When she found none, Anabell finally looked up at Eadric. Instead of looking angry that she shoved him, he looked concerned.
"Are you alright?" Eadric tried to move closer to her.
"I need to go home." Pushing off the desk, she ducked around Eadric and unlocked the door.
Anabell almost had it opened when he stopped her, pushing it back closed.
"You can't leave. Not without me."
"Stop saying that!" Anabell grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him off the door. He didn't budge.
"I won't let you get hurt." Anabell scoffed.
"You don't even know me."
"I know enough." Taking a step toward her, he grabbed one of her hands and held it firmly and gently – just enough to keep her standing still.
"I know that you were born twenty-one years ago at 10:25 in the morning. I know that you are independent. You like to be alone, and that you've only had your heart broken once. Mostly," Eadric brought her hand up to his chest and placed it over his heart. "I know that my heart keeps perfect time with yours – an even cadence that keeps me grounded. That you hold the key to my soul. And, somewhere deep inside you, your soul recognizes mine because we're destined to be together."
"That's horse shit. I bet you use that line on every woman you kidnap," she mumbled through the tears building in her throat.
Returning her hand, Eadric began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing inch by gorgeous inch of skin until his shirt was completely open. Then he tossed it onto the desk.
The tattoo she got a glimpse at in the club was much larger and way more intricate than she imagined. Lines upon lines of Celtic knots intertwined beautiful tribal designs covered then entire left side of his chest, his shoulder, and halfway down his left arm.
The most interesting part sat low on his chest. A brand of three intersecting pointy ovals in a circle. She knew there was a name for it, but she couldn't remember while staring at his bare skin.
Before she knew what she was doing, she reached out and brushed her fingers across it. She could feel his strong heart beat just below the surface of the burned skin. It looked beyond painful. But the look on Eadric's face was serene as she traced the lines of beautiful scar.
"What does all this mean? Someone burned this into your skin." Eadric took her hand, closing it until only her pointer finger was still out. Careful not to hurt her, he used her finger to trace every line in the triquetra and the circle around it.
"What does it mean? Or what does it mean to me?" Anabell nodded, saying yes to both. "It means life, death, and rebirth - surrounded by a never-ending eternity. But to me, it signifies a promise that I made a very long time ago." Re-opening her palm, Eadric held her hand over the scar and pressed it hard to him. “It means that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe because the thought of losing you is worse than the idea of death. The sting of it wore out a very long time ago.”
Anabell jerked her hand loose and took a few steps back. She needed a little room to breathe. They had just met, and he was already talking about dying for her. It was too intense, and she didn’t know what to do with it. She still wasn’t sure she believed anything he was saying. She still had not seen enough proof that someone was after her.
Eadric could be using her. It wouldn’t be the first time a good looking guy took advantage of her soft heart. At least he couldn’t take her virginity and try to blackmail her with it.
“Why – exactly – are people after me? Don’t touch me, or kiss me, or talk about how well you know me. The only thing I want from you is the truth – the God’s honest truth about what is going on.”
“They’re after you because you’re my soul mate.”
Anabell choked back a laugh. He was obviously playing some sort of trick on her. He was crazy, and she needed to get out of there. The only thing standing in her way was him.
“I’m pretty sure that you’re certifiable – so you need to let me go now, or I’m going to scream until one of your neighbors busts the damn door down.” Anabell took a deep breath to fill her lungs as much as possible.
Eadric zipped to her side and cupped his hand over her mouth and guided her back into one of the chairs. She was so shocked that she couldn’t respond.
Anabell opened her mouth to speak once he let her go, but Eadric stopped her.
“Would ye shut your mouth and let me explain?”
Eadric told her the bare bones about his life pre- and post-demon, his ties to her, and the Soulless chasing after her, he saw the disbelief light up her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. He was losing her. Fast. She didn’t even have to open her mouth to tell him that she did not believe a word he was saying.
"First, you don't look a day over twenty-five. There's no way you've been alive for over a century. Demons don't exist. You are delusional. You definitely need professional help." Anabell scoffed. Twenty-eight, she could buy. Hell, thirty, thirty-one, they were plausible too. Why are the sexy ones always crazy? She had the worst luck. That‘s what she got for thinking a guy that practically abducted her was a viable option.
Eadric didn’t know what else he to do to prove to her that he was being honest, then it hit him. It was a big risk because it could blow up in his face if she took it badly. His demon form wasn’t something that he bothered using often, and he never brought it out just for the hell of it. Aside from Lugh and a few Soulless, no one had seen it. And the ones that did saw it just before they died.
“Let me show you. Maybe then you’ll believe.” Eadric walked behind his desk chair and took off his jeans. Closing his eyes tightly, he forced his powers to course through his body.
The tattoo on his chest began to ripple. The braided lines shifted and untwined, rearranging themselves to cover his whole chest, back, and both arms until his whole torso looked like a little bit of skin under massive swirls of black ink. Some had even crept up his neck to his face to resemble tribal war paint.
A brown, leather kilt appeared around his waist to the top of his knees, and a Scottish claymore appeared in a sheath that was strapped to his back.
Stepping around the chair, Eadric let Anabell take in the full view. He had one last thing to do. His fangs slid down in his mouth, all he had to do was open it and show her the extent of his true self.
When he did, all Hell broke loose.
Anabell shrieked. Faster than he knew a human could move, she threw open the door to the office and took off running. She was down the stairs and almost the front door before he absorbed what happened and took off after her.
Anabell had no idea if what she saw was real, but she was not sticking around to find out. There was something very, very wrong with Eadric. She heard him moving in the house as she reached the front door and threw it open. She needed to run faster, so he couldn’t catch her and drag her back to that mad house.
Her heart was racing.
Rushing out the door, she didn’t bother to shut it behind her, and she ran down the driveway. Eadric wasn't out of the door until she was already to the road.
Anabell didn't look both ways or even take a minute to look at her surroundings as she ran out onto the road. The only car coming either way was headed right at her. It was dangerous, but it was her only chance.
Both Anabell and Eadric, who was still in the driveway, froze.
The driver slammed on his breaks as hard as he could, stopping the large van just feet from her.
Anabell barely flinched. She saw her chance to get away from Eadric.
Walking over to the passenger’s side of the van, she was about to ask the driver if he could take her to a bus station when the panel door flew open to reveal three men crouched there behind it, waiting. She didn't have a second to scream as three sets of arms reached out and pulled her in to the van. The panel slammed shut behind them.
Eadric was right.
Racing to the road, Eadric jumped into action. He wasn't going to let them have her that easily. The van driver slamme
d his foot down on the gas, but Eadric stepped out right in front of the vehicle anyway. The driver would either swerve or hit him. He was a block of pure muscle. Eadric would slow them down either way.
And if he swerved, the road was too narrow for them to get through without hitting a bank, a ditch, or a light pole.
The driver knew what he was doing and pressed on the gas harder, heading straight for Eadric. He was going to run him over. Even Eadric wasn't sure if he could survive the hit in one piece. But if it stopped the van long enough for Anabell to make a break for it, then it was worth it. His safety was his last priority. She was the only thing that mattered. Period.
Bending his knees, dropping his shoulders, and preparing his body to absorb the hit, Eadric steeled himself for the collision.
It wasn't like accidents in the movies. The van didn't hit him in the legs and send him flying up in the air, and then crashing back down to the ground below. It slammed from his shoulder to his knees, punching the air out of his lungs and knocking him back to the ground.
His hips, along with a few ribs and vertebrae, were shattered on impact and several of his organs ruptured. He felt blood pooling somewhere in his abdomen. But the internal bleeding was just one place where he was losing blood. He also felt it leaking down his legs and trickling down the back of his head where it hit the pavement.
His body would start healing with the worst injury, but he didn't know if it would be strong enough to catch up in time to do anything more to help Anabell.
The force of his body slamming into the front of the van crushed the hood and sent the vehicle careening into a large oak tree on the other side of the road. There was no time for the driver to correct or prepare for impact.
The van hit the tree with a crunching sound as window shattered and the rest of the hood mangled. Eadric was just conscious enough to see the driver go hurtling through the window.
The three men inside the van poured out, the last one holding tight onto Anabell's upper arm. Her hands were flex-cuffed behind her back and a large piece of duct tape covered her mouth.
The first two raced to the driver. They found him in two pieces beside the tree. His head on one side and the rest of his body on the other. He was dead - there was no healing a decapitation.
"We'll have to take her on foot until we can find another car to grab. The van is totaled," Number one said as he walked back over to number three and Anabell.
"Robert?" Number three asked. One shook his head.
"What do we do with the one on the road?" Two asked as he rejoined the group, motioning to Eadric.
One spit in his direction and scowled.
"Him, we leave to die. He's too wounded to last much longer. Plus, the sun will be up soon. If he doesn't bleed out or get ran over again, the sun will nuke him for us. Hands clean. Problem solved – for good."
"What if he teleports?" Three.
"I doubt he can. He has no one to help him heal, and he’s gravely wounded. Let's just leave him. He’s always been worthless."
Anabell looked over at Eadric from her periphery. He wasn't moving. It was a bad sign.
She was too far away to tell just how badly he had been injured, but, if she listened to the men who were holding her, it was very, very bad. He was dying just fifty feet from her, and she was handcuffed.
She didn't know what she could do to help him, but she knew that she had to get to him. Even if they killed her, even if he died too, she had to try to save him - like he was trying to save her.
"Let's go!" One barked. Anabell assumed that meant he became the man in charge of the ragtag group. From what she had seen of the three, though, they were all clueless. Someone else had to be pulling the strings.
Three guided her toward the road. They had decided to walk along the side of the road pretending to be hitchhikers until someone stopped.
Counting to five as she used her shoulder to roll the piece of duct tape off her mouth, she put her meager plan into action.
"Ow!" she yelled as she threw herself to the ground. "My ankle!" Three almost went down with her, but her let her go at the last second. She hit the grass a little harder than she meant to. It was effective, though.
"Help her up so we can keep moving," One said he glanced back over his shoulder. Two repeated the sentiment.
When Three bent down to help her up, that's when she decided to make her move.
Sweeping her leg out low and hard, she knocked his legs out from under him, making him crash to the ground beside her. She only had seconds to run before he would be up and the others would be on her.
Anabell took off running until she reached Eadric, throwing herself onto the road beside him. There was no time to worry about the blood or his injuries. If she could get him conscious enough to get himself out of there, that was what she was going to do.
"Wake up, Eadric! Please! There're going to be over here any second. You've got to get yourself out of here," she screamed, cradling his head in her hands and using her thumbs to open his eyelids.
"Run," he whispered.
Anabell shook her head, letting the tears she didn't notice she was crying fall on his face.
"You need to save yourself, Eadric. Those men said you can teleport. Teleport yourself out of here, get somewhere safe where you can rest and heal. Don’t worry about me. Save yourself."
Eadric lifted his arms, even though they felt like lead and wrapped them around her back.
"Not without you."
5
Middle of Nowhere Ireland
A flash of light blinded Anabell, making her squeeze her eyes shut. She prepared herself for impact as she waited to get hit - the light had to be headlights. It was too bright. That was the only explanation. She would rather be hit by a car then be killed by those awful men.
When nothing happened, she opened her eyes to see what was going on.
She was instantly dizzy.
The flex cuffs were gone, and instead of seeing the dark road, the wrecked van, and an injured Eadric, Anabell found herself in a dark, cold room that looked dungeon-eqsue. She started to ask how it happened when she heard Eadric moan in pain.
Groping around in the dark, she found him lying on a cot at the back of the room. A second later, the torch mounted on the wall lit up.
“What do you need?” she asked, leaning over him.
“Blood,” he choked out. Anabell fought back a shudder and shook her head. Flashbacks to what she saw in his office came rushing back. Eadric, shirtless with fangs sticking out of his mouth. Eadric, the demon – the vampire. He needed to drink blood to live.
“Blood?” she said, gulping back a throat full of fear. The idea of him drinking blood was repulsive enough; the fact that he would have to bite her to get it scared the life out of her.
Eadric pushed himself up a little with the help of the cot frame.
“I’m bleeding badly on the inside. Right now, my body is trying to do damage control. Until I can feed, that’s all it’s going to do. I can’t start healing until I get fresh blood in me,” he explained, clutching his side in pain as he looked at her. “But I don’t expect anything from you, Anabell. You’ve already done more than enough for me. All I’ve done is put you in danger.”
“Is there anywhere I can get some for you?”
“No.” Eadric tried to speak again, but he started coughing hard, spitting several mouthfuls of blood onto the stone floor.
Anabell was terrified of letting him bite her and drink her blood, but Eadric’s life was on the line – because he was saving her – again.
“Then drink mine.” Anabell rolled her sleeve up, exposing her wrist to him. He shook his head and turned it away from her. She refused to accept his rejection. She wasn’t going to let him die from his own stubbornness.
Anabell brought her wrist to her mouth, but dropped it as soon as she thought it through. Her teeth were too dull to break through her own skin, and she just didn’t have the stomach to do it. There had to be another way
– some way to get him to drink, one that he couldn’t avoid.
Sticking her finger in his open mouth, she groped around for his fangs. The first one she found, she pressed her finger against until she felt it pierce the skin. It stung, but she didn’t care.
It was too small of a place for him to drink from, but she hoped that it would give him enough of a taste for his body to take over and force him to take her blood.
His tongue was light on her finger, pressing against the drops of blood welling out. A sensation she expected to be painful or just weird was anything but. His hot mouth wrapped around her finger felt like heaven.
“Now drink,” she whispered to him, reluctantly pulling her finger from his mouth and pressing her wrist against it.
His body didn’t have to be told twice.
Anabell shut her eyes and prepared for a piercing pain to rush through her. Once again, she was surprised by the heady sensation of his mouth. A jolt of pleasure rushed through her as his teeth sank into her soft skin. She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from moaning.
It was just a perfunctory exchange. She was just trying to save his life, nothing else. Once he was healed, she would go home and leave him to go about his life without her.
Eadric only took a few mouthfuls before he was aware enough to stop himself from drinking anymore. He knew she gave up a lot to let him bite her, and he didn't want to abuse her generosity. He had already taken too much from her. Her free will, a normal life, and now her blood. He couldn't take anything else.
Eadric was supposed to be the one saving her, not the other way around.
"You need more," Anabell told him when he healed her wrist and pushed it away. She tried to force it back to his mouth, but he stopped her.
"Go upstairs and find a room. You need to rest. I'll be fine." His voice cracked a little, but it was stronger. Anabell couldn't fight her urge to brush the damp bangs out of his eyes.
A Thousand Years (Soulmates Book 1) Page 3
