Free Polar (Prequel): The Turnagain Arm by Julie Flanders Page A

he glanced down at her neck. He leaned towards her, relishing the sight of her trembling body, but pulled back before he bit into her flesh.
    “I’d like to kill you,” he said. “In fact I’d love nothing more than to bite into your neck right now and drain every last drop of blood from your body. But that wouldn’t be the smartest move for me to make. Do you know why?”
    Too frightened to speak, Lara shook her head.
    “Because I don’t want another body here.” Aleksei gestured at the two dead bodies at their feet. “This scene right here tells the perfect story, doesn’t it? Adding a third body into the mix wouldn’t work nearly as well.”
    Aleksei let go of Lara and stepped away from her.
    “Of course,” he said, “I could kill you and take your body down to the inlet and get rid of you like I did all the rest. But people saw your husband and James and me all coming into the woods. And it’s a safe bet they heard James’ gun too, isn’t it? I don’t think we have a lot of time before people start sniffing around here. So I’d rather not take the time to get rid of you.”
    “What are you going to do to me then?” Lara asked.
    “I’m going to let you go,” Aleksei said. “Think of it as a gift to you since you remind me of my Natasha. What can I say? I have a weakness for blond women.”
    Lara wondered if she could believe what she was hearing. Was he merely setting her up to walk into a trap?
    “I need you to disappear,” Aleksei said. “Don’t go back to the saloon. I’ll kill you if I see you there, I can promise you that. And if you stay around the camp and I hear of it, I’ll track you down and snap your neck before you even know I’ve come for you.”
    “Where am I going to go?”
    Aleksei shrugged. “I don’t care. Just leave here and never come back.”
    “I’ll tell people what you are. I’ll tell them what you did.”
    “And you think they’ll believe you? Think about what you’re saying for a minute. You’re smarter than that, I’m sure of it.” Aleksei pulled in his fangs and wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve.
    “I’m going back to the saloon,” he said. “My saloon. I own it now, do you understand?”
    Lara nodded.
    “I never want to see your pretty face again, Lara. And if you’re as smart as I think you are, you’ll never lay eyes on me again either.”
    Aleksei turned away and calmly walked out of the woods, leaving Lara alone amidst the carnage. She crumpled to her knees beside Vasyl’s body and ran her hand through his blood-streaked hair.
    Lara brought her lips to her husband’s and kissed him gently. “My darling Vasyl,” she said. “I should have come out here with you. I should have helped you get rid of him.”
    She sobbed and hugged her husband’s dead body as she lifted it to her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the book she had watched him read over and over again as he prepared to meet with Aleksei. His book of spells. Aleksei hadn’t bothered to take it with him.
    Lara reached for the book and stared at the foreign words on its pages. She grimaced at the drops of blood that covered the book and stained the pages red. Vasyl’s blood, she was sure.
    She leaned over and gave her husband a final kiss. “I love you, Vasyl,” she whispered.
    Lara held the book to her chest and stood up. She didn’t know where she would go or what she would do, but she knew she didn’t have much time before Aleksei returned with others from the camp.
    The monster had warned her never to lay eyes on him again. As Lara ran deeper into the woods and away from the Potter Creek camp, she knew she would heed that warning.
    ***

Chapter 15
    Aleksei could hardly contain his glee as he made his way back towards the camp. He envisioned what was to come, smiling as he saw himself solemnly leading a group of villagers back to the scene where James Hawkins and Vasyl Dzubenko lay dead and telling them the story of how the deaths came about. He