Emanare (Destined, #1) (8 page)
Read Emanare (Destined, #1) Online
Authors: Taryn Browning
“Give me thirty minutes. I’ll meet you in the lobby.” Vicky jumped off the bed, kissed Chase on the cheek and flittered to the door, no longer bothered by the heaps of laundry in her path.
“Bye, Sam.” She waved her hand triumphantly on the way out the door.
“Bye,” Sam said, not quite so enthusiastically.
Chase glared at Sam. His face had turned a deep shade of red. “What were you thinking? I don’t want to go to dinner with her.”
“Oh, stop. It could be fun.”
“Fun? With Vicky? The girl who lives in her own self-absorbed world unless she’s obsessing over a boy, who used to be her ex, Brian…”
“…and now it’s you,” Sam finished. “I better get going. You have to get ready for your date.” Sam jumped up from Chase’s bed and turned to face him. He had crossed his arms and his bottom lip popped out like a child who hadn’t gotten his way.
“It’s not a date,” he mumbled.
She put her hands on his arms. “Whatever you want to call it. But you stink like sweat. You need to shower before you go.”
His cold gaze turned to a disappointed frown. “I wanted to have dinner with you.”
“I’m not going to a restaurant. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’m liable to fall asleep in my salad,” she joked.
“I’m serious, Samantha. There’s only one person I want to go on a date with.”
Sam looked into his sad eyes. “Chase, I shouldn’t be dating anyone right now. I don’t remember a large chunk of my college life.”
“I know this is going to seem selfish, but I’m glad you don’t remember Evrik. That gives me a chance.”
She inhaled deeply. “Look, Chase, right now is not the time for me to be making decisions that I may regret later.”
“So, you regret liking me?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I like you. You’re supposed to be my best friend.”
“Samantha, don’t lie to me. You felt it, too. Last night in my arms, and this morning at breakfast.”
“For a fraction of a second,” she said.
“You felt it,” he demanded.
“Okay. I’ll admit, I have feelings for you. I’m jealous that Vicky gets to have dinner with you, but I’m too messed up to take any of my feelings seriously right now. Chase, I don’t want to hurt you.”
He grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. His lips found hers. She let herself go and moved in rhythm with his mouth. Their tongues touched softly and she became lost in his arms. His hands moved up her back, to her neck.
Chase moved her toward the bed and fell down on top of her. His lips left hers and traveled to her neck. Sam arched her back into his kiss. Finding the bottom of her shirt, Chase lifted Sam upright, pulling it over her head in one swift motion. He raised his muscular arms. Sam yanked his T-shirt off, not quite as easily. Sam’s hands moved up his hard chest, over his shoulders, and down his back. From their seated position he guided her back down so he lay directly on top of her again.
Suddenly, Chase pulled back from her and pushed himself away, hovering over her in a push-up position. “Shit, my roommate’s back.”
“He’s what?” Sam gasped. She pushed Chase off of her, immediately realizing what she was doing. She grabbed her shirt and tugged it over her head. “I’ve got to go.” She rolled out of bed, planted both feet on the ground and tripped through the obstacle course of laundry in swift pursuit to the door.
“Samantha, you don’t have to leave.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Samantha.”
“What?” She turned around at the door.
“I love you. This wasn’t a mistake.”
“I’ll talk to you later.” Sam tugged on the metal door with one arm. The door bounced back, throwing her into the door jamb.
Shit!
Forgetting about the door, she grabbed her arm, which was now hurting, and ran away, passing Chase’s roommate in the hallway.
CHAPTER 9
Sam reluctantly went through the events of the day, tossing from side to side and fighting to get comfortable in bed—the first night she met Evrik (his strength, mind control and lavender skin tone), Malachi’s ability to track scents, and Alea’s ability to create magical elixirs. And Chase.
Good-ness.
She wasn’t about to go there again.
Sam also couldn’t forget about Cale, the mysterious dark stranger—she had kissed him that morning, almost kissed Evrik that afternoon, and heavily made out with Chase that evening. She was beginning to think she had serious guy issues, but without her memories, she had no control over her feelings. All three guys were hot. What else was a nineteen-year-old girl supposed to do? Luckily, it didn’t take her long to fall asleep...
Without hesitation, Sam darted out the back door of Evrik’s house. She held the elixir firmly in her hand, ready to remove the top. Dried leaves and crispy branches crunched beneath her feet. Deep breaths ricochet loudly between her ears, and her blood pounded deafeningly in her head. As she ran her legs felt heavy. Each time her feet hit the ground, her body jolted and her teeth chattered.
Distance running had never been easy for her. She was always one of the last students in gym class to finish the mile run. Sam felt as if sand bags were tied to her ankles, only this time she was literally running for her life. The cold air froze her lungs, making it hard to breathe. She focused on every step as she ran, trying desperately not to trip. She could feel her predator closing in. Her turtle-like speed was no match for the cheetah pursuing her.
Remembering the elixir, Sam lifted the bottle in the air to remove the top, stopping her concentration for just a second. The toe of her sneaker lodged under a tree root, sending the bottle and Sam flying to the ground. She landed brutally onto the forest floor, catching a large tree branch on the way down. Her arm folded backward and she heard an awful snap. She cried out in agony. The pain was sickening. Nausea filled her stomach and forced its way into her mouth as she vomited on a pile of crisp leaves.
Sam thought about the danger closing in on her. Even though she couldn’t see him, she knew he was behind her. She could feel it; her skin quivered. Only one thing would keep her alive—the elixir Alea had created to make her invisible. She had to focus on finding the elixir. If she didn’t find it, she wouldn’t survive.
Sam searched frantically for the cobalt blue bottle. It was so dark, and the dry leaves covered the ground like a thick blanket. A creepy, blood-tingling feeling made her realize the elixir was useless. She wasn’t alone. She looked up to see the enormous creature towering above her, glaring at her with his fierce red eyes. He’d caught up to her.
The creature spoke, his eyes scorching into her. His voice was raspy and harsh. “What do we have here?” His head cocked to the side. “So your hero has left you all alone to fend for yourself. Did you really think you could outrun me?” His head moved back and forth, assessing her injuries. “That looks painful.” His eyes darted to her broken arm. “Don’t worry, the pain is nothing compared to the torture I’m going to inflict on you.”
His gnarly fingers rubbed his pointed jaw, contemplating her fate. “I saw through your boyfriend’s illusion as soon as we approached the phony house,” he continued. “I left the other drooling idiots to die. No doubt those half-wits ran right into your boyfriend’s ambush. I could’ve gotten rid of Evrik then, but what fun would that be?”
“He will kill you. You’re no match for him,” Sam spoke angrily through her teeth. Her good arm reached out into the dead leaves. She frantically searched the forest floor. The leaves crumbled to pieces in her hand. It would be more difficult for him to kill her if he couldn’t see her, not that she could move very well with her broken arm and twisted knee.
The monster reached down to pick up something next to his bare, callous-covered foot. He flashed a wicked smile, brandishing the cobalt blue bottle. He began to laugh with the convulsive hacking of someone choking on a chicken bone. “Is this what you’re looking for?” His words were softer, but his tone was still shrill and harsh. “I don’t know what Alea created within this bottle, but you’ll never get a chance to use it.”
Any chance of survival was gone. Without the elixir to turn her invisible, Sam had no defense against the gigantic monster standing over her.
He twisted her broken forearm, causing the jagged bone to violently puncture her skin. Then, he hit her with his strong fist. The impact sucked the air from her lungs and knocked her into an unyielding tree trunk. After Sam was finally able to breathe, she felt a persistent stabbing with each shallow gasp of air. Sweat seeped from her pores, causing her skin to feel clammy against the cold December air. Shock became a comforting relief from the torturous sting of her broken body.
His gruff voice continued to slice through Sam’s ears like the high-pitched sound of nails on a chalkboard. “This is soooo boring. You’re such an easy kill. I certainly hope your Evrik is more of a challenge.” The sound of him using Evrik’s name infuriated her.
The creature slowly approached. She could see from his expression that he was about to administer the final blow. He raised his arm in satisfaction. Sam closed her eyes tightly, anticipating the last of the pain.
Through the pounding in her ears, she heard a deep growl emerge from the forest. She opened her eyes to witness the most incredible sight. A large black bear tackled the monster to the ground, pinning the creature’s flailing body under its enormous paws. The bear slashed its claws through his chest, causing the creature to shriek in agony.
The bear turned its head in Sam’s direction. She noticed something familiar about it. She’d seen the exact bear before, but at the moment she couldn’t remember where. Sam found herself looking into friendly eyes. She’d seen those eyes on so many occasions, stared into them in times of joy and sadness. Was she in such a state of shock that she was replacing an animal’s physical appearance with a man who had provided her with security? The animal’s eyes seemed to sympathize with her, as if it were also in pain, but a different type of pain. Pain someone would feel for a loved one if she were severely hurt, or dying.
The creature played on the bear’s moment of weakness. He moved quickly from under the bear’s paws. During his escape, he sliced the bear’s front leg with his razor-sharp nails. The bear stumbled back, whipping its front legs around wildly while trying to balance on its hind legs. The bear attempted to recapture the unbelievably fast creature, but it was unsuccessful. The creature had gotten away.
The bear stopped whipping around and returned to balance on all four legs. It slowly approached Sam, one paw in front of the other. She lay at the bottom of the tree stump, helpless and watching its approach. The bear’s facial features were close enough for her to see. She noticed its familiar eyes were a wet, grief-stricken crystal blue. The only rational answer she could form for this feeling of intimacy, such closeness with the animal, was she was dead and having an out-of-body experience. The creature had killed her and she was replacing a man, her security blanket, her best friend, with an animal. Somehow this would make dying easier.
“Chase?” Sam heard an angel’s voice speak; her angel’s voice—Evrik. Why would he be saying Chase’s name? Nothing made sense. After all of the trauma she’d been through, there was probably no logic left in her brain. Even in death she hallucinated. Go figure!
The bear began to shake vigorously. The fur rescinded into its skin. Its long snout morphed into a human nose, above a pair of human lips. The once-expansive furry animal chest became bare and muscular, with killer abs. The bear morphed in front of her eyes—taking human form—male form. The half-animal jumped behind a tree before the transformation completed. Sam glanced up at the black sky. She had gone completely nuts. Now bears were turning into people. She searched for a twinkling star, a round moon, something to focus on. It was no use, nothing but darkness. The black dome imprisoned her.
A movement caught her eye, bringing her gaze back down. Sam watched Chase emerge from behind the tree wearing only a pair of jeans. He bled from where the creature had sliced his forearm. Sam’s mouth dropped. She wasn’t crazy or dead. She was alive and Chase wasn’t entirely human.
