by I. T. Lucas
That was provided he hadn’t taken her out and she was still alive.
“I heard you wishing the guy good luck on the mission. I assume he is sending people to save her?”
“A team is on its way.”
“How are they going to do it?”
Leon debated whether he should tell her. Most of what was involved in the fire scare could be pulled off by humans, so there was no harm in telling her that. He hadn’t asked Turner if Yamanu was joining the team, in which case he could create the illusion of fire. Without him, they would have to use pyrotechnics like they had done in Gorchenco’s compound.
“They are going to stage a fire and pretend to be firefighters. They will evacuate everyone and then blast their way into Emmett’s basement.”
42
Anastasia
“Isn’t staging a fire dangerous?” Ana asked.
Margaret would be terrified. She believed that Safe Haven could shelter her from anything and everything, and a fire big enough to necessitate evacuation would scare anyone, let alone someone like Margaret who was afraid of her own shadow. She would definitely panic.
“It’s only pyrotechnics.” Leon wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “My friends know what they are doing. This is not their first rodeo.”
“They should call the police. What if they get there too late?”
“The police won’t do anything. The records show that Eleanor left the retreat last night, and that’s what the police are going to be told. We know that’s not true, but we have no way of proving it.”
“I’m also worried about Margaret. She’s like a rabbit, scared of every loud noise and sudden movement. A fire will terrify her. Is Bowen going with the team?”
“I don’t know. I can check with him. Why?”
“I can tell him what she looks like, and maybe he can keep an eye on her. Make sure that she is safe.” Ana shook her head. “Margaret is going to be so lost. A lot of the people there will be. They have nowhere to go.”
“They don’t need to go anywhere. Safe Haven can keep going without Emmett. It’s a money-printing machine, and everyone knows their jobs.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“I do. It’s going to be a mess, I’m sure of that, but if there is someone capable who can take over for Emmett, they can keep the place going. It’s not like he was all that involved with running the retreats. He made only one short appearance on the first day, and he was scheduled to deliver a speech on the last.”
“Still, it’s not going to be the same without him. He is the heart of Safe Haven.”
Leon squeezed her shoulder. “Do you still want to go back knowing that he’s not there?”
She smiled at him. “Who said that I want to go back?”
“You don’t?” The hope in his eyes melted her heart.
“I want to stay with you in this cabin forever. Can we move in here?”
She was only half-joking. Their relationship was only beginning, and they still had some rough patches to go through, but she’d never felt as comfortable and as accepted as she did with Leon.
And the cherry on top was that the damn voices had gone quiet as if his presence kept them away. Leon’s logical explanation was that after their marathon sex sessions, she’d just fallen asleep too quickly, skipping over the in-between state, and that’s why she hadn’t heard any voices since arriving at the cabin.
Or maybe being happy kept them at bay?
In any case, she didn’t miss them.
“I have accumulated a lot of vacation days that I haven’t used. If you want, and if no one complains about us hogging the cabin, we can stay here for a couple of months.”
He sounded totally serious.
“I was joking, but I might take you up on the offer. We need a car, though. If we stay here for months, we will get cabin fever. It would also be nice if we could invite more of your family to come to visit. Having Amanda and Bowen here was fun. Which reminds me. Call him and ask if he’s going on the mission.”
“If he does, how should I describe Margaret to him?”
“She’s in her late thirties, about five feet and seven or eight inches tall, and she is very skinny, almost skeletal. She has a long face, and her cheeks are hollow because she’s too thin, but her face is really pretty. She could probably have been beautiful if she weren’t so thin, or if she took a little more care with her looks. Her hair is light brown and wavy and it reaches a little below her shoulders, but most of the time, it’s gathered in a bun or a braid. Her eyes are also brown.”
“Got it.” Leon pulled out his phone. “I’ll tell him to look for the very thin, brown-haired woman who is most likely panicking. Do you know if her picture is in the Safe Haven brochure?”
“It’s not. Margaret doesn’t like to have her picture taken.”
“Why is that?”
Ana shrugged. “A lot of people don’t like that. I don’t like it either. I’m not photogenic.”
“I beg to differ.” Leon pulled his wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Your father supplied us with your pictures, and I think that I fell for you before I even met you.” He pulled her photograph from one of the slots. “You are beautiful.” He handed it to her.
“That’s one of the few photos of me that are actually good. They were taken by a talented photographer in a studio with proper lighting and then retouched. I don’t look that good in person.”
“You look better.” He took the photo from her and put it back in his wallet. “I don’t know how you can be so oblivious to how attractive you are. I’m sure men look at you wherever you go.”
She laughed. “Trust me, they don’t. You are biased.”
And that was awfully sweet of him. He’d also said that he’d fallen for her even before meeting her, but he couldn’t have been talking about love, only about attraction. They hadn’t known each other long enough to be in love. They were definitely in lust, though, and she was enjoying every second of it.
The only thing Ana would have changed about her time in fairytale land was making love to Leon without the damn blindfold on. But even fairytales weren’t perfect, and if that was her only complaint, she could live with it indefinitely.
43
Peter
“I tried,” Eleanor said from the other side of the wall. “But all I got for my efforts is foot pain. The damn door is made of solid wood.”
Peter shook his head. “So why did you even do it?”
“I hoped the latch would give. The good news is that Emmett is not around, otherwise he would have come to check what all the ruckus was about. When do you think the team will get here?”
“Turner estimated it would take them four to five hours, and it has been almost two since I called.”
“I hope Emmett is gone for the entire time. I don’t want him to snack on me again.”
“And I don’t want to answer more of his questions.”
“Right. What did you tell him so far?”
“Not much, mainly because he didn’t know what to ask. I remembered what you told me about compulsion having to be precise, and I managed to give him evasive answers. I even learned a few things. He’s not a lone immortal. He comes from a community.”
“Did he say that?”
“Not directly, but when I asked him about his compulsion ability and if everyone in his community had it, he said that he was unique and that was what allowed him to escape, which makes me think that it’s a totalitarian group like Navuh’s but not as big. He was surprised when I said there were tens of thousands of immortals. He didn’t know anything about the Brotherhood either.”
“I told him the same thing. I just didn’t mention that the Doomers were our enemies, or that there were many more of them than us.”
“Smart.”
It took a moment until Eleanor spoke again. “I heard footsteps. I’m going to flush the water and get out of here.”
Following Eleanor’s example, Peter flushed the toil
et as well. When he opened the bathroom door, Emmett was there, standing by the door where Peter couldn’t venture and glaring daggers at him.
“Answer me truthfully. Did you call for help?”
Emmett’s command pushed through Peter’s mind like a battering ram, making him nauseous. It was nothing like Annani’s gentle compulsion that felt like a loving caress. The guy was scarily powerful, and refusing to answer was impossible.
“Yes.”
“When are they coming?”
“In about three hours.”
“Fuck.” Emmett raked his fingers through his hair. “Sit in the chair,” he commanded.
Peter’s butt landed on the seat.
“And don’t move.”
Emmett’s face was contorted with rage, and Peter wondered if the guy could command him to stop breathing or his heart to stop beating.
He hadn’t ordered him to shut up, though. “How did you find out?”
“Henry told me the bogus story you fed him about canceling your surgery. The guy is too stupid to live.” Emmett shook his head. “I thought that I had a whole week to interrogate you. But you've left me no other choice than to run and take you with me. I would have preferred to take Marisol.” He started pacing in front of the door. “But she’s immune to my compulsion and could raise the alarm. You, on the other hand, I can control, and I can get you to tell me everything I want to know on the way. After that, I can dump you someplace in the middle of nowhere.” He stopped and looked at Peter. “You are an immortal, so you won’t die while walking back to civilization. You are lucky that I’m not a murderer. Anyone else in my position would have killed you for the damage you caused. I have to leave all of this behind and start anew somewhere else, and it’s all because of you and Marisol.”
“If you didn’t get greedy and decide to keep her, none of this would be happening. We had no idea who and what you are, and we would have just left at the end of the retreat.”
For a long moment, Emmett just stared at him. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t need Safe Haven anymore. It was nice having a steady supply of sex and blood from donors I knew were protected from pregnancy, and now I will have to use those damn condoms. I hate those fucking things.” He started pacing again. “But I have enough money to live on forever, and if I want, I can start another community somewhere else.” He stopped and smiled at Peter as if he hadn’t contemplated killing him just moments ago. “My money is stashed away in foreign bank accounts, so don’t think your people can get their greedy fingers on it.”
“We don’t need your money. We have plenty of our own.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You are going to tell me all about it on the way. Every minute counts.” He turned to the door and opened it. “I’m just going to take a little energy boost for the way.”
44
Eleanor
“Hello, Marisol.” Emmett strode into the room. “Your friend was a naughty boy. He called for reinforcements, and now I have no choice but to leave this haven I’ve created for myself.”
He seemed oddly calm for someone who had just found out that his cushy lifestyle had come to an end, and that he needed to run.
Eleanor would have been less worried if he was raging.
“You don’t have to leave. Let us go, and you can continue this charade for a few more years. Eventually, though, people will start to wonder why you are not aging, and you will have to say goodbye to this place anyway.”
He laughed. “How stupid do you think I am? Your people would not just let me live here in peace. They will want to know where I came from, who my people are, and where they can find them. But I have no intentions of revealing my secrets. Your friend, on the other hand, is going to tell me everything I want to know about those tens of thousands of immortals you both claim roam the earth. I’m taking him with me.”
Panic seizing her lungs, Eleanor scrambled to come up with something that would make Emmett change his mind about taking Peter. He could get all of the clan’s secrets from him, including the village’s location, putting their entire community at risk.
“Take me instead. I’m dispensable, and they won’t come after you to get me back, but they will for sure if you take Devlin.”
He tilted his head. “That’s nonsense. You are a female. You are much more valuable than him.”
One thing was for sure. Emmett was not an ex-Doomer. No member of the Brotherhood would ever consider a female more valuable than a warrior. Not even Kalugal’s men, who were reformed ex-Doomers, would go that far. At the most, they would consider males and females equal in worth.
Nevertheless, she had to make him take her and not Peter. Eleanor didn’t know much, and as an immune, she could possibly escape.
“I’m an outsider, a newcomer, and they don’t trust me. I did some shitty things to them before they took me in, and this was supposed to be my test mission, which I failed miserably. They are probably going to kick me out anyway.”
She got up and sauntered toward him. “Besides, I come with extra benefits.” She cupped his cheek. “I’m delicious.”
Emmett’s eyes started glowing. “You certainly are.” He dipped his head to her neck and inhaled. “Intoxicating.” He moved her long hair out of the way and kissed her neck. “I could easily get addicted to you.”
Shivers running down her spine, Eleanor leaned into him. “You haven’t even kissed me yet,” she whispered.
She didn’t even need to feign arousal. Emmett excited her, and for all the wrong reasons. He was dangerous, maybe even deranged, but he had an innate respect for females, and she knew he wouldn’t harm her.
“I really shouldn’t.” He hooked a finger under her chin. “But I can’t help myself. You are an irresistible temptation.”
He took her lips gently, almost reverently, and as he licked into her mouth, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
If seducing Emmett would save the clan, it was well worth the infidelity. Greggory might disagree, but right now he wasn’t her top priority.
Saving Peter and the village was.
Not letting go of her mouth, Emmett lifted her and stepped toward the bed.
A moment later she found herself on her back with him on top of her and his knee pressed against her core.
Lust, hot and thick, washed over her, obliterating any thought of fighting him off. She wanted this, and it wasn’t only about saving the clan.
As she moaned into his mouth, a deep rumble rippled through Emmett’s chest, and as he rubbed his knee against her core, she felt herself grow even wetter.
Eleanor should have felt guilty, dirty, for wanting this strange immortal who was most likely insane, but all she felt was the consuming need to have him inside her, with his fangs at her throat.
When he gripped her head and turned it to elongate her neck, she knew that she was about to get at least part of her wish fulfilled, and as his fangs sank into her flesh, her eyes rolled back in her head. Still fully dressed, and without him touching her intimately even over her clothes, she climaxed, once, twice, and then blacked out.
45
Peter
“Come to me,” Emmett said. “Don’t make a sound or any sudden movements.” He held the door open.
The cult leader had been gone less than fifteen minutes, and Peter hoped that the time had been spent packing and not molesting Eleanor.
It was so damn frustrating that he couldn’t even ask. He’d been ordered to not make a sound, and there was no loophole he could find in that.
“Stop.” Emmett put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You will walk as long as you can feel my hand squeezing your shoulder. The moment it’s not, you will stop and not move until I tell you otherwise.”
As the slight pressure of Emmett’s hand registered, Peter’s legs started walking as if Emmett was their master and not him.
The guy led him up the stairs, through the cottage’s living room, and then out the front door. From there, they went into the garage usi
ng the hidden side door Gustav had brought him in through.
Emmett opened the door to his Corvette. “Get in the car.”
Unless the guy was smart and switched cars on the way, William and Roni would have no problem finding it. He only hoped they would find it in time before Emmett loaded him on a plane to wherever.
Being a compeller, he could easily get Peter out of the country without a passport or any other documentation.
“Fasten your seatbelt,” Emmett commanded.
Peter’s hand obeyed immediately.
“Keep your butt in the seat and your hands between your legs. You can only move your head to look at me when I talk to you, and you can move your lips to speak very quietly. Don’t move anything else.”
Finally, he was allowed to talk.
“What about blinking?”
“You are allowed to close and open your eyes.”
“What if I need to scratch my nose? Are you going to do it for me?”
Emmett chuckled. “You will have to ask my permission.”
The guy was learning fast how to close the loopholes Peter had been using. But he couldn’t foresee every possible variation, and Peter was a fast thinker.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. First, we need to put some distance between your friends and us.”
“Taking me is a mistake. They will come after you to free me. If you leave alone, they will put much less effort into chasing you, if at all.”
Emmett cast him a sidelong smile. “Don’t fret, Devlin. After you tell me all I want to know about your people, I will drop you off on some deserted side road. By the time you get to anywhere with a phone, I will be on a plane to somewhere far away from here.”
At least the guy was still claiming that he wasn’t going to kill him, which was good news. Then again, Emmett might be saying that to put Peter in a more cooperative mood.
