Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) (8 page)

She saw that he looked startled by her question but it quickly disappeared as he ignored her and replied smoothly, “Didn’t people ever tell you not to wander off alone?”

Dahlia’s mind flashed back to her affinity for defiance all her life. “I’m not like most people.”

“You could scream and no one would hear you,” he said almost nonchalantly. He spoke so low that she had to focus on his words.

Dahlia licked suddenly dry lips. She felt like he wasn’t being serious, a hint of lightness heard in his tone. She frowned as she responded back, “And do you know that from experience?”

He chuckled at her question, at her attempt not to appear scared by him, even though he knew better. Then he stared closely at her, his eyes taking on an almost dangerous glint to them as his face turned serious. “You could say that.”

She cleared her throat, as if to shake away the feeling of wariness. “So...are you here for the party? Um, it’s right up that path.” She motioned back toward the house with her hand.

He looked older to be at a high school party, maybe nineteen or twenty. She glanced away from his stare, unable to look into his eyes again. She knew she wouldn’t be able to articulate proper sentences in his presence if she did, his attention on her making her feel rather self-conscious and out of breath.

It was definitely different from the way Sam looked at her.

Instead, she decided to focus her gaze directly in front of her. This happened to land on his chest—his rather exceptionally large chest. She gulped, slowly murmuring, “You can’t miss it.”

He smirked at her comment, white teeth gleaming in the night. “What makes you think I’m here for the party, Dahlia?”

She froze, her face instantly paling at the sound of her name on his lips. She knew that throughout their brief conversation she had never once uttered her name—not once. As she stared over at him in alarm, she felt the quiver in the pit of her stomach grow and knew she was in trouble.

Deep trouble.

Chapter 7

Dahlia turned to run to the house but her body suddenly jerked back by the large figure blocking her path. How he got behind her, she didn’t know, but he instantly enveloped her in his strong arms.

“Now, darling. Where do you think you’re going?” His breath tickled her throat as he bent his head closer to her, causing Dahlia to shiver involuntarily in response.

She squeezed her eyes tight and took a quick inhalation of breath, shaking her head. She was angry with herself for
wanting
to be in his arms instead of trying to break free, like any sane person would. Squirming, she tried getting out from his grasp but his hold on her shoulders was unrelenting.

Dahlia realized she was going nowhere fast so she stopped struggling. Still refusing to look him in the eyes, she pleaded. “Please, I have no money or anything. Don’t hurt me.”

Even in the dark night, she could see his grin out of the corner of her eyes. That look terrified her even more as he answered calmly, “Why would I want to hurt you, Dahlia?”

Slightly angry that this guy, this
person
, was getting under her skin by the way he said her name and by the way he looked at her as if he knew her, she forgot to be scared for a moment. She glanced at him directly as she retorted without thinking, “Stop saying my name like you know me, and tell me what it is you want so you’ll leave me the hell alone.”

He looked taken aback, blinking rapidly a few times. Then giving an equally direct stare, he grinned again. “I like you. I knew you’d be a fighter, baby doll. There’s something feisty underneath all that ‘poor me’ attitude. Isn’t there?”

Suddenly letting Dahlia go, her former capturer took a step back then leaned himself against a massive rock that was off in the corner. Folding hands together, he sighed then stared up into the sky as if looking for answers. Dahlia scowled at the endearing term he just called her then wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling chilly again. She rubbed her skin as she tried to bring warmth back to her body, goose bumps beginning to form. Damn it, but it was like her body missed the warmth he emitted from being so close to her.

And who did he think he was, calling her baby doll?

For a few minutes there was complete silence, the only thing heard was Dahlia’s deep breaths as she evaluated her next move.
If I ran with everything I have, I just might make it back to the house.

“I don’t think so.”

Looking back at him, she saw that he still stared up into the sky, as if meditating, and hadn’t just spoken aloud. He looked almost like a sculpture made out of stone.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

He finally turned to her, again stunning her with those beautiful green eyes of his. “All I have for you today is a message. And then you can go back to your little party that I see you’ve been enjoying so much.”

Dahlia glared back at him, hating him for being so patronizing.

He ignored her look and continued with his speech. “Have you ever wondered…?” he paused slightly as if assessing his words, “…where you’re really from? Why you feel like you’re different from others?”

He got up suddenly, walking so close to her again that Dahlia could almost
feel
the essence of him. He quickly grabbed her left wrist and placed her palm firmly against her chest, feeling the quickened gallop of her own heartbeat through her shirt.

“There’s this constant pressure, right here, in your soul and you’ve been searching for some sort of release. Am I right?” He emphasized by pressing more firmly with his own larger hand on top of hers.

She couldn’t look away from his eyes. So intoxicating, she was scared and intrigued all at the same time. She wondered how this stranger knew her own thoughts.

“Dahlia,” he whispered against her ear as she shivered in response. “You’ve got all these questions running through that pretty, little head of yours. Like how I know your name, how come I know your thoughts, know
you
so well.”

He had gotten even closer as he spoke, only centimeters away as she felt his breath caress her skin, looking down at her steadily.

Dahlia trembled as she stared helplessly up at him. She felt she was in a dream, unable to move, entranced by his presence. All of a sudden, he wrapped his arms around her, reaching up to gently cup the back of her neck in his grasp. He then, unhurriedly, ran his hand down her entire back, ending at the base of her spine, Dahlia feeling every stroke of his fingers against her. It set off a huge reaction that caused a quiver to run throughout her entire body.

What?

He touched a place that no one had before, right over something that she had kept hidden for all these years.

How could he possibly know about that?

“I know a lot more than you think. I know
you
, Dahlia. You’re unique, a little diamond in the rough. You don’t belong with these people,” he commented as he gestured his head back toward the direction of the house. Dahlia focused on his mouth as he spoke those words, every word sounding like a caress.

“You belong with us.”

Her gaze continued to center around his soft-looking mouth and for a fleeting moment, the oddest thought came to her mind.

I wonder what his blood would taste like.

All of a sudden, he quickly broke away from any contact they had, as if she were suddenly contagious, and took a few steps back. Dahlia, stunned at what she had just been thinking and feeling, felt both confused and embarrassed at the entire situation.

They must have spiked something in the punch.

Bewilderment, speculation and fear shone from her eyes as she tried to grasp what he had just said and the feelings that risen from her at their brief contact.

The strangest thing was that as she scrutinized him, she thought she saw those same emotions lurking in his eyes. As soon as those thoughts sprung from her mind, though, the look quickly disappeared. She was left gaping up into a face that looked both dark and cold.

He walked back toward the huge rock and sat back down, abruptly. “Dahlia, just know that there are things in this world that you don’t have a clue exist. And one of these things has a key interest in you.”

“What kind of interest?” she asked tensely, eyes wide.

She knew she shouldn’t believe in any of this. What he was saying was most likely thoughts of a raving lunatic and she didn’t want to join the club. Instead of asking questions, she should be figuring out a way to get away.

But how did he know my name?

His eyes glowed as he looked directly into her face. “Don’t worry—I don’t want to harm you. That isn’t my intent.”

Dahlia tried to calm down, to get her breathing controlled, but it quickened slightly when he continued. Although his words were calming, the expression in his eyes was contradictory.

He spoke again, almost as an afterthought. “At least not yet.”

“What?” Dahlia was so shocked she mouthed the words more than spoke them.

“But there are others that want you dead.” Green eyes piercing hazel ones, he continued to speak as if she hadn’t said a word. “Just know that not everyone and everything is to be trusted. You’re a very powerful girl, Dahlia. And there are people who don’t want that power around.”

“What powers? What are you talking about?” She feigned innocence as if she had no idea what he was referring to.

He completely ignored her as he raised himself from the rock then headed away from her. As he walked away, Dahlia had to ask one last question, hoping he’d answer something, anything. “And just who are you?”

He paused at that, and she saw him tilt his head slightly to the right, shoulders tight. Facing away from her, he finally responded. “That’s not important. Just heed my warning and be careful. You’ll never know what’s hiding in the bushes.” With that, he vanished right before her eyes.

Alone, she blinked a couple of times not quite believing what she saw or heard.

That did not just happen. That was definitely all in my head. There is no way in hell that guy just vanished into thin air.

Echoing my thoughts from days before.

Dahlia shook her head, feeling slightly lightheaded. She turned around as she stumbled back toward the house and the blaring noise of the party. There was only one explanation.

She really
was
going out of her freaking mind.

“I’m just not getting enough sleep because of these dreams keeping me awake. I should probably eat more, too. I just need to go home, eat a huge meal with tons of vitamins and minerals. Then I’ll take a nice, warm bath and get a ton of sleep and everything will be fine.” She frowned as she mumbled to herself.

“Are you okay there?”

Dahlia nearly leaped out of her skin from the voice. She looked up to see Sam standing next to the doorway, gray eyes giving her an odd look as he stared down at her. She breathed a sigh of relief seeing that it was only him.

“I’m fine.” She loosely brushed away the strand of hair that flew in front of her face.

He continued to give her a hard, questioning look. “Are you sure? Because I just saw you talking to yourself about food.”

“Yeah, I am absolutely fine. Just thought I’d go for a walk to get some fresh air and now I’m back. Where have you been?” She looked at him accusingly, as if blaming him for what happened just moments ago.

“Where have
I
been?” Sam looked down at her ludicrously. “I’ve been partying—something you should have been doing all along. Instead, you’re off wandering in the bushes rambling about food. How do you eat so much and stay so damn skinny?”

Dahlia looked down at her small, but curvy, frame. “I’m not
that
skinny, Sam, so shut up.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged in indifference. “Are you ready to go home? ‘Cause I’m beat.”

Confused, she looked down at her watch and realized that hours had gone by. It felt like mere minutes to her but as her gaze flicked into the house, it looked empty, many people having already left. She glanced back down at her watch again, baffled, then looked back toward Meg’s haunting backyard as she shuddered. She then stared back at Sam solemnly.

“Definitely.”

***

As Dahlia and Sam walked away from the house, both Greyson and Maddox stood, watching them motionless. Maddox decided to break the silence between the two.

“Why didn’t you just take her now? We could have had this whole thing over with.” Maddox scrunched his face up in confusion as he asked the question, shaking his dirty-blond hair from his face. For someone so large, he sure did have a childlike disposition with all of his questioning.

“It’s not time yet,” Greyson reminded him, still watching Dahlia from afar, as she entered a red vehicle with the boy. He was the one she lived and spent most of her time with, like that night when he watched from afar during their evening stroll. When Dahlia noticed Greyson off in the distance, he quickly disappeared from sight. It seemed her abilities were getting stronger unknowingly, able to locate his presence.

Greyson thought of the boy who kept Dahlia company. He really hoped he wouldn’t be a problem. Because that would just be a complication that he didn’t want or need, not being particularly in the mood for anymore deaths.