by Jackie May
That’s it! If I can’t call for help, I can at least leave them a clue, right?
I click on my messenger and look up Oliver’s name. He’s currently offline, which is perfect. I try to type a message and sigh in relief when the compulsion allows me to do it. If he doesn’t get this message right away, he won’t come and try to stop me. But I know Oliver doesn’t go long without logging in. If he finds it in half an hour, that should be more than enough time for me to find the sanctuary. Then he can call Nick and send in the cavalry.
PsychoPsychic: Elijah and Hooptie Boy showed up and are kidnapping me. They’re taking me to their sanctuary. Track my phone like you did at the college the other day, and come get me. Call Nick and Terrance and tell them to bring lots of backup. I think it’s going to get ugly. Don’t call me. If they know I have my phone, they’ll probably take it.
After sending the message, I silence my phone and hide it down the front of my underwear. Gross, but hopefully effective. There’s a chance they’ll pat me down after they kidnap me, so the bra may not be safe. Pockets are out, and probably my socks, too. But I doubt Elijah’s going to stick his hands in my pants. At least, not before our sick little bonding ritual.
I quickly wash my hands and then head back out of the restroom. Elijah and Mark immediately meet me. Mark blows what looks like cigarette smoke in my face, but it smells tangy and tingles like magic. “What the hell?” I ask, but can’t get anything else out before I start to get woozy.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ll take care of you.” Elijah pulls my arm over his shoulder and starts walking me out the front door like I’m his girlfriend who’s had one too many drinks.
Outside, he reaches into my pockets, looking for my car key. Score one for me for moving my phone! He lifts my key from my pocket and pushes the button on the fob. He grins at me when my car’s headlights flash. “Nice ride.”
I want to tell him where he can shove that ride, but I’m afraid he’ll take that the wrong way, and he’ll end up finding my phone after all.
He gets me to the passenger seat of my car just as everything goes black.
I wake up in a cage, with a raging headache and an upset stomach. The only thing I have the energy to do is roll over and grab the bucket someone was thoughtful enough to leave beside the mattress I’m lying on. I pull it to my face just in time to yack up my entire burger, fries, and brownie sundae. It’s not the same experience coming back up as it was going down.
I puke and puke and puke until there is absolutely nothing left in my stomach, and then I roll back onto my mattress with another groan—a much weaker one. I’m sweating and shaking as if I’m coming off the worst withdrawals ever.
“Damn, girl,” a weak voice rasps from the cage next to mine. “And I thought I felt like shit.”
The lighting in here is dim and my vision’s a little blurry, but it’s enough to make out that I’m in a large warehouse and a bunch of iron cages are lined along the back wall like a row of jail cells. The girl in the cage next to me is not one I recognize. “Are you Nadine?” I ask, because the smaller woman is not the troll from my vision.
“That vampire bitch? Hell no. I’m Maya. Part of the Huron River werewolf pack out in Flat Rock.”
Oops. I give my werewolf neighbor a cringe. “Oh. Sorry. I’m Nora, by the way.”
I go to shake her hand through the bars but she holds up her arms, and I realize she’s chained at the wrists and ankles to the back wall of her cage.
“The werewolf is calling me a bitch?” a silky voice calls from somewhere down the line of cages. “Hello, pot meet kettle. How do you know my name, human?”
She said human as if it were a dirty word. “Your bastard clan master compelled me to find you.”
Nadine snorts. “Some rescue. Nice job.”
“Again, you can blame Henry. His compulsion wouldn’t let me call for help when Elijah tried to kidnap me.”
Nadine doesn’t respond to this, and things go quiet. I turn to Maya again. “Do you know if Shandra’s here?”
Maya cocks her head to the side. “The troll? Yeah. She’s here.”
The werewolf rolls her head to the side to nod at the cage on the other side of her. I squint past her but can only make out a large lump on the floor. “Is she okay?” I ask.
The woman shrugs. “Probably. They’re monitoring her, but they’ve kept her unconscious the entire time. I think they’re afraid of her being awake. Not sure her bars can hold her.”
Yeah, that’s doubtful. I don’t think there’s much that could stop a raging troll. But then, I’d have thought that about a werewolf and a vampire, too. “How are they keeping you and Nadine in here? Are the cages magic?”
Maya shakes her head and rattles the chains cuffing her wrists. She winces as if the action burns her. That’s when I notice the chains are made of silver. “I think the cages are normal,” she says, “but I can’t do anything with these damn silver shackles on, and as for the vampires, they probably couldn’t get through the bars anyway, but they’re also starving them.”
Nadine scoffs from across the room. “As if wolves are stronger than vampires?”
“Want to go, bitch? When we get out of these cages, I’ll take you on, no problem.”
“Them?” I ask, trying to keep the squabbling to a minimum. Several other captives are groaning and telling the two of them to shut up. My guess is this is not their first verbal sparring match. “How many vampires do they have?”
“Two. They brought the guy in last night just after you got here.”
My stomach drops. “Parker?” When I get no response, I yell again. “Parker!”
“Relax, human,” Nadine says, hearing the panic in my voice. “He’s all right. He just hasn’t woken up from the drugs yet. How do you know Parker?”
I want to spout off some snotty response and surprise myself when I say, “He’s a friend of mine. We were working together to find you. But again, Henry’s compulsion wouldn’t let me call him last night, so I couldn’t warn him they were coming for him.”
“Compulsion isn’t perfect,” Nadine whispers more to herself than me. My guess is she cares a great deal for Parker. That’s going to endear me to her when Parker wakes up acting all scared for me.
My rage boils up in me at her words, though, and I snap at her. “Well, maybe you bloodsucking assholes shouldn’t use it on people. I would have helped Parker if he’d just asked. I was going to. I was already helping Terrance. I didn’t need to be compelled. Henry’s just a possessive douche, and now we’re all going to die.”
I hope that isn’t true, but I’ve obviously been here a while, and my cavalry hasn’t shown up yet even though I still have my phone. That’s not promising.
“I’m sure he was just doing what he thought he needed to find me. Henry cares about his vampires.”
“Oh, I know what Henry cares about.” Himself.
“If you don’t stop disrespecting my master, I’m going to kill you long before the assholes holding us hostage do.”
“Why would Henry need your help, anyway?” a new voice asks. It’s gravelly and male, but the guy’s disdain for me is just as strong as Nadine’s. “You’re just a human.”
“Um, newsflash, they aren’t holding us hostage; they plan to sacrifice you all tonight during the blood moon to steal your life force using dark magic. Henry stole me because I’m not without my own gifts. And I would have gotten you all out if not for Henry’s damn compulsion. I was close. I’m not your ordinary human.”
“No,” a cheerful voice interrupts from the other side of the room. The lights flicker on, and Elijah comes to stand in front of my cage. “You aren’t just an ordinary human, are you? Though, I’m a bit disappointed to learn you’re only human after all. A summer fey, Nora? Royalty, no less?” He shakes his head, tsking, all the while smirking at me. “Someone’s been a naughty little liar.”
I laugh darkly. “I’m not the only one who’s been naughty, am I? Messing with dark magic, Elijah
? Stealing underworlders? I’m pretty sure those are bigger no-nos than my pretending to be a full-blooded underworlder.”
“You say that like you aren’t full human.”
“I’m not, asshole. I have underworlder blood in me. How do you think I fooled you with my blood?”
Elijah walks right up to my cage and grips the bars as he stares at me with a curious expression. “You are full human. Underworlders can tell.”
“You couldn’t,” I say. “You must be a pretty weak underworlder. Mid-level sorcerer, my ass.”
Rage sparks in Elijah’s eyes. I’ve hit a sore spot. And the truth. He’s not as powerful as he claims. Otherwise he would have known I was human, and he would have definitely figured out Nick Gorgeous isn’t.
“I doubted your little story all along,” he grumbles. “But there is something about you that’s different, too.”
“It’s her blood,” Nadine says. “I can smell it from here. It doesn’t smell like normal human blood. It’s much more enticing.”
“Gee thanks, Nadine.” I shoot Maya a look. “Now I know why you called her a bitch. No sense of fellow inmate loyalty there, huh?”
“I owe you nothing, human.”
“I really hope I survive to tell Henry about how you sold me up a river. He’ll probably rip your throat out for it. He’s more obsessed with me than Elijah.”
Elijah laughs. It’s totally sinister. “Soon you’ll be as devoted to me as I am to you, Nora.”
It’s my turn to laugh. Mine is obnoxious, not sinister. “Yeah, sure. I’ve resisted Henry Stadther, Parker Reed, Nick Gorgeous, and Cecile the succubus. But hey. You must be right. I’m totally going to worship at your feet, since you’re so much more tempting than any of them.”
Elijah narrows his eyes at me and paces the length of my cage. Finally, he stops and looks directly at me. “Perhaps you’re right. Maybe I need to think bigger than a mate bond.”
I force myself to my feet. I’m already feeling a lot better since having puked out the rest of my magical roofie. “What do you mean?” I ask slowly, making my way to the front of my cage. I stay out of arm’s reach but get close enough to feel like I’m having a real conversation.
“It’s risky,” Elijah mutters more to himself than me. “But it would definitely work, no matter what powers of resistance you might have.”
Okay, that doesn’t sound good. “Risky how? Just what kind of bond are we talking about? I don’t do the Princess Leia/Jabba the Hut love slave relationship.”
Elijah frowns at me. “I don’t need magic to get my women, Nora. As you may eventually realize. No, the bond I’m thinking about is much more complex than a love spell. I’ll make you my familiar.”
The word takes me by surprise. I don’t know anything about familiars other than that they are a sort of magical companion to a sorcerer or sorceress. “Aren’t those just animals? Like cats?”
Elijah chuckles. “Usually. Though, using dark magic, it can be done with humans as well. It’s a special relationship, Nora. We would be bonding our life forces, and in return be sharing power.”
Yeah, right. Sharing? “You’ll give me your power?”
“A fraction of it, yes, and you will share your gifts with me.”
“So, you’ll have control over me for a fraction of your power? Doesn’t sound like such a great deal to me.”
“I won’t have control over you,” he insists. “But I’ll have your loyalty.” He meets my gaze again. “And you would have mine. And my protection as well. I am serious about being devoted to you, Nora. I’ll make a good mate. I swear.”
I don’t need his protection or loyalty. I’ve got Terrance’s. And Oliver’s. And I sure as hell don’t need a mate—good or otherwise. But I do need to get out of this cage, and my best chances of doing that are, sadly, probably trying to seduce him into thinking I’m going along with his dumb plan. “You really like me?” I ask. I make the question wary, but try to push a little hope into it as well. He’s egotistical enough that he’ll believe I want him, but not if I come on too strong too fast. “This isn’t just about my power?”
Elijah stops pacing, surprised by my question. His face actually softens with genuine affection. “We’ll be happy together. You’ll see.”
“I would be tied to just you?” I ask. “Not the rest of those twelve idiots? Because you mentioned sharing my blood with all of them, and I’m not too crazy about that idea.”
As I’d hoped, Elijah’s eyes fill with jealousy and possessiveness. “Of course not. I brought Parker here so that I wouldn’t have to share you.” He sucks in a deep breath and steps right up to my bars. “You’re mine, Nora. And I’ll kill anyone who touches you. You have my word.”
He’s getting more and more excited now that I’m not fighting him. He wants this union. He wants me. Badly. This is it. Time to use my feminine wiles on this guy. I’ve never done it before.
When I purposefully try to lure him in, he leans closer to my cage, as if he’s literally being drawn to me. Surprise rocks me. Am I doing this? Is this a power of mine? Like Cecile’s?
I grip one of the bars and look at him as if I’m falling under his spell instead of the other way around. I chew on my bottom lip, and his gaze falls to my mouth. His eyes glaze over. “Elijah…” I whisper. “Come closer.”
He does. Without question. Holy shit! I’m better at this seductress thing than I thought.
I lick my lips and push out my chest until it presses against the bars. I’m in a T-shirt that doesn’t show any cleavage, but I’ve got enough of a shape that the gesture still catches his attention. He gulps and places his hand around mine on the bar. “You can trust me, Nora.”
He really believes this. He believes he wants to protect me and take care of me. And he’s certain that once we forge our connection, I’ll feel so close to him that I’ll want to be with him as much as he wants to be with me.
He reaches through the bar to cup my cheeks in his hands. I place my hand around his wrist and allow him to touch me while I prepare to make my move.
“Nora…” he says softly. “I need you. Say you want to be mine.”
I know I’ll only get this one chance, so I give it everything I’ve got. I grip his wrists and yank him forward as hard as I can, smashing his face into the bars of my cage. The hit stuns him but doesn’t quiet knock him out, so I reach through the bars and grab him from the back of the head. “I’ll never be yours, asshole,” I say as I smash his head into the bars three more times, until his eyes finally roll back in his head.
A long, low whistle sounds and Maya says, “Nice move,” when Elijah drops to the ground in front of my cell, knocked out.
“The keys! Get the keys!” the man on my other side shouts. “Quick, girl! He won’t be out long!”
“No shit!” I snap. I’m already on the ground, checking his pockets.
Bingo. I get my cell unlocked and hurry to drag him in. He can probably unlock the bars with a magic spell, but I’m hoping it’ll slow him down once he wakes up.
I unlock Maya next and then try to unlock her cuffs. It doesn’t work. I need a different key. She gives me a pained smile and nods to the other cells. “Free the others. They can go for help.”
I was going to do that anyway, but I’m glad she agrees with me. I go to the man on my other side and unlock his door. The man is probably only four feet tall and looks grumpy. He gives me a solemn gaze. “Thank you, girl. The brownies will not forget this,” he says, and then runs out of the room before I can even reply.
“Yeah, thanks for your help with the others!” I yell after him.
“Hurry, girl!”
“Do me!”
“Get my door next!”
Though everyone sounds weak, they all seem to have come alive at the possibility of freedom. I quickly get to all of the cages and find one man also in silver cuffs. “The key is with the chains in the cupboards over there,” he says, pointing across the room. He sounds like he’s taken several beatings,
or maybe he’s dying of silver poisoning.
“I’ll get it as soon as I get the others free.”
“Maya first,” he says. It’s noble of him, and I nod as I move onto the next cage.
I know the next person is Nadine by the sharp beauty of her and by the deep scowl on her face. “Hurry, human!”
Her eyes are red, and her fangs elongate as I near her cage. I hesitate to unlock the door. “Are you going to attack me if I let you out?”
“Unlock me!” she growls.
I don’t think she’s in control of herself, so I move to the next door. Let Parker help her after I wake him up. Nadine rages when I pass her cage and go to unlock Parker’s instead. I ignore the hissy fit and fall to the ground beside Parker. “Parker?” I pat both of his cheeks, then slap him a little harder when that doesn’t work. “Parker, wake up. I can’t carry you out of here.”
“He needs blood,” Nadine shouts. “They drained him to make him weak. He needs to feed.”
Crap. “This is probably going to bite me in the ass,” I grumble as I drag the key across my wrist to scrape it open. It’s not a knife, but it’s the best I can do, and a small line of red bleeds to the surface.
I hold the scrape beneath Parker’s nose. “Come on, Parker. Wake up. I’m not leaving here without you.” I shake him and hold my arm directly to his lips. “Come on. Your one chance to taste me. The buffet closes in three seconds. One. Two—”
Parker’s eyes flash open, and he grabs my arm, locking it to his mouth. I gasp as his teeth pierce my skin, and suddenly a warm sensation fills my whole body. I’ve never felt anything so good in my life. I want to smash my body against Parker. I want him to touch me. I have too many clothes on, and so does he. I just want to rip them all off and make sweet love to him for hours. I let out a moan. I think I’m starting to see dark spots, but I can’t tell because my world is overwhelming right now. I’ve never been so full of ecstasy before. If I’d known getting bitten by a vampire felt like this, I might have let Henry go for it rather than shoving a barstool through him.