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I didn’t want to be the weak link that got him hurt, and I also didn’t want these cocky, snide assholes to have everything go according to their plan.
But I could feel that same magnetism inside my chest rising up even now. Worse, I thought I could sense Lucian’s presence, and unless I was confused, I thought he was following us.
I still couldn’t believe I’d been reckless enough to do what I’d done at Anya’s. I’d barely had time to let it all register because Bennigan and his people had come bursting in just moments after I discovered what I’d done.
I spent all day spiraling like an addict yanked away from their fix, except my drug had a dimple and fangs. I’d concocted the desperate idea to take some of the little black, spikey Lucios and inject them into my blood. If the bond was just my blood plus those, I reasoned I could re-ignite the bond and draw Lucian back to myself if I re-introduced them
Except there had been one problem. The only way to keep the Lucios in my samples from decaying just like the ones in my blood had been to regularly introduce new blood. The little black balls would absorb the red blood cells of the newly introduced blood and start multiplying until they’d absorbed all the cells from the new sample.
It was fascinating, and it meant I’d been able to keep my stores stocked with plenty of Lucios.
And that was what I’d injected into myself just minutes before Bennigan kicked in the door at Anya’s to take me. I knew it was reckless, and I knew there was a very real possibility I could’ve introduced diseases into my own blood or any number of other risks. I also knew I didn’t care. I just wanted him back. I wanted one last chance to convince him we were better off together, danger or no danger.
But there was another strange feeling beneath the tug of the bond. Something new.
I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, exactly, so all I could do was sit and wait while we drove in silence.
Eventually, Bennigan pulled the car up to a shipping yard full of shipping containers.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Shut up, human,” Jezabel said.
“She doesn’t smell right,” Leah noted. Her poreless model’s nose twitched as she leaned in toward me.
“Sorry,” I said. “Getting kidnapped may have made me sweat past my deodorant’s capabilities.”
“No,” she said, nose still twitching. “Why does she smell like a vampire?”
Oh no. Why do I smell like a vampire?
Bennigan turned in his seat, face a mask of annoyance. “You’re losing your touch, Leah. Lucian never turned her.” A slow, lecherous grin spread on Bennigan’s face. “But we’ll fix that, won’t we, darling?” He reached for my face and I bit his finger before he could touch my cheek.
He pulled his hand back, eyes curious. He looked like he was trying to solve a mystery instead of being mad that I’d bit him. I noticed both women and the man were looking strangely at me too, but I didn’t think it was just because I’d tried to fight back.
Within moments, the car was stopped outside a rusty blue shipping container. Jezabel pulled me out, hugging me tight against her muscular body as she yanked me from the car. Just for the sake of being difficult, I flailed around a little to make her life more difficult. I even let out a few ear-piercing shrieks. All it earned me was a knee in the back of the ribs, which stopped my resistance.
They took me inside the container and sat me in a chair, which they tied me to.
“Really?” I asked. “Tying me to a chair? You’re sure you guys can’t just tell me the plan at this point? Is it going to even make a difference if I know?”
The old mysterious man made a dismissive sound between a snort and a laugh. “You are the method of our revenge, little human. That’s all you need to know. Now be a good girl and stay put until we need you.”
They yanked the heavy metal doors of the container closed and left me in complete darkness.
It took about one minute of total darkness to reconsider my thought from before about hoping Lucian wouldn’t come for me.
Maybe part of me hoped he would find some way to come, as long as it didn’t involve getting himself hurt or killed. If nothing else, I wanted a chance to say goodbye—the chance his stubborn ass had robbed me of when he decided to slip out of my life in the middle of the night.
Come on, Lucian. Come save me. Just don’t do anything crazy like showing up by yourself.
34
Lucian
There was no time to wait for the others.
I could feel Cara through the bond, and I could sense how afraid she was. She needed me, and I needed to do whatever I could to save her now. Not later.
