Groggy, I blinked, wondering why in the heck the cottage looked so different. Then, I remembered.
I sat up, groaning, and stared around the room wild-eyed.
Nope. Last night hadn’t been a huge nightmare from the depths of my imagination. I was in Devil Springs. At the home of a vampire who’d kidnapped me.
Monsters were real.
When I tried to throw my legs over the side of the bed, I nearly cried out. My body was so stiff and sore.
Yep, as soon as I got myself out of this mess, I was going to start working out again. Cardio and weights. And maybe some really vicious martial art.
Moving as slowly as possible, I used my hands to help shift my legs over to the side of the bed. As I pushed myself to my feet, even my toes hurt as they pressed against the floor.
Bent at the waist, I hobbled to the door and shoved the chair from beneath the knob. Though I wasn’t exactly awake, I was more than ready to take on Daniel Ayres. But when I yanked the door open, there was no one there. Just my black suitcase.
Grumbling beneath my breath, I grabbed the handle and dragged it inside because it hurt too much to try to lift it.
I slammed the door, shoved the chair beneath the knob again, and wheeled the suitcase toward the bed. After I had another shower and got dressed, Daniel Ayres and I were going to have a talk. And we were going to call Bernie and have him come back immediately because I was certain it was the only way I was going to get the hell out of this crazy town.
Since there was no way I could hurl the heavy suitcase on top of the bed, I settled for tipping it over on the floor and unzipping it.
As I grabbed my clothes and went through the routine of showering again and dressing, I remembered what Bernie said about spending one last week with Aunt Bethany in their favorite place.
That was when the guilt set in. I couldn’t interrupt his time with my aunt. Or at least his good-bye to her.
I couldn’t do that to him. He loved my aunt deeply. They’d been devoted to each other.
No, I would handle Daniel Ayres myself until Bernie came back. In fact, I would consider this an opportunity to punish him a little bit for scaring the shit out of me.
With that decision made, I dried my hair and slapped on a little bit of make-up. Mostly to cover the small bruise on my jaw where my face must have hit the ground when the vampire tackled me. Or when I fell down in Bethany’s store.
I didn’t bother using make-up on the bruises on my wrists. Instead, I just pulled on a long-sleeved shirt with a thumb hole in the bottom of each sleeve. That way the shirt would cover the bruises. As much as I wanted to rub them in Daniel Ayres’ face and point out that he said he wouldn’t hurt me, I also didn’t want to attract any attention if I managed to get out of this house.
Once I was dressed, I moved the chair away from door and unlocked it. I poked my head out of the door and glanced down the hall. There was no one upstairs, so I tiptoed to the stairs and glanced over the edge. I could hear noises coming from the back of the house, where the kitchen was.
Bracing myself, I went down the steps. With my shoulders back and chin up, I marched down the hall. I would not give Daniel Ayres the satisfaction of thinking he intimidated me in the least. Just because he had supernatural strength and speed didn’t mean I had to be scared of him.
At least not openly.
He was standing at the kitchen counter when I entered the kitchen, pouring tea from an actual tea pot. That wasn’t what I expected. I stopped and stared
Without turning towards me, he said, “Good, you’re up. How are your feet today?”
“Better,” I answered. Then, I gave myself an internal shake. The man drank tea. How scary could he really be? “I want my purse and phone.”
“Your purse and phone are somewhere safe.”
“I want them back.”
“No,” he answered, putting the teapot down and picking up his mug. He turned toward me, his green eyes glittering in the morning light.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t trust you not to call the state police, the media, and maybe even the military.”
Okay, so that actually wasn’t a terrible idea. But I was also smart enough to know that none of them would believe me as soon as I mentioned the word “vampire” or “werewolves.” I’d be dismissed as a nutcase immediately.
“No, I won’t.”
