AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I said the wrong thing,” he rushed to apologize. “Made it sound like she’s an object. She’s not.”
“Shut up.”
I directed my flames at him. He tried to crawl away, but his clothes and hair were on fire. His screams were music to my ears.
I waited for the fire to consume him until only ashes and bones were left, then went to check on the other two idiots who’d made the mistake of crossing me. Ashes and bones. That was what happened when someone dared to lay a finger on my fated mate. I left no evidence behind. The police would identify them by their dental records, but they wouldn’t be able to tell what had happened to them, how they’d ended up burned to nothing.
I found the key to the container Maya was in. I saved her a second time. Not that it bothered me, but I really hoped this was the last time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maya
I couldn’t tell if I had my eyes open or not. It was that dark. I touched my face, pressed my fingers to my temple, and groaned. Great. I had a headache. I reached my hand behind my head and felt around. There was the old wound, but it was nearly healed. My memory was intact, too. At least this time, I hadn’t hit my head and gotten a concussion. All in all, it was progress. I was getting better at being kidnapped.
But where was I?
I felt around the space. The floor was cold, made of metal. It seemed to be cramped, and there wasn’t a lot of air in here. My hands and feet were freezing. I couldn’t find a light switch. I checked my pockets and then remembered I didn’t have a phone. Mason had said he’d bring me one.
Mason. He was going to have a surprise when he got back to my house.
As I saw it, I had two options. Bang on the walls of this box Harlow had put me in and scream my head off or wait silently and patiently for Mason to find me. Because I knew he would find me. He’d promised to protect me, and he’d done it once. He would do it again. I didn’t know how, but he would figure out where I was and come save me. It was odd to think this way... I’d been kidnapped a second time in the span of one week, I was trapped once again with no way out, and somehow... I felt calm.
I turned by back to the wall and slid down, hugging my knees to my chest. From experience, I knew that if I banged on the door and made noise, nothing would happen. These people had ways of making sure that no one would hear me. At least I wasn’t cuffed or tied up. But this box was worse than Lockwood’s basement, because he’d at least given me a mattress and a bucket. Oh, there had been a chair, too. Furniture!
I focused on my breathing and listened to the silence. It didn’t last long. Soon, I heard noises outside. Gunshots, people screaming, heavy footsteps. Mason was here. He had to be. I jumped to my feet and pressed myself to the door – or what I thought was the door. I listened closely and heard voices. Mason’s voice carried over. He was talking in a low, menacing tone. I couldn’t understand the words, but it sounded like he was interrogating someone.
My first instinct was to call him, now that I knew he was here, let him know where I was. But then I realized he had everything under control. I waited, feeling relieved that I didn’t have to do anything, that I didn’t have to make strategies and try to get myself out of this situation, which, by the way, I hadn’t created. It wasn’t my fault my ancestor was a damn vampire. It wasn’t my fault my blood had healing properties. If it was so extraordinary, why hadn’t I healed from my concussion faster? It seemed unfair that something that literally ran through my body could help others, but never me.
There was more screaming, and then silence. Heavy footsteps came closer and closer, and I moved away from the door. I heard a key turn in the lock. The door opened, and I had to shield my eyes from the brightness that surrounded Mason. His fire burned through him, flames spilling through the cracks in his skin.
“Maya,” he said.
“I knew you’d find me,” I said.
His fire tamed a little, and I threw myself into his arms. He held me for minutes on end as I clung to him, whispering in his ear to never let me go. He picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Or tried to. The heat of his body seeped into my bones. My soul was full of him, and my mind was at ease, knowing that I was safe. Knowing that since I was Mason’s mate, I was always safe, and he would always find me and rescue me.
“It was Harlow,” I said. “He wanted the same thing Lockwood did. My blood.”
“Yes. Now he doesn’t want anything because he’s no more. You don’t have to worry about him.”
I let go of Mason and looked around me. We were at the port. Harlow and his men had put me in a container. I shuddered. What were they going to do to me? Ship me off to... where?
Mason saw all these questions in my eyes.
“Europe,” he said. “He had a buyer.”
“What?!”
“Apparently, people like you have great value on the black market.”
I shook my head. “Harlow was worse than Lockwood.”
“I’d say they were equally bad.”
I noticed something on the ground and went to see what it was. Mason followed me, but didn’t stop me. When I saw the two burned bodies, I covered my mouth with my hands. A few feet away, there was a third one.
“You killed them,” I said.
