AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Instructions?” I repeated, my brain still fuzzy. “But why?”
The vampire answered. “Because if you don’t, I will drain every drop of blood from your body and leave you and your spawn here to die.”
My swallow was loud in my ears.
A bright blue line had flared to life around the vampire’s irises. His tongue flicked out, like he was literally tasting my anguish.
The prick was aroused by my pain and helplessness.
“Do I have your agreement?” he asked.
“Yes,” I bit out.
“Yes, who?”
My jaw tightened. “Yes, m’sieur.”
“Good girl. Tell her what we want her to say,” he told Esposito.
Esposito.
That’s why he seemed familiar—he looked a little like Talon, especially around the eyes. They both had that sexy, hooded-eyelids thing going.
Could this be the shitty father, the one Talon saw only when the man needed money? Something told me not to say anything, though.
“Okay.” Esposito’s mouth turned down like he didn’t like being part of this, but he dutifully gave me the words I was to say.
When he was finished, I swallowed queasily. Making this video might break Talon’s trust in me forever.
“Ready?” Esposito asked.
Behind him, a small smile played on the vampire’s inky lips.
He could’ve compelled me to obey him, but he hadn’t even tried. No, he wanted to force me to do it on my own so he could watch me squirm.
Well, fuck you, too.
Anger pushed through the helplessness, energizing me, making me determined to do whatever was necessary to survive and escape.
I straightened my spine. “Let me hear that one more time.”
30
Talon
We tore that fucking island apart looking for Eden.
In addition to a dozen vampires and dhampirs, the searchers included hundreds of humans, including Eden’s parents, and, to my surprise, my own mother. The mayor and the local police worked with Cain to coordinate the search, starting with the marina and fanning outward through Bluebeard’s Cove and then to the rest of the island.
Vampires combed through the woods and the island’s caves, using their superior senses to hunt for Eden in places humans would be handicapped by the darkness. The rain had stopped, but unfortunately, it had washed things clean.
When Cain tried to track Eden’s phone, he discovered it had been shut down, its last known location a few hundred meters from the Montgomery’s house. The only clue was the SUV, which had been abandoned on a beach near my mom’s cottage.
Eden had been taken off island—nothing else made sense. Probably by a local who knew a good hiding place. Esposito, for example, because that beach near my mom’s house had a shallow cavern that could’ve concealed a boat.
Rio attached himself to me, his skinny body wrapped in a long black raincoat like something out of the Matrix.
“I’m going back to that beach,” I told him.
