Violet Forsythe has finally found peace.
She successfully escaped a coven of malignant vampires, worked hard to get an education, and has actually managed to pull herself together.
But, as old acquaintances begin to resurface, the life that Violet w...
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"Get behind me," Demetri instructed Alec calmly without taking his eyes off of Violet.
"Absolutely not," Alec snapped.
"Now is not the time for games, Alec," Demetri said sternly. "Stay behind me."
"Violet," Alec called to her, stepping past Demetri, toward her.
"Are you out of your mind?" Demetri hissed.
"Violet," Alec repeated, stepping closer.
Violet stared at Alec as he moved toward her; her expression revealed no indication of whether or not she had registered who he was. Her eyes remained flat and empty.
As Alec reached an equal distance between Violet and Demetri, Violet slowly sank down into a crouch. Her lip curl over her teeth as she let out a low growl, menacing growl.
"Alec!" Demetri hissed.
Alec raised his hands, palms facing outward toward Violet, to indicate that he meant to harm.
Violet stopped growling and her face went blank again.
Alec let out a soft sigh and smiled, dropping his hands and relaxing his posture as he returned to standing at his full height.
Upon returning to his full height, a loud snarl ripped from Violet's throat, and animalistic anger flashed in her eyes, before she launched herself at him.
Demetri rushed forward and threw an arm out, shoving Alec to the side and out of the way, throwing himself directly into Violet's line of attack.
Violet and Demetri's bodies crashed together, and the blow of the impact sent them sailing back in the direction Violet had come from.
Demetri immediately leapt backwards, out of range of her crushing arms and snapping teeth, across the clearing and sank down into a crouch. Violet jumped up and did the same.
"Hit the road, Alec!" Demetri commanded, keeping his locked on Violet's.
Alec, pulling himself to his feet, stared at Violet in disbelief.
"It's not personal," Demetri said less harshly.
"I can help," Alec insisted, although his voice suggested a waiver in his confidence.
"I can handle this. Go. Now."
Alec hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was to leave Violet alone - much less with Demetri - but when he looked at the cold, dead look in her eye, he knew he would be better off somewhere else. Anywhere else. Demetri was trained to handle newborns; he had a significantly better chance of collecting Violet safely, without hurting her.
Unfortunately, Alec had no choice but to trust him.
Alec's departure aggravated Violet - her prey was escaping - but Demetri stood in the way, ready to fight back. She let out a low, raspy hiss at him, but he didn't bat an eye. Instead, Demetri began to take slow, steady steps forward, prowling towards her.
Violet snarled and snapped at him, but Demetri continued his approach with steely, unwavering eye contact.
She hadn't expected him to continue forward, and she hissed and spat in protest, growing more rambunctious and fiery by the moment.
Demetri remained cool and deadly calm. When Violet refused to back down from him, he let out a low, deep growl that rumbled in his chest. He curled his lips and bared his teeth at her.
Demetri had taken one step too close, and Violet, stubbornly unwilling to back down, leapt at him.
Violet fought like any newborn would - direct, sloppy, and unable to learn from their mistakes.
As Violet charged at him, Demetri leapt to the side and wrapped his hand around her upper arm, and yanked her sideways before throwing her into a tree trunk.
Demetri grabbed Violet's other arm and pinned her to the buckling tree trunk, leaning his body into hers and restricting her movements to the best of his ability.
She snapped and snarled in his face, mindlessly still trying to assault him, but it wasn't until she almost took a chunk out of his chin that Demetri finally had enough.
He bared his teeth and glared vehemently before letting out a vicious, ear splitting roar mere inches from her face.
Violet's eyes went wide and she stopped moving. She'd been taken entirely off guard by Demetri's strong display of dominance, and she was thoroughly shaken by it.
Violet blinked once, then twice, as she snapped out of her erratic, frenzied state. Breathing heavily, she stared at Demetri, face to face, since he still hadn't unpinned her from the tree trunk.
He stared at back at her with deep irritation for a moment before he finally spoke.
