Chapter 18 - Bad Vampires

When Xavier woke up, he was lying on the floor of the cabin. He looked around, trying to remember what happened when it all hit him. He jumped up and ran around, yelling for Luci. After he had checked the entire cabin, he dropped to his knees in pain realizing she had been taken.

How had he been so careless to let Nolan find them? Even though he had never seen Nolan, he knew that was who came to take her. Xavier remembered the other man shooting him with a dart, which was the last thing he remembered besides Luci's screaming.

Xavier jumped up and got on the phone. He would have changed into lycan form and tried to pick up her scent, but based on how dark it was outside, he knew it had been hours since they had taken Luci. He called his contact who found Luci the last time.

"Vaughn, I need you to find her again. Luci was kidnapped by a man named Nolan; I'm not sure of his last name. I know he lives in New York, so you may want to see if you find any flights out of Arizona to New York. You need to hurry because he may try to kill her."

"Will do. I'll be in touch. I recommend you head to the airport."

After Vaughn hung up, Xavier calmed himself and Zeke down before he ended up killing everyone he came into contact with. He could tell Luci was still alive because their bond was strong even though he hadn't marked her yet. He would have felt her death.

Xavier grabbed the car keys and ran to the car outside. He broke every speed limit on the way to the airport. When he was about thirty minutes away, Vaughn called him back.

"I have a Nolan Parks that flew to New York accompanied by a Lucinda Parks. They're listed as husband and wife. Their plane should land in about an hour at JFK."

"Thank you, Vaughn."

Xavier yelled out in anger. How dare this man try and claim Luci as his? Saying she was his wife was a sign that he was planning to keep Luci and not kill her. He just needed to get to her before Nolan had a chance to mark her. If that happened, then she would begin bonding with Nolan, and it would kill Xavier.

When he reached the airport, he left his car running and ran inside. He didn't have time to bring his private plane here, so he would have to fly commercial. He didn't care as long as it got him to Luci.

Luckily it was the middle of the night, and the airport wasn't busy. Xavier was told there was a plane leaving in fifteen minutes that would take him to LaGuardia. After he had paid for the ticket, he went through security and ran to the terminal.

Once he was in his seat, Xavier kept repeating the same thing. "Hang on, Luci, I'm coming. Please don't let him mark you. I love you."

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Nolan made Luci drink something on the way to the airport, making her drowsy. She could only walk with his help and couldn't use her vampire strength or speed. The stuff started wearing off when they had almost reached New York, but she pretended it was still affecting her.

She was trying to figure a way out of this. Nolan had said she could choose to be his mate or die. She didn't like either of those choices. Now that she had gotten closer to Xavier, she felt like a piece of her was missing being away from him. All she wanted was to see his face and feel his strong arms around her.

She knew then that she was ready to accept him as her mate. Luci felt like she had been a fool for pushing him away, but now that she may never see him again, he was all she wanted. Her chest ached at the thought of something happening to either of them before they could be reunited.

Luci told herself she had to shake the sadness and despair away if she was going to get away. When they were landing, she continued acting like she was drowsy. She was hoping for an opportunity to make a scene with a lot of witnesses so she could get away.

Nolan wouldn't want a lot of attention on him. As he helped her walk through the airport, she waited until they were near the escalators, and then opened her eyes. Luci snatched her arm away from Nolan and began screaming.

"Help, someone, help me. He kidnapped me." Luci was screaming and pointing to Nolan as she ran. She looked back, and he was running after her at full speed.

Luci didn't care if anyone saw her now. She leaped from the ground and landed on the second floor where the escalators were going. She then ran as fast as she could through the swarms of people.

She heard people screaming and yelling, but she didn't stop. Luci had one thought, she had to get away from Nolan. As she came to the front of the airport, she ran outside and jumped onto the roof so she could see the best route to take.

There was a small crevice where she hid. Luci heard Nolan yelling below her, asking people if they saw her. She couldn't hear what they said, but it didn't appear that anyone had noticed she jumped onto the roof. She decided to wait a little while until she worked out what she should do.

Luci wanted to reach Xavier, but she didn't know his phone number. Even after everything they had done together, she didn't even know his damn phone number. Luci wanted to cry; she felt she was worlds away from Xavier.

She could still hear Nolan below barking orders at his men to find her. Luci hoped they wouldn't look on the roof because some of them were stronger and faster than she was. She needed them to leave so she could get down and get out of there.

Just as she thought it might be safe, she felt someone grab her from behind. Before she could scream, a hand went over her mouth. Luci was getting ready to fight until she heard a female voice.

"Shhh, be quiet, or they'll find us." Luci stopped struggling and turned around. A beautiful woman with shoulder-length curly black hair, bright blue eyes, and pale skin was smiling at her. She was a few inches shorter than Luci and was wearing all black.

"Who are you, and how did you know I was up here?" Luci asked cautiously, weary that this woman might work for Nolan.

"You can call me Mel. I'm sure you've figured out I'm a vampire like you. I was following Nolan and his men becausea friend of mine has gone missing. The last time I saw her, she was making out with that idiot. They didn't notice me, and I saw you come up here. What were you doing with him?" Mel asked Luci suspiciously.

"My name is Luci. I witnessed him kidnapping vampires and shifters. He has been trying to track me down ever since he saw on the news that I was a witness. He found me in Arizona with my mate and kidnapped me after shooting my mate with a dart knocking him out. I need to get out of here." Luci wanted Xavier. He was the only one who could keep her safe from Nolan.

"I'll help you get away and get back to your mate. Who is your mate?" Mel looked over the roof's edge while quietly talking to Luci.

"His name is Xavier, and he's a lycan." Luci's throat got tight thinking about him.

"What a minute. You said, Xavier? That's not the lycan crown prince Xavier is it?" Luci looked at Mel suspiciously.

"What makes you ask that?" She suddenly didn't trust the other woman. Why would she immediately assume that Xavier was the crown prince?

"We had heard that he was in New York, that's all." Mel shrugged nonchalantly, but Luci was still unsure about her.

"Who is we?" Luci asked while backing up a little on the roof.

"No one but me and the others that have been following Nolan to see if we can find our friend. I think the coast is clear now. Are you ready to get out of here?" Mel looked at Luci with a smirk. She could tell Luci didn't trust her. Mel couldn't blame her. She was right to be cautious.

Luci decided to go with Mel until they got away, and then she would take off on her own to find Xavier. She nodded at Mel, who led her to the side of the roof.

"We'll jump down here, and my friends will pick us up down the road. I'll text them and tell them where to meet us." Mel pulled out a phone and typed out a quick text.

Mel jumped down, followed by Luci. They ran fast as lightning near the fence toward the back of the nearest parking lot. Luci thought about running away from Mel but changed her mind. It may be better to stick with her until she got away from the airport.

When they reached the road outside the airport parking lot, Mel slowed down, and Luci noticed a large black van waiting. Mel walked up to it and knocked. The door slid open, two male vampires were in the back, and one was in the front.

"Who's your friend Mel?" One of the men asked, looking Luci up and down. She was used to men looking at her like that, but she no longer appreciated it since being with Xavier.

"This is the woman I told you about. She was trying to get away from Nolan. Oh, yeah, and she's the mate of the lycan crown prince." Luci felt fear creeping up her spine. Why were they so interested in Xavier? She had never confirmed that her mate was the prince.

"Well, let's make room, shall we?" The man grabbed her arm as Luci prepared to take off running. "Where do you think you're going? We can't let the prince's mate get away. Now that we have you let's see what he'll do to get you back."

The man got out of the van and shoved Luci inside. As she prepared to fight him, Mel took a syringe from a bag and stuck it in Luci's neck. She felt dizzy, and the last thing she remembered was the man putting her into one of the seats.