CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tia snapped her eyes open, and fought down her giddiness and nausea. God, she fucking hated teleporting! It felt like all her molecules had been scrambled and hurriedly put back together in the wrong order.
She blinked quickly to focus and saw that she was on a quiet street behind the old museum. Nelo had teleported her out of the building, away from Caine. The vampire’s hand was still around her neck and she felt him loosen his grip momentarily. Without hesitation, Tia spun round and jammed the barrel of her gun up against his chin.
She squeezed the trigger but there was only a dull click.
“Shit!” Tia cursed. She had run out of bullets.
Nelo let out a nasty laugh and yanked her into an alleyway. He slammed her against the wall and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
The vampire pulled her head forcefully to the side to expose her neck and Tia felt the tips of his sharp fangs against her flesh.
“No, no!” she screamed, trying her best to headbutt him.
Nelo backhanded her and Tia tasted blood in her mouth. She swallowed quickly and clamped her teeth down on his hand when he tried to hit her across the face again.
She bit down, hard. Nelo roared and smashed the back of her head against the wall. Tia saw stars and bright flashes in front of her eyes, and the shadows in the alley seemed to slither towards her. The shadows began to close in on her, threatening to drag her under.
Tia grunted and forced the darkness away. She shook her head hoping to clear it. Her movement sent a shock of pain from her skull straight down her spine.
Nelo grabbed her by the collar and hauled her up. “I should kill you now, but human blood tastes so much sweeter when the heart is still pumping,” Nelo said.
Tia tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand and plunged his fangs into her neck.
Tia almost passed out from the excruciating pain. The vampire began to drink from her, and she felt her blood pumping thickly into his mouth.
No, no, no!
Tia kept kicking and punching, but she was growing weaker. She was losing too much blood. Nelo fed greedily from her, determined to drain every drop of blood from her body.
He was going to kill her.
Tia started shivering, suddenly feeling very cold. Her vision was blurring and she was drifting away.
She was dying.
No! She refused to die. Not like this.
Tia croaked out Caine’s name, and turned painfully to stare towards the narrow mouth of the alley.
There was no one on the street.
No one would save her.
She thought of her sister and niece, and their beautiful, smiling faces swam before her eyes. “Take good care of them, Nathan,” she whispered.
She thought of Caine, Sarah and Amanda, and she smiled as her eyes began to close.
She had grown to love this family and she hated leaving them. She loved being a part of their lives, and she wished they could be in her future.
But what future was there for her?
Her last thought was of Caine.
I love you.
She regretted not saying these three words to him earlier.