I went up to the door and rang the bell anyway. I could feel the emptiness of the house. It created a hollow ache inside me. Where was my dark vampire?
Returning to the car, I tried to talk myself out of what I was about to do. Something warned me away, but I refused to listen. I was going to tap Arys' mind. It couldn't show me anything worse than it had last night, could it?
I turned the car on so that the heater blasted warm air all around me. Then I turned my focus inward and projected it to Arys. I fully expected that disorienting sensation I always got when I fell into his mind. It never came.
Instead, it was as if a brick wall barred my entrance. I felt the slightest resistance at the edges, as if I could shove my way through with enough force. It would take more than I had in me. The bastard had blocked me out. That hurt. He was hiding something, obviously.
The fury that filled me was scorching. It seared a path throughout my entire body until I was resonating with red-hot energy that ached to maim and destroy.
I put the car in gear and hit the gas. The Charger slid on the ice and snow but quickly regained traction. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down before I did something really stupid. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like I might start hyperventilating. Panic accompanied the rush of power that crashed through me like a lightning storm. I had to get some air.
Thinking it might be a good idea to park near one of the walking paths and take a stroll to calm down, I turned down Brown Street. There was parking space right beside the path that ran beneath the train tracks. I could be alone there to get control of myself.
The emotions and thoughts attacking me was more than I could take. The sting of Arys'
rejection hurt on every level. How could he do this?
As I made a right onto Oatway Drive and then another onto Brown Street, I noticed the car behind me did the same. Could it be that I was being tailed? Putting it to the test, I took a few other turns, some without signaling and the car behind followed suit. Great, just what I needed.
I couldn't make out the driver with the glare of his headlights in my rear view mirror, but I didn't have to. With the angry energy soaring high in me, I could feel his werewolf aura, just one, and it wasn’t the Alpha, either. So, he'd sent one of his lackeys to tail me.
How pathetic was that?
That was fine with me. I was ready to unleash the pain and rage I was feeling all over someone deserving. He would do just fine. It hadn't taken them long to make their way from the city to my small town. They were going to find out that I was more than a little wolf with big words. I was happy to start with this guy.
I drove along at the speed limit, watching him attempt to follow me without getting too close. I was purposely leading him to the outskirts of town. Since he wasn't from Stony, I doubted he realized that I was taking him straight to the old graveyard that very rarely had visitors these days. One of the town walking paths led to the edge of town and cut off. It was just beyond that point that I pulled over at random.
He continued past me, but I knew he was looking for a spot to ditch his car. Getting out of the Charger, I locked the doors and crossed to the walking path. I could see the end of it and the cemetery ahead, nestled in amongst an old abandoned house and a patch of trees. I couldn't see his car, but I knew he wasn't far. He had to be watching me.
I walked casually, as if I had a purpose. Alive with power that fed off my emotional upheaval, my fingernails lengthened into savage claws. My fangs appeared next, and I knew that my eyes were all wolf. I didn't think they'd be Arys' vampire blue, but I wasn't entirely sure. All I cared about was luring my prey into that graveyard and adding him to the bodies there.
I reached the end of the walking path before I felt him. He was coming. I didn't dare turn to look for him, knowing it would alert him to the fact that I knew he was following me. Instead, I sauntered along as if I didn't have a care in the world, if only that were true.
A secondary road separated the walking path from the cemetery. There wasn't a car in sight. I crossed into the graveyard, reaching out with my mind to feel for his heady werewolf energy. He wasn't far behind. I wasn't sure why he was following me, and it almost bothered me that I wouldn't get to find out. This was going to be a fast kill; I needed it. I ached for the moment that his blood would flow.
As soon as I stepped into the cemetery, I was hit with a swarm of different sensations. Apparently, not everyone buried within it was at rest. That wasn't my area of expertise though.
I walked slowly through the headstones, reading the names and dates while waiting for the fool wolf to draw closer. It was taking all of my self-control not to spin around and rush him.