AN: Heya, beautiful people! Hope October finds you all well (Halloween anyone? :D).

This chapter invites even more drama and another opportunity to let Zackie roam free (you'll see what I am talking about hehe).

Thanks a bunch for reading. Leave some love,

Fearsome Hamster

There he was.

Dressed to impress like a noble gentleman. Entertaining his guests like a true host. Smiling a brilliantly human smile.

His deceiving appearance was almost perfect. However, it was his eyes which were giving him away. They were indeed the window to the soul. She should have realised all along that there was too much untamed wildness in those violet orbs to pass as mere mortal. Too much unrestrained power in those eyes watching her each move like a hawk. It was as if he was waiting for her to crash.

But would he catch her or let her fall? A broken animal was easier to subdue after all.

Following the earth-shattering revelation, Zachary had remained by her side the entire evening. He led her patiently back in the dining hall, made them sit side by side this time, with one long arm curved protectively around her back and the other caressing her palm. Faced with such a picture of pre-marital bliss, who could ever guess the truth? Thankfully, the farce had ended when her grandmother, bless her heart, claimed she needed rest for her old aching bones.

After showing Nana, Thomas and her father to their respective chambers for the night, they remained alone once again in the bedroom Zachary had chosen for her. Margo was not surprised that the suite was exquisitely furbished as if awaiting blue blood royalty. Even less surprising was that his chamber was right across the hall from hers.

Easily spotting the massive four poster bed, Margo sat on its softness. The brooding beast was still in the room. The silence between them was defeaning. Was this the moment he killed her? She shivered.

Still, was he not the same man she had come to know or was that an illusion as well?

Scowling, he crossed the distance to the unlit fireplace in long strides and crouched. With precise movements, welcoming crackling of fire soon filled the room. He believed she was cold...how thoughtful. Was it possible she was making a mistake by judging him too harshly or was this her betraying heart speaking?

Margo could not help but ask. "Is this not a chore for the many attendants you have?"

"I prefer to take care after you with my own two hands," Zachary replied gruffly. He added heavy pieces of wood in the burning fire, not glancing her way.

The young woman cleared her throat and asked bravely. "Will you hurt my family?" She squirmed on the mattress. This answer mattered the most.

Dropping the fire poker he was holding, he shot her a disbelieving look. "You care after those people...Though I might make an exception for your father."

"How about me, will you hurt me?"

Zachary growled savagely, raising himself up to an imposing frame. In a flash, he appeared by her side, holding her cheeks in both his palms. His fangs were out and his eyes were glowing an ethereal violet. No purpose to hiding his true nature anymore. "Have my actions ever suggested this aberration you're spewing? Tell me."

"Boore was murdered in front of me by the very hands you are touching me with," she countered. Never would she forget the ferocity of that night. She had to remind herself what he was capable of.

He recoiled, wounded by her stinging words. "His intention to hurt you brought his death," he hissed, no shadow of regret on his handsome face. Zachary ran a hand through his dark locks. "Can you not see I am the same?"

Margo wished that were true. "I need more time, Zachary. This wedding is a disaster in the making."

A stony expression crossed his visage, "No. I have already been too patient."

Frustration rose inside her. "You cannot just–"

"Yes, I can. My kind is perilously close to the darkness without a mate to anchor them, especially one of my age. I may look sane, yet I have been toeing the edge for decades now." On cue, thunder rumbled outside, the vicious storm unleashing to its full potential. "Do not leave the world victim to my madness just because you are afraid of loving a beast."

With the final threat hanging like a dark cloud, Zachary left her alone to her thoughts.

Margo curled into a ball in the middle of the bed. The thin ice she had been threading had finally shattered, abandoning her to sink in a frozen lake of desperation. It was too much. Not bothering for the creases her elegant dress would have, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

Hopefully, the night would bring good counsel.

.....................................

It was so cold.

Her body was wrecked with tremors, her tattered dress useless against the elements. The scent of freshly dug earth teased her nose. Suddenly something slippery touched her arm.

Squinting, the unwelcome sight of a spider greeted. She jumped in terror. Where was she? Her eyes were slow to adjust to the encompassing darkness. It was eerily quiet. No breathing creature , no sign of a soul nearby.

When the moon finally appeared from behind the night clouds, her heart stopped.

Overcrowded tombstones stretched on everywhere she could see, some forever crashed to the ground. Whoever slept their eternal rest here, it was clear the living had forgotten about them. The weeping statues of angels were the only eternal companions for the dead in this ancient graveyard.

The wind swept again, freezing her blood. She had to find a way out of this tragic cemetery. When she moved to the narrow alley between graves, her leg hit something soft. Looking down, she screamed.

The unforgiving glassy eyes of Quintus Boore stared at her, his mouth open in terror. His body was splayed on the cold ground, the ruthless wound on his neck announcing his last moments on this realm were far from peaceful.

What animal could have done this?

Swiftly turning on her heels, she ran, stumbling on the destroyed remains of crosses littering the path. The call of a disgruntled raven filled the sky, probably angered by her presence. She hugged her torso, crisp air biting at her exposed skin. She felt very unwelcome in this world of the dead.

Suddenly, she spotted a powerful figure blocking the end of the path. Instead of fright, stark relief bloomed. It was Zachary. She ran faster towards him, no longer heeding the warning calls of the bird stalking her. Zachary opened his arms wide, beckoning her with a promise of protection to his broad chest.

"Zachary," she sobbed, tears beginning to pour from her eyes the moment she reached him. He immediately embraced her tightly. His welcoming strong body was just what she needed. "Zachary, Zachary, there is a murdered man here, the killer is still on the loose," her voice was wobbly, her teeth chattering.

His fingers continued their soothing rub on her back. "Shhh, little one, shhh." His breath tickled her cheeks. "All is all well." He grasped her jaw gently, lifting her face to his. "You have nothing to fear."

However, there was an unsettling glint in his amethyst orbs.

Yet when his face descended closer to hers, she was the one to vanish the distance between them.

The softness of his lips never failed to amaze her. His wandering hands drew her body even closer to his, clutching her waist and entangling in her hair. His kiss was more intense than she recalled. His moist tongue was insistent on her lips, licking them open when she denied him entry. He moaned, growing more frantic in his desire.

When he finally stroke her tongue, she felt something sharp against her mouth. With difficulty, she stopped the rapidly escalating passionate kiss. The sight before her chilled her more than the biting wind.

Zachary was smirking, pointed canines peaking out of his lips. He licked his mouth. "You are delicious, my love."

Her struggles to escape from his vice like grip were futile. Her oasis of comfort was morphing into a nightmare. Before her eyes, Zachary's exquisite features started disintegrating, only his indigo eyes remaining true to his past form.

When he leaned into her, she turned her head away in disgust. "And all mine," he whispered before sinking his fangs into her throat.

......................................

She woke up whimpering, her clothes uncomfortably pressed to her sweaty skin. Her entire body was trembling. The nightmare felt so real, its horror derived from the darkest part of her brain. Outside, the darkness still ruled, an occasional lightening bolt intermingling with the pouring rain. Thankfully, the fireplace was still burning.

She tore off the mysterious blanket covering her. She did not remember getting under the covers and refused to think about what this implied.

With frenetic moves, she pulled the dress off of her and inspected her neck in the golden mirror above the vanity. Still under the empire of the nightmare, she was sure the vampire's bite would carry over in reality. Maybe, her paranoia was solely to blame.

However, while bite marks did not mar her, she certainly did not remember putting the engagement ring back on her finger. She had not picked it when she had thrown it on the ground.

Why was it on her hand now? The sparkling ruby mocked her, reminding her too much of the blood on Boore's torn throat. She was certain now. Zachary had been in her room while she was sleeping.

Outside the closed doors of her chamber, she suddenly heard a vicious crash followed by demonic growls. If her senses were right, it sounded like the commotion was coming from her fiancee's room.

She did not go investigate. At the moment, she felt like a helpless lamb in the claws of the terrifying wolf. The tempest outside Zachary's manor reinforced the idea of being captured with no means of escape. Tomorrow, she would seek answers. But tonight, she would just hide underneath her blankets like a helpless lamb and hope her own big bad wolf would not come visit her again.