Married to the Vampire King (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Sophie, did you jump out of that window?"

"Yip, " I replied pulling the torch out of my backpack.

"Why didn't you use the door?"

"Because everyone in this building, with the exception of you and me, is crazy!"

"I don't understand you," Christie replied confused.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain. I saw Christian, Luc's freaking son, wander off into the woods by himself."

Christie's eyes widen in alarm, "This is bad."

"I know! No one in that freaking house seems to understand basic childcare - who leaves a little kid completely unsupervised? I could be missing something, maybe it's a vampire thing, or maybe Luc hates his son?"

"Try not to think badly of others, Sophie. I saw Christian this evening and he was being watched over by Gwendolyn and her mother, Augusta. I think he must have given them the slip. I don't believe they would let him wander off into the woods by himself."

"Intentional or not, he's in the woods where I got attacked last night."

"Do you think we should call the guards?"

"That's a big no-no. Me and the guards are having some trust issues at the moment. If they catch me outside my room then I'm getting a butt full of silver."

"Ouch," Christie winced.

"It's up to us," I said, handing her the torch.

She forced a brave smile and replied, "I'm with you all the way."

We set off across the frozen ground, following Christian's set of tiny footprints. The snow was falling fast and heavy, threatening to bury the footprints under a fresh layer of white. We followed the tracks into the tree line and started to navigate our way through the woods. Christie stayed close to me, shining the torch on the path ahead, while I held on tightly to the iron poker. The woods seemed darker tonight. A cold chill swept over me and had the sickening feeling that we were being watched.

"Something feels wrong," Christie whispered, sensing what I was already thinking.

"I know. I think we are not the only ones in this wood tonight," I replied.

She slowed down and swept the torch beam across the thick entangled bracken in front of us.

"I don't see anything but dead branches," she sighed irritably. "My eyesight is useless. Can you see in the dark?" she asked.

"No, I don't have any special vampire power."

"Well, there's nothing we can do except hope we don't run into whatever you saw last night."

"I'm sure we won't," I said, trying to sound upbeat.

The truth was, I didn't feel optimistic at all. In fact, I was downright terrified. I may not have seen what attacked me last night, but I sure as hell felt it. When I closed my eyes, I could still feel its claws sinking into my flesh and its horrible smell.

"Hey, Christie? Do you know any monsters with massive claws that can speak like a human?"

"I once heard that some powerful werewolf alphas can shift into a form that is crossed between a wolf and man. They are supposed to have terrible claws."

"Do you think what attacked me last night was a werewolf?"

"Anything is possible, however, it's extremely unlikely. Wolves stick to their own territory. In fact, they usually exist in small towns hidden deep in the forest. There would be no reason for them to come up into the mountains and start picking fights with another species."