Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide

She pushed that thought from her mind as fresh air washed over her and warm sunlight caressed her skin.

Stone paused and she looked over his shoulder to see six men and two women standing a few feet behind the largest man in their group several yards away. He had dark hair and his arms folded across his bare chest, exemplifying his thick muscular built. His piercing gray eyes regarded her as Stone nodded his head at him.

“Thank you, Alpha,” Stone said to him. “I will be in touch with you again soon.”

“Blessed be,” the stranger responded.

Stone inclined his head again and continued to slosh through the water to the grassy bank under a large arched bridge.

Looking over her shoulder, Aubree saw the nine men and women jog into the tunnel they had exited one by one. “Are they the werewolves?”

“Yes, that was Alpha Colten and members of his pack, the North Fang.”

As he turned his body, she redirected her attention and noticed him backing up to a grassy bank held up by the same old stonework as the bridge and ruins around her. Carefully, she climbed off his back and crawled onto the bank with his support. At the top of the bank, behind a black iron fence, she saw Hector waiting.

“Go to Hector,” Stone told her when she looked over her shoulder to see him lifting himself up onto the bank with his arms, his thick muscles bulging with the effort.

Resisting the urge to sink her teeth into those biceps, she turned forward again and scrambled up the steep incline of the grassy bank to Hector.

Snarls, barks, howls, and yips echoed from the tunnels as she reached the fence, reminding her that she wasn’t completely safe yet. Danger was only a hundred yards away, and if she didn’t move her butt, she could find herself in the clutches of another vampire, and no doubt that one wouldn’t be as concerned with her life as Dan was.

Stone was already by her side and lifting her over the fence to Hector’s waiting arms. He jumped over effortlessly as Hector set her down on the ground.

“I moved my car over there,” Hector said tossing his keys at Stone as he jutted his head to the parking lot over his shoulder.

Stone dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed them back. “Thanks.”

Hector gave Aubree a cheeky smirk before inclining his head to her. “See ya later, Luna.”

“Blessed be,” Stone said with a nod before Hector turned his back to them.

She watched as Hector hopped over the black fence with one hand on the top railing to support him, while Stone placed his hand on the small of her back and urged her forward. As they approached the parking lot, Stone began to relax and she looked up to see exhaustion settling in his eyes.

“Want me to drive?” she asked. “I slept most of the day, so I’m okay.”

Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I want to get out of the city and get you home as soon as possible.”

He clicked the remote on the set of keys Hector tossed him as he led her to the passenger side door of a black sports car. He opened the door for her and she paused in front of him to touch his cheek.

His skin was warm and she could feel the tired ache that filled him. Pressing her palm against the rough stubble of his cheek, she let her emotions flow through her touch. All of her warmth, comfort, and love passed through him and the knot between his brows softened as he reached up to cradle her hand in his.

“I don’t mind driving. You can relax. It’s okay.”

He pulled her hand from his cheek and kissed it. “I’m fine now, Röslein. Thank you.”

She quirked her eyebrow at him before huffing and climbing into the car.

So stubborn.

As they pulled out, her eyes looked up to the sky as the wind from the rolled down windows whipped the loose strands of hair around her face. She filled her lungs with fresh air, wondering how long had she been down there. The sun was getting lower in the western sky, and although it wasn’t sunset, it was only a couple of hours away.

Soon, they were flying down the interstate highway, weaving in and around cars at thirty or forty miles over the speed limit. Rush hour traffic had pretty much cleared, and although Stone handled the vehicle effortlessly, she still felt nervous about the speed. What if a cop pulled them over or someone cut in front of them?

As they drew away from the downtown core, traffic began to thin and she relaxed a little, realizing that she’d been sitting stiffly in her seat and holding on for dear life. The city soon fell behind them and before she knew it, they were slowing down and exiting the highway, where she was able to breathe normally again.

Stone had been relaxed when they first got in the car, but once he got on the highway, he grew tenser. Aubree noticed his hands tightening on the steering wheel, his posture becoming more tight and rigid. Once they were off the highway and driving down country roads, he eased up, but Aubree could still see that his mind was working in overdrive.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” he grumbled.

That raised her eyebrows. “I could say the same about your driving.”

“You don’t need to worry about my driving, but you do need to be more careful when you’re alone.”

She rolled her eyes and heaved an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, because I totally asked to be kidnapped. That’s exactly how I planned to spend my day. Get kidnapped. Check. Discover that my ex has become a vampire. Check. Have my blood sucked by vampires—”

He growled, his eyes glued to the road ahead.

“That’s not going to happen, Stone,” she shot back. “Dan would never hurt me or do anything against my will.”

“You don’t know that,” Stone said calmly, although Aubree didn’t miss the slight edge in his voice. “He’s one of them now. He has a new instinct and that instinct will drive him to do things he never would have done as a human. He’ll want your blood and he won’t be able to help that.”

Crossing her arms, she set her jaw as she turned her attention to the countryside flying by.

She knew he was right about a vampire’s instinct to drink blood.

She just didn’t want to accept the fact that Dan would change now that he was one of them.