Forever Bound Series 1-4(91)

“Yes.” Okay, so she hadn’t killed them. Big miscalculation his part. If she hadn’t done it—

Latham.

“I wondered why they never came for me.” The words were spoken with sadness, but fury crackled in her gaze. “I waited for them. Thought they’d betrayed me, too.”

Maybe some of them had, he didn’t know. All Jamie knew for sure was that, “The compound burned to the ground on the same day that you…disappeared.” The flames had lit up the sky. He’d been in LA at the time, young, barely twenty, still too reckless, and he raced toward those flames.

But there had been nothing he could do. The vampire compound had been too far from the main city streets. The fire had been too strong.

Too out of control. For him. And certainly for the human fire fighters who’d tried to battle the blaze.

A tear slid down Iona’s cheek.

It felt like someone had just clawed his chest open. He hated the sight of that tear. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t—”

She lunged away from him. Raced away in a flash and disappeared into the woods as she used that super vamp speed of hers.

No. “Iona!”

But she wasn’t stopping for him.

Swearing, he transformed into the wolf, letting the savage shift sweep over him. Then he was running, following her sweet scent. Rushing through the woods as fast as could.

Can’t let her get away. Can’t.

But even as he rushed through the woods, her scent was growing fainter. He kept going, knowing she couldn’t maintain her enhanced speed forever. She’d still be weak from her imprisonment. She’d still—

He burst from the woods. Heard the growl of a motorcycle. Saw Iona, holding tight to the back of some leather-clad bastard. As the breath heaved from him, the motorcycle shot forward, taking Iona away.

Jamie howled.

The driver glanced back, and Jamie could smell his fear. The man was smart to be afraid. Jamie charged after the bike. After them.

“What the hell is that?” The human demanded. “Too big for a dog…”

“It’s a nightmare.” Iona’s soft voice drifted back to Jamie. Stabbed right in his heart like any knife. “Go faster.”

The engine gunned and the bike picked up even more speed as it flew down the narrow road and into the fading night.

For a time, Jamie kept pretty good pace with the fleeing motorcycle. But then the human and Iona vanished.

Vanished…before he could make her realize that the human wasn’t harmless. That he hadn’t been outside of those woods by chance.

He howled again.

Jamie knew that human’s face. He’d seen him before. At Latham’s side.

And now that human…one of Latham’s army…had Iona.





Chapter Five


The wolf wasn’t following them any longer. Iona’s hands tightened around the male. They should be clear, for now.

“Stop,” she told him, raising her voice so it would be heard over the roar of the motorcycle.

He didn’t stop.

Her hands squeezed him, harder. “Stop.”

Did he give a negative shake of his head?

He did. Her gaze searched the road around them. She needed to get to LA, but she didn’t need the human, not any longer.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll kill you.” He wasn’t wearing a helmet so it would be ridiculously easy to dispatch him. One quick toss and he’d be on the ground. One flick of her wrist and his neck would break.

She might not be able to drink from him, but she could certainly kill him easily enough.

“Someone wants to see you,” the human said as his fingers tightened around the motorcycle’s handlebars.

Unease skated through her. “Then he sent the wrong messenger.” She didn’t even hesitate. Iona grabbed the human and threw him off the motorcycle.

Before the bike could crash, she slid forward and took control of the handlebars. This wasn’t like the old hog she’d had all those years before but…

But she was a fast learner. Her thighs curved around the body of the bike and she throttled up the speed as she raced away.

The human could live or die. He wasn’t her concern.

Her coven—her vampires—they were what mattered. She needed to find out what had happened to them.

***

Greg Coleman rose slowly from the pavement. His ankle was broken, thanks to that bitch. And, also thanks to the vamp bitch, blood soaked the right side of his body where the asphalt had ripped his flesh away.

All that blood, permeating the air, and she hadn’t even stopped for a sip. He yanked out his phone. The screen was cracked, but he still managed to make his call.

“You were right,” he said when the boss picked up. “She didn’t so much as make a move toward my throat.”

A growl rumbled over the line then… “Where is she?”

“Driving fast and hot for LA.” That was what she’d told him, anyway. When she’d rushed out of those woods—nearly scaring the shit out of him because he hadn’t been ready for her; hell, he’d been about to go in those woods and scout for her—the vampire had said that she had to get to LA.

He’d told her to hop on the bike. When she had…holy f*ck, talk about perfect luck.