Page 63 of Dark Flame

I sit up. “What is it?”

He twitches, his fingers splitting the tree’s bark. “Impossible. What thefuckhave youdone,witch?”

Did he transform? He seems very much a vampire still. I touch my neck, covering it with my palm to ease the bleeding.

“What haveIdone? You were the one attacking?—”

“No,” he interrupts in a growl. “No, this isn’t possible. Your fucking covencursedme. This—you—is all some ploy, isn’t it?”

I stand, getting the sense I might be fighting for my life soon. “What ploy?”

He growls, red consuming the little bit of black he’s regained as he stalks forward before abruptly stopping. “Stay there, don’t move.” He moves, though, in another step before once again stopping. “Actually—no.Run.Go! Leave.”

“So you can chase me again? Game’s up. I realize I’m not getting away from?—”

“Leave!”

I freeze despite the command. He sounds so…so desperate. That’s when I notice what I didn’t earlier; the quiver in his arms and his fangs digging into his bottom lip. The way his entire body vibrates, the way he continues pacing towards me but stops despite every nerve and muscle wired to keep going.

Oh, Goddess.If I felt like prey before… No,thisis…this is bad.

“Run north. You’ll find a road.”

He’s letting me go? This isn’t a game? Too unlikely.

Still unsure what’s going on, I let my eyes sweep over him, silently saying goodbye before turning the opposite direction. Hopefully I’m angled north, or at least somewhat close enough I’ll figure out the way.

A final peek over my shoulder shows him still in the same spot. It’s too dark and I’m too far away to see where his eyes are, but I feel them. My neck throbs under the memory of his teeth, my core tightening with desires unnamed. With a force I shouldn’t tempt again.

This better not be another cruel game and he’s actually letting me go despite everything that just happened. His strange behaviour has me doubting the truth behind his words.

Another glance before he disappears from view. He’s still there.

I run for a few minutes, obsessively checking behind me. Heart pounding and feet aching, I continue. I’ve been on them for too long, my body dragged down with exhaustion.

A wall appears out of nowhere, feeling like I’ve run into literal bricks. I don’t need to look to know who’s caught up, the bloodsuckingliar. The liar who seeps desperation and fatigue, like he hasn’t slept in years, shadowy marks etched beneath bloodred eyes and a jaw clenched so tight, I’d believe he could break his own teeth.

“Harlow.”

My given name on his mouth causes me to pause. He spoke it like I would when calling on Hecate; with reverence, a gentleness so opposite from his usual malice. I miss the moment when he grabs me, backing me against the nearest tree, gaze trained on his bite from before.

“Alec…”

Ignoring me, he forces my head to the side, and his teeth slide into the holes he’s already made. The sting is so minor, then I’m right back to being swept away. Only this time, I cling to a shred of sanity thatsomething isn’t right.I buck my hips and push against him, but he only pins my arms.

“Stop fighting me,” he mumbles into my skin before gulping deeper.

“Y-you told me to!”

He lets up again to repeat words already spoken. “You’ve fucked up. If this is a trick meant to trap or deceive me, you’re out of luck, Hellion, because now you won’t be going anywhere.”

“You’re insane.” I shove him, trying to twist my head from his impossible grip. I’d sooner break my own neck, I think.

“Not yet,” he replies darkly. “But you’re about to make me so. You’re going to be good for me. You’re going to let me taste you.”

Do I have a choice?Those didn’t sound like questions but rather facts.

Before my next breath, he drinks, only a few sips before he forces my head to the other side, impaling the skin there. Stinging pain flutters away for pleasure, but it doesn’t slow the survival instinct having me fight, kick, and push against him, making no more progress than if I were fighting a wall.