Preface
I'm going to die here.
Red eyes glared at me through the shadows. A voice, smooth as velvet, echoed in the open space.
"He isn't coming for you."
I stood my ground. There was nowhere to run, to hide. This was the end for me. "I know."
The Hunter stepped forward, a shaft of light from the sun roof bouncing off his pale skin. It never failed to amaze me, no matter how many times I'd witnessed it. Even now, as I stared into the eyes of my killer, I found myself unable to look away.
"Are you scared?" He smiled, baring his fangs. They shimmered under the light, white and deadly.
I tried not to look, wracking my brain for an answer.
"No." I said after a moment. And I'd meant it. I was everything but scared. I'd already weighed the possible outcomes before making the decision to come here. The decision to leave him.
A flicker of doubt crossed the Hunter's face. "That's rare, you know?" He took a step closer, out of the sunlight. "Most humans would be frantic, fleeing for their pathetic, mortal lives."
"I'm not like most humans." I countered. My feet carried me forward, meeting him halfway. He was just as beautiful up close as he was far away. A vampire's perfection knew no bounds. Everything about them drew you in.
He closed the space between us. "Some might call you mad."
His breath was cold, tone reserved. Something I couldn't quite decipher danced beneath his ruby gaze.
"Maybe I am."
His fingers came up to brush the line of my jaw, tracing up over my lips and down to my neck. They lingered there a moment over the rhythmic thump of my pulse.
It was then that I saw it, the hunger in the Hunter's eyes.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
I blinked, an unwanted lump forming in my throat. There was curiosity where fear should normally be. Curiosity of the unknown, of what comes next. I tried my best to swallow it. I had asked for this, after all.
"Yes."
