on its side in the deepest part of a ravine. Ruts from the tires formed a line from the wreck to the road, easily within Cameron’s preternatural view.
The dark, the shock of the wreck, and the curse. The combination must have confused Rachel and sent her to the canyon’s clay and rock walls instead of returning to the road.
Cameron stepped into the ruts, Rachel by his side.
Her fingers tightened on his arm. Then, without warning, she broke from his hold and raced through the ruts, toward the smashed car. He ran after her, caught her by the arm
, and hissed into her ear. “Don’t run. Whatever you do. Don’t run.”
If Dorian was here, if he had made the shift, running would activate his instincts. He could be on Rachel, destroy her before Cameron even sensed his brother was in the area.
“But they’re....” She gestured in the direction of the broken and dented car.
Cameron wrapped his fingers around her wrist and guided her hand to a loop on his jeans. “Stay beside me. Don’t let go unless I tell you to.”
The windshield and driver’s side window of the compact car were missing, as were the roof and anyone who had been inside.
“How many of you were there?” Cameron asked, his voice grim. There was blood on the seats. It was dried now, but the scent still curled around him. If Dorian had been here when it was fresh... It would have called to him like warm cookies would a starving child. In his near-monster state, there was little hope Dorian could have just walked past this scene, and based on the condition Rachel had said her friends had been in when she left, there was less hope they got up and walked away on their own.
Rachel’s fingers dug into his back. “Why? What can you see?” She stepped to the side. With a warning hiss, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
“I can’t see. I still can’t see.” Her voice was breaking. She was breaking.
Her body trembled against his, and her teeth chattered as if she was coated with ice. Cameron hadn’t considered until now how the canyon’s curse might affect humans. But it was obvious from Rachel’s reaction that it did.
He needed to get her out of here.
She held out her hands, and before he could stop her, she had touched the jagged metal where the roof of the vehicle had been sheared away.
“Ow.”
He smelled the blood instantly. He jerked her back.
“What...?”
