Page 103 of Burn for Her
Lena felt bad about the dead wolf. Animal cruelty was never okay, and the note left in its mouth didn’t make a lick of sense to her, but it was clear it did for Dorian and some of the others.
Emerick rubbed the back of his neck as they walked towards the car. “I’ll handle things and call you when we find something.”
Not if, when.
“I’ll make the execution worthy of the crime,” Dorian promised.
He swayed on his feet, his face ashen and sweaty.
“Jesus, Dorian.” Emerick got him into the car and handed Lena the keys. “Get him…” his voice died off.
“I’ll take care of him,” she said.
Emerick nodded and marched off, stripping out of his clothes as he went, then burst into his wolf form and took off.
Lena drove out of the Woods’ property, with Dorian quietly sitting in the passenger seat. He didn’t look well. He looked downright murderous.
She made it about an hour down the road until her nerves started to get the better of her. “Someone’s after you,” she said out loud. Lena suspected that the dead wolf and note, just like the Molotov cocktail before that, were meant for Dorian.
It made her feel protective of him. She needed to get him to safety. “Damnit.” She kept glancing in the rearview mirror that wasn’t there. The sideview mirrors had been removed too. She bit her lip and thought about how much trouble Dorian went through to live with no reflections. No risk of ever finding her and having his life cut short.
“No matter what happens,” she said nervously, “I want to be turned.”
Was that selfish to say? She didn’t care. Her life was on the line now too and seeing what she was up against between vampires and Lycan, staying human made her inadequate. This was an unfair match for a fight.
Because she was in a fight, whether Dorian wanted her to be in one or not.
Lena raced down the road, hellbent to get them both to safety. All the while praying Dorian lasted long enough to get home.
She was going to be sick. Torn between anger and worry, she almost pulled over on the side of the road and forced him to turn her in a gutter. Time was ticking and making her panic.
“Hurry home.” His voice was deep and groggy. “Can’t… stay out… in open.”
Home. She wasn’t going to take him back to the House of Death. It was too far, so she decided to take him back to her house in Georgia. Lena craved the safety and comfort of familiar surroundings.
“Talk…” Dorian’s head dropped back on the headrest, eyes heavy with exhaustion. “Tell me something.”
Lena’s heart cracked in half. She didn’t have a clue what to talk about.
“Mmph.” Dorian’s head lolled, and he smacked it against the window.
“Don’t die on me,” she pleaded. “Please don’t die on me, Dorian.” She slammed down on the gas and pushed the limits of his car. Worried it might already be too late, she shoved her arm in his face, “Drink.”
Please, please, please…
What more could she do? Why was he dropping so fast? Was this how vampire curse deaths happened? Fast and without much warning?
She was going to puke. “Drink!”
He shoved her arm down and held it with both his hands. “Please… Lena…talk.”
Talk about what? Her shitty childhood? Her fucked up life? The weather?
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she decided giving him fluff stories would be a disservice. Dorian had showed her all his ugliness. Exposed every truth he had. She needed to do the same with him.
“My parents had me later in life. I think they did it because they wanted to leave their wealth and legacy in the family. I spent my entire childhood in my own personal Hell.”
Dorian let go of her arm, and his fists clenched in his lap.