Page 61 of Fire in My Blood
Lucas
The steering wheel creaks in my hands as I try to contain the warring emotions inside me. I can’t deal with them right now.
I’m on my way to Erica’s apartment in one of Trevor’s cars with only one purpose. I’ll kill the vampire who’s after my mate if it’s the last thing I do.
Erica might be horrified by what happened between us and want nothing to do with me, but I’ll still protect her until the end of my days, however long that might be.
The shock Erica felt when she saw the bloody mark she’d left on my shoulder tore through my heart, and I backed away from her to keep her feelings from drowning me. The despairconsuming her when I left her room buckled my legs, sending me to my knees on the floor.
Blocking out her feelings flooding me was near impossible, and when I finally did, I knew I couldn’t face her without having her pain destroy me. I won’t be able to stay away from her for long, but first I’ll kill the fucking vamp that raped her.
My chest constricts with the pain from my shredded heart. I love Erica, and I had hoped that over time she would come to love me as well. Mating was never a part of my plan, but I intended to stay with her for the rest of her life. Whatever happened after that I would have dealt with it when the time came.
But now my irresponsible actions have tied her to me forever. Erica will never be able to stay far away from me for long without suffering, and she’ll grow to hate me, if she hasn’t already.
I do my best to swallow down the pain and focus on the road ahead. I’ve got work to do, and I can’t let the consequences of our mating distract me.
Picking up my phone, I find Lyn’s number.
“Lyn.” Her voice is short and angry.
“It’s Lucas. I—”
“Where the fuck are you?” she hisses into the phone. It’s the first time I’ve had her fury directed at me, and it’s totally warranted.
“I’m on my way to Erica’s apartment to hunt the vamp. He’s—”
“You should be here for your mate.” The venom in her voice is so strong I can almost feel the burn through the phone.
But I let my pain fuel my rage and growl into the phone. “I’m protecting my mate. Don’t fucking interrupt me again. Thevamp has been hanging around Erica’s apartment. I’m going to search the area. You can find me there if you decide to help. If I find him, I’ll kill him.” I end the call before she can respond.
The engine sputters and almost dies. I take a few deep breaths to calm down, and the hum of the engine evens out again. Even after all these years, it’s difficult to contain my power when I’m furious, and I tend to draw energy from any heat source within range whenever my emotions spiral.
I bring up the image of the vampire’s face in my mind. I’ve memorized all the pictures Ron was able to find.
With the vamp’s well-over average height, he should be easy to spot. It’s only a matter of time before I’ll find him and kill him. The vamp is desperate to find Erica, making him reckless and less likely to notice anyone stalking him, and thereby an easy prey for me.
Chapter 38
Erica
I immediately understood it was Lucas when Lyn answered the call. I couldn’t hear his words, but whatever they were they made Lyn furious.
It’s obvious he’s not coming back, and I clench my teeth to try to stop the tears from gathering in my eyes. While focusing on taking deep, calming breaths, I start formulating a plan.
I’m going to talk to Markus whenever he shows up and find out what I can do to fix this mate thing. And then Lyn is going to tell me how to kill a vampire whether she wants to or not.
There has to be a way to kill him, even for someone like me. A wooden stake to the heart, decapitation, or some other means I know nothing about. Who knows whether vampire books and movies are based on reality or not? Until yesterday I was blessedly oblivious to the existence of supernaturals, like practically every other human on the planet, by the sounds of it.
When I know how to kill the vampire, I’ll go to a motel to try to get some sleep. At least the part about vampires not enjoying sunlight seems to be as depicted in most books.
In the morning I’ll go shopping for anything I’ll need before going home to prepare for the vampire to arrive. He’ll die tomorrow night if it’s the last thing I do. At least then he won’t be able to hurt David and his family.
“Erica?” Lyn turns to me, but before she can continue, there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in.” I get up from the couch where I’ve been sitting just as the door opens to reveal the security guard from this morning.
“Good evening. Markus has arrived.” He gives me a small smile, but it fades as soon as he sees the state of my face. His gaze darts to Lyn behind me before he quickly backs out of the room with a short nod.