Page 14

He gently hushes me and rubs a soothing hand against my back until I can finally breathe again, despite smelling the acid of my bile. It makes me want to be sick again.

“You need something to eat,” Xander states. He’s quick when he scoops me up and hauls me against his chest, while stepping over my puddle of vomit and carefully depositing me onto the seat of the bike.

I shiver as the cool metal of the seat sinks into my skin and chills my bones. With practiced hands, Xander unhooks his helmet from the handlebars and slides it over my head. He isn’t even phased that I likely still have puke on my lips when he’s throwing a leg over the bike and settling in behind me.

Kicking the bike into a rumble, the engine shakes my core, and I tense, looking around for something to hold onto. But I find nothing. My heart races, and I open my mouth to argue against the idea of riding home on this beast. It isn’t until Xander’s muscular arms grip the handlebars, caging me in, with his chest firmly pressed against my back, that I suck in a gasp.

He’s so warm. Like a walking furnace. His heart thumps against my spine, and his biceps bulge as he kicks the bike from its stand and zooms out of the car park.

The red light of the club whizzes past us as we fly down the main street. The rumble of the engine is like a roaring lion, and the wind whips past us, biting at my exposed stomach. I clutch Xander’s jacket, pulling it tight to try to stave off the chill.

Moonfell blurs around us as we twist and turn through the streets. Despite the chaos of the world spinning around us, I lean back into Xander, feeling his constant warmth and large frame pushing back against me.

Maybe under different circumstances, I'd test my luck and push my ass out a bit more. But now isn’t the time. Not with the taste of stomach acid on my tongue and my mind still racing with tonight's insanity.

Insanity.

That is exactly what’s happening to me. I’m going completely insane.

The house pulls into view as we round the corner, and I feel my entire body drop with relief. My eyes are like lead weights, my chest is heavy, and every one of my limbs is cold. I just want a hot shower and a good sleep.

And maybe then, I’ll wake up tomorrow and the madness of today will feel like a strange memory.

Xander pulls into the driveway, the garage door opening to reveal a black Mercedes that could pay off the mortgage on a well-endowed house.

We pull up beside it, and Xander kills the engine. He carefully helps me off, his hand around my waist tightening when my knees shake beneath me. He’s quiet as he gently slips the helmet from my head, giving me a slight smile.

“Let’s get you fed.” Xander offers his hand as he pushes open the garage door and we step into the entryway.

My mind is ready for peace and quiet now that the scream of bass music only leaves my ears slightly ringing.

But what I don't expect to find is utter pandemonium that threatens the last of my sanity. The entire house erupts with terrifying screams and shouts. The air grows painfully humid, and the scent of Sulphur surrounds us.

Xander is quick to shield me; his arm crosses my chest and pulls me back. But what develops before us has my blood running cold and my breath lodged so deep in my throat I'm sure I won't be able to breathe normally ever again.

Crawling on its hands and knees, with open eye sockets and a mouth full of needle-like teeth, the thing scrambles across the living room floor, leaving behind a thick trail of slimy gloop. As it opens its mouth, hundreds of different screams fill its throat as it reaches for us. With skin as pale as paper and dark veins spreading up and down its body, it looks like a burn victim, but its proportions are completely wrong. Long, gangly legs and a short torso; everything about it is wrong.

Finally, my lungs open enough for me to let out a blood-curdling scream, my hands wrapping around Xander’s arm, my nails dragging through his skin, causing red welts to cover his bicep.

“NYX!” Xander’s voice booms over the creature's screams. It continues to crawl forward, and even Xander takes a step back, pushing us both against the wall.

“JESUS-FUCKING-CHRIST!” I howl and start kicking my legs at the thing.

On cue, the tuxedo cat bounds through the opposing wall. Her body shifts between the wood and the wallpaper until she stands behind the creature, her hackles raised and fangs gnashing. Her hiss is extraordinary, overpowering every other sound in the house.

She pounces on the creature, claws sinking into its flesh and drawing rivulets of red blood. The creature thrashes against the cat, yet as I feel my world tilt and my legs grow numb beneath me, the floor beneath the creature opens up, and an inferno encases both Nyx and the thing, swallowing them whole.

The house goes deadly silent. As if the entire nightmarish fiasco had never happened. Yet the final straw that breaks my fragile sanity is when I turn to Xander, only to find something else looking back at me.

With his lips pulled back into a snarl, four sharp teeth sprout from his upper jaw. Two long, pointed fangs are paired with a smaller canine behind them. His silver eyes glow under the dim light of the house as his dilated pupils reflect back at me.

I shake uncontrollably, but Xander cradles me against his chest.

“I’m insane,” I choke out, feeling my legs fall out from beneath me, and the world goes dark.

Chapter Five

Noah