She tried not to think about Michael as she ran. The only thought she spared him was to make sure she travelled in the opposite direction of where his energy pulled her. It pained her, and if she let herself think about him, she would veer off track and end up going right to him. She needed to stay away until he was older.
As far as she knew, the only person who could possibly track her specific energy was Lawrence as a result of their almost two centuries together. Most vampires weren’t as skilled and could only detect if an energy was human or vampire. Zenas’s clan would investigate every vampire energy they came across. There had to be territories where Zenas did not have a presence. Of course, Amaia didn’t know if that was true. She only knew of his clan in her region of the world. Lawrence had once told her that he even had clan members in places that were undiscovered by the Europeans at the time of her transformation. If that were true, she didn’t have a reasonable hope that she could escape to a place where she could hide for a few years. She would have to stay on the run, her senses always on alert for other vampires.
There was Ezekial’s clan. It would probably pleasure him greatly to have one of Zenas’s golden children join him, especially one who had massacred his clan in battle. But that would only be trading in one problem for another. She belonged to no vampire. She wouldn’t be beholden to one. The temporary safety the feigned allegiance would gain her would not be worth it in the end. If anything, she risked bringing the wrath of the two largest clans in the world down on her when she eventually left to find Michael.
She ran for two days before her first encounter with those who hunted her. She didn’t know where she was, only that it was wooded and cold. She felt them long before she saw them. A mated pair. There was no anxiety in her, no nerves. She was not afraid of death. If she won, she would be closer to Michael, so she would fight. Amaia knew she would survive. She wanted to see Michael too badly to let a couple of vampires stand in her way.
Instead of fleeing, she met them: a man and woman, both with black hair and a fierce appearance.
“I don’t want to have to kill you, but I will.” Talk was futile, but this was Zenas’s fight. She had no quarrel with the two people before her.
The woman laughed. “You have quite a high opinion of yourself. Zenas said you were cocky.”
Interesting. He must be trying to downplay her strength. Zenas knew the truth. She wasn’t cocky; she was confident. The difference may seem subtle, but it would soon be all too apparent to these two.
“If you turn away now, you can tell Zenas that you haven’t seen me. I’ll be on my way, and no one has to die.”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think so. The bounty Zenas has placed on your head is staggering. Not to mention the value of being in his good graces.”
“I was in his good graces once. It’s overrated.”
The man snorted. “Yeah, except we’re not stupid enough to do something like align with a mortal against our clan.”
“Fine, have it your way.” Before they could know what happened, Amaia scaled a nearby tree. The two vampires raced after her. When they were halfway up, Amaia jumped behind them, crouching on the ground before she launched herself at the man’s back, sinking her teeth into his neck. A piercing shriek left the woman’s mouth and didn’t stop. The woman clawed at her back, trying to dislodge her. Grief made her sloppy. Amaia just wished she would shut up. She was sure the screams would ring in her ears for days.
The man wasn’t dead yet, but Amaia needed to take care of the woman. She turned and threw her into a tree trunk several yards away. As soon as the woman’s body left her hands, she returned to the man to finish the job. The sound of the woman’s footsteps racing toward her played in her brain, and Amaia knew what to do. Using both of her hands and her mouth, she tore away the man’s head.
When his body hit the ground, the woman stopped, her cries gaining a richer, more guttural tone. Amaia threw the head at her, hoping it would shock her into silence. The woman instinctually caught it and cradled it to her chest for a brief moment, her cries finally silenced, before setting it down. When she turned her eyes back to Amaia, the depth of hatred they held momentarily stunned Amaia.