Paragon

⊰❉⊱ 38 ⊰❉⊱

A tree split with a crack as my shoulder collided at a sprint. The rain chorused on leaves above and the thunder rumbled distantly but none of it could rip me from my need to find a mortal–any mortal–and drain them completely.

I snarled and pushed faster through the trees. They were a blur around me as I leapt and darted through the bushes and branches towards my car.

The one place in a fifty mile radius without a live pulse with a source of blood.

The red haze was starting to cloud the edges of my vision just as it had in the first few years of becoming this hideous demon. The hunger. The need to turn around and find her.

I growled and sent my fist through another tree as I moved faster. It cracked and crashed down behind but I was already many metres away. The darkness was nothing to me and my unparalleled senses. A sharp tinted green-yellow of night vision overtook our eyes when the light faded. It outmatched anything a feline or reptile had.

I finally broke the tree line and made out the matte black finish of the F-Type hidden in the underbrush. I let out a puff of air that still tasted like Quinn. I rushed forward and was at the door in a few blinks. The lights flickered as I fumbled with the fob.

My haste was the only reason I hadn't noticed him at all.

William sat in the driver seat with that chrome packet emptied on his lap and a singular trail of blood running down his chin. I snarled and my teeth became razor edged.

"What the hell have you done?" I roared, moving to grab his throat.

He caught my wrist and met my eyes with a dark burning gold.

"Careful, Stella. As I see it, only one of us has recently fed on the strength of mortals." He murmured.

I ripped my hand back breathing heavily. I was running low on control and strength and he knew it. But the rage would drive me so much further.

"You have no idea how much strength I have reserved for you." I said low.

His wicked grin appeared and he glanced over my shoulder taking a sniff.

"What happened to that sweet smelling mortal? Dead already?" He quipped.

"I needed that blood." I answered slowly instead.

He looked at me more intently now. The darkness in my eyes. The lack of gold. The lack of sanity. He raised an eyebrow with a nod then slipped a hand inside his jacket and produced another chrome packet. I almost slumped in relief.

But he snatched it from reach before I could take it.

"I just want information, Stella. Is that so much to ask?" He drawled, kicking his boots up onto my dash.

"Stop calling me that and maybe we can start." I snapped, tightening my hands into fists.

The thunder shook the ground around us in the forest briefly. He rolled his eyes and threw the pack at me anyway. I seized it and moved back several paces.

"God you're acting like you were created days ago."

I ignored him and ripped the packet open, letting the cool blood hit my mouth and swim down my throat gloriously. It brought me back to myself. It gave me my sanity, my feelings outside of hunger–my strength.

I dropped the empty packet and looked up at the immortal slowly. A flash of something flickered in his eyes. He still hadn't forgotten my own power over him earlier.