Bound in Darkness (Bound #2)(3)

Even Griggs. She heard the fast scuttle of his feet.

She was almost close enough to take Thain’s offered hand now. Almost.

Allison saw Thain’s nostrils flare. His eyes narrowed and swept over her. When he glanced back up, there was no mistaking the fury in his stare.

His hand began to lower.

No.

Allison grabbed his hand and held tight. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.

A muscle jerked in his jaw. Then he pulled her forward. His scent—a little wild and with the richness of the forest clinging to him—wrapped around her. Allison stared up at him and tried not to show her fear.

She wasn’t supposed to be afraid anymore. This was the man Elsa had told her about. The man who would end her nightmare.

She just had to trust him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Allison whispered. They could leave. Go someplace safe. Then maybe she could finally stop feeling like death stalked her every minute.

This man…he could stop death. To her, he looked like he was strong enough to stop anyone and anything.

His arm wrapped around her shoulders. He led her from that godforsaken bar and out into the still night with the moon that hung high in the sky.

Her heart raced so fast, she could feel it thudding in her chest.

He paused and glanced down at her. “You’re afraid of me.” His voice was still a deep rumble.

Allison managed a nod. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t—

“Good,” he told her as he pushed them into a dark alley.

Whoa, wait—good?

In the next instant, he had her shoved against the alley’s wall. “You should be scared.” His face came toward hers. Dangerous and threatening in the faint moonlight. “You should be damn well terrified.”

Allison’s body shook.

“You’re being hunted,” he told her, “stalked. There are people who want you dead.”

“I…I know.” Some had wanted her dead for years.

He leaned in closer. Odd. His teeth seemed sharper than before. “And you just blindly walk off with me? How the hell do you know I’m not one of the *s who wants to kill you?”

She didn’t know that. But she wasn’t stupid. Or crazy.

Allison slipped her concealed knife up to press against his heart.

Okay, maybe she was a little crazy. “If you’re the guide that the witch sent to collect me, then you’ll be able to tell me her name.”

She drew in a breath and could almost taste him because he was so close.

Actually she wanted to taste him. What in the hell was up with that?

Allison pressed her knife harder against his chest. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to show that she meant business. “Tell me her name.” So she could trust him. So she wouldn’t have to be alone any more. “Tell me.”

He glanced down at the knife. A faint furrow pulled between his brows as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle.

“Elsa,” he breathed the witch’s name slowly. “Elsa sent me to you.”

Her heartbeat began to slow. Her knife slid away from his heart. “Then it is you.” Big, scary, tough—yes, she’d take him, please. He’d keep her safe. “You’re the one who has been sent—”

He ripped the knife from her hand. Tossed it to the ground. And in the next second, his hand was at her throat. Only…something was wrong. Something sharp had burst from his fingertips.

Claws?

He had claws at her throat. Why would—

“I’m the one she sent,” he growled. “I’m the one who’s here to—”

A shout broke the night. Not so much a shout, but more a bellow that was her name.

The watcher. She’d only been in town a few hours. Had he already caught up to her?

Thain’s head whipped to the right. His nostrils twitched. “Vampire.” He said the word like a curse.

Because it was.

Most thought vampires weren’t real. Just stories to tell in order to frighten children.

She’d been a scared child once. She’d seen the vampire that came into her house. That fed on her family.

Not just a story.

“We have to get out of here,” she whispered. “Now.”

Thain glanced back at her, frowning.

Why wasn’t he moving? Did the guy want to get eaten by vampires? That wasn’t exactly the best way to go.

He stepped back. Well, that was something. Movement. Then Thain shook his head and stared at her like she was some kind of mental case. Yeah, she’d seen that look before. After her parents were killed, she’d tried telling the cops about the vampires. Only the cops hadn’t believed her. They’d just given her the look that said she was insane. The same look Thain was giving her now.

So not time for this.

“Allison!” That roar again. Closer this time. Coming too near.

A growl rumbled in Thain’s chest.

Uh, okay.

Then he caught her hand and they started to run. Not away from that yell. Oh, sweet baby Jesus, they were running toward it.

Allison dug in her heels. “We can’t! Stop!”

But it was too late. The blond vampire had rounded the corner. He rushed at them with fangs barred.

Thain leapt forward and drove his claws—yes, definitely claws, very definitely—right into the vampire’s throat.