Page 6 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

AURORA

I t’s not real. He’s not real.

My brain must be so tortured with locking down everything I don’t want to process that I’m hallucinating. He’s not here.

Still, I’m moving. As his figure disappears out the front door, my feet pull me round the bar. I duck under the hatch and pick up speed, the need I feel to run after him propelling me. Even if it's not real, I want one more second of the lie.

Hearing Sophia shout behind me, I wave her off and call something back.

I don’t stop to see if she understands. I’m wrenching the door open, moving out into the cold night air.

On instinct I inhale. Cinnamon and woodland hits my lungs like deadly smoke.

It threatens to burn me from the inside out.

I take another breath and confirm what my brain is refusing to believe.

Movement at my feet catches my attention. Looking down, my heart thumps so hard I think it’s going to break straight through my ribcage. The shadow caresses my black boot before streaking off into the alley across the road. I’m running after it without thinking.

It takes my eyes a second to adjust from the orangey glow of the lamp lit streets to the dark alley. It's not a pathway or cut through, this alley is storage for the waste bins for the two shops on either side. It's a dead end.

I make my way slowly, inhaling more of that warm scent that I never thought I’d have in my lungs again.

It's not real. It can’t be real.

I pause at the sound of someone scrambling in the pitch dark. No, it’s the shadows of a wielder darkening the alley to obsidian.

“Ty,” I dare to speak his name for the first time since that day.

Silence is the only answer I get. I feel it though, the caress of his black sentient companions against my skin. In what might be a reckless decision, I let my glamour drop. I don’t know how he recognised me in the bar, but I want him to see the real me now.

“Ty,” I repeat softly.

Seconds draw out like hours but then the moment I never thought, never even dared to hope for, unravels right in front of my eyes.

The shadows sink back and standing a few feet away is a male with tanned skin, dark curls falling over his forehead, and deep crystal blue eyes that have haunted me for months.

Ty.

Alive.

“Aurora,” he breathes quietly. It’s like the answer to a prayer, the emotion filled tones of his rich voice hitting my ears like a miracle.

I don’t know who moves first, him or me, but a heartbeat later I’m in his arms, and mine are locked around his neck.

“Tell me it’s real, please, tell me you’re really alive,” I weep into his shoulder as he lifts me onto my tiptoes in the embrace.

“I’m here, Red. I got away. I’ve been looking for you for weeks.” His voice runs over my body, I feel it all the way to my very core. His hands grip me tightly as I buckle, my knees giving out at the sheer relief flooding my system.

He’s not dead.

I’m no longer alone.

He found me. He came after me.

Without letting me go he pulls back slightly so he can look at my face.

I trace every line of his too. I look for any pain or sign of what he’s been through.

He looks a little paler than I remember, and his dulled blue eyes seem sunken and lined with exhaustion.

He looks haggard but without obvious injury.

He must be making the same assessment of me and probably the same conclusion.

He leans down and leans his forehead to mine, a few of those wild black curls tickling my skin. I feel the air between us heat as he inhales, then breathes out heavily.

“I was so scared I wouldn’t find you alive, or would find you trapped in some other pack,” he whispers to me.

“Alone. I’ve been all alone. Ty, I’ve been so scared.” My voice trembles. I fight back the onslaught of the emotions I’ve kept at bay for so long they threaten to hit me in a tsunami.

“I’m so sorry, Red. I’m so damn sorry.” His hands find my face, cupping each side gently as he strokes my cheek.

I’m almost so absorbed in this moment that I nearly miss the sound of feet approaching from behind.

I swing out of Ty’s grasp so sharply that he has no opportunity to stop me.

Entering the alley is another male. A tall one, taller than Ty.

I eye the length of the stranger as his scent catches on the evening air.

All the relief that consumed me falls to my feet and shatters, fear taking its place.

This male is another supernatural being.

It's a safe assumption that he is another vampire.

I don’t remember seeing this male at the ranch, but my brain is quick to assess the threat. I move further from Ty, putting my back to the wall so I can’t be jumped.

“Red, wait.” Ty reaches for me but I’m faster in my retreat, so his arm swings through empty air. I raise my hands as both males freeze. I feel my fangs descend as I prepare to fight my way out.

“Red, let me explain,” Ty says at the same time the stranger speaks for the first time.

“Woah, easy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The accent tells me he’s not from Froan, but after how many people were displaced during the war, accents don’t mean a huge amount anymore.

It would be easy to believe him, his tone is completely unthreatening.

But I’ve been trapped before, I’ve ended up in chains for weeks because of it. Fear pulses through me as those images flash through my head, of how I got captured in another alley in what feels like another lifetime.

“Are you back in the pack?” I ask, my question directed at Ty even though I keep the stranger firmly in my eyeline.

“What? Gods, no!” Ty exclaims. “Red, this is Henry. Neither of us belong to any pack, Adicious or otherwise.”

I want to believe him, I do. However, the paranoia that’s kept me alive and free these past four months is the overriding force that wins against all the others. My instincts are all I have been able to trust, I won’t be ignoring them.

“Are you here to take me back to him?” I let the question fall from my lips. Ty takes a step back like I’ve struck him physically.

“Do you think I would do that?” His voice doesn’t mask his complete shock. That reassures me slightly, but he hasn’t denied it.

“How do I know you’re not blood bound once more and have tracked me down as part of his orders? They wouldn’t have let you leave alive as well as free. Is this your escort to make sure you bring me back this time?” I gesture to the random male who remains standing in the entryway. It's unnerving.

“Red, this is Henry,” Ty repeats. “The male I asked you to go to when you left.”

Oh.

I take a few seconds to fully take in the stranger.

He looks well put together, even bundled in bulky winter gear he has a grace about him.

Despite the padded jacket, I can tell he’s not overly muscular but I bet he’s still stronger than me, his size alone would give him an advantage.

His face is kind though, his eyes show what looks like real concern.

But experience tells me vampires are mostly vicious and cruel.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Aurora.” His voice is smooth, like deep velvet.

He tips his head in a slight nod as he speaks, making his swept back chocolate locks fall forward.

He immediately sweeps them back. “Maybe now we’ve found you, this one will finally stop being on the brink of causing mass destruction. ”

My mouth opens but my tongue fails to form words. I look back to Ty. He does indeed look drawn and the creases at the corners of his eyes give away his state of stress.

“I needed to find you.” His words are so loaded that the world shrinks back. Suddenly it’s just us two, nothing else exists.

“You’re not working under any orders?”

“No, Red. My escape wasn’t easy, but I did escape.

I’m sure they’re hunting me just like they’re hunting you.

These weeks, especially when I realised you weren’t with Henry, have been agonising.

I thought being locked back in that dungeon was hell but that pales in comparison to knowing you were somewhere out here all alone. ”

I can see it. Hear it. Feel it. The pain of being separated has been as visceral and all-consuming to him as it has been to me.

At least that’s what it felt like before I managed to lock it all away and feel nothing.

I can feel it surfacing now though, as my breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Heat builds behind my eyes.

He’s here and he’s alive.

Stop feeling it . I can’t let those emotions out.

They’ll crush me.

“Ty… I…” I go to speak but the world comes crashing back in as a group loudly exits the tavern, joking and revelling in whatever their conversation is.

Henry shoots further down into the alley with us just as Ty’s shadows deepen the darkness around us, hiding us from view.

“We should probably get off the street,” Henry says.

“I have an apartment a few minutes away,” I volunteer before I allow myself to think it through.

“Lead the way, Red.” Ty steps closer and gestures for me to start walking.

My apartment isn’t far but it gives me a few minutes to pull my emotions back and get them under control once more.