Page 19 of Haunted Nightmares

I know what I saw.

Deep in my bones on some baser level, I fuckingknowand I need to prove it to myself.

I need to see, smell, I need tofeelthis apparition, need the validation of this hallucination and I’ll be damned if I don’t get it right bloody now.

But it isn’t until my target turns a corner into an alley that I realize the darkness is creeping in, that Zenlothanai is chantingcatch themover and over in the back of my mind, and I’m on the verge of losing control.

My vision is black and white, no color to be seen except the blood red heartbeat of every person on the street around me and as I continue pounding the pavement toward that very same alley, my stomach rolls with a hunger stronger than I’ve yet to experience.

The smell of fear, the sound of blood rushing through countless bodies, it all makes me feel like the starving male I am.

And I’m almost too far gone to stop it.

Which is exactly why I channel my power and force everyone out of my way.

People crash into the storefronts, they fall off the curb. A few of them stop in place while their panic grows, the enraged seven-foot-tall vampire now secondary to their inability to move.

Turning the same corner they did, my chest heaves and my guts twist as I search for…there.

At the end, just before it dead ends, that’s where I seeher.

A shimmer of the darkest brown hair, a sparkle of golden bronze skin.

The tiniest glimpse of my gentle breeze flitters before my eyes as she disappears into the alchemist shop, and I’m racing after her.

Nearly kicking in the door, I cross the threshold seconds after she does, my eyes darting around the large room until they fall on her all the way in the back.

My long and panicked strides eat up the space between us, and as soon as I’m within reach I grab her arm, forcefully spinning her to face me as I choke out, “Zephyr.”

Wide blue eyes blink up at me from a flushed porcelain face, her pale pink lips parted in fear. Two small white fangs pierce the void of her now gaping mouth, gasping a sniffle as her button nose reddens with impending tears.

My stomach tightens then rolls as I look over her features, shock and confusion jolting through every inch of my skin while I do.

Blue eyes.

Fair complexion.

Plump cheeks and a tiny round nose.

Blonde hair falls behind the female’s ears as she looks up at me—way up because she has to be less than five and a half feet tall—her heart beating wildly in her chest as her eyes fill with tears.

“I… I…” Stumbling backward a few steps, my grip on her bicep lessens a bit, and I blink rapidly to try to reconcile what I know I saw with what I’m seeing now. “I’m?—“

“Let go of her.”

My stare swings in the direction of the voice, a male voice to her left dripping with a warning.

Tall, tan and angry glares at me, the berk baring his fangs as he takes a protective step in front of the female, and I immediately want to kill him.

I want to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until his head full of long dark hair pops right off his neck, then happily punt his skull across the shop.

He doesn’t belong with this female.

“No,” Zenlothanai hisses.“He belongs with us, they both do. New toys to play with at our house, decorations to add with the others. We?—“

“Shut up,” I growl as I drop the female’s arm completely. “Stop bloody talking.”

Zenlothanai laughs as the male takes another step in front of his companion, his own small growl accompanying his words. “Get away from us.”