my head and dug in my bag for my bottle of Tylenol. “Headache.”
“That’s the other reason I came to see you,” Tom said to Nick and Gary. “She’s not getting random headaches just because of stress from the three of us pursuing her.”
“Two,” I said softly. “Nick just thinks of me as a friend.”
They ignored me. “What is it then?” Gary asked.
“Vampire,” Tom answered. “When I made her answer a question truthfully, I felt a power pressing on her.”
“You did what to her?” Nick stepped forward, hands clenching.
“You’re missing the point. There’s a vampire tracking her.” Tom rolled his eyes.
That chilled my blood. Vampires were the creepiest of all of the supernaturals. They had powers that made the werewolves nervous, but the pack refused to tell me anything about them except to say stay clear and call for help if I was near one. Why would a vampire be tracking me though?
“How sure are you that it’s tracking her?” Gary asked softly.
“He marked her,” Tom said with such venom in his voice that I turned to face him.
“What does that mean?” My stomach twisted at the possibilities.
Nick swallowed nervously. “It means he can track you anywhere you go.”
“Can it be removed?”
The three nodded. Gary pulled out his cell phone and sent a text message. “I advised Thornton.”
My head throbbed again, and I dropped the bottle of pills. Nick caught me before I fell and cradled me in his arms. “Sarah!”
His voice sounded muffled, yet I could see him right in front of me. I felt Nick lift me up and start moving, but I couldn’t hear anything. The pain increased until I had to close my eyes.
That’s when I saw him.
He was sitting in a dark room with burgundy drapes covering the windows. I recognized him from somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. He had a face like so many others that you would forget him in a second and yet think you knew him. “Hello, Sarah,” he said with a smile that revealed his fangs. “I’m sorry to be causing you pain, but I need you to come to me.” He reached his hand out and beckoned me towards him. “Let me release you from the pain.”
“Sarah,” Thornton whispered. “Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up and come back to us.”
“I’ll see you soon, Sarah,” the vampire said before my eyes opened.
Thornton’s face was inches from mine. He smiled. “There’s my girl.”
“Dad,” I whispered just before tears poured out of my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he picked me up, holding me against his chest as he stood. One plus to having a werewolf step-dad was that he could cradle you like a child against his chest no matter how big you got or how much you weighed.
“It’s going to be alright, Sarah,” Dad whispered. “The pack is here for you.” He set me down, and I wiped at my tears.
“I would have thought she’d be tougher from her exposure to the pack,” Alfred said mockingly.
Dad rushed forward and held Alfred off the ground by his throat. “Do not insult my daughter.”
Alfred’s eyes widened, and I could see the fear in them. That actually made me happy. Dad released him and turned away. I looked around and realized we were on our front lawn and the Alphas were all there. I grabbed Dad’s hand, but he just clucked his tongue once, letting me know to relax.
“I saw him,” I whispered. “He wants me to…” as soon as I thought it, my body took over. I sprang away from Dad and started to run. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t alter my course. I couldn’t even speak. I didn’t even know where I was going, except that it was towards the weird pain.
Nick tackled me, wrapping his body around mine to keep me from being hurt. “Stop. Where are you going?”
I struggled against him, getting an arm out, and punched him in the face. My hand hurt incredibly, but I ignored it as I continued to try to get away from him.
“She punched me!” Nick yelled, shock in his voice. He twisted me around and slammed my back into the ground, sitting on my hips and holding my hands up above my head, successfully immobilizing me. “Look at me, Sarah!”
I pushed and pulled and bucked, but he was too strong.
“Kitten,” he whispered. “Look at me.”
Something inside of me cracked, like ice melting and my eyes found his. “Nick?”
He smiled. “Kitten, stop struggling. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Come to me.”
“Dad!”