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CHAPTER TWENTY

I stared into the black eyes of the vampire who’d tried to bite me on multiple occasions and felt my airway squeeze close in panic.

He inhaled deeply from his place on the room’s single sofa, keeping his ankle balanced on his knee in a relaxed pose.

“Mmm. Your fear tempts me to play. I haven’t since?—”

The dark veining around his eyes spread briefly, then retreated completely, showing how smudged his dark makeup was. In fact, he looked very un-Vivian compared to the video he’d released, with his long black hair greasy and tangled.

I struggled to breathe and tried to think, but it was like trying to hold fine sand through outstretched fingers. Thoughts kept slipping away in my terror.

Run? No. It would probably just make him mad and me hurt. Keep him on the couch with that puddle of black material next to him. Distance was good. That wasn’t a sack to put over my head, was it?

His hand rested on his leg, and he started tapping his thumb idly. Shepard’s ring caught the overhead lights and glinted prettily, catching my attention and breaking through my chaotic thoughts.

“You want to use me to get Cross’ ring, don’t you?” I asked.

“You’re an interesting one, Everly. I’ve heard a lot about Cross from Orphia over the decades. How unpredictable he was. How dangerous. Yet, for you, he’s as gentle as a kitten. He even made nice with the werewolves. Sharing his favorite meal.”

He inhaled again and stood fluidly in a way that conveyed how dangerous he was.

“After that interview and seeing you now, so full of fear but not backing away or puffing up with false bravado, I’m beginning to understand why.”

His gaze swept over me from head to toe.

“That’s a nice suit. Pretty. Light colors stain easily, though. That’s why I go with black.”

My phone continued to ring in my hand, and he flicked an annoyed glance at it.

“Power it off and leave it on the coffee table. It won’t work where you’re going.”

Swallowing hard, I finally looked away from him and held the button to start powering down the phone. My parents were going to have a heart attack if they couldn’t reach me soon.

“Where am I going?” I asked as I watched the screen go dark.

“With me.”

I looked up again, meeting his gaze. “Why?”

“To spare the lives of the people you love and of those you don’t even know.”

He leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “Do you know how many people I can kill between here and the studio? Twelve. And someone brought their daughter to work today. She’s three, Everly. Her blood smells sweet like the candy they gave her to be quiet.”

My stomach churned, and my hand shook as I tossed my phone toward the coffee table. The sweat on my back that had started to dry surged to the surface again.

“You are interesting. No begging. No denial. No surge of last-minute anger. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m wondering why you haven’t compelled me yet.”

He smiled, showing his teeth.

“Because I want to know the real you, Everly. Now, will you follow me out of this room, or will you scream for help the second I open this door?”

I studied him as my thoughts continued to whirl. He knew making me bleed would draw Cross’ attention, but I was certain he knew a hundred ways to hurt me without making me bleed. So this wasn’t about hurting me. If he’d wanted to, he would have done so already.

And if he wanted the ring, he could have held me hostage and demanded it from Cross in front of all the cameras, where he could have shown the world the real hate between vampires and werewolves. But his video message hadn’t been about the hate the two races had for each other. It’d been about the power struggle.

“The clock is ticking.”

“Do you really hate Orphia?”

“I do. But don’t worry, like you, my hate isn’t monogamous.” He swept up the pile of black, which turned out to be the awful hat he’d worn the last time I’d seen him.

He didn’t put it on, though. He pinned it to his side with one arm and motioned with the other.

“Shall we?” He went to the door and opened it. “To the right. And remember, how we exit is up to you.”

He waited until we got close to the sunlit exit to pull on a pair of leather gloves and sweep the hat and full-body veil over his head. Then, he pushed his way out into the sunlight. I was a step behind him. We left the building and headed toward the parking lot.

I glanced at the veil, and my heart started to race harder at the thought of ripping it from his head. A second later, I was pinned against a car, and his hand was on my throat, cutting off my air and blood flow in a punishing grip.

“There are nuances to a human’s pulse,” he said. “Don’t think I can’t tell when you’re planning something.”

I could barely hear his words over the sound of my pulse drumming in my ears. If he didn’t ease up, I was going to die.

My hands, which had automatically gone to the hand gripping me, shifted to his veil, pulling it hard enough that the hat started to slip off.

His hand left my throat. My necklace thrummed as he swung his fist toward the side of my head, but it was useless against the power of Vivian’s. His necklace flashed red just before his hand connected with my skull.

Dazed and unable to breathe, my knees gave out.

“Although seeing you on your knees is tempting,” Vivian said, straightening his hat and veil, “I’m no longer in the mood to play.”

He gripped my arm and dragged me upright as I wheezed in a breath.

“I haven’t been in the mood to play since your lovers killed mine.”

He pushed me forward, propelling me toward a car with extremely tinted windows. I didn’t fight him as he shoved me in the passenger seat and buckled me in. I was still trying to wheeze in air.

He blurred and was in the driver’s seat as I continued to rub my throat.

“It seems I was a little rough with you,” he said.

Pulling off his hat and veil, he grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

“You can breathe normally,” he said. The pain seemed to fade, or maybe it just no longer mattered. My pulse slowed, and my next inhalation became easier.

“Good,” he said. “Now sleep until I tell you to wake up.”

I felt his words wrap around my mind. It wouldn’t hurt to sleep. Maybe Cross would find me by the time I woke up. Sleep did sound good. It had been a long day. Long summer, actually. And my head was starting to hurt where Vivian hit it.

Yeah, I needed sleep. Sleep was good.

My eyes slow-blinked until they finally closed completely.

* * *

“Wake up.”

The words echoed in my head, making my pulse jump and giving me a sense of urgency. My eyes opened, and I looked around, instantly remembering what had happened but not recognizing where I was.

Vivian had taken me somewhere…and I’d been with him for a while from the look of things.

The nearly full moon gave off just enough light to illuminate Vivian’s face as he watched from outside the open passenger door. Behind him, I glimpsed a vaguely familiar, unlit empty parking lot surrounded by woods.

Without the gnawing fear that had consumed me in the studio, my thoughts were clearer. We were definitely outside of the city, and Vivian wanted to use me for something. What? I didn’t know. My guess was Cross’ ring. But he’d purposely taken me away from Cross and Shepard without confronting them. Because he knew he’d lose?

“Look at your little mind work,” Vivian said. “You’re trying so hard to understand what’s happening, aren’t you?”

I bit the inside of my cheek hard, just like I’d done the last time Vivian had taken me. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

He inhaled deeply, and his eyes went black. I barely heard the click of my seatbelt before he manhandled me out of the car.

He pushed me against the closed door hard enough to bruise my back.

“Bleeding won’t work this time,” he said, his fangs flashing at me.

I swallowed hard and winced. My throat hurt like a bitch.

His gaze dipped to my neck, and panic started to claw its way forward.

C ome on, Cross. Please be on time again. Please. Please. Please.

Chuckling, Vivian reached between us, trailing a finger over my fluttering pulse before hooking it in my necklace and tugging it upward. Only it wasn’t the one that Cross had given me. I stared at the gem-encrusted cock and balls, completely confused.

“Effora’s little gift to protect me against all magic. It’s magnificent. Turns out, it can even block your master’s connection to you.”

I tried to say, “He’s not my master.” But the sounds that emerged were barely recognizable as words.

Vivian still understood, though.

“Only because he’s never exercised that right. Perhaps by the end of tonight, he will.” He dropped the necklace and patted it on my chest. “Try to touch it, and I will bite off your fingers, one at a time.”

I didn’t doubt his threat.

He yanked me from the side of the car. “We’ve waited long enough, I believe. Time to go.”

“Where?” I rasped as he shoved me forward.

He pointed to a wooden sign at the edge of the parking lot. It was too far away and too dark to read it, not that I was given the chance to stay where I was.

Vivian propelled me forward with another shove.

When I got close enough to read the sign in the moonlight, I wanted to groan.

The East View parking lot of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Why there? Why the same mountain where I’d fallen into a cave and found Cross?

Vivian chose the white trail marker and shoved me forward onto the unpaved path.

“Go. And if you try to escape, just know there’s a lovely wedding-vow renewal event nearby filled with aged attendees who can’t run and have no idea they’ll be my next meal.”

Escape? I could barely walk. Even with all the right gear, I'd barely managed to reach the top of the mountain. I would never survive hiking in a pantsuit and heels.

Once we entered the trees, the moonlight only vaguely touched the trail, creating shadows and hiding obstacles. I tripped several times, almost falling. Vivian laughed softly, a predatorial sound in the darkness.

He inhaled a long breath. “You always smell delicious when you’re afraid. But out here, sweating and breathing heavy through your terror, you’re intoxicating. I bet when Cross fucks you, you’re like a drug. He must fuck you all the time.”

“How far do we have to walk?” I asked, hurting my throat in my hope to change the subject. The last thing I wanted was for someone as depraved as Vivian to get ideas.

“Enjoy the night, Everly. It will be a long one.

“Just think, if you play your cards right, you can enjoy all the nights. Who needs the sun, anyway?”

Fear spiked through me, and I tripped on something. My toe throbbed as I stumbled and fought to steady myself.

“Mmm. Even your pain is delicious. It makes me want to do things to you, Everly. With my lover gone, you could be my next toy. We did love our toys. Thoroughly used them until there was nothing left.”

Distract him , my mind screamed.

I swallowed hard and tried to speak clearly. “Why here? What’s on this mountain? Are there vampires hiding up here?”

“When you ask questions, I wanted to feast on your blood and flood my brain with your memories. But I have a few from the last time you bled. You love your family and friends. Baking too. You have hopes and dreams.”

The way he said it made it sound like they were the worst things imaginable.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I didn’t. Because I’m not sure if your little human mind can handle the answers.”

“Try m—” My foot slid in something, and I went down with an awkward split. The sound of my pants ripping was loud in the quiet woods.

“Ow,” I whimpered as I slowly picked myself up.

“Here, let me.” Vivian yanked me to my feet by my hair and brought my hand to his mouth. Considering the way he groaned when he sucked on it, I knew there had to be blood. I hoped he choked on dirt.

He released me just as suddenly as he’d pulled me up.

“Walk, you sweet little blood cake, before I remember why I shouldn’t paint this trail red with your icing.”

Shivering at his words, I spun around and continued along the trail. With my focus on where to step so I wouldn’t fall again, I didn’t see the danger sign until Vivian told me to stop.

“Under the chain, Everly.”

I glanced at the warning sign for falling rocks and risk of death, then slipped under the chained-off area.

My heels didn’t stand a chance of maintaining any form of stability on the narrow leaf-and-rock-covered track. In daylight, I might have found the area beautiful. In the dark, the surrounding hills and the trees suffocating the moonlight seemed as sinister as the vampire trailing me.

While I watched my feet, a sense of danger slowly grew inside. It shouted that I needed to turn around and run before something really bad happened. Knowing Vivian was behind me and he wouldn't let me go anywhere, along with the fact that there were future victims nearby, was enough to keep me going. However, the warning of danger only intensified as I continued. Soon, I was fighting with the urge to flee, even knowing Vivian wouldn’t let me.

I was so focused on forcing myself to keep moving that I didn’t notice we had come to the end of the path until I reached an old rusty gate stuck in the gap of a towering, split rock formation.

“Do you feel it?” Vivian said, leaning forward to whisper in my ear. “The compelling need to turn back. I felt it the first time Orphia brought me here. It works on all the races except those who put it here. Makes you want to run, doesn’t it? The fae are tricky like that, aren’t they? They invite who they like and shun the rest.

“Let’s go inside and see what they’re trying to hide, shall we?”

He pushed me toward the gate and touched a swirly etching engraved in the metal at the top corner. The lock dissolved, and the gate swung open on its own. The feeling of wrongness and the need to leave vanished as soon as Vivian shoved me through. He followed, not closing the gate behind him.

“That’s better. Keep walking. You’ll like what’s next.”

My heels clicked against a smooth stone path completely clear of any trip hazards that led through the dark, narrow passage. When I emerged on the other side, I paused to take in what I was seeing.

The space, about the size of a city block, was part grotto and part glade. Tall, thin trees grew densely and rose high along the outer stone walls, almost obscuring the moss that clung to the rock. A bluish carpet of what looked like perfectly maintained grass covered the center of the space, bisected by a small river sourced by a pretty waterfall. And millions of little crystals that trailed along the ground lit it all.

In the center of the clearing, I spotted a circle of fist-sized stones almost hidden in the low-growing grass. Someone had set up a tripod facing the circle on one side and a large, thick post jutted from the earth on the other side. The post reminded me of a telephone pole but more diminutive, only rising seven feet. A pile of rope waited at the base.

Vivian pushed me forward.

“It’s not the best angle to see it from here. Keep going.”

Fighting the sinking feeling of dread that Vivian was close to obtaining whatever his goal was, I walked toward the tripod and the stone circle.

As I neared, the air within the circle moved. Or rather, it changed. I paused and took a half step back, then forward again. Whatever it was, it changed like those lenticular pictures that change appearance based on the viewer’s angle.

“And that, my little plasma muffin, is a fae portal. Wait until you see how it looks when you’re standing in front of it.”

He nudged me along, and I watched the air in the circle shift and solidify into a foggy haze that seemed to move. When I was just outside the stones, I could see a faint reflection of myself and the area around me.

“Because the portals are still closed, we can’t see into the fae realm. But their world is still there, on the other side, waiting to be unlocked.

“Here.” He took one of my hands and pressed something into it.

“In you go.” He shoved me hard.

The toe of my stupid shoes caught on a stone, and I tripped forward into the portal.

It felt like I fell into a pool of gelatin that hadn’t quite set yet. Thankfully, the thickness slowed my fall and prevented me from landing hard on my hands and knees on the other side.

Tiny yellow flowers bloomed prettily around my hands in the purple-blue grass. I pulled myself upright, looking at the mist hanging heavily in the air. It didn’t feel wet like mist, but it wasn’t smoke either. Whatever it was, it made it hard to see more than a few feet in front of me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Vivian standing there, grinning at me. His image shimmered like I was looking at him through heat waves rising off the blacktop in summer. Only, it wasn’t heat. It was a fae portal.

He’d pushed me into a fae portal!

Afraid of being trapped, I scrambled to my feet and shoved my hands through. The portal resisted then gave way. I only felt a moment of relief that I could escape before Vivian grabbed my hand and pried my fingers open, retrieving what he had given me before pushing me in.

“You make this too easy.” His voice sounded distant, like it was coming through a tube.

He plucked a small round stone with some kind of engraving on it from my open palm. Then he stuck my thumb into his mouth.

The feel of his tongue flicking over my skin and the scrape of his teeth sent a spear of panic through me.

I tugged back with all my might.

Grinning at me, he watched me stumble again.

I wiped my hand against my leg and felt something on my thumb. Shepard’s ring was there. Confused, I looked up at Vivian.

“Have you guessed it yet?” he asked. “You’re the bait, Everly.”