by Crissy Smith
“I told him you were in the gym. He wanted you brought to him right away,” Adam argued.
Strange, but she shrugged. She was excited to meet this mysterious brother.
They didn’t pass anyone as they left the elevator to exit. At the door, as always, was a security guard. He nodded at them but didn’t say anything. Adam’s car was already pulled up to the kerb, and he opened the passenger door for her.
Paige buckled her seatbelt as Adam got into the driver’s side. “Where are we going?”
“Not far,” he promised as he started the car.
She relaxed into the leather seat. But after fifteen minutes, they were almost out of town. “Where are we going again?”
Adam turned to her, but in the darkness of the car she couldn’t see his face. “We’re almost there, Paige.”
A feeling of unease washed over her. She watched the scenery fly by and realised Adam had sped up.
“Adam?”
He didn’t answer.
“Adam, please. Where are you taking me?”
He continued to ignore her.
Scared, she looked around the car for a weapon. Her cotton shorts and tank top didn’t leave room for weapons. Not that she thought she’d need one in the compound. But she wasn’t in the compound now.
She couldn’t see what was in the car. She looked out again at the scenery. They were going fast, but if she jumped she would probably live through it.
One hand went to her seatbelt as the other went to the door handle.
“Don’t,” Adam said and grabbed her wrist.
Panic set in full force. She pulled her arm, causing his hand on the wheel to jerk. The car jolted and started off the road. Adam had to let go of her to use both hands to steady the car.
She managed to get her seatbelt off but as he slammed on the brakes, she was thrown forwards. Her head hit the windshield painfully.
She fell into the floorboard. Adam reached down and pulled her back up.
“Stupid Paige. You didn’t have to be hurt,” he snapped at her.
Paige tried to slap his hands away, but he was stronger and she was bleeding.
She cried out but he covered her mouth with his hand. “Hush now. You’ve caused enough trouble.”
She jerked back but didn’t manage to get away.
“Fine, have it your way.” His fist slammed into her skull before she knew what was happening.
Chapter Twelve
Grant looked up at the sky as the first rays of sun started to break through.
“We’ve gotta get back to the compound,” Sam told him, coming up behind him.
Grant started forwards again, but Sam’s hand on his shoulder halted him. Grant tried to get free of his hold.
“Grant, come on. Getting your ass fried isn’t going to help her.”
Grant slumped. He couldn’t believe Paige was gone. Taken out of the compound in front of everyone.
“When I find Adam, I am going to kill him slowly,” Grant promised.
Sam squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll help.”
They made their way back to the compound, barely getting in before the light of day. No one said anything to them as they walked through the front doors.
The other teams that had been searching were walking around. Grant looked at the men and women who were trying to help him find Paige and sighed. There had been no word.
It was like she had just vanished. He knew that if he were close enough, he would be able to find her. Their bond would help—he just had to get within distance of feeling her.
Sam walked silently behind him and Grant was glad for the support. His mind ran through every possible situation Paige could be in at that very moment.
Marissa stood by the elevator.
“Any word?” he asked hopefully.
She shook her head.
Grant wanted to cry. Wanted to sit down, bury his head, and weep. He’d promised Paige he would protect her. The first chance he had, he’d let her down, had failed her.
“I’m going up to get reports from everyone.”
Marissa and Sam let him go. Grant stepped inside the elevator, glad he was alone. He slammed his fist into the metal.
“Fuck!” he screamed in rage.
* * * *
Paige couldn’t move her arms or legs. She pulled once again but the ropes only tightened. She was lying on a bed in a room. She smelt musk, mould, and blood.
And she wasn’t alone.
Thinking back to what had brought her here, she cursed herself for being so stupid. She had never trusted Adam. Even worse, she had never told Grant either so he could have at least kept watch on the other man. Grant was going to be pissed when he found her. If he found her.
Frustrated, she pulled again at the ropes, knowing it wasn’t helping.
“That’s not going to work,” someone said from the darkness.
She tried to sense another vampire but couldn’t.
“To your left.”
She moved her head and squinted into the dark. She still couldn’t see anything. Couldn’t sense anything.
“Who are you?” the stranger asked.
Knowing this could very well be a trap, she remained quiet.
“They weren’t very happy when they brought you in,” the deep male voice added.
She knew she hadn’t heard the voice before. That made her feel a little better. If he was a prisoner here too, maybe he could tell her what was going on. But why couldn’t she sense him?
Silence reigned for several minutes before her curiosity got the best of her. “Why can’t I sense you?”
The low chuckle that came out of the shadows was oddly familiar. “You’re probably trying to sense a vampire.”
“And you’re not?”
“No, I am fully human.”
“Oh.”
“And you’re not?” He asked it as a question but he obviously already knew.
“Where are we?” she asked next. Adam had started to head away from town.
He was silent for so long, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. When she opened her mouth to ask another question, he finally answered.
“In Hell.”
Well, that sure helped. She hadn’t needed to hear that, she was scared enough.
“How long have you been here?” she questioned.
This time he answered right away. “Too long.”
Okay, this wasn’t helping. “Who took me?”
“You don’t know who took you?” he asked in return.
She really didn’t like when people turned her question into a question. Grant did that. Grant. Tears built up.
“Well if you don’t know who has you, you’re in all kinds of trouble, girl.”
Yeah, like she needed that pointed out.
The door opened and a small glimmer of light helped Paige to see. She didn’t know the man that walked in.
“I’m so glad the two of you are getting along,” he said, smiling as he entered.
Paige shivered. She might not recognise the man, but she knew his voice—from when it had been inside Tasha.
“Nice to see you again, Paige.”
She involuntarily jerked against the restraints.
“Now, now—you won’t be going anywhere,” he promised.
He walked closer and she could feel his power surrounding him. He was the most powerful vampire she’d ever been around—including the one who had made her.
He stopped next to the bed and ran a hand over her face. She felt bile rise up in her throat and fought not to move.
She heard the rattle of chains from the corner. The vampire’s eyes shone.
“Relax, Trevor. I’m not going to hurt her…yet.”
She knew the last was said for her benefit.
“I want her to be at full strength when I play with her. She’s going to need to feed eventually,” he taunted.
A snort was the response. “Figured that out,” the other prisoner commented disgustedly.
The
vampire seemed happy with the exchange from the other man.
“I heard she can go weeks without feeding. I thought we would see how long she can last before losing her mind. Then untie her and let her at you.”
The man didn’t respond, but Paige almost whimpered. This man was sick.
“I think it will make for great entertainment.” The madman continued. “That is, unless you want to reconsider my proposal.”
The man remained silent.
“We’ll see how long you can last, Trevor. Soon you will be begging to become like me.”
Paige watched the exchange between the two silently. There was something important there.
Finally done taunting the man, the vampire turned back to her. “Pretty. So very pretty. My son has good taste.”
The man snorted again.
“I wasn’t talking about you, Trevor. Isn’t Grant’s lover sweet though?”
She heard the sound of the man’s—Trevor’s—breathing change. Now that she knew he was human, she was more tuned into him. He hadn’t known who she was. And this was obviously the missing brother Grant was searching for.
When the monster, as she thought of him, finally stopped touching her, she sighed a breath of relief.
“I think I’ll leave you alone again. Give you more of a chance to get more acquainted.” His laugh followed him out.
Neither one of them spoke for a long time then they both spoke at once.
“You know my brother?”
“So you’re Grant’s brother?”
He laughed again but it was even more bitter this time. “So he mentioned me?”
“When he left tonight he went after you. Someone had seen you in town and reported it.”
“Lie,” he said, echoing her thoughts. The sighting had obviously been the work of Grant’s father. She didn’t know how long Trevor had been there as a prisoner but she was certain it was a long while.
They fell back into silence.
“So how is he?” Trevor’s voice was soft.
“Busy. Between trying to find your sister and fighting your father, he’s…busy.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“He had time to find you,” he accused.
Paige laughed now. The conversation was weird and hunger was nagging at her. “He stumbled onto me. I had no idea that there was a safe place to go to. I’d been on my own for a while.”
“Who’s your Master?”
She shouldn’t answer but Hell, how much worse could it get? “From what I’ve heard? Your uncle was.”
He sucked in his breath. “You were with my sister.”
“That’s the rumour,” she responded.
They fell silent again.
Paige’s stomach was cramping and she had started to sweat. She was hungry. Very, very hungry.
“How are you doing over there?”
She must have fallen asleep but awoke with hunger pains. She moaned instead of answering Trevor.
“It’s okay. Paige, right? Is it okay if I call you Paige?”
“Uh huh,” she barely managed.
“It’s okay. They will untie you to feed. I’ll let you feed off of me. Grant would want me to.”
She knew Grant wanted her to feed only from him, but she guessed in this situation, he would understand.
“We’ll just take it nice and slow it will be okay,” Trevor encouraged. “I’ll talk you through it.”
Paige’s mouth ached as she tried to keep her teeth in. “I can’t feed from you,” she panted out.
“No, it’s okay. You won’t hurt me. I know you won’t.”
It was nice he thought so, but she knew she didn’t have the control. If she fed from him, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “Shut up,” she growled at him.
“Paige. It’s okay. I won’t hold it against you. I know you need to feed.”
He obviously wasn’t getting it. “I can’t feed without killing you. I only feed from Grant.”
“How long can you go?”
“Talk about something else,” she warned.
They got through the next several hours with Trevor telling funny stories about his and Grant’s childhood.
Apparently, the three kids had grown up normally with their mother. She’d told them their father had been killed in an accident just after Jess’s death, and they’d never questioned it.
It wasn’t until their father showed back up wanting Grant to join him that they realised they would never be safe.
Paige and Trevor slept off and on and told stories when they were awake. It was working to keep Paige’s mind off her hunger.
She knew they were in trouble when the vampire came back though, and this time, he brought company.
Standing next to her bed, he smiled.
“Much stronger than I thought, Paige. I am pleasantly surprised.”
She didn’t respond.
“Grant is tearing up the city looking for you,” he happily told her. “He won’t find you. Not until it’s too late.”
She turned her head away. She had some hope he would indeed find her. He’d told her that since he was like her Master, he could always locate her. She was counting on that to get her and Trevor out of this mess.
He sat next to her and pulled her head back around. “No, don’t look away. I think you’ll want to see this, girl. I figured you might need some help. Some initiative to feed.”
The first blow sounded loudly in the small room. Paige immediately knew what he was doing. As more blows landed, she heard Trevor’s grunts. The smell of blood teased her senses and made her hunger come up quickly. She pulled against the restraints that didn’t give.
Grant’s father was still sitting on the bed next to her enjoying every minute. “Patience, my child.”
Her vision wavered and all she could see was red. She wanted that blood. She needed it.
The monster seemed to know what was happening and laughed as he leaned closer. “Don’t fight it, embrace it love.”
The red haze overtaking her mind made his words seem distant. She could barely hear Trevor and the beating he was taking but could smell the blood.
She could almost taste it. Paige knew she was going into blood lust but couldn’t do anything about it.
Actually she could taste it. Blinking, trying to see through the haze, she felt a finger caressing her mouth. Blood dripped between her lips. She licked at it, trying to get more, and heard a faint laugh.
“Just a little, Marcus. Just enough to get her started.”
Finally she realised what was happening. The man who had been beating Trevor was standing over her running his bloody finger over her lips.
It must be Trevor’s blood she tasted. Unfulfilled and wanting more, she opened her mouth and bit his finger. He yelped but let her take his finger into her mouth.
Paige’s body started to heat and she greedily sucked on his digit.
“That’s enough.”
When the finger was withdrawn, she couldn’t control a whimper and stretched her neck to get it back.
“No, love, not Marcus. Your dinner is waiting for you.”
Her mind confused and her body on fire, she turned towards the voice. Silver swirling eyes met hers and she trembled.
“Untie her, Marcus.”
Paige felt her hands being released and a tingling go through her arms as they were lowered.
“Yes, I think she’s ready. Let’s leave them be,” Grant’s father announced as he stood up and they left the room.
Chapter Thirteen
Grant leapt from one building to the next. The teams had split up and were tearing the city apart looking for Paige. He carefully paid attention to his body, listening to his heart. He needed the bond to tell him where Paige was. She had to still be alive. He knew his father and if he’d killed Paige, her body would have already been delivered to the compound.
So that meant his father still had her. There was still a chance to get her back. He’d dreamt of her the night before. Or at least, for th
e two hours of sleep he’d managed to get.
Of her being chained in a room. Her hunger and fear.
He’d awakened then paced until it was dark enough to go out and search. It had been hours already. He knew every available person was out looking for her, helping him.
He was almost to the edge of town. Few buildings left when his cell phone rang.
“Please, please, please,” he chanted as he answered the call.
Sam’s voice, full of anger, came across. “I found Adam.”
“Where is he?” Grant growled into the phone.
“His body is in the dried-out creek of Bottom Road. I have no idea where his head is.”
Grant grunted. It was no great loss really. Oh, he would have had preferred to kill Adam himself, but he needed Paige more.
“On my way,” he told Sam and ended the call.
He was headed in the right direction—West, out of town, and closer to the desert.
If they tossed Adam out at the creek, he didn’t think they would have gone back into town. No, his father would want privacy.
Paige took several deep breaths to try to calm the blood lust. It had never been this bad before. She’d got used to feeding only from Grant, and she could control herself when she was with him. But she knew that if she got near Trevor, she would kill him.
But God, was she hungry!
There was movement before Trevor grunted.
“Trevor?” Paige’s voice was off with her teeth protruding.
“I’m okay, Paige,” Trevor assured her but she could still hear his pain. “Did they untie you?”
“My hands,” she admitted.
“Untie your feet, Paige,” he ordered.
Paige didn’t think that was a good idea. She’d started to come back from the haze but his blood was still calling to her. “No, I don’t think so.”
His soft sigh relaxed something in her. The man in the room belonged to Grant much the same way she did. They were connected. She felt the frenzy leaving her. Yes, she had to protect Trevor, not hurt him.