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I crane my fist to take another swing at him, but my movements are lethargic. Mid-swing, my arm slackens to my side as the streets around me begin to twirl.
“What’s happening …?” As I teeter sideways, I grab the front of his cloak. “What’s … happening … to … me …?”
His teeth glint in the moonlight as he raises his clawed hand. “The poison in our claws is part of what makes us so powerful.” He dips his lips toward my ear, clutching my shoulder. “Tell me, little wolf, have you ever looked evil in the eye before?”
I bob my head up and down as the faces of the werewolves who attacked me burn into my retinas. “Yes … I have …” I tilt sideways as my eyelids lower.
Then everything goes black.
CHAPTER8
Part of me expects not to wake up ever again. That whatever poison the evil cat shapeshifter put in me killed me where I stood. So, when my eyelids do lift open, a tiny part of me feels sad that I’ve woken up. I felt like that a lot for weeks following the werewolf attack. I thought I’d gotten over my depression. I guess I was wrong.
“Rise and shine, little wolf. It’s time for the cat to play a game of mouse with a very valuable dog.”
I frown at the sound of the cat shapeshifter’s taunting voice, my mind spinning as I slowly sit up on the sofa I’m lying on and take in my surroundings.
Purple walls, leather sofas, a large cheetah print rug in front of a fireplace. The entire room is one big, tacky man cave.
“Glad to see the poison didn’t kill you.” The cat shapeshifter plops down into the sofa across from me. His lips spread into a lazy smile as he stretches his arms across the back of the chair. “Not that I don’t plan on killing you eventually. But first, I need you for collateral.”
I blink the grogginess from my mind. “Collateral for what?”
“Not for what. For whom.” He props a foot up onto his knee. “I’ve been wanting to get the attention of your little prince forever, but he has more guards than even I can take on.”
Strange, since I didn’t see any guards at the club. Then again, werewolves were all over the place, so perhaps they all were his guards.
“And what better way to draw out a prince than to capture his princess,” he continues to prattle on, looking rather pleased with himself.
“I’m not a princess,” I reply, checking my neck for open claw wounds. Surprisingly, the injuries have already healed and left behind no scar tissue. Thank God. The last thing my body needs is more permanent marks.
“Oh, but you are.” He slants forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Princess of the Violet Mountain pack, one of the most powerful packs that’s ever existed. Also, the same pack that destroyed my entire family.”
I gulp. “Look, I’m sorry you lost your family, but I promise I had nothing to do with that.”
“Oh, I know you didn’t. And I didn’t lose my family!” A roar rips from his throat as he snarls at me. “They were stolen from me by your pack and locked up, all because of a crime they were falsely accused of.” He musters a calming breath before he flops back onto the sofa. “But that’s okay. I’m about to get them back. Then I’m going to make your pack suffer, just like they made my family suffer.” He polishes his fingers on the front of his cloak and begins humming an unfamiliar tune with a crazed look in his yellow eyes.
I need to get out of here.
I steal a glance around the room, searching for a way to escape.
“I wouldn’t try to escape if I were you.” He grins. “Until my poison clears from your veins, you’ll drop dead if you go any farther than twenty-five feet away from me.”
My shoulders slump. Fuck. How did I go from living the dullest life ever to being held prisoner by a revenge-driven shapeshifter cat with slightly disproportioned eyes?
“Do you know what makes this situation even better?” He waits for me to respond. When I don’t, he sighs. “Fine, don’t play along. But I’m going to tell you, anyway, because I’m bored and hate awkward silences.” He stretches out his legs. “The best part about this is that your prince is out there, losing his damn mind, knowing that I have you and could very well kill you if I want to.”
“I really doubt he’s losing his mind. He barely knows me.”
“Are you really that stupid? Or are you trying to play me?” When I say nothing, delight lights up his eyes. “You don’t remember.”
I squirm, biting back the urge to ask him how he knows. The little he knows about me, the better.
“Well, this is interesting.” A thrilled grin rises on his face. “I wonder how your prince feels about that.” His grin vanishes as someone pounds on the door. He glances at the clock then springs to his feet. “That must be our guest of honor.” His long legs carry him across the room, and he fixes a smile on his face before he pulls open the door.
“Jules, how lovely to see you again,” the cat greets cheerfully, blocking my view of the doorway.
I release a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. For a moment, I worried that maybe another crazy cat shapeshifter had arrived.
