Hooked

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Invasion

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, N.L.PETIT 2015.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Invasion

"Hello?" Alaina's voice repeated.

Adrian carefully took the phone from my hand and set it onto the counter. I looked at him in confusion, but he only pressed a finger to his lips.

"Well," he began. "You should've called, Mom. We wouldn't have minded."

I looked at the imposter with as much nonchalance as I could muster.

"Oh, I'm sure Sophie needed her beauty rest. You know, after such a long day."

It appeared that the creature had not done its proper research on Alaina. Even if I had not called her, we would have known simply by the way it spoke that it was not Adrian's mother.

"You know it wouldn't have bothered me, Mrs. Alaina. You're family," I spoke up, and Adrian's arm tightened, moving me closer to him.

"Anything I can help you find?" he asked lowly. He shifted his weight so that he stood partially in front of me, and I wanted to pull him back to my side.

She returned from the pantry, eyes still not meeting ours. "Oh, no, honey. I think I found what I came here for."

Suddenly, her eyes flicked up and blazed into mine. A startling crimson, they burned my eyes, blurring my vision and forcing a gasp from my throat. I bent over as the burn intensified, pressing my hands immediately against my closed eyelids to relieve the strange pressure and pain I felt, as if I had been staring into the blazing sun for hours, much less seconds.

I heard the solid crunch of wood being broken through, and by the time I looked up, the last of the jagged chunks of the pantry door were landing at my feet. Adrian stood before the door he had thrown the imposter through, and I watched as he reached out and grabbed her neck, dragging her out quickly.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, his face near hers.

I wanted to tell him to back away from her and the danger she brought, but before I could even blink, something crashed into my right side. I landed harshly on the hardwood floor and flipped onto my back to defend myself, but whatever had hit me was nowhere in sight. I hastened to my feet and looked sharply around me, trying to use my senses to find any trace of it, but all that met my nose was the strong, powdery scent I had begun to despise.

A soft click met my ears, and the overpowering odor of a zamphyr drifted through a door that led to another bathroom. I stood still, knowing better than to follow after such a creature unarmed and unprotected, until another crash came from the kitchen. Turning on my heel, I raced back to Adrian and the zamphyr and was stunned to see the transformation that had taken place.

The vision of Alaina had faded drastically into a willowy man, so lanky and tall I nearly had to tilt my head to look at his face. The frail appearance of the man was a strong contrast to the power he packed into each punch he threw at my mate, and the sight of him sent fire through my veins as I watched him try to attack Adrian.

"Sophie, the phone," Adrian grunted out as he dodged a slash of the zamphyr's claws.

I pivoted back to the counter behind me, reaching out to grab the house phone. As my fingers grasped it, a large, tanned hand curled around my wrist, and I nearly screamed in shock.

But when I looked up, I breathed a sigh of relief. Patrick's grip loosened on my wrist as he took the phone from my hands and quickly dialed a number. He spoke so rapidly I could barely hear his words, but I wasn't interested in his phone call. I whipped around to look for Adrian, and dread seeped in when I couldn't see him. My breathing quickened, and the smell of blood permeated the air.

When I looked back, Patrick had disappeared from behind me. I followed the trail of his scent to the back door, hoping that finding him meant finding Adrian. Yanking boots onto my feet, I cringed at the loud crunching of the snow with each of my steps deeper into the yard. I hit the treeline and continued running, but Patrick's scent became fainter and fainter until I caught the scent of something stronger. A branch scratched my cheek as I slowed down, searching for anything familiar.

"Patrick," I said under my breath, walking backwards a step before I turned around. As I exited the trees, I heard the sound of smashing glass.

"Patrick!"

I turned, and when my eyes focused, I screamed louder than I ever had before.

There, on the ground not twenty feet from me, lay Patrick, surrounded by a shallow pool of his own blood. As I moved to sprint to his side, something caught my arm, and I wanted to cry out in pain and agony. I couldn't tear my eyes from his dying form, torn apart by some unnatural and terrible creature that I couldn't see.

"Let me go." I yanked my arm free and turned around, prepared to pull my arm back and slam my fist into my attacker's face. Just as the zamphyr's face entered my line of vision, two hands clasped around its neck, breaking its spine with a bone-chilling snap. I watched as it fell to the ground, and Adrian's arms wrapped tightly around me.

I couldn't let myself feel safe in his embrace. Twisting out of his grasp, I went to Patrick's side, crouching on the ground next to him. He turned to me with a grunt and blinked rapidly, almost as if he could not be sure he really saw me. Pain twisted in my chest as I looked at him, but I didn't have time to look at him for long.

"Follow me in the truck, Sophie," Adrian's voice said quickly as he appeared at my side. With measured speed, he hoisted Patrick's body into his arms and raced away, the sounds of both of their heartbeats fading into the wind. Suddenly alone, I looked down to see several bodies littering the yard. How Adrian had killed them all, I didn't know, but I hoped they would not wake up while he was gone.

Walking quickly back into the house, I grabbed the keys to Adrian's truck and hastily went into the garage, hitting the button to open the sliding doors. I hit the lock and pulled myself into the massive truck.

For a moment, I let myself sit completely still. I stared at the rising door and tried to keep myself together. Adrian could have been killed, and, somehow, it felt like it was my fault. Without me here, none of this would have happened to him. Somehow, I knew that.

Steeling my emotions, I pushed my thoughts to the side and wrapped my hand around the wheel. I prepared myself to drive out of the garage, but as I tried to turn the key in the ignition, a cold hand wrapped itself in my hair and dragged me out of the seat. My head cracked on the concrete floor, and I tasted blood as the creature dropped me and pressed down on my throat.

When I looked up, the man's other hand smashed into my face as I caught a flash of cold green eyes set in a face I had once loved.