Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) by Alexandra Anthony Page A

me.  They were a hindrance, nothing more.
By the time I approached her gate, the flight was boarding.  A flash of dark reddish blond hair filled my vision and her distinctive scent saturated the air.  Her bright, colorful peasant blouse and faded blue jeans disappeared into the gate.  I attempted to push through the line, only to be stopped by an attendant.
A balding, miserable man halted my stride with a push against my chest.  "Ticket?”
Craning my neck for another look, my attention was not on the man.  "I only need to speak to a woman that just boarded.  If you will just allow me on for a moment…”
“No ticket, no access.”  The man droned.  He reached around me to collect another ticket.  “If you want to board, you need to purchase a ticket.”
Frustration festered into rage.  This peon of a man was preventing me from the only thing that mattered.  He knew as well as myself that there was no feasible way to purchase an international ticket at the last moment and be able to catch the flight.
Deciding to try another ploy, I attempted to play on his emotions.  “I beg you.  The love of my existence just boarded this flight.  If you will just give me a moment to say goodbye…” My voice tapered off as I noticed the attention my outburst was drawing.  If not for the queue, I would have simply put the man under my thrall and simply ordered him to let me on the plane.  With this many humans, that option was sadly out of the question.
“Look, buddy.  Buy a ticket and you can express your deep love for the entire flight to Singapore.  Either leave or I’ll call security.  I’m sure you don’t wanna spend two hours being detained by TSA.”
If I were human, my face would have been flushed in anger from his impudence.  Nor did he know I had hunted humans like him for hundreds of years.  If I wished, he could be dead in less than five seconds.
Humans.  Filled with swagger and lacking common sense.
“Fine.”  I turned and hurried back through the terminal.  When I reached the exit and walked through the door, I saw Lukas’s look of shock as he took in the fact that I was alone.  His look quickly changed to anger as he likely felt my own simmering beneath the surface.
Yanking the car door open, I slid behind the steering wheel and slammed the door behind me.  I sat unmoving, simply staring out the windshield.
“They told me I was too late.  By the time I would have purchased a ticket, the plane would have departed.”  My voice sounded flat, emotionless.  Once again, she had managed to elude me.  I had suffered many losses over my long life, both as a human and an immortal.  Never one to back down from a challenge, I faced them head-on.
My resolve, which had been firm for nearly 200 years, had begun to weaken, fragment.
I was furious with myself.  If I had driven faster, arrived at her apartment sooner…perhaps I could have avoided this crushing grief that had settled over my shoulders.
“I know what you’re doing.”
Lukas.  I had not mentally prepared myself for his cutting words.
My eyes narrowed to slits and I shot him a scathing look that would have caused anyone other than my child to look for refuge from my wrath.  Lukas was fearless, a trait both honorable and infuriating.  “And what exactly am I doing, Lukas?”
He released an exaggerated sigh. “You’re blaming yourself instead of looking at this logically.  You can’t control everything, Stefan.  She’s a human.  She’s been nothing but unpredictable and she’s good at hiding in plain sight.  It just makes me wonder exactly what she’s hiding from,” Lukas wondered aloud.  He tapped his cheek thoughtfully.  “What if someone is after her?  What do you know about her?”
My head fell back to the car seat.  “We have been through this many times. You know her history as well as I do.   She was adopted as an infant and both of her adoptive parents were killed in an automobile accident four years