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One step was all I managed before a hand slapped over my mouth, and I screamed ineffectively. Wide-eyed, I attempted to struggle, but another hand held my throat and squeezed. Between that and the hand on my mouth, I couldn’t breathe. Black spots dotted my vision.
“Well, well, who do we have here?” a woman crooned as she moved in front of me with a satisfied grin. Frozen, my feet wouldn’t budge as my gaze darted from her to the man by her side. He pointed a gun at Niara. Fear and relief swept through me. If he was using her as a threat, I hoped it meant she was still alive.
“Scream, and she’s dead,” the man with the gun warned, confirming my hopes.
The hand was removed from my mouth. The other hand remained on my neck and gave me a threatening squeeze.
“What do you want?” I snapped as best I could with my throat in the meaty hold. Hostility simmered within as I eyed the blonde woman I’d never seen before, yet found familiar.
Jade-green eyes narrowed at my tone, and her smile disappeared. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Neville, let’s go,” she demanded, and the man she addressed stepped over my unconscious friend. When he closed in on me, I tried to flee, but the other man’s grip on my throat didn’t budge. Heart hammering, I winced when I slammed back into the man still holding my throat.
My breath escaped on a gasp when I flew up from the ground. Before I realized it, I was in the man’s arms, and he was following the blond couple from the building. Desperate, I struggled, but the man’s arms tightened until I swore my bones would crack.
The sound of motorcycles registered, and I tried to glance around but was immobilized by the oaf carrying me.
“No!” I heard from behind us. “Stop right there!” Phoenix shouted.
The guy carrying me turned to face the threat behind us, and I dropped my feet to the ground. Cold steel was pressed to my temple as he walked backward.
Phoenix had been racing toward us but skidded to an abrupt stop when he saw the gun to my head. Before he could do a thing, the woman raised her arm, and flame shot from her palm. It hit him with such force, he was immediately engulfed and fell back.
“Phoenix!” I screamed as I fought to get free, uncaring of the gun to my head. The man’s arms were like a vise as they held me close. No matter how much I struggled, his hold was unbreakable.
Seeing Phoenix engulfed in flames was shredding my soul. I could. Not. Breathe.
Neville threw a knife, which hit Voodoo in the arm. “Nooooo!” I sobbed as I struggled. The man had a hold on me that I couldn’t break no matter how hard I tried.
I didn’t stop trying until he tossed me in the back seat of a vehicle, and Neville climbed in next to me. My fingers clawing at the handle, I tried to get the door open, but they must’ve engaged the child locks because it did nothing. Concentrating on unlocking them and opening the doors didn’t work either. The woman got in the front passenger seat, and the man who had been carrying me slid behind the wheel and sped off with us.
Terror, unlike anything I’d ever experienced, nearly choked me as I huddled on the edge of the seat. Phoenix didn’t deserve being burned alive. My soul screamed and my heart shattered. My best friend and an innocent man didn’t deserve to be hurt because they’d been pulled into whatever shit this was. Tears coursed down my cheeks, and I fought a sob.
“You’re more beautiful than your pictures showed,” Neville said as he reached out and ran his fingers through my hair. He held it up and let the black strands sift through his fingers. Anger overcame my fear, and I swatted him away, but his other hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist in a punishing grip. A painful whimper tore from me that was immediately silenced as he jerked my head back by the same hair he’d been admiring.
“Try to hit me again, and I promise you will regret it,” he ground out with narrowed green eyes. Deciding silence was my best option, I studied him, trying to figure out where I might possibly know him from. Dark blond unruly hair stuck up in an attractive fashion over a smooth forehead, arched brows a few shades darker than the hair on his physically attractive head. At least he was at first glance. Further inspection showed eyes that were flat and cold with a glint of evil.
“Is our little pet getting out of hand?” Humor filled the woman’s tone.
Unable to move my head for fear my neck would snap, my gaze darted her way to see her smirking over her shoulder.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Neville murmured. “She’ll be fun to break.”
“I can’t wait,” she practically purred. “Too bad her mother couldn’t be here to see what her stubbornness caused.”
Uncertainty swirled in my head, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what they thought they were going to get out of me. It was obvious these people were connected to my mother’s current condition.
Foolishly, I opened my mouth.
“What do you want?” I whispered, the angle of my neck making speaking difficult. His hand that held my wrist loosened and he cradled my cheek, dragging his thumb along my lower lip. I flinched at his touch.
“Where are the scrolls?” he whispered in my ear before trailing his nose along my jawline.
My stomach dropped and I gasped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, but instantly regretted it when his teeth sank into the flesh of my neck. With a strangled cry, I instinctively pulled away but only succeeded in having him jerk on my hair and bite harder before he released his teeth from my bruised flesh to look me in the eye.
“The more you lie, the more you fight, the more fun I’ll have,” he spoke softly, but I heard the truth in his words.
Sweat beaded on my brow and nausea roiled in my guts. My mouth might as well have been filled with cotton as a tremor shook me head to toe. Afraid to piss him off further, I remained quiet.
