in this world, or the next.
Caroline furrowed her brows and glanced around from the umpteenth time. Exactly one week ago today, she’d had the distinct feeling of being stalked. It had kept her on the razor’s edge of her control, a place she particularly didn’t care to be.
Out in the broad daylight, in the middle of tourist-filled Paris, her fangs had sharpened just as her eyes filled with blood.
She couldn't take another day of this! Flashing back to the balcony of her hotel room, she tossed her purse on the bed with a huff and went to her mini fridge for a mid-afternoon snack.
Not even bothering with a glass, she sank her fangs into the blood bag and drank greedily. She was supposed to be following a lead on a witch that specialized in breaking bloodline curses.
But here she was -useless with her concentration and nerves being frazzled by the constant awareness of being followed. When whoever was stalking her finally revealed themselves, or she hopefully found them first, she would make sure they never made the mistake of setting their sights on her again.
As she dropped the empty blood bag in the trash bin, a cool breeze blew through the balcony doors she’d left open. A familiar scent tickled her nose, and she paused, trying to remember where she’d smelled it before.
The shrill ring of her cell phone startled her, causing her to jump and gasp. She found the object of her heart attack and saw her co-parent was calling.
“Caroline!” Alaric’s voice was staticky and hard to hear, even for her. “You’re in danger!”
“Danger? What are you talking about? I can’t hear you very well.”
“-he’s back... coming for you... ripped a hole between our realities.... followed Lizzie... Caroline-”
“Who’s back?!” she cried, mind racing and heart beating with fear. Ric wouldn’t scare her like this unless it was life or death. The dial tone beeped in her ear and she quickly tried to call him back, but it went straight to voicemail.
Flashing around her room, she packed as quickly as she could. Reminding herself to stay calm, she picked up the handle of her rolling suitcase and headed out the door, calling the local airport.
“I need a flight to America as soon as possible.” she told the person on the other end, just as she remembered the keys to her rental car were on the kitchenette counter. “Crap.” She caught the closing door with her foot, shouldering the phone to her ear so she could hear the list of available flights.
“No, I need a flight now. I don’t care what state it goes to, I-”
Caroline tensed, hand poised above the keys she’d came back to find. Her cell phone dropped from its cradle and her suitcase fell to the floor with a thump.
A darkened figure stood in the middle of the room. The familiar scent she couldn’t place earlier filled her lungs from her frantic breaths and she couldn’t even hear the lady on the phone from the loud beating of her heart.
Golden eyes glowed back at her in the lightless hotel room.
The familiar scent was unmistakable now.
“Hello, love... or should I say, wife?”