Death Marked by Madeline Freeman

Author:Madeline Freeman [Freeman, Madeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laurealinde Publishing LLC

Chapter Twenty-One

I sniff the air. Vampire. And he’s alone. Or maybe his companions are out of range.

My muscles tense. Should I wake Brady and Dagny and tell them to run? No—that would bring too much attention to them.

I rise silently to the balls of my feet, taking care to keep crouched behind the bush. I’ll wait until he gets closer before taking him out.

Adrenaline pumps through my system, and my vision sharpens. I struggle to keep my breathing even and silent as the footsteps draw closer.

Time seems to slow. The intruder is ten yards away. Five yards. The person is still in the woods and hope bubbles inside me. Maybe they’ll walk past and never know we were here.

The footsteps stop, and I freeze. A moment later, twigs snap and brush rustles as the interloper takes off at speed.

Right at me.

My leg muscles tighten and I lock my gaze on the edge of the trees. As soon as the branches shiver, I rise from my hiding spot and sprint toward the forest, ready to defend my makeshift pack with everything in me.

I leap at the vampire, aiming to knock him down. As I make contact, his arms go around me—but it’s not a defensive move.

His back slams into the mossy ground and I topple over with him. I straddle his chest and pin his arms with my knees.

“Ava.”

My hands freeze halfway to his throat. “Luke?”

In the near-complete darkness, I catch a flash of his teeth when he smiles. “Mind letting me up?”

I spring to my feet and hold out my hand. He takes it and pulls himself to standing. “What are you doing here?”

“You mean besides looking for you?”

I lead the way back to the river bank. “How did you find us?” My heart rate kicks up a notch. Did we unknowingly leave some trail? Is it only a matter of time before others come?

Brady and Dagny are sitting when we emerge from the trees. “What’s going on?” Brady asks.

I hitch my thumb over my shoulder. “It’s just Luke. Go back to sleep.”

Dagny lies down, but Brady remains propped up on his elbow as Luke and I settle on two of the seat-sized rocks along the riverbank.

“It took a while to deal with the picnic,” Luke says, keeping his voice low. “I had to make sure I tracked down everyone to compel away their true memories.”

I nod. “How did you deal with the bodies?”

“No one died,” he says, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Plenty were drained nearly to the brink, but I think leaving them alive must’ve been one of the werewolves’ conditions. No matter the end game, weres tend to be pretty firm on that point.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “After I finished up, I headed back to the sanctuary. By the time I got there...”

I wince at my own memories. “How bad was it?”

“Not completely destroyed, but a bunch of spots all over the perimeter were in ruins. People were fleeing—it was chaos.

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