by Cat Miller
“Samantha, I think we’ve been drugged.” Lindsay slid out of her seat onto the floor. Unable to find the strength in her arms to break her fall, Lindsay’s head hit the table on her way down to the the floor.
Lindsay was immobile and unable to talk. Tears filled her eyes. There was only one possible explanation for this, but she prayed she was wrong. She watched from the floor when three pairs of feet—one pair of red heels, one pair of huge, shiny black loafers, and one pair of sneakers—appeared at the other end of the table. Loafers stayed near the door. Sneakers stood at the head of the table.
“Mommy?” Samantha said.
The red heels moved to Samantha’s side, keeping her from taking a carpet nap with Lindsay.
“It’s about time. We need to get moving. I’m not positive I wasn’t followed,” said a male voice Lindsay didn’t recognize.
“Shut up and do your job. Get that one out of here,” Sarah said to Sneakers. Then she spoke to Samantha. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t want to involve you, but we needed your friend, and there was no other way.”
“You drugged us?” Samantha’s slurred words carried the sound of disappointed heartbreak.
“I had to subdue you briefly, Samantha. I fear your father’s influence is beginning to cloud your judgment and loyalty. I can’t have you running to Griffin to save her now. By the time he realizes something is amiss, we’ll all be gone. All she wanted was Lindsay. In exchange, she’s giving us enough money to disappear. She’s getting J.R. for me, and we’re all leaving tonight.”
Lindsay wanted to vomit. Her worst fears were now a reality. Sheena had come for her.
“Why?”
“Why?” Sarah shouted. “You need to ask me that question? I’m sick of living under my father’s thumb after so many unhappy years with Griffin. I’m tired of having to ask for money if I need something. I deserve better than the life they’ve resigned me to. I want my son back, and I want my own life. We’ll start over. By the time Griffin catches up with us, and I’m sure he will come after us, you can be mated, and we’ll all be under the protection of the European Council. We’re going to France where several suitable houses have sons who are waiting to meet you. You can have your pick. It’s a shame your sister ruined her life the way she did.” Sarah was seething. “Bonded to a filthy mutt. She could have bought even more security.”
“She should have been mine,” said Sneakers. He was supposed to be getting Lindsay but was hovering close to Samantha instead.
“Are you still here? I thought you were in a hurry. Take Lindsay and get out.”
Lindsay knew who he was then. It was Nick, Brandi’s high school ex-boyfriend who’d returned from college and tried to force Brandi to be his mate by drugging her and exchanging blood while Brandi was defenseless. Abel had saved Brandi and Nick disappeared. They knew he was now working for Sheena, distributing drugs in vampire nightclubs. Kayden was flying out with the Horde because they got a tip that Nick was in Virginia Beach.
Sarah was still trying to justify her sins to Samantha.
“I played by the rules. I saved myself for mating. I did everything the right way to ensure a happy union, even though I knew Griffin didn’t love me. What did it get me? It got me nothing but misery. I raised my kids and perpetuated the image of the perfect family and a dutiful female only to be left behind with no money and no rights. Well, fuck that. I’m taking my life back.”
Sarah gently let Samantha slide to the floor, protecting Samantha’s head. Lindsay and Samantha met eyes under the table. Sam’s eyes are full of tears and apologies.
“Carry Samantha to the sofa in the study. We’ll be waiting here for J.R. and confirmation of the promised deposit into my account,” Sarah informed her companions.
“We’ll be taking all three of you with us,” said Loafers. If the size of his shoes and the bass of his voice were a judge of his size, nobody was going to argue with his statement.
“No, you’re only taking that one. We’re waiting here,” Sarah repeated.
“I have orders. Take it up with my master if you disagree.” Loafers took one large step into the room. The sound of flesh meeting flesh and teeth clattering was heard. Then Sarah hit the floor like a sack of flour in a designer dress. Loafers had knocked Sarah out with one strike.
Lindsay watched a pair of giant hands pluck an unconscious Samantha up off the carpet. That’s the last thing Lindsay saw before she succumbed to the pull of the Hypno.
Lindsay came to when she was hauled out of the back of a truck and into a mansion that had seen better days. She is aware but still immobile. She’d suffered the effects of Hypno so many times that she was becoming resistant to its effects. It took a lot of it to keep her down for an extended period of time. Lindsay decided to play dead for as long as possible. She’d listen and gather information. It would take far longer for Samantha to wake and Lindsay wouldn’t leave without her friend. She couldn’t allow Sheena to torture Samantha.
The paint on the house was faded, and one storm shutter was hanging loose. The front door was stuck. Loafers was holding her over his shoulder, and he had to give the door a kick to get it to open. He jostled Lindsay, and a wave of nausea struck her hard.
Once inside, Lindsay was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. Lindsay opened her eyes the smallest crack to get a feel for her surroundings. It smelled musty. The furniture was the old, heavy wood kind that lasted forever. It was very quiet, so Lindsay was careful not to move a muscle and keep her breathing even, just in case she was being watched.
Sam was brought in next and dumped on the floor next to Lindsay. Then a hissing and spitting Sarah is carried in and pushed down into a chair. Sarah was struggling with Loafers and fighting to get to her feet. Loafers punched her in the side of the head, dazing Sarah and knocking her to the floor.
“Now, now, Archie, there’s no need to be so rough with Mrs. Vaughn.” The sound of Sheena’s purring voice brought back a thousand memories that threatened to make Lindsay lose her mind. She knew she wouldn’t survive another imprisonment. She would not allow herself to be a test subject again. Lindsay worked hard to control her breathing. She still couldn’t move, and Samantha was still out cold. Lindsay tried to reach out to Kayden through their bond, but there was nothing there. It had to be the Hypno blocking the connection somehow.
Sheena stopped next to Loafers, whose name was apparently Archie, and ran her hand down his thickly muscled arm. Archie looked down at Sheena adoringly.
“She wouldn’t cooperate, Master,” said Loafers.
“Wh-what is happening?” Sarah murmured from her inelegant sprawl on the floor.
“Get her in the chair so we can have a little girl talk,” Sheena directed Archie.
He complied and gave Sarah a threatening look so she’d know he would knock her out again if she didn’t behave.
“Why are you doing this? I gave you what you asked for. Now hold up your end of the bargain. Let my daughter and I leave,” Sarah demanded.
Lindsay noticed Sarah hadn’t asked for the money Sheena promised. The writing was on the wall. Sarah and Samantha would be lucky if they walked away with their lives. No money would change hands.
“Here’s the thing, Sarah, you’re both worth more to me as hostages. You see, hostages are very important in the bad guy game. My bad guy game is particularly strong, you see, so I got me one hostage, one messenger, and one bitch that just needs to bleed for the price of absolutely free … because you’re a fucking idiot,” Sheena explained slowly as if she were speaking to a small child. A very stupid, small child.
Sarah blinked slowly as the reality of the jeopardy she and her daughter were in sank in to her greedy brain. To Sarah’s credit, she didn’t argue with Sheena, and she didn’t come back with a snappy insult. There was no use in wasting good air on an argument you couldn’t win.
“The choice is yours, Mrs. Vaughn—” Sheena said.
“Ms. Ashburn,” Sarah interrupted. “I’m divorced.”
&nb
sp; “Isn’t that an interesting morsel for your resume? The world’s first divorced vampire.” Sheena chuckled. “As I was saying, the choice is yours. I have a few tasks for you to complete. You’re already an accomplice, but I think you need to learn a lesson about being a bad guy. You’ve really been half-assing it. It makes the rest of us truly devoted criminals look bad. You never get your hands dirty. You just make a few calls and let someone else take the fall for your work. It just won’t do.”
Sheena turned her attention to Lindsay and Samantha. Lindsay had been watching the entire exchange through the smallest slit in one eye. She was regaining feeling in her limbs, but she was still too weak to stand on her own.
“You’re going to help me with that whore and maybe a few other tasks. Just so you know what it means to be downright evil. I want you to see exactly what I’m capable of before you decide which of you are the messenger and which is the hostage. If you refuse to help me, then your daughter will become my guest and you will go inform the council of what you’ve done and deliver my message. If you do what you’re told, I’ll send your daughter as my messenger, and she can explain your dirty deeds. Either way, you’ll be taking credit for your work this time around. It’s time the nation sees that its pampered princesses aren’t as unspoiled as they pretend to be. While you’re making your choice, keep in mind that my guests tend to leave at little … okay, they usually don’t leave at all. I kill them!” Sheena laughed at her own joke. “I’ll make an exception this time. When my demands are met, I’ll release the hostage.”
“I’m supposed to believe you’ll keep your word?” Sarah snapped.
“Finally, you’re learning. It’s the price you pay for playing the game, Sarah. You rolled the dice. Now you have to play the game. I suppose it depends on how long I have to wait for an answer to my demands.”
“What is your message?” Sarah asked.
“The testing is over. There will be thousands of doses of Hypervamp distributed to the youth up and down the eastern seaboard. Very soon, the vampire race will be known to mankind. I can’t wait to see cellphone footage of vampires rampaging their way through clubs, malls, and schools on national news networks. Unless, of course, the council is ready to step down and let a real leader take the wheel.”
“You’re insane,” Sarah hissed.
“Certifiably,” Sheena agreed. “Now, let’s get to work.” Sheena clapped her hands like an excited toddler.
Footsteps pound up the front porch. Nick burst through the door.
“We have company. It’s your father. I suggest getting that one silent and out of sight immediately. He’s right behind me.” Nick sounded nervous.
Lindsay cracked her eyes open again.
“Shit. Take care of her.” Sheena leapt to her feet and pointed at Sarah. “Make sure everyone stays out of sight,” she ordered.
“Yes, Master,” Archie Loafers struck without hesitation. He knocked Sarah out again and tossed her over his shoulder before she hit the floor. He disappeared into the depths of the house.
Now Lindsay knew there were more than just the three vampires she’d seen to contend with in the big old house. There were others Sheena wanted to stay hidden.
“We should probably put Samantha on the sofa. Considering …” He let that thought trail off. Not waiting for Sheena’s approval, Nick gently picked Samantha up and placed her on a chaise as if she were a delicate piece of art. His eyes shone with avarice as he brushed the hair away from Samantha’s face. Shit, it seemed his obsession had shifted from Brandi to Samantha.
Considering what? Lindsay was fighting a panic attack. Sheena had a father? Lindsay assumed the evil bitch had been spat from the pit of hell as a fully formed adult.
“No, not there! Take her to another room. I’m not ready for him to know what we’re planning yet,” Sheena hissed.
Nick picked Samantha up again, clutched her limp form to his chest, and hustled out of the room.
With her eyes cracked, Lindsay saw the blow coming, but she didn’t flinch when Sheena, looking like she was about to attend church on Easter in a lavender dress and a big floral hat, kicked Lindsay in her gut. It took everything Lindsay had not to react to the blow.
“Good, you’re still out. I couldn’t be sure you weren’t faking it, since you’re such a Hypno-whore and it wears off much faster for addicts.” Sheena chuckled. “I wouldn’t want you running your mouth to Daddy. He’d kill you. Then you wouldn’t get to see my surprise.”
The front door flew open and bounced off the wall. Lindsay was facing the wrong way so she couldn’t see exactly who Daddy was, but she knew this was Sheena’s benefactor. He had to be the one providing the finances needed to keep her operation moving.
Sheena stepped over Lindsay and hurried to greet Daddy Dearest. Lindsay continued fighting the urge to cry out from the pain in her ribs.
“Daddy, it’s so wonderful to see you!” she exclaimed. “Come sit with me in the parlor. I’ll get you some tea.”
“I’ve been hunting for you for months! I don’t have time for tea or your games,” he barked.
“Exactly how did you find me, anyway?”
“I had the alarm system notifications routed to my phone. This used to be your favorite spot. The place needs a lot of work, by the way. I knew if you returned you’d need a place to land, and you might come here.” Daddy was pretty smart. He had the drop on Sheena.
“I’ve had enough of your shit. All of this extra drama is completely without cause. I will not continue to fund your lifestyle if you can’t get it together. We’re too near our goal to fuck it all up now.” Daddy was pissed.
“As if you have a choice, Daddy dear.” Sheena had a smile in her voice. “You will give me what I need, or I will tell the world who you are and exactly what you have planned.” Her tone changed from placating to threatening. “Don’t you fucking threaten me! I’ve wasted most of my life doing your dirty work!”
“And you just couldn’t get it right, could you? This is why vampires can’t stand dealing with humans. They are stupid and impetuous. All you had to do was keep David under control until I was ready for him to make his grand re-entrance into the world. But no, you got all twisted up over a girl David was fucking. So what? He screwed lots of females. And now look at the mess I have to clean up.”
“He was losing focus! I had to get rid of her!” Sheena shouted.
“You had to do no such thing. That girl was important to me. His filthy hands should never have touched her, and you had no reason to do the things you did to her,” he shouted right back. “I put her in the school so I could keep her safe and close to me for the time I was ready to bring her into the fold. We were only weeks away from our first meeting, but you couldn’t control your son, and that’s what started all of this. He’s just as willful and stubborn as you.”
“You can’t blame that on me! I had nothing to do with it, and I tried to get rid of her as soon as she became a problem. I didn’t even know who she was at first,” Sheena argued. “Let’s go talk in the other room, Daddy.”
Sheena was trying to lead her father away from the room where Lindsay lay on the floor, but he wouldn’t be moved.
Were they talking about her? They had to be because as far as Lindsay knew, she was the only woman David had been obsessed with. It wasn’t a title she was proud of either. She wouldn’t believe it. How did this man know she was friends with Abel? What did he know about Lindsay and the college she attended? Her father had insisted she go to that college, but he’d done it at someone else’s direction, hadn’t he?
“Who is this? What are you up to now?” The man pushed Sheena out of the way to get a look at the female lying unconscious in the corner of the room.
“Don’t worry about that, Daddy.” Sheena scurried ahead of the man to block him, but he shoved her out of the way.
Lindsay could feel his eyes on her. He stood over Lindsay and rolled her onto her back. The man sucked in a distressed breath. She didn’t dare try to
get a peek at him. They would see her eyes move and Lindsay was still hopeful for an escape.
“What have you done to my daughter? I told you not to touch her again!” The irate man’s bellow was loud enough to shake the rafters.
“I need her to get David back, Daddy! She’s not hurt. She’s only sleeping. She’s just bait, I swear. I’ll set her free as soon as I have David under control. I won’t even hurt her this time. I promise.”
Lindsay’s mind imploded. This couldn’t be. No. It wasn’t true. If this evil man was her birth father, then Sheena was her … sister.
Kayden was strapping himself into the chinook and listening to the other guys tease Owen, who had never been on a helicopter before and was feeling a little anxious. They were just about to lift off when he abruptly felt ill. His head spun, and his body felt heavy. It took a minute for Kayden to realize that it wasn’t really him feeling dizzy, it was Lindsay. She was calling out to Kayden and he was experiencing her physical distress but the connection ended almost as soon as it began. Lindsay was still a little anxious from time to time. She was getting more comfortable in her new life every day, but sometimes she needed a little support and Kayden was honored to be the male to provide that security. He reached out to her, searching their connection for reassurance that she’d had a momentary bout of anxiety and was now feeling better, but there was nothing there. She was just gone. Like someone had flipped a switch and shut out her light. She didn’t even have a phone yet. He couldn’t call her or track her by a mobile device. Kayden roared with outrage and frustration. The males around Kayden jumped in surprise.
Gage was speaking to someone on the ramp when Kayden felt the disconnection and hadn’t heard Kayden’s shout. He came jogging up the ramp looking grim. Kayden was busy unbuckling himself and his gear.
“I have distressing news. I was just notified that two warriors and David are missing. They were on the way to meet with Griffin when they disappeared,” Gage informed them all.
