long, I would be gone, faster than they could even blink.
I came out into the late afternoon, early evening sunshine and was momentarily blinded. I stopped in my tracks for fear of running in front of a vehicle and getting squashed by a bus.
Come to me, ma douce. You will only be safe here.
Shit. Michel's voice in my head was right. Rick would follow me home. I saw it in his eyes. I didn't want to believe it, but it was there. He had issued a challenge, a warning and by Hapū law he was honour bound to carry it out. My friend, my one-time best friend, had signed a death warrant on my head.
I ran. I don't think the humans would have recognised what they saw. A blur, a streak of colour, a figment of their imaginations. It took me mere minutes to make it to Sensations . The door stood ajar as I raced towards it and shut immediately on my entry.
The room was full of vampires.
They didn't waste time securing the front of the building behind me. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing, what needed to be done. How many battles had they faced in their lives that made this moment so natural to them?
I collapsed onto my knees in the middle of the club floor. Michel was beside me in an instant.
“What happened, ma douce ? Tell me.”
I whimpered slightly against his chest, my breath was coming too quickly, I couldn't see properly, everything was blurry. I realised it was tears, filling my eyes to overflowing, spilling down my cheek, hot and wet and so very much unwanted. He stroked my head and waited for me to calm. I couldn't stop seeing Rick's face as he changed, still holding on to me, still within centimetres of my nose. His claws, how they burst out from the edge of his flesh, so red and raw around them, how long they were, how they looked as they came towards my face. How close they came to marking me.
I let a loud sob out, somewhere between a cry of anguish and a moan. It wasn't very attractive, it was gut wrenching and unrefined. Natural but so alien to my ears. I couldn't calm myself, I couldn't stop my heart bounding in my chest, it ached against my ribs, it pounded in my skull. I was going to pass out if I didn't slow my breathing down, but I had no idea how to stop this. This naked and raw fear, hurt, surprise and anguish.
Michel pulled my face around to look at him. His eyes blazed a deep amethyst and blue, the colour didn't move me, but the look in them did. He was feeling everything I was. Every emotion, every thought. My mind was crashing against his and he was taking it all in. The only evidence a slight creasing around his eyes, an intensity to his stare.
“Let me help you, ma douce . Lower your shields.”
I wasn't sure if I could concentrate enough to lower them, everything seemed to be getting more distant, harder to see or control. Like I was swimming through thick sludge, barely able to keep my head above it. It took three efforts, but finally I felt my shields fall away and a cool, calm sea breeze flooded through me, chasing away the fear and anguish and hurt and pain. Replacing it with a fresh smell of sunshine, candied apples, honey and spring. It was my scent he was returning to me, trying to centre me, bringing me home.
I relaxed against him and felt his arms curve around me a little tighter, his head on top of mine, his chest rising and falling a little too quickly.
There was a thrumming energy in the room, the vampires were all on high alert, waiting for instructions from Michel, but eager for a battle. It's in their natures, they can't help it. It's what makes them what they are. Vampires thrive on conflict, on confrontation, on dominance. This was a chance to prove their dominion over those who came against them. They could not ignore that part of them even if they tried.
Michel recognised my breathing and heart rate had returned to nearly normal. He stroked my face, but didn't move me from the curve of his arms or the warmth of his chest.
“Tell me, ma douce . Why are we at
I came out into the late afternoon, early evening sunshine and was momentarily blinded. I stopped in my tracks for fear of running in front of a vehicle and getting squashed by a bus.
Come to me, ma douce. You will only be safe here.
Shit. Michel's voice in my head was right. Rick would follow me home. I saw it in his eyes. I didn't want to believe it, but it was there. He had issued a challenge, a warning and by Hapū law he was honour bound to carry it out. My friend, my one-time best friend, had signed a death warrant on my head.
I ran. I don't think the humans would have recognised what they saw. A blur, a streak of colour, a figment of their imaginations. It took me mere minutes to make it to Sensations . The door stood ajar as I raced towards it and shut immediately on my entry.
The room was full of vampires.
They didn't waste time securing the front of the building behind me. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing, what needed to be done. How many battles had they faced in their lives that made this moment so natural to them?
I collapsed onto my knees in the middle of the club floor. Michel was beside me in an instant.
“What happened, ma douce ? Tell me.”
I whimpered slightly against his chest, my breath was coming too quickly, I couldn't see properly, everything was blurry. I realised it was tears, filling my eyes to overflowing, spilling down my cheek, hot and wet and so very much unwanted. He stroked my head and waited for me to calm. I couldn't stop seeing Rick's face as he changed, still holding on to me, still within centimetres of my nose. His claws, how they burst out from the edge of his flesh, so red and raw around them, how long they were, how they looked as they came towards my face. How close they came to marking me.
I let a loud sob out, somewhere between a cry of anguish and a moan. It wasn't very attractive, it was gut wrenching and unrefined. Natural but so alien to my ears. I couldn't calm myself, I couldn't stop my heart bounding in my chest, it ached against my ribs, it pounded in my skull. I was going to pass out if I didn't slow my breathing down, but I had no idea how to stop this. This naked and raw fear, hurt, surprise and anguish.
Michel pulled my face around to look at him. His eyes blazed a deep amethyst and blue, the colour didn't move me, but the look in them did. He was feeling everything I was. Every emotion, every thought. My mind was crashing against his and he was taking it all in. The only evidence a slight creasing around his eyes, an intensity to his stare.
“Let me help you, ma douce . Lower your shields.”
I wasn't sure if I could concentrate enough to lower them, everything seemed to be getting more distant, harder to see or control. Like I was swimming through thick sludge, barely able to keep my head above it. It took three efforts, but finally I felt my shields fall away and a cool, calm sea breeze flooded through me, chasing away the fear and anguish and hurt and pain. Replacing it with a fresh smell of sunshine, candied apples, honey and spring. It was my scent he was returning to me, trying to centre me, bringing me home.
I relaxed against him and felt his arms curve around me a little tighter, his head on top of mine, his chest rising and falling a little too quickly.
There was a thrumming energy in the room, the vampires were all on high alert, waiting for instructions from Michel, but eager for a battle. It's in their natures, they can't help it. It's what makes them what they are. Vampires thrive on conflict, on confrontation, on dominance. This was a chance to prove their dominion over those who came against them. They could not ignore that part of them even if they tried.
Michel recognised my breathing and heart rate had returned to nearly normal. He stroked my face, but didn't move me from the curve of his arms or the warmth of his chest.
“Tell me, ma douce . Why are we at
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