[Vance’s POV]I wait as the human works to unlock the door of our cell, and once it is open, I’m moving while he follows behind. I was pleased to know that with each passing minute, his energy was returning, but he still looked like shit.“Remember that killing anyone we run into won’t work,” I announce as we round a corner and begin to head upstairs to the main living space of the mansion. “Focus on incapacitating.”“I’m not new to this,” the human huffs. “I don’t need you to tell me what to do.”Ignoring the sudden flare of annoyance I feel, I remind myself that I need this human to help me, and I can’t just leave him. Although I could handle quite a few opponents at once, if they decided to attack all at once, I would be in trouble.Fuck, this was annoying. I went from being a member of this fucking clan to their enemy all because I couldn’t stop myself from showing a bit of compassion.“Fool,” I grumble when we reach the stairwell exit.Bracing myself, I kick the door open and wat
[Tabitha’s POV]The world around me fades in and out as I struggle to breathe. No. I couldn’t go out like this, not when there was so much that still needed to be done. I needed to fight, but with each passing minute, any energy I may have had left drained until even keeping my eyes open was impossible, and as they began to close images of my parents and my brother dancing in front of them, they weren’t comforting; instead, they were accusatory.‘You killed us.’‘This is your fault.’‘If we never found you.'Again and again, their accusations echo around me until they’re deafening, and I just want to escape them, but I can’t.“No,” I whimper, wanting to cover my ears only to find that my body won’t cooperate. “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.”No matter how I tried to deny it, in the end, I knew that they were right. Because I was born. Because I was apparently this reincarnation of the vampire goddess Evangaline, I had led them to their downfall and cost them their lives.As this realizat
[Tabitha’s POV]I continue to squeeze Allister’s throat while he fights, but before I can truly kill the bastard, my shoulder is being grabbed. Whirling around, I prepare to attack, but stop when I find Vance staring at me with gentleness.“We need to go,” he says, looking back up at the building, where a hole sits in the wall, allowing flames to be seen flickering inside. “Before they come after us.”“They,” I repeat, continuing to hold Allister in place. “As in your clan?”“That’s correct,” he confirms.“Why the fuck didn’t you just kill your father?” I growl. “Then we wouldn’t…”“We would,” he counters. “Now instead of arguing with me, we need to go!”Growing quiet, he waits as I consider his words and debate whether I should go along with him. When my eyes come to rest on the figure on his back, which isn’t moving, I make my decision.“Let’s go,” I hiss, releasing Allister.Nodding, Vance turns and begins to move, leading us toward the large garage that sits beside the mansion, an
[Vance’s POV]I follow quietly as Tabitha makes her way toward the small reception desk in the middle of the ICU. When she arrives, she waits for the woman sitting there to acknowledge her.“Which patient?” She asks calmly.From the woman’s demeanor, it is clear that she is more than used to dealing with anxious family members and mourning ones. There is a lack of emotion on her face, and when Tabitha gives Anthony’s name, she doesn’t even bat an eye before she is nodding toward a small waiting room at the end of the hall.For a moment, Tabitha doesn’t move as she looks from the woman to the rooms around us and back. I’m sure that she is going to try to argue about just seeing Anthony, and before she can do that, I’m grabbing her and leading her away.“What are you doing?” She hisses once we take a seat. “What about Anthony?”“I’m sure the doctor will give us more information on his condition.”Something in me knew that whatever we heard, we weren’t going to like it, but I didn’t want
[Vance’s POV]Tabitha doesn’t speak as I drive us to the destination that she gave me, and when we arrive, the first signs of day are beginning to peek through the trees. At this point, I could only hope that this ice-fae bastard would be willing to help me.Hopping out first, I quickly make my way up the yard and onto the porch, then begin to pound on the door.For a moment, I don’t hear anything from within and wonder if he is even home, but when the sound of locks being undone reaches me, I know that he is.Stepping back, I wait as he slowly pulls the door open and then takes me in with both a look of confusion and recognition.“You,” he hisses, his eyes flashing with anger. “Why the fuck are you here?”“Because…” I begin and then wince as I realize the word help is about to leave my lips. “She…” I continue, motioning toward Tabitha, who is still in the car. “She needs you.”Growing quiet, I wait as Atticus examines Tabitha and then turns his gaze back to me, but when his lips twit
[Tabitha’s POV]I curl into Vance while willing away the pain that continues to radiate up my arm and throughout my entire body despite my no longer being in the sun. How was it possible that everything had turned to shit in the span of forty-eight hours?Anthony was gone, and he was never coming back. Atticus didn’t remember me, or at least, he was pretending to not know me. That meant that I had absolutely no one.As this thought hits me, I look up at Vance’s face and find that he is deep in thought while he stares at the car that we came in. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it.“We need to get somewhere safe,” he murmurs, pulling me closer against him.“But how?” I whisper.If we were to step off the porch, then we would be in the path of the rays of sun that were beginning to pierce through the limbs above. But we also couldn’t stay on Atticus’ property; it was only a matter of time before he came after us.“Hang on tight,” Vance annou
[Vance’s POV]I pull Tabitha close to my body while keeping a hand over her mouth. As she makes noises of distress, we begin to get looks.“What?” I demand, narrowing my gaze.Dammit, why in the hell was I even doing all this for this frustrating woman? Oh, right, because as of now, the only fucking people we had were one another, despite my years of loyalty to my father and my clan. However, I was beginning to question them just when I became an outsider to them.As this thought hits, images of Irene begin to appear in my head. Her smiling lips and her sparkling eyes leave me fixated, and when she reaches out a hand, I want nothing more than to take it.Right. It was when I lost her that all this started. Because the ones that I trusted and followed unconditionally took her away from me due to my feelings for her.Sighing, I shake off the pain that is beginning to radiate through me and watch until the elevator doors slide open on our floor. Stepping out, I meet the gazes of all that
[Vance’s POV]“Fuck,” I hiss as Tabitha’s head bobs back and forth, taking my dick deep into her throat and then almost releasing it. “That’s it.”Dammit. Why in the hell was I even going along with this when I knew that we had more important matters to attend to? And why was she like this when she lost someone she deeply cared for and was rejected by another?It’s because she was hurt so deeply that she is looking for an escape. The small voice in the back of my head says.Right. She was looking for an escape, the same way I looked for an escape back then, but my choice was women and booze.Understanding that maybe this was exactly what she needed to escape the things that were haunting her, I hold her head in place and begin to thrust until I feel myself growing close to cumming.Pulling out, I clamp a hand around my shaft and begin to pump while Tabitha sits obediently with her mouth open, ready to take every last fucking drop I release.Hissing, I begin to erupt, covering her face