When I was finished with the toilet, I flushed and washed my hands, staring into the mirror over the sink. Thanks to the dragon, my hair was smooth and shiny, while the rest of me looked like a bag of crap. My light pink sweats were marked with streaks of mud, and my face was so pale that the dark circles under my eyes stood out starkly, along with the spattering of freckles across my nose.
The icy blue of my eyes was dull, and I could see the pain I felt deep in my essence spilling out in my gaze. It was the agony of mate bonds stretched far too thin. The irony of it all was the dragon’s presence would be helping me cope, as he wastechnicallya mate now too.
Mate.My wolf was sluggish, and I debated shifting to try and rouse a stronger reaction from her.
He’s not our mate, I snarled back, pissed off and exhausted, as my lungs filled with a sweet scent that I couldn’t purge.Someone open a fucking window!Only it appeared that there were none in this bathroom, or the bedroom I’d fled from.
Where had they brought me to?
Why had I let myself fall apart to the point where I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings?
The fact that I’d shut down so thoroughly after the initial attack was disgraceful. In that vulnerable state, it was only sheer luck I hadn’t been hurt or abused far worse. Hunter’s father had already shown he had no morals, and he’d do whatever it took to achieve his end goal.
I’d almost made it too easy for him.
I jumped at the slam of a hand against the door. “You cannot escape from there.”
That was probably the longest sentence I’d heard this asshole mutter, and it just made me all the angrier. “I know that,” I shouted back, enjoying the release of potent fury bubbling inside me. “There’s not even a window in here.”
That locked door out there was the only possible exit, and I was far too weak to bust through it or the tiled walls. And there was no guarantee there’d be freedom on the other side of these walls anyway. No windows often meant you were in the middle of the house, or in a sub-sub-basement.
I fought against the urge to scream. I had no skills to beat a dragon, not even if my wolf were at full strength, which meant my best bet was to play along as the nice, compliant captive, and try to stay alive long enough for help to arrive.
Or even better, if the opportunity arose to escape, knock this fucker out and save myself.
Sucking in a deep breath, I splashed water on my face, wishing desperately for a shower. There wasn’t a chance on this tainted Earth that I’d get naked around that dragon though, so I headed for the door.
When I pulled it open, he loomed on the other side, and as I tilted my head up to meet his gaze with all the false bravado I could muster, I swore I caught a hint of panic, before his expression was once again dark and impassive.
Locked in his gaze, I regretted my decision to meet his stare. It was terrifying being this close to the dark aura he exuded, and the unhinged edge to his actions sent trickles of fear down my spine.
Fear I decided to cover with bright, inane conversation. “I can’t keep calling you dragon or asshole in my head.” Ah, whoops.Staying alive, Emme,I reminded myself.Your goal is to stay alive.
Thankfully his only response was a low rumble, and I hurried on airily. “What do you think about Jason as a possible name?”
Another rumble, and this one held a note of menace. “Okay, okay. Not Jason. What about Richard?” And I’d silently call him dick for funsies. Last namehead.
The dragon’s fists clenched at his sides, and it took absolutely every ounce of my inner fortitude not to step away. “Yeah, you don’t really look like a Richard. Okay…” I tapped my chin, as if this was one of life’s great questions requiring all my focus. “Samuel?”
The growl was slower this time, as if he didn’t hate that name, which told me I was on the right track. “Shaun? Michael? Dominic? Talon?”
As the name for a dragon’s claw spilled from my lips, his gaze intensified, and if I’d been a regular shifter, I’d have been swooning or blushing. Alas, this shifter hated his guts for stealing a piece of my soul from me. But I hadn’t missed his reaction to that last name.
“Talon,” I repeated slowly, letting it roll off my tongue. “You like that name?”
When he nodded, I almost passed out from shock. “Okay, Talon it is.”
He rubbed a hand across his face, and I almost lost my resolve to hate him when I saw the confusion tugging at his features. I’d surprised him… and for a brief moment in time, he wore an air of vulnerability.
When he stepped back from where he’d holed me up in the bathroom doorway, I sidled into the room and took a seat on the bed. With the return of silence between us, I found my pulse racing and my hands clammy. “What happens now?’ I babbled, desperate to break the quiet intensity. “You’ve brought me here for a reason… or at least your evil master has. What’s the reason?”
Talon kept me locked in his unblinking gaze. “We must complete our bond.”
As terrifying as that statement was, I appreciated his honesty. Maybe it wouldn’t be as hard as I thought to get allthe information I needed from him. “Complete the bond? As in… we’re supposed to have sex?” I shook my head. “I will never let you touch me like that. Not ever. Our souls and beasts are bonded from the bite. Why do you need more?”
Talon’s growl was deep enough to shatter windows—if there’d been any in this room of course. “I don’t want to have totakeyour omega powers… I want you to give them to me.”
My breath hitched, and while I’d known stealing my powers was the end goal for this forced bonding, it still took me by surprise. “He wants me to boost your powers and turn your beast into an even greater weapon.” As I voiced the horror out loud, I wondered if Talon understood the full ramifications of what they planned to do. Did he know I could lose my wolf?
