I threw myself back in my seat, crossed my arms over my chest, and stared out the window. Was I acting like a pouty toddler? Absolutely. He was treating me like a child, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from acting like one.
He put the SUV back in gear and steered it back onto the road.
As he drove, I plotted. I was going to get revenge for everything he was putting me through. In order to figure out how much revenge I needed to get, I needed a thorough accounting of his misdeeds. So, I started listing them in my head.
He scared me at Bethany’s store.
He kidnapped me when I realized he was a vampire.
He’d handcuffed me to a bed and then chased me through the woods in the cold.
He tackled me. Kissed me.
He has my dream house with my dream library.
And now he was threatening me with jail if I didn’t act like the perfect little pet while we were on whatever errand he had to run.
That was eight things total that I could think of off the top of my head. That meant I needed octuple revenge. Eight was a good number. A nice, even number.
I grinned as I stared out the window, sifting through ideas in my mind. I’d never really been much of a troublemaker before. That was usually Sela’s territory. Sure, I went along for the ride, but I’d never had to use my creativity to come up with a revenge plot before.
I really wished I could text her right now and ask for all the pettiest of petty ideas she could think of.
But, since he had my phone, which would be the ninth thing I needed revenge for, I was on my own.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked, bringing my attention back from my scheming.
“No reason,” I answered, forcing my smile away.
“Bullshit,” he mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
I settled back in the seat and watched the scenery go by as I continued to sift through all the ideas in my head.
We drove for ten minutes before he turned down a wide concrete drive. In the middle of the drive sat a rustic wooden sign with the words,Devil’s Playground, painted on it in a red so dark and deep it was nearly black.
That wasn’t ominous…not at all.
5
Isat up a little straighter in the passenger seat and craned my head as he headed down the drive. There were thick stands of trees on each side, but I thought I caught flashes of movement in the shadows beneath them.
“Don’t stare so hard,” he said. “And don’t hold anyone’s gaze for too long, especially if they’re not in their fully human form. Some of the guests here are dangerous as hell and they get pissed off by even the smallest slight.”
“Do I have to worry about them killing me?” I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
“No, they shouldn’t try to hurt you,” he answered. “As long as you don’t run your mouth.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I wanted to tell him that I never ran my mouth except the last couple of days, but I couldn’t form the words.
A warm, calloused hand clasped mine. “It’ll be fine, Cari.”
Before I could think better of it, I squeezed his hand back.
He released me right after that and I told myself that I was fine without the firm heat of his fingers surrounding mine.
