Predator or Prey, Holly Nikole [chrome ebook reader .txt] 📗

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"No," he said, his cold and closed. "I didn't touch you that." Any amusement there before was gone. His arm around my waist and under my chin vanished and I was free, in a way. In an instant he was in front of me, eyes dark. "Taking you would be like taking a baby." There was a sort of cold amusement in his voice then that made me shudder. I pulled the blanket tighter around me and watched him warily. He was a pureblood vampire and not bound to his word like a made one. I didn't trust him.

He settled back into the armchair lazily and watched me with a calculating look on his face. "We leave at sunset," he told me. "It'll be harder for your friends to find us that way." I curled up on the bed miserably knowing he was right. If I wanted to escape I was on my own. Slowly terror and blood loss overwhelmed me and I slipped into a restless nightmare sleep.

Chapter Five:Hero

I pulled myself out of sleep when I was picked up again, still wrapped in the blanket. I struggled but it was no use; he was to strong to be thrown off by my thrashing. Cold night air stung my face and the winter wind seemed to howl. Moments later I realized it wasn't the wind I was hearing; it was actual howling. The hunter group I lived with had werewolf friends. They were coming to help. Any relief I felt however was short lived.

Without even pausing my captor slid smoothly into a tree and jumped from one to the other, leaving no scent trail on the ground. We flew from tree to tree, leaving the wolves and my hopes behind, until he landed smoothly on the frozen ground.

He took off across the land again and I knew any chance of rescue was gone now. Pursuing him was hopeless. My captor was simply too fast and far too clever to be caught. My friends would never find me in time. I really was completely on my own.

A few chilling hours later we entered a mansion like house and I was set down on the cold tile floor. Vampires felt neither hot nor cold so naturally the house was freezing but elegant. The cold sank deep into my bare legs and I was shivering so hard I could barely stand as I glanced at the massive front door. The door was only a few feet away but I knew I would never make it. I simply wasn't fast enough.

I heard someone come into the room and turned my head, thinking my captor was back. The figure coming towards me was a male vampire but not the one who had captured me. I was swaying slightly where I stood as the other vampire looked over me and smirked. I felt a shiver of sick fear in my stomach that only got worse as he covered my mouth, pinning me against the wall and slipping a hand underneath my shirt. I felt sick in the pit of my stomach as I struggled, trying to squirm away from his groping hand.

Then I heard a vicious snarl and the other vampire jerked away from me rapidly. I sank to the ground, shivering, as my captor grabbed the other vampire and tossed him from the room with one quick, vicious movement. He snatched me up then before I could even protest and carried me up the massive, carpeted stairs and into a room. I was tossed down on a bed and left alone, the door clicking shut and locked behind him. I was too tired by then to care as I slipped into a blessedly dreamless sleep.

Chapter Six:Lucian

I stalked furiously back down the stairs and Andrew flinched when he saw me. "What were you thinking?" I snarled at him and instantly his lip curled.

"You can't tell me what to do," he snarled back. I moved faster than he had expected and he backed away as I all but appeared out of thin air right in front of him.

"It is my house," I growled. "And I want you out by midnight tomorrow night."

"But-" Andrew began to protest nervously.

"Midnight," I warned him and he nodded shakily, hurrying away.

I took a moment to calm myself and then climbed back up the stairs to slip into the girl's room. She was asleep already, still shivering and I picked her up, taking the now damp blanket off or her and slipping her under the thicker covers of the bed. She was pretty with a slim, curvy frame and wide eyes framed with dark lashes when they were open but she was also only a child. And Andrew was a complete monster.

I sat down next to her and she whimpered in her sleep, trying to slid away from me. I grabbed her wrist, pinning her where she was and she struggled for a moment before going still. I could change her now while she was sleeping but that would ruin the fun of having her fight uselessly while I ripped away her mental shields and used my blood to make her into the monster she feared. Besides not all those that were changed in their sleep made it and she was weak.

She slept in relative peace for an hour or so before she woke, dark lashes fluttering slightly in the dim light of a candle I had lit to one side before opening completely. She sat up quickly and tried to jerk away from me but once again I grabbed her wrist and kept her there. I tried to catch her eyes with mine to establish mental contact but she refused to look at me, instead trying to pry my cold fingers off her wrist.

I slipped a hand under her chin and forced her to look at me but she quickly closed her eyes and I growled. Hunters did always have to make things difficult. She flinched and tried to pull away. This time I released her and she fell over backwards with a cry of surprise. Her eyes flew open and met mine as she let out a cry of despair. Only to find she was suddenly saved by Marcus, Andrew's brother, calling "Lucian!" His voice echoed up from downstairs and I growled, standing up in one fluid motion. I stalked out of the room and locked it behind me without a backwards glance. I would deal with the girl later. Right now I had to deal with Andrew's whiny ways and his snarling creator.

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Publication Date: 09-25-2011

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