Chapter 24
Cori
She lay on the couch unable to sleep. It had been several hours since she left Bartol’s room, shutting the door behind her for emphasis that she wanted to be left alone. When Cori had decided to give him free rein over her body, she’d never imagine things would go the way they did. It had been the most incredible experience of her life. So much so that when he bit her, it hadn’t bothered her right away. Cori had even reveled in the feeling of it during those first few moments. There was no way she could have been more connected to another person than while he was deep inside her.
It had only been after the memories faded away that she realized what he’d done. Bartol had mated them. How could that have happened? She’d lain on the couch for hours trying to recall the few details Melena had given her about the bite mark and how it worked. All Cori could remember was that it lasted for life, and she would always be connected to Bartol on some deeper, metaphysical level. Oh, and every supernatural within spitting distance would know he’d claimed her as his. She’d sworn she would never let another man have a strong hold on her again, and then she’d let this happen. Cori wanted to throttle herself.
A hint of sunlight filtered through the living room windows as dawn’s early rays shined inside. She got up and took a peek outside. To her surprise, she found a thin layer of snow on the ground with more tiny flakes falling from the sky. It had been cold last night when they left the shop, but she hadn’t checked the weather forecast lately and didn’t realize it was supposed to snow. She supposed she should have expected it. Fairbanks often got an early snow in October, though it usually didn’t stick for long.
Cori stared at the glistening white stuff for a while until a plan formed in her head. She needed answers about the claiming mark, as well as a friend to talk to, and she knew where to get both—without involving Bartol. It was daylight, so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about Griff attacking her. She’d go straight to Melena’s, and everything would be fine.
Resolved in her decision, she dug a notepad from her purse and wrote a note to Bartol, letting him know where she was going. Cori set it on the dining room table. No way did she have any intention of waking him up, but neither did she want him worrying when he didn’t find her in the cabin. Satisfied she’d done enough, she got dressed, adding an extra layer for the cold. Cori moved as quietly as possible, worried the nephilim might wake up at any moment and stop her. When she made it to the front door without him coming out, she figured he must have been sleeping deeply. Maybe having sex for the first time in a century had worn him out.
She left the cabin, gently shutting the door behind her. Still, Bartol didn’t pop out of nowhere the way she kept expecting. Go figure that she’d tie herself to a man who would be even harder to get away from than Griff. The only difference was deep down she knew Bartol would never intentionally hurt her. In his eyes, she’d seen the remorse he’d felt at hurting her last night. She’d spent enough time examining his reaction since then to be reasonably certain he hadn’t done it intentionally.
Cori rubbed at the bite wound. It was still sore, though it seemed to already be knitting back together. Was it supposed to heal that fast? One more question to ask Melena. Unlike Bartol, the sensor had been through all of this before and would have a lot more answers. Cori just had to catch her before she went to work.
Climbing into the truck, she got the engine started. She was thankful it didn’t fight her the way some of her past vehicles had when they got cold. Of course, the truck did just get a lot of maintenance to help. She slowly pulled out of the drive and got on the highway. The road wasn’t too bad since the snow was light, but she took care not to go too fast.
Along the way, she kept thinking of Bartol and the night before. Until that last part, he’d been absolutely amazing. There was no doubt left in her mind that the reclusive man had once been a world-renowned lover. He knew exactly how to touch a woman and bring her to the brink of madness with pleasure. There had been a couple of close calls where she’d almost lost him, but somehow she’d pulled him out of it. Cori was still amazed she’d managed to break through such a deep-rooted trauma. The feeling of gratification she’d gotten from that made her feel even closer when Bartol regained his composure and his masterful touch.
But why did he have to ruin it with the bite?
She’d been too out of her mind at the time to sense the change when his feral nature took over. It wasn’t until he’d sunk his fangs into her that she realized what was happening, and by that point she was too far gone to care. But then there were the memories. So many had flashed through her mind she could only latch onto a few, but she saw enough to get a good idea of what Bartol had been through in Purgatory and even experience some of his pain for herself. They’d relived some of the major moments in her life as well—to her horror. While she was frustrated with Bartol at the moment, she could hardly stay angry with a man who’d suffered as much as him. He’d reached out, and whether it was intentional or not, she’d responded in a way that connected them.
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the semi truck getting too close behind her until too late. It moved into the other lane and abruptly slammed into the corner of her vehicle. Her truck skidded sideways. Cori gripped the wheel, trying to keep control, but the road was too slick. Her vehicle veered off the highway and dove into the adjacent forest. No amount of hitting her breaks could stop the momentum. She bumped along, going over brush and saplings before crashing into a black cottonwood tree. Her body jerked against the seatbelt, the airbag slammed into her face, and glass flew everywhere. For a moment, she sat there in a daze, unable to move.
Cori blinked in confusion at the cuts on her hands and arms, trying to figure out how she’d gotten there, but she couldn’t make sense of it. Then someone jerked her door open. Two middle-aged men who might have been a couple of truckers stood outside. One of them leaned forward with a syringe in his hand.
“No!” she shouted.
Cori tried to scramble away, but her seatbelt held her in place. She fumbled to unlatch it, unable to get her clumsy fingers to work before she felt a sharp prick in her neck. She jerked away, the seatbelt biting into her collarbone. A few moments later, her frantic movements be-came sluggish and her vision blurred, and then everything went black.