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I haven’t been this close in years.

She hums when she’s nervous. A tune, off-key and familiar. I’ve heard it before. Long ago. Before memory was something I had to steal back piece by piece.

My eyes turn to the blood-drinker beside her. He’s close to her. Protective. I can see the alliance between the two of them forming, drawing them closer.

Sinking into the shadows, I watch them.

I’m close enough to reach.

Close enough to tear his throat out.

Close enough to say her name.

They pass me and I stay hidden, letting them go by as if I don’t exist.

A cloud drifts across the moon, blanketing the street in darkness for a moment, and I vanish with them.

12

THEO

The Captive

Something might be wrong with me.

I was kidnapped, held against my will, and now I’m on a journey with practically a stranger to figure out what is going on and yet all my mind can focus on are her long legs beside me, her fingers tapping restlessly against her thighs, and her beautiful hair falling down her shoulders like a silky waterfall. I keep replaying the feeling of her body on top of mine, the soft sounds of her breathing, and the way it made me feel like I was keeping her safe. Protecting her, as though she is mine.

She is not mine. She is a human girl who has just abandoned her life and been forced to trust a creature she was raised to never trust. The last thing on her mind would be starting something with someone like me, but I can’t seem to stop myself from thinking about it.

Flexing my fingers, I adjust myself in my seat and lightly move my head to the soft hum of music coming from the radio. Tara has slept on and off in the car, however I haven’t stopped to close my eyes. We’re going to have to stop somewhere overnight again, and I most certainly need to feed. The thought of feeding on her again excites me in ways that it shouldn’t.

Heat waves rise over the horizon. We haven’t passed another car in half an hour. Tara has drifted asleep beside me, mouth slightly open, head tilted toward the window. It’s boring when she sleeps. I’ve enjoyed talking and getting to know her more.

There’s a flicker in the rear-view mirror. Narrowing my eyes, I home in on a ute, maybe a hundred metres back, approaching us quickly. My jaw tightens. I don’t have a good feeling about how fast it’s coming up behind us.

My eyes drop to the front of it, noticing that there are no number plates. There’s a bull bar at the front, reinforced with steel mesh. I swallow, my eyes tracing the wire.

I glance at Tara, who is still asleep. The ute accelerates and I hope he might be just an impatient driver wanting to get around us, even though I’m already going well over the speed limit.

He pulls up alongside us, and I slide my gaze to his. He has a shaved head, dark sunnies perched on his nose, and his sleeves are rolled up, revealing thick arms. There’s a smirk under his stubble, and he waves like he knows who I am, even though I don’t recognise a thing about him.

I stomp on the accelerator and the car lurches forward, but the man anticipates the move and dips his hand, careening straight for the side of the car, swinging into us. The metal collides, causing a shuddering screech, the bang of his ute into ours shaking the car violently.

Tara jolts awake with a startled gasp, her hair covering her face as she whips her head to the side. I grip the wheel hard and fight the force of the crash, but the road’s narrow and we’re already sliding. Gravel and dust fly up around us, blocking my vision. My knuckles bleach white as I try to get the car straight, but we’re already half off the road. The ute rams us again and the car slides, the world tilting. I fling my arm instinctively over Tara.

The whole car lifts. For a second, we hang there in silence before the car crashes back down. The bonnet crumples, and the window explodes. I shield her the second we hit, pulling her in as the car flips, rolling at least twice. I hear her grunt, but she doesn’t scream, her fingers tightly gripping me as I try my best to shield her from the impact.

She is slumped against the door, unmoving, and I can smell her blood, the potent scent of it wrapping around me, almost making me lose focus on what’s happening.

I push the mangled door, but it doesn’t budge. Impatiently, I rip the entire thing off and drag myself against broken glass to get out. Blood runs in ribbons down my skin, but I don’t feel the pain of it, and it will all heal within a minute. The heat of the sun stings me instantly and I hiss at the feel of it, immediately feeling faint and vulnerable, more so since I’m overdue for a feed.

The ute’s parked sideways across the road now, blocking us in, as if the car we were just in is still drivable. Dust settles around it, the heat scorching against my skin. He’s already out, leaning on the bonnet with a gun in one hand, his thumb resting on the trigger. He grins at me, revealing a golden front tooth.

‘You know how this ends,’ he says, voice gruff. ‘She comes with me. If you fight, I shoot you.’

My fangs slide down and I step forward, the sound of broken glass crunching under my shoes.

‘Yeah? Try me.’