Chapter Eight
He slowly let out a deep breath, found his footing, stood, and searched the distance for any last glowing embers from his fire.
Before standing, he heard loud growling in the distance, then came a yelp, from either an animal or one of his attackers. He couldn’t tell. But then he heard loud footsteps running, and the thudding of coyote feet racing after them.
Lifting his nose, he smelled blood. Vampire blood.
Knowing this might be his best chance, and hoping it was the vamp wielding the bow and arrow, Lucas ran toward the scent of his campsite.
Aware he was out in the open, he saw several still-smoldering sticks. Not wasting any time, he reached up and yanked the arrow out. Blood gushed rapidly. Kept gushing. Biting back the groan of pain, preparing himself for more, he grabbed the largest smoldering stick by its cooler end and pressed the hot part into his wound.
The pain–or was it the smell of his burning flesh–made him retch. But with no time to linger, he tossed the stick down and moved away from the smoldering ashes. He spotted the only weapon he had–the sharp rock he’d used to clean his dinner–and shot back into the woods. He wasn’t running away now, but giving chase. If he was going to die, it wouldn’t be sitting down.
• • •
Kylie didn’t slow down until she got to the falls. The half-moon, bright in the sky, painted the magical place in silver. Even in December the temperature held a spring feel. Green plant life clung to the landscape.
She rushed through the sheet of water. Unlike being here in daytime, only a cavern of darkness greeted her. No sun reflected off the cascading water to create patterns of color on the cave’s walls. Yet peace still filled the space.
Here, at the sacred falls, was where most of the death angels were known to hang out. But she wasn’t looking for just any death angel. She was looking for her father.
“Hello,” she said, feeling her way and stepping from the pool of water up onto the rock floor behind the falls. Even in here, the temperature wasn’t cold, but she trembled for other reasons. Fear. Not for herself, but for Lucas.
“I need help.” Her voice echoed and was nothing less than desperate. “Daddy, are you here?”
No answer. She dropped to the hard stone floor, hugged her knees and started praying. Prayed her father would show up and with all her heart begged to everything holy that Lucas was okay. That the vision she’d had was just a warning.
“You said you would always watch over me,” she spoke to her father-turned-death-angel, even though all she saw was blackness. “You said I would always be your little girl. You promised. Where are you now? I need you!”
The only sound filling the blackness was the rushing water and the cracking of her heart breaking bit by bit. She hugged her wet legs, hugged them tight, then dropped her forehead to her knees.
Just as she was about to give up, a peace consumed her. She opened her eyes and saw the bright apparition that took on the shape she knew as her father.
Magically, now color danced on the walls. “Please, Daddy, help me.”
“I have child,” his voice resounded with peace. “I’m the one who allowed Lucas’s grandmother to come to you.”
“But she didn’t tell me where he is. I can’t help him.”
“She said she showed you.”
“But . . . All she showed me was a room and . . . a forest.”
She remembered. “The trees were mostly pine trees.”
The brightness, floating mid-air moved closer until she was consumed by the presence of greatness. “Think, Kylie. Is there a—”
“The piney woods.” Her mind raced. “The Sam Houston National Park.”
“Then go. And be careful, child. I will watch over you, but my powers now are not meant to protect.”
“Thank you, Daddy!”
She flew out from the cave, slowing down only seconds to pull her phone from her pocket and call Burnett. He didn’t answer, so she left a message. “He’s at Sam Houston National Park. I’m going there now.”
She flew, fast, hard, not caring that her departure would set off the camp’s security alarm. Only one thing mattered. Finding Lucas. Finding him alive.
• • •
Lucas moved quickly on the hunt for the vampire, following the scent and disregarding his pain. The night clung to darkness, but occasionally moonlight spilled through the trees. He spotted a trail of blood. Several feet later, he found a large pool of blood. Beside it was a clean arrow. His would-be killer had stopped here.
His raised his foot to move on, but heard a rustling in the brush a few feet off.
Lifting his face, he took in the air, testing it, tasting it to know what he had found. The closest scent wasn’t vampire, but coyote. He moved in slowly, dreading what he might find.
A slight whimper had him heading toward a path of tall grass and less dense brush. There, crouched down in the weeds, was the Alpha coyote. The animal tried to stand but dropped back down, an arrow spiked through the top of one leg.
Beside him was a female coyote. Her gaze filled with sorrow. A coyote mated for life. Lucas’s gut clenched. An injury of this caliber, in a coyote’s existence, meant death.
The female let out a whimper that sounded like grief.
Lucas knelt down and gave the injured animal’s side a soft stroke. “If I survive, I will come back and care for you. I promise.”
The female whined and rested its head beside her mate. The male’s golden, pain-filled eyes gazed up as if to say he held no blame toward Lucas, but would hold him to his promise.
Lucas took off, his pace faster now. Ten minutes into the hunt, he heard growling. Had his other clever coyote friends found the injured vampire?
Ignoring the pain that throbbed in his shoulder and the fresh blood flowing now from his wound, he pushed himself to run. He slowed down only when the coyotes’ howls were close, only a few feet behind a thick line of trees.
Almost dizzy, and out of breath, Lucas eased in, heard the distinct growls, and knew his friends must have the injured vamp trapped. Keeping himself hidden, he peered around the wide trunk. He spotted the large male vampire, the bow and arrow held tight in his hands as the two other coyotes circled him. Drawing closer. And closer.
The blood gushing from the vampire’s neck made Lucas’s own loss of blood appear minimal.
“Put down your weapon,” Lucas called out in the same growling tone of the coyotes. “Do as I say and I will call off my friends. Do nothing and I will let them tear you apart and fight for the big pieces.”
Lucas moved in ever so cautiously. In his condition, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Now closer, he noted the vampire looked half dead, but had enough will to live to toss his bow away.
“Back,” he told the coyotes who listened and inched a few steps away. He refocused on his enemy.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Lucas kicked the bow farther away just in case the vampire tried to reach for it. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Right then, the vampire’s chin dropped. His eyes didn’t close, but the life in them vanished. Lucas knew he was gone.
“You did this to yourself.” Lucas’s words had barely left his lips when the wind brought another scent. A familiar one. His hackles rose.
Before he could turn around, he heard it.
“You are the stupid one,” the deep voice spoke behind him. Before Lucas could react, he felt something crash into the back of his head. Felt himself fading into unconsciousness, blackness, nothingness. Then he felt his soul prepare to leave his body.
Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu . . . thump. His heart worked to beat, to hold on to life, but the muscle grew weak.
Weaker.
His last thought was of the thing he would miss the most in this life.
His joy.
His love.
His Kylie.
Thu . . . thuummmm . . .