Willow splashed water on her face before using it to wash her hands and arms. Sitting back on her heels, she surveyed the forest, but it looked the same as it had yesterday and the day before and the day before that. There were no homes, no stores, and no roads to break the monotony of the trees. The only change in the land was when it rose up a hill and fell into a valley.
She spent a lot of time outside as a kid, running through fields, playing in the woods, and swimming with her siblings; she’d loved the freedom it brought her, and she loved the animals. But now she’d had enough of the outdoors and was ready to be inside somewhere warm and comfortable. At least they hadn’t heard the howls of the Savages again.
She missed civilization, showers, and her bed. But most of all, she missed being with someone who didn’t go out of their way to avoid looking at her. It was a chilly night, but instead of waking in his arms, she awoke to find his jacket draped around her.
It took everything she had not to throw the thing at him. But even if he was acting like a child, she refused to. Folding it up neatly, she handed it back to him. The way he took it made it very clear he was careful not to touch her.
She hadn’t wanted things to become awkward after their kiss, and she hadn’t believed they were at the awkward stage when they started into the woods again yesterday, but she was wrong. He considered them there, or at least he was making it uncomfortable between them.
She missed the ease of their conversations, but every time she tried talking to him, his clipped, one-word replies ended it. And now she’d given up trying.
She’d never regretted kissing someone before, and she had some pretty crappy kisses in her life, but she was starting to regret the best kiss of her life. Willow rested her hands on her thighs as she tried to think of something to say, but her mind raced in circles.
Rising, she stepped away from the small stream to survey the woods. Declan glanced at her before focusing on the shadows again. The breeze blowing down the hill they’d descended ruffled the hair against her neck. The terrain had grown steadily rockier and more difficult to traverse as they progressed into the mountains.
She started into the woods again, and Declan followed. They walked for another hour before they emerged into an open field. Trees lined the edge of the field, but they stayed out in the open as they crossed what she now realized was a corn or maybe a wheat field.
Willow lifted her face to the sun to absorb its rays. After days spent living in the shadows of the forest, she welcomed this open warmth. They were halfway across the field when three men emerged from the trees and started across the field toward them.
She glanced at Declan to find his jaw set and his nostrils flaring. Red glinted in his silvery eyes as the demon he kept buried beneath his usually serene exterior slipped through. He rested his hand on her arm in a possessive gesture so out of place with the man who had avoided her for the past two days.
She shoved aside the way her skin came alive at his touch, pulled her arm away from his, and removed a stake from her jacket. She started to lower it to her side when Declan stayed her hand.
“They’re not vampires,” he said.
Her violet eyes darkened as her gaze went from him to the woods and back again. Even perplexed, dirty, and tired, she was achingly beautiful.
The murmur of conversation drifting across the field pulled his attention away from her. When he detected the faint beat of hearts, his fangs tingled, and it took everything he had to keep them retracted.
At any other time, the approach of humans wouldn’t have fazed him, but he didn’t like anyone near Willow. He frowned as this sank in. He’d never felt like that about anyone before, but then, his past relationships with women weren’t exactly healthy. If he bothered to learn their names, he often forgot them before the night ended.
Things were different with Willow. He liked and admired her strength and determination to survive. She was the first woman who made him long for something more. He was trying to figure out what that something more was when the three men stopped five feet away from them.
They all had fishing poles resting against their shoulders and tackle boxes in hand. They wore camouflage hats and jackets over their jeans. The men frowned as they looked from them, to each other, and back to them. Finally, the youngest man’s gaze settled on Willow, and he grinned.
“Hello,” the young fisherman greeted.
Shades of red filled Declan’s vision when the man’s eyes ran leisurely over her. The lust emanating from him had Declan envisioning ripping off the guy’s dick and shoving it down his throat. He shook his head to clear it of the overwhelming, violent compulsion, but he couldn’t entirely rid himself of it.
They had to return home, and he had to get far away from her before he killed someone. But the idea of distancing himself from her pissed off the demon part of him more than the man’s lewd stare.
What is wrong with me? He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the ends of it. He welcomed the discomfort it caused as it helped to calm him a little.
“Hi,” Willow said with a wave. “Could you tell us if there’s a town nearby?”
The fishermen exchanged a glance. Willow suspected the trio was a son, father, and grandfather.
“Are you lost?” the oldest one asked.
“Yes,” Willow said.
The men all looked at Declan like he was an alien descended from the farthest galaxy. Willow suspected that with his striking looks, they were probably pinning him as some city boy who couldn’t handle the woods. She tried to hide her amusement but started chuckling when they all scowled at him.
“How did you end up way out here?” Grandpa asked.
“Where is out here?” Declan inquired.
The three of them exchanged another look.
“Where do you think it is?” the dad asked.
“Maine.”
The three men laughed so loud they scared some mourning doves from the ground, and Grandpa slapped his knee. She had no idea where they were, but she liked these guys.
“Son, you need a map, a compass, or some common sense,” Grandpa said.
Willow snorted with laughter, and Declan sent her a look. He wasn’t as amused as she was by the fact he’d been “son’d” by a man who was hundreds of years younger than him. Not only that, but he’d pretty much been called an idiot.
“If we’re not in Maine, then where are we?” Willow asked. It was probably best if she interacted with them instead of Declan; he looked a little too tempted to kill them.
“You’re in Vermont,” the dad answered. “Near the border of Canada.”
Willow didn’t know how far that meant they’d run, and she wasn’t about to ask. Instead, she gave them her best smile, and they all returned it.
Declan removed a lollipop and carefully opened it as Willow wrapped the men around her delicate finger. If the men were still walking, they’d probably be tripping over themselves to please her.
He shoved the lollipop in his mouth and didn’t bother to taste it before biting into the center. The acrid taste helped to jerk him out of his growing, murderous impulses, but he’d still like to eat them all.
“We’ve gotten a little turned around,” Willow said.
“I’d say so,” Grandpa said and spat some chew on the ground. “You’re not out here looking for a marijuana field or something like that, are you?”
“No, sir, nothing like that,” Willow said.
Declan chewed faster as all the men melted beneath her wide, innocent eyes and beguiling expression.
“We went for a hike with some friends and got separated from them,” Willow continued. “We were only supposed to be in the woods for a few hours, but it’s been days now.”
“You’re lucky,” the youngest man said. He looked to be in his early twenties. “You could have died out here.”
They all shot accusatory glances at Declan, but it was Willow who bristled over their words. She was quite capable of taking care of herself, and she didn’t need some man to protect her or lead her astray.
“It’s a good thing we found you then,” Willow said. She may not like their chauvinistic attitudes, but they were their ticket back to civilization, and she knew how to flatter their pride.
“It sure is,” the dad said. “Come on; we’ll take you to our hunting camp. We don’t have a phone, but there’s food and drinks. I’m sure you could use a little of both. I can take you to a phone afterward.”
“Thank you,” Willow said and nudged Declan when he didn’t speak.
“Yes, thank you,” Declan muttered.
***
Derrick followed them as far as he could once they entered the field, but the sun kept him hiding in the shadows of the trees. He checked his phone, but there was no service. After another hundred feet, the two vamps disappeared with the humans.
Cursing, he slipped into the trees and ran as fast as he could in search of a town; there had to be something close by if they’d encountered humans. He’d gone only a mile before coming across a row of buildings. He ran along the back of them until he found the police station.
They’d been too far away for him to see the humans clearly, and the caps they wore obscured their hair color, but he’d find somewhere to call for backup and have any phones or cell towers in the area shut down. Then he’d use the humans of this town to help make sure they never made it out of here.
He hoped he wasn’t already too late.