Chapter 2
My entire body bounced backward, and a sharp ache encompassed my front half, especially my nose and shoulders. A coppery scent overwhelmed me, and warm liquid trickled from my nose onto my lip.
My nose and shoulders throbbed with pain.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the bleeding. As blood splattered my shirt and the beige floor, my breath caught.
There was no way I could get out of here.
The urge to stomp and scream overwhelmed me, but I pushed it down. The one good thing about getting hurt was that my body no longer felt sluggish. The pain and adrenaline burned through the remaining effects of the drug.
Giving up was easy, and when had I ever taken the easy way out? There was no reason to do it now, not after a lifetime of circumstances being stacked against me. This was just one more thing to add to the list. I refused to accept this fate and never see Raffe again, especially since we’d finally gotten our shit together.
Blood oozed from my nose, and I used my free hand to close the door as quietly as possible. The plan hadn’t changed. I needed to find a means of escape, and I couldn’t act carelessly now.
Now upright and thinking more clearly, I scanned the room for another way out. I tried to ignore the strong sensation in my chest and the hopelessness that wanted to crush me.
The door and fake window weren’t options. What else could there be? There had to be a way out.
Behind the bed was a wall, and across from it was a television and a vase of lilac flowers sitting on a shorter dresser. Nothing else appeared to be an exit—until my gaze landed on the air vent in the ceiling in the corner of the room. The hole was small, similar to a unit inside a house or building … not commercial.
Fuck.
I was trapped.
The hopelessness I’d been holding off crashed over me like a tsunami, taking me whole.
Each heartbeat pounded through me, and my head throbbed again. I stumbled to the white chair and sat, leaning my head back to stop the bleeding.
My eyes burned, and tears threatened to spill, causing my nose to get stuffy, which was problematic when it was bleeding.
My blood fizzed, and I locked onto it. Maybe if I fell apart, my blood would help break me out of here.
Footsteps came down the hallway again, and the man scoffed, “I told you I heard something. She’s awake. I can smell her blood from here, and it smells delicious.”
I tensed. A vampire was on his way here, and I was bleeding. I stood and stumbled away from the door, wishing I could get out of my clothes and clean the floor before he entered.
“Blood?” the woman asked, her voice strained. “Is she bleeding?”
“Yes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to smell her as clearly from out here.”
Footsteps quickened toward me.
Shit. This was bad, especially since my blood was fizzing. If he came in here, I would smell more alluring, though nothing like a hum. Still, if he attacked, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to fight him off. And I feared what would happen if the walls and floor cracked. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that we were underground.
I hurried toward the bathroom. I could shut the door and hopefully lock it from the other side to put another barrier between us.
“Warin, stop!” the older woman shouted. “You’re not going in there with her.”
He laughed maniacally. “I’ll do whatever I want. You’re not my priestess.”
Releasing my nose, I slammed the bathroom door shut and found a lock on the door handle. I turned it even though I suspected it wouldn’t hold up against the vampire. At least, it would buy me a few seconds.
I used my sleeve to wipe the blood gently from my nose and saw a door to my left that swung outward. It didn’t have a lock. My mouth dried further, and my throat burned as my blood rose too close to a hum.
Was there another way to get inside?
I heard a thump outside. Warin and the witch were fighting.
When I looked through the doorway, some weight lifted from my shoulders. The room was a walk-in closet that was mostly empty except for a few pairs of yoga pants, underwear, bras, and shirts stacked in the far corner. By the doorway, a wire rack held white towels and washcloths.
A new plan formed.
I needed to clean up and calm down before the vampire reached me.
I removed my sweater, tossed it to the floor, and grabbed a washcloth and a shirt. In the bathroom, I went to the smooth white sink and turned the water on to warm.
The door to the bedroom crashed against the wall.
My time was running out.
“Don’t make me do this,” the witch gritted. “Because I will.”
I held the washcloth under the warm water and heard Warin laugh. Chaos erupted on the other side of the door.
I gently wiped the blood from my face, neck, and hands. The sound of things hitting the wall and Warin’s moans made focusing on my task difficult.
When the blood was washed off me, I turned the water to cool and splashed my face, imagining Raffe. I needed to calm down so I could find a legitimate way out of here.
With Raffe’s image locked in my mind and the coolness of the water outweighing the warmth of my blood swirling within me, I managed to calm my blood to a jolt. I took deep breaths to center myself and then bent over and took several long gulps of water.
Almost back to normal, I straightened and opened my eyes, realizing that, in my haste, I’d forgotten to put on the shirt. As I slid it on, Warin hissed and said, “Stop, Glinda. I’m fine now.”
I shut my eyes again to imagine Raffe’s face. If I let my blood get the best of me, the vampire would go crazy again.
“Why should I believe you?” the witch challenged.
“Because the allure is gone.” He sighed. “Apparently, her blood is like a siren’s call.”
“You need to leave. We can’t chance you reacting like that again. I’ll talk to her alone while you compose yourself.”
He laughed. “If you think I have to obey you—”
“Don’t force my hand because I will call her.”
Silence.
Whatever threat she’d tossed out there had had an impact, and I wanted to know who her was. That had to be the person who could let me out of here. Wherever here was.
“Fine,” he huffed, and I didn’t hear anything else until a knock on the bathroom door startled me.
It didn’t sound like a crazed vampire, but that could be part of the ruse. I hadn’t heard anyone leave. I remained silent, listening for anything odd.
“Skylar, he’s gone.” Glinda knocked again. “Come on out. It’s safe.”
Laughter bubbled out of me. “Is that what you call being kidnapped and held against my will? Safe?” I was dealing with people who didn’t see the world clearly. I’d heard some people had fantasies like this.
“That’s fair.” She sighed. “But I promise you this isn’t what it seems. We’re doing this to protect you.”
That was an angle I hadn’t expected. “You drugged and kidnapped me for my own benefit?”
“Exactly. Can you please come out? I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She sounded sincere, and it wasn’t like I could stay in here forever. Blowing out a breath, I unlocked the door and opened it.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but the room was in complete disarray. The dressers were toppled over in the middle of the room, and the bed had shifted against the far wall, the comforter wadded up on the floor and the pillows scattered around. The lamp on the desk had fallen over.
More surprising was that only one person was standing there. Warin was gone. I lifted a brow. “I didn’t hear the vampire leave. How is that possible? Are you cloaking him?”
Glinda raised a hand, and wind whipped past me to the bed. It pushed the bed back into the center of the wall. “I didn’t cloak the bloodsucker.” Her nose wrinkled, and the skin around her warm brown eyes tightened, bringing out her crow’s-feet. “He did the blur thing when he left, so you didn’t hear him. That’s all.”
“The …blur thing?” I rocked back on my heels, feeling like maybe my head was still foggy.
“Their vampire speed.” She continued straightening the room but turned to me. “Oh, you don’t know. The older vampires become, the faster they can move. Warin is one of the oldest alive today.”
Good to know. “How old is that exactly?” If she was being forthcoming, I would pump her for all the information she was willing to share. “Or is that rude to ask of the supernatural?” I wasn’t sure what the social norms were in this world.
She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, it’s so refreshing to talk to someone who doesn’t know how the supernatural world works.” She brushed a strand of silver hair from her face.
My blood jolted. I didn’t like the way she was mocking me, especially when it wasn’t my fault that I’d been raised by humans. “Glad I can entertain you.”
“Oh, child.” She frowned and placed the comforter back on the bed. She’d restored the room to the way it had looked before Warin came along. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I didn’t mean to insult you. I was actually being sincere. In this world, everyone acts like they know everything about all the species and how they work, so it’s refreshing to talk with someone who’s open to learning.”
I did want to learn, but it wasn’t her place to teach me. I had Raffe, Lucy, Hecate, Slade, Gavyn, Cade, and Zella—someone from each species so I wouldn’t learn only prejudices from the others. “Are you going to answer my question?” I raised a brow.
“Vampires like to flaunt their age. The older they are, the more influence and stamina they have compared to the younger ones.” She lowered her hands and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. She had to be in her seventies or eighties—at least, if she’d been human, that would have been my guess.
A sour taste filled my mouth. “The complete opposite of humans.” Humans were already physically weaker than supernaturals, and knowing that supernaturals got stronger as they aged made things worse.
“And witches and wolf shifters.” Glinda leaned against the dresser that held the television. “It’s a good thing you got your magic under control, or I might not have been able to hold off Warin. I was about to knock him out, which wouldn’t have boded well for our alliance.”
“Alliance?” I tilted my head. “In what, kidnapping me?”
She ran a hand over her brown dress, smoothing out the wrinkles from the two pockets sewn into it. “We brought you here to protect you.” She straightened and took a few steps toward me. “We have to ensure your mind remains untainted.”
Uh … what? I could think of a whole bunch to say to that, but one thing I’d learned from being bullied throughout my childhood was when to hold my tongue and keep my face neutral. This time, it was harder than ever before because of what I suspected she was talking about. One of the people she thought would “corrupt” me was the most important person in my life. My blood fizzed in tune with the hot anger flowing through me.
Mashing her lips together, she steepled her fingers. “You’re upset.”
Great. My mask must have cracked. “Why would you think that? I’m just very confused about why you would consider me corruptible. Is there a problem with the EEU board?” I couldn’t help but make the jab, though I tried to sound as innocent as possible. The supreme priestess was the head of the board.
Glinda’s shoulders drooped, reminding me of Mom whenever I disappointed her. She said, “I know you’re upset because your magic surged, and I’ve been informed that your magic is linked with your emotions. And no, the supreme priestess would never taint your mind. She’s the closest thing to a goddess the coven has, and she loves all her children.”
If that didn’t sound like a cult mantra, I wasn’t sure what did. It sounded like something Glinda had heard repeated over and over until there was no thought behind the message. “Then who would corrupt me?” I batted my eyelashes, my blood inching closer to a hum.
“Wolf shifters, especially one in particular.” She scanned me. “What happened to your nose? Did you hurt it against the barrier when you tried to escape?”
The gloves were off, which meant she would be careful about what she said, and she was testing me to see if I’d lie. “Yes. I didn’t realize I couldn’t leave the room, and I ran into what felt like a wall.”
“That’s a perimeter spell. I couldn’t cast an aversion spell because it wouldn’t work if you were determined to leave.” She lifted a hand. “Do you mind if I check to see whether your nose is broken?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. It stopped bleeding, and I’d hate to have it accidentally start again.”
She pursed her lips. “You’re making this situation difficult.”
A warning tingle surged up my neck, and my blood hummed.
“Shit. Warin won’t be able to resist if he smells you right now. I can feel the power radiating off you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe.
What the—?
Then she lunged.