his fate is mine

prologue

I had never been afraid of the forest before.

That was the first thought that kept repeating itself as I ran.

The trees blurred around me, dark trunks flashing past my shoulders as I pushed myself faster.

Branches caught at my clothes. Wet leaves
scattered beneath my feet. The air was cold and heavy with rain, but I barely noticed it.

I couldn't hear anything except my own thoughts.

Run.

I didn't know how long I'd been running.

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes.

It felt like hours.

Something was behind me.

I didn't dare look.

Every instinct I had was screaming at me to keep moving, to put as much distance between myself and whatever was following me as possible.

I was faster than any human.

Stronger.

Harder to kill.

None of that mattered.

Not when I could hear the sound behind me getting closer.

My thoughts scattered.

My family.

My home.

My parents.

I wanted them.

The realization terrified me more than anything else.

I had spent my entire life believing that there were things vampires didn't have to fear.

I was beginning to understand that I had been wrong.

A branch snapped somewhere behind me.

I stumbled.

For one horrible second, I lost my balance.

Then I was running again.

Faster.

Desperate.

I didn't know where I was going.

I only knew I couldn't stop.

And whatever was chasing me knew it, too.