Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
The others wasted no time following his command and scattered, leaving their friend’s corpse behind without a second thought. I managed to get back on my knees, another surge of adrenaline shooting through me. For all I knew, I’d been rescued from five monsters by one even worse.
Even before the man turned around, I knew he had to be a vampire. His appearance just hammered it in.
I had heard a rumor that most vampires were beautiful, but my first real-life encounter had been far too jarring to even notice anything of the sort. This guy, though, was drop-dead gorgeous. Literally, if the guy laying a few feet away from me now was any indication. It was impossible to deny that. His dark hair contrasted pale skin and he made no attempt to hide the crimson of his gaze, glinting like rubies in the moonlight. His eyes were sharp as they traveled over me, but not with the same predatory intent as the others. Or at least, it didn’t have the same effect on me if it was the same. He had a strong jaw, angular features, and the elegant slope of his nose gave him a sophisticated air that belied his youth. He couldn’t have been much older than his mid-thirties.
It only took me a second to realize what a stupid thought that was. He was a vampire. Of course he could be older. They didn’t age any more than they wanted to do. Hell, I had even heard rumors they were capable of reverse-aging when they wanted. Some could shapeshift to a limited degree, although it was difficult to tell what was bullshit meant to scare us off venturing onto their territory and what was the truth.
As he walked toward me, everything in my mind was screaming for me to run, but my body wouldn’t budge. I wanted to believe it was shock, but the truth was, I felt like prey enraptured in a predator’s trance. I wondered if this was what it felt like to be a moth in front of a flame, or a rabbit stunned by the sight of a prowling wolf. Every pore and inch of skin buzzed with electricity, an innate warning from the part of me still rational enough to recognize the danger before me. Not that the rest of me paid it any heed.”Are you alright?” The voice that had been guttural and menacing before now sounded smooth and gentle. It made me shiver all the same. Probably some delayed reaction. All I could do was stare at him like an idiot as he held out a hand.
Finally, I snapped out of whatever trance I was in and reluctantly took his hand even though that, too, was probably a dumbass thing to do. I should’ve run, but getting up seemed beyond my ability at the moment, let alone escaping someone who had managed to take on all five of those vampires without breaking a sweat.”I’m fine,” I said on autopilot. My head felt like an egg someone had cracked open, and there was a ringing in my ears that couldn’t be good, but instinctively, I knew better than to risk appearing weak. Even if he had come to my rescue and didn’t seem to have any imminent plans of hurting me. I turned toward the dead man on the ground and I could practically feel the color drain from my face. Maybe “fine” was an overstatement.
The vampire followed my gaze and his softened slightly, almost apologetic. As ridiculous as that was, it was the only way I could think to describe the shift in his demeanor. “He hurt you,” he said, reaching out. This time, my instincts were active enough that I shrank back. He held his hand up but slowly withdrew it without making any further attempt to reach for me.”Pretty sure he was going to do a lot worse than that if you hadn’t come along,” I murmured, rubbing the arm that had been wrenched by my back. It wasn’t out of its socket, since I could still move it a little, but work was going to be a bitch tomorrow.
It was such a weird thought to have, considering the circumstances, and even if the guy on the ground was a complete monster, I felt weird about thinking such trivial things when someone was dead.”What are you doing out here alone?” he asked, his brow furrowing. There was unmistakable judgment in his voice, although I wasn’t sure if it was directed at me or whoever he thought he should be keeping me home.”Walking home,” I answered, unable to help the defensive tone of my voice. Which I guess is a more perilous activity than I imagined.”
He huffed a breath somewhere close to a laugh. “For a human, maybe not. Where’s your pack?”
Man, I was getting tired of that question. He seemed to realize I wasn’t going to answer and moved on. “Your head. You’re bleeding.”
I brought my hand up and touched the spot he was staring at, pulling my fingers away stained with red. Another surge of fear went through me, but even though his gaze was a little more intense-which was saying something-he didn’t seem like he was going to go nuts at the sight of blood or anything. Guess that was another rumor that wasn’t entirely true.”I’ll be alright. I heal fast,” I murmured.
He didn’t respond, just stared at me like he was having some debate in his mind. “What is your name?”
It seemed like a strange question, all things considered. A bit of a non sequitur.”Lavinia,” I said reluctantly, figuring I owed him that at least, since he had saved my life.”Lavinia.” He repeated my name slowly, thoughtfully, like he was committing it to memory, or maybe just the feel of it on his tongue. “Well, Lavinia, you should be more careful. It is unsafe for a she-wolf like you to be out on her own. Especially at this time of night.”
I felt a twinge of irritation. Rescuer or not, I didn’t have getting lectured by a vampire on my to-do list, on top of everything else that had happened today. For the first time, I noticed the faint accent beneath his words. European, maybe Spanish. It was hard to say.”I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, studying him a bit closer while I had the chance. “And the name of my rescuer?””Alexander,” he answered. The name seemed to fit into place, the final piece of a puzzle I didn’t even know I was trying to solve.”Thank you, Alexander,” I said, waving my hand. “For the whole lifesaving thing. I owe you one, but I really need to get back home.””At least let me walk you back. Make sure you get there alright.”
He said it like it was a suggestion, but it really didn’t feel like one. I warred with myself over whether to put up a fight or not. Even if he had saved me, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of a strange vampire knowing where I lived.
Before I could formulate an excuse, I remembered the dead guy. “What about him?””I’ll have someone take care of it,” he said dismissively, already walking toward the end of the alley. Like he had just broken a glass or something and wasn’t talking about leaving a dead body behind.
I hesitated a moment, but I really didn’t want to be the one left standing here when someone else discovered said dead body, and I didn’t really have any choice but to follow him. Once he made it out onto the sidewalk, I fell into step beside him, still keeping a close eye on the man next to me.”Where do you live?”
For once, I wasn’t just hesitant to answer that question because I was embarrassed. Fortunately, I reminded myself I was moving tomorrow, so it really didn’t matter that much if he knew where he lived. “The Plaza.”
He raised his eyebrow, the usual reaction, but he didn’t say anything. A real gentleman. On the surface, anyway.
Alexander was quiet the rest of the way, which suited me fine since I was still kind of in shock. I wasn’t sure that was going to change anytime soon. I still kept feeling like there was something I needed to do, some outlet for the adrenaline coursing my veins even if it was slowly giving way to exhaustion once more.
Before I could think of anything else to say, we were in front of my building. “Well, this is it,” I said awkwardly, stuffing my hands in my jacket. “Thanks again.”