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“I don’t know…” I bite my lip, turn my chin to my lap, and look up at him through my lashes as I squeeze his hand. “You’re very handsome, and sweet, and powerful and all, but you’re about to be Nick’s fraternity brother, and I’m about to be his sponsor. Wouldn’t us getting together cause a lot of problems?”
“Not if we initiate Xavier instead of Nick,” Elijah says. “We could post his bail.”
That’s not good. “You’re not going to initiate Nick?”
Mark pipes up. “We’ve already voted on it. Nick’s out, and Xavier’s in. He’s going to get Parker to sponsor him. Xavier and a few of the other guys will talk to Parker after sunset.” When I frown at him, he shrugs. “The brotherhood is about loyalty more than anything. We don’t want a guy who cheats on his girl. If he can’t be loyal to the woman he claims to love, we can’t expect him to be loyal to the brotherhood.”
Oh, shit. Nick was our key to finding the sanctuary. And they’re going after Parker tonight. He’ll be kidnapped, Nick will never get the text with the sanctuary location, and we’ll never find Shandra before tomorrow night. How the hell did our perfect plan fall apart so fast?
Now I have to play along. I have to let Elijah convince me to be his girlfriend. It’s the only way. Or maybe not. Would he show his underworlder girlfriend to the sanctuary where he’s sacrificing underworlders? Doubtful. Instead, he’s probably going to use his dark magic on me to form some kind of bond where I’ll turn into his whacked-out love slave/blood whore.I am so screwed.
I can’t panic. I know that much. And I can’t just go along with his plans. That would be too obvious and wouldn’t get me to the sanctuary. Maybe if I refuse him. If I put up a fight and he has to kidnap me.
Shit. I so don’t want to get kidnapped and magic-roofied.
I should just get out of here.
Before I can make up my mind, my server comes with my check. “I’ll take care of that,” Elijah says, beaming me a smile that makes my skin crawl. He thinks he’s already won, that I’m already his. He must really plan to magically drug me.
“Oh, um, thank you, Elijah, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense. Let me buy my new girl dinner.”
While he hands the server his card, I gulp. I really need to get the hell out of here. “I don’t know, Elijah.”
“Baby, it’ll be fine. You’ll see. I promise you don’t want to be with that cheating jerk. I’ll take care of you. I’ll be truly devoted in a way Nick never was to you. And I’m powerful, baby. You have no idea how powerful I am.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Why don’t you come back to the house with me?” Elijah suggests when he sees how nervous I am. He takes my hand again and gives it a squeeze. “We can just talk and get to know each other a little. You can talk to the rest of the guys, too. I’m sure they’ll all tell you what they saw with Nick last night. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I hate the thought of you being with someone who isn’t faithful to you.”
I want to leave. I know better than to go with him, and to jump into something like this all by myself. I feel bad about Shandra and all, but getting myself kidnapped isn’t going to help her. It’s time to escape and regroup.
“Gee, Elijah, that’s really sweet and all, but I can’t just start being with you when I love Nicky. I need to see it with my own eyes or hear it directly from him before I believe it, you know? I don’t know you guys very well. I can’t just take your word for it. Not that I don’t believe you, but I owe it to Nicky to at least talk to him first.”
Elijah sighs as the server returns with his credit card. He looks at me again, long and hard, after he signs the slip. “He doesn’t deserve you, Nora.”
I shrug, not knowing what to say to that.
Elijah taps his fingers on the table as he devises a plan. I want to hear his thoughts, but not enough to touch him. I wouldn’t be able to explain my sudden need to hold his hand anyway.
I know the second he changes his plans, because that tingling feeling creeps up my neck and the dread settles in my stomach. It’s not extreme, so he doesn’t plan to kill me, but he’s definitely planning to bring some kind of physical harm to me. I’m definitely getting drugged and kidnapped.
“All right, baby,” he says, taking my hand again and rubbing his thumb over the back of it. I let him so I can get a read on his thoughts. “I can see you need some time. Go talk to Nick. If he isn’t honest with you, then bring him to me. I can cast a spell that will keep him from lying. I can get the truth from him for you. But promise me that you’ll come to me when you learn what kind of guy he is. Promise me you’ll give me a shot.”
I’m not even listening to what he’s saying, because I’m watching his plan unfold in his thoughts. He needs me alone before he can use his magic dust. He can’t risk witnesses. He plans to follow me to my car when I leave, and then he’ll drive me in my own car, since he caught a ride with Mark and he doesn’t want anyone to suspect I am missing or that something’s wrong.
He plans to knock me out and take me to the sanctuary, where he can hold me until he can perform the bonding. There’s a chance he might not be strong enough if the bond is against my will, but it will be nothing at all after the ceremony tomorrow night. Elijah wants me badly enough he’s willing to keep me locked up for a couple days, if he needs to. Once the bond is formed, he thinks it won’t matter. He thinks I’ll love him and be devoted, despite the kidnapping.
Though this is what I want, I’m still freaked out, and I definitely don’t want to go it alone. I need backup. I know they plan to jump me at my car, so I need to make some calls before I leave. “Okay, I promise I’ll call you after I talk to Nicky. But I’m supposed to meet up with some friends soon, so I should really get going.”
Elijah kisses the back of my hand before he lets go, then both he and Mark stand up to let me out of the booth. “I’ll walk you out,” Elijah says to me, with a knowing smile he can’t quite hide. “This is Detroit, after all, and a pretty thing like you shouldn’t go anywhere alone after sunset.”
Since I know it’s coming no matter what, I don’t try to fight him. He might get suspicious of me if I refuse the seemingly innocent offer. “That’s sweet of you,” I say, gathering up my laptop into its case. “Give me just a minute to use the restroom first, and then I’ll be ready.”
“Of course.”
He and Mark escort me through the restaurant to the bathrooms and then move to stand beside the door. Elijah holds his hand out to me. “Let me hold that computer for you while you go.”
