Chapter 5

Those red orbs remained focused on me, unblinking for what felt like an eternity until finally they vanished. In an instant, his presence was gone but the bloodlust had lingered until the very last second. Even when I no longer sensed him, my heart felt like it would leap out of my chest.

The leader was right. He definitely hadn’t planned on killing me earlier. I hadn’t sensed this level of bloodlust earlier, not even when he’d threatened the twins. The aura he’d given off just now was absolutely terrifying.

For whatever reason, he'd chosen to withdraw rather than attack. I was grateful for that because there was no way either Damien or I would have stood a chance against him, especially not with my current injury.

“I don’t sense him anymore.” Damien said, his voice still holding a bit of edge while his eyes remained focused on the area the vampire had just been. He wouldn’t have been able to see the royal the way I had but Damien’s senses were sharp. He’d figured out the vampire’s location even at this distance.

''Yeah,'' I mumbled, my mind too occupied with thoughts of the vampire to string a proper sentence.

I wasn’t imagining it. In the brief moment we’d locked gazes, those red eyes had focused on nothing else but me. Earlier it had only been speculation but now I was certain of it. The vampire was after me. But for what reason? What could I have possibly done that could have made me the target of those bloodthirsty eyes?

Did he hear of my conquests and want a chance to meet the immortal reaper himself?

That was rather unlikely, wasn’t it? I had a lot of ‘fans’ in the world of immortals but I doubted a royal would target me because of that.

As if I didn’t have enough problems on my plate already! What on earth had I done to get a royal’s attention? First, it was that cursed cult, now a bloody royal. I just couldn't catch a break.

The cult had worshipped HIM so their attack had been somewhat of a revenge ploy after the death of their master. This royal couldn’t be after me because of HIM, could he? No, it had been so long since I killed HIM and royals weren't known to buddy up with each other, let alone fight for one another. It was one of the reasons why the hunter's association thrived the way it did. They focused more of their attention on hating each other than fighting us. If they ever lobbied together then we wouldn’t stand a chance.

Still, I couldn't rule out the possibility that the vampire had a personal vendetta. Maybe a lover of his had fallen at my hands. But I'd killed so many of their kind that no one in specific came to mind. Fuck!

“That’s a relief, we won’t have to fight.” Damien's voice interrupted my thoughts, forcing me back to reality. His eyes searched my face before they drifted down to my midsection, to the blade that still stuck out from me. ''I don't know anyone else who would still be conscious after receiving a wound like that.''

As soon as the words were off his lips, I keeled over as a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over me. My vision swam and little black dots began to fill the corners. Everything became a blur, even the sounds that had tormented me all week became blissful silence. At that moment I could have sworn I heard a voice screaming my name but it sounded so distant that I barely registered it. Darkness surrounded me like a warm blanket and I gladly welcomed its embrace, too exhausted to even try fighting it off.

***

When I came to, I was greeted by a white ceiling and the pungent smell of disinfectant. A faint beeping echoed in the background and when I lifted my left hand only to find an IV line sticking out from it, it didn’t take long for me to figure out where I was.

What happened? Why was I here? My memory was a haze and my head felt foggy. I lifted my heavy body into a sitting position on the bed, wincing at the sudden stabbing pain that erupted from my centre. With the pain came a flash of the events that had occurred before I passed out.

The mission, the twins, the royal, Damien. Right, I was stabbed. Damien must have brought me back to the clinic. I lifted my other hand to feel at the wound only to be met with resistance. Confused, I glanced down at my right hand which was trapped by a much larger one, a male’s hand. Its owner was asleep, sitting in a chair at the side of my bed with his head resting on the mattress as he held my hand. Who was…

A gasp left my lips when I recognised who it was. The sound was enough to wake him because his large body began to stir. He lifted his head, rubbing at his eyes in a sleepy haze before they instantly became alert.

His eyes met mine and Damien suddenly jumped forward, the chair he sat on falling backwards with the sudden move. His expression swiftly shifted into one of concern just as his right hand found my cheek.

“Are you okay?” He still hadn’t let go of my hand and now his face was barely inches away from mine. “I was so worried. You suddenly passed out and I thought I was going to lose you.”

My face burned at the contact and my brain seemed to short-circuit. His lips were moving but I couldn’t process the words. He was so close, I could feel his hot breath fanning my face. If I made the mistake of leaning forward just a bit then our lips would brush.

The mere thought of that made my heart skip a beat.

Gosh, I must look like a tomato right now. But he was so close. His scent tickled my nose and it took every ounce of self-restraint I had to not shut my eyes and bask in it.

“Damien, y-you’re too close-“ I stuttered, pressing my hand lightly on his chest to put some distance between us.

“Oh my! Are we interrupting something?”