“Annabelle!” Isaac shouted, now in his human form, obscured by the shadows of the night as he tromped after me, his footsteps crunching over dead leaves that cried out in the darkness. “Listen to reason!”

  I stormed on, unsure of where I was even going, just running from everything that continued to follow me. I thought death would be the end of my worries, and I was dead wrong. I just knew that I wanted to get away. Away from this nightmare. Away from the violence that had sprung forth at my feet with every step. Away from my inability to fix it all.

  “What reason?” I hissed, punching through a nearby tree in rage, and sending shards of splinters blasting out through the other end. I quickly removed my hand and shook the dust and dirt away from the trickling blood that now trailed down my wrist. It brought back a flash of feelings, something in my memories, which I knew I couldn't reach yet...but sometime...sometime soon, whether I wanted it or not. My intentions turned back towards Isaac. “I could’ve put a stop to this all, and I just couldn’t do it.”

  Finally, Isaac swung around in front of me. Impeding my way with his muscularly lean human form. He loomed so large over me. In more ways than one. It made me sweat. I tried to steel my gaze and hold it upward. A massively difficult feat at that.

  “You,” Isaac affirmed, “made the right decision. We know not what horrors that creature would bear upon our doorstep.”

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  “But,” I sighed, shaking my head, until I stumbled back into the roughshod bark of another stiff tree behind me. It scraped my hands lightly as I carelessly came to rest against it. “It might have been worth it.”

  “And that creature is praying on such thoughts. Such doubts. The seeds it sows. Do not let it plant them in your mind.” Isaac approached further. He gripped my upper arms and locked eyes on me. “You are kind and courageous. Do not let yourself be inflicted with such malicious undoing.”

  I softened, taking in his thoughtful words, ones that could melt the heart of any woman, even one as dead and blackened as my own. Or so to speak. Still, sometimes, the words can't always cut through to you. Tonight, though, they were able to dig a little bit in...and I was thankful for it.

  I looked back up and into his eyes, they had lost some of their own fierceness and were replaced with concern. Flutters came from everywhere, dancing inside me, my desire for him, and everything he stood for, building to an insurmountable level. Inherently, I leaned forward and pursed my lips, closing my eyes.

  “We must make arrangements,” Isaac coughed, and shied away face, as if he knew he wanted it, but still kept his thoughts, his feelings, at bay.

  Suddenly, my eyes bolted back open, a flicker of rage. Why does he keep teasing me like this!

  His eyes looked elsewhere, promised thoughts of safety and protection, as his focus laid on my well-being. I understood, but at some point, he had to let his guard down. I had already, why couldn't he?

  I relented, as he clearly had strong thoughts about me. I could certainly feel them growing below my waist. I thanked the darkness for hiding my flustered and blushing face. It could not hide my hastened breathing and pulsing heartbeat. “What?” I exhaled. “What do we need to prepare?”

  “We need to warn my brothers,” he said. Looking back up to the moon and relating to his sibling kind. “There lay other enemies at our gates. Multiple fronts in this war...and now it is the time to defend.”