Chapter
Four

My eyes don’t immediately adjust to the darkness of night, and I sprint straight into a sticker bush. Shielding my eyes, I push through, even as the thorns rake across my arms and legs and rip the hair from my top knot.

The forest, usually alive with nocturnal activity, is hushed. The only sounds are my pounding footsteps and gasping breaths. It’s too dark, and I’m running too recklessly to stay on the path, so I create my own, tearing through brush and branches. I fight for my footing when my feet sink into the damp mud hidden beneath leaves.

My heart is a loose thing that slams against my ribs, no longer anchored inside me as I run for minutes, or maybe hours. Fear devours all sense of time. I’m not sure how much distance I’ve gained when a cramp rockets up my torso. The pain pierces like needles beneath my ribs, forcing me to slow my gait to a near-hobble as I clutch my side. I don’t dare stop.

Moving slower gives my eyes time to adjust to the night, but it does little good. Nothing looks familiar. An endless line of trees and brush stretches before me, fading into the dark.

I stop to listen. The small hairs on my neck and arms stand. The normal sounds of the forests are muted. I clutch my sweater tightly to ward off the chill that has nothing to do with the temperature. I’m safe, I try to convince myself. But safe no longer feels like a word that exists on the same planet as me.

A force slams into me from behind. I cry out as I’m thrown to the ground, face pressed against soft mud and slimy leaves. Before I can scream, a hand clamps over my mouth, fingers digging into my flesh.

“Don’t yell.” It’s Sebastian’s voice, or at least I think it is. The words are more growl than human. He flings me onto my back, kneeling over me on bended knee.

Despite his warning, the moment I see his face, a scream bubbles up, only to be smothered by his fingers.

Sebastian’s pupils have dilated, giving his eyes the hollow appearance of empty sockets. His lips are curled in a snarl. It could be my imagination, but his fangs appear larger and sharper, the points gleaming under the moon.

He swallows hard. “I’m trying really hard not to kill you right now. But when you run and, even worse, scream, I lose a bit of control. Can’t be helped.” His voice is a strange mix of gravel and nails.

I whimper.

His hand moves from my mouth to the back of my head. He hoists me up by my hair and jerks my head to the side, exposing my neck. He brings his nose to my throat and inhales deeply. His breath is hot on my neck. “She made you wear that disgusting oil,” he growls. “Even it can’t help you if you don’t stop making those noises. It’s taking every ounce of strength I have not to eat you.”

“No,” I whisper. I don’t want to die among the rotting leaves and decaying logs. I don’t want to be another dead thing disappearing into the forest floor. “No.” I place my palm against his cheek to push him away. The second my skin connects with his, a series of sparks leap from my fingertips.

I cry out at the same time Sebastian grunts. He releases me, both of us falling apart onto the soft earth.

“What did you do?” he asks, blinking. The black bleeds from his eyes, returning them to their previous silver.

“What did you do?” I say, panting.

“That wasn’t me.” He stands and takes several steps away, as if I’m the one to be feared. His watches me with wide eyes, chest heaving. “So I’m going to ask again, what did you do?”

I stand as well. “Nothing.”

“Not nothing.” His voice carries the edge of panic. “First the song, and now this. I saw things—flashes—memories?” He runs his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know.”

I take a step backward.

“Don’t do that.” His head snaps up. “If you run, it triggers the bloodlust. Besides, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know.”

He’s quiet for a moment before saying, “You have to do it again.” He doesn’t wait for me to answer before striding toward me.

“What?” Trembling, I clamber away until my spine bumps into a tree. I dig my fingers into the bark, hoping to somehow anchor myself back into the real world instead of this nightmare I’ve fallen into.

“Who are you?” He rakes his fingers through his tangled hair. “How do you know these things?”

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know anything.”

“Do it again.” He grabs my hand and places it against his face. His skin is soft and warm beneath my fingers. “I’m sorry for scaring you earlier.” There is a hint of desperation in his voice. “I mean, it’s actually your fault because you ran. But none of that matters, because you did something just now, and I need you to do it again.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, my hand resting on his face. “I don’t know what I did or how I did it.”

He grabs my wrist with his other hand. “Maybe if you just concentrate.” He hesitates, face softening. “Please.”

There’s that humanity again, that subtle glimmer in his eyes that the others didn’t have. I have to wonder, is he really different? Or is he just playing me to get what he wants? “Let go of me.” I jerk my hand out of his grip. “I can’t do—whatever it is you want me to do.”

He stares at me for several long heartbeats. “What are you?”

“Not a monster like you,” I snap.

He’s quiet. The silence itches along my skin like a wool blanket. “I’m not a monster—I’m a vampire. And I wasn’t always,” he says finally. “I think—I almost remembered—” His gaze drifts and he bites off the rest of his words.

Vampire. The word floats through my brain, unable to take root. How could it, when the very idea of a vampire is insane. And yet, the proof stands in front of me. “Are you—are you going to eat me?”

“Honestly?” Folding his arms, he leans against a tree beside me. “I have no idea what to do with you. I don’t even know what you are.”

“Stop saying that. I’m human.”

He laughs. It’s a wonderful sound, like warm honey on my skin. “If you’re human, then I’m Santa Claus.”

“Screw you.” I raise my middle finger.

His smile disappears. “Why make this more difficult? Why not just tell me what you are?”

“I already told you, I’m human. Even if I wasn’t, why the hell would I tell you anything? You think I owe you answers?” I snort. “I’m the one who doesn’t know what’s going on. You’re one of the monsters, remember? You helped them kidnap my aunt, you made my dog run away, and you tied me up. I hate you, and I don’t owe you a damn thing.”

He exhales loudly. “You can hate me all you want, but I’d strongly advise against running. You have a choice here. You can run, trigger my bloodlust, and I’ll probably end up killing you and ruining a perfectly good suit. Just so you know, I’ll only be upset about the suit. Option number two, you can come with me to your cabin, and maybe we can find a clue about what you are and how you were able to do that—thing.”

“Have you not been listening?” I make a face. “Spoiler alert. I’m human. And I can’t do any things.”

His eyes darken, making me shiver. “Then we go back to the cabin and prove it.”

“What about my aunt?”

“There’s nothing we can do now.” His jaw flexes. “She’s well on her way to the farm.”

I do not like the sound of that. “What the hell is the farm?”

“Every question you ask brings us closer to daylight,” he replies with an edge to his voice. “And time is something we can’t waste. If you want me to help you, you need to help me.”

I lick my lips. “Why the hell would you help me? You’re one of the monsters.”

He’s quiet for so long I’m sure he’s not going to answer me, but then he says, “I have no memories of my human life. I’m the only vampire I know who can’t remember my past.” He looks away. “But then you hummed that song and it stirred something inside of me—a sense of familiarity I’ve never experienced. When you touched me I saw something—just for a second. A woman with golden hair. And all I could feel was her love. I wonder—I wonder if she is my mother. I always assumed my mother was dead—but now I’m not so sure.” His eyes search my face, as if he might find the answers to his questions there.

As a girl whose mother died when I was a baby, I can almost relate. A part of me has always wanted to know what my real mother was like, and longs for a memory. But a larger part of me—the smarter part—knows I can’t help him and he’s still a monster. “I’m sorry. Whatever it is you think I can do, I can’t.”

“Would you be willing to try?” he asks. “My Queen plans to use your aunt as a pawn in a centuries-old war. I cannot help you myself, but I could take you to someone who might be able to.”

My chest tightens. “You would do that?”

“Yes.”

I’m not a complete idiot. I know he can’t be trusted and he’ll probably kill me no matter what I do. But I also know my aunt is getting farther away by the second, and I’m fresh out of other options. “Fine.” Despite my quivering muscles, I raise my chin. “I’m going back to the cabin to look for nothing—because that’s what we’ll find.” I take several steps before he clears his throat. “What?”

Sebastian points in the opposite direction. “Your cabin is that way.”

A flush burns up my neck, igniting my cheeks. I turn in the direction he pointed and trudge through the woods. Sebastian catches up to me in several long strides. He reaches in front of me, lifting branches and vines out of my way as I walk.

“I’m not helpless,” I snap.

“Maybe not, but you’re not exactly graceful. The way you’re scratching yourself up—I might have some restraint, but I’m still a vampire. You keep slicing open your skin and I might as well be walking beside an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

Duly noted. Slowing my pace, I maneuver a little more carefully around branches and sticker bushes.

We walk the rest of the way in silence. Occasionally he grabs my arm when I drift in the wrong direction, or jerks me to the side before I tumble into a hole. When the lights of the cabin flicker through the trees, guilt coils inside my gut, and I have to fight to keep from sprinting toward the door. I enter the gaping doorway only to have my chest deflate when I find the house empty. “Jax? Here, boy.”

He doesn’t answer.

I whirl around, facing Sebastian. “Did the other vampires do something to my dog?”

His face reveals nothing. “If your dog isn’t here, then he ran off. Animals have a natural aversion to vampires. They’re smart, unlike humans.”

I glare at him. “You don’t understand. Jax won’t let me take a shower alone. There’s no way he wouldn’t be here if he was okay.”

“My kind do not eat dogs.” He makes a face. “We’re not disgusting Anima.”

“A what?”

“You really don’t know anything, do you?”

Grunting, I snatch a piece of splintered wood from the floor. “Then tell me something. I read books, are the stories true? Can I kill you with this?” I raise the stake in the air.

“You?” Sebastian smirks. “Never. A more skilled hunter, maybe. And only if they caught me off guard. Care to guess how many times that’s happened? Now put that down before you hurt yourself.”

I throw it at him. He easily bats it away. “The sooner you quit wasting time, the sooner we can find what I’m looking for.”

With a sigh, I flop onto the couch. “There’s nothing to find here. I know, because I’ve already searched.”

Sebastian arches an eyebrow.

I shrug. “I was curious about my parents. Aunt Rachel doesn’t talk about them unless she’s had more than three glasses of wine.” Even then, she doesn’t say much. What I do know from her is this: my father was Hispanic with dark hair and smile lines etched around his eyes. My mother shared Aunt Rachel’s blond hair and freckles. She studied dance and wanted to go to Julliard—until she got pregnant with me at eighteen.

Because of the pregnancy, Aunt Rachel’s parents disowned my mother. Aunt Rachel lost contact with her until the day she was notified of the car accident. Sideswiped by a semi in St. Louis. I was the only survivor.

“I thought maybe I could find a photo or something,” I continue. “There’s nothing.”

“We’ll see.” He strides to the bookshelf in the corner and pulls out a book. He flips through every page before replacing it and grabbing another.

“This is dumb,” I mutter. Standing, I walk into the kitchen, pull open a drawer, and sort through the silverware and cooking utensils. “We should be going after my aunt. What are we even looking for?”

“Evidence.” He pulls out another book and shakes it open. “I was ordered to find proof your aunt’s son is really dead. But I’m more interested in anything that explains what you are.” He meets my eyes with his own. They take on a weird silver glow in the cabin’s dim light. My pulse races.

“Of course he’s dead. He’d be here if he wasn’t, right?” Turning back to the drawer, I slam it shut. “And why do you keep calling me a what? I’m human. What else could I be?”

He shrugs. “Vampires aren’t the only creatures to look human.”

The thought makes my heart flutter inside my chest like a frightened bird. “I don’t believe you,” I say, nearly choking on my words. Because the truth is, I do believe him. I just don’t want to.

He replaces the book and leans against the shelf. “What is your name?”

I lick my lips. “Charlize. But nobody calls me that.”

“Then what do they call you?”

I hesitate. “Charlie.”

“Charlie.” For some reason, my name sounds different when he says it—richer. “I don’t remember my human life, but I do remember where I was when the Mentis clan found me. I was being held captive, and it wasn’t by humans.”

Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask. But the voice in my head is no match for my mouth. “Who was holding you captive?”

“Not a who. A what.” He holds my gaze a few heartbeats longer. Abruptly, he walks a circle around the room, taking in every corner. “The faster we find something, the faster I can get you to the person who can help you.”

I’m almost relieved he didn’t answer my question. The veil that’s hidden a strange, darker world from what I know has only been pulled back a fraction.

I’m not sure I’m ready for more.