“I’m not sure why I’m here.”
“Don’t lie to me! I’m not in the mood.”
She may look like a good breeze would blow her over, but she possessed a ferocity he hadn’t expected. “I’m not lying. I was sent here.”
“By who?”
“A friend.”
“Are you here to kill me?”
“No.” Or at least he didn’t think he was. They didn’t kill humans, and Kadence would never lead them somewhere to murder someone, but then, Kadence hadn’t known what she was leading them toward when she told them about this cabin. “I don’t kill humans.”
She snorted. “Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England. You’re all monsters.”
“Not all of us. Why are you here with the Savages?”
Elyse clamped her teeth together. He may not be here to kill her—and she’d have an easier time believing aliens walked among them than believing that—but if he didn’t know why these vamps were using her, then she wasn’t going to tell him. He might decide her gift was one to be used and manipulated and imprison her too, or he might kill her to protect himself.
“If you don’t kill humans, then how do you survive?” she inquired.
“I can feed on someone without killing them.”
His gaze dipped to her throat and the tempting beat of her pulse. She’d be delicious. He didn’t have to taste her to know that; he could feel it in every fiber of his being.
“Don’t,” Elyse said sharply when she saw the direction of his gaze.
She pressed the stake into his chest, and Saxon winced. Under normal circumstances, she would have felt sorry for anyone or anything she harmed, but this was far from normal. She didn’t care if he wasn’t here to kill her; she would kill him before she ever allowed one of thesethingsto feed on her again. Elyse suppressed a shudder at the memory of the one time it happened to her; the soul-crushing intensity of the pain was something she’d never forget.
“I won’t,” he promised though the fire in his veins had increased when he pictured sinking his fangs into her delicate throat. He’d been beaten, fed on by a Savage, and lost a lot of blood; he had to feed so he could replenish himself and finish healing. “I won’t drink from you, Elyse.”
Not unless you ask me to. He almost licked his lips at the prospect, but he suspected she might stake him if he did.
“I don’t believe you,” she said.
He realized he was never going to earn her trust while he remained tied up like a hog for the slaughter. In one swift motion, he yanked his wrists down. A loud scraping sound followed the movement, but before Elyse could react, he plucked the stake from her hand and rolled to the side.
Elyse scrambled away as Saxon pulled the couch five feet toward him before drawing his knees up to his chest and yanking the coffee table toward him. He tore through the bindings on his ankles and kicked them away.
She’d known the binds weren’t strong enough to restrain him for long, but he’d broken free in less time than it took her to inhale and stolen her weapon before she could blink. He tugged the sheets on his wrists free and tossed them on the floor while she scrambled back and leapt to her feet.
The open room at her back was the best option for fleeing, but even if it bought her a few precious seconds of life, she’d rather die. Instead, she darted to the right and around the couch Saxon had dragged across the floor. With her damaged and swollen feet, she felt like she was running on glass as she lunged for his jacket and the weapons stashed inside.
She’d never seen him get to his feet, but his hand fell on the coat before hers. Elyse almost screamed in anger when he yanked it away from her. Like every other asshole vamp who had walked through the door, this bastard was playing with her.
“Elyse….”
She didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, she turned and fled into the kitchen and toward the back door. She’d forgotten about the blizzard, but as soon as she flung open the door, she was slapped in the face by the reminder.
No!The wail of dismay echoed in her head as she gazed at the mound of snow before her. It was nearly to her knees already as it fell through the doorway and spilled around her feet. She danced out of the way of the snow, but it touched the toes she was certain she would lose earlier. Thankfully, her extremities didn’t show any signs of frostbite, but she couldn’t stick them in something cold again.
“Easy,” Saxon said from behind her and grasped her shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!”
Her scream was so raw and petrified that he released her as soon as he touched her. She backed away from him as she twisted her head to peer over her shoulder. She brushed at her skin before turning to stare at him with an expression that made him feel like he’d taken her puppy and thrown it off a cliff.
“Elyse—”
