Page 1 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Heather

Four months earlier

“ O h, thank God.” Relief urged my aching feet into the forest clearing, where two people in wide-brimmed hats tended to neat rows of plants.

Right then, I didn’t care if people were farming in a protected wilderness area known for hiking, camping, and bike trails. I had run out of water hours ago and my throat felt like sandpaper. My dry tongue dragged over cracked lips while my feet screamed in pain as I hobbled out of the tree line.

Yes, it was a dumbass move to go off-trail on my hike this morning. With an uncharged, now-dead cell phone, no less. But at least I’d found a fellow human before running into a bear or a pack of wolves.

“Hello!” I waved my arms as I approached the two figures. “Hi! I’m so sorry to bother you, but I need help.”

The two people stopped working to watch me, squinting under the brims of their hats. It was late afternoon and the harsh sun cast their faces in shadow.

I had left home in an angry huff after yet another fight with Justin, and I hadn’t thought to grab a hat myself. It wasn’t like I expected to get lost hiking in an area I knew like the back of my hand.

“Would it be possible to get a ride to the nearest ranger station?” I shielded my eyes against the sun. “I got lost on a hike and haven’t been able to find my way back.”

The two people, a man and woman with deep, weathered lines in their faces, glanced at each other before staring at me again. Neither said a word, and I got the first prickle of warning that something was not right.

Their shirts looked hand-sewn from fabric that had been worn thin long before it became clothing. The pickup truck at the far edge of their planted field was some rusted out 1980s model. Even their jeans, boots, and hats looked handmade, and not from the current decade.

But farm laborers weren’t exactly expected to wear the latest fashion. More importantly, I was exhausted, dehydrated, and sunburned. I would have offered a kidney for a cup of water.

“I’m so sorry. I really hate to be a bother.” My attempt at a smile felt more like a grimace. “I’d just like to get back home.”

“Where are you from?” the woman asked.

“Eureka. I’m a local,” I said.

She stared blankly, not a glimmer of recognition at the word. Unease prickled my scalp. I couldn’t have wandered that far from home, could I?

“Are we still in the Mckay Community Forest?” I asked tentatively.

The man leaned close to the woman, muttering something I couldn’t hear. I thought I caught something like “human world,” but must have misheard. She answered with rapid whispers that were lost on the breeze.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble.” It hurt to speak and my voice cracked with a dry ache. God, I would kill for some water and the chance to get off my feet. “I won’t alert anyone that you’re here. I just want to go home.”

It was becoming clear to me, through their nervous glances and hushed arguing, that these people weren’t supposed to be here. And they certainly hadn’t expected to be found.

The rows of plants in the neatly tilled soil looked unassuming enough, but maybe they were growing coca or kratom or some other illegal operation. I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

My feet were on the verge of giving out on me, butt already on its way to the ground, when the woman turned toward me.

“We’ll help you out, miss. Are you thirsty?”

She had an accent I couldn’t place, but that was the last thing that mattered.

“Oh God, thank you so much. Yes, please.” My battered body somehow remained upright as I followed the couple to their truck. Maybe I should have been more vigilant, but I was desperate and they were angels who were answering the prayers of an atheist woman.

The man lowered the tailgate and handed me an old-fashioned canteen. It was the kind I had seen in Western movies—a circular, metal container with a small screw-top, encased in leather with a shoulder strap.

I muttered a string of fast “thank you”s before tipping back the canteen and messily gulping down the liquid inside. The water was warm, but it was some of the freshest and cleanest I’d ever tasted.

I drank until my belly was near bursting and the canteen was empty. The man only looked amused when I set down the container with an apologetic expression.

“S’alright. Go ahead and have a seat.” He patted the tailgate with a rough, weathered hand. “We’ll get you where you need to go.”

I obliged, surprised when he gestured for me to scoot backward and then closed the tailgate. Without another word, he got into the driver’s seat of the truck, next to where the woman was already seated and waiting.

The engine turned over with a rattle, and I grabbed the metal sides of the bed as the truck started moving.

Okay. I guess they are giving me a ride.

I hadn’t ruled out the possibility that they were taking me to a drug processing work camp, but I planned to worry about that when I had to stand up again.

The area of cleared forest stretched on as we drove. We passed a surprising number of tilled fields and growing patches of various sizes. I spotted corn, different kinds of squashes, tomatoes, hops, and even spied a small orchard of fruit trees. Definitely normal, not illegal crops.

I shook my head in disbelief as I took in my surroundings.

Later, I’d have to find this place on a satellite map.

How many miles must I have wandered around aimlessly to wind up on someone’s farm?

I’d been trying to find my way back to the trailhead by following the sun. Great navigation skills, Heather.

The truck had only gone a mile or so before pulling up to a cluster of structures. Some were mobile homes that had seen better days, but I spotted cabins and more permanent structures too. All worn and aged like they’d sat here for decades.

Someone from here will drive me to the parking lot , I figured as the man parked the truck in front of the largest cabin and got out.

“Wait here,” he said, exiting the vehicle.

The woman remained in the passenger seat, watching me through the rearview mirror.

I pretended not to notice while I took in the surrounding buildings.

It looked like a commune or settlement of some kind.

Maybe temporary work and living spaces for farm laborers?

For such seasonal work, it would make sense.

After about ten minutes, the man emerged from the cabin with another man at his side. They came around to the back of the truck together, and the first man lowered the tailgate.

“Come on out, miss.” He offered his hand as if to assist me.

I scooted to the end of the truck bed and accepted his hand, not trusting my own feet to hold me steady when I got out.

The other man came to my opposite side, and I assumed he’d steady my other arm. Shock hit me like a cold wind when he grasped my upper arm and proceeded to drag me from the truck.

“Hey! What the hell?”

I tried to pull my arm away, but he held fast, and the first man took hold of my other arm. Before I realized what was happening, the two men had restrained me between them and were dragging me around to the back of the large cabin.

“Hey, stop!” I kicked and ground my heels into the dirt, trying to find some purchase. But they only lifted me higher so that I kicked at air.

“Let me go!” I hollered, twisting and struggling to no avail. “You said you’d help me!”

“We are,” said the second man. “It’s safer for you this way.” He actually managed to sound regretful.

“I’m being kidnapped!” I yelled at the top of lungs to the onlookers who began to stare curiously. “Someone call the police! Fuck, someone help me!”

“We won’t hurt you,” said the first man. “But where you’re from, you don’t understand how things work around here.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m from the United States! I’m a citizen, I have rights! I work for the fucking government!”

“Sorry, but none of that matters here.”

The first man opened one of two doors leading into a smaller cabin. Both men gave me a hard shove into the building, sending me sprawling onto a hardwood floor.

“Hey!” I got to my feet as quickly as I could, but in my weakened and panicked state, I moved in an unsteady wobble that cost me precious seconds.

By the time I made it to the doors, the men had already closed and locked them from the outside.

“Come back!” I screamed through the wood. “Don’t leave me in here!”

Pulling and jiggling on the doorknobs was useless. Pounding and slamming against the hard surface only hurt my hands and gave me splinters.

“Fuck!” I spun around to figure out my other options.

The cabin was a single room that looked like it was meant for meetings or town halls. It was sparsely furnished with a single desk, a couch, and a few folding tables and chairs. The ceiling was high and vaulted, with skylights and high windows near the roof line.

Meaning I would not be able to break a window to escape.

Still, I walked along the walls, my mind running on overdrive to find a solution. I was a scientist, goddamn it. If there was one thing I was good at, it was finding solutions.

After roughly an hour, my butt sank to the floor in defeat. There was truly no way out.

I could stack every piece of furniture on top of each other and still not reach a window.

There was no chimney or any other type of vent to crawl through.

I dug through the couch cushions, tore through every drawer in the desk, and even inspected the floorboards.

No sign of a key, or even a tool I could use to break through the drywall.

Or defend myself against these wackos.

I let the back of my head rest against the door, exhaustion settling heavily over me.

This morning, I’d been on the verge of breaking up with Justin.

Now I would have given anything to see his face.

I’d even settle for the back of his head, which was becoming my usual view of him, since he seemed to prefer gaming over spending time with me.

A mirthless laugh escaped my lips. Even now, our arguments were the first thing to pop into my mind. They felt so petty compared to being kidnapped by weirdos. And yet, I couldn’t help but feel like I wouldn’t be in this situation if he had cared enough to listen.

He’ll call the police when I don’t come home. Maybe he already has. If I’m still here by Monday, work will start making calls too.

Someone will find me. It’s only a matter of time.

I must have fallen asleep for a few hours. The next thing I knew, the cabin was dark and something, like a set of keys, was rattling in the door.

My first instinct was to hide. I darted across the room to the desk, only realizing too late that I should have stayed by the door and taken the chance to escape.

“Hello?” A woman’s voice called out as she flicked on a light switch.

A dusty chandelier flickered to life. The woman, in her forties with short brown hair, peppered with gray, scanned the room. When her eyes landed on me, crouched next to the desk like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, she smiled.

“Hi there. I thought you’d be hungry.”

She carried a plate that I realized smelled amazing. Grilled chicken thighs on a bed of rice and vegetables. My stomach growled with an echo that filled the cabin, though I refused to move.

“I’m gonna put this here for you.” The woman set the plate down on one of the tables, along with a knife and fork, a cloth napkin, and a mason jar filled with water.

My gaze went straight to the knife and she immediately clocked it.

“I have no intention of hurting you, so I hope you’ll treat me with the same courtesy.” She began to approach me with slow, careful steps. “What’s your name, hun? I’m Robin.”

“Look, I won’t go for the knife if you promise to let me go.”

Robin gave me a sympathetic look that actually seemed sincere.

“I’m really sorry, but we can’t do that.

Especially not at night.” She glanced upward at the half moon peeking through clouds in the skylight.

“I know this is strange and confusing. I’ll see what our council says about returning you to your world during the daytime. ”

“My world ?” I repeated. “What are you on about, lady?”

“You got lost in the woods, yes?” She perched a hip on the edge of the table. “Thought you knew where you were going, but unable to find your way back?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded knowingly. “We get people like you stumbling upon us every few years. It doesn’t seem like it, I know, but in our world, wandering around alone is far more dangerous than in yours. We lock you in here for your own safety.”

“Safety from what ?”

Robin hesitated. “From the vampires.”